“Taehyung?”

Taehyung slightly turned his head towards the direction of Mrs Min, but his eyes were still glued to the sign. She smiled softly, and cleared , indicating for him to look at her. He did so hesitantly, as if the lights would turn off and the mall would vanish, but when he looked up at her he smiled brightly.

“Have you got your envelope?”

“Yes, it’s in my pocket!” Taehyung patted the side of his black shorts to emphasise his point, then with a frown he dipped his hand in to check. Satisfied with the feeling of the paper inside the pocket, he smiled even broader, visibly shaking at the excitement to go inside.

“Good! I want you to spend all of the money in that envelope today, okay?”

Taehyung’s smile dropped.

“All… all of it? Today?”

Mrs Min nodded, confirming his question.

“But,” Taehyung looked down at his feet, “I want to save some, in case I want to get anything later.”

He was expecting a soft voice to answer, but instead he felt a small hand on his shoulder. Turning in the direction of the hand, his eyes lifted to meet Yoongi’s smirk.

“You’re with us now, you don’t need to worry about money.”

Taehyung smiled softly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He nodded shyly, but looked at the ground again, unsure of what to say.

Mrs Min, despite wanting to make him happy, had realised she’d put pressure on him. She crouched down next to him, making sure that she smiled softly in his direction, ignoring that his gaze was averted.

“Sweetie? If you don’t want to spend it all, or any of it, you don’t have to.”

The young boy’s head sprung up, looking into the eyes of the beautiful woman, trying to find a hint of doubt. When he found none, he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him as he thanked her quietly.

Yoongi stood awkwardly behind Taehyung, his arm falling to his side when the younger had moved to hug his mother.

Why is he so sad about spending the money?

He decided he’d ask him later, when it was quieter and less public. For now, he cleared his throat and waited for the hug to end; he’d seen a new lens online, and he wanted to see if he could find it in the mall, waiting for deliveries was too frustrating.

Taehyung had released his grip from around Mrs Min, and stepped back to smile at her again. He wanted to spend some of the money, but the thought of spending it all at once had overwhelmed him. Once he’d regained his composure, and earlier excitement, he turned back to the doors to the mall, then shifted his gaze to Yoongi.

Yoongi could feel the younger’s eyes on him; he wanted to ignore it, knowing that if he gave him attention it’d give the smaller boy the excuse to get him running, and that he wouldn’t be able to say no. But it was making his hairs stand on end, and eventually he gave into the pressure, slowly turning to look at Taehyung.

The eye contact was all that was needed before he saw the shine in the other’s, and his hand was gripped into a smaller, somewhat clammy hand. Before he could even think of protesting, he was being pulled into the mall, and not at a pace that he enjoyed. He always hated running, especially when the gym teacher who came to his house made him do it around their garden; it wasn’t a small piece of land either. Yet the excitement radiating from the small boy, and the sound of his mother’s laughter behind him made him feel happy, and almost excus