‘I don’t like boys. Especially after coming to middle school.’ Taehyung thinks as he walks down one of the many corridors from his school.

‘Reckless. Noisy.’ He stops, noticing a group of four boys playing whilst pretending they were fighting. ‘They are problematic.’

‘But amongst the boys, Kim Jungkook from the adjacent class somehow feels kind of different.’ Taehyung observes a particular boy from that same group, who’s leaning on the wall laughing and watching his friends play amongst themselves.

‘Jungkook is not tall. His voice is a little sharp, almost like a girl. Really refreshing in this all-boys school.’ He notes, resuming his walk.

‘Maybe that’s why...’ Taehyung thinks as he passes the group of boys. ‘…I’m fine with Jungkook.’

+

It was the end of the day. All classes finished, Taehyung and his friend were walking home together. Even though he didn’t like most of the boys from his school, Taehyung was almost every day with Mark. They knew each other since they were little kids and, so, Taehyung grew accustomed to him. They could hear faint voices talk with enthusiasm up ahead. Voices that grew louder and louder as they were getting closer to a grass field, usually occupied with children or people walking their dogs.

When they got to the location where the noise was coming from, Mark stopped in his tracks, as he looked at the owners of those voices.

“Jackson!” He shouted, making the group of boys stop talking and look at him.

Taehyung, who had now stopped walking as well, got his hand grabbed by Mark as he dragged him to Jackson and his other friends.

“What are you up to?” Mark asked.

“We are splitting into groups to play police and thief.” Jackson replied.

“Police and thief?” Mark asked once again, eyebrow slightly arched upwards. “Just like elementary school kids.” He scoffed.

“I know, right?” One of his other friends said, gaining a few laughs.

“I wanna play too.” Mark suddenly exclaimed before turning to Taehyung. “This will be fun, right Taehyung?”

The other boys stood silent, waiting for Taehyung’s reply.

Taehyung, who was a little shy with new faces, wasn’t really all that excited with the invitation.

“So…” Mark started, noticing Taehyung’s apprehension. “You wanna join us?”

Taehyung started looking around, trying to find a good excuse to decline the offer without making him look like an idiot. He noticed that they were all laughing and smiling with the exception of a boy who was looking very attentively at him with a serious expression. Kim Jungkook.

“I don’t mind.” Taehyung said in a small voice.

“That’s settled, then.” Jackson exclaimed, a little too excited.

+

After a few games of rock-paper-scissors, the teams were settled and they soon started the game.

“Now the thieves should make their escape!” Jackson said, joining the rest of the police. “We’re going to count to a hundred.”

As soon as the first number leaves their mouths, Taehyung and the rest of the thieves start running away, looking for a good place to hide.

‘Police and thief. When was the last time I played this?’ Taehyung thought as he was running.

He found a nearby shop and made his way to the back of the building. ‘For a start, I think I’ll hide here.’

He crouched down and let out a sigh, feeling already a little tired, despite not having run that much. He looked to the opposite direction to where he came from and saw Jungkook crouched down as well, a little to his left, already looking at him.

“Hum…sorry, I didn’t see you there.” Taehyung said in a low voice, looking down. “I’ll go hide somewhere else.” He continued, getting up.

“Wait!” Jungkook grabbed his hand and pulled him down. “It’s not safe now.” He looked to his left, behind him. “The police are around.”

Taehyung got closer to where Jungkook was and peeked behind the building, noticing two boys searching nearby the store. “You’re right. Thanks.” Getting a hum as a response from Jungkook.

Taehyung got back to his original place.

‘But Jungkook looks pretty strong.’ He thought as he observed his back. ‘His arms are rather boney.’ His eyes started diverting elsewhere. ‘His hair at the nape is a little curly. How adorable.’ He noted, smiling. “The smell of shampoo and a tinge odor of sweat.”

Jungkook looked back at Taehyung with a serious but curious face. And that’s when Taehyung noticed that he said the last sentence out loud, a habit that, unfortunately, was always with him.

Taehyung’s face soon turned red as he got more and more embarrassed. ‘What should I do? What if he thinks that I’m some kind of creep? I’m so sorry. I won’t have this type of strange thoughts ever again.’ He quickly thought.

But before Jungkook could say anything regarding that matter, a voice could be heard near the building.

“I think some of them might be hiding behind that shop.”

Both Taehyung and Jungkook held their breaths.

“I’ll go have a look.” The other voice said.

“You stay here, Kim Taehyung.” Jungkook whispered.

“Huh?” Taehyung said, and right after that, Jungkook stood up from his place and started running away, gaining the attention from the two boys who were near them.

“I was right!” One said.

“After him!” The other exclaimed. “Don’t let him get away.” The two of them started running after Jungkook.

“Grab him!” Jackson, who was now getting closer to the boys, said. “Surround him.”

“There’s no getting away.” One of the police said, arms stretched surrounding Jungkook.

Jungkook looked around, trying to find an opening so he could escape. All in vain, when he felt a hand tap his shoulder. “Caught!”

“Well done.” The other two polices said in unison, laughing lightly.

+

“He was caught… Thanks to me.” Taehyung whispered, watching Jungkook seated alone on the ground, in a place that was agreed a while ago to become the jail. “If I remember correctly, if someone from the same group touches him, he can be freed.” He continued, mumbling. “Alright, I’ll save him!” He said, looking determined.

Taehyung got up on his feet and, not wasting any second, started running towards the jail.

‘Wait there, Jungkook. I’m coming!’

Jungkook, noticing the sound of quick footsteps looked to his right, curiously watching Taehyung running in his direction at full speed – his eyes as big as they could get, brown hair all disheveled, probably caused from running and the wind, and mouth completely open in a particular rectangular shape, exhaling enormous amounts of air.

+

The two boys were seated, with arms crossed, on the ground of the jail.

“I had intended to save you.” Taehyung said in a small voice, getting a hum from Jungkook.

‘At times like this, what should I say?’ Taehyung thought, looking at the ground. ‘Would he take the initiative to talk to me?’

“Hey.” Jungkook after a full minute of silence decided to speak. Taehyung looked at him, who was still looking at his own shoes. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He responded, slightly smiling.

“When you came running just now…” He continued, after a while. “I felt… pretty happy.”

‘Jungkook is indeed different from the other boys. I’m totally fine with him. I don’t dislike him.’