"Jungkook, wait!" Taehyung doubled over, hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath. "Wait, please. No one is chasing us."

Jungkook stopped. Of course, no one was chasing them. No one had even been following them. Without word, he turned his attention to the ridges on his palms. When had they become so soft?

Something touched his shoulder. Jungkook jerked back.

Taehyung pulled away, a pair of widened eyes quickly reverting to their original frantic state. "S-sorry." He leaned forward and lost his balance. Jungkook reached out to steady him but Taehyung shooed him away. "I've got this," he said in between ragged gasps.

After a moment's rest, he cocked his head up at Jungkook whose attention had turned to the light gray dusting on Taehyung's scalp. "Can't imagine you guys enjoy running for fun?" He chuckled half-heartedly in response to his lackluster joke.

A jolt of pain zipped through Jungkook's skull. He threw his head back and closed his eyes. Now was not the time for another of his stupid headaches. He scrunched his eyebrows together.

"Oh. What's this I see?"

Jungkook's heart sped up. Not now. He wasn't in the mood for banter with the only person he thought capable of matching his intellectual wit.

"A , Jungkook? In the middle of an alleyway? Is the that good that you can't wait?"

Jungkook nearly tripped over his own two feet in his haste to put as much distance between himself and Taehyung.

"Not a preference I personally enjoy but-"

"Shut up, Soohee. It's not what you think. God, don't you ever clean out that filthy mouth of yours?"

Soohee stopped and crossed her arms over her shapely bust with an exaggerated harumph. Taehyung pressed the back of his hand against his cheek before proceeding to stand up straight. He turned and looked at Soohee.

Soohee's eyes widened momentarily. She nudged Jungkook on the side. "Where did you find a slab of meat as fine as him? I've been looking longer than you ever will and all I get are guys with grated cheese for hair."

"A, he's not mine and B, you're willing to sleep with anyone who's willing to drill his into you."

"He's got a nice , too."

Jungkook sighed. He tried to remember a time where Soohee wasn't wild about boys. His brain registered no such memory.

"Jungkook!"

Jungkook glowered at her. "What?"

"I asked, Mind if I play with him?"

"Don't!"

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh. Why is that?"

Jungkook swallowed hard. Why had he been so quick to tell her no? He reasoned with himself that Soohee was the most dangerous of the savagest predators. He had all right to protect Taehyung from her.

She cocked her head to the side, a little grin spreading across her thin lips. "Could it be my baby god brother is in love?"

"I mean no, not unless you have his explicit permission."

Soohee took a step back, one hand pressed to her cheek as if she had been slapped. "Who do you take me for? A molester?"

"I wouldn't put it past you," Jungkook mumbled, his wandering gaze landing on a familiar pair of black and white sneakers. He looked up to see a fidgeting Taehyung standing before him. The moment his eyes caught on Taehyung's, the blond burst into a grin.

Soohee pushed off the wall, a well-manicured finger coming to a rest on the middle of her lips. She stepped in front of Jungkook and asked Taehyung: "What's your name?"

"Taehyung."

"Huh? No family name?"

"Kim!" Jungkook blurted out. "Kim Taehyung."

Soohee tilted her head at Jungkook but otherwise said nothing in regards to his outburst. "On that note, oppa, what do you say we drop the formalities and call each other by our first names? I'm Soohee."

Taehyung nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Anything else?" Jungkook asked. His headache had grown exponentially in the minutes since Soohee's arrival.

"Actually, yes." She turned to Taehyung with a leer. "Would you mind a girl like me?" She pressed a hand to his chest. Jungkook rolled his eyes. "I know all the right spots so you wouldn't have to worry about a thing. That is if you're inexperienced." She looked up at him through her dark lashes.

"I..."

Jungkook shook his head. Why couldn't Soohee do this on her own time? He was beginning to turn away when Taehyung spoke up. "I love Jungkook!"

Jungkook stopped. His eyes fell on the brick wall before him. What had that idiot just said?

Soohee smiled. "I see." She drew her hand away.

The sudden rapid thumping in Jungkook's chest had dissolved by the time he came to a stop beside Soohee. "Ignore what he has to say. He's been traumatized."

"Hmm. I don't think that's the case." Leaning into Jungkook's ear, she whispered: "He must not have gotten into your pants, yet." She burst into laughter even before the blush on the back of Jungkook's neck could form.

"Soohee," Jungkook said between gritted teeth.

She slowed her laughing. "Hey. No need to pull out the beast. I'm not the one that needs to receive your pent-up frustration." She turned back to Taehyung who was standing at ease by a trash can. "On another note, I was just heading to the pub. Why don't you two join me?"

"Pug?" Taehyung asked.

"Pub."

Eyes alight, Taehyung repeated the word.

Soohee made a face.

"Let's go!" Taehyung reached for her arm and together, the two hurried on ahead. Jungkook stared at their retreating figures with an incredulous look. Did they really intend to drink the night away? More importantly, who was Taehyung to get excited over a pub?

Taehyung stopped at the corner and called him forward. Soohee leaned into his ear. Eyes still on Jungkook, Taehyung bobbed his head along to her words. He had just enough time to wave goodbye before Sohee pushed him around the bend.

"Don't fall too far behind!" Soohee called over her shoulder before she too disappeared around the bend.

Jungkook groaned. Alcohol and a headache? Disaster. Alcohol, a headache, and Soohee? Hell.

But now Taehyung was in on the equation. Was this cause for concern?

#

Jungkook arrived to find the pub unchanged. Wooden tables encircled the centermost pool table. A couple of sleek booths were set into the wall closest to the door. The tart smell of sweat intermixed with the dingy smell of grease assaulted Jungkook's nose. He maneuvered his way past groups of clustered men who couldn't be bothered to move aside less they miss their favorite team's possible home run.

The roar of excited baseball fans swallowed the frantic beating of his heart. He approached the pub's makeshift coffee/rest area. Taehyung was staring at the glass cup before him. Soohee was cradling a beer bottle to her chest.

"Jungkook!" She turned her attention to him. He took the bar stool next to her. "What are you doing picking up strays?" She gave Taehyung—whose gaze was still focused on the perspiring glass—a pointed look.

"Maybe before assaulting me with a question I have no intention