The unavoidable fuss of new years was something that everyone loved to hate. The unnecessary noise, the ridiculous restlessness of the people and the evident enthusiasm was more than enough to mark the new year. Of course, it was something which no one had any control over.

The same case went on in Taehyung’s school. Students (be it the freshmen or otherwise) hustled around the school, excited and dreading about the new year. And the vibrant ongoing of the school was accompanied by the bloom of the trees and the cherry blossoms all around the school grounds.

Our orange haired protagonist walked past the chaos and noise towards the stairs. It wasn’t that he hated people or crowds in general but to see so much people in one place made him a little claustrophobic. And since he practically knew no one besides his five friends and some other classmates (he never really bothered about the rest) he decided to head up to the terrace of the school and spend the entire morning assembly there. He figured that the principal and the student council would take up most of the time, instructing the freshmen about the already written down rules of the school.

His choice and inclination for the roof of the school was pretty simple. It was airy and cool and it always made him calm and collected. And this reminded him of Jungkook, the maroon headed boy whose ghost had once invaded his life, turned it upside down and then ended up making him fall completely in love with him, regardless of the fact that he was in fact, a ghost.

Jungkook. He wondered how he was.

The past months had been hard on him. There was the case that Jungkook could’ve died during the treatment. His heart would crumble down into tiny pieces and it would never be the same again even though it could eventually heal. But not knowing anything about anything was a whole different case. He, in reality, had no idea on how the young boy was.

To make things clear, Taehyung used to get updates of Jungkook’s conditions from his mother on a weekly basis. But slowly, as conditions changed and the days passed, the information receded. But there was still a small link between the two. However, knowing that Mrs. Jeon would be having a hard enough time taking care of her son and her profession, Taehyung seconded his requirements. And that was how he eventually lost all contact with Jungkook and his mother. He was completely in the dark about Jungkook’s condition, whether he was fine now, or whether he was dead, or whether he was still in a coma, he had no idea. And Mrs. Jeon’s contact completely disconnected after Christmas season. So he had no idea on what to do about the case.

Yes, news about Mrs. Jeon’s career would often spring up in magazines and newspapers. In fact, her spring collection (which she released in America and not in Korea) proved to be yet another success. But that lady did a very good job protecting her private life from the public sphere. So, Taehyung had no news about his love. And there was no way he could get any such news.

But there was a single light in his heart, a single string of hope which kept him waiting patiently. Yes, Jungkook’s mother had informed him that his conditions kept fluctuating ever so frequently but the last message seemed a little more promising than the rest. “His condition is improving by 20 percent.”

Thus, deciding not to give up just yet, however, Taehyung made the decision to go to America after his exams that year. Yes, it would be hard and almost impossible to achieve this but he was willing. To the ends of the earth was where he would tread for that bunny toothed boy who managed to make him fall for effortlessly. He would definitely go to America and search the whole country if he had to for Jungkook.

Damn, he had a lot of explaining to do to his parents.

As he continued to walk on in thought, he turned his head to see more students in the corridor that he was walking in (surprise, surprise!). The claustrophobic feeling had subsided a little by then and he could breathe a little freely.

His eyes suddenly caught sight of their tall figured, ivory colored hair having president, standing near the end of the corridor. Beside him was the sweet hearted vice president, as usual guiding him and running over what Taehyung guessed was the final preparations of the list of instructions and greetings for the freshmen to welcome them to the school.

The president seemed deep in thought, taking in everything the vice president was saying, nodding occasionally and furrowing his eyebrows the rest of the time. To some people’s eyes, it would’ve seemed that Namjoon was so serious in his work that he wasn’t even listening to the red head mother of their group, Kim Seokjin. But Taehyung had a fair feeling that the president would never do that. Because he knew that deep down inside, the two both loved each other and considered each other their other halves; both physically and otherwise. Honestly speaking, there wasn’t a time when Taehyung had ever seen them separate from each other.

Taehyung remembered the time when the NamJin couple decided to let out their claimed secret of being in a relationship. While Jin was giggling and flustering nervously, Namjoon proudly held his hand and announced to the group that they were indeed a couple who had been dating for the past month or so. Of course, Taehyung guessed that Namjoon had unnecessarily boomed his voice a little louder across the classroom when he announced this (which earned him a slap on the shoulder by his boyfriend) but they never seemed happier. Namjoon continued to hold Jin’s hand even as the overhearing people came to congratulate them about their relationship.

They’re so much like a married couple, Taehyung mused. He mentally checked that he would come to their marriage even without an invitation.

Jin chose that moment to look across the ends of the hall and Taehyung was somehow pleased to attain eye contact with him. The younger, as a sign of respect to his hyung, tipped his head a little, mentally wishing him a good morning. And as if they had telepathic powers, they let their presumptuous minds converse on their own.

“Hi hyung.”

“Taehyung, how are you?”

“Fine. I’ve been fine. Are you doing work related to the freshers?”

Jin gave a smile which only indicated the affirmative. Taehyung smiled back. He understood the hardships of being the members of the student council. Then again, it must be a little more enjoyable when your boyfriend and closest friend was right next to you, always beside you.

The orange head also caught sight of the dimpled president already looking at him so he gave a similar tip of the head to him. Namjoon simply smiled back before being called away by one of the staff members for some work. Taehyung didn’t forget their looks of regard they gave him as they left for their work.

Yeah, they should definitely get married.

The orange head turned at one corner and was closer to reaching the stairway which led to the school roof when he saw, in the distance, another interesting sight.

It was a given that Jimin was his closest friend after Hoseok. But despite them being close friends, they had never really shared much about their lives especially about their partners and boyfriends. Regardless of this, however, they got along fine and enjoyed each other’s company, knowing about each other the basic information and data about one another. However, he was quite surprised to see the baby faced 95 liner in front of his locker in the crowded hall with none other than Min Yoongi right beside him.

Of course, the initial and logical reasoning of Min Yoongi being there right beside him would be that he was annoying the younger as usual. But when Taehyung saw that the younger (despite looking a little annoyed) was not retaliating like usual, the orange head had to pause and raise his eyebrows a little. And what he saw didn’t disappoint him one bit.

Jimin rolled his eyes in annoyance and even huffed out a breath of air as Yoongi spoke something. But the younger had a tinge of a smile whenever he responded or even so much as rolled his eyes. And what interested Taehyung the most was that the pale faced, slit eyed (demon) student had the guts to whisper something right into the slightly smaller’s ear, making the younger flush very adorably. And being well versed in martial arts, Jimin could do something as easy flipping the intruder of personal space to the ground before you could say “What”. But Jimin didn’t do anything about it. If at all, he rolled his eyes once more (Jimin had a weird habit of dismissing things by rolling his eyes) and simply smiled that eye disappearing smile of his. Kim Taehyung seriously needed to ask Park Jimin what was going on between the two of them later on. Like, when did they become so lovey-dovey with each other that they were now whispering love notes into each other’s ear? At least that was what Taehyung assumed Yoongi said considering how sweet they were behaving. Which was far from the truth. Yoongi, in reality had just asked Jimin if he would prefer eating lunch or dinner for their next date (wait a sec, this is close to a love message).

The deep voiced male needed to have a serious interrogation time with Jimin about this. But he decided that it wasn’t the time for it… At least, not yet. He was a little too distracted by his own mixed emotions about everything and he wasn’t in the mood to discuss anything serious. Besides, who was he to poke his nose into Jimin’s business? If he was going to share news about himself, he would.

Taehyung finally turned the final corner to reach the stairs. But right before he reached the flight of staircase which would (finally) lead him to his personal haven at the school, he bumped into someone. Right as he was about to bow down and apologize earnestly, he recognized that the person he had bumped into was none other than Hoseok and beside him was a very cute looking boy, a little shorter than Hoseok himself. Taehyung recalled him as Song Sangwon, Hoseok’s best friend. And was that a bundle of chocolates in the blonde’s small and frail looking hands?

“Are you alright?” he heard the blonde as both him and Hoseok, his focus concentrating more on the eldest amongst the three. Taehyung simply apologized, remembering what Hoseok had told him the last time they had spoken: “I don’t want to talk to you ever again.” He didn’t want to bother the elder nor his best friend due to his clumsiness.

“I’m fine, Yano,” he heard Hoseok laugh. Then he heard him call out his name. “Taehyung? You?”

It wouldn’t be a lie to say that Taehyung was surprised. But he concealed it well enough through that wide grin of his. “I’m fine, hyung.”

A relieved reply came. “That good.” The eldest of the three then turned to the shorter blonde, picking up a bar of snickers from his over filled hands and opened it. He quickly plopped the chocolate into his mouth and gave Yano a bite.

The blonde took a bite and with his filled mouth, asked Taehyung if he would want one. Taehyung simply shook his head and politely smiled. “Dude,” Hoseok suddenly interfered. “Don’t talk while you’re eating.” He pulled out a tissue from god knows where and wiped the pouting boy’s lips. Taehyung wasn’t sure but he thought he felt a spark between these two. His mind and heart were in agreement when he assumed that they were a couple and the orange head couldn’t be happier for Hoseok. Of course what Taehyung thought of wasn’t true. But he wasn’t wrong either. He was warmer to the truth than Hoseok or Yano would both know.

“Not staying for the assembly?” Sangwon asked Taehyung, his lips fully clean by then. Hoseok had done a good job wiping it slate clean. Taehyung confirmed with a shake of the head. “I’m heading up to the roof for some fresh air.”

Hoseok wished him a “bye” right before they parted ways. Taehyung knew that their relationship wasn’t what they shared before but they were at least talking. And that wasn’t all that bad. Maybe the new year would bring him new beginnings too.

The cold breeze of the spring air was taken in very deeply by the orange head the moment he opened the slightly ajar door. This was something he definitely missed during winters. The biting wind was definitely different from the refreshing breeze of spring, no doubt about it.

Taehyung made his way to the edges of the roof when he realized that he wasn’t alone on the roof. There was someone right at the edge of the roof, holding on to the protective fencings and looking down towards the swarming students.

The flawless faced student noticed that the person already present prior to his arrival had rich ebony hair. His stature was well built but he seemed a little shorter than him. Even from just looking at his back, he could see that the stranger had worn his uniform neatly, tucking every ends of the shirt into his neatly pressed trousers.

A light wind blew past the two silent strangers, carrying with it some petals of the falling flowers. The stranger, Taehyung noticed, chose that moment to take a deep breath and turn back only to face the orange head. And what he saw surprised the soul out of him.

Jungkook. It was Jungkook! Or at least it looked like him.

The student before him gave him a blank, unknowing stare then decided to smile a wonderfully beautiful smile, displaying those adorable bunny teeth at the front. And this made Taehyung sure of certain things.

Still in a trance, Taehyung didn’t even bother returning the smile, only staring at the person before him. It was Jungkook. He had grown a little taller and a little thinner but that was definitely him. Those same sparkling eyes, that fair smooth skin, those slightly parted lips; yes. It was definitely Jungkook.

“Hi,” the raven haired student suddenly said and smiled even brighter. His tie hung a little loose over his chest and wasn’t what their female teachers would call ‘neat’ but hey, who cares?

Giving his head a quick shake to wake himself from the daze, Taehyung returned an unsure smile. He was still unsure if this was a dream or not. And if it was, he never wanted to wake up.

“Are you also a freshman?”

Taehyung heard his heart stop beating once again. The familiar feeling rushed up to him like the scent of Jungkook’s perfume as he realized something. Jungkook had no idea who he was.

Controlling his tears of both sadness and happiness, he managed a grin. “No. I’m not.”

“Oh,” the other replied and his face fell a little. “Second year?” he asked again. Taehyung simply nodded.

Taehyung decided to speak and continue the conversation as long as he could. “I’m Kim Taehyung,” he introduced, extending his arm for a handshake. It was abrupt and awkward but that was all he could do to keep his cool and not pull the boy into a rib crushing embrace.

The ravenette seemed unsure for a split second, as if he was contemplating on something. But like mentioned, it was only for a split second. He quickly recovered and accepted the shake. “I’m Jeon Jungkook.”

The orange haired male felt that familiar ba-dump when their hands came into contact and he knew that it was indeed his Jungkook that was right before him. All other things went irrelevant as he continued holding onto the hand as if his life depended on it.

“Uhhh,” Jungkook mumbled a little but didn’t pull back. Yes, he was a little surprised but he couldn’t help but feel that the stranger before him, this Kim Taehyung ssi was someone that he knew before. He wanted desperately to ask if he was in the same school as him previously, before he transferred to this school or if he knew or met him somewhere before. But realizing that it would be just weird, he decided upon not asking anything, instead focusing on how to take his hands away from the handsome neon haired stranger.

Kim Taehyung. That name definitely did sound familiar. Where had he heard that before?

“You’re a freshman right?” Every word spoken out by him under the pretense of him not knowing the wide eyed angel killed a little piece of him but he had to continue this façade. He wouldn’t want to freak out Jungkook. After all, they had never even officially met before.

The freshman nodded.

Taehyung smiled handsomely, speaking as if everything was fine. He finally pulled his hand away while he was at it. “I know this is weird but what made you come to this school?”

Jungkook chuckled a little as if he had heard a very funny joke. Taehyung knit his eye brows. He didn’t understand it.

“Actually,” the slightly husky male spoke with that sparkling smile of his. “It was my mom who chose this school for me.” He didn’t know what gave him the courage to speak to a complete stranger about his life but he did so anyway. There was something about him that made him feel very safe; very secure and sound. “I came back from America just a month back.”

“America?” Taehyung faked surprise. He had to keep the act going. “Yeah,” Jungkook replied innocently. “I went there for some medical purpose.”

Taehyung just had to ask. “Medical ailments? Are you alright now?”

Jungkook smiled cheerily, touched by the concern. “Yeah. I’m all healed.”

The elder sighed in relief. He then quickly recovered himself and asked why his mom would choose their school instead of other prestigious ones. “I have no idea,” Jungkook replied. “But she did say something about creating new beginnings.”

“Oh.” Honestly, Taehyung wanted to cry so much because he got the fact on why Mrs. Jeon had chosen that school. “Weird, right?” Jungkook chuckled awkwardly. Taehyung simply smiled back handsomely and shook his head knowingly. “I think your mom’s right.”

And with that, Jungkook noticed some things. Kim Taehyung ssi was insanely beautiful. It was not that ordinary handsomeness and beauty but there was something in those shimmering eyes which made him feel at home, and it made him feel so excited as well as calmed at the same time. The race of emotions he was feeling at the moment was contradicting and confusing but he didn’t think that he disliked it.

He was skeptical of his mom’s suggestion of new beginnings up until that point. But feeling ridiculously nervous and serene at the same time in Taehyung’s company, who by the way is an utter unknown stranger, he disregarded his skepticism against his mother’s thoughts. After all, new beginnings are the portals to new stories, weren’t they?

A/N:

...and that marks the real end of A Complicated Regard. I honestly hope you enjoyed this as much as I did writing it...

To all my readers who have stuck on up till now, I thank you whole heartedly. There's nothing sweeter than dedicated readers. I love you all.

And yes, since it's christmas, I decided to let Kookie live (Just joking. I already knew that he was going to survive from the start. Call me an but I love seeing you guys suffer.. XD) I apologise if it didnt reach your expectations though. Suggestions to improve it (NOT alternative endings) are appreciated... <3

Anyhoo, Merry Christmas to you all. If at all you intend to celebrate, celebrate well... (Like whaaaat?)

Once again, thank you all so much for all the love and support. I really do love you all (and that's saying a lot, coming from me)

Indefinitely,

TypicalFangirl09

(Timelessly, eternally)