There were refreshments after the performance in the gallery and it allowed the audience to meet the cast or simply for them to mingle amongst each other. Jungkook did not see his grandfather in the crowd and decided that the elder Jeon must have gone home, which meant Jungkook would have to be doing likewise via cab.

As always with parties, Jungkook stood in a corner, near a potted plant. His friends had jumped him in Kai’s dressing room. He had received their congratulations with not much enthusiasm and they must have sensed it because they told him they would see him at the party before leaving the room. After the door closed on them, Jungkook spent a long moment looking at himself in the mirror, not taking his Romeo costume off.

To Jungkook’s eyes, the party was nothing but a moving mass of men in suits and women in evening gowns, holding their wine glasses by the top of the stalk, conversing and laughing politely. The chandelier seemed to mock him with their sparkling and nothing in the selection of gourmet finger food enticed his appetite. He would have loved to slip out when he had the chance but he deigned to remain, he didn’t know why.

The group of well-dressed men and women ahead in Jungkook’s line of vision parted and through them came Kai and Taehyung. Romero was with them, introducing Taehyung, supposedly the “town boy”, to a few of those in that group. Taehyung did not seem to have seen Jungkook as he raised a hand in greeting and received their praises with characteristic ease. However, Kai spotted Jungkook by the plant and for a moment, Jungkook thought Kai was going to send a glower his way.

Kai turned away and said a few words to the people who were talking to Taehyung. They smiled, nodded and moved away. As Jungkook watched, Kai moved to stand behind Taehyung, took the younger teen by the shoulders and, his eyes shielded behind a cover of brunette bangs, bodily turned Taehyung until the orange haired boy was facing the direction in which Jungkook was standing in. On seeing him, Taehyung’s eyes widened in recognition. Jungkook saw Kai let go of Taehyung’s shoulders, before giving him a light push towards Jungkook. Then the senior turned and walked away, disappearing into the crowd like a shadow.

Taehyung turned to look for Kai but saw nothing of him even when he craned his neck and stood on tiptoe. Seeing the futility of it, he turned back and made a beeline for Jungkook. Jungkook wanted to make a run for it because he was sure he would not know what to say to Taehyung, not after what happened that night and not before what was going to happen the next day. But he remained where he was and Taehyung was soon standing in front him, in the shirt and pants Jungkook had seen him in at the previous after-performance refreshment.

“Hey, Jungkook,” Taehyung greeted him quietly.

Jungkook found that he could not look Taehyung in the eye. “Hey,” he replied, focusing on a spot of carpet near Taehyung’s feet.

“Excellent performance today,” Taehyung went on unperturbed by Jungkook’s behavior. “Never knew you could act so well.”

Taehyung chuckled and took a sip of his Coke. Jungkook took the opportunity to look at Taehyung and saw that Taehyung was gazing out of the window nearest to them as if he was contemplating it. Jungkook followed his gaze for a moment before turning back to the orange haired boy.

“Hmmm,” was all he said, thought it came out a little softer than it normally would.

“I thought you were really going to kill Kai,” Taehyung continued, turning back to Jungkook. “From the sound of it, that must have been some swordfight.”

“Yeah,” tried Jungkook to converse. “It was…good.”

“Yeah.” Then Taehyung’s eyes wandered to the window again.

They were silent after that, both aware that they avoiding all the things that mattered, not addressing all the issues and question their performance had raised—the kisses, the handholding and the touches; their feelings which had been revealed with great clarity in the span of the five acts. Yet, the way their conversation was going, they might as well have been strangers talking about the weather.

“I really like acting with you, Jungkook.” Jungkook looked up at Taehyung from the cup he had been turning in his hand. “We’ve never had real rehearsals but…I seemed to know what your next move was going to be. It’s not premeditated. It’s like I was psychic.”  

Jungkook exhaled what could have been the infant of a laugh.

“Freaky,” he said, smiling down at Taehyung. “I seemed to felt the same way.”

“Maybe, in your new school, you could join the Drama Club,” suggested Taehyung.

New school. The innocent words felt like….a cannon ball coming down onto his chest.

“Maybe.”

There was another silence filled with words that could not be uttered and actions which never came into fruition beyond the imagination. They couldn’t even look at each other properly.

Finally, in the bid to be helpful, somewhat, Jungkook said, “Tomorrow’s Monday. Don’t you have homework to do?”

Given what they had just have through, that was the lamest thing Jungkook could have said and once the words were out, Jungkook realized the implication of those words, how they must have sounded to Taehyung. It alarmed him because the last thing he wanted was for Taehyung to feel like Jungkook wanted him out of his hair.

“Oh yeah.” And the hurt and disappointment Jungkook feared was just barely perceivable in Taehyung’s tone. “I have a report to write for Romero, about my experience in the Drama Club. It is due next week, though…” Catching himself, Taehyung perked up and cried, “But I could start early!”

Jungkook lowered his eyes to the carpet again. “Yeah, you could.”

He saw Taehyung’s feet take a step back. He looked up into Taehyung’s smile.

“Keep in touch, ol’ pal,” Taehyung said, giving him a light punch on a shoulder before turning around and walking away.

Jungkook watched Taehyung’s back disappear into the crowd. He stood there a moment longer before he pushed himself off the wall, wove through the crowd, stepping out of the theatre where he got into a cab which was waiting at the taxi stand and was taken home.

There was always something strange about those rare Monday morning where you wake up and you do not go on with your usual routine to start off the week. Jungkook completed his usual workout routine and showered, but there was no uniform hanging on the handle of his wardrobe door. For a bleary moment, shirtless, towel-clad Jungkook thought the maid forgot about it, but then he saw his traveling case at the front of the wardrobe and it dawned on home that that day was not a normal Monday. That day was the day he was going to leave.

He had told his friends not to meet him to say goodbye or anything and they had understood. He had not told Taehyung the same thing but Taehyung… must have understood enough from their conversation the day before to not bother Jungkook about something as petty as goodbyes. The morning was oddly silent and for an even odder second, he thought he heard Taehyung’s voice calling him from below his window. He looked and saw no one. Not even the gardener who was always there t the rose bushes.

Jungkook dressed in his usual outfit: a t-shirt, black jeans, and his favorite shoes. The outfit was not far off from the one he work to watch Taehyung’s first performance, the one where he saw Kai kiss Taehyung. Kai. Jungkook could not help but think about the senior and his actions the day before, how Kai had pushed Taehyung towards him, as if it was a final act of sacrifice on the senior’s part. Jungkook could not help but chuckle humorlessly. What use was such an abdication if Jungkook was going to leave?

He could have told Taehyung that yes, they could keep in touch. However, even his friends were apprehensive about suggesting it. He thought that it was for the best that Taehyung and himself kept things apart. Maybe when they meet again, they could pick up where they left off just as they had left off just as they had before, after Taehyung’s sudden return. Yet, at the back of his mind, he understood that they were not kids anymore, that things had changed between them. Taehyung was no longer that silly kid who used to wear horrible outfits and Jungkook was no longer the silly kid who smooshed Taehyung’s face into the dirt on an almost regular basis. Everything that was spoken between them, every touch of their skin, every look they shared was electrified with hopes and desires they never knew they could sire.

Being alone in a room, one was bound to think damaging thoughts, so Jungkook took himself out of the room and wandered around the mansion he was not going to see once he stepped out of the door and into the waiting car.

Jungkook would have preferred to avoid that room, the sitting room, but as it was with a lot of things regarding Taehyung, his body possessed a mind of its own and he soon found himself standing in front of it. The door was agar, so he pushed it open to let himself in.

He could just make out the shape of the chairs against which Taehyung and himself leaned whenever they were reading the play together underneath the white shrouds. The same white shroud was stretched like a drum skin over the small table which had once supported all of Taehyung’s chocolates and tea-time indulgences. The carpet was still spread below them and Jungkook couldn’t help removing a shoe to rub the sole of his foot against it the way Taehyung liked to do whenever he came over. The carpet was still luxuriant and Jungkook could have sworn that it was still warm from Taehyung’s bum. Why, if Jungkook listened hard enough, he could hear Taehyung’s stupid jokes and the tinkle of his laugh.

Jungkook caught himself and immediately put on his shoe with another humorless chuckle. Everywhere he looked in the room, he saw the ghosts of Taehyung, as if the older teen was dead when in truth, it was Jungkook who was leaving, and it was his ghosts which would haunt this room, the school hallways down which he had walked unchallenged, his books under his arm, his hands in his blazer pockets. But it was only Taehyung he saw everywhere; echoes of Taehyung, shadows of Taehyung—ghosts, which he knew would not leave him no matter what the distance he tried to put between them.

The room was getting too eerie for him to stay in any longer. He had to leave.

When he was about to turn around, something in the east side of the room caught his attention. It was a door. That ought not to be anything strange because Jungkook was not aware of its presence all the time he had lived in the mansion. Except that the door was always locked, apparently on the elder Jeon’s order. What was strange about the door then was that the door which was always locked was actually gaping open. Anybody would be drawn by it simply by the fact alone.

Jungkook turned back and made for that door. He stopped in the threshold. The room was large as the sitting room he had just come from, only it was less sparse. Bookshelves lined the walls and stood parallel sentinels in the center of the room, all of them packed full of books, books which seemed to belong better in an eighteenth century personal library than in the current one: ancient leather—and linen—bounds with gold lettering on their spines, all of them giving the room a particular musty smell.

In one corner there was space clear of shelves and in that space stood a table, rather like a desk meant for writing and not those low coffee table types. Around the table were comfortable- looking chairs with antique embroidered cushioning. In one of the chairs sat Henry, wearing his reading glasses and perusing a book.

When Jungkook stepped into the room, Henry sat up straighter, closed the book and started to stand.

“No,” Jungkook told him, gesturing for him to sit down again.

Henry stood anyway and removed his glasses, chuckling as he did so.

“My apologies, Master Jungkook,” he said. “I got carried away.”

“What is this room?” asked Jungkook, looking around him, curious despite himself.

“It is a library,” Henry pointed out with a little smile.

“I didn’t know we had a library.” Looking at Henry, Jungkook asked again, “Why is this room kept locked?”

Henry smiled sadly at this and his gaze fell to the book he was reading before Jungkook came in. Jngkook followed his gaze but standing quite a distance, he could not make out the title. As if sensing this, Henry held up the book so that Jungkook could see the title better. It was a children’s book: Anne of Green Gables, a collector’s leather-bound gift edition.

“This was your mother’s favorite,” Henry told him. “Read it every time she was down. Read it out loud when she was pregnant with you.”

Gesturing all around him at the books in the library, Henry added, “But then again, she loved everything in this room. Even tried reading Copernicus’ theory of the planets’ revolution around the sun in its original language. Couldn’t pronounce half of the words, what more understand them.”

Henry chuckled at the memory.

“This room,” Jungkook began, intrigued. “This was…hers?”

Henry nodded and started for a shelf, carrying the book with him. He turned his back to Jungkook as he slid the book back where he had taken it.

“Your grandfather…” said Henry, still not facing Jungkook. “He gave this room to your mother as a wedding gift. Loved her, like a daughter he never had.”

“My grandfather?”Jungkook could not help but say skeptically.

Henry turned around and smiled. “Hard to believe isn’t it?”

Absently, running a hand along the spines of the books, Henry added, “She was a librarian before she married your father. She dreamt of owning her own library and when your grandfather knew this, he had the library in the other mansion transferred over here. I still remember how she looked when she came in here for the first time, still in her wedding dress…From then on she would be here almost every day when your father was at work.”

There was a pause before Henry went on again, “Sometimes your grandfather sat in here with her, not saying much…just the two of them reading, but you can tell that they were perfectly comfortable with each other. You can imagine how it was when the news of the accident came. Your grandfather had this room locked and gave me the key before he left.”

“My mother was a librarian?” Jungkook asked, his brows furrowing in puzzlement. “Then why did my grandfather give Taehyung such a hard time?”

Henry was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Have you ever wondered what your mother was like, Jungkook?” asked Henry, taking out to glance over the preface.

Jungkook lowered his eyes to the wooden floor, on which not a speck of dust could be seen. Of his parents, Jungkook had only seen a few slightly yellowed photographs in an old album. Apparently, he had his father’s hair and his mother’s eyes…but none of their demeanors. In every photograph, his father was always smiling and his mother, always laughing as if every shot was a candid one. As would any orphan, Jungkook always wondered what they were like, what having parents was like…and of course, what his mother was like.

“A ball of energy she was,” Henry told him. “Always so enthusiastic about doing things. So excited about practically everything. The first time your farther brought her home to introduce her to your grandfather, she was not frightened like most people would be. Just bounced up to the venerable elder Jeon and proffered her hand as if it was the most natural thing to do.”

Henry replaced the book he had been holding and went over to the only window in the library, gesturing for Jungkook to come over.

“You see that garden down there?” asked Henry, pointing to the said spot when Jungkook was beside him at the window. “She used to play down there…can you believe it? Play there, a grown woman of her age. Her favorites were make-believe games. Be a mermaid, or a hero whatever, and she would somehow draw you father and grandfather in to join her. Her magnetism was a force to reckon with, I assure you.”

Jungkook did not look up at Henry, but only continued to stare at a patch of grass in the garden. He tried to imagine what she must have been like, a grown woman playing inane games in the garden. She must have laughed a lot and she must have made others laugh a lot.

“In this mansion, your grandfather lost a beloved wife…his only son and your mother, the only other person who could make him see the better part of life. What do you think that does to a person, Jungkook?” Henry said quietly. Placing a hand on the young man’s shoulder, he added, “It is human to err and your grandfather is only human.”

Jungkook wanted to say something, anything…but words failed him at the moment. However, he was spared from having to come up with a response when one of the maids came rushing into the room, stopping at the threshold and spent the good part of a minute trying to catch her breath.

“Master Jungkook,” she gasped, her hand on her bosom, “your grandfather…he…he’s leaving.”

That jolted Jungkook out of his initial stupor. “What?” he cried, staring at her. “But I thought we were leaving only after lunch!”

The maid looked like she knew the answer as much as Jungkook. Jungkook exchanged a look with Henry and the two of them hurried past her, out of the sitting room, down the staircase, not stopping until they were out on the porch, where the elder Jeon was having a word with one of the staff members who were seeing him off. He turned when he heard Jungkook and Henry arrive.

“Master Jeon,” Henry said breathlessly.

“Grandfather,” Jungkook spoke at the same time.

The old man turned his body fully until he was facing Jungkook, who took a few steps towards him but not quite near enough for physical contact. His grandfather looked as severe as ever, standing straighter than any man his age, his hands folded over the knob of his cane.

“I will be leaving for the first mansion,” he said by way of explanation.

“I’m still not—“ Jungkook began.

The elder Jeon turned and started to walk away. “Alone.”

Henry looked over to the servants who had lined up just outside the door but even they were as puzzled as he was.

“You were retained once Jungkook, don’t let it happen again,” The old man went on, not stopping his descend to the waiting car at the foot of the steps.

Then the elder Jeon stopped and looked up though not back to where Jungkook and the servants were standing. “The library is yours to do as you wish,” he added.

All Jungkook could see was the elder Jeon’s back, but whatever his grandfather was feeling, the severity of the voice never wavered. Yet, there was enough in it to make Jungkook take a few steps forward until he was right at the top of the steps and call out, “Grandfather.”

It would have made sense for Jungkook to embrace his grandfather or thank him, but both Jeons were not used to those kinds of things. For the old man, affection was a thing so ancient that it was almost lost under layers of sediment that was his day-to-day living, faded and almost forgotten. For Jungkook, affection was something newly revealed, like scenic hills after a fog had lifted. Whatever it was, for the Jeons, the world of tender emotion was still largely alien to them.

The old man stopped when he heard his name called, but still did not look back. With a “Hmm”, he started down the steps again and must not have looked up at his grandson until the car door, with its tinted windows, was shut on him by the chauffeur.

Henry joined Jungkook at the top of the stairs to watch the back of the fast diminishing car, wishing, deep in his heart, the elder Jeon a safe journey home, hopefully to one where no ghosts lurked at every turn. Perhaps, just maybe, the older Jeon was wishing the same in his own quiet way.

The moment the car disappeared through the gate, Jungkook turned and started for the door.

“The furniture, Henry,” he said to his butler. It was the first thing he could think of. He wanted all the white shrouds off the furniture in the sitting room. He wanted the curtains back up and the windows thrown open.

Henry smiled down at the young master and replied, “ I will see to it immediately, Master Jungkook, but you will need to get going to school.”

Jungkook stopped and looked up at his butler. “School?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Henry gave no answer, only smiled and went up to the servants to assign them their duties. It seemed that none of them had, much to their relief, been made redundant after all and there was much to be done.

Jungkook watched Henry disappear into the mansion, along with the rest of the servants, and suddenly it dawned on him what the butler meant. The discovery of the library, the part of his grandfather’s history he had never known, the surprise from the old man’s departure for the first mansion alone, and the exchange between his grandfather and himself, all lent to a momentary lapse in Jungkook’s line of thinking. He had not thought about what he ought to do next, with regards to…school everything pertaining to it.

His legs moved on their own accord, taking him down the steps and along the path leading to the gate at breakneck speed, and his mind became a stubborn blank. He would not think about what his actions would be, what he would say. He was only going to act, just act.

He didn’t know how fast he must have ran, but the next thing he knew, he was at the school gate, beads of perspiration rolling down the side of his face, tracing its lineament to his chin. It was still early yet; it wasn’t even the first break, making him fell like such a fool for rushing over. The students were not to be dismissed for a few hours yet, so he decided to occupy his time, loitering around the town until it was dismissal.

The hours practically ticked by. He could have called Baekhyun or something, tell him to come down to the gate, and he knew the black haired boy was unscrupulous enough to do such a thing in the middle of class, but digging his pockets for his cell phone came up empty. So he had to wait…and when the hour finally came, he was already at the school gate for a good hour and a half.

His friends took another hour to come out. Jungkook had blanked on seeing Yoongi or Namjoon at least because they did not have dorm rooms, but it just so happened that all his friends were going out for ice cream, so Baekhyun and Chanyeol were there as well. All of them stared at him when they saw him approach from the side of the school gate.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Baekhyun cried the moment he could find his voice.

“Yeah, we were all going out to mope with ice cream and all!” Chanyeol put in. “Damn, you just spoiled the mood.”

“Where’s Taehyung?” demanded Jungkook, ignoring their remarks.

There was silence and then Baekhyun spoke, “He wasn’t in class today.”

“He wasn't in school?” Jungkook said, staring at them. “You mean he’s been at home the whole time?”

His friends did not seem to get the gravity of the situation until Chanyeol replied, “Well…where else could he be if he wasn’t in school?”

“He wasn’t on the roof,” Namjoon said. “I was there with my notebook during break.”

“Yeah, we didn’t even see him at break either,” Yoongi put in helpfully. “You know how he is with food. He would never miss it. I can ask Jimin for you if you want. He would only be changing for his Track-and-Field training right about now.”

Jungkook did not stay to hear more. He spun on his heels and took off in the direction of the Kim’s house.

He could hear Yoongi’s voice call out, “We’re glad you’re staying, Jungkook!” and Chanyeol’s random cry of, “Remember to wear a !”, but did not turn to look or respond.

Baekhyun was strangely quiet, only watched his friend’s back with a knowing curl of one side of his lips, his arms crossed over his chest, very Jungkook-like.

Jungkook skidded to a halt outside the Kim’s gate and even so was still slightly breathless when he was finally through it and standing before the door. He took another deep breath before knocking. No one answered for a while and he tried again. Taehyung had to be home. He had to be.

Jungkook’s heart gave a jolt when the door finally slid open, but there was no one there. Jungkook frowned and was about to call out when he heard a voice saying from somewhere below him, “What do you want?”

On looking down, Jungkook saw the grey-haired that was Taehyung’s little brother. He couldn’t decide on whether to feel frustrated that it was not the direct confrontation he’d hope for or glad that at least he had some time to word himself properly before he did meet Taehyung.

“I’m here to see Taehyung,” he told Jackson.

“We’re not interested in anything you’re selling,” Jackson replied.

“I’m not selling anything!” Jungkook cried.

However, Jackson was unperturbed. “Yeah right, that’s what they always say. Now scram, we don’t want to buy anything.”

With that he started to close the door. Jungkook lashed out a hand and slammed it back open that it did not affect Jackson in any way at all.

“Jackson!” he roared into the grey-head’s face.

“Sheesh, salesmen are so persistent nowadays,” said Jackson. “What do you want?”

Jungkook took another deep breath( because he really needed it). He felt a vein throb in his temple.

“Jackson, I am not a salesman,” he explained, trying his best to be calm.

“You might be one. You never know.” Jackson was casually unwrapping a sweet as he said that and this he popped into his mouth.

“I. Need. To. See. Taehyung.” Jungkook gritted.

“Why didn’t you say so before? Come on in!”

If Jungkook had been a chainsaw-wielding mass murderer and if Taehyung was not the most importantly person in his life, this boy was going to be one of the first to go. He followed the boy’s lead and stepped into the house, allowing himself to be lead down a familiar corridor and to a room at the end of it.

Jackson did not give Jungkook a moment to check himself before he threw open the door to reveal Taehyung sprawled on his stomach on his bed, reading a book, the headphones of his music player in his ears. His orange hair was spread all different directions and the back of his yellow T-shirt had hiked up a bit to give a glimpse of his back. Taehyung’s eyes appeared puffy and there was a box of tissues on the floor near him, along with a wastepaper basket filled with crushed tissue paper.

To Jungkook, Taehyung looked severely…able.

“Taehyung!” Jackson’s yell made Jungkook check his thoughts. “Your friend’s here to see you!”

Taehyung looked up and sat immediately when he spotted Jungkook, causing his headphones to be yanked right out of his ears.

J…J…J…Jungkook!” He could not stop himself from stammering. “Wha—“
 

“A walk?” Jungkook asked, looking at Taehyung steadily.

“You’re going out? Where?” Jackson demanded. “I wanna go too!”

“Taehyung?” Jungkook called ignoring the little boy.

Taehyung seemed to snap out of his shock. “Oh, yeah. Why not? Just…just let me put myself together.”

Jungkook would have loved to have Taehyung go out in what he was wearing—a comfortable- looking, yellow T- and his shorts—but only nodded and left to wait in the living room.

Jungkook could hear Jackson yelling, “Where are you going? Hey, Taeeeeeeee-hyung!”

“Jackson, just…go, okay?” And then a door was shut.

Jackson joined him in the living room as Jungkook made himself comfortable on the sofa. When Jungkook crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, Jackson saw that he was not going to make a conversation out of Jungkook and left with an utterance of “Sheesh. Losers.”

Taehyung came into the living room soon after, wearing an outfit he had thrown on in the last minute to quite an effect. He kept his yellow shirt, thrown a yellow sweatshirt over it because if was getting a bit chilly out, and had swapped his shorts for a pair of dark jeans. He hadn’t had time to do his hair, so had simply run his fingers through it and as he entered  into the room.

Jungkook liked the outfit. It brought out something of the boy he knew from his childhood in Taehyung. It was something familiar, something warm and it was indeed something: a collection of colors that only Taehyung could pull off.

“All ready, captain!” Taehyung announced cheerfully as if he condition before Jungkook’s arrival had never happened. “Shall we go?”

Jungkook stood up wordlessly and they set off just as silently.

Jungkook had not particular place in mind as he walked beside the orange haired boy and Taehyung was letting Jungkook take the lead. There were so many questions he wanted to ask Jungkook, like what he was doing there in the first place, but, allowing himself a sidelong glance at Jungkook’s side profile, Jungkook did not look like he was out to answer questions.

Of course, Taehyung could not forget everything that had gone on between them since the walk home in the rain. He had certainly not gotten over the few hours on stage with Jungkook, what they had done, and when the reality of Jungkook’s leaving carved itself in the stone of his mind, he had not been able to hold back to the sudden flood of despair which came over him. This was why he had feinted illness to get his parents to let him stay home. Whether his dad had bought the act or seen through it, he certainly had not said much, and only conceded with a particularly hard look at his son. And then, while he was indulging in a sappy and even more sappy songs, Jungkook had appeared in his doorway, like a dream.

Life was beginning to become annoyingly like a soap opera, thought Taehyung.

“You could do with a smile or two, Taehyung,” he heard Jungkook say from behind him. “Your face is how my bread looked when I left it on the table for a month.”

Taehyung whipped his head to look at Jungkook, shocked that the older guy had cracked a joke…at such a time too. That was when he found that they had stopped and that they were at the playground where they used to get into scuffles in the past. Everything seemed to go back full circle when it came to Jungkook, and Taehyung couldn’t help but smile at the thought of it.

Taehyung had taken to looking all around him as if it was someplace new. It being Monday and evening casting it’s mid, orange glow on everything it touched, the playground was deserted of children. The swing was still rocking though, as if someone had just jumped off it and ran home.

“Hey, Jungkook,” Taehyung began. “I thought you were—“

“I’m not going,” Jungkook cut in too quickly.

Taehyung went silent and Jungkook had to take a deep breath before going on.

“I will be staying,” said Jungkook, feeling the redundancy of his words.

Taehyung only stared at him before turning his attention elsewhere. The situation was fast-turning awkward and he felt the pressure to put up a façade of normalcy.

Wandering over to the merry-go-round and stretching his fists to the sky, he said, “This place sure brings back memories, huh? The fights are still going on, though. Jackson said so himself.”

Pointing, Taehyung added, “This boy called Tao used to build sandcastles over there.”—He chuckled.—“Wanted to build a really big one where he could reign supreme, but we other boys would always jump on it, and watch him get mad at us. That boy got an arm, I’ve got to admit.”

“Taehyung,” Jungkook called out quietly.

“I really liked these swings though,” Taehyung went on, wandering over the swings next, not hearing Jungkook. He took hold of one of the chains which held up a swing and rattled it a little, “I don’t know, but I seem to recall Kai as a little kid sitting here and I was talking to him. I vaguely remember that he was crying…but I don’t know what it was about or what I said to him exactly. I must have been really young then. I wonder if he remembers it though. Do you—“

He spun around to look at Jungkook but found that Jungkook was directly behind him, standing close, so close it would have caused him to bolt if Jungkook’s hand had not closed over his on the chin.

“How is it that my life seems to start and end with you, Taehyung?” asked Jungkook, gazing down at his childhood friend. “You seep into everything, made everything…you.”

“Jungkook?”

Jungkook only shook his head and pressed his forehead to Taehyung’s, the way he had in front of his mansion’s gate the first time Taehyung met his grandfather. The image of the library came up to his mind and Jungkook imagined how his mother must have looked like, sitting in it surrounded by her books. The image of his mother easily dissolved into one of Taehyung. Taehyung in that room, surrounded by books…

Pulling away, Jungkook continued, “ I am not…good with words, Taehyung.” He paused, trying to find the right words to say. “I…”

He let out a loud breath, exhaling like a deflated balloon. “I…” he tried again.

Taehyung let go of the swing’s chain, reached up with one hand and cupped the back of Jungkook’s head with it. With other hand, he pressed the other down towards him. Jungkook’s widened eyes pretty much revealed his emotions at that moment.

“Hey, dude,” Taehyung murmured into Jungkook’s ear. “It’s okay.”

Jungkook knew it would not be okay, but Taehyung pulled him down and their lips locked. It was all he could do to close his eyes and let himself sink into the moment, the sensation. Some day he would say the things that mattered out loud to Taehyung. Some day he would be ready to tell Taehyung exactly how he felt in words of his own making. That day would come, but until then, Jungkook needed to get stronger, strong enough to face Taehyung with his heart.

They pulled away and Jungkook took Taehyung’s hand before they started walking out of the playground. The streets were practically deserted, so a little indiscretion like that was fine.

“Say, you were really great at the performance last night,” Taehyung spoke as they ambled down the street, with no particular direction in mind. “Ever thought of joining the Drama Club permanently?”

“Taehyung,” Jungkook replied, looking down at Taehyung with the ‘that-was-such-a-stupid-thing-to-say’ look.

“They were thinking of putting up Othello for the upcoming youth festival competition.”

Jungkook knew the play and said, “ Do I look like wife-killer to you?”

Taehyung laughed. “You have your moments…and who says you’ll be playing the lead male anyway? I can totally see you as Desdemona.”

“Me in a dress? No thanks.” Jungkook thought back to the costume he had to wear to play Romeo…He still had not gotten over the tights which had cupped him in all the wrong places and seemed to offer no coverage even with the shirt and the doublet on. He did not want to imagine what wearing a dress would entail.

“The other option was Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. Apparently it’s a tragicomedy. Seems like an interesting thing and good break from all that Shakespeare,” Taehyung mused.

Tragicomdey, huh? Thought Jungkook. What had Romero said in class about that genre of drama? Try as Jungkook might, he couldn’t remember, but there was something in it about the inescapability and futility of life, and all of its various absurdities. That was something rather worth watching; only it seemed so dark and gloomy. Right then, life looked….sunset-y …orange, peach…Jungkook couldn’t decide which, only that evening was going to descend into night and perhaps it was better that he didn’t keep Taehyung out too late.

“Hey,” he said, tugging Taehyung lightly by the hand and thus tugging the other out of his own reveries.

“Wha?”

“Do you think your parents should know about us?” Jungkook asked.

“That is in the books, I’m sure,” replied Taehyung with a casual tilt of his head.

“Do you think they would disapprove?” Jungkook was almost afraid to ask.

Taehyung laughed again and shoulder Taehyung causing him to stagger slightly. “You think too much, Mr. Jeon. Life’s like the wind. When it comes, it comes.”

Jungkook, determined as ever not to lose to Taehyung, tried to shoulder the older back, but Taehyung ran a little forward and Jungkook had to tighten his hold on Taehyung’s hand to prevent the orange haired boy from going too far.

“Which wind would you be talking about, Kim?” he asked with a slight smirk.

Taehyung tried to pull away but Jungkook held on. In time, Taehyung  chuckled. “Both,” he said.

Looking back at Jungkook, Taehyung said again, “We take things at our own pace, Jungkook,” then with a knowing grin, added, “a step at a time."

A/N: Like I said, weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them. :) Anyways, I just wanted to thank all of you for accompanying me in my journey with this story. I hope you all loved it, I put forth so much effort into this for all of you. I just couldn't be happier. Oh and also ,if any of you have any questions, concerns, let me know what you guys thought!! I want to read your guy's reactions!!! And like always, I hate saying goodbye because it could wait: forever and ever :D Later, everyone!! Stay out of trouble!!!! 

P.S. GUYS I REACHED 20 UPVOTES, YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!! One step closer to becoming a legend!!  :D THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!! 

In honor of all my  Subscribers/Voters/Commenters: (I wrote all of you in alphabetical order by user names) 

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A/N: I will make to sure to add any additional subscribers/upvoters/commentors after this update!! Again thank you all!! Until next time!!