Okay.

Last year for Halloween, I posted Bite, which was all angsty and creepy and stuff. So I thought, this year, let's do something silly.

It's a lil au me and my ub Sarah planned out forever ago, and it's also kind of a gift I guess ?? for the one year anniversary of us being friends :')) ily babyyyy

Enjoy, everyone c:

---

Admittedly, if someone would have told Jungkook earlier this week that he'd lock himself in some stranger's bathroom Saturday night, kind of wanting to shoot himself in the face and also kind of wanting to shoot Park Jimin, he probably wouldn't have told them they were crazy. After all, he is a certified hot mess, and Jimin is his best friend, which we all know can pretty much be just as bad as a bully, if not worse.

But now that he's here, with the strong urge to punch the out of the mirror that belongs to someone out there he doesn't know, he honestly wishes he could just leave town and never be heard from again. Maybe change his name to Something McDonald and pretend to be a farmer out in the plains of some place no one at this party could ever find him.

He snorts at his reflection. He'd been naive to trust Jimin in this type of situation, to say the very least.

See, just hours ago, his older friend had invited him to go to a costume party hosted by some other friend of his, and Jungkook hadn't exactly latched onto the idea immediately, but Jimin is pretty persuasive, as it were.

So eventually, he'd agreed, albeit with reluctance, as long as he could be back by eleven. He knew it sounded a little pathetic, but he'd take seeming lame over risking being eviscerated by his parents any day.

Now, based off of events from the past, the alarms probably should have been sounding in his brain when Jimin had suggested doing each other's makeup. Especially because of the borderline smug expression on his face when he'd brought it up. But for whatever reason, it had totally flown right over his head.

However, he definitely should have been getting those sirens when Jimin offered a little challenge; not checking their own reflections at all.

But again, for a reason doesn't think he'll ever know, he'd just gone along with it, thinking, who knows? Maybe it could be fun. Yeah. Maybe it could be fun my . You've known Park Jimin for nine years. How could you not have seen this coming? In fact, not even when he'd caught a glimpse of what he'd thought was an odd hue of makeup in Jimin's palette did he really suspect anything.

When it comes down to it, Jungkook is pretty ing dense.

"Are you almost done with mine?" Jimin asked impatiently for the umpteenth time, squirming under the makeup brush that Jungkook wasn't even aware he owned before tonight.

"Yeah, just hold on a second," he urged irritably. "I'm trying to finish this one thing." In all honesty, with his own kind of limited experience with makeup, he was pretty proud of what he was able to get thrown together, even with the unfathomable amount of makeup his older friend actually has stored in his room.

After all, Jimin had told him (well, hinted; he's not always the greatest at being straightforward) that Yoongi was going to be at this party, so he wanted to try and make his friend look good for his crush.

Because that's what good friends do. Jimin should really take some notes.

Finally, he'd finished up his last detail, and his best friend looked amazing, if he did say so himself. When he thinks about it, he doesn't really know where the idea had come from, but something in his brain had just said, Jigsaw.

But like, a really hot version of Jigsaw.

And so there Jimin sat, in a ripped black sweater and bow-tie and very torn denim jeans, with red swirls on his cheeks and eyes brushed over with smokey shadow.

Jungkook grinned in triumph.

"Okay, I'm done."

Jimin hopped up from his seat immediately, turning around to go get something from the pile they'd dug out from the plastic bins in his closet. "Alright. Your turn, Kookie," he remarked as he collected up a couple of plastic containers. "You know, by the grin on your face I'm not sure if I should be nervous or not," he added, sitting down and getting himself situated.

"You'll just have to see by what Yoongi says, won't you?" Jungkook teased, wiggling his eyebrows and adjusting the way he was sitting in the desk chair they'd rolled over to the more spacious side of the room.

"Ooh, saucy," Jimin replied, smirking and opening the first container of makeup he was going to use. "I like it."

He swirled the brush around in the mystery color for just a second, and then raised it up to apply it with a look of concentration on his face that Jungkook wasn't really used to seeing. He flinched at first when the makeup brush pressed against his face, and though it was difficult, he tried his best to stay still. "It tickles," he complained quietly with a little grin on his face, twitching and shutting his eyes.

"You'll get used to it after a little while," Jimin assured him, shrugging his shoulders and swiping the brush over his cheeks with experience.

And eventually, Jungkook did...sort of.

"My nose itches," he griped quietly, stomping his feet softly on the carpet from how much effort it was taking to not reach up and scratch it, ruining his best friend's valiant (not) efforts.

"If you so much as touch your face right now, you're gonna feel my fist," Jimin threatened absentmindedly, brushing something or other over the bridge of Jungkook's nose.

"Oh, shut up. You know you'd never be able to fight me," he chuckled in amusement, trying to blow air onto the little demon smack in the middle of his face to ease the itching, but he ended up just making it worse.

"I so could," the older protested, the touch of the brush on Jungkook's face feeling a bit rougher by the second, and the other boy grinned. It's always funny when his best friend gets flustered or angry for some reason. Maybe it has something to do with his chubby cheeks. "I would rip you to shreds, no sweat," Jimin insisted.

"Mhm, right. You're a munchkin, Jimin. What are you, five-foot-four?" Jungkook teased, reaching up to brush a wisp of brown hair out of his face.

"Five-foot-six," Jimin corrected matter-of-factly, swatting at Jungkook's hand so it was nowhere even near his makeup. "And I'm not done growing yet. You can kiss my ."

Jungkook snorted. "Yeah, alright. Tell Glinda I said hi, won't you?"

He was pretty much positive that if Jimin hadn't already brushed makeup onto his cheeks, he would've smacked him right in the face.

Finally, after what felt like 842 years of Jungkook wanting to rip his itchy nose off and shove it down Jimin's throat, his older friend was finished. Which was a good thing, too, because when Jungkook pulled his phone out to check the time, they pretty much knew that they'd be really late if they didn't hurry things along (Plus, Jimin had learned in some way or another that Yoongi doesn't usually stay at parties until the end, and he was sure as hell not about to miss him).

Thankfully, it was a short (but still hurried) walk to the right house, but Jungkook began to feel a little bit self-conscious on their way up the front porch steps, silhouettes of teenagers in costume visible through two columns of little windows next to the door. He tried to shrink just a little further into his big black hoodie as Jimin rang the doorbell, like a turtle into its shell.

Don't get nervous. It isn't really a big deal.

"Park Jimin!" some other guy Jungkook didn't know exclaimed when he opened the door, jolting him out of his thoughts. He was dressed as a zombie, with messy blonde hair and fake wounds on his face, plus rips and tears in his clothing, kind of similar to Jimin's.

"How you been, er?" he asked fondly as Jimin reached out and they did some sort of weird handshake with a snap at the end. Jungkook stood there awkwardly, watching them totally ignore him like he was a tree or something, and it made him wonder how many of Jimin's friends he actually knew.

"Pretty good. What about you?" Jimin offered, and the much taller guy happily told him he was doing great except for an apparent fight going on between him and some guy named Seokjing, or something like that. Jimin seemed to understand fully though, nodding his head and making a comment under his breath that caused the guy to chuckle in his rich voice.

"You're telling me," he returned sarcastically. "So, who's this?" he asked, apparently only just now aware of the whole other person standing slightly in the shadows behind Jimin.

"Oh, this is Jungkook," Jimin introduced, pushing him under the front porch light so his tall friend could get a better look at him, and the younger mumbled out a vaguely coherent greeting as he stumbled into view, giving an attempt at a smile that came out a sort of crooked.

"He's a cutie. He your boyfriend?" the guy asked nonchalantly, and Jungkook thinks that if he had a drink right then, he probably would have choked on it.

"Hell no," Jimin laughed, completely unfazed as he patted a flustered Jungkook gently on the shoulder. "A friend for like, nine years, more like."

Weirdly enough, this wasn't the first time that someone had been under that impression, and Jungkook's never been able to figure out why. Do I really look like someone who'd want to make out with Park Jimin?

I mean, what does that even look like?

"Gotcha. Well, why don't you two come in, then? I just saw Yoongi not too long ago," the tall guy added suggestively, elbowing Jimin as he wiggled his eyebrows, and something turned a little uncharacteristically shy in the small boy's face.

"Guess we should find him then," he replied softly, reaching up to fix his dirty-blonde hair as he was suddenly very aware of how he looked.

Jungkook briefly wondered if Jimin wanted to look in the mirror just as badly as he did before he felt a tugging at the thick fabric covering his hand, and he stumbled forward as his smaller friend began pulling him into the large house by the sleeve. He raised his head up just barely as they entered the noise, hoping his face wasn't very visible as he took in the atmosphere.

There were people. Lots of them. Jungkook gaped at his surroundings as Jimin pulled him around; he thought that parties like these only happened in movies, but apparently he was wrong about that. There were far too many girls in skimpy outfits for his personal taste, but other than that, he had to admit that he was kind of impressed by the whole thing.

As they passed more people, though, he was starting to notice that some of them, in fact quite a few of them were giving him these really weird looks as he passed, or sometimes, there'd be someone who would chuckle in amusement. He couldn't help but wonder why, but then again, it wasn't like he was going to ask them.

It probably has something to do with my makeup.

He frowned at the thought. What exactly had Jimin done to him?

"That's him there!" Jimin's tall friend suddenly exclaimed in a whisper just loud enough for the other two to hear over the music and voices, and Jimin stood on the tips of his toes, trying to see over a couple of really huge guys without any costumes on. He wasn't having much luck, though, and the guys were completely oblivious, half-shouting ignorant things to each other and blocking the view like skyscrapers.

"Where?" Jimin whined, and out of nowhere, Jungkook felt the fingers gripping his sleeve being pulled loose as the older blonde picked him up, lifting him slightly above the crowd so he could get a better look. Jungkook was about to start singing the Circle of Life when Jimin squeaked, "Namjoon!" in surprise, his legs thrashing around and accidentally brushing against some girl wearing cat ears.

So that's his name. Huh.

"Over there, see?" Namjoon directed with a nod of his head, completely ignoring Jimin's distress. At that point, Jungkook just guessed that Jimin realized the uselessness in struggling any longer, and so he just accepted the fact that he looked like Simba in a torn black sweater and tried to look for his hopelessly attractive but slightly awkward crush.

"Oh, wait, I see him! , Namjoon, he looks so good as a policeman," Jimin whimpered, pouting like a little kid who's just seen a fat piece of hot fudge cake with ice cream that he's not allowed to have.

"There, there," the older cooed as he set Jimin back down on his feet again. "You look hot too," he pointed out, gesturing from Jimin's head to his feet. And it was completely true.

Thanks to me. You're welcome, Jimin. And Yoongi.

"Yeah..." Jimin mumbled with uncertainty wavering his voice, playing with a loose string on his faded jeans.

"C'mon, Chim. He's gonna be absolutely drooling over you. Go get him," Namjoon encouraged, pushing Jimin gently towards the raven-haired male standing just a little ways away. Jimin gave the two of them one last unsure look, puppy eyes starting to show before he sighed, mouthing, "Wish me luck," and then starting to weave his way through the crowd toward Yoongi.

"Ah, there he goes. They grow up so fast," Namjoon chuckled lightheartedly. He turned to Jungkook, who still looked a little intimidated, biting his lip and not able to keep his stare in one place. The older smiled, patting the boy on the shoulder. "You have fun, kid. I gotta go find Seokjin before he decides to murder me or something," he offered, and Jungkook nodded timidly, watching him disappear into the crowd.

Well.

What he hadn't thought about was what he was going to do if he was left like this. He knew at that point that he really should have, considering it happens more often than he'd like to admit, but he hadn't, and so that was pretty much the question at hand.

Hm...

He glanced around at his environment; a girl in a Harley Quinn costume squealing, startled as someone's fruity drink was spilled on her legs, some couple making out against the living room wall as if no one else was there, the two gigantic guys that were probably from the football team still standing in front of him, caught up in their own little pretentious world (in which, apparently, you come to a costume party in matching solid gray t-shirts).

This was really not his forte. Granted, many things weren't, but this was really not his forte.

He started to look for somewhere that he could escape the crowding and pushing, (along with these two football players because quite frankly, Jungkook was a little afraid of getting crushed) and that was when he saw a light on in what he assumed was the kitchen.

God is truly merciful.

He carefully slid himself in between bodies, mumbling apologies when he bumped into people, and many of them were still staring at him in what looked like shock, or maybe disapproval as he went. Staring is rude. Learn your manners, people. 

Finally, he made it to the glorious light glowing from his new refuge. With a sigh of relief, he escaped into the pleasantly decorated and surprisingly clean kitchen, and he was letting himself admire the design for a moment when he noticed something rather...off.

The fridge door was just hanging wide open.

What the hell? he thought as he walked up to it, pushing it to try and get it to close, only to feel it make contact with something a second after.

"Ow," he heard mumbled out, a little muffled and faint from behind the door, and he stepped back with his hands up like he'd just been caught doing something very bad as the door seemed to shut itself to reveal a stranger in a vampire getup, mouth stuffed full with what looked like cheese puffs.

They just stared at each other in mutual confusion for a second, and Jungkook wasn't really sure what to say because one - how does he even find himself in these situations, dear lord, and two - despite that, this guy was actually really attractive.

Which, needless to say, definitely didn't make the whole thing any less awkward. He swallowed thickly, taking an idle step towards what he was pretty sure was a big punch bowl. "Sorry," he muttered, grabbing a red solo cup off of a stack on the counter to keep his eyes pulled away.

"It's cool," the boy returned nonchalantly, crunching up the cheese puffs or whatever they were and going to lean up against the counter as Jungkook ladled some of the red liquid into his cup. "I like your makeup," he added, and he actually sounded pretty friendly.

"Hm?" Jungkook hummed around the rim of his cup, not really absorbing the words the first time as he took a sip of what he'd thought was just plain Hawaiian Punch, but he was now sure was spiked. A grimace spread over his face. Why can't a sane teenager just drink his kiddie drink in peace nowadays?

"Your fairy makeup," the boy clarified in his deep voice, gesturing all over his face to show what he was talking about.

This time, though, Jungkook froze, lowering the plastic cup from his lips to reveal a concerned expression. "What'd you just say?"

The boy chuckled softly. "I said, I like your fairy makeup," he repeated more loudly, and at that moment, it all just dawned on Jungkook.

Fairy makeup.

In other words, the reason why everyone had been gawking at him like he was wearing a t-shirt that said "Daddy's Little " or something.

Park Jimin, I am going to kill you.

"Hold on a second," he mumbled awkwardly, voice wavering as he set his cup down and promptly bolted towards where he thought he may have seen the bathroom when he first came in. Oh , oh , oh . His brain was going a million miles an hour as he finally found it, escaping judgmental stares as he rushed in and locked the door the second it shut.

Thank god no one's in here, he thought to himself, letting out a sigh of relief, but unfortunately, it was short-lived.

Because that's when ever so slowly, he started to turn to look in the mirror, afraid of what he was going to see, and when his eyes finally met with his reflection, he found that his fear was completely warranted.

Tinker Bell. He's an absolute Tinker Bell.

In fact, he might as well dye his hair blonde, put on a dress made of leaves and walk around throwing glitter at everyone who passes.

This is the worst night ever.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket, his throat getting all tight as he opens up his conversation with his little demon of a best friend.

jungkook: PARK JIMIN YOU ING HOEBAG
jungkook: I CANT BELIEVE THIS
jungkook: I MADE YOU SMOKING HOT FOR YOONGI AND THIS IS HOW I GET REPAID
jungkook: IM KMS IT LOOKS LIKE PRINCESS BUBBLEGUM THREW UP ON MY FACE

His thumbs are tapping away in exasperation, sending the messages at record speed when to his surprise, he hears a muffled, familiar voice and a knock on the white bathroom door.

"Hey, kid. Are you in there?"

His head whips around toward the sounds, and he locks his phone and stuffs it back in his hoodie pocket. He blinks.

y vampire guy?

Then again, he doesn't really know who else it would be. It's obviously not Jimin, in both the sense that Jimin clearly wants to ruin his life, and that the voice behind the door is a bass voice. Like, really low.

"Um...yeah," he replies tentatively after a moment.

Well. This is embarrassing. But then again, so is pretty much everything that's gone down so far tonight.

"Did something happen?" the voice asks, and though it sounds like the owner just genuinely wants to give him a hand somehow, he's wondering if confiding in him is really the best idea. He is a complete stranger, after all. In fact, why is he concerned in the first place? Jungkook really has to wonder. "If there's something you need, I can probably help you out. This is my house, you know."

Jungkook almost slaps himself in the forehead upon hearing this. Well, that definitely explains a few things.

Although, at this point, when he really thinks about it, what's the harm? He can't imagine the situation getting any worse, in complete honesty.

"Well...could we maybe go somewhere else?" he asks in a small voice, playing with the strings of his hoodie and staring at the floor. He sounds kind of pathetic, really, but he can't bring himself to care that much.

"Yeah, sure. You wanna go back by the pool? I blocked it off from everyone else, so we'll be by ourselves," he's informed kindly.

Jungkook thinks he could cry. He doesn't really know why, actually. It's just that for some reason, having someone reach out to him like this is a little overwhelming.

He tries to swallow the lump starting to form in his throat, nodding before realizing that vampire guy can't even see him when he's in here. Jungkook, you emotional little . "If that's okay with you," he replies softly.

"Yeah, of course. You are gonna have to open the door, though," his friendly voice points out, and Jungkook laughs quietly, stepping forward and wrapping his hand around the doorknob.

He pauses, shutting his eyes for a second. Okay. Chill out, Jungkook. Just it up. You'll be fine; it's not like the people out there are gonna hunt you for being a fairy.

...literally.

Then again, from the couple of things he overheard from those two giant football players' conversation, he wouldn't put it past them.

He gulps.

A small creak sounds as he twists the doorknob and slowly pulls the door open, and there's vampire guy standing right outside in all his messy haired glory. The red contacts in his eyes are alight with this spark of friendliness that makes Jungkook bite his lip.

"Okay, you ready?" he asks, looking like he's about to just walk off, but Jungkook doesn't respond, and the look on his face is almost pleading. If he can avoid being laughed at somehow on the way there, he thinks he's pretty much going to shoot for that regardless of what it is, but he doesn't know how. In fact, his brain might as well be scrambled eggs right now, because for some reason, he just can't think for the life of him.

Vampire guy sighs, and Jungkook isn't really sure if it's sympathetic or not, (though that's what he hopes) but for a reason that he doesn't know, the painfully attractive boy turns around. The younger stares in confusion for a second.

But then he sees hands reaching back to grab the black, thin fabric of his cape, proceeding to then hold it towards Jungkook as if offering it to him, and he thinks he understands.

It's kind of embarrassing, especially because this guy is still a stranger, but he can't really help the giggle that comes out when he accepts the cape and pulls it over his head. "Is that better?" the deep voice asks him.

"Yeah. Thanks," he replies happily. It is.

Suddenly, the cape is moving forward, following the one it's attached to, and Jungkook gasps in surprise, stumbling forward with it and making sure he's hidden underneath.

It's kind of clumsy since he can't see where he's going, completely trusting the boy in front of him to lead him and not let him fall. One thing is for certain, though: going through the crowd underneath a cape that's attached to the owner of the house is way faster than going by yourself.

He peeks through a tiny sliver of vision he has, and finds that the crowd is parting to make room for them as they go, staring questioningly at the peculiar sight.

And maybe he's just a little smug, because he is getting special treatment from the head of the party, after all.

All of these girls probably wish they were me, he thinks, grinning with glee. The hottest guy here wants to help me. Me, of all people.

Suddenly, they're stopped, and Jungkook walks right into vampire guy's back on accident. The older boy's feet stutter forward in surprise, and Jungkook squeaks, "Sorry!"

But then he hears an amused chuckle from outside of the cape. "It's alright. You can come out now," the older tells him, and Jungkook thinks that he picks up the sound of a screen door opening.

Slowly, he peeks his head out from underneath the cape, looking over vampire guy's shoulder to see, just as he'd thought, an open screen door, marked with a few fat strips of tape that bar other guests from passing through.

"Under here," the other directs, ducking underneath and being careful not to fall forward as he walks outside onto the concrete. He turns around, gesturing for Jungkook to follow him.

Well, here goes nothing.

He copies the actions, leaning forward to walk under the tape and then emerge underneath what he guesses is a deck, with boards of wood painted white to match the house. The whole area is secluded by high fencing, a large, oddly-shaped pool sitting smack in the middle. Close by, there's an outdoor couch in front of a small fire pit, and not far from that, there's chairs and a long table with a granite surface.

"This is nice," he breathes as he shuts the door behind him, and he earns a smile from the other boy.

"Thanks. Oh yeah, I'm Taehyung, by the way," he tells him finally, the chilly fall wind slightly mussing his hair up, though he doesn't seem to notice.

"I'm Jungkook. Sorry we met like that," he offers, smiling shyly in embarrassment. For some reason, though, this statement seems to surprise Taehyung.

"Wait, really? Jimin's friend?" he asks, eyes widening comically, and Jungkook nods, biting his lip.

So Jimin's mentioned me to him?

"Well, , why didn't you say so before? He never shuts up about you. You know, you're even cuter than he said. And that's saying something," Taehyung compliments brightly, giving him a gentle, playful punch in the shoulder.

Jungkook goes red, letting out an awkward laugh. "He...uh...did this to me," he tells him, changing the subject from his cuteness and gesturing to his hopelessly pink and sparkly face. "I didn't know till you said something."

"Oh, yeah! He told me you guys were doing that makeup thing. I saw him earlier with Yoongi, you know. I gotta say, you made him into a hot Jigsaw," Taehyung comments in approval.

"I tried my best," the younger replies timidly, and he's pretty sure his ears are the color of Taehyung's contacts at this point. The older boy just smiles at him.

He bites down on his lip even harder, feeling his dumb heart flip and stutter and pound.

Why is it doing that? Should I see a doctor or something?

Taehyung sighs then, glancing down at his shoes, which Jungkook notices at this moment are very sleek dress shoes that would probably typically go with a tux. "These are starting to hurt my feet," he remarks, wincing. "Probably shouldn't have borrowed my little brother's shoes. I mean, for his age, he has huge feet, but not quite big enough."

Those are his little brother's? Must be a pretty fancy kid. I don't think I've ever even worn a pair of shoes that nice before.

"You can take them off," Jungkook suggests, shrugging. "It's not like I mind."

He doesn't say this part, but he also really wants Taehyung to feel comfortable since he's gone to do much trouble to make Jungkook feel that way.

"I guess so," Taehyung responds, padding over towards the pool, and Jungkook follows absentmindedly as he watches the older boy sit down, pull off the shoes along with the black socks he's wearing under them, and then set them on the concrete next to the water. "Thank the lord," he remarks in relief, dipping his feet into the pool as if he has a deep romantic connection to it and sighing again.

Jungkook just shuffles up to him, bending down so he can plop himself down at his side and then hugging his knees to his chest.

There's silence for a minute or two, and Jungkook watches the water ripple under the chilly breeze, mulling over the whole situation again. He's still extremely pissed at Jimin, don't get him wrong, but at the same time he's thankful that it happened, because otherwise he wouldn't be here right now.

But he's still going to kill Jimin.

"You know, you make a pretty cute fairy," Taehyung comments, breaking the silence. "I wouldn't worry so much." He grins over at him, reaching out to poke a part of Jungkook's cheek that isn't covered in pink glittery powder, and there's another reason he's weirdly thankful for the embarrassing makeup.

It helps to cover up the fact that he's blushing like a schoolgirl.

"Thanks," he replies, stomach doing a backflip.

A certain fact is starting to nag at his conscious: he never develops crushes this quickly. In fact, for the most part, he doesn't really develop crushes at all. The last one he really remembers was when he was 13, and that was when he first realized he was gay; something that is now more obvious to him than the fact that he's socially inept.

Now, granted, most boys at his school aren't as hot and certainly aren't as friendly and funny as Taehyung, but it's still kind of alarming how quickly he's getting these shy, nervous, fluttery feelings.

I've known him for like, five minutes. Should I be concerned?

Suddenly, a small splash rings out in the background, catching the attention of both of them and causing them to whip around to look at the pool.

Taehyung's face falls as he spots something black and oval-looking drifting down to the bottom of the deep end. "Ah, dammit, my shoe!" he groans, scowling at nothing in particular. "My brother is gonna kill me."

Now, Jungkook doesn't have a brother, but frankly, Jimin is pretty damn close when it comes to stuff like this, so he completely understands.

He decides that's where he puts the blame for the way he finds himself, completely beyond his better judgement, pulling his shoes off and setting them aside before slowly sliding towards the pool's edge.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Taehyung asks incredulously, though he sure as hell knows what it looks like. But before Jungkook even opens his mouth to answer, he's pushed himself off of the side and into the water, thick hoodie and all.

The splash, needless to say, is not dramatic enough to summarize how it feels to plunge into the deep end of a swimming pool in almost November.

Why the actual hell did I do that? he wonders with a shudder as he scans the pool for the black object.

Then again, it isn't that cold outside tonight...and Taehyung does need his shoe back.

There is something wrong with me, he decides, rolling his eyes at himself.

It takes a second, but eventually, he does see where the shoe sank to, though he's not really sure if he'll be able to hold his breath long enough to grab it, considering he'd really rather not open his eyes underwater, and he doesn't know how deep this pool is.

See, this is what happens when you don't think things through before you start to do them. You're an idiot, Jungkook.

He shakes his head to himself, then positions himself right above the black dot laying at the bottom, knowing that if he sits around at the top any longer, he's going to overthink things. Then, after taking a big breath and shutting his eyes, he sinks under the water and dives down.

It's more difficult than he would have hoped to swim towards the bottom, to his dismay, and something tells him that it's probably because of his giant hoodie. Neither the movements of his arms nor his legs are bringing him very far, and it's pretty frustrating, to say the least.

His lungs starting to burn with the effort, he blindly reaches out with one hand as he kicks himself downward, but he never feels the floor brush against his fingers. He's out of air now, and turns his head back towards the surface, swimming up for a breath.

It's relieving and frustrating at the same time, and he curses quietly after he takes in a big gulp of cold air.

Okay, one more time. You've got this.

He takes another good look at where he's about to go before he dives back under, trying twice, if not three times as hard this time, but despite the power he puts in his , he can't seem to get himself anywhere near the bottom, and his arms feel like they're dragging with the weight of his hoodie.

Well, this is definitely not a problem he would expect to come out of the fact that he always orders warm clothes at least two sizes larger than he needs, but here he is.

Just my luck.

For the second time, he returns to the surface, heaving breaths and swiping strands of dark hair out of his eyes. This is about the moment that he realizes he's going to need to take his hoodie off if he plans on getting to the bottom, which isn't ideal in the slightest considering it's mid-autumn, he's already freezing, and a really, really cute guy that he already really likes is just feet away from him. But if he needs to do it, he needs to do it.

He outstretches an arm, grabbing one of his sleeves and pulling his arm all the way inside, doing the same with the other arm and then using both to push the soaking wet hoodie off of his torso.

"Jungkook, what are you doing? Are you crazy?" he hears behind him. But he doesn't respond, already starting to shiver from the cold, though that's not really what he's worried about because he can just feel Taehyung's stare burning into his .

Ooh, nope. Nope, nope, nope. This is weird.

He shudders again, discarding his black hoodie at the edge of the pool and not looking up at who he knows is standing there before quickly going back under, but this time easily swimming to the bottom.

He reaches out, feeling around the floor determinedly, and by some absolute miracle, he's actually able to get his hand around the shoe.

A pang of victory runs through him, making him grin underwater, a few bubbles floating out of his mouth, and this time, he positions his feet on the bottom so he can push himself up to the surface easily.

He emerges from the water, shoe in hand, taking a big breath of triumph and expecting to hear Taehyung's voice somewhere behind him. But when he turns around, he's a little confused when he doesn't see Taehyung anywhere.

He frowns, glancing over at the screen door, but it's shut, just like they'd left it. "Taehyung?" he calls out in confusion. No answer. Just crickets chirping in the background. He snorts. How appropriate.

However, just then, his call is answered, but not quite in the way he would expect, because out of nowhere, he sees someone rising up to the surface a few feet away.

Taehyung's head shows itself from out of the water, and when he rubs his face so it isn't so wet, he spreads fake blood all over his mouth and nose and cheeks. He looks ridiculous, but Jungkook is more than positive he looks just as bad, if not worse - like a drunk fairy with an unusually toned body, no doubt. "You found it!" Taehyung exclaims, brown eyes wide (he must have taken the contacts out) as he points at the shoe in Jungkook's hand. The younger grins.

He swims up to him, holding the dripping wet object proudly like a little kid showing a stick-figure drawing to his mother. "Yeah," he replies as he dangles it by the heel out in front of him for Taehyung to take. It's funny, really; he's never really thought of himself as one to jump in (literally) and help the damsel in distress, and yet here he is. What a night.

"Thank you, good sir," the older chuckles, accepting the shoe with a look of disbelief still lingering on his face. "You're kinda insane, you know that?" he adds as he paddles over to the side of the pool, setting the shoe down.

"Mhm," Jungkook hums, and for some reason he's started to snort, trying to stifle a laugh, and Taehyung can hear him.

"What's so funny, huh?" he asks lightheartedly, turning around with a smirk and swimming over to ruffle up Jungkook's already hopelessly messed up hair to the point that he looks kind of like a hysterically laughing Einstein. The younger has completely lost it at this point, laughing so hard that it looks like he's going to burst.

"Nothing, just," he manages to get out, tears of laughter starting to mix with the droplets of pool water on his face. "You look like placenta."

At this, Taehyung remembers the fake blood that he'd put on for his costume, and he breaks into laughter himself. "Yeah? Well, you look like Barbie on meth," he shoots back playfully, changing his stance to splash water challengingly at Jungkook's face.

"Oh, it's on," the other boy declares, still lost in giggles, propelling a tidal wave at Taehyung with his hands.

They start to splash back and forth, shouting and laughing and completely forgetting the fact that it's almost the last day of October, the temperature is in the sixties, and there's tons of people inside making up a party that Taehyung is supposed to be hosting.

*****

"Hey, you tired?" Taehyung asks, looking over at Jungkook, who is now laying next to him wearing his sweatshirt and pajama pants, (which he'd given to him so he wouldn't have to be cold and wet for the rest of the night, being the gentleman that he is). The younger boy's head is rested on Taehyung's shoulder, and he looks like he's about to drift off any moment now into a peaceful sleep.

They're curled up on the couch in front of the fire pit, flames crackling peacefully and keeping them both warm despite the wind. Taehyung has changed out of his costume, too, and they'd both cleaned their faces of their ruined makeup.

"What'd you say?" Jungkook asks quietly, eyelids droopy as he smacks his lips and his bunny teeth peek out.

"Are you tired?" Taehyung repeats softly, being careful and slow as he leans toward the fire so Jungkook is still laying on him comfortably. He blows a breath into the flames to keep them alive, watching the embers glow as a small spark revives itself.

"No. Wha' makes you say that?" Jungkook mumbles back.

Taehyung chuckles. "Dunno. Maybe the fact that you look like you're about to pass out," he replies, leaning back into the couch. That's not to say that he's not tired himself, of course. Actually, he's exhausted. By now, the rest of the people that had been at the party are long gone, and it's probably some ungodly hour of the morning. Taehyung doesn't really even want to know.

That in mind, though, Jungkook probably shouldn't fall asleep here with him. He needs to get home.

He sighs, shutting his eyes and leaning just barely into the younger. "Hey, Jungkook," he mutters, reaching over and poking him in the stomach gently to get his attention.

"Mm?" Jungkook hums, shifting to get more comfortable.

"You..." Taehyung starts, but he interrupts himself with a wide yawn. "You..."

There's a long pause filled with the crackling of the fire before the younger goes, "Hm?" again.

Taehyung clears his throat, taking a deep breath. "I forgot."

"Mm."

*****

By the time Taehyung wakes up the next morning, Jungkook has managed to roll halfway on top of him, and he finds himself in a really weird position, to say the least.

He blinks to clear his vision, the previous night slowly coming back to him, and he takes in a sharp breath of realization, glancing around at the cloudy, cold morning.

They'd fallen asleep. Which isn't a problem for him, of course, since his parents are out this weekend. But he knows it probably means that Jungkook's parents are going to be pissed at him, and it'll be his fault.

He sighs to himself in frustration, feeling around on the couch for his phone, which he quickly finds and wraps his hand around. His intention is to check the time, (which he finds out is pretty early - still before nine) but when he presses his home button, he sees a few texts from none other than Park Jimin.

He isn't sure what exactly to expect at first, but when he does read them, he smiles. Jimin can do some pretty annoying , but all in all, he's a good friend.

His eyes drift down to the sleeping boy still draped over his lap, strands of hair flopping messily over his forehead and onto Taehyung's thighs. He really doesn't want to wake him from his peaceful state, but he also really doesn't want to pee himself, and he doesn't think he'll be able to get up to go to the bathroom without disturbing him anyways.

"Hey, Jungkook," he murmurs, gently shaking his shoulder. "Wake up."

The younger boy stirs, shifting slightly and opening his eyes to look up at Taehyung with the most innocent expression he thinks he's ever seen. "Yeah?" he hums in a sleepy, nasally voice, and Taehyung just can't help but think it's really cute. He yawns and stretches, still laying comfortably in the older boy's lap and not realizing exactly what situation he's in.

"We fell asleep," he tells him, taking another idle look at the somehow pleasantly gray sky.

Jungkook's expression slowly changes as his location and the lightness of the sky occur to him, and he groans, covering his face with his hands. "Oh, , my parents are gonna kill me," he frets. His parents aren't the strictest ever, but staying the night at the house of someone he's just met is not something they'd ever be cool with. Not that they know he's here, but what is he supposed to say to them?

"Hey, don't worry," Taehyung tells him nonetheless, tickling his neck playfully. "Jimin says he told your parents you fell asleep at his place last night. He asked if you could stay the night, and they said it was cool, so you're in the clear."

Jungkook lowers his hands a little bit, peeking up at Taehyung in disbelief, eyebrows knitted together. "Really?" he asks through his fingers.

"Yeah," the older confirms.

"The same Jimin that made me up like a fairy last night and brought me to a party where I didn't know anyone?" he deadpans, quirking his eyebrows.

Taehyung laughs, patting his shoulder. "Something tells me this is kind of to help make up for that," he points out.

Jungkook seems to find logic in that answer, nodding as he scratches the back of his neck. "Fair enough," he comments.

Okay, maybe he won't kill Jimin after all.

"Oh, yeah. By the way, can you get off me before my bladder implodes?" Taehyung asks, starting to get really uncomfortable.

"Okay, yep, I'm scootin' along," Jungkook announces immediately, using his arms to push himself off of Taehyung's body and stand up from the couch.

They both make their way inside the house, which is now weirdly empty compared to last night, and very messy, which isn't a surprise in the slightest to either of them. Taehyung just dismisses it; he'll clean it up sometime this weekend. Probably.

After he returns from his bathroom break, sliding into the kitchen and scaring the absolute out of Jungkook in the process, they both decide they're hungry, which brings Taehyung to ask what the younger boy likes, which brings Jungkook to ask what they have.

Which brings Taehyung to make a face that Jungkook assumes means, not much.

But he does take a look anyhow, and ends up remembering as he gazes into the hopelessly empty fridge that they do have an unnecessarily huge bag of candy for trick-or-treaters.

And thus, chocolate for breakfast.

"Okay, but eating legitimate chocolate is a lot healthier than a lot of things you could eat," Taehyung reasons, taking a bite off of the end of his as he plops down in his usual chair at the kitchen table.

"Like...?" Jungkook asks, already sitting in a chair across from him and chewing to his heart's content. Taehyung really wasn't kidding when he said he had an unnecessarily large bag of candy, but he's surprised it's this good; usually when there's a lot of something, the quality isn't as great.

"You could eat cotton candy for breakfast," Taehyung points out, and they both take a second to imagine that, Jungkook just shaking his head to himself as he swallows his last bite.

"I mean...yeah, that'd definitely be worse," he agrees, his fingers for good measure and crumpling up his wrapper.

He thinks meeting Taehyung was kind of like eating chocolate for breakfast. Unexpected and not exactly how things would normally go, but very sweet and something that runs out too fast.

When did I get so sappy? Sheesh.

Unfortunately, though, he's all too right about time passing too quickly, because it's not long after ten that he gets a text from his mother asking him to come home from "Jimin's" house, (because he has a lot of chores to do today, she had added with an infuriating winky face) and he knows that he has to wrap things up between them, as much as he doesn't want to.

"Dammit. I gotta go home," he confesses sadly, locking his phone and stuffing it in the pocket of his jeans, which had dried out overnight. "But um...thanks for, like, everything," he tells him brightly.

And he really means it.

"No prob. I gave you my number, right Sugar Plum?" Taehyung teases, elbowing him in the side playfully as he passes him on his way to the trash can.

Jungkook snorts, rolling his eyes fondly. "Of course, Count Dracula," he replies.

They walk to the door side by side, and they say their silly goodbyes to each other, Jungkook leaving through the exact door that he'd come through last night, nervous and unsure, which he thinks is pretty funny to think about now.

He doesn't even notice until he's halfway home, his cheeks reddening and a soft smile finding its way to his lips, that he's accidentally taken Taehyung's sweatshirt, the thick gray fabric protecting him from the chilly wind. Whoopsies, he thinks, shrugging and pulling the sleeves further over his hands.

He is going to give it back, though. He swears to himself. He'll give it back.

When he sees Taehyung again.

---

Awww floofy floff fluff ;-; You guys, I wrote this so much faster than usual. I think writing smol taekook again motivated me lol. But like, in all seriousness, though, I'm actually very happy with how this turned out :')

Anyways, idk if anyone will read it, but if you've taken the time to do so, thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed, because I really enjoyed writing it. I'm so cheesy by e

See you soon! c: