"Do you know how to get to the university from your apartment, or should we start there?" Jungkook asked.

"I can get there, but if you know a shortcut, I'd be grateful for it. I live in the West Brooke complex over that way," he pointed up the street, and Jungkook had to smile.

"No way. I live there, too."

"Irony! Then you should know some decent shortcuts," Taehyung replied.

"I do, in fact. If you'll follow me," he said, starting off toward their complex.

TaeHyung kept pace with him, nodding or asking questions when Jungkook pointed out landmarks along the way. When they reached the public library, and the path that ran through the park, Jungkook pointed it out. "This is the way I usually get to campus. The path leads right to my favorite dining hall; I get breakfast there most mornings. There are more direct paths, though, if you don't like slogging through the wilderness."

"Wilderness?" TaeHyung asked. Jungkook shrugged."Well, it's more wilderness-y than going a block over and then up University seoul."

"That is undoubtedly true," taehyung said, dropping the matter. "On the other hand, I'm a terrible cook, so I'll be eating on campus whenever I can. Show me your secret shortcut?"

"It's hardly a secret," Jungkook said, suppressing a grin nevertheless. They crossed the empty street and followed the line of ornate lamp posts that marked the concrete path through the sycamores.

"jungkook ssi?" Taehyung asked. He replied with a simple, "Hm?" So Taehyung continued. "This is a question you probably get a lot, so feel free to smack me…"

"Yes, I really am from Busan," jungkook said.

"Ah, I had suspected, but that…isn't what I was going to ask,"

Jungkook said "Oh. Ten points for originality, then. That's usually the first personal question people ask me. What was your question?"

"I was going to ask if you happened to be a fan of the Catcher in the Rye."

"You know, I like the book just fine, but I wish my parents hadn't liked it quite so much. And, for the record, people don't ask me that much at all," he said, ending with a twinge of irony.

"What do people ask you a lot?" Taehyung questioned, sounding honestly curious. Jungkook thought about it for a second, and answered,"Am I from Busan, do I speak Chinese , am I single—and I'm not just saying that to sound conceited—how much do I charge to write essays for people, do I wear contacts, et cetera.

"Taehyun blinked, and laughed. "That sounds like it gets old."

"Trust me, it does. Ah, here we are," he said as the brightly lit streets of the University came into view.

The first building they walked by was the large, unnamed dining hall that was colloquially known as The Mess, though not because of the food, which was a far sight better than most cafeteria slop. jungkook pointed the building out, mentioning when it opened and closed, and then moved past it. The other buildings on this stretch were mostly freshman admissions and offices, not the sort of buildings one would have to worry about having classes in. Classes.

"Taehyung, you wouldn't happen to have a copy of your schedule on you, by chance?"

"Believe it or not, I do. Printed it off right before that run in with the landlady." Before Jungkook could ask, taehyung was handing the folded sheet of paper over.

They stepped closer to a light so that Jungkook could look over the locations."Hm," he said, at length,

"You'll be in two of my classes. Epistemology and Civilizations. Out of curiosity, what's your major?"

"Anthropology. What's yours?"

"History," Jungkook said.

His choice tended to surprise people, for some reason, but Taehyung merely took it in stride. Must have been because they had only known one another for half an hour, at that point. They spent the next few hours exploring the campus, Jungkook pointing out shortcuts and interesting landmarks, explaining the history of some areas, and shamelessly geeking to his new friend.

Taehyung was an attentive audience, matching Jungkook's jokes—no matter how subtle—with quips of his own. He respected that. He hated feeling stupid when people didn't catch his jokes and couldn't understand why he was smiling.It was nearing nine o'clock when they came to the last stop on Taehyung's schedule.

they made their way out of the building and back to their apartment complex. When they arrived, it was officially past Jungkook's bedtime of nine-thirty PM. Taehyung's apartment, which he was sharing with his cousin, was on the way to his own, so he paused to say good night, and to ask when he wanted to meet to explore the rest of the town. He hadn't been expecting Irena to appear in the doorway as soon as it swung open.

"Tae! Your goddamn rabbit ate my sock."

"Why did you put your sock in her hutch? Also, you owe me two-hundred fifty," Taehyung asked with a huff, slipping past her. Irena glared, and seemed about to yell, but then she noticed Jungkook suddenly, for she switched over to smiling and preening in the blink of an eye.

"Hello, Jungkook. When Yoona said she's find someone to look after my cousin, I didn't know she'd put the inconvenience on you," Irena said with a pout.

Jungkook wanted to slink off to his own place, but he still needed to make plans with Taehyung . He did his best to sound polite."It was actually a lot of fun," he said honestly,"Er, can I come in for a minute?"

"Of course," Irena said, smoothly stepping aside to allow him in. She wasn't expecting him to walk right by her after muttered thanks, though, clearly, and it irritated her, though she left well enough alone.

"Um, Tae?" He called down the short hallway. Taehyung's head poked out one of the doors. "Sorry, hyung I thought you'd left. Come in."

"I wanted to know when you wanted me to show you around the rest of the town," he said as he walked into Taehyung's domain, where he was unlatching a cage of some sort. Nibbles' hutch, he assumed.

"Ah, I figured that since Irena is unexpectedly back from her boyfriend's place, she could do it."

"Well…if that's what you really want. I wouldn't mind doing it, though," Jungkook said. He blinked for a few seconds as a light brown creature jumped lightly from the cage.

"Also, are you aware that your rabbit is the size of a Cocker Spaniel?"

"She ended up bigger than I expected, but she's very sweet," Taehyung said affectionately, scooping the rabbit up into his arms. She accepted the manhandling docilely, nose twitching.

"Oh, uh, thanks for offering. Honestly, if I have to spend more than five minutes straight with Irena, one of us ends up in danger of serious physical harm, so maybe I could impose on you this weekend…"

"That didn't take much convincing on my part,"Jungkook said wryly, watching Taehyung plop the gigantic bunny on his neatly made bed, where she proceeded to hop about and sniff things.

Taehyung sighed, and sat on the edge of his bed."My decision to transfer out here and move in with my cousin was ill-conceived. I've never been able to stand her… But there was some…drama at my old university that I just…couldn't deal with anymore."

"Never can get away from drama," Jungkook said bitterly, trying not to think about high school.

"Yeah… But, sorry for ranting again."

"Not a problem. If you ever need to do so in the future, I'm told that I'm a fairly good listener. And I have a gallon of ice cream in my freezer. It's chocolate and everything," Jungkook said, mostly trying to lighten the mood. He was rewarded with Taehyung cracking a smile, but it was gone just as quickly.

"Seriously, Tae," Jungkook said, and this time the blonde looked at him, "I just so happen to like you, and I don't genuinely like many people. If you need anything, I'm in C-207. It's the next building over from here, up the stairs. If irena gets too bad, I have a couch…somewhere…if you can find it. If not, I have a bathtub you can sleep in."That time, Taehyung did laugh.