jungkook hitches his swim trunks up a little higher as he walks down la rambla. he's just come from the beach, and the bottoms of his shorts are still heavy with seawater, sinking lower on his hips with every step he takes. there's so much to see - people painted bronze, posing like statues in the middle of the walkway, and there are patterned tiles, undulating gently like waves, and carts and kiosks selling all sorts of touristy items filling both sides of the street.

he's only been in barcelona for about twenty hours, the first stop on his pre-uni tour of europe, but he's determined to get in the habit of sending home small souvenirs for his friends as often as possible.

overwhelmed by the sheer number of kiosks and storefronts, jungkook picks one at random and shoulders the door open as he pulls his shorts up again. it's warm in the shop, and it's crammed with merchandise, from the usual t-shirts and snapbacks and miniature replicas of tourist attractions to hand woven blankets and jewelry made from local stones. he stops at a table littered with jewelry, picking up a pair of ear piercing carved out of coral.

he's trying to decide between two different pairs when a voice says from behind him, "i think the blue is more your color."

jungkook whirls around, earrings rattling against their plastic holders, to find a boy smiling at him, brown eyes twinkling in the sun streaming in through the windows. jungkook clears his throat.

"they're for my best friend."

the boy hums and edges closer so that he can look at the options. "well, the blue is nicer than this color here." he grabs the peach-colored ones out of jungkook's hand. "are you dead set on that design though? because it's a bit trite, if you ask me."

jungkook stares down at the little blue starfish. he'd thought they were cute, and appropriate for jimin since he likes these kinds of things. considering they had come from the mediterranean sea.

"i guess not," he mumbles.

"what about these?" jungkook turns to see the boy holding up a pair of blue coral raindrop piercings framed in silver. "they're simple, but that means they'll be appropriate for a wider range of occasions, you know?"

jungkook hums thoughtfully and reaches a hand out so he can touch a fingertip to one of the earrings. he darts his gaze back to the boy, who's watching him expectantly, a hint of smile curling his lips. "do you work here?"

the boy snorts. "i'm on vacation, like you. i was just in here looking for a new pair of flip flops, as mine broke this morning."

he shrugs nonchalantly, and jungkook looks down, sees that he's not wearing any shoes at all.
"i'm taehyung, by the way."
he looks back up, sees that taehyung's holding a hand out to shake. jungkook wipes his hand on his trunks, suddenly nervous, then 
remembers that they're still wet.

"sorry," he mumbles as he places his damp hand in taehyung's. "i'm jungkook."

"well, jungkook," taehyung says briskly. "are we settled then?"

he wiggles the earrings. jungkook bites his lip and looks back at the rack of jewelry, uncertain. his eyes are still drawn to the little starfish, but taehyung's probably right.

"sure," he says with a sigh, and taehyung answers him with a bright  box like smile.

"fantastic! anything else you wanted to pick up for your friend? eomma? girlfriend? boyfriend?"

jungkook blinks. "don't you think it's a bit soon to be fishing for information like that, taehyung?"

taehyung just grins cheekily at him and shrugs again. "never too soon, kookie. come on, let's see what else this shop has to offer."
he tucks the piercings into his palm and leads jungkook down the aisle, pausing to browse through the selection of sandals.

*

by the time they stumble out of the shop, jungkook's got a bag filled with the coral piercings, a shot glass, a pair of ridiculously large sunglasses that taehyung insisted looks good, and one of each postcard they had offered, and taehyung is wearing a brand new pair of sandals. jungkook scratches some dried salt off of him as he adjusts to the sunlight after the dimmer lighting of the shop. 

"hey tae, do you know where there's a post office around here?"

taehyung purses his lips and looks up and down the street. "yeah, I think... i was here yesterday, and i found one on the side streets. i don't remember the name of the street, but i'll know it when i see it. come on, let's go find it."

he grabs jungkook's hand and tugs him along. jungkook tries not to think about how he's holding hands with a boy he's known for thirty minutes. for all he knows, taehyung could be a serial killer. although he doesn't look it. his friend, or can be considered his second mother jin had warned him before he'd left, worried that his trusting nature would be dangerous, but something tells him that he doesn't need to worry about taehyung.

it took them nearly an hour of wandering around la rambla until taehyung spots a familiar delicatessen and they turn onto a shady side street. sure enough, there's a sign for the post office, and they push inside, find a small square of space so that jungkook can write messages on the backs of the postcards, then stuff them, the piercings, and the carefully wrapped shot glass into a box and address it.

he throws away the empty bag into a trash bin as they leave the post office, and they pause in front of the building, facing each other. taehyung shuffles his feet on the pavement, and jungkook watches him as he shoves his hands into the pockets of his shorts.

"so," taehyung starts, then bites his bottom lip.

"so," jungkook repeats, amused and curious.

"do you..." taehyung pauses, jerks his head to the side so that his fringe swings out of his eyes. "do you want to go get some coffee? there's a cafe the next street over that serves coffee with ice cream in it."

jungkook smiles a bunny smile. he's only known taehyung for about two hours, knows nothing about him past his first name, but he's nice and helpful and so painfully pretty. jungkook's still got a few days left in barcelona, and he thinks he wouldn't mind spending them with the blonde.

"sure."

“so,” taehyung starts as they sit at a table in front of the cafe. jungkook waits for taehyung to continue, watches taehyung tip his head back and raise his face toward the sun briefly. he’s gorgeous - face lightly tanned just like his body, an angular jaw, thick lashes casting shadows over the tops of his cheeks. jungkook stares, doesn’t look away when taehyung lowers his head and turns his attention back to jungkook, an eyebrow quirked in amusement.

“so,” he repeats. “what’s your deal?”

“my deal.”

taehyung nods. “what’s a dongsaeng like you doing in barcelona by yourself?”

jungkook snorts. “i’m eighteen, thanks. i finished high school and wanted to do a bit of traveling before uni, you know?” jungkook props his chin in his hand. “what about you?”

“i just finished my first year of uni, decided i needed a break. so i packed a bag, left my best friends a note, and bought a ticket. been here three days.”

“are you just staying here, then?”

“nope.” taehyung shrugs and takes a sip of his coffee. “i'm making my way east. i don’t really have a plan. been waiting for the right time to move on. a sign, i guess.”

jungkook his head, drops his gaze to where he’s drawing lines in the condensation on his glass. “what do you reckon it’ll be, this sign?”

“i don't know, jungkookie. ” taehyung’s tone is teasing, and when jungkook looks up at him, his mouth is formed in a boxy grin. “i’ll know it when i see it, though.”