'Well, they say it takes a village."

Taehyung's mother set two mugs on the dinner table and smiled weakly at her friend of just a few months, who was visibly distraught at the moment. She fidgeted in her seat and accompanied her shaking hands with the cup of tea, a feeble attempt to calm her nerves. "Look, I know kids can be a handful but Jungkook is an angel. He would never damage a hair on Taehyung's head. He adores him. They play together every day, I just--" She looked as if she was on the brink of tears.

Taehyung's mother rushed to her side. "Ji-ah...please don't cry. Children are..interesting. I'm not sure what caused the fight but it was going to happen eventually. They're boys. They wrestle."

"Wrestle? Sooyeon, my baby is in the hospital!" 

"Taehyung couldn't even find his front tooth. At least no one will think your kid is defective."  Jia flinched at the sudden statement.

Realizing how insensitive her previous statement sounded, Sooyeon straightened. "Look, I'm sorry..I didn't mean that. Jungkook is a trooper! A six-year old can't do much damage, right? By the looks of it, Jungkook has to be the toughest second-grader I've ever met. Taehyung was leaking like a faucet."  Jia looked up from her tissues at Sooyeon, who was grinning like an idiot as she threw out joke after joke. "How could you possibly joke about something like this?"

"Because our boys have been friends for close to a year now," Sooyeon pauses and smiles into her coffee cup. "And ever since you moved here, I haven't thought about my divorce one bit. I have to make light of the situation. If both of us break down, what kind of mothers would we be? They'll make up in no time. Save those tears for Jungkook's college graduation." Sooyeon finally got a laugh out of Jia, and the two women hugged briefly before going on to talk about appliances on the shopping channel.

Fortunately for them, they were completely unaware of the toothless boy listening to every word of the conversation in his bedroom.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

A ruler comes down hard on Taehyung's knee and he jolts out of his daydreaming session, which must have been a good six minutes long. He opens his eyes to an angry Jin standing over him, a fan between his nimble fingers fluttering his amber bangs away from his forehead. "So you've got time to fantasize about girls, but you can't practice your solo?! Tonight is opening night! I want nothing but cherry blossoms tonight!" Taehyung rolls his eyes at his director's dramatics, waving him off.

"Why do you even care? You graduated eons ago and you now you write songs for famous people. This is a measly school production--" Jin cracks the ruler on Tae's knee again before he can get through his witty sentence, frowning.  "I care because I can smell cherry blossoms anywhere, no matter how far! I just happened to pick up the smell in here, in this room full of sweet voices. Like nectarines~ la, la la!"

Jimin stifles a laugh next to Taehyung as he is called for his solo. "I'll show you how it's done." Jimin sways over to the piano where Yoongi is sitting, kicking off his beat up sneakers and tying on ballet shoes. The fabric is worn but the satin still shines in its own special way, and Jimin smiles at the blisters he sees on his feet as he ties them on. Jimin has danced since he learned how to walk, and it clearly showed. He wore his blisters as badges of honor. He earned this.

A young lady with long red hair mounts a violin slightly above her collarbone. Her legs are crossed and her fingers are slender, fitting perfectly in the groove of her bow. As Taehyung assesses her features, its almost as if she was meant for the instrument; as if she and her violin were meant to be together. Though she doesn't talk much, her violin was her voice and carried her name softly with every sound the strings poured out. Jeni was the only one worthy of playing for Jimin, and Jin would have no other violinist from the orchestra.

"You may begin when you're ready, Jimin-ah." Jin smiles and closes his eyes in preparation for Jimin's practice performance, which always came out flawlesly. Once Jimin nods at Yoongi and Jeni, the two blend a series of melancholic notes that combine to form Lie. 

With every dip of Yoongi's fingers on the ivory keys, Jimin's body is twisting into another beautiful distortion. His lyrics are in sync with every point of his toe, every spin, every leap lands perfectly. Yoongi almost falters when they approach the bridge of the song, because Jimin approaches the piano and lays across it. He tenses every muscle in his body, cranes his neck backwards and gazes straight into Yoongi's eyes to belt out his highest note.

Yoongi's index finger slides off of the last key and his mouth hangs open. He doesn't break his stare into Jimin's chestnut eyes until Jin claps his hands together, and the piercing sound awakens him from his trance. Jimin simply wipes the sweat off his forehead, smirking at Yoongi and sauntering back to his place next to Taehyung. 

Jimin enjoys seeing Yoongi dumbfounded.

"Bravo! Perfection! Deliciously exquisitely fabulous!" Jin fans himself as he applauds with the rest of the club, and Jimin shyly brushes his hair back as he  thanks everyone graciously. Yoongi realizes his mouth was watering and quickly dabs at the corners of his lips before prepping for Taehyung's solo. Jeni leaves her seat and bows slightly with a smile, having finished the orchestral portions of the solos. She sits on a desk not far from the piano, eager to watch Taehyung. 

Taehyung rises from his seat with a confident smile, all too certain he was about to nail this rehearsal just like he nailed all the others. "Yoongi-ssi, music please." Yoongi nods, immediately delving into the soft notes of the beginning of Stigma.

Taehyung is gliding through his song as his female classmates swoon; he adored this piece so much for its complexity and truth. He remembered writing it at a much younger age, where his memory was much more crisp and reliable. Judging by the lyrics, Taehyung was haunted by ugliness on his hands. He wrote this song to express his remorse and guilt for something, but as he breaths into the microphone, Taehyung can't quite remember that something he was apologizing for.

He approaches his high note and relaxes his chords to hit it, until someone comes running into the room unannounced. 

... Jungkook?

He recognizes the dark blonde hair and blue Timberlands immediately. Taehyung's world slows to a deafening pace, and he can no longer hear Yoongi playing the piano. Rather, he just watches Jungkook as he runs over to where Jeni is sitting and hands her the cloth bag dangling from his fingers. He fishes out a melon soda and smiles at her, and then they kiss.

When their lips touch, Taehyung's voice cracks violently.

He's gone just as quickly as he came in, glancing at Taehyung for only a moment before he hurries out of the classroom. 

Jin looks pissed, folding his arms and biting lips. "Hmm. That doesn't sound like cherry blossoms."

Taehyung is visibly embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I'm a little under the weather today..." Jimin looks worried, well aware that Tae has never messed up before.

"That's quite alright, I'm almost positive you'll do well tonight. You shall blossom on the balcony tonight!" Jin twirls and hugs Taehyung in a suffocating grip, while he wonders why he faltered on a song he was confident he mastered.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Tae roughly runs a hand through his hair as he sits in the student council office. He's marking up the school calendar so vigorously the dry-erase nub collapses inside and makes an audible noise against the whiteboard. Hoseok whistles behind him, poking his nose through the door. "Someone's mad." 

When he hears the intrusion his ears perk up and he frowns when he sees Hoseok. "Hey, how can anyone frown when they see me? I'm an angel." Hoseok's infectious smile successfully spreads to Taehyung's cheeks, and the corners of his mouth slightly turn upwards. "That's more like it. Now what's wrong?" Tae blows out a fatigued breath and stretches. "There's just so much that needs to get done and I can't do it all myself. I'm super stressed."

"Well I mean you're not supposed to...the president has a cabinet for a reason." Hoseok winks and grabs a marker to start organizing with Tae. "We just have to take each day at a time. Tonight is the Winter Recital and next week will be Pyeongsaeng: The Bachelors. I've already got the roster for the event next week so you need not worry about that. Jimin dropped off the tuxedos at the cleaners yesterday." Hoseok is busy chewing on his gum and blowing bubbles, but Tae is staring into space. "Could I see the roster?"

Hoseok tosses it across the work table and Tae quickly scans it over. Please don't.

Kim Namjoon

Park Jimin

Kim Youngjin

Lee Minho

Tae breathes a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. "Hoseok, don't you think we need more guys? There's only four here."

"Oh of course! That's the bottom of the list. Here's the top copy." He slides another piece of notebook paper over the table and Tae only scans it long enough to read:

Jeon Jungkook

His heart stops immediately. Just reading his name made Taehyung's ears warm up and tingle, much to his confusion. He was internally filing through the events of last night, from his sensual kiss they shared to all the pictures of him on Jungkook's walls. He doesn't know what's happening to him or his hate-filled agenda but he wants to return to his course as soon as possible.

It scares him.

How easily those memories pushed their way back into his heart, up into his lobes where he thought they had no home. They were now nestled there, taking root and growing into branches and leaves and bearing fruit. Taehyung remembered. Not everything, but what Jungkook showed him last night. He remembered how caring Jungkook was, doting on him every single day when they walked to the schoolhouse. How he would stare at him when he thought Taehyung wasn't looking with a fat grin splattered on his face. How he'd sacrifice his favorite jacket when Taehyung had nothing to wear in the rain, and end up with a cold later just so Taehyung could visit him with ginger tea and Pororo toys. Jungkook was the sweetest little boy and Taehyung couldn't ignore that. He couldn't ignore the man Jungkook had grown into, who now haunts his every thought and drives him to madness simply by existing.

Taehyung is convinced.

He wants to destroy Jungkook. Not so much for the original reason of avenging his favorite tooth; rather Taehyung wants to destroy the hex he has been put under. Yes, he is convinced that Jungkook has put him under some sort of odd spell. A spell that makes his knees buckle when Jungkook is around, his palms sweaty and is his heart disoriented with sweet pleasure. It was Jungkook who laid those soft, strong hands on Taehyung's heart and was now squeezing it and paralyzing him. He needed to be disposed of.

Taehyung is strong.

Evidently he isn't strong enough that he is able to resist his wandering brain. Hoseok is talking to him and Taehyung's mouth is hanging open because oh god, Jungkook's lips were just the right amount of coarse and soft, tender and cherry red and splayed into his beautiful smile that I just--

"Taehyung!" Taehyung is startled, clutching his heart and turning to Hoseok. Jungkook is standing outside of the door with his back turned, casually chewing on a straw. 

He ate lunch? It can't already be noon...did I really zone out for that long?

"I need to discuss something with Kookie real quick. I'll be right back. Finish up the drafts for the gala decorations," Hoseok smiles and turns the corner with the taller male, immediately breaking out into hushed conversation. "I'm telling you, I feel like someone broke in last night. I never leave my Timbs just out and about in the middle of the floor. And I always take my hoodie off before I go to sleep."

"You're being paranoid. When you're too tired you throw your everywhere and just hop in the bed." Jungkook chuckles in response, his eyes forming happy crescents. "You know what? Now that I think about it I don't remember much from yesterday. I came home early...I probably just fell asleep like that. I'm a klutz."

"Yet all these girls want to buy you already. I'll never know why. Now let's talk about what you're going to sing for the bachelor event next week," Hoseok's voice trails off and Jungkook's laughter disappears down the hallway.

Taehyung breathes a sigh of relief. Good. He doesn't remember anything.

Somewhere deep inside that thing Taehyung thinks is a heart, he feels a slight cracking sensation.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Jimin peeks out of the curtain in anticipation, his heart lurching when he takes in every seat filled in the auditorium. "Tae, I don't think I can do this." Jimin is pacing back and forth and he looks like he wants to an odd mixture of cry, puke or piss on himself. Taehyung grabs his best friend and shakes him, smiling him full of lip. "You're nothing short of perfect and you kill it every single time. It's just your nerves. You're on in five minutes, you have no choice but to knock that audience dead." Jimin is cheesing from ear to ear and his infamous eye-smile is much more apparent. He nods enthusiastically and isolates himself in the corner of the room to stretch.

He whispers a pep talk to himself while he stretches backward, struggling with his balance. Jimin glances around the stage for something he can use as a ballet bar to no avail.

Yoongi turns up his music to drown out the possibility of anyone talking to him before the show starts. As the stage coordinator, everyone was on his tonight until 10 PM. He'd rather not be seen or heard or asked to do any task that was remotely laborious, so he was under the radar. He walks by a small area that seems nice and lonely, until he sees Jimin. His feet won't take him any further; he's standing with his thumb hovered over "pause" on his iPhone. His eyes are raking over every muscle protruding from Jimins thighs all the way to his precisely-pointed toes. His legs go high above his shoulders, and gracefully descend back down to Earth. Yoongi is so captivated he doesn't realize how hard Jimin is trying to hold his balance on virtually nothing, but notices immediately when Jimin wobbles off of the chair.

In a panic, Yoongi sprints fast enough to Jimin to grab his wrist and collapse to the floor. The younger boy is alarmed and his eyes are bulging out of his head with apologies. "Yoongi-ssi..I'm so sorry, there was no bar here for me to stretch so I just tried to improvise." The older boy is rubbing the red mark on his forehead from bumping his with Jimin's during the fall. In a moment where he'd normally curse and frown, he loses his words when he stares into the eyes gazing into his own. "No it's alright. I'm just glad you're okay. Please be careful in the future." Yoongi awkwardly clears his throat and looks away while Jimin smiles at him. "Thank you for breaking my fall. That was very sweet of you." 

Yoongi tells Jimin his red face is due to Jimin suffocating him with his body weight.

When Jimin is treated to a bouquet of roses after his performance by yours truly, he asks why they're so cold.

As if they just came out of the cold January winds.

As if Yoongi just ran to the evening florist and bought them, with a heart hidden on the stem.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

Before he can process it, Taehyung is standing in front of the curtains and waiting for them to open. He's petrified, but Jimin's hands on his shoulders and encouraging words behind him ease his nerves. When Taehyung is introduced, the curtains tear open like the Red Sea and red lights flood his vision. As he approaches the microphone, he hears-- and unfortunately sees-- his mother in the front row, waving three different cameras and screaming his name with joy. He bites his lip to keep from getting embarrassed, but deep down his mother gives him the push he needs.

What really pushed him was Jungkook sitting right next to his mother, smiling sweetly at him with a bouquet of gorgeous flowers on his lap. Tae wasn't expecting him to be here at all, and almost doesn't notice when Jeni begins to play the beginning of Stigma. He catches the melody quickly along with Jin on the piano, and rides the sweet melody of the song. Taehyung is the happiest when he's singing, and it shows. His lips are constantly curling into a smile despite his reluctance to show his teeth, and his eyes remain hooded and mysterious to match his lyrics.

Tae approaches the note he struggled with during rehearsal and begins to grow nervous as he builds up to it. He's trying not to focus on the audience before he throws up, but his eyes find Jungkook once again-- mouthing every single word to the song with concentration in his eyes. Taehyung's heart swells when he notices and he has no time to be puzzled about how Jungkook even knows the words before his chords are pushing out his highest note of the night. He mellows down and beautifully ad-libs to the very end of Stigma, and is met with a tsunami of applause.

Jeni suddenly appears beside Tae and takes his hand, initiating a ninety-degree bow to the audience. Jungkook and Ms. Sooyeon are both out of their seats, clapping feverishly. "That was amazing," Jeni smiles at Taehyung and his eyes widen as he beams at her. "Thanks...I  didn't think much of it." He's flattered by her compliment, but doesn't get a chance to let it sink in before the fanfare dies down.

The curtains close and the next act begins to prepare as Tae tries to collect himself after so many faces were staring at him. Jungkook and Taehyung's mother come rushing up to Taehyung in pure excitement, and Taehyung is still wide-eyed and paralyzed from his apparent shock that he hit every single note with crippling precision. "You were phenomenal pumpkin. I took ten videos, but I don't want to post them all at once. One video per day so my followers remember how perfect this performance was." Taehyung stifles a laugh as his mother runs off to go congratulate Jimin. Jungkook is left with Tae, smiling down at the older boy. "She's right. I don't think phenomenal does you any justice. You were breath-taking, Tae." Jungkook smiles warmly and suddenly takes Taehyung into his arms. Taehyung is so afraid that Jungkook can feel his heart thumping against his chest, so he stands firm while Jungkook embraces him.

Taehyung treasures how warm Jungkook is and inhales the smell of his blazer, akin to that of the fresh detergent scent of his bedroom. He feels euphoria wash through his body as he recollects Jungkook's drunken night once again, and that comforting scent makes his knees buckle slightly.  It's over before he can open his eyes and Tae almost loses his balance from swooning. He realizes Jungkook has since walked away and turns to see where he went.

Not too far away, he can see the same tall, handsome boy sweeping Jeni off of her feet to pepper her in kisses. He presents her with the bouquet of flowers and she melts into his arms.

Taehyung certainly didn't think Jungkook bought those flowers for him.

He did, however, feel the familiar cracking sensation from before somewhere in his chest.

This time, it hurt.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

When am I going to find that healthy medium between a too short or too long chapter? My goodness. 

I hope you've all been well! I know I'm a filthy liar and promised this update earlier but it's finals week. I am a shell of a person LMAO

Anywho! I certainly hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you loved it, hit that subscribe button or drop me a comment. I try to respond to every single one, and I appreciate every last one of you giving this a chance!

I love you~