"...and if you click here you get to the gallery, displaying all your recent photographs arranged after themes", Yoongi ended the introduction for Jungkook to his own brand new website. "Any questions?", the elder asked but obviously just for good measures (and not so subtly giving off the vibe he hoped the answer would be no). Which was utterly understandable for the younger. His second had played teacher for almost an hour by now, still making final changes on the website whilst explaining it. And there were certainly other things he had to do. However, there indeed was one more question Jungkook had to ask.

"Hyung, can you teach me how to ramble about photographs like a pro?"

A moment of silence as Yoongi took his time processing the demand. And although his facial expression gave nothing away Jungkook could literally hear the thoughts of the elder.

'Wha- how the hell am I supposed to say how the mind of those crazy artists works? As if I know the first thing about that. And why me?  Is there no 'crash course for fake photographers' around or something? Kid, I have a job to do which is spying our soon-to-be-dead target so you can finally get your sh*t done and end our current task. How did you even get through with your lie for so long without being caught? You surely are a lucky one... Is teaching you photography even part of my job description? I think not. Do I get a salary raise now? And stop ordering me around- wait, you said it as a question so it should be fine. For now.'

But instead of saying any of those the elder opted for pulling his most confident yet somehow sarcastic smirk and cooly replied: "You couldn't ask for a better rambling teacher."

With that being said, another hour passed as Yoongi explained how to point out weird details as eye-catching uniqueness, to talk in melodramatical metaphoras one should better not fully understand and how to effectively shut down any questions about the choice of whatever with the word 'intuition'. Jungkook didn't get how the other came up with all this rubbish as he listened to him going on about the meaning of life and the danger of making decisions. Whilst he pointed to an old beer bottle imprint on the table.

"So what are the key words again?"

Obliging, Jungkook recited what he learnt the past 60 minutes. "Intuition, sense of belonging, aging, change, insecurities, powers of an individual, uniqueness, artist's eye, sixth sense, depth, meaning of life."

Yoongi nodded along, satisfied with the answer. "Good. That's it for now, everything else you'd have to learn in a proper photography school or something similar." The younger didn't react to the second part. They both knew very well it would never be an option. The elder was finally taking his leave as Jungkook piped up once more.

"One more thing, hyung. I will be coincidentally meeting up with Taehyung in two days."

His second gave him a bland look, unimpressed as always. "I thought so already." With that, he closed the door behind himself. And left Jungkook with the unvoiced certainity there would be records of where Taehyung would be heading and how and when laying on his office desk when he entered his bureau the next time.

Jungkook's head moved from left to right and back as he kept scanning the crowd for a familar brunet with rectangular smile. His eyes were stinging from the constant staring. Impatiently, he tapped his foot in time with the second hand of his watch. Taehyung was already 20 minutes later than predicted. The raven-haired was pissed. For the nth time he let his gaze wander, searched for the young man he was waiting for as people kept entering and exiting the train station. No Taehyung. Still no Taehyung. God, he hated it if things didn't go as planned. As his phone buzzed and he answered the call, he didn't even try to hide his anger about being stuck in a crowd for half an hour. A big crowd. People everywhere, ugh. "What!", he barked.

"Taehyung isn't coming to where you are right now", his second stated the obvious from the other end of the line, not giving away any reaction to the rude answer. Only the slightest trace of anger was audible but no fear for Jungkook, their gang's leader. Never fear, no yielding, no submitting to anyone.

"You don't say, mister genius", the younger scoffed.

"For a reason we don't know, he his heels midway and is currently heading to a park in the southern part of town. He won't come to you anytime soon."

Jungkook inhaled sharply.

Jungkook exploded. "WHAT THE ?!?!" So much to hiding your emotions. Heads turned his way, all showing a disapproving scowl. He didn't particulary care.

"I'll send you a map." And his second hung up.

Indeed it took only seconds until he got the promised message with attached map. The picture showed on one hand the direct way from his current location to the park and on the other hand the route Taehyung had taken. "What the is going on", Jungkook muttered as he fell into a fast jogging tempo whilst following the line of swirls, sudden turns and dead ends with his eyes which was the way Taehyung had taken. What is this idiot doing?

"If this ain't Jungkookie", Taehyung chirped happily from a bench and spread his arms wide as soon as he spotted him.

It took quite something for Jungkook to bite back all the nasty comments threatening to slip from his mouth. Although he had a feeling the nickname the brunet used for him made it easier to stay friendly or at least neutral. It had a nice ring to it, 'Jungkookie'. But this could as well be his imagination. Maybe he was imagining things due to the lack of oxygene in his brain or something. After all, he had been more or less running straight for almost fifty minutes to get from one end of town to the other. During which he had been very grateful for his well-trained body.

Catching his breath, he bent down, hands on his knees and head hanging low, gulping down big amounts of air. And therefore missed Taehyung getting up and approaching him. Toned arms wrapped around him, engulfing him in a tight hug. Jungkook stiffened, going still like a statue. He wasn't keen of skinship and body contact and stuff with strangers. Like, not. At. All.

"Funny, how we keep running into each other. Good afternoon", the older chuckled. Jungkook's breath grew rapid again. Had he gotten suspicious? But luckily, Taehyung misinterpreted it. And for some reason the younger couldn't find it in him to be surprised at all.

"Whoa, there, there, slow down a little, will ya?" The brunet threw him a partly concerned, partly amused look. "What were you doing, practicing for marathon or what. Come, sit down, take a break. You are as red as the jacket-shirt-thingy from Ruffy D. Monkey." He lead him to the nearest bench and pushed him down rather forcefully. Not given much of a choice, Jungkook focused with everything he had on calming his throbbing heart, on taking slow, controlled breaths until he could manage a reply.

"Nah, I just had too much--- energy filled up inside of me. Had to let out some steam so--- I ran a bit. A nice jog once in a while--- isn't that bad y'know." At least he could make a good excuse out of it.

Taehyung huffed. "You know, if I didn't know better I'd say your Relief is to run around all day." He didn't notice how silent the other had become, how his mind had went blank except for one word running in circles in his mind: Sh*t!

Oblivious, the brunet continued. "But honestly, if I had to picture you as a Blessed then simply running would be too boring for being your Relief. Something as bland doesn't suit you. I mean, come on, jogging through town? So uncool and unfitting for you, Jungkookie. Take Jiminie for example. He surely has figured out how to use it to his advantage, like, look at him..."

Jungkook's head snapped around. "What? What did you just say?"

Taehyung´s eyes widened. Silence fell. He gulped. Sporting the embodiment of the infamous 'deer-caught- in-the-headlight' expression mixed with a huge amount of guilt. As the elder finally erupted in some nervous giggles, it only worsened the tension. "Wha- nooooo, no no no no no, I said nothing. I didn't say anything, did I say something? What did I say again? I said, uh, that... that mini whinnies like cows and ads in a cottage, no, I mean, mini mini whies like advertisements of cows so they paint them in cottages, or wait, wasn't it whinni minies? Like I said, vminies..."

But Jungkook didn't listen to the nonsense anymore and began to ponder about what he just learned instead.

So the target is a Blessed. Most certainly. Although our researchs, our investigations said he was an Average?  Where did who make a mistake? And he introduced himself as an Average. But so did I. And Taehyung. Does that make all of us lying Blessed? No, my gut feeling tells me Taehyung is the honest one here. But can I be sure about it? What kind of Blessing does the target have? Is he a Giver, an Alterer, a Taker like me or a Vague? God, what do I do if he  is an impure? What would be worse, if he was a Taker or a Vague? What are his powers? And what did Taehyung mean with using his Blessing to his advantage, is it somehow related to his career as author? Must be the case.

Does he know? About me? What does he know? Maybe at some point he saw me entering the local institute of Blessing? Or even worse, did he see me in the department of Blessed's state recording? After all there is only one institute in each town so every Blessed has to go there which heightens the possibility to meet somebody. If he saw me and recognized me he knows I lied. Which could be the reason for his reservation against me. Why did he lie though? Is he an illegal, a non-registered Blessed? In that case he wouldn't go near the institute and I might be save from revealation for now.

But what are his powers and how far is he willing to go to protect himself? Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t! That´s why I don't take orders to kill another Blessed. At least not without thorough preparation. What the hell am I supposed to be doing now?

From then on, Jungkook's thoughts repeated itself so he could aswell focus back on his surroundings. Taehyung was still busy forming sentences without any deeper sense. He was obviously a mental wreck by now as he had spilled his best friend's secret. The younger decided to have mercy and stirred the talking subject in another direction. Because he had a task to finish. Rather quickly.

"Hyung, if I was jogging through the park to put some unneeded energy to good use, then why are you here?", Jungkook interrupted rather nonchalantly.

He was thanked with a deep sigh and a sheepish smile. "I, uh... I think I got lost somehow...", the elder admitted, scratching his head. Jungkook's jaw dropped. Here was he, assuming the worst like Taehyung having found out about his doings and about the fact he got followed everywhere. Here was he, thinking the strange route the other had taken was some sort of tactical maneuver to get away from his stalkers whilst in reality he simply had get lost?

"Unbelievable", he mumbled, shaking his head in defeat. Taehyung was still grinning and back to his old carefree self.

"Oh, by the way I looked you up on the internet again and this time I found you. And that may be a little bit hard but... I'm not sure if I am very impressed by your collection of door knobs, street lanterns and skyscrapers..."

Jungkook snorted. "You lack the eye of an artist, dude", he retorted with as much overconfidence as Yoongi had taught him two days ago. It was that moment he decided to be as natural as possible around Taehyung with the role he had to play. It would be way easier that way, the danger of contradiction would be smaller. Besides, the brunet wasn't his supposed-to-be crush so he had no reason to act like a shy, love-struck idiot if he was just with him.

"Nu uh, I won't let you off so easily", the elder sang happily, enjoying the turn of events very much if the delightened wicked gleam in his eyes was an indication. "I have a very artistic eye, you must know. Artist's eye, I mean. Several pictures of the skyscrapers and whatnot were blurred and I tell you it wasn't the artsy way of blurriness."

"Hyung, blurriness is no word. You don't make sense so why should I listen to your critic?", the younger teased, playing along.

"Yes it is a word! Of course it is. However, my point is, what a loosy photographer are you for ruining your pictures and showing them online nevertheless?" Taehyung poked him in the side with every word.

Jungkook sighed in mock defeat. He would do something rather stupid and risky now. But he felt it would work out for him. "You got me", he admitted with grave voice. "In reality I am a cold-hearted murderer who takes killing orders, who kills for a living. The whole photographer story is just a farce to tell my victims so they don't get suspicious before I can do my work. You and your friend are my next targets. Better prepare yourself."

He looked the stunned man dead in the eye, watching every reaction, keeping his completely serious mask for some more moments before he burst into loud laughter. Immediately, Taehyung went along, his mouth impossibly widening and they kept laughing together, slapping each other, blinking away tears. "I-I totally got you", Jungkook gasped, his cheeks already hurting from all the forced laughing.

"No, no you didn't", the other denied, still giggling and jerking. "I saw through you from the very beginning."

"Pfft, if you say so." They both grinned at each other. Jungkook shook his head. Unbelievable how easy it is to lead peope on. Tell them the truth and laugh afterwards so everybody will think it was a lie. Oh Taehyung, if you knew, if you only knew... But attack can be the best defense. Now as I told you who I am, what I am, you will never consider it a possibility to be true. Because I lied to you as I didn't lie. Easy like that.

Taehyung let himself fall back into the grass - when had they even left the bench? - and dreamily watched the clouds floating miles above them. "Jungkookie, you should sit down with Jiminnie and brainstorm about new stories together. That's some crazy creepy cool imagination you have here..."

"Well, he doesn't want me near him so that could be a little difficult", the younger pouted, plucking at the grass beneath them and ripping it to green confetti.

But the other lazily waved his hand. "Ah, that. Don't worry about it. There will be a new tape by Taeyang released tomorrow. Jiminnie is totally hyper about it since days. Just buy him one and the next time you see him, bribe him with it to go out to lunch with you. You will spend time together and Jiminnie-pabo will realize how great you are. Everybody happy. I will make sure he doesn't run to the next music store to buy it himself."

Jungkook stared at him with big round eyes. "You would really do that? Thank you so much, hyung, thank you thank you thank you..." He tightly clasped his hands together as if praying. No, there was no way he would throw himself at Taehyung as thanks. No to skinship.

The brunet just gave him another radiant smile. "You're welcome, Jungkookie. Oh, wait. Wait wait wait..." He started rummaging through his backpack until he held up his cellphone in victory. "Let's exchange numbers. So you can write me when you got the tape and I can text you where to meet with Jiminnie-hyung."

This time the raven-haired's smile was sincere. Now he had the number of Kim Taehyung and a real plan how to reel in his target. Finally!

"Hyung!" Jungkook burst into his second's office as soon as he got back to the head quarter.

"Brat."

"Our informations weren't correct it seems. The current target Park Jimin isn't an Average but a Blessed of any kind."

And for once there was a hint of surprise and - shock? - on Yoongi's face.

Before he could react further, Jungkook continued. "I need to know if he is pure or impure and what kind of Blessing he wields as soon as possible."

The elder nodded and found his voice again. "How did you find out?"

"Uh..." the younger's face twisted. "I ran from the train station where I was waiting to that ing park and Taehyung began to make jokes." He scratched his neck, slightly embarassed. "He said it almost looks like running is my Relief and then it slipped him the target uses his Relief rather good in difference to me and as soon as he realized what he had said he looked very shocked and guilty. I need no further confirmation. But of course I didn't get more out of him so I have no idea what the Blessing of the target is. There is just one more thing... his Relief has most likely to do something with him being a renowned author. Yeah, that's all."

"...You could have used the train like normal people, y'know."

"Leave it, hyung."

Yoongi seemed like he wanted to retort rather badly but decided against it. "I will start digging in the Park-Jimin dirt immediately and search what we missed. But you... you should go to bed. Don't you agree, Hoseok?"

Hoseok, who had just entered the room, bowed his head in agreement before he casted Jungkook a sympathetic look. "Yes, you are very pale, boss. Some sleep might be good for you now."

Jungkook wanted to argue with them at first but they were right, he was too weak to even start denying it. "Whatever", he murmured as good-bye and dragged himself to his room. Slightly shivering from the use of strength to get there, he collapsed on his bed with a loud groan. And now as he laid there and paid attention to it he could feel the deadly, on so many ways deadly, power boiling inside of him. Pressing against its cage. Against him. Jungkook thought about when he had done the kiss and kill the last time. It was clearly too long ago. He needed to use his Blessing as soon as possible or he would burst.

His room felt foreign, dark and cold. He cuddled deeper into his blanket.

Taehyung's greeting hug hadn't been cold at all.

​​