The next day, Taehyung approached Jungkook in the hallway and called out to him:

T: “Jungkook, can I talk to you for a bit?”

J: “Okay.”

Jungkook was desperately trying to stay composed and not start shaking or running away. Knowing what Taehyung wanted to say didn’t help as much as he had thought it would. Rather, it gave him even more reasons to be nervous, thinking that Taehyung might have changed his mind in the meantime.

T: “So, uhm… I guess I’ll get straight to the point – Would you like to go with me to a café or something after school and talk?”

J: “No.”

Taehyung’s face almost fell at the sudden and firm reply he somehow didn’t expect.

T: “Uhm… okay, then, I’ll just get go…”

J: “I’ll be straightforward - I’d rather we go someplace where the focus won’t be on talking.”

Taehyung was yet again stunned by Jungkook’s reply and thought that no interaction with Jungkook was ever smooth sailing.

T: “Why?”

J: “Talking’s not my strong point.”

T: “Bull. I hear the snappy comebacks you throw at people – you have no problem expressing yourself clearly.”

J: “I do when I’m nervous…”

Jungkook couldn’t say that without looking away from Taehyung and the latter didn’t know why that had made him feel warm and also a bit nervous, but he looked away and smiled before proposing:

T: “Alright, then – how about the game center near the mall? Wanna go there?”

J: “Yeah.”

T: “Cool. See’ya at the school gate at 2?”

J: “I’ll be there, but will you?”

T: “This time I will.” Taehyung confirmed with a smile before he turned and walked away to his classroom.

Because Taehyung was a considerate person, he kept their conversation going and centered around trivial topics till they reached the game center. Taehyung wondered if he was going to struggle the whole afternoon but, as soon as they started playing, he forgot about that concern completely. They joked around and had fun playing with or against each other, since they were both competitive, sneaky and skilled at games. At one point it passed through Taehyung’s mind that Jungkook was a lot of fun to hang out with if he wasn’t awkward or annoyed.

Right up until the game center closed, they didn’t talk about any recent event between the two of them. They were hungry, so they bought kebabs at a nearby fast-food place and went to a park bench to eat them. As they ate, it was surprisingly Jungkook who started leading the conversation in a more serious direction:

J: “Uhm, Taehyung…”

T: “Yeah?”

J: “What did you want to talk about?”

T: “Whatever you feel like telling me.”

Jungkook stopped eating and started putting his mind to work. A million things passed through his mind and got jumbled up and the nervousness swelled up inside him throughout the process so much so that the lump in his throat would have prevented any words from coming out of his mouth even if he managed to decide on which to use. Taehyung turned his head towards Jungkook and saw a silent mess of worries, so he pulled him back to reality by saying:

T: “Hey. Whatever you say, I won’t run away from it or you. And, if you tell me straightforwardly, I’ll answer in the same manner.”

J: “Then… can I kiss you again?”

T: “No.”

The shock and disappointment was clear as daylight on Jungkook’s face while Taehyung’s remained unchanged as he continued:

T: “Not at this point at least.”

J: “What?”

T: “First, I’ve got a mouthful of fast-food with garlic sauce in it. Second, I couldn’t judge anything based on that if it happened right now. I realized today, after actually spending time with you, that I don’t know that much about you. So I couldn’t say “I like you” or “I don’t like you” and act upon those because there’s not enough to base it on. I do like what I know about you so far, but it’s not enough for the kind of like that would lead to a kiss. Besides that, I’ve never been in this kind of context with a guy before, so I don’t even know if I’m capable of liking a guy in that way. But I feel no instinctual rejection towards it, so the possibility exists. That’s why, even though it might turn into wasted time and shattered hopes for you, the only solution I see is for you to let me get to know you more and interact with you with this context in mind, and I’ll do my best to reach an answer and convey it to you properly.”

Jungkook stared at Taehyung for a few more seconds, then let out a small laugh and covered his forehead with his hand as he spoke:

J: “If you’re gonna say something like that, I don’t think it’ll feel that bad even if I’ll get rejected in the end. So I guess that takes away a lot of the angst.”

T: “What do you mean?”

J: “I mean if something were to ever happen between us, I think you put more effort into starting it than I did so far. I just blindsided you with a kiss and ran. You pulled me back by asking me out today, you’re giving me a chance when you could just easily brush me off and move on, you’re playing fair and square by telling me how you feel honestly and you’re attempting to get to know me better as if you want things to work out well for us if it’s at all possible for them to work out. Honestly, I think I’m more satisfied than I would’ve been if you had told me you liked me back.”

T: “Why do you like me though?”

J: “There’s just a whole lot to like… I think it’s better if I let you in on that bit by bit along the way instead of pouring it out all in one go. But, for starters, it’s also cause you can act so cool and mature like this while looking so stupid with all that sauce around your mouth.”

Jungkook laughed as Taehyung frantically tried wiping away the sauce with some napkins. He couldn’t continue eating, either because he was now too self-conscious about it or because of the knots that had formed in his stomach as Jungkook talked about liking him. He considered the possibilities of being weak to flattery or just to people opening their hearts to him, but it wasn’t the time to debate that issue because he was still in the middle of a conversation with Jungkook, although Jungkook was now just silently sitting with his head and arms on his raised knee and silently staring at Taehyung as he struggled to take a few more bites of the kebab before he settled on throwing it away.

After Taehyung had gotten home, he immediately logged into the anime site and opened the very familiar private chat window.

TaeX2: OMG!

Cookie: What?

TaeX2: Today marks the day I threw food away for the first time in my life.

Cookie: Uhm… congrats?

TaeX2: It’s not a thing to celebrate

TaeX2: I couldn’t eat it anymore, so I had to throw it away T_T

Cookie: :))

Cookie: My condolences

Cookie: What happened?

TaeX2: Jungkook happened

Cookie: Ha?

Cookie: Elaborate

TaeX2: I asked him out today

TaeX2: To talk, you know?

TaeX2: We went to the game center, so we didn’t talk much

TaeX2: Well, about what’s going on between us, that is

TaeX2: Although we did clear up quite a few things…

TaeX2: Anyway, I was fine throughout the day

TaeX2: Right up until he said he liked me

TaeX2: Well, implied very obviously, but let’s not get technical…

TaeX2: My nerves started acting up and my stomach was suddenly full of knots

TaeX2: I think I have some weird or something…

Cookie: Such as?

TaeX2: I guess I respond weirdly to when people tell me stuff they like about me…

TaeX2: Do I have an ego problem?

TaeX2: What should I do?

Cookie: Experiment

TaeX2: Experiment?

Cookie: Get some of your friends from class to say what they like about you honestly and see how you react to that

Cookie: Tell me how it went afterwards

TaeX2: Okay

TaeX2: I will

Cookie: Otherwise…

Cookie: How did your “date” with Jungkook go?

TaeX2: Too much to go into right now

TaeX2: It’s late and mom’s nagging for me to go to bed

Cookie: :(

Cookie: Booooo

TaeX2: But…

Cookie: ?

TaeX2: I think I’m gonna enjoy getting to know him more :)

Cookie: :)

The following evening, their conversation came back to this, with Taehyung announcing to Cookie:

TaeX2: Btw, I did that experiment you mentioned

Cookie: And…

TaeX2: Inconclusive

TaeX2: The guys just basically enumerated in a sweet voice all the ways in which I annoy them…

Cookie: :))

Cookie: Well then I guess you’ll never know if you have an ego problem or Jungkook just has a special effect :)

TaeX2: Ah, this didn’t happen only with him though…

Cookie: Who else?

TaeX2: Doesn’t matter right now

Cookie: Yes it does

TaeX2: Why?

Cookie: Well…

Cookie: Didn’t you want to figure this thing out?

TaeX2: I’ve got other stuff to think about

Cookie: Like?

TaeX2: Since I proposed getting to know him more, should I go to him and do some kind of follow-up or should I wait and see what he does?

Cookie: Wait and see

TaeX2: You sure?

Cookie: Yeah

Cookie: He needs to put some effort into this too

TaeX2: Hm…

TaeX2: Oh

TaeX2: Speaking of dilemmas…

TaeX2: Did you ever end up talking to your parents about that thing you weren’t sure about?

Cookie: Yeah

TaeX2: And?

TaeX2: How did it go?

Cookie: Not as bad as I thought it might, not as good as if I lived inside a fictional story

Cookie: But…

Cookie: You were right

Cookie: It was better that I got less unsure and apologetic about being the way I am before I told them

Cookie: Otherwise I would have broken down in the middle of the adversities, like you said

Cookie: And I wouldn’t have been able to make them have a proper conversation about it with me

Cookie: Thanks for unexpectedly being mature, Taehyung :)

TaeX2: ^_^

Jungkook thought it would be suspicious if he approached Taehyung on the day following this conversation, so he made a plan, gathered his courage and went up to Taehyung during one recess on the day after that, even if Taehyung was surrounded by a bunch of other people, tapped him on the shoulder, greeted him after he turned around and then completely lost all of his nerve. Rather than risking making a fool out of himself, Jungkook decided to retreat and regroup, so he just said “I’ll come back later.” before splitting the scene with lightning speed.

In that moment it occurred to Taehyung that Jungkook was basically a scaredy-cat when it came to things like these and the contrast with his image around school made it seem like a cute discovery.

Throughout the day, Taehyung had seen Jungkook try to approach him and fail, one time even making a sudden U-turn in the middle of the hallway after clearly heading towards Taehyung. The latter thought he should try making things easier for Jungkook by not constantly being around many people.

So, when school was done, Taehyung noticed that Jungkook had positioned himself near the school gate and seemed like he was waiting, so he told his friends to go on ahead while he went back to look for something he had allegedly forgotten. After most people had gone home, Taehyung headed towards the gate and greeted Jungkook with a smile when he came up to him.

J: “Hey. You’re leaving pretty late.”

T: “Forgot something in my classroom. What’s up?”

J: “WE will be. If you agree, that is.”

T: “Huh?”

J: “Well… Do you have any plans for today?”

T: “No, I’m free.”

J: “Cool… So, uhm, would you like to go somewhere?”

T: “Sounds like you already have a somewhere in mind.”

J: “Yeah.”

T: “Show me.”

Taehyung regretted agreeing as soon as he saw the entrance to the amusement park. Jungkook knew from their online conversations that Taehyung liked amusement parks and, while that was true, he didn’t know Taehyung was terrified of rollercoasters. Jungkook actually thought he would enjoyed them, so he urged Taehyung to get on the scariest looking one first and the latter gritted his teeth and went along with it because he didn’t want to seem uncool.

The cat was out of the bag, however, as Taehyung’s screams and prayers came out of his mouth throughout the entire ride. After it was over, Jungkook sat with him on a bench and asked:

J: “Why didn’t you say you’re not good with these? You even said you were excited.”

T: “I didn’t want to look like a .”

J: “But you said you’re a proud .”

T: “When did I ever say something like that to you?”

J: “No, I… I must have caught you saying it to someone else in school… or something…”

T: “Well, anyway… Usually I am. But we all tell white lies like this from time to time.”

J: “Yeah…” Jungkook agreed, knowing that he was guilty of significantly more white lies than Taehyung.

T: “And I didn’t want to seem like a coward, since this isn’t just a me getting to know you phase, it’s also a you getting to know me phase… I mean through actual interaction, you know… And I guess I felt a bit self-conscious about it.”

J: “Oh, but… it’s fine. I already know you’re a coward. And I actually like it.”

T: “Say what?”

J: “It helps me notice the times and subtle ways in which you’re actually brave. And you’re brave whenever it matters. So don’t worry about it.”

Jungkook smiled as he said that and Taehyung could tell his stomach wasn’t unsettled due to the ride anymore. So, before that feeling could spread to his face and make it red, he abruptly got up and declared:

T: “Let’s go tackle that ride again.”

J: “What? But you just said…”

T: “I can’t let it intimidate me forever. And besides, since you’re already fine with me being a coward, I can shamelessly cling to you and scream my lungs out if the case calls for it.” Taehyung said, showing Jungkook a smile and thumbs up.

His bravery disappeared suddenly when they were set in motion and he grabbed onto Jungkook’s arm with a lot of force. That arm experienced reduced blood flow throughout the ride, as Taehyung held on to it for dear life. By the time the ride was over, Taehyung was shaking less than he did in the previous round and he let go of Jungkook’s arm as he said:

T: “That… that wasn’t so bad… It… Jungkook, are you okay?”

J: “Huh?”

T: “You look lightheaded. Did it take a toll on you too?”

J: “It was so thrilling…”

T: “Well I guess you like this sorta stuff…”

J: “I didn’t think I would, but I do.”

T: “What? Didn’t we just go…”

J: “Having someone you like cling onto you with so much force is really thrilling…”

Luckily for Taehyung, they were asked right then to leave their seats for other people to take them. Without that distraction, Taehyung thought that he also would’ve gone lightheaded from Jungkook’s honest, albeit absentminded remark. Suddenly Taehyung felt like he was caught in a thrilling, but long and potentially dangerous rollercoaster ride in which he only had the illusion of control and safety.

For the rest of the day, they steered clear of other highly thrilling activities and stuck to others that allowed them to laugh, bicker and enjoy their time together without their hearts threatening to jump out of their chests.

That is, except for one incident in which Taehyung got too comfortable and ruffled Jungkook’s hair as they were laughing, then realized what he was doing and swiftly backed off. The panic on his face was evident and amused Jungkook. He acted out being dramatically offended while saying:

J: “Taehyung, how shameless! It’s too early for that, don’t you think?”

Taehyung raised an eyebrow and gave Jungkook a light push before they laughed again and carried on with what they were doing. From that moment on, Taehyung didn’t overthink it whenever he touched Jungkook and sometimes he even did it absentmindedly. He easily admitted to himself that his affection for Jungkook was undeniably growing even though Taehyung’s romantic feelings for him or lack of them remained unclear.

After they had gotten home that evening, Cookie started a casual conversation with Taehyung by asking him how his day went, to which Taehyung informed him that he had gone with Jungkook to an amusement park.

Cookie: Cool

Cookie: How did that go?

TaeX2: It was an interesting day

TaeX2: I made a discovery about Jungkook…

TaeX2: I’ve been scammed

Jungkook’s blood went cold at the thought that he had been caught and it took him forever to type out a reply.

Cookie: What do you mean?

TaeX2: At school he has this manly, stoic and unapproachable image, right?

TaeX2: Turns out he has his moments of awkwardness

TaeX2: He tried asking me out all day and kept getting cold feet at the last minute

TaeX2: Also, when he loosens up, he turns goofy and fun and has this really adorable rabbit-like smile

TaeX2: The complete opposite of his image in school

TaeX2: I just never thought he could actually be this cute

TaeX2: I really need to work on my judging people and things too quickly problem… T_T

TaeX2: I thought all the girls went gaga over the muscles and sharp jaw

TaeX2: But it might have been over the Bambi eyes and bunny smile…

TaeX2: I don’t know if I’m making any sense here…

Cookie: Yes you are

Cookie: Basically, Taehyung…

Cookie: You’re into XD

TaeX2: F U

Cookie: :))

Cookie: Sounds to me like you’re falling for him KYA

TaeX2: I don’t know about that…

TaeX2: It could be that or it could just be enthusiasm over meeting someone I really like hanging out with

TaeX2: Guess I’ll know when the lid gets opened

TaeX2: It’s another Schrödinger’s cat kinda thing :)

Cookie: What would qualify as the lid getting opened?

TaeX2: The next kiss maybe? IDK

TaeX2: Meanwhile I need to plan out our next hang out session

Cookie: Was today’s not suitable for your tastes? :))

TaeX2: It was

TaeX2: Minus the me screaming like a little girl with a baritone voice part

Cookie: XD

What Taehyung planned for the following hang out session was the very definition of chill. He proposed going and sitting beside the river, sharing ear-buds and showing each other their favorite songs as they did their homework.

Jungkook mocked Taehyung for unexpectedly being responsible about school work, but secretly he was happy about sharing such an experience with him. Meanwhile, Taehyung wanted to cry from the despair making another discovery about Jungkook brought him. Jungkook sang along to some of the songs they were listening to and his voice sounded heavenly. By that point, Taehyung was exasperated by the fact that all discoveries he was making related to Jungkook were pleasant ones to him and he decided he really wanted to get some dirt on Jungkook, so he asked:

T: “Hey, since this is a getting to know each other phase, wanna tell me one of your deep, dark secrets?”

J: “Well… I’m into guys.”

T: “Oh, wow, really?! That’s so unexpected! I had no idea.” Taehyung said pretending to be shocked and making the both of them laugh before he continued: “But it’s cool though – that you seem to be owning it.”

J: “Yeah… I’m still working on it, but I have a cool, open-minded and mature friend who helped me get started with that process.”

T: “Is he or she from our school?”

J: “Yup.”

T: “Who is it? Do I know them?”

J: “Not telling.”

T: “Boy, you’re really not planning on confessing anything to me today, huh?”

J: “Well, uhm…” Jungkook started, amplifying Taehyung’s interest, but decided against his original intention and went with: “How about you tell me your deep, dark secret?”

T: “I’m terrified of rollercoasters.”

J: “Oh, wow, really?! I had no idea.” Jungkook imitated Taehyung’s earlier attitude, also making them both laugh.

T: “I’m addicted to anime, including Pokemon and cheesy romances.”

J: “Seriously? That’s your deep, dark secret?”

T: “It’s not deep, it’s not dark and it’s not a secret, but I can’t think of anything that would better fit your request.”

J: “Hm… Well, then I’ll confess this – I’m also into anime, including Pokemon and the cheesy romances.”

Taehyung suddenly looked at Jungkook with sparkly eyes and like he saw sparkles all around Jungkook. The latter realized he had stepped on a landmine because an explosion of questions was about to come his way about which animes in particular he liked, which characters and so on and, if he were to answer them honestly, he’d pretty much expose himself as Cookie. So, when Taehyung was about to ask his first such question, Jungkook quickly talked over him, saying:

J: “Math.”

T: “Huh?”

J: “We should get back to it. Also, I just remembered a song I wanted to let you hear.”

Jungkook expertly dodged all anime-related questions Taehyung still attempted asking but, after they parted ways, Jungkook came running back to Taehyung and breathed heavily as he said:

J: “There’s a Miyazaki marathon this Friday night at the old cinema. Wanna go?”

T: “Sure.”

J: “…”

T: “Why do you look shocked?”

J: “No, I… I guess I didn’t expect it to go that easily…”

T: “Oh... Well I changed my mind about going.”

J: “What?! But you just said…”

T: “Apparently you weren’t okay with things going easily, so… convince me.”

J: “Come on, Taehyung…”

T: “Come on, Jungkook…”

J: “I’ll treat you to nachos.”

T: “I’m not interested in material bribes. Even if it’s delicious and unhealthy food.”

J: “Well… I’m not creative enough for this. What would you like?”

T: “A deep, dark secret.”

J: “…”

Jungkook became lost in thought and serious, so Taehyung was about to say that he was kidding and that he would settle for the name of Jungkook’s favorite anime, but Jungkook suddenly looked at him with an earnest and firm gaze while saying:

J: “I often end up hiding things about myself, but it’s mostly not cause I want to and I’m working on changing that.”

With Taehyung just silently staring at him, Jungkook was beginning to get nervous, although he maintained his firm gaze and stance. But then Taehyung faintly smiled and said:

T: “I… thought I had an ego problem… because I’d get shaken up in a good way whenever you said or implied that you like me or certain aspects about me… But I came to realize that happens whenever you’re being honest about things that mean something to you. Like with that, like right now, like when you admitted to liking anime and being afraid of microwaves… So I guess what you just said is good news for me.”

There was another moment of silence, but this one wasn’t filled with nervousness as they both smiled to each other before Jungkook said:

J: “Then I’ll be honest about another little thing – I really enjoyed today, so… even if I proposed going to see movies, I’d like it if after that we could have another hang out session in which we could talk a lot.”

T: “I’d like that too.”

Neither of them went online that evening, as they both just wanted to indulge in thinking about and remembering everything that happened that day and imagine what the following hang out sessions would be like.

They went well and Taehyung especially made quite a few discoveries and had many realizations. They still didn’t talk online much during this time and, when they did at one point, Taehyung said:

TaeX2: Hey, Cookie, you there?

Cookie: Yeah

TaeX2: You’ve been so silent lately…

Cookie: So have you

Cookie: And I didn’t want to disturb you while you were busy falling in love :D

TaeX2: Haha

TaeX2: About that…

TaeX2: I came to a few conclusions

Cookie: Like what?

Cookie: WAIT!

TaeX2: Well…

Cookie: DON’T TELL ME!

TaeX2: “Don’t tell me” as in I don’t wanna know or as in I suspect what it is but I’m surprised by it?

Cookie: Just don’t tell me!

Cookie: I’m logging out

TaeX2: But…

Cookie: Bye

Taehyung was confused for a couple of seconds, then burst out into a laughing fit behind his computer screen. After that, he couldn’t stop grinning for several reasons Cookie didn’t seem like he wanted to be informed about.

The following day at school, Jungkook found a good moment to come up to Taehyung and say:

J: “Taehyung, can I talk to you privately for a bit? Please?”

T: “Sure.”

They went behind the gym again, where Jungkook took a deep breath with his hand trying to calm down what was happening inside his chest before he turned towards Taehyung and said:

J: “Would you… mind closing your eyes for this next part?”

Jungkook looked seriously at Taehyung to make sure the latter understood what that meant and he felt himself starting to shake when Taehyung closed his eyes seemingly aware of what was going to follow.

The cat was alive, but Taehyung knew that even before Jungkook opened the lid by kissing him in the same way he had previously done at that place, only making the kiss last longer this time around. Taehyung knew, but Jungkook wasn’t sure, so he prolonged the kiss because he thought it might be the last one and because he was still afraid of what Taehyung was going to say after that.

Still, he went there prepared for anything, so he gathered his courage and let go, backing away from Taehyung slightly and looking straight at him as he did. His gaze faltered from the nervousness and he ended up looking down for a second or two. However, when he brought his eyes back up towards Taehyung, he saw that Taehyung had closed his again and when Jungkook realized what that meant he felt like someone had hit the brakes on his breathing.

Jungkook kissed Taehyung again, this time with more motion, and felt like lighting had struck him when Taehyung kissed back. He cupped Taehyung’s face with both hands and pressed harder against his mouth while one of Taehyung’s hands went to the back of his head and the other made a half-circle around his waist. Had his mind not gone blank as their kiss intensified, Jungkook would have worried about losing his footing in the middle of it. But, suddenly, a thought passed through Jungkook’s mind that made him break the kiss, back away a bit and say:

J: “Taehyung, wait. I have something to confess.”

T: “Me too. But you go first.”

J: “I’m Cookie.”

T: “I KNEW IT!”

J: “You… did?”

T: “I noticed similarities at one point, then I did a little subtle experiment which confirmed it, but I still wasn’t 100% sure.”

J: “You’re not mad about this?”

T: “No. I’m actually relieved because my mind overlapped Cookie and Jungkook and it would’ve been weird to start thinking differently.”

J: “Would you have preferred Cookie over Jungkook if this wasn’t the case?”

T: “Does it matter? They’re both you and I like YOU. A lot.”

Jungkook didn’t show any signs of happiness until it finally hit him what Taehyung had said at the end and he thought he might have heard wrong.

J: “Wait… What?”

T: “I like you. That’s what I wanted to confess.”

It looked like Jungkook had short-circuited a bit, so Taehyung went to kiss him, bring him back to reality and reconfirm what he had just declared. Jungkook had just started kissing back when the bell rang and made him say with bitterness:

J: “Damn! I never hated that bell more than I do now…”

T: “We can skip if you want.”

J: “Whoa! That was kinda unexpected coming from you.”

T: “You should be used to the unexpected by now.”

J: “Fair point. But let’s not skip now since your friends saw you walking away with me and they’re gonna question you about it even more if you also miss class.”

T: “You’re very considerate…”

J: “I learned from the best.”

T: “Why thank you!”

J: “Who said I was talking about you?”

They joked around on their way back to class and, before they parted ways, Taehyung asked:

T: “Hey, Jungkook. Wanna have another private talk later on?”

J: “You bet! Oh, and Taehyung…”

T: “Yeah?”

J: “You promised me soda.”

T: “Don’t worry. I didn’t forget about that, Jungkookie.”