"Oi!" A gruff voice called out from behind. "Who's there?"

       As the two men approached, Jungkook knew better than to call suspicion to them by running, and it seemed Taehyung shared the same mind set. The latter shifted to move behind Jungkook, feigning shyness and guilt at being caught on a midnight tryst with a lover. Jungkook gulped- this was it. Either the disguise would work, or this could end badly.

       But reminding himself that Taehyung had managed to make his outfit pretty damn convincing, he took a deep breath and immediately went into acting mode. Mindfully keeping Taehyung as covered as possible, he faced the approaching men and flashed a guilty smile.

       "Sorry, we were looking for a place that we could... talk alone," Jungkook spoke up, gently rubbing one of his own arms as he attempted to portray some shame in being caught. "Promise you won't tell my mother? Please?" He wasn't stupid, he knew at least one of the two men had recognized him as Yejun, but his main hope was that his performance would distract them enough from figuring out who Taehyung was.

       He could feel Taehyung shifting behind him, shrinking into himself and pressing closer to him. If the look on their faces were any clue, the guards were buying the story. When one of them let out a ed laugh, Taehyung peeked out, flashing a tiny guilty smile before returning to cowering behind Jungkook.

       "Well, don't cause any trouble, and I won't be obliged to tell," the man spoke addressing Yejun as his companion grinned in amusement. "And you," this time it was to Taehyung- he glanced up from behind the shadows, and for a moment Jungkook dreaded the worst, "be careful now," the guard knocked Jungkook's shoulder lightly. "This one is all sorts of trouble."

       Jungkook was quick to bow his head in a gesture of thanks as the guard made his deal clear. He let out a sheepish chuckle at being dubbed 'all sorts of trouble’ before making a somewhat of a show of leading Taehyung away to "continue looking for a spot."

       But once out of earshot, Jungkook and Taehyung didn’t waste a second in dashing away from the scene. It wasn't till they had gotten a bit farther that Taehyung let out a small sigh of relief. He glanced over at Jungkook, allowing a relieved smile as he spoke lightly, "looks like Yejun had quite the reputation."

       Jungkook couldn't help his soft laugh at the other's words. "Well, he refused to conform unlike everyone else, so he would have a reputation. Besides, what other worker would address Seung-yoon without a care?"

       Echoing the soft laugh, Taehyung shrugged slightly in agreement. "I can't argue with that- but it think the key question there is who would Seung-yoon allow to address him without a care." Jungkook smiled and nodded as Taehyung added, "I get the feeling Seung-yoon was a bit of an , being crown prince and all."

       "Then I guess I should be glad you're Taehyung and not Seung-yoon, huh?" Jungkook proposed lightly with an amused smile before glancing around their surroundings again, "you may look similar to one another, but I much prefer Taehyung anyway." Jungkook easily admitted now that his gaze was elsewhere, his focus on getting out of their current situation spilling words from his mouth he would have otherwise rethought. And thankfully for Taehyung, Jungkook was also distracted enough not to notice the blush he sported.

       They walked a little further until Taehyung was tugging at his hand. "Which way from here?" he questioned as they approached another split.

       Jungkook frowned. Gently chewing on his bottom lip as they arrived at the split path, Jungkook shook his head lightly. "This way is the quickest." He said slowly as he indicated the fairly busy path ahead of them. "We can take this way..." He continued, indicating the left path, "But we might risk someone noticing Seung-yoon's disappearance before we get a clear path to the exit. Which should we do?"

       Taking a deep breath, Taehyung looked down the two paths. "You're right," he murmured and tipped his chin towards the main path. "They'll notice he’s gone soon, we're better off not wasting time." Behind the choice, Jungkook knew, was the underlying fear that the only way to beat what was decided was to hurry. They had run out of time before, and couldn't run that risk again. "Best place to hide is in plain sight, right?"

       "That's what the books say." Jungkook quipped lightly as he gently tugged at the other's hand, "Let's get out of here, okay?"

       Jungkook could feel his nervousness creeping up on him again. They had already come this far, all he wanted was success this time. "Just keep your head angled more toward the ground and no one will look twice at us." He murmured, planning on doing just that himself. "Ready?" He asked, clearly ready himself.

       Nodding in agreement, Taehyung stepped closer and curled a hand around Jungkook's forearm. "Let's go," He nudged Jungkook forward.

       Jungkook held himself properly as he attempted to look like he belonged in the crowd without standing out. Monitoring their speed and how closely they were standing, Jungkook swore Taehyung might be able to hear his heartbeat. Looking over at Taehyung he attempted to make it look like they were in their own world and not to be bothered by frivolous encounters, all the while attempting to track how close they were to the gate. 

       Jungkook was so focused on that task that he only faintly noticed Taehyung’s unease, that he attributed to the task at hand. But soon Taehyung was tugging him subtly towards a man who at seeing them approach was quick to come over and present to them a number of Chinese jade pendant necklaces.

       Taehyung glanced up at Jungkook with a bashful smile for the benefit of the salesman pushing his sale, and Jungkook didn’t truly understand till he felt the press of cold metal in his hand. Taehyung leaned forward, cupping a hand over his ear as he whispered.

       "Buy it, move to a corner. I'll explain in a bit." When Taehyung pulled back and feigned a look of anticipation, gently clutching his arm, Jungkok didn’t hesitate.

       Taking the coins Taehyung had passed him, he looked at the necklaces carefully as though taking it seriously before 'choosing' to pay for one for Taehyung. New necklace in hand, and coins passed to the salesman, Jungkook was quickly led Taehyung to the first corner he could and spoke softly, "What's going on, Taehyung?"

       Taehyung all the while seemed intent on keeping a subtle hold on his hand. The boy pressed himself back against a wall, tugging Jungkook to stand before him so the shadows fell over his face- and Jungkook approached.

       "Yejun's friends, I think- don't look too quickly," he murmured softly, subtly motioning to the small bunch of young men around their age who were cautiously approaching the two, seemingly trying to figure out whether they should disturb them or not.

       Jungkook had to stifle a groan. Part of him had been praying Yejun was a loner, but casting a sneaky glance in the direction of the group, Jungkook knew that that was not the case. What worried him was that they seemed not to have made their mind yet about approaching or not.

        "Put the necklace on me," curling his fingers into the side of the other's hanbok, where his hold wouldn't be visible, Taehyung pulled Jungkook other closer. "And try to look like you're being romantic about it."

       Jungkook almost swore he felt Taehyung's warm hands through his hanbok, but that was a thought he was quick to push aside. Swallowing thickly, he nodded almost imperceptibly, wondering if he had tried dating before now if that request would sound less daunting all of a sudden—but he hadn't, and here he was.

       Carefully un-latching the piece that was holding the necklace's shape, Jungkook leaned in enough to make it appear like they were far more comfortable with one another than friends would be (if that doubt at all remained in Yejun’s friend’s minds—it didn’t) before carefully placing the necklace around Taehyung's neck and connecting it at the back, wondering if it was obvious he had never done such a thing before. He let the thought rest as Taehyung bowed his head, forehead resting timidly on Jungkook’s shoulder.

       Once the necklace was secure, he pulled back enough to look Taehyung in the face with a small, but sheepish, smile, "Please tell me that was convincing enough for them?" He murmured, using a happier tone than what he was feeling about the situation so that if anyone were to catch his tone at least they would think he was trying to sweet talk or something.

       From the shadows that Jungkook’s position provided, Taehyung glanced out again. “Not really,” Taehyung spoke and Jungkook tightened his jaw. What would they do? He glanced over carefully.

       The exchange seemed to have stopped a few who looked somewhere between surprised and amused, some disbelieving even but none of suspicion. Part of Jungkook had feared that there would be a face in there twisting in confusion because Yejun had told him about Seung-yoon, but that seemed not to be the case.

       Two of them seemed to be slowly approaching nonetheless, still torn on whether or not they should. Panic set in. These were friends of Yejun, of the same age. It wasn't all together impossible that they saw Seung-yoon often as well. Meeting Taehyung’s eyes, Jungkook saw the same worries in his gaze, panic stricken even- but they were soon masked with a light smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

       It happened suddenly. A hand of Taehyung’s was on his shoulder, another on his cheek as the other leaned in and their lips were pressed together. It came as a surprise to Jungkook, but the kiss was short, lasting two seconds at best before Taehyung pulled back, blinked, and with a mischievous smile, moved back into the road and started walking ahead.

       Jungkook found himself staring after Taehyung as the other walked away and flashed a sultry smile in his direction.

       A pair of hands shoved him forward and voices hollered in amusement—Jungkook took two steps forward before facing the small group who had been approaching them. Blinking as he turned to face the others and regained his bearings, he shook his head a bit, "I... Sorry, I will try to get back to you all... I..." he floundered and gestured toward Taehyung, "Yes. Busy. So... talk to you soon... farewell."

       There were a few shouts after Jungkook, most consisting of playful encouragements to Yejun (maybe there were some customs that were timeless, including friends forever being obnoxious about a friend "scoring"), but as Jungkook reached him, Taehyung sighed in relief.

       Jungkook waved at Yejun's friends before turning and going after Taehyung as quickly as his feet would carry him, immediately grabbing the other's hand and leading him just a smidge faster toward their destination- hoping they could escape before anyone else noticed that his cheeks have flushed lightly with color.

       The other’s eyes seemed to have spotted something, but Taehyung remained silent as they headed to the gates.

       Coming to them, Jungkook realized they didn't have much of an option for going out that didn't involve facing guards. Ignoring that fact, Jungkook walked up to the gates with Taehyung, and gave the guards a smile that he hoped portrayed what he wanted it too, but realized as the one guard asked where they were going, he had to give something substantial anyway.

       "I obtained permission to this lovely lady for a walk around the exterior of the premises." He was quick to supply with a light shrug. When asked for further details he was quick to throw back, "His highness, the crown-prince, said it was fine." He gave a suggestive look to insinuate that they wouldn't just be walking, which seemed to finally work on the guard- that, and using the prince's name.

       Hiding his triumphant smile as he bowed slightly in thanks to the guards, Jungkook led Taehyung out the gate, waiting until they got out of earshot before mumbling, "I wasn't sure that would work." Exhaling softly, he looked over at Taehyung, "You think the prince would forgive me for using his name to obtain approval?" He asked softly, with a playful smile after the guard conversation had shot his nerves to bits.

       Taehyung let out a soft laugh, "I think he would forgive it this one time. And probably be content to know that his word is of enough value that a guard wouldn't risk it over its authenticity."

         Jungkook smiled a bit as he nodded in agreement at Taehyung's words. "That's true, I suppose. Thank god for that though. Otherwise …I don’t want to think where those questions would have led.” He looked up at the sky with a slight frown, also belatedly realizing that he’d set the lamp down to clip the necklace on Taehyung.  

       "It’s getting dark... and they're going to be searching for Seung-yoon any minute now..." Jungkook fidgeted uncomfortably with his hanbok. "What should we do?"

       There weren't too many options now that they were outside of the gates, seeing as he hadn't planned on how long the dream would continue once they were outside the gates, but he figured they had to at least make Yejun and Seung-yoon safe for the night- and that was going to prove the task of the evening compared to how easy everything else so far had been.

       “It’s alright,” Taehyung’s voice sounded over his thoughts, and Jungkook glanced over, and it was clear to see that Taehyung had relaxed visibly now that he was out of the palace grounds. "There's enough moonlight to make our way, we'll figure out something. But I think priority would be getting as far out as soon as possible. We came out the west gate, right?"

       “I think so…” Jungkook mumbled softly, glancing back. “Should we continue west, do you think?”

       Taehyung considered it for a second, then closed his eyes in thought. Jungkook watched for a second in wait before he listened for anyone coming their way.

       “West… um…” Taehyung spoke up, glancing at the way they came and the paths that branched from the large one, seemingly well-treaded. “South West. Towards Han,” Taehyung concluded.  “There was- is supposed to be a lot of trade with China, and the best way to get to the capital would be to bring the ship somewhere at the curve of the river and then transport anything by land. So there's got to be inns that way and foreigners. Wouldn't it be easier to hide between them?"

       Jungkook for one, found himself happier than ever that it was Taehyung he was with and not one of the morons from their class. "It would definitely be easier," he admitted, pausing as he attempted to locate the direction. Surely enough, the path from the gate branched off, and the one in the direction they intended to go seemed well-treaded "So... South west bound?"

       “It’s our best shot,” Taehyung quipped and walked ahead, gathering the skirt that dragged across the ground. He didn’t try for long and simply let it drag- were he honest, the comicality of the image had set him in ease.

       Before long, they could see lights in the distance of a small town. "Maybe we'll find an inn there," Taehyung pointed towards it. Jungkook’s reply was cut short by the distant sound of horse hooves clambering and Taehyung froze, looking over at Jungkook. "Could that be..."

       “Can you run?” Jungkook inquired with growing alarm as he glanced back. It seemed to be a carriage, which was good news. No guards.

       Taehyung shook his head helplessly, “not until I can change out of this.” Taking his hand, Taehyung walked ahead. "If they stop and ask," Taehyung murmured as he looked back at the approaching carriage and moved to the side of the pathway, "we're from that town and came to see the celebration in the palace." Almost as soon as he'd said the words, the carriage bolted past them and then slowed down, a head popping out from the front.

       Jungkook swallowed thickly. He gave a light bow of his head in greeting.

       The person who greeted them with a wave was young, likely in his early twenties, Jungkook figured.

       “Good evening!” the man smiled curiously, regarding them carefully, “what might you two be doing in the woods so late?”

       Jungkook blinked, and cleared his throat and plastered a sweet smile on his lips. “Came to see the celebrations at the palace, of course,” Jungkook was quick to recite, but seeing the look on the person's face, he knew the other found his story suspicious. "We have grown a bit weary earlier than anticipated, so we were headed home, there." He supplied quickly, gesturing toward the town they had been making a mad dash towards. "If you don't mind, we would like to continue home."

       Jungkook held his breath as the man seemed to consider it for a second. “I see,” t