"Hey, kid."

Jungkook felt something hit his forehead, disturbing him from his sleep. Peeking through one eye, he was startled to find a mop of messy brown hair over a pair of sleepy, black-lined eyes, a face way too close to his own. The high schooler pulled back, directing a confused look towards the peculiar guy, who was currently crouched on the seat next to him, knees pulled up to his chest, hand still raised after presumably flicking the younger's forehead.

"Last stop, we gotta get off," the guy mumbled, hopping off the seat and heading down the aisle.

With a sigh, Jungkook stood up, limbs cracking from disuse, stretching his muscles and rolling his neck. God, was he tired. He couldn't wait to get home and go to sleep for like three days...

Wait. "Last stop?" Jungkook yelled towards the male, who appeared to be sleep walking off the tram. "What district are we in?"

"Gangnam," the guy called over his shoulder, sticking his tongue out slightly.

Jungkook could have sworn his heart stopped. Because of the shock, not because this stranger had caught Jungkook's attention.

Of course not.

"," the high schooler muttered. "I was supposed to get off in Dongdaemun."

"Seongdong." The stranger pointed to himself.

"Missed your stop too?"

The guy shrugged, swinging one foot forward to continue walking out of the subway. Jungkook jogged to catch up. "Hey--"

"Tell me, kid," the other cut him off, turning around to face Jungkook just as he almost ran into him, "what are you doing here?"

"I was going home," the younger replied honestly, quietly.

The stranger shook his head, gaze hardening, icy. "No, that's not what I asked."

Jungkook's eyebrows pulled together, confused at the elder's words. "I missed my stop." Did he not understand correctly?

The stranger held his gaze for another long moment, chilling Jungkook to the bone. He pulled his coat closer around him. "Huh," the boy suddenly laughed, revealing a set of pearly white teeth in the form of the most dazzling box smile Jungkook had seen to that day. "I guess I missed my stop too."

The younger tried to shrug it off as the elder started walking again, though he could feel the goosebumps along his arms. He felt like the two were talking about two completely different things.

He supposed they were.

"Who are you?" Jungkook called, a few steps behind the stranger, who was halfway up the stairs that lead to the cold city streets.

"Tough question," the elder laughed in reply. Seriously, who asks a question like that? Jungkook silently cursed at himself for being so weird.

"Kim Taehyung. I go to university in Hongdae. Second year mixed music and communications major." So he was two years older than Jungkook... The younger took in this information, tipping his head to the side as he studied Taehyung, who had pulled a lollipop from his pocket and was currently walking on the curb as though it was a tight rope, arms outstretched, looking wobbly as he swung one foot in front of the other.

Well, going to the artsy school that he did, it wasn't a surprise the elder was slightly... quirky.

Taehyung looked over his shoulder, quirking an eyebrow. "And what about you, kid?" 

Jungkook felt his face flush, shrugging his scarf higher and coughing slightly to cover up how awkward he felt about being caught staring at the older student.

"No no no, let me guess," Taehyung practically sang, hopping towards the younger. His face was inches away from Jungkook's, once again, his eyebrows pulling together in the middle as he studied him. "Jeon Jungkook? High school, last year from the looks of it..."

Jungkook stopped walking, mouth open in shock as he looked at Taehyung. "H-how did you know?"

Taehyung looked serious as he approached the younger again, closing the distance that Jungkook had created. Taehyung squinted his eyes, looking into Jungkook's before flicking something on the younger's chest and grinning like a madman.

His name tag. Jungkook's mouth formed a little 'o' and his cheeks were dusted pink once again when Taehyung let out a gleeful giggle, on hand clutching at his stomach and the other pointing his lollipop at Jungkook, the sticky candy nearly jabbing him in the face. "Kookie, you're so cute! Were you really scared??"

Jungkook scoffed, starting to walk again. "N-no, of course not hyung."

"Hyung?" Taehyung squeaked out, running after the high schooler's retreating, slightly hunched figure. "You just called me hyung." Jungkook swore the little crescent moon's his eyes formed were even brighter than the one in the sky, and he felt warm despite the cold autumn night. 

"You are older than me..." Jungkook murmured, scratching the back of his head. And what's with 'Kookie?'

Taehyung swung an arm around Jungkook's shoulders, arm flailing wildly out in front of them as his face formed a look of determination. "Right, I'm your hyung, therefore I have to walk you home!"

"N-no! You don't have to hyung, you don't even know how to get there."

"Do you know how to get there?"

"Yes!" Jungkook blurted out, before looking around him, the tall buildings looking unsettlingly unfamiliar to him. Taehyung cocked his head to the side and the younger sighed, breath clouding the air in front of him. "No..."

With a curt nod, Taehyung continued walking forward, asking Jungkook his address almost as an afterthought. He didn't seem to be much in a rush to get home.

And if he was being honest with himself, Jungkook didn't really care much about getting home either.

"A kid like you really shouldn't be out alone at a time like this, anyway," Taehyung said after a while.

"I'm not a kid, hyung, I'll be an adult soon anyway..." Jungkook muttered, hating how his voice still made him seem like a whiny child, not really helping his case. It was true though, he was going to be 18 soon. He was almost legally an adult.

Almost.

"Fair enough," Taehyung nodded. "Remind me to take you out for drinks on New Year's."

"New Year's?" Jungkook's voice cracked as it rose with the question. That was still three months away. 

"Yeah. You know, January 1st," Taehyung deadpanned.

"I know what New Year's is," Jungkook groaned. "You want to see me again, though?"

"Jungkookie," Taehyung pouted, "you don't want to see ​me ​again?"

"N-no hyung, I--"

"I'm hurt, I thought we were friends." Taehyung's lower lip trembled and he threw a hand over his chest dramatically. 

Jungkook didn't know why he did it, didn't know why he let this guy he just met (who he didn't have feelings for) mess with him like this. He didn't know what possessed him to blurt it out but he did, and he would certainly be regretting it later. 

"I really really do want to see you again!" Jungkook shouted, stopping in front of the elder.

Smooth, Jungkook. Very smooth.

Taehyung smirked slightly, amused by the younger's reaction. He walked towards Jungkook, looking like a predator stalking its prey. The younger took equal steps back until Taehyung had him backed against the brick wall of what appeared to be an apartment building. Taehyung put one hand above the younger's head on the wall, leaning in closer, close enough for Jungkook to feel the slight warmth of Taehyung's shaky exhale. He had a nearly animalistic look in his eyes, a dark glint that Jungkook couldn't deny made him a little scared but excited.

"H-hyung," Jungkook breathed out. He could feel his face burning up, wishing the elder couldn't see how much this was affecting him.

Honestly, Taehyung was eating the shy boy's reactions up. Hell, they made his heart flutter.

"Hold still," Taehyung whispered, eyelids lowering ever so slightly, "you have something on your face." He reached up with his free hand, running his fingers across Jungkook's rosy cheeks, over his cheekbones.

​Jungkook was having an internal struggle with himself, torn between wanting to run and wanting to grab Taehyung by the back of his head, run his fingers through the elder's stupidly soft looking brown hair and crash their lips together. He could feel his heart attacking him from the inside, threatening to beat out of his chest.

"Oh, what's this?" Taehyung pulled away suddenly, looking like he had taken something off the younger student's cheek. His thumb and pointer finger formed a ridiculous heart, which he waved in front of Jungkook's dazed face with a blinding smile. "Your crush on me is showing," Taehyung sang out, aegyo nearly coming out of his pores.

Jungkook was very, very wrong when he thought his face couldn't get any redder.

"So what are you doing out this late, anyway?" Taehyung asked after the fire in the younger's cheeks died down a little bit, throwing an arm over Jungkook's shoulders.

The student scratched the back of his neck. "Studying."

"Ooh," Taehyung replied, impressed. "Hard working student, huh?"

"Hardly," Jungkook laughed, stuffing his hands in his sweatshirt pockets. "These exams are going to kill me, I swear."

"You're worried?" Taehyung asked, puckering his lips slightly and tipping his head. "Why?"

"How could I not be?" the younger groaned. "These exams decide whether or not I get into university. I'd be lucky to get into a vocational college at this rate." This problem had been bugging him a lot and for some time, really. His parents and older sister had him pegged to be some sort of golden maknae and he really hated to disappoint them. He'd been studying at the library for weeks to get ready for the end of the year exams, but he still felt nowhere close to prepared.

"Hey, have some confidence," Taehyung pouted, ruffling Jungkook's hair with his free hand. "You'll do great, Jungkookie. I'm sure of it." Jungkook just shrugged it off, sinking further into his scarf. It really was a cold night, and the wind off the Han river wasn't really helping.

As if reading his mind, Taehyung removed his arm from the younger's shoulders and grabbed his hand lightly, tugging Jungkook closer and putting their hands in his jacket pocket. "Warmer this way," he said, eyes trained ahead with an adorable pink hue to his cheeks. Feeling the line of his hyung's side pressed up against his own did nothing to slow his heartbeat and god, he thought he could die right then and be happy. Jungkook cursed to himself, realizing what these feelings meant and he almost didn't want to acknowledge them, they didn't make sense, he just met him, but he knew he would regret it later if he didn't.

"H-hyung, I think--"

"Oh!" Taehyung perked up, eyes set on something ahead of them. "Jungkookie, let's go there!" He flung his free hand forward, pointing animatedly at what appeared to be a 7-Eleven.

Despite the absolute mundanity of the convenience store, Jungkook couldn't help but feel excited too, glancing over at Taehyung's face that lit up as he browsed through the candies and sweets, thinking with a laugh at how much his tastes suited him. He was sweet enough to give you cavities, Jungkook decided. The two settled on hot drinks--a weak black coffee for Jungkook (he didn't mind the cringe-worthy flavor because he was dead tired) and a hot cocoa for Taehyung--only after Jungkook pointed out that ice cream might be a bad idea, considering the chill that was bound to settle into their bones the moment they stepped foot outside.

The obviously bored cashier spared the pair a short look, glancing at their hands shoved into Taehyun's pocket, before droning out "that will be five thousand won," which Taehyung promptly paid for (not without Jungkook complaining, of course, but he was the hyung, of course he was paying) before they were on their way home once more.

Jungkook learned a lot about Taehyung that night, from how his dream was to be a nightime radio host and DJ (although Jungkook thought he'd make a good stand up comedian, judging from the way his stomach ached from laughing at all his dumb jokes) and how he just wanted to make people happy, to the reason why he had eye bags that drooped well below what normal people's looked like after pulling an all-nighter, how he had some sort of inexplicable insomnia that kept him up at night, why he rode the train too far more often than not to keep himself busy.

He looked so small talking about that, Jungkook thought, but he returned to his normal sunny self immediately as he started talking with the younger about his dog Soonsim and promised Jungkook he'd bring him with someday so they could play. Jungkook had never really cared for dogs, but he decided he could like Soonsim since he was Taehyung's and because he kind of sort of liked Taehyung.

Just a little bit though.

Jungkook returned the favor, talking way more than he normally did with people his age, spilling his hopes and dreams and his insecurities about his future, all of it. He told him about his family and his childhood, about his best friend Jimin and how they were planning on opening up a dance studio with some hyung named Hoseok (Jungkook hadn't met the guy yet, but Jimin seemed to like him enough and spent a lot of time with him). It should scare Jungkook at least a little bit how he trusted someone who was basically a stranger with all this information, but he shrugged it off again. Taehyung just had that air about him that made others trust him, he supposed.

Before he knew it, Jungkook starting to recognize his surroundings and Taehyung had managed to navigate them to Jungkook's house, stopping at the front gate in front of the modest, small building. He could see a dim light on in one of the front rooms, knowing he was in for a scolding once he stepped inside.

Whatever.

"Well, this is it," Jungkook mumbled. Taehyung smiled softly over at the younger, making a comment in passing that Jungkook failed to pay attention to. His heart was beating in his ears, it was distracting. He shook his head roughly, trying to clear the sound, but it wouldn't go away. Jungkook was nervous as hell.

"It's been fun, Jeon Jungkook," Taehyung said with a grin.

"Yeah," Jungkook sighed. "Bye, I guess?"

Taehyung nodded, thinking for a moment before tugging the younger in for a short but warm hug, turning to leave with a short wave.

Jungkook didn't want to go inside. He didn't want Taehyung to leave and he didn't know what he would say, but he knew he had to say something. The sight of Taehyung's back as he walked away from him tugged at something in his heart, it almost hurt and he knew he needed to see him again.

"Hyung!" Jungkook shouted after the retreating figure, jogging across the street to catch him before he was gone.

"On the train, if you save the seat next to you," Jungkook breathed out, trying to control his erratic heartbeat. "If you save the seat next time, hyung, I want to go with you." Not exactly the grand confession he had in mind, but it would have to do for now.

Taehyung cocked his head to the side, thinking for a moment before throwing his head back to laugh, eyes forming crescents as his smile lit up his face once more.

Jungkook pouted. He was being serious.

Clearing his throat, smile still tugging at the corners of his lips, Taehyung approached the younger, brushing a bit of hair off the high schooler's forehead. "Sure, Kook, you can sit with me. I'll be there every night."

Staying out until three in the morning didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore, Jungkook decided.

A/N:  yea this is seriously short but taekook is killing me so i couldn't not

bangtan is RUINGING ME seriously, I was all into jongkey and shinee and whatnot and then BAM! these boys come slamming into my life and all the PAIRINGS OMFG so yeah, yoonmin is probably coming next because they're apparently my new otp and why the hell not

thanks for reading!