[ CHAPTER 12 ]
belief

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

HE is no mood whatsoever to visit his friends that afternoon. the group had scheduled to meet up, this time with their new recruit, at their community fair which was their traditional ground in welcoming a new member to their tight-knit of slightly unstable men.

taehyung had withstood the rage of bull terrier who he had dared to nudge at his rear end, a hysterical pet owner who was knocked of her heels once eyeing the surgery bill and a snobby businessman who had stared him down as if he was dirt when he had gone down there to take the dog's temperature.

all in all, it wasn't the greatest day in all his time at the practice and he wished nothing more than for a bubble bath and a bar of chocolate. but the stars weren't aligned in his favour and the familiar trill of his phone doesn't fail to remind him of his plans that night.

so trudging begrudgingly down the street, sourly eyeing the great burgundy tents aligned across a local school's oval, queuing lines of an increasingly agitated public stringing across the pathway and within the building blocks.

"oi!" a voice exclaims, "silver! over here!"

eyes stamping close, he draws a sharp breath through his nose to draw his rage to a tameable ball before turning on his heel, a quivering smile upon his lips.

the group of males, evidently more intrigued than he was, stand huddled by a rose and pearl tent, clouds of pink strung through tubs of glass, an aproned, flushed man standing at a crimson counter as he beams.

"hello there taehyungie." jeongguk mocks as he slouches toward them, a prominent scowl upon his lips at the name.

"fuck off jeon."

whistling, the raven-haired male remains unfazed as he comments gleefully, "who pissed in your cornflakes this morning?"

before taehyung's given the chance to hurl back a comment, jeongguk grins, answering for him, "no wait lemme guess, a golden retriever today?"

"actually no, it was a little poodle i know," he smiles innocently, shrugging, "mistook it for your socks."

scowling, jeongguk purses his lips and diverts his gaze as the elder smirks smugly at his displeased reaction.

"well," jimin grins, gaze flitting from his friend to the youngest male, "you two just absolutely love each don't you?"

"so much." jeongguk drawls, "in fact, i wouldn't mine shoving him off a cliff."

"no way in hell." hoseok suddenly intervenes, snapping hotly at a gaping jin, "that's just a death wish."

following his gaze, their eyes come to a halt at a great, azure roller coaster winding across the sky in loops of figure eights and grinning o's, a light red cart zipping across its tracks as the shrieks of its victims slope to the ground.

"holy crud." taehyung gapes, eyes wide before a beam curves at his lips, palms clapping before him, "oh my God, please, please can we go?"

shooting him dirty glare, hoseok snaps, "no, obviously not, look there's some safe teacups, how 'bout that-"

snorting, jimin smirks as he slings an arm along the elder's, assuring him softly, "you won't die, it's safe c'mon give it a shot."

"no." he insists, "i'm not going, no, no, no way."

his distaste, deaf to all ears, are strung within the cotton air around them, fingers curling against his indignant wrist flailing insistently as he's tugged towards the direction of his worst nightmare.

─── ·𖥸· ───

"y-you fucking asked for this." hoseok coughs, grimacing as sticky beige strings at his chin, fingers clutched hard at the napkin in his hands.

"aw sorry bub," jimin coos, pressing the male's hair flat against his head, "but it was fun right?"

straightening up from his hurled position, hoseok narrows his eyes as he snarls, "no, not if fun meant screaming the entirety of the ride and then puking the contents of my stomach."

grimacing, taehyung props a wad of tissue against the boy's mouth, apologising gently, "sorry hobi, no more roller coasters hm?"

"never."

"you need a clean shirt." yoongi sates plainly, lips turned as he eyes the sick smeared across the collar of hoseok's shirt.

"there's a game store that selling shirts for prizes." namjoon pipes up, jutting a thumb in the direction of a blue and white tent, a bright yellow printed shirt giggling in its hook down at them.

"i'll go play." jeongguk shrugs, evidently bored as he shuffles towards tent.

an odd look glints at jimin's eyes at this as he exclaims rashly, smirking smugly, "tae'll come too."

"what?" he stammers, "no!"

"why not?" jeongguk grins, "scared you're gonna lose?"

"you wish." taehyung denies, a meek smile at his lips as he glances at his friends, "anyone else wanna play?"

a string of 'i'm fine's' and indifferent shrugs accompanied by smothered snickers are all that he's returned with much to his great distaste as he's dragged to the tent by a gleeful jeongguk.

it's your classic game of down the clown, provoking lights of hot amber and burning pink, neon rimmed casing around the expanse of the game as a row of grinning faces leer at them from their respective stands.

"on the count of three." jeongguk smirks, stepping forward into a bent stance, "may the best man win."

scoffing, taehyung shuffles forward, eyes narrowed at the lemon and peach-tipped clowns, "i'd have you now i haven't lost to anyone since i was ten."

"yeah?" he grins, "try nine."

prying his lips opens to snap a snarky comment for leverage, their interrupted by the familiar whirring of the machine and a flood of blood-red balls spill across the wooden deck slanted before them.

pursing his lips, taehyung curls tight fingers around the sphere, stamping one eyes closed as he lobs a ball at the clown two from the end of the middle row.

one down, eleven more to go.

but there's no time to keep tallies, jeongguk he notices after shooting the male's stand a side glance, has already smothered down roughly three in the time he's shot down one.

"getting nervous silver?" jeongguk calls over the mocking music, "think you've got a chance?"

gripping the ball within his palm, he purses his lips and continues his assault on the beaming clowns, taking more time on the ones with burning crimson coal beneath them.

he's got only a handful left, all grinning ridiculously as if urging him to shove the apple of their death and then reincarnation more than willingly.

shooting jeongguk's game yet another sly glare, he's met with an anxious need for accomplishment.

3-3. they're neck to neck, both squinting at the beaming clowns, fingers clasped around the rubbery curve of one of the many onslaught of bloody balls streaming across their stand.

"there's some news reporter who's been on my ass these days," he exclaims, eyes never once straying from the game as his mind revs into feverish desperation, "claims that he knows it was me who saw you do your little thing."

pale fingers slacking against the lip of the stand where they briefly brush the curve of the next crimson ball, jeongguk tenses as he turns to gape at the male beside him, spluttering, "w-what?"

thwack! raising his elbow, taehyung slams the clown at the very top row, illuminated in bloody red as it topples backwards, the familiar game music now stringing the air around them as jeongguk's eyes widen with realisation.

"you cheater!"

shrugging, he struggles to hide his own smirk, striding towards the gift shop where the destined gold shirt awaits its purchase.

"there's got to be rules for me to cheat, i don't see anything about distractions."

tucking the shirt under his arm, taehyung faintly registers the furious stampede of footsteps behind him, lips curved into a permanent grin.

"so who won?" namjoon asks, his own smile at his lips as he spots the duo stride toward them, "wait,  no lemme guess, tae?"

"you bet." he says, tugging hoseok's elbow towards the set of men's restrooms, "the kid's just salty over it."

"kid?" jeongguk splutters, dark eyebrow knotting close, "silver i top in our relationship, if anything you're the kid."

"relationship hm?" jimin smirks smugly, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he whistles, "you two move fast."

"i-i didn't mean it like that!" jeongguk blurts, cheeks tinting a soft pink hue, "as friends oh my God! i'm just more dominant, he's cute and cuddly but i do not like the freak-"

"cute huh?" he snorts, pink hair cascading over his forehead, "just admit it jeon, you fancy my best friend."

taehyung, who had previously been listening on with equally ripe cheeks now stands with a frown at his pursed lips, chest tightening at the familiar insult.

"jimin." he calls authoritatively, voice unconsciously deeper than he intended for it to be, "drop it."

dismissing the inquisitive sets of eyes that swivel towards his change of attitude, one burning holes warmer than all combined, taehyung thumbs at the direction of the bathroom, "i'm gonna get hobi cleaned up and whatever you believe will ever happen between jeon and i is exactly that. a belief."

and with a turn of his heel, he tugs his magenta-haired friend into the men's restroom, head held high and nose turned to the frosted chill of the air.

~

[a/n]

mhm, what do you think triggered tae?