it's been three months? or two? omgg. sorry. i just got a huge block when it came to this story :(

as the chapters go by, my writing worsens so that's a fantastic bonus, isn't it.

and i'll really try slowing things down. regarding this chapter, i personally think that taehyung should know, so yeah.

taehyung watched from their living room couch as yoongi entered their apartment, looking upset and tired because of something taehyung didn't know about.

yeah. can you believe it? taehyung didn't know the current source of yoongi's stress.

listen... throughout all the years of his friendship with yoongi, taehyung's always been the one yoongi turned to when the older of the two seemed troubled. same applied to taehyung, he'd always approach yoongi with his problems, seeking for some help or comfort.

but for the past few days, since the day of their nightclub outing, yoongi's been acting a bit... odd. taehyung noticed how the peculiar behavior started at the cafe, the one time he talked to yoongi during the older's shift, when suddenly, yoongi blacked out or something. like, he paused for a second and all of a sudden, he was clueless of what was happening. sort of like a robot that went on stand-by mode.

then he babbled of some boyfriend— tch, boyfriend? taehyung still laughed at it now, as yoongi's never had a boyfriend before. no matter how embarrassing it was, he would've told taehyung about it.

but that's not all. afterwards, yoongi tagged along for the nightclub outing, which is normal... but taehyung knows that yoongi would rarely make an effort with human interaction or social events such as hanging around in a freaking nightclub packed with people yoongi's disliked for forever. you know-- the party type of people.

besides that, yoongi's been talking to himself. was his best friend going insane? taehyung doesn't know, but what really bothered him..

...was jeongguk.

whatever his last name was.

like he'd said that night, yoongi never mentioned him. and that's saying something, as yoongi's friends are taehyung's, and vice versa. he's never even seen the guy around campus. and hey, it's december, aka winter break, and most of the students (those who don't go home until three days prior to christmas, so taehyung assumed that jeongguk's apart of that crowd) usually roamed around the place at this time-- you know, the cafes and such. but taehyung has legitimitely never laid his eyes upon jeongguk without yoongi on his side.

it's as if he was dropped out of nowhere, all of a sudden too close with taehyung's best friend.

and it's bothering kim taehyung.

so, he'd like to get to the bottom of this, thank you very much.

and right when yoongi was about to walk by the living room and head for his own room, taehyung cleared his throat, loud enough for the two of them to hear.

yoongi snapped his head towards taehyung, giving the younger a small smile, one that taehyung quickly saw through-- it was obvious how his friend was only smiling to hide how he was actually upset.

taehyung watched as yoongi strode over and sat down on the couch, next to him, waiting for the younger to begin a conversation. 

and he does with a direct stare towards yoongi, "are you okay?"

yoongi blinked once. "what."

"i noticed how you seem like you have some kind of problem." taehyung said, "and you're not telling me what."

"i don't have a problem, taehyung." yoongi frowned. "i'm perfectly fine."

"are you sure?" taehyung raised a brow, "because what happened at the cafe the other day... it made it seem like you really do have a problem." a fucking mental one, goddamn.

lots... of problems. "i was just tired," yoongi tried to reason, but taehyung couldn't give up. he had to know what was bothering his closest friend. and why he's been keeping it a secret from him.

"didn't seem like it," taehyung pushed, "you were literally out of it. and then you started talking about a boyfriend." he watched as panic seeped into yoongi's features. "and you literally ran out the cafe without another word. and then the nightclub. i know that you'd never agree to such a thing, but you did. so please, yoongi hyung. talk to me about it."

"there's nothing to talk about." yoongi mumbled.

"tell me what's wrong!" taehyung pleaded.

from the corner of his eye, yoongi spotted jeongguk, calmly plopping down onto the coffee table and giving yoongi a pitiful look that somewhat read, i really pray for your soul. yoongi decidedly stared towards jeongguk, and after a while (of what seemed like his best friend staring helplessly into space, in taehyung's perspective), jeongguk sighed, snapping his fingers.

》 TELL HIM ALL ABOUT IT

OR

KEEP IT A SECRET《

jeongguk remarked, "i suggest you tell him. he's your best friend." he shrugged, "he deserves to know."

yoongi gulped and turned towards taehyung, who had a glint of expectancy in his eyes, still waiting for a response from the older.

  》 TELL HIM ALL ABOUT IT《

"i," yoongi began, but afterwards let out a small sigh, "i don't think you'll believe me."

taehyung looked at him, unsure. "i'll believe you." he reassured, nonetheless.

"i hope you will." yoongi frowned, "where to begin. well, let's see... the other day, at the cafe, right before i started talking about a boyfriend, you said i blacked out for a second, right?"

taehyung slowly nodded. "well, yeah. you blinked and boom, you acted as if you suddenly forgot everything that happened before that."

"well," yoongi scratched the back of his head, "what happened was... something like that."

it's taehyung's turn to blink. "what?"

"you see, right before that, it was around the month of may. yes, next year. i know it's december right now, but... just hear me out. you know park jimin, right? i had a break up with him because i cheated on him with hoseok, and..."

"wait, wait," taehyung shook his head, raising his palm towards yoongi and signaled for his hyung to stop. confusion settled in, and taehyung's heart couldn't help but beat a bit faster at how nervous yoongi's words were making him, because 1) what? and 2) is he talking to a lunatic right now? "listen, hyung, i said i'd believe you, but i didn't know it'd be... this crazy."

yoongi groaned.

"like, what? jimin? hoseok? hyung, what is going on?" taehyung questioned, exasperatedly. "i expected that half of it had something to do with that jeongguk dude. he literally came from nowhere and you never told me anything about him."

yoongi heard jeongguk huff a little at that. "i mean, it does partially have something to do with jeongguk." yoongi countered.

"what? what are you gonna tell me now? he killed a guy? asked you to keep the corpse? and it's hidden somewhere in this very apartment?"

"not that bad," yoongi said, "jeongguk's... well, jeongguk's actually a yellow rose that grants wishes, specifically second chances and he's—"

"—right here!" jeongguk yelled, legs crossed as he casually leaned back on the coffee table, sending a smile at taehyung's way.

who literally lets out a very, very loud scream, scrambling up the couch on his feet, eyes wide at the sight of jeongguk popping out of absolutely nowhere. "what the fuck!" taehyung screamed, looking between the boy and yoongi, who rubbed at his temples with a groan. "hyung, did you see that?" he glared at jeongguk. "you! you... you freak! what the hell are you doing here? how did you even—" taehyung clutched at his own chest. "i'm... i'm going crazy, i—"

"he's right, you know." jeongguk spoke up, getting up with a sigh and holding out his hand towards taehyung. a blank expression upon his face, he went, "i believe that i owe you a proper introduction," he said, "i'm jeon jeongguk. i'm indeed a yellow rose, i don't really grant wishes... but i offer second chances." he shrugged. "i like playing overwatch, and—"

taehyung looked down at his hand. "a yellow rose?"

at this point, jeongguk took his hand back, frowning. "yes."

"a yellow rose?"

jeongguk sighed exasperatedly, yanking taehyung down, receiving a yelp in return. "yes. a yellow rose. the bright color. the flower. is there anything else you'd like to know?"

taehyung looked over at yoongi, helplessly. "hyung? what?"

"he's not lying. he really is a yellow rose, you either believe it or not." yoongi said.

"you better believe it." jeongguk huffed. "no take backs. i offer second chances, but i can't rewind time once i've reset the timeline, and i certainly don't have the ability to make people forget about a period of time."

"how do i know you guys aren't playing me?" taehyung still couldn't believe it, huh.

yoongi rolled his eyes. "what, like him teleporting into your house isn't enough evidence?"

taehyung gulped.

"i didn't really teleport, but rather i was invisible the whole time and... yeah."

"invisible?" taehyung calmed down a bit now. "i don't... i don't get it. why offer hyung a second chance? what?"

"okay, what's so confusing, taehyung?" yoongi sighed. "i messed up with jimin and now jeongguk's here to fix it all."

"i'm not here to fix it..." jeongguk mumbled. "you're gonna have to fix it yourself..."

"okay, but invisible?"

"i see him, but other people don't." yoongi shrugged. "he's always by my side. unless he's off doing who knows what somewhere." yoongi explained. "he's often here when i have to make the choices."

"choices?" taehyung asked.

"since yoongi over here is such a fuck up," jeongguk began, earning a small glare from taehyung and yoongi. "i've decided that in his new timeline, i'll offer him choices when a serious decision comes at him."

"what, you just tell him what to do?"

"no." jeongguk said.

"there are these words in the air, taehyung," yoongi said, "and i just have to think of an answer and it'll—" yoongi paused. "damn, i fucked up."

"what? why?" taehyung frowned. but then he leaned back on the couch, stare on jeongguk. "this is a lot to take in."

jeongguk shrugged, getting up, before he fell back down on the couch in between the two, wrapping an arm around taehyung's shoulders. "you'll get used to it." he nudged yoongi. "yoongi here kissed jimin this morning. gosh."

"what?" taehyung bolted up in his seat, though jeongguk's arm remained in place. "you did?!"

"i did." yoongi replied, tone of his voice regretful. he got up, staring at the floor. "i'm gonna go sleep." and in a moment, he was gone, leaving the other two in the living room, awkwardly sitting next to each other as they stared after yoongi's closed bedroom door.

taehyung turned to jeongguk. "you can't rewind the choice?"

jeongguk shook his head. "as much as i'd like to help yoongi, i can't. like i said, it doesn't work that way."

"oh." taehyung muttered, staring ahead. he's more accepting of it now— well, fuck it, if it's actually just an odd dream, at least it doesn't have anything much to do with him. if it's real, then hell yeah, he'll believe in the magical shit. his hyung seemed to be really affected, so something told him that it all wasn't a bunch of made up crap. he'll be a supportive best friend, that's for sure, whether yoongi needs to take part in a mental institution or he's really going for park jimin for the second time. bring it on.

ah. a slightly uncomfortable silence rested between them, jeongguk's arm still hanging onto taehyung's shoulders, only slightly now. after a while, jeongguk turned his head, gaze focused on taehyung.

feeling his lingering stare, taehyung turned as well. "what? why are you staring at me?" he questioned. "you're sorta freaking me out."

jeongguk frowned. a while of staring, he lets go of taehyung's shoulders, leaning forward but still keeping his eyes on taehyung and his hands on the edge of the couch. "who are you?"

the question puzzled taehyung immediately, "what? kim... taehyung?" he tilted his head to the side. "what do you mean?"

jeongguk stared a bit more, until he shook his head, getting up. "ah, nothing. never mind." he glanced at the older, "i know everything about you, though."

taehyung froze. "what?"

jeongguk twirled his finger casually, "you know, the magical powers and all." he smirked a bit when taehyung kept his look of disbelief on him. "i know your deepest, darkest secrets." he pretends to cringe. "you're quite..." he hummed. "what's the word?"

"jeongguk!" taehyung screamed.

jeongguk snickered, walking away. "kinky." he continued, not looking back as taehyung screamed at the retreating jeongguk.

let's just hope that taehyung can help out on yoongi's situation...