"Well... Guys, meet Kim Taehyung. Taehyung, meet my friends Yugyeom and Yoongi."

Instead of greeting him with a handshake or kind words, the two boys just seemed to stare Taehyung down. The prince suddenly felt extremely self-conscious, used to being greeted with bows out of courtesy, along with empty yet still kind words.

That moment, it hit him. He was currently facing people from an entirely different world, one with traditions and habits that differed from his. He tried not to be prejudiced, yet couldn't help but feel a little intimidated. They must hate him!

Instead of shaking his hand, the two boys frowned. "Who the hell is this, Jungkook? Is he the one responsible for--" All of a sudden, Yugyeom stepped forward. "Are you the one who made him disappear? Are you some sort of kidnapper or something?!," he snapped, making Taehyung retreat in fear.

Before he could even think of responding, Jungkook stepped in front of him protectively. "Hey, stop that! He's what brought me back here, don't scare him like that!"

"Why is he dressed like he's about to attend a costume party?," Yoongi asked which made him sigh. "I'll explain everything later, it's a long story. Can't you just be nice to him? You're not really making a good first impression on him."

Both of them looked sceptical and reluctant, but nodded. Yugyeom held out his hand which Taehyung then hesitantly shook. He didn't know what made him feel worse, how forced the gesture seemed to be or the fear of what he was going to do now gradually starting to settle inside him.

Yoongi did the same after Yugyeom had withdrawn his hand again, staring at him inspectively. The prince started to feel more and more insecure each second, fiddling around with his hands which didn't go unnoticed by Jungkook.

"Let's go inside," he suggested. "I really wanna explain where I've been and how I got here, and how I met Taehyung and how we got back."

"What about your parents and relatives though? We just had your funeral, you know? They all probably still think they're hallucinating your ghost." Jungkook nibbled at his bottom lip pensively, considering this.

"Fuck, I really haven't thought of that. I can't just tell everyone the full truth, that'd put... some people in danger." And indeed, he hadn't thought about the consequences the people of Elysium would have to face if he told his entire family about its existence. Not that he cared about the irresponsible, egocentric and materialistic nobles, but genuine and caring people like Jimin and Taehyung's siblings. What would happen to them now, once they'd left?

"You're planning on lying to all of them? And who'd you be putting in danger? Jungkook, whatever the hell happened, you need to talk about it. You've been swallowed from the face of earth for literal months, me and Yoongi aren't the only ones who are gonna ask questions." The brunette sighed.
"Of course I'll tell you guys the truth, it's just a... bit of a complicated situation."

"We have time and we'll listen. But be prepared for school guidance counsellers, kids in our class and even the police asking questions. I trust that whatever you do, you'll have your reasons and we trust you although you have to admit, this is confusing as fuck and I don't know if we'll ever emotionally recover from losing a friend and suddenly getting him back. If you plan on making up some sort of cover story, you need to plan it through very carefully and without any gaps in it," Yoongi spoke.

Jungkook nodded. "I have an idea. But I really want to get inside now, I've missed you all so much and can't wait to see my family again." For the first time, both Yugyeom and Yoongi smiled and embraced him tightly.
"We've missed you too, buddy. It was painful, not knowing where you were and the police telling us you were dead. But you're back. You're back and that's all that matters."

°○●○●○°

It was very awkward for Jungkook to announce his return in front of his family, the fact that they just had his funeral making matters even worse.

After about half an hour of hysterical crying, sobbing, screaming and pinching and touching him to make sure he was actually real, everyone seemed to have calmed down and more or less dealt with Jeon Jungkook not being dead but alive.

His parents asked the funeral guests to leave the house so that Jungkook could have some rest and well-deserved alone time before they would consult with the school and the police in a few days' time. So that now left Jungkook, his parents, Yugyeom and Yoongi and of course Taehyung.

Jungkook quite frankly had no idea how to tell his parents the truth of his disappearing, and he had no idea how to include Taehyung and a majestic pearly white horse currently parked in his backyard in his fake story.

With a knowing glance at Yugyeom and Yoongi in order to signalize that this was the made-up story and the real one would follow soon, he sat up in the couch and opened his mouth, feeling extremely apprehensive and unsure about this.
"Uhh... so..."

"As you know, I got lost in the woods. There was a storm and I was thrown off my bike and pretty much fell down a hill. I woke up days after, weak and injured, far away from my bike. As you know, since you didn't find me. And then..." He thought aggressively.

"I sprained an ankle and broke a few ribs or something, I could barely move. But then, he found me." He pointed towards an even more nervous-looking Taehyung. "He noticed my critical state and brought me home to him, took care of me." Where was this story going?

"You mean to tell me," Mrs. Jeon asked, her eyes swollen and red from all the crying that she had done that day, "that he just took you home without phoning the police or anyone, without asking you? Were you kidnapped?!"
This definetely was not where he had wanted it to go.

"No, no," he persisted. "He saved me. Without him, I would've been dead. He couldn't call anyone, because... his family doesn't have a telephone or any Internet. But they're all very nice!" He wanted to slap himself, knowing how stupid this all sounded.

"He-- what?" Taehyung looked down upon his perfectly polished wedding slippers, feeling that this was too much for him. In less than twelve hours, he went from almost getting married to entering another world and telling unconvincing tales. How would anyone deal with this?
Jungkook's father now sat up.

"How can that be possible? Where does your family live?," he directly asked Taehyung, who widened his eyes and was caught off guard since he was now personally addressed.
"I--In the middle of the woods. Completely hidden away from everything. I promise you me and my family bore no ill will by taking care of your son. We just wanted to be certain that he was entirely healed before--"

"How does it take over three months to heal a broken ankle and a broken rib? You and your family didn't think about the consequences of you keeping my son for such a long time, did you?" Mr. Jeon sounded extremely angry, which made both boys even more nervous than they were before.

"Dad, something came up. We've been through some crazy stuff, both of us. You wouldn't believe it even if we told you. Can we please rest? We're tired and I hope he can stay with us, like he let me stay at his place, although his house was... really small, you know?," the brunette lied bluntly and although his parents looked like they kept wanting to argue, they saw the pleading look inside his eyes and retaliated.

"Fine, sweetie. This is a shock for all of us. We will talk tomorrow at breakfast," Mrs. Jeon agreed, patting his cheek and asking Yoongi and Yugyeom to leave shortly after.

Although they (reluctantly) offered Taehyung to stay in the guest room, it was Jungkook who declined and insisted that he stay in his bedroom.

"He doesn't sleep well by himself. Goodnight, thanks and sorry for worrying all of you guys," he excused and departed, dragging a wide-eyed Taehyung upstairs behind him, who was watching the whole house with huge curiosity.

Having arrived in Jungkook's bedroom, the prince looked around him inspectively.
"It's so..." He couldn't find the right words.

"Small? I know, your bedroom's as big as a football field compared to this." The older boy shook his head.
"No! It's so... adorable!"

He walked towards a little shelf with several little models of motorcycles displayed on it proudly. "This must be these cycle things you kept telling me about!" He also stared at the huge biker gang posters covering the walls. "Just like I thought it would be." He smiled.

Jungkook also smiled, relief washing over him. "Glad you like it. You must be exhausted, let's call it a night. You can wear some of my clothes."

After leading his visitor towards his closet and giving him a set of comfortable pyjamas, he moved towards the bathroom to change his clothes. Now, he finally had the opportunity to think everything through and process recent events.

And even after staring at himself wearing his favourite set of pyjamas in the mirror, he felt strange. Like he was actually someone else, an imposter. And nothing about this situation felt real at all, he wouldn't be surprised if the past day were a dream and he woke up looking up at Taehyung's divinely painted ceiling and feeling the soft mattress below him any time.

Would his life ever be normal again?

His question was answered when he entered the bedroom again and saw the blue-haired boy carefully sit on the edge of his bed, apprehensiveness written everywhere on his face. No, it probably wouldn't. And that very boy was part of the reason.

"You can lie down, you know? We could both use a good night's sleep." Taehyung sighed.
"I have so many thoughts inside my head right now, I'm afraid if I lie down they might get worse. I'm finally starting to see what I have done and..."

When Jungkook gestured him to lie down, he complied but did not close his eyes. "I ran away, I left them all alone. I abandoned them. What about my sister, my brother, my parents? And Jimin? What if my actions have consequences for them? And what if Roseanne runs away and gets lost? You have no horse stables, do you?"

The brunette also lied down, draping the covers over both of them and just watching him, the other's tense back facing him. "Of course we don't, but she seems way too loyal to you to just run off like that, she'll wait here until you visit her again." He took a breath.

"Listen, I know what this feels like. What do you think I thought during my first night at your castle? You did the right thing. You had the choice between a life full of unhappiness and people dictating over you and something like a fresh start, an actual life like you said you wanted." Maybe he imagined it, but he thought he saw Taehyung loosen up a little.

"Of course your actions will have consequences, but how can they not? Plus you're the one facing the most consequences, don't forget about that. They'll probably be worried, but they can get over it eventually. Just know that what you did wasn't wrong or selfish. It was pretty freakin' cool, if you're asking me, actually." Now, the prince shifted a little so they were now facing each other.

For a minute, they just lied there looking at each other quite awkwardly and not saying anything.

Jungkook eventually broke the tension by turning off his night light and clearing his throat.
"Well, good night then. Sweet dreams."

"Good night. And thank you, Jungkook. For everything."

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

(A/N: i'm back again and i have no idea what to say, hello everyone :D

it's february so i really really really hope it'll stop being so goddamn cold soon😑 idk about you but our school still opens the windows every 10 mins and like before, i don't see how this will defeat the coronavirus but okay whatever floats their boats dkjdjsis

thank you very much for reading and hope you're doing great, byebye love you very much💜💜)