Chapter three:
Paintings, Magic and a Familiar Face
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The truck pulled over in front of a house that quite stood out from the rest. Unlike the cottage houses with red roofs, this one was lined with large display windows up front. The windows were caked with dirt, barely making show of what lay inside. The other homes around the place looked welcoming and warm. This one was cold and uninviting.

"I'm going to be living here?"

"Yeah, bud."

In the most calm manner Namjoon unloaded a few boxes from the back of his truck, handing two to Taehyung. Then pulling out a bunch of keys from his back pocket, he picked the one that unlocked the dreaded house.

Upon entry though, Taehyung's entire perspective about the place had changed. Inside lay shelves stocked with the most alluring objects - magic 8 balls, ventriloquist dolls, a China hand holding a deck of cards, hourglasses of different shapes and colored sand. The male was left in awe.

It was a little, narrow shop, not very well lit. As the two made their way into the place the door pinged with a plaintive note as it closed, the source from which left Taehyung confused. There was a tiger of papier-mâché inside a glass dome that sat itself on top of the counter. An entire shelf was stocked with fish bowls in various sizes - one would question the need for such ranging varieties.

But what was most intriguing about the place were the mirrors that lay on the floor. Some mirrors made the male looked extremely thin, while others brought out all the hidden fat within. Some made his head look massive, others caused his legs to disappear. Taehyung walked around the entire store, all the while being drawn to how he looked in the mirror.

"Tae, come here for a sec."

The male turned around and, just as he did so, burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oh my god, Joonie! Your head looks ginormous! I mean just-"

Clutching onto his stomach, the male wheezed for air.

"Yeah. I know. Funny." The other responded, not finding himself in the mood to laugh. "I have to tell you something, Tae. Before-"

"The hell do you fucks want?"

Namjoon froze upon recognition of the voice, Taehyung freezing purely out of instinct. The two, as dramatic as it may sound, did a slow turn towards the source of the voice. There stood a male by the door, wearing the most pissed expression Taehyung had ever seen.

"Hey! Jungkookie! Ma man!" Namjoon hollered in an attempt to lighten the mood. "What's gotten you all so razzed up?"

"Yoongi did some shit. But that's besides the point." Turning to look toward Tae's direction, the male continued. "Namjoon, I understand why you'd be here but I need an explanation as to why that fuck is here." He said, walking in closer towards him.

"Well this is my home now so I can be around here whenever the hell I want." Taehyung replied, not being too elated about being called a 'fuck'.

The other scoffed, shoving his hands into his pant pockets. He leaned slightly forward and cocked an eyebrow, staring right through Taehyung's soul.

"This is your home?"

The heavy atmosphere between the two was lifted up by Namjoon who cleared his throat loud enough to get their attention.

"It appears I need to give an explanation here." Taking a few steps closer towards the two, he continued. "Jungkook. You mentioned that you needed some 'help' with the store, yeah?"

"To get those windows cleaned."

"Exactly. And so... Taehyung here, had volunteered to help you out. Not only for the windows but in other things too."

Taehyung, eyes growing the size of melons, looked at Namjoon bewildered. "Joon! I thought you said I was going to live here!"

"I'm getting to that." He reassured the male. Then wiping his sweaty palms on the sides of his pants, the male looked towards the real owner of the house. "Kook. In exchange for helping around, Tae will be living here-"

"Oh fuck, no." The male put out bluntly. "I'm not so desperate for help that I'd let some stranger live here."

"Come on, Kook! He's got no where to go. I forced him out of his job, and his home. The least I could do for him is find him a place to stay."

"Look, Joon. We've been friends for a long time and any opportunity I get, I'd jump in to help you." Jungkook said, truth eminent in his words. "But living with this fuck? I'm sorry."

To say Tae was annoyed would be an understatement. Not only was the male continuously calling him a fuck but the way he looked at him like he was some scum made him mad. He was pissed to point he could simply reach out and punch the living hell out of the male. But he wouldn't. He wasn't so uncivilized as one would think. He was mature and civil and composed and-

"The fuck you staring at, you fuck?"

That did it.

Taehyung tackled the male before him, the two wrestling each other to death. Whoever thought they'd get along had to be fucked in the head, no disrespect to Namjoon here.

"Guys-" Namjoon began, being interrupted by a loud grunt from Jungkook as he flipped the other over and pinned him to the ground.

"Guys, please-"

"Argh!" Taehyung flailed, trying to push the other off of him. Just as he was managing to push the other off of him, there was a crash. A loud crash.

"No." Jungkook said, his tone weak and frail, contrasting the one he'd been using not too long ago. The sound was as soft as a whisper but Taehyung could hear it; taking into account the close proximity of their faces.

"I'm sorry, Kook. I had to."

Taehyung, still pinned under the male, turned to face the direction of his friend. Laying by his feet was a shattered fish bowl.

Jungkook released the male, much to his surprise, rushing towards the broken glass bowl.

"Namjoon, why?" He said, eyes beginning to well up.

Taehyung froze. The fuck? Was that the same guy who, not so long ago, had him pinned to the ground? What was going on?

"Hey. Hey, buddy." Namjoon said, kneeling down and shaking the male to get his attention. "Listen here."

The other slowly looked up, sadness eminent in his eyes.

"It's not from your collection." He said, giving him a tight smile. "I'd intended to give this to you in exchange for letting him stay. Well, now I can't but like-"

"It's- it's not mine?" He said, eyes scanning the broken pieces.

"No! I would never do something like that to you!" Namjoon exclaimed, shaking his head. "Just look at it."

Jungkook looked at the pile once again, this time scanning it more intently. "I suppose you are right." He finally said, falling on the floor as a sign of relief escaped his lips. "Bummer I lost a possible new addition."

"I-I'm sorry. I acted on impulse. I'll get you a new one if you-"

"Nah. Forget it." The male said waving it off, sitting back up. "That should've been the first thing you mentioned though."

"I suppose so." Namjoon said with a soft chuckle, getting up on his feet. "Sorry bout that."

"Nah." The other simply said, standing up himself.

"Is there something I'm missing?" Taehyung said, interrupting the two.

"Oh great. He's still here." Jungkook said with a scowl.

"Oh yes I am. So sorry about that." Taehyung shot back. Then turning to face Namjoon he continued. "Please tell me you're rethinking me staying here."

"Sorry, Tae." He said, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "There's no where else."

"But he's not okay with it." Taehyung pointed out. "Clearly."

"Kook?"

Releasing a huge sigh the male looked towards Taehyung, who stood there confused. The two boxes he'd brought in with him we toppled over on the floor.

"I feel like I'm taking in more trouble than I asked for." He said, picking one of the boxes from the ground before heading towards the back of the store.

Taehyung immediately looked towards Namjoon, still utterly confused with what was going on. With a smile on his face, the other patted his head, "The dude's agreed to let you stay."

Taehyung wasn't sure whether that made him happy or not. He didn't quite like the character of that Kook guy one bit. But he did love the store. And he didn't want to bother Namjoon any more than he already had so he ended up complying.

Taehyung was up for the challenge.

-

Walking up the stairs, Tae was yet again met with awe. The studio apartment above the store was so much more bright and clean than it was downstairs. Hundreds of paintings covered the wall, one in every corner that he looked. Paint palettes and brushes were all stacked up in one corner, paint bottles in another. Taehyung looked around the place and noticed a painting, the person in which looked rather familiar.

"Oh my god! Joon! Isn't that you!?"

"Yeah. Jungkook likes to paint the people he knows in his pastime." Taehyung just stood there with his mouth hanging open. Not only did he run a magic shop, which was uber awesome. He even painted as a hobby? Taehyung was starting to get jealous with the male's life.

As he continued to look around, his eyes landed on a particular painting. In it sat a petite boy, by a bench near some lake. He wore the sweetest smile on his face and Taehyung couldn't help but feel his heart melt. The sight was beautiful.

"Hey, shitrag."

"Yeah?"

Taehyung turned around to see the Kook guy, suddenly realizing that he'd responded to the name 'shitrag'. The sides of the male's lips curled up at the victory he'd attained just then. Seeing the other male smile, Taehyung simply blurted out without much of a thought:

"You should smile more. It suits you."

As quick as it had appeared the smile disappeared, being replaced with a scowl.

"Listen here." The male said, his glare coming back. "There are three things you will have to keep in mind while you're living here."

Taehyung simply nodded, too frightened that anything he said would make things worse.

"One, you only clean things downstairs. Not up here." He said, hands gesturing in the directions he spoke of. "Up here? It's my domain. I keep it however the hell I want. Second, no playing music at ungodly hours. That goes from 7:00 in the evening to 9:00 in the morning." The male said the second rule taking notice of the instrument case that Namjoon had just brought upstairs, before heading back down.

Taehyung just stood there confused by the fact that seven to nine was considered 'ungodly' to him.

"And what's the third?" He asked, not sure whether he was ready to hear it.

"The third," The male begun, "is something such that if the rule is broken? You're out of here."

With a pause that seemed to last for hours, the male said, "Under no circumstance are you to touch my paintings and my fish bowls. You understand?"

"Wait. By fish bowls do you mean those downstairs? Cause I thought those were like, for sale or something-"

"Do you understand?" The male asked again, not too keen on repeating himself.

"Yes."

Upon have received the affirmation, the other showed Tae a key. "It's a spare to the house. You'll get it if you do a good job with the windows."

Taehyung looked down to view the silver key in his hand. But no. Something else caught his eye then. The male before him wore a pair of plaid comfy pants. Slowly looking up in dread, he noticed the plain white tee.

'No.' The other thought to himself, shaking his head. 'This can't be.'

One from the pair of low set eye brows was raised, dark brown doe eyes giving off a weirded look.

'No. No. No. No. No.' The male repeated in his mind, taking a step back.

"Hey, are you alright?"

The male looked on at the other, his eyes filled with fright. No way could this be happening to him.

"NO!"

-

I'm sorry about how this turned out.

Please bare with m and my story.

I'm sorry if Jungkook may seem a little out of character to some of you. I just feel that this side of him is needed to make this book work.

Author T

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