Jimin barges into Tae's room while panting heavily. "Tae!" he shouts but no one responds, making him narrow his eyes in confusion.

A frantic Yoongi stumbles in a couple of moments later. "Shit he's not in the wine cellar either...I don't think he's home..." he trails off worriedly and Chim grits his teeth. "...Call Hobi and Jin hyung too and ask if Tae's with them...he usually goes to Jin when he needs someone to talk to...." Chim mumbles distractedly and Yoon nods slowly before walking out.

"Tae...why now?..." he whispers in the dark and untouched bedroom before turning around and walking out as well.
———————————————
Namjoon talked some more about himself but completely avoided going back to the complex topic of Tae's past.

Despite being curious as hell, Kook knew it wasn't his place to keep pushing and so he focused on learning more about the man in front of him.

Compared to Jimin and Yoongi who, when together were completely wild, Namjoon was more of the calm and collected type. He had gone off to talk about their two other close friends, Hobeok and Shin or something like that but Kook couldn't really focus completely when he had so many other things on his mind.

Almost another hour had passed when Joon's phone rang. "Everything good?" he asked right away and then paused. "What? What do you mean he's gone?" Joon asks in disbelief. "...No? You were supposed to watch over him and make sure he didn't do anything stupid!" he shot back frustratedly and gripped his hair in vexation.

"Alright...I'll hit all the bars in this area...yeah yeah I know. Okay bye." he says and then ends the call with a weary sigh.

He turned to Kook who caught onto the situation really quickly. "Go. I'll be fine" he curtly says and Joon nods thankfully. "...thank you" he whispers and abruptly stands.

Before he walked off though, he paused.

"Wait...take my number and call me if ever...You may be a new addition to this fucked up fam but it doesn't mean we can't be friends yeah?" he states with a wry smirk while grabbing Kook's phone and typing in his number.

Kook smiles while saving the contact. "Right." he responds and after that Namjoon rushes out.

The moment he disappeared Kook finally groans, leaning into his chair with a scowl. "God dammit Tae...where the fuck are you?" he thinks exasperatedly while doing that strange head tilt he only did when he was thinking; a habit he never was able to shake off.

Tae wasn't at home and Kook didn't know any other places nearby that Tae had told him he frequented.

As he pondered on Tae's habits something important screamed at him from the back of his mind.
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"Kook?" Tae whispered with a giddy sigh, turning to his side to face the man who had his back to the ground and arms comfortably behind his head. "응 뭐? (Mm what?)" he answered back, taking a deep breath of the fresh air around him.

"How come you've never told me about this place before?" Tae asked curiously and Kook slowly opened one eye lazily before laying on his side to face his Hyung.

He looked around the untouched lush green area covered by groups of trees that had beautiful vines hanging off of them.

The hidden ground was something Kook stumbled upon one day after one of the harsher beating she had been through and the tranquil feel had him relaxing almost immediately.

It was one of his better secrets and he already knew that he wouldn't have regretted showing that part of him to the man beside him.

Just like this area, Tae had become a special part of his life.
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"Because I never thought I'd ever bring anyone here..." he whispered honestly and Tae's eyes widened.

"...w-wait...so you mean I'm the first one you..." he trailed off in disbelief but was secretly touched.

Kook 'tch-ed' embarrassedly and turned the other way to hide his blush.

Tae's grin widened as his eyes scrunched shut from the rush of happiness that bloomed in his chest as he laughed. "AWW KOOK I KNEW DEEP DOWN YOUR BROODING PERSONA WAS ACTUALLY A SWEET MAN. NOBODY CAN RESIST ME, NOT EVEN THE STONE-HEARTED KOOKIE" Tae shouted teasingly and shuffled forward to clamp his legs around Kook who jumped at Tae's reckless move.

"Tae w-wha. Get off!" He shouted back in shock and Tae laughed evilly.

"NEVER!" He retorted with a cackle and then proceeded to tickle the life out of Kook, who started flailing around uncontrollably.

"T-TAE *HAHA* STOP I- *GASP* I C-CANT BREATHEEE" Kook begged with tears in his eyes and finally Tae pulled away with a huge grin that felt like it was permanently wedged on his face.

He observed the rare bright smile that graced the face of the man he was slowly falling for and then smiled softly. "Thank you, stupid Kookie" Tae whispered softly in his usual deep and husky voice and Kook rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing to thank me for dumbass" he shot back, flustered, and then quickly flipped them over.

Before Tae could protest, Kook lowered his head and took him in for a slow and unhurried kiss.

Tae froze for a moment before relaxing while smiling against Kook's soft lips in contentment.

They parted so slightly that their lips were still pressed lightly onto each other, mingled in with the heavy pants of the two who were in their own world.

Tae's lips parted. "This is the place I'd come when I need an escape...it's pretty magical" he murmured against Kook's lips and Kook only nodded distractedly before shrugging his shirt off.

"This is our place and ours only" Kook whispered back in promise, before helping Tae out of his clothes as well.
———————————————
Kook broke out of his thoughts and stood still with wide eyes. "...no...there's no way he's...that was a while back..." his thoughts trailing off.
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He couldn't risk it though if Tae was there though...he had to take his chances and with that he quickly paid the bill and shrugged his jacket on.

If Tae wasn't there, he would be at a loss once again but if he was...
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...he'd make sure to do things properly and be the man Tae needed now, the same way Tae gave his unconditional support to him when he was in his dark times.

He had fallen too deep to back out now.

...and so with a determined expression he ran in the direction of that one spot he brought Tae another lifetime ago.
———————————————
Tae took another long drag of his cigarette, relishing in the rush of nicotine that washed over him as he lay his head back to the stump of the tree.

The sun was gradually setting and Tae appreciated every color that decorated the sky beautifully from the orange hues that reminded him of apricots, to the pinks similar to cotton candy.
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"You've definitely got the best view mom" he thought with a bitter smirk and then closed his eyes while taking in a ragged breath.

"Fuck" he spat out after a couple of seconds, trembling as he pressed his palms to his eyes to stop the tears.

"Why...why now?" He whispered painfully.

The sound of leaves crunching under someone's footstep made Tae immediately freeze and angrily wipe his traitorous tears away as he tried to even his breathing.

It was futile however, because he only knew one person who could have guessed that he was here and that man would never let him get away with covering something like this up.
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"Tae" Kooks deep voice rang out, breaking the serene silence of their sacred ground.
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"...Kook" Tae shot back with a sigh and finally recovered enough to turn and face the man who had his arms crossed.

Immediately, Tae grinned brightly. "I knew you'd realize where I snuck off too. No wonder everyone called you 황금막내~" he said amusedly and Kook frowned but plopped onto the spot next to him.

"I thought we were past the point where you need to pretend like nothing is wrong in front of me" Kook responded back dryly and snatched the cigarette out of Tae's hand, crushing it on the ground beside him.

Tae pouted. "...I wasn't done with that..." he muttered and Kook scoffed. "I know" he easily said back but didn't let go of Tae's hand as he weaved his finger in them, making Tae's eyes soften.

"Why are you here Kook..." Tae murmured grudgingly and Kook smirked softly.

"Because I wanted you to know something" he started with a huff, finally making Tae turn to him with his full attention and a raised brow

"...that no matter what you try to do now, you won't be able to get rid of me anymore. So you may as well accept that fact and be completely honest with me now too" he stated seriously and Tae's eyes widened in surprise.

"...I thought...you said...you. That. You..." he mumbled incoherently and Kook scoffed but looked him straight in the eyes.

"Shut up. I was a dumbshit and I get it. If you didn't hide so much things from me in the first place we wouldn't be in this situation. But thank your stupid friends for getting me to understand that...they made me realize that I'm was being petty this entire time and trying to find excuses not to be with you because I-" he cut himself off before he said it.

'I'm falling in love with you'

"Because you?..." Tae asked with his brow raised and Kook shrugged. "...because I was scared that I didn't mean that much to you" he continued, clearing his throat slightly.

Tae nodded thoughtfully. "Mm I guess that makes sense" he said with a chuckle. "But what about the bet then?" He asked and Kook scowled.

"We'll get there when we need to but for now you better explain to me why everyone's losing their shit trying to figure out where you disappeared off to like you've done this before or something." Kook demanded and Tae chuckled.

"There's the Kook I know...disrespectful little shi-"

Kook nudged Tae, effectively cutting him off while giving him a 'don't try to change the subject' look.

Tae scowled. "...fine..." he started. "...but you need to promise me something..." he continued and Kook nodded slowly.
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"...promise me that no matter what I say, you won't run..." he mumbled ashamedly and Kook froze, not expecting that at all.

He narrowed his eyes and tilted Tae chin towards him.

"...not even if you begged me" he answered back promisingly and Tae's lips trembled at the sincerity of Kook's words.

He took in a deep breath and shut his eyes but held on to Kook's comforting hands tightly.
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"When I was 9 my mom divorced my father..." Tae started and Kook listened with rapt attention.
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Yaaaay new update 😂😂😂

I'm sorry if this is moving slowly for you but I really would like to develop this plot. It's kind of funny because I was planning on making this a short story with only three chapters but now I feel like I could make this last a while 😂

So thanks again for being patient with my slow updates 🌚

I hope you enjoyed this chapter ♥️