Taehyung paced around with the tip of his thumb between his teeth. He didn't know if this was all he needed to do. If he just left like that, wouldn't Jeongguk just try to jump again? Then again, it was clear the man lost his balance when Taehyung ran after him, he might've not even gotten up with the intent to jump. He sighed and crouched down, facing the still asleep boy.

"At least I found you in this big wide world," Taehyung mumbled, repositioning his head as it might hurt his neck from how it fell. He tried to make it straight but Earth Jeongguk's head only kept swinging to one side or the other. Taehyung snickered and decided to sit down beside him then moved his head to rest on his shoulder.

Another ten minutes or so passed when Jeongguk began to stir. He became conscious again and his head lifted back up. He groaned and raked a hand through his hair before looking at Taehyung. Their eyes locked for a moment before Jeongguk sucked his breath in and quickly backed away, still on the ground.

"W-Who are you?" Jeongguk asked, eyes darting around and hands fidgeting.

"Uh, I live here? Came up for some fresh air, didn't mean to sneak up on you. You slipped so I quickly pulled you back, hit your head. Thank god, how are you feeling?" Taehyung lied.

Jeongguk furrowed his brows and brought a hand to his head, feeling around for a bump. "Uh, alright. Thanks." He seemed to think about it for a moment before he chuckled to himself and shook his head.

Taehyung felt bad for messing with his mind but he would rather not explain all of that. "Why were you up on the edge, anyway? It's extremely dangerous."

Jeongguk sneered and moved back just a bit closer and put himself back against the parapet. "Danger's my middle name," he joked with an eyebrow lift. Taehyung stared back, lifting his own brow.

"Sorry, that was extremely lame. What's up with the mask?" Jeongguk asked, avoiding Taehyung's question.

"Think I'm coming down with a cold," Taehyung said, faking a cough and Jeongguk hummed back.

"Fuck, I'm starving. How long was I out?" Jeongguk asked, grabbing his bag that had been tossed to the side. He was awfully chill for someone who just faced a near-death experience.

"Not too long. Not long enough for me to call 911," he replied.

"Want one?" Jeongguk offered a sandwich but Taehyung shook his head. As much as he did want it, he didn't want to be removing his mask. His hat had already fallen when he went after Jeongguk. He didn't want to have to cast a memory spell on him too. Jeongguk shrugged and unwrapped the cover, taking a big bite of his sandwich.

He let out a sigh of relief in the middle of chewing. "You sure, bro? I know it doesn't look like much but it's great."

Taehyung smiled, even though he couldn't see, and nodded. Jeongguk shrugged again. "Your loss."

Jeongguk gasped and stood up quickly. He leaned against the parapet and looked down at the ground. "Shit, my beer," he cursed and turned back around. He slumped back to his seat and looked at Taehyung with a frown.

"Couldn't you have saved my beer too?" he asked and Taehyung scoffed.

"Yeah, very sorry about that. Should've caught the beer first, I'll make a note of that the next time I see someone about to fall," Taehyung replied and Jeongguk began to laugh. Taehyung couldn't help but laugh along. Jeongguk got up again and walked over to one of the barrels. He stuck his hand in and pulled a bottled of wine, waving it to show off to Taehyung.

"Keep this bad boy here for cases like this," he said, popping the cap off as he walks back. He sits down and takes a large sip with his lips straight on the top. "Delicious," he whispered. "Want some?" Jeongguk offered again but Taehyung denied politely.

"But seriously, don't climb this thing. What if you actually fell?" Taehyung said and Jeongguk groaned.

"Eh, whatever," he said and gulped down some more of the wine.

"Whatever?"

Jeongguk remained silent and Taehyung didn't know how much he could push. Jeongguk drank more and opened the next sandwich. As Taehyung figured out what he could say next, Jeongguk had already gone down half the bottle.

"Everyone dies eventually, right?" Jeongguk said, a bit of a slur to his words.

Taehyung looked at Jeongguk who stared back. "Doesn't mean we should live too carelessly. We only get one chance at this, shouldn't we try to live it to the fullest?"

Jeongguk snorted but the smile quickly died down. "Not when everyday feels like hell. You shouldn't go for it but what's to fear when there's nothing to be lost?"

Taehyung bit his lip, truly feeling the pain in the younger's eyes. Jeongguk sniffed then sighed. "Will you listen to a story, stranger?"

"Of course," Taehyung replied, his voice quiet.

"There once was a boy, as happy as he could be. A loving mother and father, except the loving mother passed away when he was just a baby. That was alright, his father was still there for him. Did everything a father should until the age of seven," Jeongguk said and paused to giggle.

"That rhymed a little bit," he said sounding proud and the frown instantly returned. "Anyways, passed away in a terrible crash. The boy was left alone, sent away to live with his aunt and uncle who only saw him as a a piece of trash. Ooh, I did it again! Moved out at eighteen, faced the world alone. Didn't have enough money to pursue his passion. There was no one to help him."

"That's terrible," Taehyung commented and Jeongguk nodded, gaze focused on his shoes.

"All he had were the few memories from his childhood. Especially him and his father playing in the snow. The happiest he's ever been. The story ends with the boy seeing snow again, remembering that happiness, one last time," Jeongguk finished and finally looked at Taehyung. "Happy ending, no?"

Taehyung shook his head. "No, not at all... Why should y– the boy have to wait until snow to create his happiness?"

"It's all he's got," Jeongguk whispered.

"No way, he may not see it but there's more. There's so much more life can throw at you than snow. The boy needs to come out of his box or-or hell and take more chances to be happy. You never know what fate can bring you but you'll only know if you wake up to see tomorrow instead of seeing life as some kind of loop everyday."

That's right, fate. If Jeongguk is meant to have this untimely death, there's nothing Taehyung could do no matter how hard he tried to protect him. His Jeongguk survived, he could only hope fate has the same plans for the other. He may be messing it all up even.

"I, uh, better get going," Taehyung said and stood up. Jeongguk didn't nod or wave or say anything more, he sat there motionless as Taehyung walked away.

Taehyung didn't look back since there was a huge possibility he was making a mistake leaving this all in the hands of fate that, for all he knows, may not even be real. He's just have got to have faith.

When he returned to the hotel room, Jimin and Earth Taehyung were sleeping peacefully on the bed while Yoongi sat on the chair they had tied him up in with his hands in his head.

"You're back," Yoongi greeted him.

"What happened here?"

"I had to babysit two overgrown babies."

Taehyung chuckled and went around to take a closer look at the two. It was still crazy seeing Earth Taehyung. Like looking in one of those funky mirrors.

"We're leaving tomorrow," Taehyung informed, taking off the mask and tossing it to the side.

"So soon? What happened with Earth Jeongguk?" Yoongi inquired.

Taehyung nodded. "It's all good," he replied shortly with a smile. Taehyung yawned and stretched out his body, wanting nothing more than to go to sleep.

He looked at Earth Taehyung one more time. Even if fate wasn't in his hands, a push wouldn't be so bad, would it? He casted the weakest memory spell he could remember.

•—•—•

Taehyung woke up with a groan. He lifted his head off the table and opened his eyes slowly, not remembering getting there at all. He combed back the blue hair that fell on his face and he tried to get a better look at his surrounding. He was sitting alone in a table outside a restaurant he doesn't remember coming to.

The last thing he had conscious of doing was buying a few shirts from Gucci and heading home. There were the few flashes of moments but they were all too blurred. A dream? There was a man he could clearly see from it. He wracked his brain trying to think about where he's seen him.

Taehyung was a bit of a believer in dreams being a message from above. That they mean something even if it was just his subconscious making them up. He'd sometimes wake up from a great dream and stay in bed longer trying to analyze what that meant for him.

"Tim Horton's guy," Taehyung finally recalled the boy in his dream. He remembered as he had thought he was cute when serving him his drink. There was nothing more to that thought once he left the restaurant.

He pulled out his phone, trying to check the time when he noticed the date under it. His eyes went wide. He was missing a day.

Taehyung wasn't a day drinker and he didn't even enjoy alcohol that much. His mind began to race with ideas of what may have happened. Maybe he had something that was spiked that made him forget about an entire day and somehow lead him there.

He then sees all the notifications from his brother that he had made plans with the the day before. He didn't really care to message him back when he had bigger problems to face. What the hell happened to him and where did his one-day memory go?

Taehyung stood up from his chair and put down his glasses, wondering how his face must be looking in his state. He wasn't in the mood to go back home and freshen up, too many questions swam around in his head. He opened his map application to see where exactly he was and surely it was no coincidence that the coffee shop he remembered seeing the man in was less than a two minute walk from his current location. He began to question if it was a dream to begin with.

He swiped his tongue over his bottom. "What the hell is going on?" he mumbled to himself before he picked up his bags (he was surprised he hadn't been robbed) and headed in the direction of the restaurant, hoping to find some answers. He decided to give his brother a call on his way, explaining he over-slept. It wasn't exactly a lie.

Taehyung entered the place and a sigh left his lips. He could really go for a hot chocolate at that moment. Okay, maybe get a drink first then find this man. The place was empty for the most part, only two workers there. No one was standing at the register so Taehyung had to call for one of them.

"Hi! What would you like?" A man quickly came running.

"It's you," Taehyung whispered, remembering his face clearly.

Jeongguk squinted his eyes and got a better look at the man. "You!"

"You know me?" Taehyung asked, not remembering any interactions.

"Well, maybe not. The hair... sorry, I'm confusing you with someone else. Do you know me?"

"Yeah, you're the man of my dreams!" Taehyung answered and realized how that came out the second after.

Jeongguk froze and he could feel his cheeks heat up. "Uh, m-may I take your order?"

Taehyung chuckled, a bit from his own embarrassment but also because he found him a bit adorable. Alright, very adorable. "Yeah, can I have a medium hot chocolate?" he ordered.

Jeongguk tapped a few buttons on the screen and looked up. "Anything else?"

"Your number?" Taehyung asked. He's embarrassed himself enough, might as well shoot his shot. He can also put off the whole missing day for a while. Sometimes things just needed to be let go. Taehyung has experienced much wilder adventures than that.

"Great, that'll be two eighty-one. How would you like to pay?" Jeongguk said, blinking rapidly.

Taehyung bit back a smile as he pulled out his wallet. "Cash," he said, handing him a five dollar bill. Jeongguk quickly took it and handed him back his change with his receipt before going to make his drink. Taehyung waited at the side patiently, eyes following Jeongguk who made sure not to face him.

"Medium hot chocolate," Jeongguk said, handing him his drink over the counter. Taehyung grabbed it and gave him a smile. When Jeongguk turned his back, Taehyung looked around his cup hoping he'd written his number somewhere but unfortunately, the cup and lid was as normal as it could be. Taehyung slumped his shoulders. Well, he's just gonna have to move on with the bigger problems he had deal with. He began to think of what kind of drugs he could've consumed to get rid of a day.

"I don't have a phone."

Taehyung's head quickly snapped up. The man continued. "It broke. But... my shift ends at four."

Taehyung nodded with a grin. "See you at four," he said then looked at his name tag. "Jay."

"Jeongguk," he corrected.

"Taehyung."

Taehyung did indeed come back a few minutes before four and waited at the door. He first went home and did some research on why he's forgotten a whole day which stil left a lot of questions unanswered, grabbed a few thing and got a dress change appropriate for the weather. When Jeongguk came out the doors, he jumped back a bit at the sight of Taehyung.

"God, you scared me," Jeongguk said, placing a hand over his heart.

"Oops," Taehyung said cutely and Jeongguk quickly looked away.

"Well, didn't think you'd actually come," Jeongguk said as they began to walk.

"What? You think I'd miss out on the opportunity to meet up with the cutest guy I've ever seen?" Taehyung said and Jeongguk lifted his brows.

"Wow," Jeongguk sounded, another blush dusting his face. As Jeongguk was about to ask where they were even heading to, he felt a drop on his burning cheeks.

"Huh?" Jeongguk looked up at the sky and saw the little flakes falling. "Snow in May?" he said to himself, reaching out his hand to catch one of the snowflakes in his palm. It was really snow.

"Canada be like that sometimes," Taehyung muttered. Jeongguk kept looking up, watching the flakes fall. Suddenly, his vision of the sky was covered by a bright red cover.

"What're you doing?" Jeongguk asked, looking at Taehyung.

"It may look pretty now but I saw that it's going to be a nasty hail storm," Taehyung said and stepped closer so that they were both covered by the umbrella, making Jeongguk's breath hitch in the process.

"I'll protect you with this," Taehyung said with a bright smile.

"Huh," Jeongguk sounded, this time more in wonderment.

"Hey, if you didn't think I'd come, why'd you tell me when your shift ends?" Taehyung asked as he continued to walk, forcing Jeongguk to move with him.

Jeongguk smiled. "Someone told me to take more chances to be happy."

"Well that someone is a genius. Now, if we turn around and walk back in the direction we came in, we'd reach my car in which I'd be able to drive you home. Then maybe, as a thank you, I can take you on a date when the snow clears up?"

Jeongguk stopped and looked up at the snow then back at the umbrella and finally, at Taehyung. "Yeah, that'd be great."

—•
I was a bit hesitant posting this ahh but one more chapter to gooo and we'll be back with our elf couple!

Bye<3