"My god, what the hell is in those flowers?"

At Jungkook's sudden outburst, Taehyung looked up from the card game he was messing around with. Jungkook's hands were buried elbow-deep in the murky water of a small wash basin, on the side of which was piled a mound of the past week's dirty laundry. Even though they were rolled up, the ends of the sleeves of Jungkook's shirt were soaked completely through, and small bubbles flew up into the air as an effect of his furious scrubbing within the basin. He held the white shirt Taehyung had worn to the flower meadow up in front of his face. Although mostly faded, faint purple and yellow stains still mottled the surface of the fabric: an unmistakable reminder of their flower - picking trip just a few days ago. Jungkook groaned and let the shirt plop from his grip back into the bucket, not caring when a mound of bubbles splashed up over the rim and onto the ground.

"It's okay, I don't need to wear a shirt," Taehyung stated seriously, eyeballing the pile of bubbles on the ground.

Jungkook pulled the corners of his mouth back and made a face at the suggestion.

"You can't just run around shirtless, Tae."

Taehyung shrugged. "Why not?"

"Well you can't... it's just not... acceptable," Jungkook stumbled in reply, becoming annoyingly flustered by the simple question. "Not by me - I mean not specifically by me but I wouldn't care... not like I want to see you shirtless, I just wouldn't mind... if you were."

Jungkook's words grew more frantic as his mouth tossed him out, and at the end of the jumbled sentence he was too confused and ruffled to look up and see Taehyung staring at him with an eerily unbothered expression.

"The point is that society says you can't go running around half undressed," Jungkook choked out at last, quickly plunging his hands violently back into the wash basin in an attempt to clear his confused head.

"Oh. Well I can just wear it like that then. I'm sorry that I got it dirty," Taehyung apologized earnestly, cards forgotten as he stretched out from a seated position to lying on his stomach, chin resting on his folded hands.

Jungkook still wouldn't look up as he scrubbed futilely at the stained article of clothing, splashing more water down the front of his dry shirt. After a few moments of useless cleaning, he finally just sighed, hanging the sodden shirt over the basin's rim for a final time and leaning back on his heels, head tilted to the sky. He swallowed.

"Do you want me to clean it?"

Jungkook's head finally lowered at the suggestion, and he looked at Taehyung's stretched-out form on the ground.

"No no, it's okay. I'm not mad."

He thought for a moment as Tae fiddled around with one of his cards from earlier.

"I think we should go to town."

Taehyung's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He'd been living with Jungkook for close to a week now, and the entire time the other boy had been drilling into his head how important it was to stay hidden. Not once had he suggested they go anywhere further than the backyard.

"You obviously need your own clothing, and we're running low on food. Again," Jungkook continued, quietly grumbling out the last part.

In the space of a second Taehyung had scrambled to his feet and was leaning on the table with the wash basin right across from Jungkook, nearly knocking the entire thing over in his clumsied haste.

"Really? You'll take me to town?" He questioned excitably, leaning forward so far that his ever-present necklace dangled dangerously over the dirtied bucket of water.

Jungkook scratched the back of his neck, gaze flickering back and forth between Taehyung's wide silver eyes and the empty space around his head.

"I mean yeah... only if you want to," he said slowly.

"Of course I want to go!" Taehyung shouted, causing Jungkook to wince from the volume of his voice. He grinned, bouncing on the balls of his feet excitably.

Unsurprisingly, Jungkook felt charged by Tae's contagious energy. His confidence in his decision rose, and he backed away from the table, deep in thought.

"Ok, so we'll go then. But you have to have a disguise."

Taehyung stopped bouncing, interest perked by the word.

"Why?"

"Not a physical one, but we have to make up some sort of backstory about how you're living with me right now," Jungkook explained, ideas building in his head. "At least something more believable than... well, than saying you fell from the moon."

"But I did!" Taehyung protested, eyebrows knitting into a concerned frown.

"I know you did," Jungkook told him soothingly. "But it's not really a normal, uh, method of visitation."

He thought for a moment.

"How would you like to be my cousin?"

-

Taehyung was really bad at containing his excitement. Jungkook had discovered that little fact far earlier, but as the two prepared to leave the house it was painfully obvious just how short the silver-haired boy's patience ran.

"Are you ready yet?"

"No, Tae, not yet; I can't find my little bags -"

"We don't need little bags, I can carry stuff. Let's just gooo," Taehyung whined. He hadn't moved from his position of hovering over the front door knob for the past five minutes, and his foot tapped impatiently on the floor as he waited for Jungkook.

A minute more of frantic searching ensued before Jungkook deflated in defeat, slinking empty-handed towards Taehyung.

"You're carrying everything we buy," he grumbled.

"So we can go now?"

"Yes."

Taehyung let out a joyed yell and burst out the front door, leaving Jungkook behind to close up the house.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Jungkook shouted. Tae's retreating form stopped moving, and Jungkook's lips curled into a half-smirk as he finished locking up and jogged to reach the other boy. He was bouncing up and down again, and was quick to latch on to Jungkook's arm and forcefully begin dragging him along. Jungkook stumbled to catch his feet and then snorted in amusement, but complied regardless.

"You remember our story, right?" He questioned after a moment.

His voice startled Taehyung, and the other quickly released Jungkook's arm when he realized he was still holding on to it.

"Yep," Tae replied, popping the 'p' loudly. "I'm your second cousin twice removed on your mom's side who came to visit from Cheongyang for a couple weeks cause' I'm travelling to Seoul and needed to make a pit stop."

Jungkook nodded at Taehyung's breathless answer, satisfied by his recollection of their earlier conversation. If anybody asked any specific questions, which he doubted would happen, he'd just have to step in and make something up on the spot.

"So what's in town?"

Jungkook sniffed incredulously.

"You've been begging me to take you but you barely even know what it is," he deadpanned, giving Taehyung an exasperated look.

"I know that it's where people sell... things," Taehyung offered hopefully, waving his arms around in a somewhat useless attempt at better elaborating on his answer.

"Pretty much. It's not very far at all, you'll see when we get there," Jungkook replied mysteriously, switching his attention from Tae to the road.

True to his word, the two reached the very outskirts of Sinju within another five minutes of walking. Taehyung reverted back to clinging to Jungkook's arm after the first house came into view, eyes wide and head swiveling around like it was on a compass as he tried to take everything in. Passerbys waved at Jungkook as they proceeded, and he felt rather than saw their gazes lingering heavily on Taehyung. The more Jungkook thought about it, the more he realized how out of place he must look; Tae's silvery complexion and... flamboyant personality made him quite an oddity - especially in as small a community as Sinju.

It wasn't long before the spread out houses started to crush up to one another, yards molding into one big stretch of grass mottled by the occasional laundry line or wooden chair. The air became infused with faint conversation, and Jungkook glanced down to see Taehyung still in his state of awed shock. He shook his arm a little to move Tae's attention to him.

"We have to go to my friends' shop first, so we're almost there," he announced.

Taehyung nodded and straightened up, prompting Jungkook to think he was finally going to release the iron grip he had on his arm, but instead, the silver-haired boy moved his wrist down to slip his hand right into Jungkook's.

Jungkook's breath hitched, and his mouth opened into a surprised "o". Tae's fingers curled delicately around his own, and he pressed the whole right side of his body into Jungkook, the warmth of his skin seeping through his thin shirt.

If people had been looking before, they were staring now. Pink brushed its way over Jungkook's nose and cheeks, creeping down the back of his neck when more eyes crawled over him. But rather than pulling his grip away from Taehyung, Jungkook squeezed his hand - an action so light it was barely noticable - and perhaps he just imagined it, but it felt like Tae pressed himself just that much closer into him.

The staring became horribly unbearable the longer it lasted, and Jungkook felt euphoric when Namjoon and Jin's little blue shop sign appeared in the distance. His stomach was rumbling as they crossed the outskirts of the central square to reach the shop, and he made a mental reminder to buy some Tteokbokki for Tae on their way home.

The sun was bright behind their backs as Jungkook reached to pull open the door, and he didn't know how to describe the feeling that crept up into his chest when he was forced to separate his hand from Tae's.

Disappointed?

His left hand clenched briefly into a tight fist as he held the door open for the other boy to enter behind him.

Was he disappointed he wasn't holding Taehyung's hand anymore?

"Jungkook!"

Jungkook looked up just in time to see a tall, smiling, flour-covered Namjoon rushing towards him with both arms stretched out. He accepted the bone-crushing hug happily, resisting the urge to sneeze when flour got up his nose.

"Oh my gosh Jungkookie you really need to come down more often, you're becoming like a little cave man up there all alone in your house -"

Jungkook rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.

"Jin was about ready to storm up there with a rolling pin and flour bag to kidnap you-"

Now he winced. Jin appearing at his front door with a rolling pin - a scary thought.

"And do you have any idea how hard it is to restrain him when he's got murder on his mind?"

Jungkook gave Namjoon a half smile. "Sorry, hyung, I've been... busy."

It wasn't until that moment that Namjoon seemed to finally acknowledge Taehyung standing there quietly, and he turned to face him without giving Jungkook an answer. His gaze travelled over the silver boy with scrutiny, and after a few unbearably quiet seconds, he gave Jungkook a side-eyed look, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

"Busy with what kinds of things, exactly?"

Jungkook's eyes widened, and his hands flew up at the same time as his face deepened to a dark red.

"Hyung, n-no!" he shrieked desperately, voice becoming breathy near the end. "Not - not that."

He groaned into his hands in an attempt to hide his burning face, and Namjoon threw his head back, guffawing loudly. He reached over to pat Jungkook on his back, nearly knocking him over in the process.

"Sorry, I had to ask. He's very pretty, you know," he told Jungkook with a shrug.

"He's also standing right there," Jungkook mumbled out from between his fingers.

Taehyung waved as Namjoon faced him once again, dropping his uncertain expression for something more genuine since the other two had finished their exchange.

"Hello! I'm Taehyung."

The boy tried to catch Jungkook's eyes, silently asking what he should say next.

"He's my... cousin. From Cheongyang," Jungkook supplied, pulling his grimacing face up so he could look at Namjoon as he did. He prayed the older man wouldn't see through the story.

"Oh," Namjoon replied. "I didn't know you had any cousins, Jungkookie."

"Uh, neither did I. But Tae's apparently from my - my mom's side, and he's just staying for a little before he goes on to Seoul."

The bakery was silent as Namjoon chewed on that new information, Taehyung pinned under his gaze like an insect.

"Well!" he spoke at last, clapping his hands together and startling everyone besides himself. "Jin should be back soon - he just went to collect the post - and you both can have something to eat in the meantime."

He promptly bustled into the back of the shop, bustling around behind the counter before disappearing behind the cloth curtain of the back room.

Jungkook let out a long breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"Did I do ok?" Taehyung asked unsurely, eyes lingering on where Namjoon had vanished.

"Yeah, Tae, you were good. Sorry about that with Joonie; he's uh... he's not always very subtle. But he's pretty great once you get to know him."

Jungkook nodded and motioned for Taehyung to follow him further back, where he could lean on the front counter to wait. Soon enough, albeit after several trips back and forth, Namjoon had brought a plate with four large muffins, as well as Jungkook's regular paper bag of items.

"I really don't know where Jin is, he left 20 minutes ago," Namjoon told the other two as they ate their muffins. He crumpled the paper wrapper of his into a ball and tossed it into a small trash can behind the register. Jungkook just shrugged.

But as if speaking about him had some magical effect on his whereabouts, at that very moment, Seokjin burst through the front door of the shop, doorbell threatening to fall off the ceiling with the force of his entry. He was breathing heavy, and his face was alight with some emotion akin to joy as he stomped over to where Jungkook, Namjoon and Taehyung were standing. He gave Taehyung a questioning look, but simply shrugged rather than inquire about him and instead slapped a crumpled letter on the counter, smiling smugly.

"Jimin and Hoseok are coming back in two days," he announced. For a split second, the air was still in the aftermath of his sudden and unexpected arrival, before both Namjoon and Jungkook lunged towards the letter. Namjoon got to it first, so Jungkook pulled back, pouting, and smacked Jin's arm to get his attention.

"We haven't gotten any news from them for a month!" Jungkook exclaimed excitedly. Jin glared and rubbed his arm where Jungkook had hit him.

"Yeah, well that's because the mail got held up somewhere between here and Seoul," he explained. "That letter was supposed to come a couple weeks ago, which is why this is so sudden."

Namjoon finished reading the smudged paper and handed it to Jungkook, who held it a little to the side so Taehyung could peek his head over his shoulder and read it too.

Nearly six months ago now, Park Jimin and Jung Hoseok - Jungkook's two other closest friends - had travelled to Seoul together in search of an employed dance program that might offer them more instruction than they could get in tiny Sinju. Originally they had only planned on staying three months, but for some reason that never quite got explained by letter, they'd continued extending it - until now, apparently.

"We can have a welcome home dinner!" Namjoon exclaimed as Jungkook handed him back the letter.

"Obviously - we can plan for that in a while, but first... who are you?" Jin questioned, motioning to Taehyung who just waved from behind Jungkook.

Jungkook moved aside slightly so Tae wasn't so hidden behind him, and then retold their entire made-up story, with Taehyung adding in small parts here and there. When they'd finished, Jin looked far more skeptical than Namjoon had. Jungkook chewed on his bottom lip nervously, but to his great relief Jin nodded once, seemingly in agreement for the moment.

"Ok then, hope Jungkook isn't as horrible to you as he is to us," Jin joked, poking the younger in the shoulder. Jungkook swatted his hand off and stuck his tongue out, but Taehyung's expression turned very concerned.

"Jungkook isn't horrible at all!" the silver boy exclaimed, utterly unaware of Jin's obvious sarcasm. He opened his mouth to add something else, but Jungkook quickly threw his arms around his shoulders to stop him, worried he might accidentally say something that would contradict their thinly woven lie.

"Thanks, Taetae, but Jin was just joking," he promised, looking at the older expectantly. Jin snorted in disbelief, and that's when Jungkook became hyper-aware of two very prominent things.

One: he had just called Taehyung Taetae. Tae Tae. And two: the act of shutting him up meant that Jungkook had wound up hanging over Taehyung's shoulders from behind - hands clutched over his chest, chin almost resting on his shoulder and face very, very close to being pressed into the silvery hair at the nape of his neck (which smelled surprisingly pleasant).

Quickly, heart pounding a horribly erratic rhythm in his chest, Jungkook unwound himself from around Taehyung.

"Well," he began awkwardly, reaching out past his half-eaten muffin to grab at the paper bag Namjoon had given him earlier. "If that's all then I guess me and Taehyung should get going - we still have a lot to do."

Namjoon frowned, but Jungkook was already pulling Taehyung along by his arm to the front door.

"Wait, don't you want to help plan for Jimin and Hobi?"

"Oh shush Joonie, let the younguns go off by themselves. We have work to do anyways, no time for party planning now," Jin interrupted.

Namjoon heaved a dramatic sigh, and Jungkook rolled his eyes at Jin's word choice for himself and Taehyung.

"Bye, Taehyung! Don't let our precious Jungoo bully you too much!" Jin called out as they stepped outside.

"See you when Jimin and Hobi arrive!" Namjoon added.

Jungkook smiled and waved back, a little miffed at himself for cutting their visit short, but reminded himself that all of them would be together for the first time in half a year in just two days.

"They're nice," Taehyung told Jungkook happily, as they headed towards the center square again. Jungkook hummed in agreeance.

"Yeah, I'm glad you think so."

------------------------------------

Omggggg it's only been like three thousand years h a h a

//nervous laughter

Look at our Kook, bringing his bf home for the family to meet we stan a momma's boy

- Kiki <3