"Kim Taehyung and Jeon Jeongguk."

Shit. It was unbelievable. The professor had really paired him up with Taehyung. Of all people. Taehyung. Truly unbelievable. Jeongguk couldn't believe his luck.

He didn't quite know how to react. Part of him wanted to jump from his seat, raise his hand, beg the professor to reconsider. Tell him he'd do anything, extra assignments and all, just to make it happen. But frankly that would only pull too much attention to himself, and Taehyung's shrill gaze had him pinned to his seat.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, was all he could think in his head, hands clutched tightly in fists over his desk. So much for trying to avoid him. His nerves were over the edge, enough that he couldn't pay much attention to the rest of what the professor had to say. He'd gone on like this until class was over, and his accelerated heart beat had not yet had a chance to calm itself when Taehyung stood from his seat and walked right on over toward Jeongguk's desk with not a moment of hesitation. Yoongi followed close behind him, and the two men stood in front of the trio of friends.

Jeongguk watched with tilted brows as Hoseok gave a knowing nod to them, perhaps a subtle greeting to them as fellow gang members, and then Jimin suddenly held his hand out.

"We never properly met," the blond spoke up, plump lips puckering as he looked over at Yoongi. "I'm Park Jimin. In Western standards, handshakes are a sign of making one's acquaintance, so..." He waved his hand slightly and Yoongi stared solemnly at him before reaching to grasp it. His hand was bigger than the blond's, but not by much, despite the two's stark contrast in personalities. Jeongguk thought that was somehow endearing.

"Yes. Nice to properly meet you.." Yoongi mumbled, then released Jimin and handed him his phone. "We'll be working together, so... I'll need your number."

"Ah, right of course," Jimin flashed a friendly smile and reached for the device, unaware of the way Hoseok had been watching them with somewhat of dissecting eyes.

"Jeongguk," Taehyung then spoke next, his voice sending a single lengthy shiver down Jeongguk's entire being.

He drearily looked up. "Yes...?"

"Are you busy right now?"

"N-No.."

"Great. Then we should discuss our project, yeah?"

"Right now?" Jeongguk gulped.

"Yeah. I can't do so later."

Jeongguk looked between Jimin and Hoseok, who were too occupied in their own worlds to perceive the pleading look on his face, begging them to come up with some excuse to get him out of this.

"Go on, Gguk. I have my last class I need to go to," Jimin said instead, bowing towards Yoongi as he handed the man his phone back.

"Yeah, I have to go home to Yerin now. I'll see you guys later," Hoseok nodded, and Jeongguk felt like disintegrating into thin air. The sheer betrayal...

"Awesome, I'll-..." he cleared his throat. "I'll be with Taehyung. To... discuss our project. Yeah..."

※ ※

They were not going to discuss their project.

That was what Jeongguk had convinced himself in his head while he nervously sat at the bench, his leg bouncing restlessly as he awaited Taehyung's return. The two had settled on relocating at a rather small yet cozy park near the school, since at any point Jeongguk figured he'd complain about the weather being cold as an excuse to head on home.

This shouldn't take too long, Jeongguk thought. I'll just tell him what he wants to hear. That I forgive him and—

"One caramel cappuccino for the pretty boy~" Taehyung's voice suddenly pierced the cold air, and Jeongguk looked up to see the man holding two cups, already reaching one out towards him. "Careful now, it's hot."

"Ah... Thanks," Jeongguk mumbled, grabbed the warm cup and lowered his hands against his thighs while Taehyung plopped himself down beside him, staring out at the view of the city in front of them. "So listen, I—"

"Where should we start, then?" The older hummed, reaching to pull a small notepad from his bag. Jeongguk blinked a couple times, eyeing the male in plain confusion.

"H-Huh?"

"Our project? Where should we start? The professor said our theme should be symbolism." Taehyung turned to look at the boy with somewhat of a focused look on his face. Jeongguk's brows slowly rose.

"You... actually want to talk about our project?" he asked softly.

Taehyung stifled a laugh. "What else would I talk about?"

Jeongguk was quiet for a moment before looking down at his feet. "I dunno... I figured you were using this as an excuse to try and apologize again."

There was silence, and Jeongguk raised his head back up to look at the other curiously after not receiving a reply. Taehyung's hair seemed a bit longer today, the bangs cascaded in perfect locks over his eyes. It made it harder to look into those undecipherable orbs, so Jeongguk just stared at the man's perfect side profile instead.

"I already apologized," he said, after a while. "I can't force you to forgive me, but... I was desperate for you to know that I'm truly sorry. I won't do it anymore, though. So... I hope you still believe in my apologies being genuine."

Jeongguk sucked in a short breath and raised his coffee to his lips for a sip. He let the sounds of the city fill the silence that followed, and both boys sat quietly on the bench watching the speeding cars, the crowds of people, the slow movement of the clouds above them. Jeongguk could feel his heart aching again. Not necessarily with pain, but he felt a pressuring grip inside him, brought him discomfort.

But he understood now.

"...Symbolism, huh?" The boy sighed out after having finished the small cup of coffee, placing the cup down beside him to reach for his own means of writing notes. His eyes then scanned the area around them, gaze trailing from the patches of grass, over the tall trees, and past the pretty flowerbeds alongside the occasional bush. A small smile tugged at Jeongguk's lips. "Hm... My mom loves flowers, and... it'd be nice to do a project on something close to nature, don't you think?"

Taehyung licked his lips and closed his eyes briefly as a gentle breeze hugged his cheeks. "Nature... Sounds lovely." He nodded and leaned to shift a bit closer to the boy. "Hyukjae also loved nature.."

Jeongguk perked up. "Hyukjae?"

"My little brother."

"Ah... right. Right, the one staying with Yoongi," Jeongguk's smile widened. He just then remembered the time Taehyung had asked him of family, though he didn't speak much on the topic. "Hm, nice. Then we both have reason to commit to this topic."

Taehyung nodded once more and Jeongguk watched his large veiny hands move his pencil over the paper in front of him, distracting him from his own notes. "And how would we use symbolism?"

Jeongguk broke from the fleeting trance, then pondered for a while before eventually tapping his pencil down on his lap. "Are you familiar with mythology?"

Taehyung's head tilted to the side. "Not... really, no."

"Well there's a story—in Greek mythology, involving one of my favorite flowers. The hyacinth." Jeongguk turned his notebook so that Taehyung could see better while he drew two circles, labelling them with two names accordingly. "There's Apollo, god of the sun, among other things; and Hyacinth, his lover. To sum it up briefly, the story goes; one day Apollo's teaching Hyacinth of a game that involves throwing a discus. When he throws it, it flies high and tears through clouds because, well, Apollo's very strong since he's an Olympian."

Taehyung nods.

"But then Hyacinth chases after it. He's so enamored with the god, wants to impress him and is so caught up in their world as lovers... Then the discus recoils, bounces back and bashes into Hyacinth's head. It's fatal, of course, and he ends up dying."

"Ah..." Taehyung exhaled, shoulders slumping a little as he patiently waited for the younger to continue.

"Apollo gets very distraught. He can't believe the man he loved so much died and he's convinced it's because of him. He mourns him by creating a flower from Hyacinth's blood and naming it after him. The Greeks considered the hyacinth flowers as one of the most beautiful ever since.."

Jeongguk paused, a gloomy emotion suddenly overtaking him. He looked up from his notebook and met Taehyung's ink black eyes.

"Taehyung..." he said, voice a whisper, pupils venturing into the depths of the older's reflective labyrinth. "I don't want to be your hyacinth..."

The older gazed back at him, a gentle expression on his face. Their heads were in close proximity, only a few centimeters apart. So much that he could almost feel Jeongguk's breaths. His gaze trailed to the boy's lips, only to look away and pull to land his back against the bench.

"On the contrary, Jeon," his voice was firm, and Jeongguk could only blink as the man lowered his head, fixated on his own notes. Then, suddenly, Taehyung pinned his pencil against the book. "I'm Hyacinth and you're Apollo. So..."

Jeongguk stared, waiting for him to continue.

"When I die, would you name a flower after me?"

The man's blunt question had left his lips in one steady breath, and Jeongguk found himself huffing out. "...Why do you presume I'd even live longer than you?" he mumbled. Sure, Taehyung was older and all, but not by much. Jeongguk didn't really think about things like death in the first place. He liked to assume that nature would take its course and the people close to him would pass on due to old age and not by any tragic means.

Taehyung rubbed his palm. "Just answer the question."

Jeongguk sighed softly, looking back towards the sky as he let the man believe he was thinking about it—that he'd really think hard about it, even though Jeongguk had already convinced himself of the answer to this hypothetical question Taehyung had presented him with.

"I'd make a whole garden," he said finally, cheeks flushed cutely from the chilly wind, an airy exhale in his breath, shy demeanor to his gaze. "A garden of only Kim Taehyung."

※ ※

The two males were surprisingly productive. After having discussed quite a few details of their project and how to get their professor to love it, Jeongguk realized that almost two hours had gone by. And not only that, but his heart felt airy and warm again around the presence of Kim Taehyung. That familiar, captive feeling the man brought with him naturally. He wasn't scared, or uncomfortable, or constantly wishing he was elsewhere.

Taehyung really did seem remorseful. He only really said a few harsh words, even. If it were words he didn't mean, then Jeongguk didn't know why he would avoid him anymore. Taehyung wasn't a bad person, that's what he'd concluded on.

"May I walk you home?" Taehyung said as he stood beside Jeongguk, waiting for him to zip his bag.

"Well, I—"

"The bus. I meant... Can I walk you to the bus station?" Taehyung flashed him a cheeky grin, and Jeongguk felt his cheeks turn redder.

It wasn't because of the cold this time.

"S-Sure. You, um.. Of course you can.." The boy internally scolded himself for being so incredibly uncool in front of the pretty man, and stood from the bench.

"Ah, right! Before you go.." Taehyung reached for his bag abruptly and pulled his DSLR camera from one of the compartments. "Take this."

"W-What, your-... Take your camera..?" Jeongguk stuttered, baffled as Taehyung slipped the camera strap over his neck so that the device hung beside his chest.

"Yeah. You'll need good quality to take pictures of those flowers for our project. You probably know better places than I do, anyway. Just return it when you're done, okay?" Taehyung reached to poke his long index finger to the younger's swishy cheek. "Don't get rid of it like you did with the scarf I lent you."

Jeongguk's eyes widened, face heating up in embarrassment. "I-I didn't even—! Your.. Your scarf is in my bag, not-... I didn't get rid of it!"

Taehyung belched out a loud laugh, and Jeongguk didn't know that anyone could cackle so handsomely until just now. His laugh was so charming, it almost lifted the mortifying humiliation the boy felt of having the man notice how he'd immediately removed the muffler scarf that was so kindly gifted to him.

Suddenly the weather wasn't frigid at all, but rather Jeongguk felt maybe he was overheating as he walked side by side next to Taehyung. He wasn't sure what it was about the male's actions and teasing remarks that sent him into a frenzied state of constantly feeling flustered. He was more mindful of his own words and actions that at times he was convinced that he came off as utterly lame. And it was precisely at those times where he'd desperately hope that all those years of his mom calling him 'adorable boy' or 'cute prince' were because he was truly both those things, just so that Taehyung would find him desirable rather than dull.

"—And maybe we can make a bouquet arrangement with different flower meanings, y'know?" Jeongguk was now in the middle of throwing out more ideas on their project, the two males now strolling down a more secluded area of quiet houses, the small alleyway they were headed to being a notable shortcut towards the bus stop. It was more peaceful than the congested streets they had just stepped out from, and Jeongguk could hear the faint noises of birds chirping a bit more clearly. "I think it'd be real cute—"

Jeongguk bumped into Taehyung's arm all of a sudden, which the older was holding out to get him to come to a halt. Jeongguk stopped and looked to Taehyung curiously before flickering his gaze back in front of them to see an unknown figure standing at the distance.

He blinked. It was a man, it seemed. He wore a large dark hoodie and an equally dark face mask to cover up his features. Jeongguk's mouth gaped open.

"Kim Taehyung." The man spoke up, and even from the distance Jeongguk could see a stern look of determination on the stranger's face. "Stop there and don't move."

"W-Who is that?" Jeongguk whispered, not moving to look at Taehyung as he made sure to watch the stranger firmly.

And just then, Jeongguk noticed where the man's hands were. The stranger had his left hand out, skin peeking from his sleeve. But the other... The other hand was stuffed into the front hoodie pocket at stomach level. From the pouch pocket Jeongguk could see the outline of a sturdy object poking out, and he swore the sight looked familiar.

Familiar as in, he'd seen it before. In movies. Mostly ones that involved violence, where evil characters would hide their guns in public by pointing them from the pockets of their sweaters.

Pockets. Guns.

Jeongguk's jaw nearly dropped. They were being held at gunpoint right now.

And as the realization hit him like a slap in the gut, he could hear Taehyung's raspy voice finally answer his question.

"He's a member of the Acre gang. Choi Woosik."

✱