On a cold night, Taehyung and Jungkook wandered back home from the club mindlessly, almost too intoxicated to even care about their direction. Jungkook felt as though his feet were moving on their own, as if in a trance, and he let them follow Taehyung in a daze. The dark night sky above them was filled with heavy clouds, threatening a snowfall, but Taehyung did not seem to care. He walked on sluggishly, his drunk body swaying from left to right. At times, he almost tripped over a rock on the ground and fell. Otherwise, he lost his balance and bumped into a streetlamp on the side of the street, hurting his elbow in the process. A cold breeze brushed past the boys and both of them shivered, causing Jungkook to wrap his arms around himself.

"I'm positive we're lost," Jungkook said flatly, his eyelids heavy with weariness and insobriety.

"We're not, idiot," Taehyung replied, not bothering to look back at the brunette boy who was lagging behind him with messy hair and trembling limbs.

"Then why aren't we home yet?" Jungkook asked, stumbling over something on the ground.

"Because we're walking really slowly," Taehyung explained, struggling to maintain his balance and steady his dizzy mind.

"Still, we should have been home by now. I'm getting tired, Tae," Jungkook complained. His body felt heavy, as if his organs were weighing him down. He just wanted to collapse right there, but the chilly wind was the only thing keeping him awake.

"Stop whining already; you're talking my ears off," Taehyung groaned in annoyance.

"But it's so late at night, I'm scared," 

"What are you, a vulnerable woman?" He rolled his eyes.

"Serial killers don't care about the gender of their victim, jackass, well, mostly..." Jungkook trailed off, casting a paranoid glance at his surroundings.

"Stop thinking so negatively. We're going to be fine." Taehyung reassured, brushing him off.

"But I'm so sleepyyyy..." Jungkook continued whining like a child, pouting and dragging his words. "...and cooold."

"Yeah, I'm freezing too." That was something Taehyung could agree with. He himself was very sleepy and the weather was only getting colder as the time passed. He pressed his blue lips together in a frustrated manner. How come he lost his way? He'd known the way to Eunha's house like the back of his hand. He was sure he was going the right way when Jungkook and him had left the club but it was clear now that he had been wrong.

"See, I told you it was a bad idea to drink, now we're lost and it's all your fault!" Jungkook said accusingly.

"We're not lost, I said." Taehyung pressed.

"You being in denial isn't going to get us home faster," Jungkook snarked, looking irritated.

"Well, alright, shut up then. You whining isn't going to get us home faster either." Taehyung retorted, finally stopping and turning around to face Jungkook. His glare burned into Jungkook's brown eyes and he furrowed his eyebrows, holding the mutual annoyance for a fleeting moment before looking away.

"Let's just call Eunha and ask for help," Jungkook sighed after a brief pause. That seemed like the only logical solution in his head. They'd been walking without any sense of direction and Jungkook was slowly losing his last bit of will to stay awake. He was hoping if they called Eunha and gave her a vague description of where they were, she could find them. He knew fighting among each other was only going to make the situation worse so he decided to be the bigger person and ignore the dirty look Taehyung was giving him.

"What? No. She's going to get angry and start lecturing me and I don't want—" Taehyung wanted to shut down his idea immediately but Jungkook cut him off again, speaking with logic.

"Ugh, Taehyung, getting home is more important right now. I'm freezing!"

As if on cue, another gust of icy wind blew and the boys shuddered. The frigid air felt as if it was seeping into their bones and touching the very core of their souls. Jungkook was worried they were going to get sick if they stayed out any longer.

"She's probably sleeping though, she won't pick up. She keeps her phone on silent when she sleeps." Taehyung exhaled a deep breath, shaking his head.

"Huh? No way. Are you saying we're basically stranded?" Jungkook stared at him with a panic-stricken look.

"That's a little dramatic—"

"Oh, God, I'm going to freeze to death? This is how I go out? Really?" He dropped to the ground as he hugged his body tighter, bowing his head over his knees in a lamenting manner.

"Jungkook, calm down, you're not going to die. Here, put on my blazer if you're that cold," Taehyung suggested as he took off his blazer jacket and threw it at Jungkook's face. He caught it before it could hit the ground and looked up at Taehyung, eyebrows furrowed.

"But what about you? No, I can't let you sacrifice yourself for me, that reminds me of Titanic," Jungkook moaned, dramatically wiping off a fake tear as he hugged the blazer to his chest. Taehyung stared at him, seemingly baffled.

"...What's Titanic?" He asked hesitantly.

"WHAT? YOU HAVENT WATCHED TITANIC?!" Jungkook's head shot up instantly, his wide eyes looking at Taehyung as if he were an alien.

"Ugh, why are you shouting..." Taehyung flinched back at the sudden outburst, frowning. Then he snatched his blazer back from Jungkook, who had been just holding it instead of making use of it, and put it around his shoulders.

"Have you been living under a rock all your life? It's like the most popular movie ever. It's not a Korean movie but even everyone in Korea knows about it," Jungkook said as he relaxed under the slightly warmer blazer, letting out an unnoticeable sigh of relief.

"Uh, okay. I wasn't allowed to watch movies growing up so I never watched it," Taehyung shrugged, turning his head to look at their surroundings, and as he did so, he realized they were standing right outside a vintage-looking bookstore.

"Now that's a tragedy worse than the Titanic. What do you mean you weren't allowed to watch movies? You're kidding, right?" Jungkook asked, tilting his head. As Taehyung watched the genuinely confused look on his face, he felt something being triggered inside him. All of a sudden, he felt a boiling rage take a hold of his body as if hot lava had been injected into his veins, an anger of such intensity that it made him want to beat Jungkook to a pulp and leave him alone there. But the doe-eyed boy stared up at him from the ground with his blazer wrapped around him, still awaiting a response, so Taehyung bit his tongue, pushing all of his negative emotions down, and turned away.

"Someone who grew up as spoiled as you wouldn't understand so piss off." He grumbled, his tone bitter and resentful, which caused Jungkook to become quiet. "Fuck, I'm freezing." He added in a whisper as he continued examining the bookstore. 

Jungkook stared at him for a few seconds before shifting his eyes to his feet. He could see Taehyung moving around in his peripheral vision but his gaze remained down. The streetlight flickered, threatening to go out, and as the winter wind beat upon his stinging face in harsh blows, Jungkook noticed for the first time how utterly silent the night was and a sense of melancholy crept into his heart. He felt as though as he were all alone in the world. Then there was Taehyung, but even though they were in the same place, he felt very distant as if there was an invisible wall between them that Jungkook could never break and even if he cried and begged for help, it wouldn't reach Taehyung.

Jungkook reflected on Taehyung's words and felt alienated from the boy he desperately wanted to befriend. He began to wonder if there was a reason for the distance between them. Perhaps they could never truly become friends because their lives had been so different. Jungkook sensed that the invisible wall that separated them stemmed from their inability to relate to one another. They couldn't possibly share their pasts with each other because, as Taehyung pointed out, Jungkook had lived a life of privilege, showered with love from both his parents. In contrast, Taehyung seemed to have a strained relationship with his family. Additionally, the bitterness in Taehyung's eyes and the tone of his voice had given Jungkook a startling epiphany. Taehyung harboured resentment towards him, and this animosity didn't stem from who Jungkook was; rather, it was rooted in Taehyung's bitterness over what Jungkook had always possessed but he had not. A happy childhood and loving parents.

Deep inside, Jungkook wanted to sit down and have a heart-to-heart with Taehyung but he knew it would never happen because Taehyung wouldn't want to hear his happy story and would only get angry at him and he also wouldn't want to talk about his feelings either for Taehyung was the sort of person who hated being vulnerable.

"Hey, let's break into this store to get away from the cold for a bit, then we can try using Google Maps to find our way back," Jungkook snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Taehyung's voice. It was weak and cracked at the end of his sentence. Jungkook looked up at him and watched him just standing there, shaking. Suddenly he felt bad for taking Taehyung's blazer from him so shamelessly. He was going to catch a cold.

"Okay," Jungkook stood up, removing the blazer from around his shoulders, "but only if you know how to pick a lock quietly and not make a ruckus. I don't wanna get caught and go to prison—"

The sound of shattering glass made Jungkook jump. His eyes bugged, widening to their full capacity, as he gaped at Taehyung who was making his way inside the bookstore through the broken window. With an air of reckless abandon, he climbed through the window, his movements almost playful despite the risky situation.

"Taehyung! What the hell?!" Jungkook gasped, a mix of worry and exasperation rising within him. He frantically looked around to check for people. He was afraid that a police officer on patrol might show up because of the crashing noise, but to his relief, the world seemed silent and there was nobody around. The frigid air poured in behind Taehyung, sending a chill down his spine. As pieces of broken glass crunched ominously beneath Taehyung's shoes, Jungkook felt an overwhelming urge to scold him or cuss him out, but he was rooted to the spot, caught between shock and disbelief.

"There's no way you just threw a rock at the window," Jungkook whisper-shouted, going ignored by the other boy. "wait, The Villain's Den? That name's giving me Deja vu." he added as his eyes caught the name of the bookstore, wondering where he'd seen it before but his memories were clouded.

"Come on in, Jungkook, stop being a wimp." Taehyung gestured for Jungkook to follow him inside the store with a carefree smile. He bent down to pick up something from the floor. It was a stone—the very rock he had used to shatter the window. He blithely chucked it out arbitrarily and it landed with a dull thud just inches from Jungkook's feet. A chill ran down Jungkook's spine at the sound, the reality of their reckless actions settling heavily in his gut. He knew this was a very bad idea. It was reckless, but Taehyung was too drunk and cold to care about that and Jungkook couldn't blame him. He sighed as he gingerly climbed through the jagged window, the cool night air brushing against his sensitive skin. He shifted his weight to avoid the sharp shards of glass scattered on the floor beneath him, making sure it didn't create too much noise. The faint moonlight illuminated the scene, casting eerie shadows that flickered with every cautious movement he made.

"Ah, this is comfy," Said Taehyung who'd already slumped into one of the plush brown sofa chairs nestled in one corner of the little store. Jungkook looked around, his gaze wandering over the towering wooden bookshelves that lined the walls, crammed with books of every genre imaginable. He thought that the place looked familiar but he couldn't quite remember when he had last encountered a space like this so his tired mind decided to just shrug it off. He walked over to where Taehyung was blissfully sitting with his eyes shut, his torso sprawled all over the chair while his legs dangled off awkwardly.

"Here, you can have it back now," Jungkook said as he placed the blazer on Taehyung's chest almost like he was covering him up with a blanket.

"Worried I'll catch a cold?" Taehyung's lids fluttered open to look at Jungkook, then casted a brief glance around the store.

"You might,"

"I won't. I'm not a weakling like you," He teased, smirking.

"Strong or weak, you're still a human." Jungkook stated as he sat down on the chair opposite to Taehyung's, kicking up his feet and curling into a ball. Taehyung's smirk dropped but he said nothing, only clicking his tongue followed by the shutting of his eyes again. Jungkook did the same. The sofa was comfortable and cozy so he decided that they would rest for a while before continuing their journey home.

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A/N: I can't believe I spend all my time writing these silly little updates when I could be working on an actual novel ;-;

(Ps. I actually don't have the writing skills or consistency to write an actual book, that's why I'm here.🥰👌)