You'll find me laughing in the crowd

Holding your heart in my hands.

The last two verse of Lupin's poem echoed in Jungkook's ears as he walked through the busy King's Cross railway station, in search of a familiar face. The couple thousands of passengers, pulling and pushing luggage left and right, weren't making his task any easier. Doubt slowly crept up on him. Was Jimin's hunch correct after all? The reporter had been convinced the most crowded place in Britain had to be the Tower of London, home to the Crown Jewels, an impressive collection of over twenty thousand gemstones which were bound to excite the greed of a thief such as Lupin. "They're said to be the most visited objects in Britain!" he had declared, proud to be able to display his hard-earned journalistic knowledge in front of the Queen.

Since they couldn't agree, they had decided to split. Who was going to get to Lupin first? Our young detective was about to lose hope when suddenly, something short of a miracle happened. The otherwise permanent smog suffocating the City of London partially lifted, allowing the sun to cast its rays onto the platforms teeming with people. Standing there, in the midst of swarming travellers, a pair of broad shoulders he would have recognized anywhere.

"Taehyung!" he yelled, heart skipping a beat as the other turned his head to look at him, a loving smile adorning his already beautiful features. That's when Jungkook regretted not being one of those French impressionists, as he yearned to capture the light bouncing off the fluffy brown locks while lingering over the glowing skin his achingly starved lips were presently dying to taste.

"You came!" was all Taehyung said.

"So it was you."

"Does it matter, now?"

"What do you mean?"

"The outcome of this whole setup has always depended on you."

"Has it, now?" Jungkook had known all this time it would boil down to this one choice he had to make but kept postponing because he was not ready to face any of the consequences, whatever decision he went with. Looking down, he noticed a large suitcase standing next to Taehyung.

"Are you leaving?"

"Oh this? It's actually my gift to you, remember?"

"You mean to tell me that's the thing you were working on the night I came to your place uninvited?"

"Precisely! Do you want to know what that thing is?"

"Do show me," said Jungkook, clapping his hands excitedly.

Taehyung beamed at the cute gesture before pulling what looked like a controller from his inside pocket and pressing a button. The suitcase released steam before opening itself and unfolding its content. Jungkook's eyes grew wide as the device spread out, revealing itself to be a glider of some kind. The size of the craft had people around them complaining it was taking up space on the already overcrowded platforms, but neither of them cared.

"Are you sure you're allowed to fly that in here?" asked Jungkook warily.

"Do you not remember who I'm supposed to be? Since when does Lupin care about abiding by the law?"

Jungkook laughed at his own silly remark while Taehyung stepped on the flying machine. He strapped himself to the safety belt and turned toward the other, holding his hand out. "Well, are you coming?"

The younger knew he was done for as soon as he noticed the twinkle in the other's eyes. He stretched his hand out for Tae to grab, and swiftly found himself in his arms.

Click.

Taehyung did not need to look down at his wrist to know Jungkook had just handcuffed him. The detective smirked. "Caught ya."

"I can see that."

"You can kiss me all you want, I'm not letting you go this time."

"First of all, I was not planning on you letting me off the hook this time around. Second of all, kiss you? With all those paparazzi everywhere?"

Jungkook felt frustration and arousal build up at once in the pit of his stomach, which led him to lean forward while his free hand grabbed onto Taehyung's waist, giving it a little squeeze. "Tae, at this point, I really don't care."

These were the last words he managed to get out before his lips crashed against the others' in a hungry kiss. It was awkward at first, as if they hadn't done this in years. But they soon settled in a comfortable pace, bodies pressed against one another, hands roaming in search of that bare skin they were both dying to feel under their fingertips.

When they ran out of air, Jungkook breathed in heavily through his nose before sighing of content. "How do you always taste so good," he let out, savouring the sweetness of red berries at the tip of his tongue.

"Stay with me and you'll find out," replied the other, chest heaving from the sudden exertion.

"HANDS UP LUPIN!!" yelled a voice in the crowd.

Both men turned to see a rather shaken Rieken pointing a firearm at them. "DIDN'T YOU HEAR WHAT I JUST SAID?!"

The police chief was obviously in the midst of a nervous breakdown, taking his stress out on the one he deemed responsible for his recent misfortunes. The commotion had people starting to panic at the sight of a very unstable-looking officer waving a loaded weapon around, standing in the middle of one of London's busiest railway station.

The proximity of this unexpected threat did nothing for Jungkook's anxiety which he felt rise within. "Rieken! What are you doing here? Weren't you discharged this morning by none other than Queen Victoria herself?"

"SHUT UP JEON! YOU DISGUST ME! MAKING OUT WITH A CRIMINAL!"

"RIEKEN! PUT THE GUN DOWN!" Jungkook yelled back, angered by the chief's words and feeling suddenly very protective of his wanted lover.

But Taehyung placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. "It's fine, Jungkook. I'll just-"

"Tae, I forbid you to get off that thing," whispered the young inspector.

Taehyung froze at the overbearing tone. "Then what do you suggest I do?" he whispered back.

"Fly it."

"But — you're not even strapped on."

"FLY IT NOW!"

Heart beating faster than it ever did in his life, Taehyung pulled a lever and turned a few knobs, relieved when he felt the glider smoothly lifting off the ground.

BANG

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The human body is a marvellous machine. When deeply wounded, it will short-circuit the nerves in order to prevent the pain from reaching the brain which must stay sharp and focus on assessing the damage. Basically, it will numb itself long enough for the mind to do what needs to be done to keep it safe.

Which is why neither Taehyung nor Jungkook realized at first what had happened. They both had heard the gunshot, but they were both still standing, looking and feeling unharmed. The colour on Tae's face, however, was rapidly fading while a patch of red appeared on his shoulder, growing at an alarming rate. The young man felt dizzy and before Jungkook could hold him, he had fallen on his knees, accidentally turning the rudder which made the glider abruptly tilt to the side.

It all happened in a fraction of seconds, but to both men, it felt as if the earth had drastically slowed its rotation down, allowing them to simultaneously sustain somewhat of an out-of-body experience. Taehyung saw his hand mechanically reach for the autopilot switch while Jungkook watched his feet slide off the glider. A sharp pain in their wrists brought them right back to a harrowing reality. The metal cuffs, digging into their skin, were the only thing preventing the unstrapped Jungkook from falling.

Looking up, he noticed Taehyung's face had turned completely white except for his bottom lip which was bleeding, probably due to the fact that he was biting on it so hard. But that was not the only wound haemorrhaging. Red drops dripped from his arms onto the shackles and his own face as the small aircraft struggled to pick up speed. At this rate, Tae would bleed to death before they could find a safe place to land.

Which is why Jungkook did what he did.

He reached in his pocket to grab the steel key he had put away earlier, pulled it out and carefully inserted it inside the restraints' lock, earning a desperate growl from Taehyung. "Don't you dare let go of me, Jeon Jungkook!"

"I'm sorry Tae, but this time, I'm going to have to let you win."

The key turned and the cuffs opened, releasing two bruised hands which likely would never touch again.

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