He had been acting strange ever since the incident with Yoongi being pulled under the water. And Jungkook knew the reason, too. He knew that Taehyung blamed himself for having asked Yoongi to get the Frisbee. That realization had struck Tae the moment that wave hit. After that, for the rest of the day, something was different about him. Like a part of him had been pulled under the water too.

"Hey, Jungkook, d'you want to go to the festival with me?"

Jungkook stared at him in disbelief. "You're not going with Jimin?"

"No. I don't think that's the best idea for either of us right now."

Both boys turned their heads to look at Jimin, who was sitting on the far end of the beach next to Yoongi, appearing rather despondent even from a distance. Tae and Jungkook had seen how hard Jimin cried earlier, and how tightly he hugged the boy, as though he was genuinely terrified of letting go. He needed time. And with how crappy he was feeling right now, Taehyung was more than willing to give him that time.

"So do you want to or not?"

"Uh, s-sure, I'll go. What about Hoseok, though?"

Tae looked over his shoulder. "I think he already went up to the pier," he said. "Might've found some other friends. I don't know. Are you uncomfortable with just going with me or something?"

"What? I didn't say that."

"Well, then, let's go already."

It was so obvious he was upset. Jungkook didn't know if Tae were simply doing a poor job of hiding it or if he weren't trying to hide it at all. Either way, Jungkook didn't like how it made him feel. He didn't like seeing Taehyung upset, and he wasn't sure of how to cheer him up in this situation. Right now he was Jungkook. Not Rosa. Meaning he couldn't simply pick up their conversation where they left off, and it was highly unlikely Taehyung would come out and talk about his problems to him. After all, he and Jungkook weren't all that close. Not like him and Rosa, anyway.

They ended up going to the pier together where the festival was being held, as per Taehyung's request. And they spent the evening roaming aimlessly, stopping at various places only when Tae's feet would wander and lead him over to a food stand or one of those shooting or ring-toss games that he insisted were rigged every time he lost. Jungkook tried not to laugh at him, but he sometimes he couldn't help it. Taehyung was adorable. Even when grumpy or depressed, the boy's childish actions made him an easy target for teasing remarks, though Jungkook did hold back as much as he could to avoid upsetting the boy more than he already was.

Unfortunately his condition didn't get better with time, as Jungkook had hoped it would. Taehyung was distracted. More than a few things seemed to be weighing on his mind, and it showed like vibrant colors on the boy's face. It eventually became unbearable to Jungkook. He couldn't stay silent.

"Taehyung."

"What is it? I'm in the middle of this game. If I get all the rings around the pin, I can win the cute little alien plushie."

"Taehyung, this is the seventh time you're playing. You're gonna end up spending all your money."

"So be it then. This is how I'm coping."

Jungkook frowned. He took hold of Taehyung's arm and gaze it a squeeze to get the boy's attention. Tae turned to look at him. His sad eyes nearly broke Jungkook's heart in an instant.

"You need to do something."

Tae blinked but said nothing.

"You're gonna hate yourself if you avoid him for the rest of the night."

He narrowed his gaze at Jungkook, then swallowed his breath, subconsciously knowing exactly what this person was referring to, but not wanting to admit it. "Avoid who? I don't know what you're t-"

"Yoongi. I'm talking about Yoongi, Taehyung." Jungkook squeezed his arm again. "You need to talk to him."

Tae turned his head away, a little stubborn, a little overwhelmed by this sudden demand. It came off a bit forceful, but more than that it was meant to be encouraging. It struck Taehyung even harder than Jungkook expected it to.

"Talk...to him?" The words fell out of his mouth and hung in the air around his ears. Then they met his ears, and Taehyung let out a ragged breath. "Talk to him..." He hung his head. "But what am I supposed to say?"

"What you're feeling," Jungkook answered simply. "I mean, I know you want to apologize, but it's more than just that, isn't it? There's nothing I can tell you specifically, just...whatever you've been keeping inside. It's not good to bottle things up, ya know."

"I know." Tae looked shamefully at the ground. "I don't typically bottle things up. There's someone I always talk to when I'm upset."

"Jimin?"

"No, not Jimin." He shook his head. "Someone else. Someone I've never met before."

Jungkook let go of Taehyung's arm. The brown-haired boy's face had suddenly grown solemn again, but for a reason not even Jungkook knew, despite being this "someone" Tae was referring to.

"I'll talk to Yoongi. Thank you, Jungkook."

He was gone for about twenty minutes--that was how long it took to not only find Yoongi and Jimin, but also to wait for the right opportunity to approach and speak with Yoongi. Jungkook didn't move from his spot. He wanted to be there for when Tae came back. If Tae came back. And he did, visibly a bit teary-eyed, but the weight of his mind had grown less, and for that, Jungkook was happy.

"Feel better now?"

"To some extent, yeah," Taehyung replied, offering a slight smile. "Although..." He paused. "Jungkook..."

"What is it?"

"Would you mind if I came over your house tonight?"

Jungkook had been in the middle of drinking a lemonade he'd purchased while Tae was gone, and he nearly spat it out due to this unexpected request. His face turned a little red. "W-why, all of a sudden?"

"You're allowed to say 'no'," Taehyung whispered, sticking out his bottom lip. "It's just...there are still some things--well, one thing in particular, that's been weighing on my mind lately, and I feel like I need to talk to someone about it."

"What about that person you mentioned before? You know, the one you've never met-"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Jungkook's heart dropped like a rock. Oh, crap. That doesn't sound good at all. Does he know? How could he know?! I've done all that I could to prevent him from finding out, so how could he possibly-

"Is it okay?"

"Hm?" Act cool. Act cool. Don't turn him down, it'll be extremely suspicious. "Y-yeah, that's fine."

"Do you need to tell your parents first or something?"

"They're actually on a trip right now. It's just me and my sister at home."

Taehyung quirked an eyebrow. "You have a sister?"

"Yeah." Jungkook nodded. "She's a couple years older than me, but we're pretty close. Do you have any siblings?" Even though I already know the answer to my own question.

"Just one," Tae told him. "A younger sister."

I know. Her name's Youjin and she's in middle school. "I see."

"Mm."

"...so did you want to go now, or..."

"We can wait for the fireworks. Then we can go."

"O-okay, then."

So that's what they did. As soon as the fireworks were over--Taehyung didn't seem particularly interested and Jungkook was too distracted by whatever this thing was Tae wanted to talk about--the two boys caught the next bus that would be passing by Jungkook's house. It was late at night. Considerably dark out. Jungkook reached for his house key which had been hanging from a string around his neck, and he unlocked his front door, afterwards gesturing Taehyung to go inside. He did. And the other followed.

They ended up going straight to Jungkook's room, where Taehyung didn't hesitate to sprawl out on the boy's bed, heaving a sigh of exhaustion.

"So what we doin' first?"

Jungkook tugged at his damp clothes. "I was actually gonna take a shower real quick. I smell like saltwater. If you don't mind waiting-"

"No, that's fine," he interrupted. "This is your house after all. Your house, your decisions. I'll just lie here and try not to fall asleep."

"Right."

With that, Jungkook picked out a new set of clothes, dry ones, comfortable ones, and took a shower. A hot, refreshing shower, and when he changed into his new clothes he felt like he washed the sand and sea right out of him. He checked himself in the mirror, blow-dried his silky black hair, then checked himself again. Did he look okay? No, stop it. That's not important. He slapped himself, soon after exiting the bathroom and going back to his room, where he found Taehyung still sprawled out on the bed, but now his eyes were closed. And the gentle rise and fall of his chest made it seem as though he was sleeping. Jungkook tentatively stepped closer to him. Within seconds he found himself examining the boy's face in silence, observing every feature, from his stunningly sharp jawline to his unfairly pretty eyelashes and cute round nose. Everything about him was beautiful.

As Jungkook was getting lost in admiration, Tae's eyes opened abruptly, which caused his secret admirer to flinch in a way that drew a chuckle from his mouth.

"Aah, you thought I was sleeping, didn't you?" Tae sprung from his horizontal position and sat upright, turning his head to look at Jungkook. "Did I fool ya?"

Jungkook placed a hand over his chest. "Yeah," he said breathlessly. "You fooled me."

"Your room is really nice, by the way. A lot nicer than mine. And tidier, too." He frowned. "I'm terrible with keeping my room tidy. I'm not an orderly person at all."

"Really? You seem like you'd be."

"Is that sarcastic?"

"N-no, I mean it."

"Mm...well, I'm not. And it's strange to me how it even happens, 'cause like, I don't really have a lot of possessions other than my video games and computer setup." He shifted his attention over to Jungkook's computer setup which sat in the corner of the room, just on the other side of his nightstand. Across from that were Jungkook's other game systems, all packed neatly into a box save the one currently hooked up--the Xbox One. Eagerly, Taehyung looked at his friend's face and blurted, "Yo, can we play something?"

Jungkook hesitated. "I...thought you came here because you wanted to talk about s-"

"That can wait." Taehyung waved his hand dismissively. "So can we?"

"Uh...sure. Why not."

"Do you play Overwatch?"

Jungkook felt his face drain of blood, a harsh spotlight now shining on him. No, we can't play that! His mind screamed. If I play anything on Xbox at all, Taehyung will see my gamer tag. I can't let him see that I'm Sub Rosa. I can't. "U-um, I'm...not actually a fan of Overwatch," he lied, scratching his cheek in nervousness. "Would you rather play something on GameCube?"

"Do you have Animal Crossing?"

"Yeah."

A bright smile claimed Taehyung's lips. "I freaking love that game."

"No way..." Jungkook smiled back. "Me too. My sister always teased me that it was more of a girly game but I played it more than she did."

"Oh my gosh, that sounds so much like me. Jungkook, we must be made for each other."

That little sentence echoed in his mind, his whole body shaking internally as a result of the blush that crept up on his cheeks. In reality, he knew that this comment of Tae's had been uttered in a friendly, joking manner, and that he couldn't, under any circumstance, allow himself to show that it had affected him in the way it did. Luckily for Jungkook, Taehyung had gotten to his feet and was already in the process of hooking up the GameCube, impatiently searching for where the Animal Crossing game case might be.

We must be made for each other. We must be made for each other. We must be m-

"C'mon, man, where do you keep your games??"

"Hm?" Jungkook shook his head to snap himself from his daze. "O-oh, just a second. I'll get it."

So he made his way over to the little book shelf next to his bedroom door, one with a shelf dedicated entirely to GameCube games. (It happened to be his favorite system of all time, so of course he kept a stash of games, and he would never think of getting rid of any of them.) He ran his finger across the titles and soon plucked out the right one off the top shelf, then took it over to Tae who was growing more impatient with each passing second. Accepting the small disc from Jungkook, he placed it in the system and began bouncing up and down as he waited for it to load.

"Can we start a new game?"

"Sure." Jungkook smiled. "You can name our character."

"I'm gonna name him Taekook."

"W-what?"

"It's a combination of our names. That makes it fair, since we're sharing this."

"Right..." That's cute.

They ended up playing the game for several hours, having the time of their lives simply messing around in the fictional town of Animal Crossing, purposely angering their neighbors just to see the amusing reactions, complaining about the "ugly, whiny, stingy, tightfisted, money-grubbing Tom Crook", as Taehyung worded it. They planted trees literally everywhere, thick clusters right outside people's houses to make it difficult for them to exit their houses. And they put aside what they were supposed to be doing so they could get stung by bees, because for some reason Taehyung found it absolutely hilarious. And Jungkook adored Tae's laugh.

It was such a fun, goofy, lighthearted time that both boys enjoyed so, so much. But all good things must come to an end.

"Hey, Jungkook, I think I'm ready to talk about it now."

The humorless tone of Tae's voice took Jungkook by surprise. Because in his joy, he had completely forgotten about 'it.'

"O-...okay."

They turned off the GameCube and ended up sitting on Jungkook's bed. With each second Taehyung's expression grew more somber. It unsettled Jungkook.

"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked, timid and just a little uncertain. No, make that a lot uncertain.

"Something that's been on my mind lately...a lot lately," Taehyung replied. He stared at his hands. "That person I mentioned to you. The one I've never met."

"What do you mean when you say that?"

"Let me explain." He cleared his throat, glancing at the wall so as to give himself time to find his words. "Well, you see...it all started at the start of last summer. I was playing Overwatch, as I often do in my spare time, and I just so happened to come across this one player. He was incredible. Like, I was seriously impressed, and I tried talking to him, but he wasn't responding at all. I know it sounds stupid, but that frustrated me, so I started a chat with him. We got to talking, I asked for playing tips and he gave them to me, seemed like a really chill guy, easy to talk to and all that...even though he refused to give me his name. Told me just to call him Rosa. I didn't really understand, and even now, I don't really understand, but I was trying to be respectable, ya know? So I let him have his secrecy. And we continued to talk, off and on. It was nice. 'Cause we didn't always talk about video games, he-..."

That was where he stopped. Only shortly, but the break in his explanation suggested that what he was about to say next was hard for him to say at all.

"I don't know why I did it, honestly, other than the baseless fact that I felt I could trust him. I told Rosa about confessing to Jimin. And how I was turned down. And how I felt like a total emotional wreck. But I needed to tell someone, because like I said to you before, I hate bottling things up. He was there. He listened to me. And most of all he comforted me. And I came to realize what an absolute amazing guy he was. Kindhearted. Willing to hear my problems and try his best to do something about them. The thing is, I could tell he genuinely cared, and that made all the difference. After what happened that day I continued to go to Rosa whenever I was upset. Whenever something was bothering me. Anything at all. I can't tell you how much that meant to me. He never asked for anything in return, either. He was an overall sweet, selfless, funny guy...that I was happy just talking to..."

He stopped again. Taehyung bit his lip. This was steadily becoming more difficult for him to get out.

"That was how it was at first," he said, a slight break in his voice. "For a long time. But with every time I went to him for comfort, or even just to talk about my day, I found myself...really...wanting to see him. Like in person. In the flesh. I wanted to finally see what he looked like. And hear his voice. And to meet up with him and hang out. But I couldn't bring myself to ask him, because I remembered at the start he said he preferred to remain anonymous. That thought made me so freaking sad, and I've been so conflicted, because I......I think I've fallen in love with him, Jungkook."

That sentence hit like a hard brick against Jungkook's head. Another one struck his chest, rendering him breathless for a moment as Taehyung's eyes welled with tears.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do." Tae's lips quivered. "I can't stop thinking about him, I'm putting pictures in my head but none of them seem to match up, none of them look right, and on top of that, I'm tired, and confused, and I can't...I don't know what to do. I don't know if I should keep my mouth shut and do nothing at all, and I've been wondering if I should give up now before I fall too deep and find out it's hopeless. I don't..." The tears streamed down his face. "I don't want to get my heart broken again..."

"If you love someone you should never give up on them."

Taehyung lifted his head and stared deeply into Jungkook's eyes, shocked to find them filled with such emotion. Almost as though he was speaking from experience, his words having been coated in pure, unadulterated empathy.

"You...you think so?"

"Of course I do." He smiled warmly at Tae, and he was so tempted to reach out his hand and wipe the tears from the boy's face. He withheld himself, though. But Tae didn't. Overcome with a peculiar feeling of gratitude and relief, he threw his arms around Jungkook's neck and hugged him.

In one sense, Jungkook was happy. He was happy that he seemed to have helped Tae, to have cheered him up at least somewhat, but now he was the one feeling conflicted.

He couldn't admit to being Rosa. Truthfully, he was terrified of doing so, because he felt so guilty. Guilty for having lied to Taehyung all this time.

He didn't know how long he could keep this up. And he just didn't know what to do.