Chapter Five: Converse High

Taehyung's POV:

Tae's first night in the dorm was awful.

Well, it went alright until he was actually laying in his bed, trying to sleep. Looking back on the day made him both more exhausted and more wired than he'd ever been in his life. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to block out the sounds of the city; the ever honking cars on the street, a particularly unhappy couple fighting a few floors above them, the gentle breathing of five other sleeping boys surrounding him. It was completely new to him, and he swallowed down a panic that began to rise up in his throat.

His arrival to the dorm had produced a seemingly happy reception. It had almost been a test of their openness, when Taehyung had thrown himself in Jin's arms upon arrival. The words of his halmoni echoed in his head, Be yourself. Don't let anyone hold you back from being who you are. So he hadn't. He'd done the first thing that crossed his mind; hug everyone in the room. Well, almost everyone. He hadn't felt it right to bombard Jungkook in such a way.

Jungkook. Little, baby Jungkook, whose front teeth were slightly too big to be easily hidden by his almost nonexistent upper lip. It made him look like a bunny, like an overgrown toddler. But he was sixteen. Only two years younger than Taehyung, and the same age as Jeongyu. The more Tae thought about it, the more Jungkook seemed to perfectly resemble Jeongyu. They were both quiet and reserved; neither were willing to join the crowd without some major prompting.

But Jungkook didn't have the same chip on his shoulder that seemed permanently imprinted on Jeongyu's. He just seemed.. Shy. And completely out of his element. Taehyung felt drawn to him immediately. Maybe it was because he saw potential in the maknae that he had never seen in his own younger brother. Maybe he, eccentric, rambunctious, oftentimes-too-much Taehyung, would pull this kid out of his little introverted box. Something he was never able to do for Jeongyu.

Now laying in his bed, Taehyung shook his head to clear it. If he thought about his little brother any more it would lead to thinking about his sister and parents and the sorrowful goodbye that he would like to both forget immediately and cherish forever.

His new roommates had said goodbye to his family before leaving the room. It had taken Namjoon a couple of tries before getting Hobi's attention enough to follow them down the hall. Taehyung had felt grateful; he didn't want the others to see him cry like a baby being left at daycare for the first time.

Eunjun had immediately began sobbing, dramatic as ever but entirely sincere in her emotions. "I'm going to miss you so much. It won't be the same without you." She had melted into Tae's arms, her hot tears bouncing off the designer jacket he still had on for some reason. As if he planned to leave with them.

"Please text me. I know you're going to be so busy, but I just can't imagine not talking to you all the time." He assured her he would, kissing her head and hugging her tightly before she stepped backwards to cry into their father's shirt instead.

When he turned his eyes on Jeongyu, the younger boy shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Guess I'll see you around, hyung." Tae couldn't possibly accept that, so he dragged the boy in for a deep hug. He wasn't super hurt when it wasn't returned; he had shown his love for his brother in a way that he knew the boy wouldn't allow himself to return.

His mother simply kept repeating that she refused to cry, but ended up crying anyway. Which made him bust out into gut-wrenching sobs as he clung to her small frame. She made him promise to keep up on his homework, to not squander his second option of further schooling if the idol business didn't work out. He promised, becoming more unsure of his choice than ever before.

She continued to list off things that he couldn't forget to do, until Tae's father gently pushed her towards the door, where Eunjun was still sobbing. "Do your best. Just show the world how talented and compassionate you are and you'll go far. We will miss you, son."

He had hugged his father for only a moment, but it was the embrace that managed to calm his nerves the most. He hoped that one day he would be just like his father; maybe not in occupation, but in disposition. He would care for his family and solidly support those around him that needed him the most.

And then they were gone. Each of them waving as they left the apartment; Tae waved back at them until his father pulled the door shut with a soft click. He had sat down heavily on the edge of the couch, forcing himself to take calming breaths until his tear ducts began to dry up.

Then his roommates had joined him in the tiny living room, and he realized that he wasn't actually as alone as he felt. They had all probably gone through the exact same thing and now they were fine, moving on and working towards a common goal. He vowed that he would try to do the same.

The rest of the evening had been spent goofing around in the living room, becoming even more comfortable as the minutes ticked by. It had gotten pretty late before Namjoon had insisted that they all head to bed, mentioning to Taehyung that, since classes at his new high school didn't start up again until the following week, they were going to have all-day schedules of dancing and vocal lessons for the next few days. He had thought to himself that the day had been emotionally taxing enough and had worn him out enough, that he would fall right to sleep.

But now, laying in his new, too hard bed, staring up at the bottom of the bunk above him, Tae couldn't settle his mind enough to sleep. He had finally decided that he would put in his headphones and try listening to music to at least pass the time, when he felt shifting above him.

Suddenly, legs were flung over the bunk above him before Jungkook landed softly on the floor next to Taehyung's head. The boy was so light that his soft thud barely made any noise at all. Taehyung watched as Jungkook reached into a suitcase for something before slipping out the bedroom door and into the darkened hallway.

Taehyung only gave him a few seconds of a head start before he was frantically pulling a sweater on over his thin t-shirt and stumbling out of the bedroom. He found the younger boy doubled over by the front door, very clearly putting on his shoes. Taehyung was glad for the nightlight that Jin had joked about leaving in the living room so Namjoon didn't kill himself on the way to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

Tae's question made Jungkook shoot up, spinning around with excuses perched on his lips before he saw who it was that had caught him. He visibly relaxed before turning back to his shoe laces.

"Nothing, hyung. Just go back to bed."

Taehyung snorted as loudly as he dared, then snuck around the coffee table to grab his own shoes. "No way am I letting an actual infant go out into Seoul by himself this late at night." He saw that Jungkook was eyeing the door like he planned to sprint out of the apartment before Tae was fully ready to follow him. "Don't even think about it. Unless you want me to wake everyone else."

Jungkook glowered at the older boy; but eventually his face relaxed, leaving only his teeth gnawing at his lower lip as a sign that he was still conflicted. Tae figured the boy had decided not to fight when he finished tying his own shoe laces and the maknae was still standing in the doorway. Motioning the boy forward, Tae tucked his phone into his back pocket and followed him out into the creepily dark hallway.

Neither of them said anything until they were well away from their front door, although Taehyung was humming quietly to himself as he followed a few steps behind Jungkook. When they finally reached the stairwell that Taehyung had climbed for the very first time only hours before, he was surprised to find the younger boy heading up rather than down towards the lobby.

"Where are we going, Jungkookie?" He noticed the younger boy stiffen visibly at the nickname, but was determined to ignore it for some reason. He thrust himself forward to be next to, rather than behind, Jungkook. Maybe he had a girlfriend a few floors above them that he visited when the others were asleep. The possibility made Tae frown, but there was no way the kid would have let him tag along if that was his destination. He decided to let himself be led; he wasn't a particularly goal-oriented person. Even if they were just walking for the sake of walking, that would be fine with him. It's not like he had been even close to sleep.

It was clear that Jungkook was in much better shape than Taehyung. It took all of his energy to keep up as they ascended three entire flights of stairs. He was out of breath, a few steps behind, and had a stitch in his side by the time they reached the top of the stairs.

"No way, Jungkook. It's so fucking cold outside." The door they had climbed to was clearly marked Roof. Taehyung stared at the sixteen year old in disbelief when his face split into a smug, cocky smirk that completely transformed his face. Normally, Taehyung would have asserted that such a look wouldn't do much to a face as young as Jungkook's. But when it actually happened, it seemed to age him. Only slightly; enough to send Taehyung's heart fluttering a little bit too frantically.

He knew logically that the boy was only two years younger than him. But he seemed so much younger most of the time that it was hard to conceptualize. Yet the smirk had seemingly changed that; giving him a glimpse into the man he would become. When his jaw would become square and the baby fat would leave his cheeks. Tae shook his head to clear it, well aware that the lips that he was so focused on had morphed into a mocking grimace.

"You didn't have to come with me. I didn't force you to follow me like a creep." With that, Jungkook pushed the door open wide and disappeared onto the roof. The older boy tried not to cry out when the gust of cold air that had been let into the stairwell hit him square in the face, sending his teeth to chattering. Who in their right mind spends their time on the roof of a building in the middle of the night in the middle of fucking winter? Jeon Jungkook, of course.

He considered turning around and slinking back into his bed, which he was beginning to think he never should have left. But, as though it was his body's intention to betray him, his arms reached out and pushed the door open to allow his traitorous feet to carry him onto the gravel topped roof. And suddenly he understood.

Being in downtown Seoul (the absolute slummy edges, mind you, but still downtown), it was as if night hadn't even fallen. The sky was lit up all around them like stars that blinked in time with his heartbeat. It was freezing, but for a moment Tae found himself forgetting that he was standing in a thick sheet of snow and just basked in the beauty of the city that had seemed so gray and unwelcoming only hours before. But then he did remember that there was snow, and he began to hop from foot to foot as it fell into his low top, scuffed up converse.

"Get over here, you freak." Jungkook's voice came from behind him. He spun around to see the dark haired boy sitting under the side awning of the roof entrance they had just come from. The stairwell rose slightly above the rest of the building, leaving a small shack-like structure with a small overhang that Jungkook was using as shelter from the lightly falling snow. He had cleared the snow off a small bench that rested unevenly against the wall of the shack, probably having been left there by smokers who used the roof in the warmer months.

Taehyung shuffled over to join him, burying his hands deeply into the pockets of his sweatpants. Why, oh why, had he left his coat downstairs? More importantly, why had he felt compelled to follow a literal stranger out into the night? He could lie and say it was to protect the younger boy, but he knew he was just as frail and non-menacing. No, he was simply just curious as to where the conspicuously quiet boy slipped off to when no one was looking; you know, because everyone was asleep.

Once Tae had settled on the other side of the bench he felt the slicing wind die off and the night go still. He sat so far to his side of the bench that his side was being cut into by the arm of the structure; it was all to give Jungkook plenty of space. Something told him cuddling would not have been particularly welcome to Jeon Jungkook. Therefore he was surprised when the younger's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist, yanking him across the bench so violently that he almost fell face first into the other's lap.

"Here." Jungkook held up the edge of the blanket he had brought with him to the roof, nodding towards it as an insistence that Taehyung slip beneath it as well. The older boy didn't hesitate and moved underneath the cloth, sighing happily at the warmth that Jungkook's body was giving off.

"Thank you, Kookie."

Jungkook stiffed, his face dissolving into a scowl that pulled his dark, straight eyebrows down his forehead. His whole body seemed to shrink away from Taehyung's, though it was only microscopically. "Why are you calling me that?"

Refusing to be swayed by his attitude, Taehyung shrugged as though completely unconcerned. "I can't be bothered to say your full name all the time. You can call me Tae; you know, to shorten Taehyung."

The eyebrows that had been furrowed now sprung up and disappeared under dark bangs. "Shouldn't I be calling you hyung? Not your name?"

Another shrug. "You can call me whatever you like. The honorifics aren't important to me. Unless you want to call me Oppa. I'm cool with that."

The accompanying wink sent Jungkook into a frenzy of scoffs, spitting and shrugs. Tae had meant to tease the younger boy, but he felt his own cheeks warming in response to his own remark. "Joke." Jungkook quickly nodded and crossed his arms over his chest as he worked his bottom lip between his teeth. Tae tried to watch him out of the corner of his eye, but he was sure he was being too obvious. Jungkook was staring out at the lights, his head leaned back against the wall behind them.

"Why did you come up to the roof?" Tae asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the serenity of the night around them now that he was fully appreciating it. He did note that, despite being up so high in the air, there were no real stars above them; just the faux constellations created by Seoul's highrises. He thought about his home, where the stars could be seen almost all of the time; where Minjun and he had camped in the Kim family fields during the summer and giggled at the various dirty images they could find to replace said constellations. It was like looking for animals in the clouds, but the degenerate version that only teenage boys could find funny.

It took so long for the younger male to answer, Tae had almost forgotten he had asked a question. "I just like it up here, I guess." Tae nodded, worried that speaking would discourage Jungkook from saying more. "The apartment is so cramped all the time. So loud. I'm used to the quiet, and sometimes I need to just be alone."

A pang of embarrassment shot through Taehyung. He had followed Jungkook without invitation, encroached on his personal time, and was now demanding answers about his strange habits. He felt bad, but he guessed there wasn't much he could do now except leave. He sat up, but didn't immediately rise to his feet. "Oh, well. I'm sorry, Jungkook. I can go."

He really had meant it; that he would go, but he couldn't deny the relief he felt when the other boy shook his head and said, "No, you're okay. Just- please don't tell anyone else about this. They'd be worried. Especially Namjoon, you know?"

"Why would they be worried? It's just a roof. Just personal space." Taehyung desperately wanted to keep Jungkook talking. This was more than he had spoken all evening, and it was just to him. He felt special, like maybe Jungkook liked him as much as he liked him. Platonically, of course. He had thought he would adjust to his new life with ease, but now he found himself desperate to connect to someone.

He missed Minjun, who had texted him sparsely throughout the evening. He missed the feeling of being around someone who already knew him so well that there was nothing left to discover; someone he could just be himself around without worrying about the impression he was leaving. That's not to say that his new roommates were making him feel self-conscious; he just hadn't completely felt them out yet. But Jungkook.. Well, something about him both calmed Taehyung's nerves completely and also set his body ablaze with electricity.

"Namjoon thinks I'm not fitting in enough, I think. He doesn't say it, but he just- well, he tries to pull me into the group, but I just don't seem to… you know, fit in." A minute of silence passed slowly. "But I do like everyone. Namjoon and Jin really seem like replacement parents. J-Hope is really nice and such a good dancer; you'll see that tomorrow. Even Yoongi.. He's really funny. I don't know. I think it's just me. I think I just suck."

Taehyung smiled softly, trying to portray his affection towards the younger boy. His smile widened when it was returned by a shy smirk from Jungkook. "I don't think you suck. I think you're just shy. It's cute."

Without thinking, he reached out and hooked his forefinger under Jungkook's chin, lifting it lightly before letting his hand fall away. Tae tried to ignore the strange shift in Jungkook's eyes as he stared at him; he also tried to ignore the pit in his stomach that had appeared upon touching his soft skin.

The roof fell silent after that, and the two boys began to breathe in sync, falling slowly into a light slumber. Neither of them were conscious enough to notice Tae's head grow heavy and fall into the crook of Jungkook's shoulder. Neither of them noticed Jungkook's own head settle on top of Tae's.

Taehyung was dreaming about swimming through jello, a much less pleasant dream that one would think, when he was woken up by someone vigorously shaking his shoulders. His first realization was that he was freezing. Way colder than he should have been had he been curled under his blankets in his bed.

His eyes flew open. The roof. He was still on the roof. And so was Jungkook, who was the culprit of the shaking. The sun was just beginning to peek through the gaps between buildings, lighting up the city with a lazy, golden glow. Tae thought that if it wasn't so cold, he would sit on the roof and watch the sunrise until the whole thing was visible in the sky.

But it was cold. And Jungkook was snapping his fingers in front of his face, his voice dripping with urgency and panic filling his doe-like eyes. "Hyung! We've got to go before the others wake up. Please, snap out of it. We've got to go!"

This managed to capture Tae's attention, and he stood up on cold and sleep stiffened legs. He opened his mouth to apologize; for following the boy, for interrogating him, for falling asleep on his shoulder. But his throat was scratchy and painful; he would definitely be getting sick. More importantly, Jungkook wasn't going to wait for him to say anything; the younger boy grabbed Tae's hand, slung the now-snow-dampened blanket over his own shoulder and began to sprint down the several flights of stairs to their floor. Tae cried out at the sudden movement, but ultimately just latched onto Jungkook's hand so he wouldn't slip and let his legs shuffle down the stairs at a record pace.

Reaching their floor, they flung themselves through the stairwell door and hurdled over the toys that Taehyung had found so comforting the day before. When they reached the door to their apartment, Jungkook pulled out a small, silver key and opened the door as quietly as he could, squeezing his eyes shut as if that would protect him from what was on the other side.

As they snuck into the dark living room, Jungkook motioned for Tae to toe his shoes off so their footfall wouldn't make noise. He obliged, dropping Jungkook's hand as he pulled his damp hoodie over his head. They started towards the bedroom; Tae could sense that Jungkook hoped they would have time to sneak into their bunks before anyone else woke up.

But voices coming from the bedroom made the younger stop so abruptly that Tae slammed into the back of him. He reached out to grab the maknae's slim waist to steady him before leaning forward to whisper in his ear, "Let's just pretend we fell asleep out here. You grab the couch. I'll curl up on the floor." He felt the younger boy shiver as his lips brushed his ear, but he pulled away and pretended to not notice.

The door to the bedroom began to open, throwing the two of them back into action. Jungkook leaped over the coffee table and collapsed face-down into the couch cushions. Even at 16, he was taller than the couch was long, so his feet stuck over the edge; the whole thing looked so ridiculous that Tae had to bite back a giggle as he slumped into the fetal position on the floor next to the couch. Just as feet were traipsing towards them, Jungkook leaned over to toss the blanket they had used outside over Taehyung's body.

"Well, that's odd. I guess they slept out here." Jin's voice seemed to be moving from the hallway entrance towards the kitchen. "They did go to bed in the room right?" Someone must have nodded in confirmation, because there was no verbal answer. "Strange. Anyway, wake them up, please, Joonie. We've got to be out of here in half an hour."

"If I wake them up, someone else has to tackle Yoongi. I refuse to be cussed out again this early in the morning." The leader's gruff morning voice was now coming from directly over Taehyung. Tae slowed his breathing, trying to keep his fingers and toes from twitching and giving it away that he was definitely not asleep. But he had done this countless times and if his mother had never caught on, a sleep deprived, blurry eyed Namjoon sure as hell wasn't going to notice.

He felt a soft kick to his thigh and sensed the tall body leaning over him to nudge Jungkook awake as well. "Hey guys. You need to get up. We've got to go."

Tae waited for the older boy to nudge him again before he let his eyes flutter open. He knew it was convincing when Namjoon smiled brightly down at him before shuffling towards the kitchen, already returning to bickering with Jin about the responsibility of waking Yoongi. When Tae glanced up, he noticed that Jungkook's giant eyes were open and trained on him. He could see humor in them as the boy mimicked the batting of eyelashes Tae had performed moments earlier as he "woke up."

"Was that supposed to be convincing?" The younger boy teased quietly, rising from the couch and stepping around Tae to head towards the bedroom. He hissed loudly when Tae reached out and pinched his calf in retaliation, but continued walking, a small smile flashing across his lips as he went.

I could get used to this. The apartment was filling with the noises of begrudgingly awakened teenagers. He could hear Namjoon and Jin shuffling around the kitchen, teasing each other softly about things Tae couldn't hear. He could hear J-Hope singing loudly in the bathroom, having slipped in for a quick shower before anyone else could lay claim. He could even hear Yoongi griping loudly at Jungkook, who had apparently made the mistake of flicking the lights on in the bedroom without a proper countdown and warning.

It feels like home already.

Taehyung had never had many friends; just one or two at a time, that weaved in and out of his life as the years passed by. The only consistency had been Minjun, who remained by his side for the long haul. But it had mostly only been the two of them. So it felt different, good even, to be a part of a group.

The six boys were stumbling through the snow together, some hissing at the cold more than others. Tae caught Jungkook's eye when they began to complain about returning to their warm beds rather than freezing to death outside; the younger looked away when Tae winked at him. Something about the night before made Tae feel like he had a connection with the maknae; like the secret he was keeping for the boy was now their secret that they would hold together. When they finally reached the Big Hit studio from Tae's second audition, Suga was crankier than ever and Jin was holding tightly to Namjoon's arm like the proximity would actually succeed in warming him up. Tae followed them dutifully as they all burst into the lobby and headed quickly towards the practice room.

They each bowed deeply to the woman that sat behind the counter in the lobby; Tae quickly realized it was the same woman that had been rude to he and his father during the audition. He couldn't bring himself to not bow at all, so he made it shallow before running to catch up with the swiftly moving group. Feeling entirely out of his element, the eighteen year old vowed to just watch and follow the leads of everyone else. They seemed to know what they were doing.

So he settled on the floor to stretch when everyone else did, biting back questions of what they would be doing and how it all would be done. Normally he was more easy going than this, but he found himself to be so nervous that his mouth strained with the need to babble at someone, anyone. And luckily for him, anyone had just walked into the room.

"Doyun-ssi!" Tae said the older boy's name a little louder and more enthusiastically than he probably should have. He winced as he noticed all five of his fellow members swing to look at him before glancing towards the assistant producer that had just entered the practice room. They seemed surprised that Tae knew the guy's name, much less knew him well enough to greet him in such a way. It made Tae self conscious; that is until Doyun's face split into an equally excited grin as he crossed the room quickly to grasp his hand and pull him from the floor to be enveloped by a hug.

"Taehyung! They had told me you'd be coming soon, but I had no idea it was today. How was the trip up? When did you get here?" The easy friendliness that had settled between the two made Tae's nerves settle. He could sense that everyone in the room was watching them, but he assumed it was more out of curiosity than anything.

He pulled back from the hug after letting it linger for a few seconds. "My family dropped me off yesterday. The trip was good, I think; I slept through most of it so I can't really say."

Doyun laughed, reaching out to touch what Tae assumed were dark circles surrounding his eyes. "You sure you slept, dongsaeng? You look really tired." Tae flushed, leaning into the touch for a moment before his eyes began guiltily searching the room for Jungkook, but he realized the boy was on the complete other side of the room, facing away, with his headphones in. "Anyway," Doyun pulled his hand back hesitantly, hopefully not noticing Tae's glances. "I'm glad you're here. You'll have to let me show you around the city once you're all settled in. I grew up here, so I know all the good places to go."

Coming from anyone else, the line would have come off as cheesy at best and atrociously cocky at worst. But from Doyun, with his kind smile and his honey streaked hair falling into his eyes, Tae felt like the offer was genuine. He briefly wondered if he should make it clear to Doyun that he wasn't gay, but then questioned why he even felt it a necessary thing to bring up. Was he even flirting with him? Surely not, but Tae admitted that he didn't have much experience in the department in general, much less when it dipped into the realm of actual homosexuality. He was Korean, born and raised; he knew what it meant to be gay in his country.

So like he had any other time the panic, call it gay panic if you'd like, rose up in his throat, Tae swallowed it down and smiled boxily at the older boy. "Of course. I'd love to see around the city. Thanks, hyung."

Doyun looked like he wanted to say more, his eyes dropping from Taehyung's eyes to his mouth a few times, but suddenly Yoongi was there, clearing his throat quietly. It shocked Tae slightly; Yoongi hadn't been mean or even really standoffish since he had arrived, but he hadn't been very forthcoming towards the new member either. "We need to start, Doyun. If you don't mind."

This didn't seem to bother the other boy, who shrugged and grinned down at Yoongi. Tae suddenly realized the guy was probably over six feet tall. Which to every girl on the planet, and apparently Kim Taehyung as well, was a major positive. But it also made it laughable when Doyun bowed to Yoongi, who was so considerably shorter. Taehyung wondered who was older out of his two hyung's; he found himself hoping that Doyun was as close to his own age as he had initially thought.

Yoongi didn't move from Taehyung's side until Doyun had clasped him on the shoulder and told him to break a leg; he didn't move, but he also didn't say anything, until the producer had disappeared from the room altogether. Tae noticed that music was playing over the speakers, probably to encourage the stretching that the other four boys were doing, loud enough to keep Yoongi's next words from everyone else in the room.

"Look, kid. It's not my place. But if you're going to keep our maknae out at all hours of the night, at least have the decency to not flirt with a producer right in front of his face. That boy is as fragile as glass; don't shatter him." It didn't really come out as a threat, more as a plea for mercy. Taehyung didn't even really feel like Yoongi was being cruel, just honest and protective over the sweet sixteen year old that was across the room from them, staring at the ground with a terrifying blankness in his eyes.

Tae felt himself getting hot with embarrassment. He didn't know which part to dispute first. There was clearly no point in denying that they had not been in the apartment the night before; Yoongi obviously knew, but so far it seemed that he hadn't told the others. Tae just hoped that he hadn't ruined Jungkook's one attempt at privacy and personal space in the tiny apartment they were being sardined into. But he could for sure deny the accusation that lay beneath Yoongi's statement. There was nothing going on between him and Jungkook; and for that matter, there was nothing going on with Doyun either. Had he been flirting? With either of them? He didn't think so, but he vowed to watch himself in case he was. He wanted to say that Jungkook didn't seem that fragile, or question why his fragility would have anything to do with Tae and Doyun's conversation.

But Tae didn't do any of those things. He respected Yoongi immensely, for reasons he couldn't even really put into words. However, he now knew that the tiny, dark haired man was all-knowing and all-seeing. The thought was slightly terrifying, but he let the terror roll off his back.

In the end all he managed to squeak out was, "Yes, hyung. I'll be more considerate." But this seemed to satisfy the older boy who slumped off to stand next to Namjoon on the outer edge of the horizontal line that a choreographer was creating out of the boys so they could watch themselves in the mirror. Tae realized with a start that the spot that had been left open for him was between Jungkook and Jin. Should he request to move around or just bite the bullet and stand next to the sulking boy who was very clearly watching him in the mirror?

He stepped forward to his designated spot, not really listening to the choreographer that was answering some questions J-Hope had asked moments prior. Jungkook was avoiding his gaze, both directly and in the mirror now. Which Tae was just simply unwilling to allow. So he reached out and pressed the tip of his finger under Jungkook's chin before raking it upwards with enough force to lift the maknae's face up before he let go with a smirk. The same feeling the action had elicited on the roof the night before rocketed through Tae's body now, but he stamped it down as hard as he could. "Turn that frown upside down, Kookie." Tae let his voice drop to an obscenely low octave as he leaned in to whisper into the boy's ear.

"Shut up, Tae." Jungkook hissed back harshly before shoving him away. But his eyes danced with happiness, so Tae knew he wasn't actually mad. And the slip up of calling him Tae, well that just made the older boy's heart melt all over the dance floor.

As it turns out, Taehyung's initial fears of being much less talented than the other members of the band were completely justified. The next three hours of dance practice dragged on slowly while also feeling like a whirlwind that he just couldn't keep up with. J-Hope tried his best to explain the steps in excruciating detail to Taehyung, but the younger boy just couldn't wrap his head around the steps. He would watch the others do the steps, and in his brain he could completely conceptualize how they should be done; but once he actually set his own body in motion, it looked nothing like what had been demonstrated to him.

He ended up on the floor more than once, each time resulting at least one of the other members rushing to his side to help him up. Namjoon, Jin, and Yoongi all assured him that they had had just as much trouble in the beginning, and claimed they weren't much better off even now, but he saw the looks they exchanged, like they were losing faith in him by the minute.

Jungkook, he noticed, had drifted to the other side of the room and never came close enough to pull him to his feet. But he could feel the maknae watching him through the mirrors and it only made him more embarrassed each time his ass hit the floor. He also had a strained look on his face, like he was silently begging Taehyung to magically get better.

By the time the choreographer had called the rehearsal to an end, Taehyung was sweating, gasping for air, and entirely too pissed off. He wasn't even sure at who. Himself, for sucking so badly and embarrassing himself so completely. His parents, unfairly, for letting him come to this godforsaken city to join a group he clearly had no business being a part of. Mr. Bang, for convincing him he had what it takes and even letting him into the band, when it was clear he had no talent other than the "visuals" they had kept referring to that day so many months ago in Daegu.

His frustration must have shown on his face because no one approached him when the music cut off. Namjoon and Jin shuffled over to talk to another unnamed producer that had shown up at some point when Tae hadn't been paying attention. Yoongi and J-Hope were laying on the floor trying to catch their own breaths, laughing about something J-Hope had said under his breath.

Jungkook, however, was still on his feet, his headphones jammed back into his ears as soon as the room's speakers had been clicked off. And he was still dancing. Practicing the moves they had already spent hours working on. Which only pissed off Taehyung even more. He knew it wasn't fair of him to be jealous of someone who clearly worked very hard and had also been in Seoul for months. But he was. He was jealous that it seemed so easy for the younger boy; hell, he was jealous of Namjoon, who could just barely manage the motions of the dance in the first place. Tae would have taken that in a heartbeat over what he had just experienced.

The eighteen year old had just settled in the corner of the room, his head leaning back so he could shut his eyes and rest his sleep-deprived body for a moment when he felt a body collapse beside him. He cracked an eye to see J-Hope's smiling face inches from his own.

"Well hello there, buddy." J-Hope smiled widely to fully show his endearingly large teeth. It was hard to be mad when staring into a ray of sun, but somehow Tae managed and glowered at him before shutting his eyes once again. "You really didn't do as bad as you think you did, you know. It's your first day. Sure, you probably could have practiced a bit before moving up here-"

Tae opened his mouth to begin arguing with him, wanting to say that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind, but realized that wasn't exactly a better excuse. Before he could defend himself, J-Hope smiled warmly again. "Hey, I totally understand. I'm a dancer first and foremost; when I was recruited, I didn't even once think about practicing singing or rapping before showing up for training. Why would I? It wasn't what I was focused on. I guess, you just need to decide what you're focused on and make that what you do in your free time. Everything else you'll get at least the basics during actual rehearsals.

"The thing that I'm sure Hitman Bang didn't tell you is that there isn't really free time all that much anymore. If we want to make it big, or even become mildly successful, the band has to be the first thing we think about when we wake up until we go to bed you know?"

Taehyung felt like the conversation should have made him feel even more ashamed of himself. But, coming from J-Hope, the words didn't feel like a lecture, more a friendly download of the way things actually were behind the scenes, something Tae obviously wouldn't have had time to figure out in only 24 hours. The younger boy nodded.

"I guess what I'm saying is, we're all different people trying to achieve the same goals together. You need to personalize all of this so that it works for you. If dancing isn't your main thing, that's totally fine and I'm sure the choreographers will find a way to help you out and stick you in the back or something-"

Tae shook his head vehemently, "I don't want to be dead weight. I know I'm not an experienced dancer; honestly, I'm not really experienced at anything besides the saxophone." J-Hope cocked his eyebrow as if to signal that he would like to hear more about that in the future. "But I really do want to learn. I guess today was just a little overwhelming for me. You and the choreographer are just so much more advanced than me.. It's impressive, but also slightly hard for me to follow along when I'm such a beginner."

The older boy nodded solemnly for a moment, before he split into a cheshire grin. "Then maybe more one on one attention would help. I really wouldn't mind. I sometimes go over things with Jungkook in the evenings; I doubt he'd mind much if you joined us." J-Hope caught the maknae's eye from across the room and began to wave him over.

"Oh no, hyung. I really don't want to bother him more than I already have…" Taehyung said nervously, biting his lip when the younger boy pulled his earbuds out and began to head towards them.

"When have you bothered him? You only got here last night." J-Hope was rightfully confused, having no idea about the roof or any of their interactions from the night before. When Taehyung just shrugged at him, the older boy moved on quickly. "Besides, we're a team. And I doubt he'd begrudge you getting some extra help. He struggled a bit in the beginning too. Jungkook, my man! We were just talking about you!"

The newly arrived maknae looked suspicious and began to gnaw on his lower lip immediately. Tae felt the sudden urge to pull the boy's lip from between his teeth, but gulped down the feeling. "Why?"

J-Hope chuckled fondly, "Taehyung and I were just talking about how he might benefit from some extra practice in the evenings. I know we normally like to practice with just the two of us, but I figured one more person wouldn't hurt. Besides, you might be of some help too, our golden boy."

Taehyung shifted his gaze around the room, refusing to let it land on Jungkook. There was something awkwardly charged in the air between them, something that hadn't been there the night before. He saw the boy shrug out of the corner of his eye. "I don't really care who's here. He can hang around if he wants, but I'm not much of a teacher. That's more your forte."

The eighteen year old tried to hold off the inevitable sting from the comments, but was slightly unsuccessful. He found his already pissy mood souring by the second. One thing about Taehyung that he tried desperately to hide was his innate ability to be offended easily and often. Everyone around him thought his far away gaze meant he was millions of miles away in his own head, ignoring everything that was happening around him. But in reality, he was always watching, always listening. He had a deep understanding of what people were actually saying underneath their words. He was too aware, if you asked him; he would have loved to be oblivious like he looked, but it just didn't happen that way.

It was clear that Jungkook regarded him with the same amount of interest he regarding everyone else: none. Sure, he could hang around, but don't actually expect the maknae to care much about it. It stung for reasons he wasn't ready to admit to himself. So Taehyung forced a grimace onto his face as he rose to his feet, eyes settling on J-Hope, "That's okay. I'll just figure out my own time to practice. Thanks anyway."

Before his hyung could protest, Taehyung was across the room and out into the lobby. He had already been told that he had an hour before he was expected to be upstairs in the vocal classroom for his one-on-one lessons; Jin was currently there for his own practice. An hour would have been enough time to head back to the apartment and shower, but not enough time to dry his hair again for the walk back through the snow.

The white powder had stopped falling and was now just covering the sidewalks in large gray heaps from where it was pushed out of the road. Despite being early afternoon, there wasn't a whole lot of sunlight filtering down through the clouds.

He stepped out of the studio and onto the sidewalk, but didn't move more than a few feet away from the door. The cold was biting, seemingly much worse than it had been the night before but maybe that was just the difference having company could make. There weren't many people on the street this far out on the edges of downtown, which made him apprehensive of those few that were mulling around. So shaking his head, he turned and walked back into the lobby of the studio. An hour to kill wasn't so bad. He settled down in a hard chair in the corner and rested his head against the wall. Exhaustion rolled over him in waves and he let his eyes slide shut. Hopefully someone would wake him up for his vocal lesson, but he also secretly wished that they would just let him sleep.

Taehyung's vocal lesson didn't go much better than the dancing. Which was even more disappointing since he had at least some experience with that particular skill. After Jin had woken him up from his catnap in the lobby, he had shuffled upstairs to the small room that had been described to him.

There were two vocal coaches in the room when he got there. The petite woman explained that she was just leaving after having coached Jin; that Tae would be with the middle-aged man with the smiling eyes since he had such a low voice. They apparently were all assigned to one of the two teachers based on their range and Tae clearly had the lowest of the six of them.

When he was finally alone with the man, who introduced himself as Mr. Lee, Tae allowed himself to settle on the small stool in the center of the room. They began with warmups, descending through the scales in order to fully explore Taehyung's range. But his voice was sore and scratchy, likely from the cold wind of the night before. And his tone was pitchy with anxiety over trying to prove to himself that he could actually contribute something to the group.

Once Mr. Lee had determined that it wasn't a particularly good day to test and track Tae's range, he moved on to other exercises that would clearly hurt his ears less. Namely breathing techniques. Luckily, with his years of saxophone practice, Taehyung didn't have to completely start from scratch with this particular skill.

"That's actually quite impressive, Taehyung. I think the only boys with as good of breath control as you were Namjoon and Yoongi. At least in the beginning. I think we can really work on that." Mr. Lee was kind and encouraging, despite the newest boy's unimpressive performance. Tae nodded solemnly, biting at his lip and scuffing his shoes along the floor underneath the stool he was perched on. "It's your first day. Give yourself more of a break. You wouldn't be here if you didn't deserve to be."

But did he actually deserve it? He questioned the validity of Mr. Lee's statement as he descended the stairs and slunk back into the dance studio. He kept to himself for the rest of the afternoon. Even when the six of them were gathered together to practice more choreography, he refused to pull his eyes away from his own reflection in the mirror.

He didn't do any better than earlier in the day, but he was determined to keep trying. The eighteen year old didn't even acknowledge the presence of the other members until practice was called to a close and a producer told the six of them that they could head home. It was dark when they left the studio, largely due to the winter months shortening the daylight hours so drastically.

Everyone was tired, but Hobi and Namjoon were still animated enough to discuss the rap techniques that the older boy was learning rapidly in order to join the rap line. Yoongi was pretty much dead on his feet and shuffled along with his headphones in. Only Jungkook paid much attention to Taehyung and his sour attitude, falling back conspicuously to walk with the new member.

Jungkook didn't say anything, which Taehyung appreciated. He didn't feel like talking when he was so filled with disappointment at his own mediocrity. He didn't know what he would say to the maknae; especially to the maknae. The baby of the group was almost as good of a dancer as Hobi already and, when Taehyung had gone to the bathroom upstairs during Jungkook's solo vocal lesson, he realized that the maknae was just as talented vocally. It was embarrassing to be the weakest link.

He was normally not a perfectionist in the slightest. In fact, without his parent's prompting, he would have never even gotten as good at the saxophone as he eventually was. But this was different. It was his future. He had turned his back on the safe one he had been building and risked everything to be here. Even if he hadn't been particularly motivated to become an idol before, he was now determined to make something out of himself no matter how hard he had to try.

Tae felt something bump into his shoulder and he looked up to see the maknae's dark eyes on him. He had shouldered him softly as they walked, maybe trying to get his attention, maybe just to pull the older boy out of his own thoughts. "It'll all be okay, hyung. Things will get better."

He found himself wanting to hold a grudge against Jungkook and the way he could go from warm to cold at any moment. It was hard to judge if they were becoming friends or if Jungkook actually even cared to have friends. He pulled into himself so often that Tae felt like he was grasping at smoke when he tried to connect with the younger boy. And why did he even care in the first place? Tae was no stranger to being shrugged off as an oddity that no one wanted to be friends with. But something about thinking that the sixteen year old didn't like him made his stomach drop.

So for now, because Jungkook was actually acknowledging him and seeming to care about him slightly, he decided to foolishly leap at the attention. He nodded, trying not to be disappointed that the honorifics had returned and shouldered the younger boy back. "Yeah, of course it will, Kookie."

The next few days flew by in a blur of sweaty boys, increasingly complicated choreography, and strenuous vocal lessons. Taehyung wasn't entirely sure if he was making any improvements. Everyone told him he was; he hadn't fallen on his ass at all during the last practice which was good, but his voice hadn't fully recovered from it's soreness.

It was now Friday, and they had been told that they would get the weekend off in order to get ready for the school year to start back up for the younger two members. He was excited to have some down time; in the evenings, after full days of practice, none of the boys (besides Hobi on some occasions) really had the energy to spend much time together. Taehyung especially didn't have any extra energy.

He was trying his best to keep up with the strenuous schedule, but it was proving difficult for him. He knew that once his last semester of high school started up, things would be different. Their group choreography lessons would be largely moved to evenings and weekends. Despite working with unlabeled music and choreography, Taehyung had been assured, largely by Namjoon, that all the training was important. Eventually, they would be given their own music and dances to perform when they actually debuted, but for now they were expected to perfect the basic movements, scales, and general harmonies that were required to become a successful group.

A large part of Taehyung's dread for the beginning of the next week was the largest shift in his already settled-into schedule. He had been warned that the best time for his and Jungkook's vocal lessons to take place were early in the mornings before school began for them. They would be allowed to miss what would be the first period of classes for everyone else in order to accommodate their idol training. But they would still be expected to be up and at the studio at the asscrack of dawn each morning.

Speaking of Jungkook, who even now was practicing a paired down version of another group's choreography by himself in the corner; Taehyung had noticed a distinct drop to zero in the amount of times the younger boy had left the apartment the way he had that first night. Maybe it was because he was too tired to be interested in spending time on the freezing cold roof. That would be reasonable for any sane person. But there was a small nagging in the back of the eighteen year old's head that maybe the maknae was avoiding the roof because he didn't want to be followed out again. Tae vowed to not follow again, just in case it really was his fault for butting into the other boy's space.

"- all I'm saying is we really don't owe them anything. You especially don't owe them jack shit." Yoongi's harsh tone interrupted Tae's disturbing fixation on Jungkook's dancing, so he turned to see what was going on.

Yoongi and Namjoon stood huddled close together, their voices dropped so no one around would hear them. However, Taehyung, who was perpetually nosy with the added advantage of being seemingly oblivious to his surroundings, tuned in to the conversation immediately. He couldn't help but notice that Suga clearly wasn't the one worried about being overheard; Namjoon was consistently glancing around the room like he was performing an illicit drug deal instead of just having a conversation.

"I know, hyung. I'm just so sick of the fucking criticism I can't take it anymore. I don't know what we're supposed to do if not-"

Yoongi cut Namjoon off with a short, humourless laugh. "What we're supposed to do is tell them to fuck all the way off. Not all of us can afford to be starving artists for the rest of our lives. If we have to sell out a little bit to make it somewhere in this fucking industry, then so be it. I'm done with the purity of the underground at the expense of our actual success and you should be too."

Taehyung was unsure what was actually going on, but as he tried to puzzle it out, he realized that Namjoon had noticed his attention and was blanching at being caught in whatever conversation this was. So Taehyung nodded his head once as if to apologize for the intrusion before pushing off from the wall he had been leaning on and walked away from the two conspiring boys.

He knew from the short conversations they had had over the last week that Namjoon and Yoongi had originally been part of the underground rap scene before signing their souls over (Yoongi's words, not Tae's) to the devil that was the K-Pop industry. Not that they weren't grateful, Yoongi had assured him, for the opportunity to put out any music at all; he had just seemed wistful about the path that might have been traveled had they stuck with strictly rapping.

Tae still didn't feel like he particularly knew his roommates and fellow members enough to make assumptions about their feelings or conversations, so he decided to let what he had heard slip from his mind. For now, he wondered upon where he could sit or lean to seem the least amount of awkward possible. He wasn't coming up with a lot of options when the male choreography teacher pulled them all together to get started with the practice.

As the beat-heavy music began, Tae tried to slink into the positions that were being called out as effortlessly as Jungkook and Hobi were able to. But once again, the motions that he saw perfectly in his mind weren't being projected by his actual body. Timing was especially hard for him; he felt like there was a major delay in remembering what the move was, how to do it, and it actually happening via his body.

He also felt particularly crummy on this particular day. His nose was running, causing him to swipe the oversized sleeve of his sweater across his upper lip to keep the snot at bay. He felt a throbbing in his throat, something that had stayed consistent his entire week in Seoul, and his ears felt full and sloshy. All of which likely contributed to his biggest blunder yet.

On a particular move where Tae was supposed to weave in and out of Jin and Yoongi as they each faded in and out of the foreground, his foot hit a slick patch on the wood flooring. Whether it was sweat or water from someone's water bottle, he didn't know. What he did know was as fast as he had stepped forward, his legs were flung out from under him and he was staring at the ceiling tiles as he cascaded towards the ground.

When he hit, he hit hard. He didn't black out or anything dramatic, but the wind was knocked out of him immediately, probably from shock. It took the dance instructor, Hobi, and Jungkook longer to notice because of their position at the front of the room, but Jin, Yoongi, and Namjoon realized what had happened immediately.

"Taehyung! Oh fuck. Are you okay?" Namjoon was leaning over Tae where he now lay flat on the ground. He was quickly surrounded by the rest of the members and the instructor. Tae was immediately horrified that he had taken such a major dive over such a mundane move and that everyone had been there to see it.

To make matters even worse, suddenly Mr. Bang appeared over head. The man was rarely in the actual practice room, instead choosing to spend his time upstairs in his office making important, high brow decisions. So for him to have picked today of all days to watch their rehearsal was just a cherry on the sundae that was Taehyung's mortification.

But he refused to be looked at with the intent concern that had spread across everyone's faces, so he laughed in a voice that was likely way too loud and obviously not humorous before climbing to his feet. At least three hands settled on various parts of his upper body as if to try and balance the clearly unstable boy, but he didn't let them linger.

"Well, shit. My bad. I'm sorry, everybody. I'll be fine. Let's just keep going."

But Mr. Bang was already shaking his head, "No, Taehyung, you need to sit down. Maybe… Maybe we'll just let you skip out on the rest of today's dancing, okay?"

"What? No! I clearly need the practice. It was just a little spill. I promise it won't happen again!" He began to feel panic creep up in his voice. It must have made the others uncomfortable, because they began to drift off from his now private conversation with their boss. "Please, Mr. Bang. I can do this."

The older man smiled with actual kindness at the eighteen year old. "It's okay, Taehyung. Really. This doesn't reflect badly on you. These things just happen. But I really need you to sit out for a while in case the fall was worse than it looked. Do you want us to take you to get checked for a concussion?"

Shaking his head adamantly, Taehyung insisted that he definitely didn't want that. Mr. Bang agreed, but still insisted that he sit down somewhere until his vocal lesson, which Tae negotiated he still be allowed to attend. At least he would get to practice, even if his voice wasn't in much better condition that his head now was.

He didn't want to sit and watch the rehearsal. Although it was probably the intelligent thing to do so he wouldn't miss anything, he didn't think he could stand the embarrassment of sitting and watching the others go on without him. So he thought to himself that he would just sit in the lobby until it was his turn to go upstairs. But as he crossed and settled into his favorite corner chair, he noticed the woman behind the desk was staring at him from across the room and he thought he could hear his name in the conversation emanating from the dance room.

He wanted desperately to leave. If he walked around downtown Seoul for the next hour, would he get lost? Or mugged? He had no money, but he was wearing his nice coat and he had a phone that someone else might be interested in taking from him. So he stood in the doorway, feeling trapped, weighing how much he actually needed a cellphone if someone did mug him.

"Taehyung?" Doyun's voice came from behind him, but he didn't turn to greet him. "Hey, are you okay?" He was beside him now, leaning forward to look him in the eyes; which was extremely embarrassing seeing as they were welling up with frustrated tears. "Hey, shhh. It'll be okay. Do you want to go for a walk? Blow off some steam?"

The eighteen year old simply nodded and waited as Doyun disappeared from his side for a minute before returning. "I told Rap Monster where we were going, so he doesn't think I'm stealing their new heartthrob." The cheesy compliment made Taehyung smile and he let the older boy lead him through the doors and out into the cold. It struck him that this was now the second time he had blindly followed a cute boy out into the freezing weather in the last week. And maybe that meant something he wasn't ready to come to terms with.

Jungkook's POV:

Jungkook wasn't exactly sure why, but he was extremely shaken by Taehyung's fall. So much so that he had almost had a few close calls himself simply due to lack of attention. As desperately as he wanted to leave the practice to check on the older boy, he couldn't bring himself to just leave, especially with Hitman Bang in the room. So he continued to dance, albeit half-assedly, until the instructor told them they were dismissed for their scheduled vocal lessons and lunch break.

Almost the second he was allowed to, the sixteen year old has plunged into the lobby to look for Taehyung. He didn't have a plan as to what he would say to the guy, but it felt like a friendly thing to do to at least check up on him. But to his surprise, the older boy was nowhere to be found. Jungkook stopped mid-stride and glanced confusedly around the room, even checking under some of the chairs in case the weirdo has curled up on the floor as he was known to do.

"He left with Doyun." The secretary at the desk called from across the room. The teen glanced up at her dumbfounded, as though she wasn't speaking Korean. "Mr. Kim? Isn't that who you're looking for? Doyun said they were going on a walk and would be back later."

Oh. He didn't know if he said it out loud or not, but it was his only response. Taehyung and Doyun had left. And probably a while ago, if he was honest with himself, since the dance practice had gone on for at least 45 minutes after Taehyung's fall. Why was he so upset about it? No idea, but he didn't really feel like dwelling on it right now.

So Jungkook had retreated back into the practice room and spent his entire two hour break repeating the new choreography over and over again. He didn't eat lunch, despite Jin's nagging, and he didn't look away from the mirrors until Namjoon called out to him about it being his turn for vocals. He had kept his head down as he climbed the stairs to the small insulated room that served as the vocal area.

He wasn't sure if Taehyung had returned; he hadn't seen him or Doyun since they had disappeared, but he knew the older boy's vocal lesson had been before his own. He wondered how it had gone for the guy. Taehyung had clearly been struggling all morning with the dances and Jungkook had watched his face fall almost as badly as his body had. He would get better. They had all gotten better just with time and practice, but he understood the frustration of not being great from the beginning.

Jungkook was used to being good at things. He had excelled at school all his life. He may not have been as smart as Namjoon, but things had been easy for him to pick up and relay back to his teachers. All the sports he had played when he was younger had been easy for him and he had had no trouble making it onto all the school teams he tried out for in Busan. But singing and dancing had been slightly harder.

The maknae had always had an obsession with music. People had found it weird that he constantly had earbuds shoved into his head, but the other members of the band he was now a part of were just as obsessed as him. It made him feel more normal. Eventually, his interest in music shifted to an urge to sing. Mostly when he was alone, because he wasn't exactly sure if he was any good.

But his mom had heard him on enough occasions to push him into some more formal training. And, as everyone knows, to be an idol in Korea, dancing also comes as part of the package. So he had been put into classes for that too. At the age of 12 it was more difficult for him than the older kids he trained with. His legs had been too long and his arms were unnaturally gangly; even his voice had suffered the unforgiving signs of puberty that were impossible to avoid. It wasn't until the more recent years that he actually felt confident in his talents.

Part of that had been his hyungs. The golden maknae was not a nickname to be taken lightly. He knew he wasn't as good at the individual crafts as the others in the band: Namjoon with his lyrics, J-Hope with his dancing, and Yoongi with his general music production skills and rapping. But he was more than passable at all of the things combined and that made him feel as though he was a valuable asset to the team. Something that was sorely needed when it came to his own confidence.

When he reached the room, he wasn't all that surprised to find it empty except for the vocal coach. Taehyung must have snuck out before he had headed up the stairs.

"Are you ready, Jungkook?" He nodded at middle aged man. "Alright, let's start with the warm ups."

When Jungkook returned to the first floor of the studio, everyone was sitting around chatting. Even Taehyung was there, which made Jungkook sigh out of ridiculous relief. The older boy caught his eye and sent him a hesitant smile; Jungkook was so caught up in the fact that he wasn't with Doyun anymore that he forgot he was salty about the whole thing in the first place and flashed him a shy smirk.

He watched Tae visibly relax before patting the floor next to him as a place for Jungkook to settle. He obliged, sitting close enough that he could feel the older boy's body heat. "Coach says it's your turn Yoongi. Told me to let you know to head on up."

Yoongi sighed heavily before launching himself to his feet, "Fine, I guess I'll see you lucky ones back at the house. Namjoon says whoever's done for the day can go ahead and go home before the next wave a snow hits."

Jin looked worriedly towards the front windows, "Are you guys sure? I don't want any of us to split up and get lost or stuck here."

Namjoon nodded and winked at the older boy. "We'll be fine. You take the young ones home and we'll see you in a few hours." Taehyung and Jungkook started to argue in unison, but were quickly shut down by a look from the leader. "It's the only time you're going to get first dibs on the shower, I suggest you guys take it."

Which was how they ended up trudging through the streets of Seoul in the late afternoon light, trying desperately to keep up with Jin, who was practically running ahead of them to reach the warmth of the apartment.

"You can go ahead and literally run home if you want to, hyung. I've got a pretty good handle on where we are and I'm sure between Kookie, me and our phones, we can make it." Taehyung called up to the older boy. He seemed to be in a mucher better mood than he had been right after his fall; clearly whatever Doyun and he had been doing together had cheered him up. The thought brought a frown to Jungkook's face.

Jin shook his head vehemently, but his feet did seem to shuffle the slightest bit faster than they were before. "N-n-no, it's okay. I promised I'd g-g-get you boys home in one piece."

"Really, hyung. We're only a few blocks away, go ahead of us. I wanted to stop at the corner bodega anyway, I need more toothpaste." Jungkook said. He really could use a few new toiletries.

Jin had slowed to a semi-halt, bouncing from foot to foot to keep warm. He bit his lip in trepidation at the two teenagers, but he must have seen something in their eyes that made him more confident, because he sighed and said, "Fine, but if you aren't at the house in the next fifteen minutes, I'm calling the police."

They both rolled their eyes but agreed. Jungkook secretly liked the overbearing maternal role that Jin had adopted over him; it made him feel loved and accepted. But he couldn't let him know that. When Jin had disappeared around the corner, now fully sprinting, Jungkook finally let himself glance over at Taehyung for the first time since they'd left the studio.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Hmm?" Tae was gazing off into the distance, but forced himself to pull his eyes to meet Jungkook's. "'Oh, better. I guess. Just need to not fall, obviously" Jungkook nodded, not really knowing what to say to that. "I mean, I think the vocal lesson went better than the dancing. Which is just great since no one was there to see that but everyone was there to see me fall on my ass."

Jungkook scowled and kicked snow out from under his moving feet as they walked. "Doyun wasn't there to actually see you fall. If that helps any. But I guess he probably already told you that"

"Why would I care if Doyun was there?" Clearly Taehyung was determined to ignore the second, slightly snide comment.

Still, Tae's question didn't come off as nonchalant as Jungkook was sure he had meant for it to. So he shrugged and looked up at the grim sky above them. "I just figured that's what had you embarrassed. If you like him-"

"I don't like him." Taehyung cut him off forcefully, his feet halting as he reached out to grab Jungkook and yank him backwards. "I'm not gay, okay? I don't know why you'd even bring something like that up, but I'm not, got it?"

Oh shit. Jungkook nodded quickly, but couldn't help himself. One could say that Jungkook had an attitude problem; his one and only reaction to embarrassment was to become intolerably pissed. He yanked his arm out of his hyung's grasp and glared at him. He realized suddenly that they were the same height despite their age difference and if he really puffed himself up, he almost felt like he was bigger.

"Fine, you're not gay. I don't care, I was just telling you, you don't have to be a dick about it." And with that he took off, not really caring if Taehyung was following him. Not even caring if the older boy would be lost without him.

He didn't look behind him until he reached the apartment building. He wasn't all that surprised to find the entire street empty; Taehyung hadn't followed him and now he'd have to find his own way home. Jungkook took off up the stairs, but didn't stop at the fourth floor; instead he continued upwards until he reached the roof.

He settled on the bench and stared out at the slowly darkening city. He didn't want to think about Taehyung or Doyun. He didn't know why he had suddenly gotten so angry. He felt bad that he had left the boy alone on the street on a Friday evening his first week in the city, but it would be too hard to find him now. He just had to hope that GPS would guide Taehyung home before it got to be too dark. Maybe when he did reach the apartment and realized Jungkook wasn't home, he'd also come up to the roof. It was silly of him to wish that the older boy would go looking for him when he had thrown such a ridiculous fit, but he still silently hoped.

Taehyung never appeared on the roof. Jungkook sat there, on the bench they had shared the night before until it became completely dark. He never received any texts from the others, particularly Jin, and he hadn't heard any police sirens so he could only assume his hyungs hadn't called the police as was threatened. Finally, when his face felt frozen while simultaneously burning with sheepishness over his tantrum, Jungkook shuffled down the stairs and through the hallway until he reached the apartment.

He steeled himself for a barrage of questions and lectures over where he'd been over the last few hours, but when he entered the living room, only Namjoon and Yoongi were there and they simply smiled at him as he pulled off his coat.

"Hey, hyungs. Where is everyone?" He was still slightly worried that he was walking into an ambush, but Yoongi just shrugged and returned to watching TV.

Namjoon glanced down at his phone, only half paying attention to the worried maknae. "Oh Jin is in the bath, he left you some leftovers from dinner on the counter. J-Hope is still at the studio going over choreography; one of the producers said they'd give him a ride home. And Taehyung said he was tired and wanted to go to bed early. Did you have fun visiting your friends?"

"What?" Jungkook asked dumbly, glancing between Namjoon and Yoongi, who was suddenly more interested in the conversation than he had been moments before.

"Your friends? Taehyung said you had wanted to take advantage of getting off early and went to see some friends from school. He said he walked you to their apartment; that it's not far from here?" Namjoon looked concerned now.

Taehyung had lied for him? But why? He could have told them the truth. That he had completely abandoned him. Taehyung could have completely outed him and his secret spot on the roof. Why hadn't he? "Oh, yeah. We had a good time. Got to catch up about the break and everything. It was cool."

He didn't like the knowing look in Yoongi's eyes, like he had picked up on the lie, but when his hyung didn't say anything, Jungkook let himself breath. He smiled at them. "Well, I guess I'm going to go head to bed. See you guys in the morning." He was already halfway down the hallway when he heard Yoongi call out his name. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he slunk back into the living room. "Yes, hyung?"

"Put the plate up that Jin-hyung made for you if you aren't going to eat it. We don't want it to go bad." Yoongi smirked as he said it, staring at the maknae for a moment longer than necessary before turning back to the tv.

"Sure, hyung. Of course." He did as he was told before slipping into the shared bedroom. The lights were off and he could only barely see Taehyung's thin form under the blankets in his bed. Jungkook thought about nudging the older boy to see if he was awake; he should apologize for the way he acted. Ask how his head was. Thank him for covering for him when he didn't have any reason to. But instead, he climbed up into his own bunk, completely dressed and lay in the dark. He would apologize tomorrow. Tonight he would let Taehyung sleep.

As Jungkook shifted his head to the side to get more comfortable, he felt something move under his pillow. Reaching under it, he pulled out a cylindrical object. He used his phone light to look at the strange object only to realize it was a tube of toothpaste. Toothpaste. The thing he had told Jin he needed from the store. But Jin had run home, not to the bodega, and he had left Taehyung- He had left Taehyung only half a block from the small corner store. The boy must have bought it for him before heading home to cover for the maknae with their hyungs. More shame burned across Jungkook's face. He really would have to apologize tomorrow.

Jungkook lay there, holding the tube of toothpaste, staring at the ceiling and listening to Taehyung's low rumbles of breath until his own breathing grew slow and his eyes slid closed. He didn't sneak out to the roof again that night.