paralyzed | taekook

six

present

it had been hours ever since jungkook's class finished,

and yet, he was still standing before his canvas with a pencil on his grip.

before him was a rough sketch of hanbok man, the friendly stranger whom he had been thinking about for the past week. how his crescent eyes twinkled whenever he spoke, how his lips formed a rectangular shape when they smiled, and how his hands moved all over the place whenever he tried to explain about his imaginary kingdom.

after all, jungkook was a painter. it was funny how he used to crush so hard on min yoongi the first time he acknowledged his sexuality, and yet never felt the urgency to make the older man his muse. but now, here he was, sporadically rhapsodising over someone he had only seen once and even using him as a subject for graduation assignment.

it didn't take long until the door to his classroom was violently opened, revealing a grey haired man that jungkook knew too well. and of course, as per usual, cradled in his grips were two bags of grocery — mostly booze and ramen — supplies. 

"yah, jeon jungkook, i thought oil techniques ended at four?"

being on time was something that jimin had gotten jungkook accustomed, considering that the fellow busan native was an art management student whose life revolved around schedules. every single day, as soon as his classes ended, he would pick up the younger man from his building before they left to get something to eat, or simply play overwatch until the sun rose again. 

their friendship was an endless satanic cycle, indeed, but as both parties were nowhere near extroverts, none of them really minded the lack of progesterone. 

"i was really into my work, so i asked for an overtime," jungkook shrugged before dropping his pencil.

now that jimin was here, it would be impossible for jungkook to continue his work. wouldn't it be weird if he came clear about what had happened during the disastrous blind date, other than the cliché words of it just didn't work and she wasn't the right one?

after contemplating for what seemed like forever, jungkook gathered all the nonexistent remnants of his courage and placed all of the drawing tools back to their stations. then, he moved toward his older friend — who was currently engrossed on granola bars — and took a deep breath. 

"jimin hyung . . ."

"hmm?"

"do you think it's weird?"

"what's weird?"

"feeling attached to the person you only met once."

jimin almost choked on his food.

"whoa, whoa, whoa! calm down," he raised both of his hands, slanted eyes turning slightly doe. "who are you talking about? did my chosen blind date finally knock some sense into you?"

jungkook only massaged his temple in frustration, thinking, why are you so fucking gullible?

"aish, never mind," the younger shook his head, already losing his interest from trying to be civil. "forget this conversation ever happened."

past

after debating for at least another fifteen minutes, followed by a troop of servants whose minds were all over the place, queen jisoo eventually left the room in disappointment as her place was now taken by worried yeowool and ahro. not once their eyes ever left the young prince, both in fear of him fainting again or even worse, losing his sanity.

kim taehyung had always been known as a good boy — with his good looks, strategical thinking and unspoken grace, he was no doubt everyone's favourite. so, why would the goody two shoes suddenly burst his bubbles and go against his mother's words?

taking a seat by the edge of the bed, ahro moved to check on taehyung's forehead and smiled, relieved that his temperature was back to normal. then, she took a bowl of abalone porridge from yeowool and began feeding her best friend. 

"taehyung-ah," she waited until taehyung finished his last bite. "can i ask you something?"

"of course, noona."

ahro stole a questioning glance at yeowool, which eagerly he approved. "we, uh . . . we want to know what happened between you and your mother. if we're not mistaken, you mentioned something about time-traveling?"

taehyung almost felt like spitting back his meal. it would be a lie if he didn't feel worried of what would his best friends say if he spilled the truth about the future. about meeting jeon jungkook, ruining a blind date, eating at a convenience store and feeling his heart skipped its beat from doing all of the things he listed. taehyung was happy — very, very happy — but he was scared of the possible stereotypes that lied behind his actions. 

what should i tell them?

"don't be afraid to speak up," yeowool added, caressing taehyung's head in assurance. "it's all gonna be okay."

but was it, really?

taehyung was contemplating whether to speak up the truth or let it rot together with his being, until he remembered the late king's words when he was little, narrating them inside his head like a beautiful poetry. it was something such as, follow your heart wherever it leads you, because it's most likely the only thing humane that a human can possess. 

but what if following his heart would only lead him to misery? what if it would only separate him from the people he loved and cherished with his dear life?

"s-so?" ahro cleared her throat, earning a light slap on from yeowool. 

he decided to just screw it.

"alright, i'm going tell you everything under one condition," taehyung straightened his posture, eyes burning with determination as his heart swelled over the thoughts of sharing his jungkook with other people. "you must never speak of this to my mother, or any of the staffs in the palace. though what i'm confessing is going to sound a lot like fiction, trust me, everything is as real as it can be. but at the end of the day, it's purely your choice whether to believe your logics or follow your heart."

and then, by the moment he earned two consecutive nods from a brotherly yeowool and impatient ahro, 

taehyung's little secret was no longer a secret.

he's spilling the truth! also, make sure to vote and comment (whether it's inline or not), tell me what you think about this book and how the entirety of this story progresses because i really need your constructive criticism ㅠ.ㅠ