DreamScape

PART 2: THE HADRON COLLIDER EFFECT - X

He paused in his pacing, lifting his head towards the ceiling, no gods present to gaze back fondly. When had he become so attached? Was it their midnight walks along soothing rivers? Was it when the singer had opened up his soul in the middle of a street in front of dozens of strangers, filling Jungkook with pride? Maybe it was earlier, at the campfire, when he'd heard all those songs, now deceased and lost to the past, yet still a vivid memory he could practically taste.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to supress the nervousness. He ran his eyes over his small room, looking for something to keep him occupied. On top of his desk, a pile of blank drawing paper waited, demanding.

He marched up to it, grabbing a pen from the pot which sat there, and wrote down in bold letters:

I work at BigHit entertainment, editing department.

And suddenly a warm feeling enveloped him, spreading from the back of his neck, all the way to the end of his toes, and he felt endearment latch onto his heart, some kind of gentle adoration that wasn't his.

"That's what you meant..." he whispered, awe-struck.

"Mm?" V whispered from behind him, the deep timber resonating inside him, and Jungkook thought it sounded similar somehow. But how can a hum sound familiar? "What do you mean?"

"Just... knowing when you get here. I can feel that you're here, it's crazy..." a smile slowly grew on his lips, until he was grinning madly, shyly, unreservedly.

Jungkook spun to face the emptiness, trying to ignore the disappointment when he realised he still couldn't see his visitor.

"Hi," he beamed at the empty space he thought V might be standing in.

Silence rang in his ears, no one answering. The smile slipped off his face, replaced by a small pout, eyebrows kitting together.

"You still here, V?" he said lowly, nearly a whisper.

"Yeah..." a breath answered, a couple of feet away. "Yeah I just..."

The deep voice tapered off, and he tilted his head curiously.

"You just what?" Jungkook took a step forward, hands itching to search the air but scared of being disappointed.

The voice that answered was such a low whisper it was barely audible.

"I knew you would be cute... I just didn't... wow I just didn't realise how handsome you would actually be."

The young man froze, his heartbeat echoing erratically in his ears. The voice sounded mesmerised, and it lifted him up, the warmth in his chest spreading.

"You... you saw me yesterday," Jungkook answered back softly, now furiously blushing as he lowered his head to stare at the ground, toeing at the carpet.

"Yeah but it was dark, and I was too busy being so happy to see you again that I didn't notice."

Jungkook choked on his own spit as he turned away to try hide the bride red he was sure his face was radiating right now. Holy Hell V was smooth.

"Also we were hugging and I don't have eyes in the back of my head. I wish I did though, so I could've stared at you even longer."

"Oh my God stop!" Jungkook whined, before promptly bursting into giggles, spurred on by relief and giddiness. "Besides, I don't think you're one to speak, you're probably the most handsome man I've ever seen."

The words had escaped before he could stop them, and now he wanted to kick himself.

"Wait, you can remember my face?"

"No," Jungkook answered, desperately looking for something to divert the conversation.

He was not about to tell V that all he could remember was how speechless he had been at his beauty, how seeing him had made him feel giddy and hypnotized. No way.

"Oh!" Jungkook said victoriously, picking up the sheet of paper he hadn't even realised he had dropped. "Look at this!"

He shoved the page in V's general direction, hoping the distraction would be enough.

"Uh... why are you showing me a blank piece of paper?" the singer asked, confused.

"Eh? I wrote where I work on it... I was hoping you'd be able to read it."

He hadn't meant to pout, it was just one of those annoying habits he had tried and failed to cut off. So here he was, stars pouring into the room, hands tingling and small pout shaping his lips, and suddenly his face was warm.

V's hands settled on his cheeks, and from the emptiness he cooed at him. Jungkook only pouted harder, frowning now too.

"Shtop that," he mumbled through pursed lips as the other pressed his cheeks closer together.

"But you're so cuuuuuute" V dragged out, boxy grin invisible but still perfectly audible.

The tingles in his chest still kept growing. Like a sickness with no vaccine.

He batted the hands off his face and rubbed his own palms over his burning face. He didn't think he'd ever miss being invisible, but here he was, beaming red and missing the anonymity. And Taehyung was not helping.

"Oh my god, do you always blush this much?! You've been hiding this the whole time?!"

"Hyuuuuung" Jungkook whined. "Could you not?!"

A giggle was his only answer, before invisible arms wrapped themselves around his waist and a warm body collided with his. They fell softly onto the bed, Jungkook frozen, hands hovering, as Tae curled up into him like a puppy. He felt the weight of a head rest itself on his chest, and a nose rubbed itself comfortably against his hoodie.

"I missed you.." the eldest whispered.

Jungkook finally let the breath that was stuck in his throat out, slowly let himself relax.

"Me too," he whispered back.

The boy snuggling into his chest could hear his heart, pounding madly against his ribs, he was sure of it.

"Tell me about what you did while we were apart," the ghost said.

Jungkook brought his hovering hands down to meet soft, fluffy hair, causing sparks to rise up in the air, cerulean stars unaffected by gravity and earthly matters. Jungkook had closed his eyes so he didn't see them, too concentrated on the heavenly feel of silken strands between his fingers to care about anything else. And Taehyung... well Taehyung had propped his chin up to stare at the man from his dreams and enthralled as he was, he missed the colours painting the air around them entirely.

"Pretty sure I just missed you, don't remember anything else," Jungkook mumbled.

He woke up in that exact position the next morning, his hand now resting on his own chest, the comforting weight atop him gone, but the warmth remaining. Lost words, conversations about nothing important, still tingling on his tongue, soul sated and full, memories of limbs tangled and breathing synchronised floating before his eyes. And he smiled a small smile, more full of emotion than any grin he had borne before.

Unaware of the cogs which had been set in motion, unaware that future events were now set in stone.