♫: Shannon Saunders - Atlas
*****
Taehyung sighed, wondering how the brunet never stopped talking. During the first week of school, he had tried to imply that he didn't want the younger's company, but that didn't work. He even straight out told him that he preferred being alone, but if anything, he approached him even more than before. It had been 2 months since school started and Taehyung still hadn't grown used to the talkative brunet.
"And that's how I convinced my mom that I didn't steal the cookies. I was a born genius, I'm telling you!" Jungkook spoke, with too many hand gestures, narrating his childhood stories from when he was 4 years old. To think that by now, he would have run out of stories to narrate. Once he got comfortable with someone, Jungkook started and ended his own conversations with them.
The two boys were walking home from school after an uneventful day, and while one of the boys seemed to be very happy, the other...not so much.
"So.. are you going anywhere for the school break?" The brunet asked, breaking the silence which had started to grow.
"No." Taehyung's answers were always curt and to the point, and not accompanied by a childhood story. "Do you always talk this much?" He asked as he ran his hand through his hair absent-mindedly.
"Sorry. It's just that, I hate silence." the brunet said softly, his usual upbeat tone, toned down immensely.
Taehyung's eyes softened as he glanced at the boy beside him, who seemed genuinely serious for once.
Jungkook blinked twice, stopping thinking of whatever he was, before looking up at the elder next to him, smiling, and breaking the silence once again before it lasted long. "I'm not going anywhere either. We should meet up during the holidays."
The blond sighed in defeat. "Yeah..maybe we can hang out sometimes."
~~~~~T-I-M-E~S-K-I-P~~~~~
Taehyung closed the door behind him.
"Woah..your room is much neater than I thought it would be," Jungkook remarked, from where he was standing, in front of the elder, his eyes flitting around the room, observing everything with keen interest. It was in his nature to mentally make notes of what he saw; to try and grasp every tiny detail, so he could easily play back scenes in his mind.
Taehyung shrugged before plopping on his bed.
Jungkook's fingers unconsciously gripped the straps of his bag.
The elder's parents, as usual, weren't home, and the younger had called him, asking if he could come over. And so here they were.
Jungkook walked over to the book-shelf at the side of the elder's room. He slid his fingers across the spines of the books, one after the other, dust coating his fingers, leaving behind three trails across the books' spines', where there was no longer any dust. His fingers stopped at a book titled 'The History and Downfall of Vampires', but he decided against bringing it up, knowing the elder wouldn't want to talk about it.
Taehyung watched from behind the younger.
Jungkook sat down on Taehyung's chair beside his table. A silence fell upon the two. "So..." Jungkook immediately broke it. "Should we do our holiday homework?"
"Hell no," Taehyung immediately spoke. "Do people actually even do their homework?" He snorted.
Jungkook pouted. "I do," he said, raising his hand.
"Lame." Taehyung chuckled, lifting himself off the bed with his elbows.
"Say that to me when you end up working at Mcdonalds." Jungkook scoffed, crossing his arms. The elder noticed that he did that a lot when he got upset.
Taehyung looked at the younger, who was pouting in mock disappointment.
"Fine, fine, we'll do the homework" he said, giving in.
~~~~~T-I-M-E~S-K-I-P~~~~~
Jungkook sat across a cross-legged Taehyung, with his bag beside him. Both of them had their books out in front of them.
Jungkook's book clearly looked like it was read before. There were scribblings in pencil next to the words on the page, and there were parts highlighted in bright yellow.
He clearly took his studies seriously.
Taehyung's book on the other hand, looked brand new and untouched.
Jungkook had tried teaching Taehyung biology, but he soon found out that Taehyung didn't even know any basic concepts.
"You know..working at Mcdonalds suddenly doesn't sound so bad," Taehyung said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Jungkook ignored the elder as he looked up at him with a condescending expression. "Taehyung.." He dragged the name as it came out of his mouth. The blond looked up at him questioningly.
"..What's the power house of the cell called?" [A/N: yes, i'm doing this]
"Umm..."
"The... power generator..?" Taehyung answered hesitantly.
"Oh my god..." the brunet had a look of pure shock on his face.
"What?" the elder asked, slightly annoyed.
"You're dumber than I thought."
The younger was ruthless when it came to education. Taehyung placed a hand over his heart in mock pain. Jungkook giggled. "Don't worry, I'll teach you" the younger said, his eyes crinkling as he smiled. The blond looked him in the eyes as he smiled back at him, and Jungook's heart skipped a beat.
~~~~~T-I-M-E~S-K-I-P~~~~~
Jungkook looked out the window. The sun was setting. Time had just flown by when he was with the elder. Taehyung looked out the window too, following the brunet's gaze. The red sun cast orange light in all directions. String-like clouds were strewn across the sky, like threads of cotton candy. Taehyung exhaled deeply at the sight.
The two stared at the beautiful sky outside. Soon enough, Jungkook broke the silence. "Well.. I gotta go now." he said, reluctantly. "Oh.. Yeah" the elder turned his head to face the brunet. The younger slowly began putting his books and stationery in his bag, purposely taking his time, waiting for something to happen; but he didn't know what he was expecting. Taehyung just watched in silence.
After Jungkook slipped his last book into his bag, he looked up at the elder, zipping his bag. The orange sunlight from outside shone on one side of Taehyung's face, illuminating his utopian features. Taehyung looked down at the younger. They held their gaze for a few seconds, before Jungkook looked away, a blush creeping to his cheeks.
They walked down the stairs, making their way to the door.
When they reached the porch, Jungkook turned to the elder. "Well..I'll see you tomorrow then..?" he looked down, developing a sudden interest in the ground.
Taehyung nodded, but his mind was elsewhere.
Why is Jungkook acting so weird?
Jungkook began walking towards the gate. His hands subconsciously came up to the straps of his bag, his fingers gripping them tightly, as he walked.
Before exiting the gate, Jungkook looked back at Taehyung, his cheeks pink as he gave him a small wave. Taehyung smiled back at him, but Jungkook wouldn't meet his eyes.
The blond watched as Jungkook walked down the street until he couldn't see him anymore.
And then it occurred to him.
Jungkook liked him.
-----X-----