A/n: Idk about anyone else, but listening to BTS love urself album has become a ritual for me like freakin go go is my hype song and dimple is my slow body role song. The whole album destroys me.
Taehyung's POV
I stand motionless, staring through the lit translucent panes that have lingered more vividly in my head today than anything else, my gaze gradually ascending up at the dimmed little sign hanged above the wooden door frame.
This is the place.
Softly, I close my eyes as I inhale and let a deep breath escape my lips, trying to find a little confidence in my depthless sack of social anxiety.
It's unsettling.
How others make me so anxious about myself, how adults scare me with their superior labels; how humans criticising silently with their judgmental eyes like it makes a difference from verbally saying it to my face; like a plague.
I don't like it. I don't like the feeling I gain from it. I don't like the looks they always give. Except for Jimin's mom that I've become more open with, there's always that gaze that forces you to shrink into a bacterial speck. My mother did without a reason, I bet strangers are the same.
Thats why there's nothing I'd love to do more than to be invisible to certain people that I'd prefer didn't know of my existence; just having the ability to turn a dial and all the bonds I'd longed to burn will shrivel up and disintegrate.
Because I know when I walk in Ill have to communicate with a stranger to find what I want, my legs do not feel to leave this spot.
Because I know that I'll have to look another in the eye and use words that I'd prefer to keep locked up, my throat has become stiff with my eyelashes gluing themselves together.
But because I know all of this will make me the most uncomfortable I'd ever be in my life, is the reason that I cant let my fear of others get in the way of what I want.
I want to get something for him; For his past birthday that means my everything, because he's already given me so much that I could never fully repay.
So gently, I push open the elegant white door to the little store on the corner, my nerves literally wrapping around lungs as I feel the gush of cool air sweeping through the a crack of the opening that I'm making bigger.
A loud chime rings from a small bell when I fully open the door, alerting someone for away that I had entered their beloved store.
The unexpected chirp of the petite musical instrument startled me quite badly, making me flinch harshly as an uncomfortable sensation starting to run through me chest because of it.
A hardy chuckle emits from the back of the absent store, quickly drawing my complete attention to it with an alarmed gaze.
Positioned behind the check out counter was a fairly older man with a soft but intimidating presence to him, his eyes on only me since no one else was there to share apart of it with me.
"Jumpy ain't we?" he humorously ask in a gentle tone, his voice having a thick foreign accent mixing with his vocal cords; a curious smile resting on his mouth as he sets down the newspaper he was reading before I disrupted it with my presence. "Does everything scare you young lad?"
His question doesn't make it to my brain in order for it to decipher for my understanding, a blank stare and wordless reply coming from me. I watch cautiously at the man behind the counter which blocked me from seeing the rest of his boy from the stomach down.
His natural genetically dirty blonde hair was trimmed quite short on the sides as the top of his hair was fully layered and swept back as a style. He had a neat slight moustache and a tidy kept small beard resting on facial features. (Literally based him off the recent King Arthur )
A shift in his position causes my eyes to dart to the sudden movement, his arm moving to prop up his head and he sends me a curious stare, a little amusement in his eyes. "Seems like your a quiet one hmm, it fine little fella I don't bite I promise," he waves me over to come closer, such a gentle motion that it glides me over to him so easily that you'd miss the hesitation in my steps.
"What can I do for yah?" He asks with a humble gleam in his eyes, a type of blue that so bright and light that it can glow an alluring neon colour even in the dark. I fumble with the bottom him of my shirt, making sure my eyes touch each corner of the store before I actually make eye contact while answering his question.
"I-I-I would like to buy a present," I squeeze the sentence out of my locked lungs, a stutter escaping at the start as I dragging my eye contact away from him in the end.
"Got anything specific you want." He questions as he leads forward a little more, making my attention fly straight back to him in alertness. My brain goes blank for a second again, anxiety malfunction my response system.
I'm taking too long.
He definitely noticed.
Probably wondering how I couldn't answer such a simple question.
He most likely thinks I'm an idiot.
I should just leave.
I start to shift on the balls of my feet, a reaction of just getting ready to rush out of this store because it felt like too much pressure. He seems to notice the tension my body emitted when I was ready to bolt, because his already soft drawing blue eyes soften for me.
"I'm not rushing you kid, no one is. Take your time to decide, I can wait until you make up your mind," he informs me with a genuine tone, him showing off his newspaper as he sets it back in place to a readable distance. " I got this to accompany me."
I stare for a little as I shake my head yes slightly, even though he wasn't looking at me to see it. Taking deep breath, closing my eyes, slowing down my beating heart that was pumping faster than it should, I try to organise my scrambled thought.
I drift my eyes open gently, scanning the store ever so carefully with a stare of observance as I try to spot anything that I believe would make Jimin happy as a birthday present; something that could do him how much I appreciate him.
Such a simple word catches my sight as I swept past it, a spelling of a term that could preserve our bond for years;
forever.
Only four of the necklaces were left, each on a pair of the other so they'd be different.
I eye it in awe and amazement of the purpose of the simple jewellery. It means we would be together forever. Together and always. Feeling excitement flow through my calm, depressed mood, my body turns eagerly towards the man behind the counter.
"Mr. I would like to get this!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, causing him to look up abruptly from his paper to me. My smile fades away after I realised that I let my emotions slip by my manners.
Shrinking back into a curled up type boy, I clear my throat as I clamp onto my other arm with my hand anxiously. "I-I mean can I purchase one of those necklaces to be exact please?"
He stares at me some time longer, I guess with a little amazed look, probably because of my sudden out burst. Setting down his light weight binding stacks of paper down on the counter in front of him, he stands up and makes his way to the other side of the case, a little chuckle escaping between this.
"They're these forever ones, all pairs different from the other. I'm the only store that really sell these." He stats with care, sounding rather proud of it. "Which one would you like between the two set."
I point to the simpler one, admiring how it was a subtle thing compared to the stranger shaped one, and the words engraved caught my attention. He unlocks the glass prison with his key, opening it softly and picking up the one I wanted. He looks into my eyes to make sure it's the one I preferred, and I nod yes to his unspoken question.
"That would be $20 dollars," he states as we walk back to the cashier, me handing him basically the rest of the money as he takes it and rests it in the bindings inside.
Popping out of nowhere, a machine had appeared from behind the counter in his hands. He sets it down carefully, a pen-like device connected with a wire to the block gadget. Taking up the pen from where it rested, he positions it above as he seemed ready to engrave something onto the necklaces base, his safety classes resting on the bridge of his nose.
"What's your name little lad," he questions without looking at me, causing my mind to lock on itself. My eyes fly up cautiously to look directly at him rather than just his hands, a little wave of fear drifting over me. Why does he need to know my name. Again, he appears to catch onto my unsettled self, his ocean eyes gently panning from the necklace to me when I don't answer.
"It's okay not to tell me your full name, I just need the beginning letter of your first name." He informs, my gaze beginning to drown in his soft blue ones. "I'm Arthur by the way."
"Taehyung." I divulge out of the blue, taking a deep breath after. "Kim Taehyung." I state calmer, Mr. Arthur taking a few before nodding his head to show he acknowledged the information. He flips a switch on the contraption, the pen rotating its point at an accelerating speed.
"Is this for your girlfriend Kim Taehyung?" he questions as most of his focus is on what he's engraving into the necklace, his large hand holding the skinny pen delicately like if he held it too harshly, it will shatter.
"No it's for my friend," I clarify, starting to feel less tense as I lean against to counter to watch closer at his handy work.
"What's your friend's name?" he asks, momentarily stopping so he can softly blow off the metal's remains from the engraved part.
"Jimin." I inform with the gracefulness his name deserved, a smile making its way across my face when it rolls off my tongue; flurry like feeling spreading throughout me from just saying it.
"You seem very fond of this friend of yours," he chuckles as his blue gaze reaches mine for a second, and observant stare that ended quickly as he brought them down to focus on the next necklace. "Would you care to describe Jimin to me? I'm a little curious."
"Well," I start, my eyes resting nowhere in particular as my consciousness fades slightly, my mind recalling the reason Jimin has made such an impact on my insignificant life and turned it into something I could cherish.
"It's because he's him. He has a baby face for his age, so he pouts when people call him a little kid. He's kind and considerate, putting others needs before his. He's courageous and brave. When he laughs, its a contagious thing that makes you also want to laugh. His eyes always disappears when he smiles widely and the simply dull world becomes vibrant because of it. He's there when I need him, always going after me when I'm lost. He's cares for me more than I care for myself, and he makes me feel wanted. Like I'm a somebody to someone. To him."
He saved me.
The room is quiet when I finish explaining the kind of person that Jimin is, a wide smile displayed on my face that I didn't even realise had formed when I only just talked about him. A chuckle escapes my lips when I noticed how much I have fallen for him, for the boy that saved me on my rainy days.
"You like him more than a friend don't you," Mr. Arthur voice appears out of the blue, bringing me back to reality as I remember where I am. My smile fades as I look at him with surprise, my heartbeat thumping fast as I realised I said all of that with someone present.
"W-why would you think that," I stutter out, wanting to just disappear by the embarrassment I feel.
"Your blushing awfully hard just describing his personality," he laughs at my awkwardness, placing the two necklaces in a gift bag, adding a silky blue bow to top it off. "Plus it sounds like he cares for you more than just as a friend."
I let Mr. Arthur's words sink in for some time, trying to connect the dots. We've kissed before but we haven't made anything official. We've even said I love you to one another, but I feel like we're too young for those words to count.
"He's important to me," I decide to say as a response, a valid and honest answer in my opinion. "I'm always depending on him I find, so I wanted to get him something. He sets my heart ablaze when he just calls my name, and when he's close I wish that we could just stay like that for eternity."
He gives me a knowing look, sliding the gift so it can be in my reach as a smirk rest on his lips, and I grab it to be held close to my chest. My own words spin multiple times around me mind, recognition of my own feelings getting to me.
"I guess I do like him that way," I say almost inaudibly, a jovial smile expanding on Mr. Arthur's face.
"When you give him this, confess," he stats enthusiastically but gently, getting up as he starts shooing me to already go and meet Jimin.
"But what if he doesn't feel that way about me?" I point out as I begin to worry that might be the case, suddenly not feeling to leave the store that I was ready to dart out of like an hour ago.
"Trust me," he begins, confidence tuning his tone, leading me towards the door and opening it for me so I could exit. "I have a feeling he does, now go get him tiger."
I nod my head as a determined feeling rushed through my veins. "Okay Mr. Arthur, I'll do my best and thank you for your help."
"Be safe out there young chap okay?" He says for the last time, and I shake my head yes to show I understand, waving goodbye as he returns the gesture and turns back to his desk at the back of the store.
I smile down at the gift as I begin skipping back with eagerness taking me, jubilance making me feel so lighthearted.
I really hope he likes it.
Almost tripping on a peg of a bench, I catch my footing before my upper body could touch the concrete. It blended in with the mist of the dark so I didn't see it at all, and I've come to realise that the sun was mostly already done with its daylight shift. Darkness was taking over.
Now that I think about it, I really should've told him I was coming back here.
A weird feeling starts to churn in the pit of me stomach, my skin begin to crawl like I had just drawn someone's unwanted attention.
"Hey kid." A voice had called out from somewhere behind me, a tone that sent shivers down spine like insects were creeping down it. There was no one else there who he could've been calling out too, and there was no one I could've ran too for help. Not a single soul, except for me and a monster.
My skipping switches to regular walking when I realised that it was only me, the occasional illuminated lamppost, and the black abyss surrounding me. All the excitement and joy I felt vanished into complete fear when I hear someone else's footsteps behind, and all the colour in my face became whitewashed as their pace was trying to match my increasing one.
I start to run full speed as my vision begins to blur as I become petrified, the gradience of light being strong to quickly fade into black and to become stronger again. I round a corner and dip into an alleyway as I try to catch my breath before it gave me away, my mind become a jumbled mess out the terror.
The footsteps pass me as I lurked in the dark, my eyes focus so strongly on the entrance that split the dim light to the total darkness; where I could see him but he couldn't see me.
After a while I squeeze my eyes shut as the only thing I could do to calm me down, my breathing so uneven I felt like I was hyperventilating.
My legs feel weak as I cautiously but swiftly walk back the way I came from, continuously looking behind me in fear that they would appear right before me.
I round the corner quickly, but someone was already standing right there waiting for me. My legs froze and my eyes shut when I felt like I've been caught, the scream from the jumpscare forcing itself back down my throat.
"Taehyung?!" The person in front of me said almost out of breathe, that voice causing me to open my eyes with haste to make sure it was the correct person. His eyes revealed worry, eyebrows furrowed as he watched me harshly. It was him.
"Jimin."
He grabs my wrist and yanks me into a hug, his embrace so tight around that there was no possible we we could've gotten closer. I was shocked, startled and shaken by everything that happens to quick for me to comprehend. My arms hesitantly wrap around him as I held on to the back of the shirt firmly.
I start to shake as all the cold terror I felt starts to thaw from his warmth, tears so desperately wanting to leave my eyes as I buried my head in his neck. They were about escape, so close to just spilling all out, until I heard a sniffle emit from Jimin where I couldn't see.
"Why did you wonder off like that!" He blurts out, his voice sounding almost drowned out as he nuzzles deeper into my chest, wetting it with his run away tears. " I've been looking everywhere but I couldn't find you."
Guilt fills me as I hear him say this, causing him to be so worried about me without a reason.
"Sorry," I quietly apologise as I rub his back, trying to calm him down if it's only a little.
He pulls away to look at me, and I wasn't expecting to see that expression through his tearful eye; an expression of unbelief and distraught.
"Sorry?" He restates almost like a mimic, quoting my word as he customised it with his own disturbed tone.
"Sorry doesn't work after you use it more than once for the same thing Taehyung. Your always wondering off somewhere, having me worried to death about you. Taehyung, you have to realise your only 14, someone could take if they wanted to, and do horrible things to you." Jimin states, and he was not yelling at me like he has a habit of doing, but the scolding was getting to me, because he's right.
Crouching down as he hung his head low, his hand drags through his hair in distress. "You don't know how many suspicious men I saw lurking in every alley way." He says softer, a weak sounding tone that I've never heard from him until now. "Drunk ones who were too intoxicating to walk straight let alone think straight. My mind instantly started to think up of terrible terrible things they could've done to you, and I was praying that one of them didn't take you."
"Taehyung I beg you, please just don't wonder off by yourself again. Don't leave my side like that again." He pleads so softly it's almost inaudible.
I crouch down next to him, staring at the boy I just made shrivel up like that. My heart hurt to see him like this, but it also fluttered to know that he cared.
"Jimin, I understand, and I'm truly sorry," I say as pet his hair with so much care, and I smiled sympatheticly when he looked at me with such a sad expression.
" I promise I won't do that ever again. But this time I don't regret it, because I just wanted to get this for you as a surprise."
I gently rest the gift in his lap so he can open it, and he looks at it with a emotionless stare. He gaze goes to me questionably with his dry tears staining his cheeks, and I point right back down to the present.
He opens it delicately, staring down at the two necklaces before him. Tears began to form in his eyes once again as his mouth formed a pout.
"Jimin?" I call his name with tenderness, making sure our eyes were completely locked in place with one another. "Will you be my boyfriend?"