A/N:
*Note: This AU is inspired by a Taekook edit by @/vopejjks on Twitter! A link to copy and paste to it will be provided at the end of the story:)
This is an AU that started off as a challenge and turned out to be something that I decided to put more thought into and work on for several days. It's super short, but I hope anyone who reads it enjoys it regardless!
-
The stiff, ice cold air nipped harshly at Taehyung's skin as he pulled open the door and stepped foot outside. Grimacing, he huddled within his long coat, pulling the fabric as close to him as possible as he quickly made his way down the steps of his apartment building.
The day was bright and sunny, but the December air was still as jarring as ever, forcing everything and everyone to be awake and full of energy. It seemed like the complete opposite to how Taehyung was feeling.
Taehyung had made his way down the street to the end of the block where he now stood waiting for the city traffic to calm its waters. As he was looking around, the red signal at the other end of the street that displayed he couldn't cross yet caught his eye as he saw his reflection, and the reflection of something - someone - else almost exactly like him.
December 26.
The sudden reminder of today's date that came drifting into his mind made Taehyung rip his eyes off the signal, turning to look next to him as his heart clenched in a tiny sense of hope.
However, to his dismay, a bulgy middle aged man was there instead.
Taehyung bit his lip, quickly turning to look away to focus on the bustling street.
The light morphed into the bright, white walking man.
He subconsciously lifted his feet from the ground, walking across the crosswalk as his mind drifted away into a muddled cloud of thoughts.
You're so stupid, Taehyung.
Taehyung sighed, hanging his head down and looking at the asphalt as he continued to rush towards the concrete.
It's been 10 years.
Taehyung felt his heart clench, the feeling rising from his chest up through his throat.
What makes you think he'll come back.
Taehyung opened his mouth, taking in a small, choked breath as he attempted to push the thoughts away.
You're still clinging onto him. Pathetic.
The tears were starting to prick at his eyes, threatening to stream across his face.
He knew that going out today would be a bad idea. He knew he should have stayed at home and occupied himself with other things.
The last thing he wanted to do today was think about him. Yet, that's the one of the first things he did.
In an attempt to gather himself together, Taehyung took in a shaky breath and quickly wiped his tears away on the sleeves of his coat before looking up and continuing his way, his expression falling into its less vulnerable, blank state.
But just as he stepped onto the concrete, and as the signal turned red again, he felt his shoulder being pushed, causing him to stumble back a bit.
"Oh, hey wait!" Taehyung heard a chirpy, sweet voice call out, his arm being grabbed by whom he assumed to be the owner of that voice.
Taehyung looked up from where he was trying to regain his composure and prevent himself from literally falling back into the flow of traffic, getting a much clearer view of the person who landed him in the situation.
However, before he could even make out his face, the man turned and rushed past Taehyung, leaving him standing there on the edge of the concrete alone.
Taehyung blinked, a little perplexed.
The scene felt too familiar to him. Too familiar to not just be coincidence.
He turned, trying to look beyond the fresh set of traffic that was whizzing in front of him to the other side, hoping to get a better look, maybe even a small glance, at the man.
Alas, Taehyung's hope turned out to be crushed again as he couldn't make out a single trace of him. Though he did only see a glimpse of his dark black hair, and there were many men with dark black hair within the crowd.
He didn't even get to thank him at the very least.
Sighing, Taehyung pulled his eyes away, shoving his freezing hands in his pockets as he made his way across the sidewalk before rounding at the corner.
He walked on for a bit, scanning the stores lined up along the street to the right of him before stopping in front of a bakery that had giant soft blue words trimmed with pastel pink spelling out Jimin's Goods.
Taehyung pulled open the door, closing his eyes and breathing out in relief at the sudden gush of warm air hitting him, his cheeks filling up with warmth as his whole body came back to life again.
"Taehyung-ah!" He heard his best friend's voice call out. Taehyung opened his eyes to see Jimin running up to him as the boy brushed off flour that had covered his hands on his apron.
Taehyung chuckled as Jimin wrapped his arms around him, practically squeezing him to death as he did so.
"You're acting like I came back from staying overseas for ten years, Jimin." Taehyung pointed out with a playful grin as Jimin pulled back, a fond smile on his lips.
"I'm just glad that you decided to come out today." Jimin said, his voice lowering into a whisper as Taehyung clenched his jaw slightly, clearly knowing what Jimin was referring to.
"Yeah. Well, I'm only going to stay here for a while," Taehyung started, breaking eye contact with Jimin as he decided to move his attention onto something else – like the fresh pastries lining the front counter.
Taehyung headed straight for them, specifically looking down at the colorful array of macaroons. "Oh wow, Jimin." Taehyung said as the sweet smell of the treats made its way to his nose. "You really outdid yourself." He was about to pick one up and bring it up to his mouth, but he felt his hand being slapped away from the delcicity before he could do so.
Whining, Taehyung pouted, looking over at Jimin as the boy rolled his eyes. "No touching, Tae. I told you that those are only for display."
"But-"
Taehyung was cut off by the death glare that Jimin was sending his way, causing him to close his mouth shut in reluctant understanding.
"And stop trying to indulge yourself in sweets rather than facing the truth." Jimin pointed out the obvious, crossing his arms across his chest.
Taehyung breathed out, letting his arm fall to the side as he leaned against the counter, casually resting his other arm on the surface as he propped his face up in his palm. "Why can't you just let it slide just this once." Taehyung tried again, bringing up his pouting game. "You can spare your old best friend a macaroon, can't you? The shop doesn't even open for another hour. It's not like anyone's gonna notice!"
Jimin rolled his eyes, grabbing Taehyung's arm on the counter as he dragged him towards a booth.
"Sit." He commanded, practically throwing the poor boy onto the seat. Taehyung frowned, his bottom lip peeking out as he was forced down, Jimin taking his own seat across from him.
"Taehyung~, you seriously need to stop running away from this." Taehyung looked down, fiddling with his fingers as he grew tense at the topic being brought up again.
It's not like he didn't want to run from it, but he couldn't stop.
"As your best friend, I can't just sit here and watch you mope all isolated in your house watching anime while eating buckets of ice cream, or whatever the fuck you do on this day. Not this year." Jimin shook his head as Taehyung opened his mouth about to defend himself. "You have a life, Tae, and you need to move on with it. I know some serious shit happens, but life doesn't just stop, and you deserve to live your life to the fullest." Taehyung looked up a little at that, not knowing what to think cause, even though it was hard to admit, he's right.
Jimin smiled. "He would have wanted that. You know that." He said, his voice dropping a bit.
Taehyung clenched his jaw, flitting his eyes to focus on the table instead.
"I know."
Taehyung suddenly felt his hands being enveloped in Jimin's much smaller ones. He looked up fully at Jimin's gleaming face now, puzzled at how happy he looked. "Which is why..." Jimin started, pulling his hands away only to take out his phone from his jean's pocket before setting it down on the table and passing it onto Taehyung. "I went ahead and set you up with someone."
Taehyung widened his eyes in shock, glancing down at Jimin's phone to see a basic profile of some guy on Tinder.
"Jimin!" Taehyung exclaimed, bringing his hands to rest against his forehead as a wave of emotions encompassed him. "No, no, no. Nope. No, no." Taehyung started, standing up from his seat as he started to feel anxious.
"Oh, come on, Tae." Jimin stood up as well, following Taehyung to where he was about to head out the door before grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
"Look, I know that you said that you were uncomfortable with the idea of dating, but it's been ten years. You clearly haven't moved on, and it's about time that you start to."
"Jimin I-"
"You don't have to date this guy for the rest of your life. Just promise me you'll go on one date, okay?" Taehyung looked at him, Jimin's words lingering in his head. "After that, then you'll get to decide what happens."
Taehyung bit his lip, scanning Jimin's eyes only to see his reflection staring back at him.
His appearance transformed significantly in the past 10 years, his face being more dull and dragged along with his eye bags practically flashing the entire world. His hair was unkempt as several tufts pointed outwards in random directions. Not to mention that his hair was probably severely damaged considering that he hadn't been really caring for it, and he had let it grow out too. And to make things even worse, he was barely as fit as before.
Jimin's right. He needs a change.
It's not like Taehyung could deny anything that Jimin said. It was all true, and Taehyung had no better ideas to solve his problems.
Shuffling his feet unsettlingly, Taehyung muttered a "Fine," under his breath, avoiding eye contact as much as possible as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Fine. I'll do it."
Although Taehyung refused to look at Jimin, he knew that the boy was probably grinning from ear to ear with the utmost enthusiasm.
"OH MY GOD, YES! YES, YES, YES!" Taehyung couldn't help but glance over at him, a little bit of the pain within him fading as he watched Jimin jump up and down as if he was reaching ultimate happiness. Taehyung couldn't help but smile tenderly.
"It was really that big of a deal to you, huh?" Taehyung asked, uncrossing his arms to place his hands in his pockets instead.
Jimin scoffed, playfully punching his shoulder with a smile. "Are you kidding me? Tae, we've literally been dreaming of this day since like forever! You deserve this new start!" He exclaimed, letting out a little giggle at the end as he leaned into Taehyung's taller figure, throwing his arms around him in a gentle hug.
Taehyung stayed quiet, not knowing what to say. He knew that Jimin was referring to the rest of their friend group when he meant 'we,' and just knowing the fact that they've all been hoping that he'd get better from this made his heart ache.
Taehyung let out a small, soft sigh, pulling away from Jimin's embrace. "Alright, when do I start with this whole date? Don't make me regret it and take back my promise though." Taehyung raised his eyebrow in all seriousness at the last part.
"Tomorrow." Taehyung's eyes seemed to blow out of his eye sockets at Jimin's abrupt reply.
"Tomorrow? But I-I don't even know the guy a-and," Taehyung knit his eyebrows together. "I haven't even dated in ten years! What if I mess up? How does this thing work? You know what? I'm gonna go back to my anime and ice cream, okay bye!" Taehyung spun around to face the door, but was pulled back by Jimin once again.
Taehyung groaned as he was forced to face his best friend once more. "Stop worrying, dumbass. You'll be fine. Besides, from his profile and how he texted, he seems like a nice guy. I'm sure you'll get along with him."
"Yeah, that's how it's always like with random strangers on the internet until they end up kidnapping you and murdering you in real life." Taehyung muttered to himself under his breath.
Jimin narrowed his eyes, mouth open just a bit as he stared at Taehyung, the latter looking back with a blank expression as he blinked back.
"What?" Taehyung asked, breaking the silence.
Jimin sighed, patting his friend's shoulder. "Yeah, we definitely need to get you out from your apartment."
Taehyung frowned, but couldn't help but smile a bit as Jimin rolled his eyes and continued to blabber on about other things.
Yet, Jimin cutely talking about his day still couldn't prevent Taehyung from worrying about this, his brain coming up with a whole bunch of unanswered questions about the date.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Taehyung stood in front of a restaurant, eyes concentrating on his phone where he was rapidly texting Jimin as last minute nerves took over his body.
soulmate💖
stop overreacting
soulmate💖
when did he say he was going to be there?
Taehyung
8
soulmate💖
and what time is it now?
Taehyung
...7:42
soulmate💖
-_-
Taehyung sighed, biting the end of his thumbnail.
He was probably too early.
Deciding that he indeed was, Taehyung turned off his phone to avoid the scolding he knew he would be getting from Jimin.
He looked ridiculous being the only one standing outside the restaurant by himself as many other couples and families made their way inside together, or coming in to meet their people inside.
Letting his arm drop from his lips to his side, Taehyung turned his phone on again to message Jihun, his date.
Taehyung
u ready yet?
Taehyung couldn't help but cringe at his question.
Jihun
haha yeah just give me a few mins & i'll be there:)
Taehyung
Ok see u!
Taehyung already felt like he was doomed when he saw the smile that Jihun sent at the end of the message. That could never mean a good thing.
Assuming that he might have quite some time left until Jihun would come, Taehyung decided to walk around the street for a bit, maybe travel near some stores and window shop out of boredom.
Slipping his phone into his pocket, Taehyung looked up ahead, taking in the city night.
He couldn't help but wonder what he would be doing right now if he wasn't dragged on to go on this date.
It was a Saturday, so either he would be sleeping in and scroll through social media for a bit before binge watching random TV shows, maybe even work a little too.
Taehyung grimaced.
He saw where Jimin was coming from.
Granted, he did put a lot of effort into himself when it came to this date. He tried his best to look decent with the help of Jimin, his long hair having been styled to the best of their ability and picking out the best outfit they could for the 'fancy' restaurant that he would be taken to, as Jihun put it.
Though, he didn't know exactly what 'fancy' meant, and whether or not the black turtle neck he was wearing, put together with a black long suit draped across his shoulders with matching dress pants, would fit into that category.
Was it too much?
A/N: ootn Taehyung -
Suddenly, Taehyung's thoughts were interrupted as he saw something catch the corner of his eye. Slowing down to a stop, Taehyung turned to face the familiar building that was standing in front of him, the architecture mimicking that of an old antique style. The windows were big and a bright yellow lighting was pooling through the inside of the store. Toys of all kinds were lined up in the windows in a rearranged display.
Taehyung moved closer to that window of the toy store, scanning the dolls, trains, and gadgets alike before his eyes settled on a certain stuffed bunny, its sky blue sweater and grey hat trimmed with the same blue making it stand out from the rest.
He smiled fondly, reaching his hand out to touch the glass of where it stood. Almost like he could touch it if he let his hand sit there a little longer.
"A bunny? You don't look much like the stuffed bunny type."
Taehyung gasped, jumping back and eyes widening at the sudden voice that spoke from behind him, breaking him out of his small trance. Turning around, he was half expecting to see Jihun there, maybe having found Taehyung wandering about, but was even more astonished to see who it was.
It can't be.
Not in a million years.
Jungkook.
Taehyung couldn't believe his eyes, having to blink a few times to make sure that he wasn't seeing things.
This wasn't the first time that he accidentally mistook someone else as the boy.
But he was standing there. Right in front of him. His hair was different, a bit longer like his. He was wearing a simple black oversized t-shirt and black sweats, like he always had, with an unzipped black long coat over his shoulders to accommodate the chilly weather. And he still held the most precious smile, his eyes twinkling under the stars.
A/N: ootn/look for Jungkook -
"Jungkook?" Taehyung breathed out, his voice faint. His eyes can't be playing tricks on him now, especially now. Not when he was trying to move on for fuck's sake. Why the hell was his mind doing this?
The Jungkook, very similar, look alike widened his eyes. "Yeah? Have we met before? How do you know my name?" The boy cocked his head to the side a bit as he furrowed his eyebrows, having filled Taehyung up with another wave of emotions, threatening to crush his heart again.
He doesn't remember him.
Taehyung let out a small shaky breath. "So it really is you?" Taehyung asked, trying hard to keep tears from forming in his eyes and his voice from breaking.
Jungkook let out a light giggle, his eyes forming into small arcs as his bunny teeth showed. "Duh! Who are you?"
Taehyung held his breath, scanning the boy's big doe eyes.
Is he supposed to tell him the truth?
He didn't seem to remember Taehyung. What if this is one of those things, encounters, that you see in TV shows and movies that you're not supposed to mess up by telling the truth? Will he ruin Jungkook? Or is this just a dream-
"Ah! Right! I remember you!" Jungkook suddenly exclaimed, cutting Taehyung off from his thoughts.
"Y-you do?" Taehyung squeaked out, a mix of emotions taking over him at the chance that Jungkook might remember everything, everything between them, what happened-
"You're the guy I accidentally bumped into the other day!" Jungkook said, a sweet smile still on his face.
Oh.
Taehyung didn't know why, but his heart practically felt like it fell to his stomach at that.
Wait... that was him?
"Sorry about that by the way... I'm glad you're okay though!" Jungkook let out his bottom lip a little to form an empathic small frown, like he always did when he apologized.
Taehyung plastered on the best smile that he could to reassure the boy, though his brain still couldn't process what was happening and the rest of him felt numb, like he didn't know how to feel.
"It's fine." Taehyung mumbled softly, the two words being the only thing that Taehyung could muster from his throat.
He felt like he was in a different world, like his mind was separated from his body and the presence of reality. Taehyung didn't want to tear his eyes away from Jungkook's, afraid that he might crash back into the dark world again if he did.
"Well, it was nice to see you again." Jungkook softly smiled, his energetic aura still radiating all around him. "I have to go, but maybe see you again?"
Taehyung nodded slowly.
Don't go.
Jungkook flashed him one last grin and a wave of his hand before turning around and starting to head in the other direction.
Don't go, don't fucking go Jeon.
"Erm, d-do you have a number?" Taehyung asked suddenly, his voice raising a little in hopes that Jungkook would hear.
Taehyung's heart picked up as Jungkook stopped in his tracks and turned back around to face him.
"What?"
Eyes wide at how dumb he must have sounded to the boy, Taehyung fiddled with his hands a bit, stepping over himself as he reached into his pocket. "Um, like do you want to, uh, exchange numbers?" He raised his voice a little at the last part, unsure if this was the right thing to do. "I mean, only if you want to."
Jungkook walked over the distance between them, stopping just a few feet away before taking out his own phone from his coat pocket and handing it over to Taehyung with a small smile.
"Sure, never exchanged numbers with a stranger before, but you seem nice and chill so why not?"
'Stranger.'
Taehyung bit his lip slightly as he took Jungkook's phone, handing his own phone over as well, smiling softly to himself as he noticed that he still had the same iPhone from 10 years ago.
Not wanting to be a creep, he held himself back from looking through the boy's phone to see if he still had the same photos or messages. To even know if this was real and whatever happened was real.
Did he have them?
Taehyung desperately wanted to know, but headed straight for his contacts instead. He quickly typed in his number, hesitating for a bit at the contact name before simply putting down his full name.
'my tete,' what Kook used to have for his contact.
Taehyung ignored the reminder, saving the contact before handing the phone back to Jungkook who had just finished saving his number into Taehyung's phone too.
"Cool! Lemme text you!" Jungkook said brightly, typing a few things on his screen before looking up at Taehyung.
The notification sounded on Taehyung's phone, alerting him of the new message.
Jungkook
hi new stranger!☺️
Taehyung smiled fondly, though the message was simple.
He missed his messages.
Taehyung
got it!
Taehyung looked up from his screen to see Jungkook smile at his own phone before shutting it off and shoving it in his pocket again.
"Guess I'll stay in contact, Taehyung." Jungkook accentuated the last part, leaning slightly closer. Taehyung let out a soft chuckle before letting out a small "Yeah."
The boy looked down for a split second before putting his hands in his pockets, nodding, and turning around as he headed off his own way for real this time.
Taehyung let out a big breath that he didn't know he was holding as his eyes followed Jungkook, still captivated in what just happened.
What the fuck.
Before he could even process anything or text Jimin about it, Taehyung felt a tap on his shoulder, making him turn his head and forget for a split second as he saw Jihun appear in front of him.
"Jihun!" Taehyung exclaimed, mostly out of surprise.
"Hey," Jihun smiled warmly, adjusting his hands in his pockets as his shoulders scrunched up. He was only wearing a suit and dress pants with his shoes, no coat or anything to suppress him from the winter cold. "Didn't see you at the restaurant so I texted you, but I guess your phone was on silent or something."
Taehyung widened his eyes as he quickly went to check his notifications to see over seven unread messages from Jihun.
He was awful.
Sensing the other's worry, Jihun waved a hand in the air as he shook his head. "It's fine! I just saw you a few blocks away and came right over. Don't fuss about it." He grinned, his smile reaching his eyes and making them crinkle at the edges.
Taehyung felt better at that and nodded, folding his hands together near his chest before muttering a lame "Sorry~," biting his lip at the nervous wreck he was turning into.
His first date in ages and he was already messing it up.
Jihun nudged his shoulder against his playfully. "Hey, I told you it was fine." He said sweetly, heading next to him so that they were standing side by side. "Shall we?" He held his arm out for Taehyung, eyebrows furrowed as a goofy expression formed over his face.
Taehyung giggled at his act, playing along as he wrapped his hand around his bicep. "Yes, we shall." Taehyung mimicked Jihun's voice, furrowing his eyebrows to look the same as well.
Jihun let out a chuckle as he led the two of them through the street and to the restaurant, the night having only just begun.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Taehyung sighed as he threw his coat on top of the chair in front of his desk, flopping down on his bed as he spread his arms out and looked up at the ceiling.
Today was interesting. To put it in one way or another.
The rest of the night was pretty bland, with Jihun doing most of the talking as he naturally rambled through different topics. Taehyung tried his best to keep up and comment when he could, but his mind couldn't help but fill with thoughts of just Jungkook.
So many questions left unanswered.
To Taehyung, he felt as if the date went well enough. Jihun was a fine person, both physically and personally. He took the first steps to try and get to know Taehyung better and would try to converse based on his interests, which Taehyung thought was charming and thoughtful. Jimin really did do a good job when he went looking for Taehyung's match.
Taehyung was glad that things were going well with his date, maybe even a future long term partner. However, he still didn't know exactly how to feel, especially with Jungkook suddenly appearing out of nowhere.
He had to be imagining things right?
It was a pretty dark night, which could have concealed the other's face pretty well. Although, the vibrant lights from the shop did make it a bit luminous, enough for Taehyung to definitely see more than just an outline of a figure.
Curious, and cause it was almost twelve in the morning so why the hell not, Taehyung pulled out his phone. He opened up his messages, Jungkook being the last person he texted.
He hesitated, holding his thumb over the screen for a while, until he decided that it was worth taking risks for.
Taehyung
jungkook? u awake?
Taehyung tapped his finger nervously on the side of his phone as he waited for a response.
Tomorrow was Sunday, meaning that there might be a chance that he was staying up late on a weekend.
Jungkook
yeah why?
Jungkook
you need something?
Taehyung held his breath as he read the messages that he received not even thirty seconds later.
Guess he wasn't dreaming after all.
Panicked, and feeling as though he might have bothered him, Taehyung sent him a simple message.
Taehyung
oh uh it's nothing
Jungkook
hm ok cool
Jungkook
gn:)
Taehyung shut his eyes and groaned, conflicted with what he wanted to do.
He didn't want to just end the conversation right there.
He wanted to know more. About him.
Taehyung
hey u free tmr?
Jungkook
mhm!
Taehyung let out a small sigh, the message making him feel better in the sense that it didn't seem like Jungkook thought he was weird or anything. Well, through as much as you can assume through text.
Taehyung
great! u wanna get something tmr?
Taehyung
ik this rly good bakery
He winced a bit in nervousness, scared that maybe he went too far and that Jungkook might think he was a creep.
They only did 'meet' earlier today after all.
Jungkook
sure tae!
Jungkook
just lemme know where & i'll meet you there
Taehyung let out a breath that he was holding, relieved.
Even if he was extremely confused and this was most likely a dream, Taehyung decided that he might as well go along with it. It might bring back one of the hardest memories in his life, but at least he may gain some closure from this.
Taehyung texted Jungkook back with the details, signing off with a short gn and a sweet smiling emoji, before shutting his phone off and placing it on his dresser.
And with those comforting thoughts in mind, Taehyung closed his eyes, letting his mind drift off into a deep slumber.