ʟᴜᴘɪɴ│ᴛᴋ [complete]

.35. ɪɴ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴡᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛ ... ᴛʜᴇ ɢɪʀʟ

Jungkook was alive.

This simple truth begot so many questions, the first of which was how in the world had he survived the fall from the speeding glider which, if Taehyung remembered correctly, was flying nowhere near the river when the fateful accident happened. He himself had lost consciousness soon after, regaining it only a short week later, tucked under the covers of a small hospital bed inside a white room looking out onto the sea. The place had smelled of bleach and sunshine. Yet no amount of disinfectant or natural light flowing through the sheer curtains could have overcome the permanent nightmare that had become reality once the knowledge that Jeon Jungkook was no longer part of this world had settled in.

Sure, he had been thankful for the autopilot function that had proven to be a life-saving option. But he had also cursed it.

In inverse proportion to the gloom that had plagued Taehyung's existence since he had stirred awake from his coma, the elation at the news of Jungkook's miraculous survival which took over all of his five senses was positively exhilarating for it gave him a purpose. A reason to get out of bed in the morning and set in motion his plan to reunite with the man whose absence by his side was simply unfathomable.

Because the follow-up question to how was — inevitably — why. Why was Taehyung in Riomaggiore while Jungkook was in London? Why had he wasted all his time oyster picking when he should have been figuring out ways to return home? And why in Lupin's name did his glider look like it had flown to hell and back?!

"You crash-landed," Manuel reminded him, guessing by Angelo's crestfallen face that he had not expected to find his sailplane in broken kit form.

"If you want to leave so badly, then you could always take the train," added the young fisherman who was trying hard to sound aloof and unaffected.

"I can't afford it." Which was a lie because it would only have taken one call — two at most — to get funds from his British bank account wired to his current location. But Taehyung suspected that after the little stunts he pulled three months back, his good name would have been tainted, his mansion put under surveillance, and his financial assets, frozen.

Manuel scratched the back of his neck before hesitantly hinting at the fact that, despite having zero knowledge of engineering, he was more than willing to assist Angelo with the fixing of this "flying machine thing".

"I'll help!" The bold and bright voice startled both men who thought they were alone in the fishing shed/storage for the rusting wreck. When they turned around, all they could see was a dark silhouette against daylight, swaying back and forth on its heels.

"I know a thing or two about DIY," said the lean shadow who took a tentative step forward. "And I brought food." As if to prove its good faith, the shaded figure lifted its arms which held a rather bulgy picnic basket.

"Carina! What are you doing here?!" asked Manuel who had finally recognized the intruder thanks to the girl's proverbial overalls and unmistakeable boy crop.

"I'm here to feed Angelo because I'm sure he left this morning without a proper breakfast in his tummy," she replied drily.

"What about me?" retorted the other, pulling a long face.

"What about you?" she shot back, unfazed.

Watching the amusing interaction with knowing eyes, Angelo was reminded of the reason why he had developed a soft crush for the girl back when he was still a clueless teenager. His existence at the time was a riddle he couldn't even begin to solve while she seemed to have already figured out everything there was to life.

"Caffè?" Carina had extracted a vacuum flask from the pannier and was presently pouring some caffeine goodness into a metal mug.

"Yes please." Angelo beamed at the smell of freshly brewed espresso which soon filled the otherwise stuffy air of the old shack.

"Cornetto?"

"You know me so well, Carina," teased the young man who had a soft spot for Italian croissants.

She shrugged in response, hiding the blush creeping up on her cheeks behind her own cup of morning coffee. The girl must have been quite stirred for she did not react when Manuel sunk his hand into the breakfast basket in search of some biscotti or whatnot.

As you must know, full bellies have the power to deter any objection. Which is why it was silently settled that the three of them would work on restoring the shattered flying device, not knowing if that was even feasible.

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