UNDER HIS SPELL { taekook }

一 ; １０

It was absurd. Everything Hoseok had explained to them was beyond Jeongguk's limited comprehension. Of course, he wanted to be there for him, wanted to help his friend out in anyway that he feasibly could, but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to do such a thing within the circumstances Hoseok had presented to him. He was terrible at emotional support, and knew nothing of gangs. Just trying to brainstorm the methods in which he could be useful made his head hurt.

A long sigh left the boy's lips as he strolled slowly down the streets of Seoul. After their lunch at the cafe, Jimin and Hoseok had left to a class they both shared; and as for Jeongguk, he killed some time at his favorite bookstore where he'd been engrossed in his thoughts the whole time with everything his hyung had told him. Now, as he returned towards the school campus to meet up with them again, he felt defeated. In the end he couldn't think of a single way to help. Not with the fight, not with Hoseok's sick mother, not with anything.

How useless.

Upon reaching one of the many campus entrances, Jeongguk looked up to see that the outside benches, as well as the general area, were practically vacant of any students. The sun was nearly done staggering down the horizon, and it seemed most students were either confined in their classes still or already scattering their way back home. As the sky began to dim, Jeongguk spotted two guys waving each other goodbye in front of a school building. He paused for a moment, watching as the two then parted ways, and bit his lip after recognizing the familiar man now striding down the concrete pavement alone. Jeongguk took in a deep breath and built up some courage before finally calling out to him.

He'd been dying to see him, after all.

"Hyung!" Jeongguk hurried closer towards the man, Kim Taehyung, who looked up at him with a squint of his eyes. "Hey! Uh.. Did- Did you just finish a class?"

Taehyung stood still, brow raised attentively. "Ah, Jeon. Hello," he soon responded, and it was then that Jeongguk noticed the cigarette placed at his lips, the male reaching to remove it momentarily. "That's correct. I just finished my nap time."

Jeongguk cracked a small smile before quickly faking a stern expression. "Classes aren't meant for you to doze off in, you know."

"They're not?" the man joked, and there was a brief pause before the two chuckled softly, their breaths emitting through the cold air in frozen puffs.

"Well I'm glad I ran into you, I..." Jeongguk looked away shyly, "... I wanted to thank you for yesterday." His eyes enlarged and he lowered his head while he felt his cheeks heat up. It seemed this man's strong presence still made him nervous. "N-not for the, uh... You know. But- but for helping me avoid Seojun and all, um..."

Taehyung looked at him, and Jeongguk found that as always he had a hard time reading his expression.

"Oh?" the older hummed, lifted the cigarette back to his lips to take a drag, stalling the moment they were in. Eventually came a response. "Right, well it's no problem, really."

Jeongguk smiled with flushed cheeks, and Taehyung watched as the boy then reached to pull out his phone. "Do you, um... Is it okay if I asked you for your number? You know, just for... in case of anything?"

Taehyung's brow rose, and Jeongguk thought he'd seen a flash of confusion in his eyes. He breathed in the still air, held out the device for the man to take while trying to stabilize his shaky hands. As the older reached to take the boy's phone into his grip, an awkward smile formed at the corner of his lips. "Sure thing, Jeon." Jeongguk watched him input numbers onto his phone and hand the device back to him. "There you go."