my pea sized brain can't hold all the insufferable scenarios I think of, so I'm going to put them here in a bid to stop ruining my characters lives lmao
January 2021
First place in The House of ARMY Awards (Jungkook Category) for 'ox//xo'
inspiration: my lovely lil group of (wonderfully talented) wattpad writer friends do a weekly prompt challenge, and this was the prompt:
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︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
"Quick, quick, slow. Quick, quick, slow," repeats the familiar shrill of your dance instructor. "Nina, back straight! Namjoon, footwork!"
The village hall you're in is musty, dust particles imitating you as they dance in the sunlight that beams through the wide windows. It's a Saturday morning, and there's no place you'd rather be less. You're dancing with your best friend, Nina, because there are only three boys in your class of twelve.
There's Jimin, the star student; Namjoon, whose mother forced him to attend because she thought it would be good for him; And then there's Taehyung, their best friend.
He's only there because he has nothing better to do when his only buddies are too busy learning the paso-bloody-doble to hang out with him.
It's spring, and school is in full swing. They're growing, and as time lurches forward, they find themselves with less and less chances to enjoy one another's company.
And so Taehyung's shoes tap along the varnished parquet all rather naturally, much to the dismay of Namjoon, who really is trying his very hardest.
"Now! Turn!" Your instructor commands. "And switch!"
You throw Nina a look - one that she gives you right back - which you both understand to mean 'ugh'. Stupid switch you always think, and refrain from rhyming it with how you feel about your instructor. You don't want to hold hands with random people from across the village as you Cha Cha Cha across the dance floor. You just want to spend time with your best friend.
The same can be said for Taehyung, but when the switch happens, he finds himself dancing with yet another random girl - Nina.
He glances over - checking who he stole her from - and when your eyes meet, he stumbles on his footwork. Nina giggles, and he looks down all bashful and pink in the cheeks. When he looks up, he's looking at Nina. She giggles again, and he gets a little shy, but he starts dancing with her like a duck to water. Something about them just seems to... work.
You suppose you should have seen it coming when the next week he asks to dance with Nina again.
At least, that's what you assume he's doing when he approaches the pair of you. She kind of just hops up and drags him away before he even gets a chance to ask. When they reach an empty spot on the dance floor, Taehyung glances back over to you and purses his lips. His eyes are soft, and so wonderfully brown that you think he must taste like chocolate sundaes on a hot summer's afternoon.
You're 15 when you watch from the sidelines as rosettes are pinned to their clothes. Taehyung's in a suit - dark, a little too big for him. His bowtie is green. A congratulations gift from you, given on the night they smashed through regionals.
Nina is in a matching green dress. Pretty, hair pinned back, perfect. Just like always.
The village hall has been swapped for a convention centre in the heart of the big city. They've just won third place. Jimin and his partner snagged first. Namjoon didn't make the top twelve. He tried, though.
You're beaming, outrageously proud of their achievement - but when Taehyung's eyes find yours in the crowd, his smile falters. It softens after a moment, and he nods. You nod back. Smile. Whisper 'well done'. He grins, now, and Nina notices his line of sight on you, so she waves. You wave, too, but you'll tell her well done later.
When you're 18, in a bar in the heart of town, Nina tells you that Taehyung tastes like vodka lemonade and watermelon chewing gum. You don't see him that evening. He sends you a text as the sun begins to rise:
'Didn't see you tonight. Missed you tearing up the dancefloor.'
There's a smile on your lips, though you really wish there wasn't. You both know you've got two left feet. It was always Nina's thing.
You send him back a picture of the chocolate sundae you're nursing, and tell him that you hate watermelon.
He doesn't understand, and assumes you're drunk. You kind of are, legs slung over the side of a sitting room chair in your family home. You mean what you say. Detest watermelon. Loathe it. Had been eating it the day before without a care in the world, but feel sick just thinking about it now.
You've loved the idea of Taehyung tasting like chocolate sundaes since you were a kid - but now you know otherwise.
It's ruined your perception of him.
Although it hasn't really.
Not in the slightest.
For when he shows up at your 21st birthday party without a gift, but a bottle of chocolate liqueur instead, you have to fight yet another smile.
"For all those sundaes," he says.
See, it's become a bit of a ritual.
Every time those pretty lips of his end up on Nina's - and he pretends to care about the fact you aren't around - a picture of a chocolate sundae lands in your message thread to him.
He still doesn't understand it.
Though he does smile when he sees them on menus, and he thinks about how much he'd love one whenever summer comes around. He never indulges, mind you.
Never.
Not until a few years later, when it's the only option for dessert in a gilded reception room, back in your hometown.
He doesn't think it's apt. It's autumn, not summer. Far too chilly.
It's been close to two decades since he first saw you dance - and you're still just as shit - but there's something beautiful about it, now. Maybe it's the flowers in your hair. Maybe it's the way you're looking at your groom beneath a pink sunset, fairy lights glittering above you. Maybe it's your dress.
Or maybe it's the way your eyes catch the light as you glance over towards him. He's holding your bouquet - Nina had palmed it off on him - and he nods. Smiles. The taste of chocolate is bitter in his mouth.
And only now does he really understand.
Because truthfully, he had wanted it to be you in that dreary village hall all those years ago, too.
God damn it, he really had.
Taehyung knows he shouldn't, but when he's had a few too many drinks, and your groom is off entertaining his friends, he sits beside you. You're watching your wedding party from the back of the room with a smile on your face.
When you look at him, you know - finally - he tastes like a chocolate sundae, now. You smile.
"Should've been you," he says so quietly it's almost a whisper.
You hate that you understand what he means. Hate that you nod. Hate that your heart beats faster now than it did when you said 'I do.'
