A simple man and a magical fairy form an odd pairing, one that was never meant to be, but somehow came to be.
"How about we take a break? You've been reading for a while now." Taehyung grinned as he flicked the boy's chin before getting up.
It was a...
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Closing the book and setting it back in his bag, the elder stands to his feet and undresses.
In nothing but his trousers, he approaches the water's edge and slowly makes his way into the water with a sigh of relief; the chill of the spring easing the heat of his arthritis.
Once he's waist-deep, he leans backward and lets his body submerge in the water. His eyes never left the sky, taking note of how the sun seems like it's going to set soon.
He'll have to leave soon too, but for right now, the water is his solace.
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The wind tousled Jungkook's hair, brushing against the skin down the back of his neck along with the tanned fingers that twisted its ends.
In his lap was a book. The same storybook he had opened three weeks ago and beside him the Fae who lent it to him.
They were sitting shoulder to shoulder in the grass just outside the willow, Taehyung listening gleefully as the younger read from it.
With every stutter, he encouraged him, and on every page he praised him.
Jungkook was full of mirth from the reassurance that he was doing well. His mother would've been proud of how far he'd come in such little time.
He had practiced reading through the book every day and every night for the last few weeks, using his memory coupled with what he learned from the short lessons he had with Taehyung in the forest to navigate the sea of words.
Jungkook was learning, and learning quickly thanks to patient tutelage from an exceptional teacher,
"And finally reunited, their–their love once again thr-thrived....The End" He read, about to turn to the next page when the collection of literature was taken from his hands, "Wha-"
"How about we take a break? You've been reading for a while now." Taehyung grinned as he flicked the boy's chin before getting up.
It was a habit of his that began as a simple tease for his mishaps, but now it was something endeared by them and no one else, "You must be parched from all this reading."
"Alright then...What do you have in mind?" Jungkook inquired, raising a brow at the faerie's sudden proposition, "-That we have a drink?" He watched as the older got up to return the book to its shelf within the willow, disappearing for only a moment.
Upon his return, the boy noticed the woven crown of the honeysuckles on Taehyung's head and beamed.
"Something like that." Taehyung, blushing ever so slightly, offered him a hand and Jungkook took it without question, intertwining their fingers as he followed the fae's lead.
