Little things - Taekook (ON HIATUS)

Prologue

"Hey, Jeon Jungkook!"

My head snaps round at the unexpected call of my name, and my eyes widen at the sight of someone I haven't seen for five years, ever since they moved from Busan to Daegu when we were young teenagers. "Jimin hyung! How are you?" I say, the tone of my voice cheerful enough that he knows that I'm happy to see him.

"I'm alright, what about you? What brings you to Daegu?"
"I'm okay, I'm here to study at Daegu university. I got a place here, somehow. I start in a few weeks, but I'm moving into my accommodation now so I know my neighbours and get a job."
"Did you-"
"No, I thought you moved to Seoul," I admit awkwardly, one hand on my suitcase and the other coming up to scratch the back of my neck.

"I did," he says brightly, laughing a little, "but then I changed my mind and came here. Where's your accommodation? In campus? Outside?"
"Outside. It's privately owned, I think. About a mile from the university campus, it was the cheapest I could get without leeching off the actual uni. That way I can live there the whole time," I say uncertainly, biting my lip. "I'm not entirely sure where I'm going, to be honest."

My old friend beams at me, nodding in understanding. "Do you want me to try and help you find it?" My eyes light up hopefully, and he chuckles a little. "Okay, I will. What's the address, district, street, whatever?"

I take out the letter I was given by the landlord, showing him the address, and he nods in understanding, smiling a little. "One of my best friends lives near there, he's a little different but he's a sweetheart." He frowns for a moment, scanning the writing on the paper in front of him again. "Wait a minute," he mumbles quietly, his eyes flicking from side to side faster than I've ever seen him move them before, "you're his neighbour!"

His eyes light up ever so slightly, curving upwards in a familiar eye smile that I haven't seen since I was about thirteen or fourteen. "That means I know exactly where to go. Come with me, I'll show you to your new home, and introduce you to Hobi hyung."

"Hobi hyung?" I ask, mystified, and then my brain catches up with the conversation, and I slap myself on the side of the head. "Of course," I mutter, rolling my eyes at how slow I'm being, "the neighbour. That would make sense."

My tiny tourist guide chuckles, shaking his head at me as I pick up the handle of my suitcase. "You haven't changed one bit, I see?" His expression falls a little at the fact that I only have one bag. "Is that everything you're bringing with you from home?"

I shrug, realising what he's looking at pretty quickly. Life at home is a little complicated, it's safe to say. My parents are stressed, my three siblings are chaotic and attention seeking, and the house is simply too small for the six of us. As they slowly grow older, I've slowly had to give them the things I was expecting to keep forever.

My childhood toys. My first bedroom. Some of the decorations I used to have. My sports trophies now belong to the oldest brother, who's about sixteen now, and he likes to claim that he earned them himself. He seems muscular enough, so people don't question him. But he's actually much weaker than my sisters. It's kind of pathetic, in a way, but that is up to him.

"The others have a lot of that now," I tell him simply, and he tilts his head. "Hand-me-downs, I guess. It's getting harder for us to be able to pay to get new stuff for every child we have, so my stuff gets passed down to save money." He nods in understanding, a sympathetic expression appearing as he begins to lead the way to the underground subway, glancing back every so often to make sure I'm still behind him.

It's an overwhelming place, even though it's not as big as Seoul, which I've only been to a few times now. I think it's just how new it is, how much I need to learn in order to live here for the next three or four years, how many friends I'm going to have to make in order to survive as I want to.