Just Friends

Chapter 16

"Finally. What took you guys so long?"

"Yeah, we couldn't have been that far away from wherever you guys were," Yoongi adds, stepping up beside Namjoon.

"Sorry, Hyung. Lotta people in the crowd to move through," Taehyung mumbles, distracted by the sound of Jeongguk's boot steps, increasing as they approach the others.

Clearly he's trying to put some distance between them, but it seems so unnecessary, Taehyung feels. Calling back to their relationship before this week, and how if nothing had happened between them, if no feelings had been confessed, they'd likely be walking alongside each other, close, shoulder-to-shoulder.

In fact, the chances of Jeongguk showing up right now wearing Taehyung like a backpack would be even higher. That's just how close they've always been.

"We kinda also stopped and looked at some really nice pottery," Jeongguk adds apologetically, and Taehyung's nod endorses this. They really did stop briefly to look at someone's lovely handmade ceramics. That was right after Jeongguk told him his tongue tasted like chocolate. "And one person handmade them all—must have been hundreds of pieces! Namjoon-Hyung, did you see it?!"

"I think I know the place," Namjoon smiles, holding up a small brown paper bag with a fox for a logo and the words Sana's Wares sprucely printed on the front of it.

"That is the place!" Jeongguk gasps, eyes big and round at Taehyung while pointing to the bag.

"It sure is," Taehyung nods, smiling back at him, not paying attention to Namjoon, the freezing weather, or anything else important like the fact that he's standing in front of everyone, blatantly staring at his friend Jeongguk with pure adoration in eyes because he's just too damn cute when he's excited like this.

"I bought a little dish from them," Namjoon gleams, proud of his purchase as he shows it off. "For my watch."

"It's really pretty, Hyung," Jeongguk says and Namjoon thanks him while returning the item to its bag.

"So, why did we come here?" Taehyung asks when he realizes they're the only ones around to have left the vibrant atmosphere of the festival to travel to the very bottom of the town's hill where the ancient brick road dead-ends into a silent, unlit graveyard of an old shopping square. If that wasn't creepy enough, beyond it lies nothing but a dense patch of forestry, an ominous wall slowly spewing out ground level fog from between it's towering trees.

"Jimin was told there was some sort of special costume store here," Namjoon responds, wary with a flick of his head over his shoulder where, on the other side of a fountain in the middle of the square, lies a handful of dilapidated and run-down shops crammed and stacked on top of each other. All their windows and doors busted, broken into, or boarded up.

All except for one shop. The only one with a lit up open sign.

"Guys—I know how this looks, but this place is supposed to be legendary." Jimin attempts to convince his friends, but by the unimpressed looks on their faces, it doesn't appear to be going well.

His shoulders droop a little, thinking he's lost his case when suddenly he remembers one important detail—Bachelor week technically isn't over. "Hoseok wants to go, too!" He points out desperately, hopping over to his savior, Jung Hoseok.