a/n ew what even are these chapters smh. How was your day? I had a spider crawling on my laptop keyboard and I didn't realise. ;-; But it was a tiny bby one so it's all chill.
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Rays of ochre sunlight tumble out of the mess hall windows and explode into the dusty dreary hall. Long wooden ceiling beams; never-ending rows of tables decked in faded candy red table clothes, matted and showing signs of wear; wide gaping windows; obsolete peach patterned, paper-thin curtains; damp patch on the ceiling that always drips water; malodorous, worn down wooden benches (with that creeky spot at the end).
"Taehyung?"
The boy in mention pauses his conversation with his friend and turns around, leaning his weight onto his back foot. He's grown, edging on five foot 8. His hair is brown like ripples of chocolate that curls softly over his forehead in loose bangs. An infectious smile grows on his face when he recognises the speaker.
"Hyeri, you look cute today," he comments, almost purring. He slides next to her, shooting a subtle wink to his friend who he was previously talking to, and smoothly slings an arm around her petite frame. A wave of cheap lemon and tangerine overwhelms him and a hint of something too sweet. Unconsciously he wrinkles his nose.
The bleached blonde haired girl rolls her eyes playfully, "You say that to everyone." Her lips practically ooze lip gloss and a tinkering laugh tumbles out of her lips, light and airy like a delicate petal of a daisy falling onto the ground.
His friend from before, Jimin, injects into the scene. "He never says it to me," he grumbles under his breath, he pouts and runs a small ruddy hand through his hair. Taehyung shoots him a look. "Maybe if you were cute I would," he mocks, fingers poking at Jimin's porcelain cheeks.
Jimin pouts and shoves him playfully (Taehyung nearly collapses at the force but decides not to tell Jimin because 1) he likes to think he's a strong buff laddie 2) he'll get endlessly laughed at). "I'm fucking buff," Jimin states, deepening his voice. The small boy extends an arm in front of Taehyung and Hyeri and clenches it, porcelain skin wrapped over coils of muscle.
With a slender pale beige hand, Taehyung grips the skin. His bicep is tough and firm under his touch like barrels of beer and stronger then Taehyung's own scrawny scarecrow arms. "What muscles? " Taehyung asks, eyebrows raised and feigning sincerity. "Jimin I told you—stop eating so many sweets," he continues, tut-tutting afterwards like a scolding mother.
Jimin opens his mouth to protest but Taehyung beats him to it and gingerly places one finger over his lips and shushes his friend. He pokes the arm and winces when his finger fucking bends, because—there is no fucking fat to poke. "You're getting rings of fat," he reproaches, voice naturally deep, contrasting with his rangy, pale physique.
"You're like a tree."
Jimin glares at him, coral pink lips pouting. He shoves Taehyung out of the way and Taehyung tumbles forward, crashing into a someone in front of them.
"I'm a smexy tree," Jimin mutters faintly under his breath, too quiet for anyone to hear.
Jimin's gaze shifts to Hyeri instantly, "Hey Hyeri." He grins, cheeks bunching up and the fair skin around his Korean, warm brown eyes crinkling. Faintly Hyeri notes that he resembles an excited nine-year-old who just received a birthday present. Adorable.
She smiles back, friendly and open and watches as Jimin rakes a hand through his hair. For the second time. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that loser, Taehyung's always been special," Jimin comments friskily, clearly joking.
"Fucking watch it," the boy that Taehyung crashed into snarls, his voice clipped and sharp as falling sleet. He's the same height as Taehyung but he seems to tower over him, disposition muscular and menacing. Sinister. His eyes are dark pools of murky brown, wickedly glinting burnt copper in the light.
Taehyung's eyebrows shoot up and involuntarily he flinches. Furrowing his brows, Taehyung wracks his brain as he tries to recall the boy's name: Johny jungoo? Jeon Junglebook? He smiles sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed.
"Sorry dude, my mistake," he apologises, forcefully relaxing his body and offering a meek and genuine smile. The other boy rolls his eyes, helix ear piercing coruscating raven black in the sunlight's gentle grip. Jungoo? turns around abruptly and jams a pair of old tattered earphones into his ears.
Taehyung cocks his head, baffled. Rude. He shakes his head and turns to walk back to Jimin and Hyeri.
"He was a bit of a douche," Jimin comments, having watched the whole scene. Hyeri hums sweetly in agreement and softly brushes against him. "Who even is he?" Taehyung asks, eyes rigidly fixated on the boy in front of them. The boy saunters forward, his gait a leisurely prowl and it reminds Taehyung of the tigers he'd seen on the shitty, bad quality box-like tv the orphanage owned—lazy yet powerful.
Jimin shoots him a surprised look. "He came to the orphanage when he was like—" Jimin squints into the distance, eyes pensive, "11? 10?" he answers. "He's Jungkook, a bit mysterious really—the boy who always sits in the corner and watches everyone— and I mean everyone," Jimin adds on, voice neutral. He quirks a thin eyebrow, "I'm surprised you don't know him, you practically know everyone."
Taehyung shrugs.
Hyeri winks at the boys, her eyelashes long and coated in slightly clumpy mascara, "He's hot." Jimin flinches. Taehyung laughs and brotherly hooks a lean arm around him."10 out of 10 would smash," she continues, smiling innocently at the looks the boys give her, oblivious to Jimin's flinching.
Jimin fake gags.
"How does he have piercings and earphones? The matron doesn't let anyone out of the orphanage" Taehyung ruminates out loud, cocking his head to the side and letting his brown hair brush softly against his face. Jimin chews his bottom lip as he scrutinises Jungkook, "Who fucking knows."
He stops and looks at Hyeri. The small boy squints, eyes trailing Hyeri's delicate eyelashes and her glistening, lipgloss lips(from a tube called Lipglass). "How have you got makeup?" he asks, confused. His eyebrows furrow and he bites the skin of his lips.
She winks at him. Roughly, she jerks her head to Jungkook. "From him," she replies with an undertone of smugness. Absentmindedly she coils a few strands of bleached blonde hair around a thin finger. Jimin frowns.
"So you know him...?" he trails off, voice squeaky. Beside him, Taehyung sniggers, wrapping a slender hand around his mouth as he laughs. Jimin lightly (not lightly) perkily punches his shoulder.
She twists her lips, thinking. "Not that much, I noticed him not around a lot and figured that he was sneaking out. I asked him if he could get me some make-up, you know—like the ones on the tv. He jerks his chin at me like—"have you got any money," and I do, so I hand him some and then he's all intimidating like—"You better not tell anyone," and I nod my head because he looks like he could beat me up and fry me. And then tomorrow he slips me some makeup and we're all Gucci," she explains, imitating his voice in a deep tone, like he surfs for a living and stays at the gym 24/7 and makes misogynistic comments at hot girls.
Taehyung sighs. "So he's a bit of a mystery." Hyeri agrees dreamily. "I'm a bit of a mystery too!" Jimin announces, a bit too loudly with his eyebrows downturned and lips jut into an angry pout. Taehyung explodes into infectious laughter, eyes bright and happy, his lithe frame quakes and he clutches Jimin's shoulder. Hyeri looks at him weirdly.
