area 52 | vk.

-8

jungkook breathed out, "okay. let's do this."

he pulled out his measuring tape and stood in front of taehyung. they looked at each other for an awkward 3 seconds before jungkook instructed the alien, "dude, your arms. raise them up."

the alien complied stiffly, and jungkook wrapped v's waist in measuring tape in an instant. he whispered the numbers to himself and jotted them down quickly. he was efficient. he ceased to waste any more time.

the alien merely looked at the human and blinked in confusion, "what, are you doing, human?"

"measuring you, duh," jungkook replied, "i need your measurements so i can get the garments to fit on you."

"you know, i can give them to y-"

"shh," jungkook shushed v and carried on, jotting down the remaining measurements.

the alien closed his mouth, just letting the human finish.

"okay, you can, go do whatever you want now. i'll start sewing." jungkook said, shooing v blatantly before laying out his fabrics.

rather than leaving, the alien picked up jungkook's journal and read the measurements.

"hey, i said you can go, go sit down and watch tv or something," jungkook spoke with a pin between his teeth.

"these are not accurate."

"what?" jungkook faced v.

"the waist is 30.901 inches, not 31." v tilted his head, staring at his current form through his cool advanced alien screen.

"th-then why didn't you just give me the measurements in the first place? jungkook asked, baffled at his alien friend.

"i was going to, but then you shhhhhhhed me." v blinked, copying—almost mocking jungkook.

jungkook paused and closed his eyes, mouth agape and index finger in the air as if to say something,

"also, what exactly is a shhhhhh? am i supposed to leave? stop what i'm doing? my stars, you are all so complicated-"

"it just means be quiet." jungkook sighed, "measurements don't always have to be exactly accurate, cause there's a little margin of error for when it won't fit correctly, so," he snatched the measuring tape entangled in the alien's fingers away from him, "and we need a lil' bit of allowance too, it's just how it works in tailoring. okay?"

"understood." v pressed his lips together, putting his hands behind his back.

"wouldn't want to be stuck in a piece of clothing, would you?"

the alien—now sat behaved on the couch—pressed his lips together and shook his head, looking at the floor.

jungkook ruffled the tufts of v's hair and giggled. "good. alright, just stay there and.." he grabbed the remote, tossing it skillfully in the air and catching it before turning the television on and tuning to a random news channel, "just watch that."

v sat astonished at the flying remote right before his eyes only seconds ago, now thrown by jungkook on his lap. his eyes were still wide like discs at the action.

he held the remote in his hands and flipped it, catching it almost the same way jungkook did. jungkook took a quick glance to make sure the alien wasn't trying to swallow the black plastic rectangle and let out a little chuckle.

the alien repeated it multiple times until it was practically perfect, but then the tv flashed and v jolted at the sudden action.

now two men were speaking loudly to each other, their faces completely red like how jungkook did when he was facing that other human jimin.

"what are they doing?" v stared at the two, "why are they shouting at each other?"

jungkook laughed as he hemmed a piece of pinned fabric through his sewing machine, "are you watching that new drama? oh, they're probably mad at each other."

"mad?" v rocked back and forth on his seat, very invested at the two men screaming their heads off on the television screen.

"yeah. angry. they're probably fighting over some girl, and one of them's probably all rich and arrogant and the other's poor. very cliché, it happens almost all the time in dramas." jungkook rolled his eyes as he flipped the garment over, getting ready to sew on the meticulous details.

v nodded slowly, keen in observing the story.

jungkook rolled in his mannequin and fit the garment on.

"jungkook." v called.

"ah—why so suddenly," jungkook looked up from his work, "what?"

v extended his neck as he clutched tightly onto his duck plushie, "who wins?"

the designer tilted his head, "what do you mean?"

"who is the better human? they keep fighting over it." he rested his chin on the fluffy cushion.

"ah," jungkook thought for a second, then shrugged, "probably the poor guy."

the alien slowly turned his head to jungkook's direction and furrowed his brows, asking "why?" in the most baffled way.

he raised his arms in surrender, "i—you know...love? the poor guy has nothing else to give but love, so if the girl isn't superficial, then she'd probably pick him."

v was dumbfounded. "why do humans keep prioritizing their hormones more than what would benefit them physically? i do not understand this at all." he was getting frustrated.

"that other human can literally provide all the currency she needs to purchase everything she wants! why does she go to the human who can't give her anything?" he let out breaths of exasperation.

the latter completely dropped his tools to rub the alien's shoulder, "there, there. it's just entertainment, it's not completely real." he giggled.

"if anything, this is the complete opposite of entertainment."

"well, you did say you observed humans your whole life. you already have a weird concept of entertainment, v."

"observing humans was rather boring, actually. you all do almost the exact same thing every single day."

jungkook's eyebrows furrowed, "but isn't it kinda like your job?"

silence fell upon them for a little while. v clutched his cushion tighter, "i hate it,"

"i hate it a lot."

"then why would you want to go back? t-to area 51, i mean."

v looked down. "i cannot, survive alone. even with how much i hate, being.." he didn't finish, "i cannot stay, i-i cannot be alone."

"why? you aren't, are you?"

v refused to reply and kept his eyes glued to the tv screen.

jungkook nodded once and pressed his lips together, "i'll just go, finish this garment. just stay and keep watching, okay?"

"please stay, trust me." jungkook clasped his hands together, "the last thing i want is losing my partner and i can't have that. i literally have no hope in this project without you. okay, i got it, i won't leave you alone, like ever. get ready to be tired of my face, wait," he scrambled.

v kept silent but one thought persistently knocked the sides of his brain.

"just wait, okay? i'm almost done! i won't leave you then, just—" and jungkook kept talking.

but his mind was pleading too.

how i wish that was how it worked.