Last Girl Alive | Bangtan

86: Changing

"So?" Jungkook asks as Taehyung bows down in front of him. Shaking off his clothes, he exposes his back to the world, crouching forward. His wings spread out gradually from the scar-like cuts in his back that were barely visible otherwise. They spread out wide, expanding in front of Jungkook causing him to regard them yet once again with a sense of awe. Refusing to show that, however, he climbs onto Taehyung's back as Taehyung gets up.

"So what?" Taehyung asks, hoisting Jungkook up more clearly, adjusting the man in a way that he, himself, wouldn't get hurt.

"Why did you pick me?"

Taehyung looks up at the sky, like a new ship testing the waters before setting off. He turns his head sideways a little to speak to Jungkook as he lets his wings flap, raising him higher and higher against the ground. Jungkook grips a little tighter on Taehyung's shoulders, not used to this sort of transport yet it excited him at the same time.

"Why not?"

"Ah hyung," Jungkook whines a little, smiling. "Don't do that. I'm genuinely curious."

Taehyung ignores Jungkook for a while as he ascends higher and higher into the sky. The more up they go, the more they see. The cavern becomes a house, then a cottage, then a Lego house, then a small square and finally a dot in the distance. This fascinating transformation from big to small caused Jungkook's irises to widen as he looks all around him. He could see the horizon in a circle all around him for miles and miles and miles ahead. It was the sensation of being in an airplane but being seated outside on one of the wings  Jungkook lets out a little woohoo of happiness, like a child on a rollercoaster.

Taehyung hides his smile. "I picked you..." he begins, satisfied with Jungkook's response as he begins to glide through the air,"...because you looked pretty bummed out by whatever happened with Y/N, and being left out of the whole superpower thing and I don't know...you aren't the same Jungkookie anymore."

Hugging Taehyung's now, by wrapping his arms around his neck from behind Jungkook furrows his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Taehyung begins again tentatively, unsure as to how to say that kindly. "That these days you're trying to be so macho and smart and sort of manly; kind of pretending to be someone you aren't."

Jungkook pouts offended. "Are you saying I'm not those things?"

"Yes" Taehyung laughs at once, despite himself. "You aren't. You're Jungkook, the kid of the group. So accept that."

"Pfft," Jungkook leans onto Taehyung's shoulder. "What if I don't want to be that?"

"Why wouldn't you want to be that?" Taehyung responds suddenly, catching him off guard. Jungkook's mouth falls upon a little uncertainly. Taehyung presses his lips into a thin line, beating his wings harder so they fly higher to cover more ground. The wind caused from that movement rushes through Jungkook dotting goosebumps down his entire body. He shivers.

"I-I don't kn-"

"Because of Y/N?" Taehyung asks at once, hitting his vulnerable spot. He sighs, amused. "I don't think she's going to fall for you any harder if you try to act more...like whatever that is. She doesn't like you because of you're physically strong or-"

"Wait wait," Jungkook smiles a little wider. He pauses, a little shy. "You think she likes me?"

Taehyung cocks his head to the side as if not really sure. "I think she doesn't know whether to allow herself to like you or not."

"Huh?" Jungkook replies, wrinkling his nose. He pouts as he thinks, trying to understand what to Taehyung had actually said. "That's so complicated."