Take on Me

12

¤ March: Hills to Climb
Tim Myers ↲

Underneath our wounds
Where our demons have their home
The truth can be exposed
There's a strength in letting go

▪︎ ▪︎ ▪︎

The next day, a series of knocks sounded at the door, indicating Taehyung had arrived. Juyeon raced through the house to be the first one to greet him.

"TaeTae!" She exclaimed, arms wide and a grin plastered on her face.

Jungkook walked up behind her as Taehyung sunk to his knees.

"I have a delivery for the lady of the house," Taehyung said seriously, hands clasped behind his back. "Are you Miss Juyeon?"

The girl eagerly nodded her head and outstretched her hands.

With some flourish, Taehyung whipped out the promised drawing and set it in Juyeon's hands. "Hang on tight to this, now. When I become a famous artist, you can tell all your friends you knew me first."

She beamed at him and flung herself into his unsuspecting arms. "Thank you!"

Taehyung returned her hug and looked up at Jungkook happily. "Hi."

Jungkook's face pulled into a smile as he took in the two. The sight was so wholesome and made his heart flutter. "Hi, Tae."

Juyeon extricated herself from Taehyung's arms and faced both boys head on. "TaeTae, have fun with Kookie. Kookie, don't do anything stupid that makes TaeTae think we're weird and never want to come over again."

"Alright, Juyeon," a new voice said. "Leave the poor boys alone."

Jungkook's mother joined the group by the front door, a smile on her face. She greeted Taehyung warmly. "Hi there, nice to meet you. I'm Jiho."

"Taehyung," the boy said with a mirrored smile.

"Alright, little girl. Let's go bake something." She warmly patted Juyeon on the head before leaving them be.

"Remember what I said, boys," Juyeon saluted, running to join her mother.

Jungkook and Taehyung awkwardly stood there for a few moments before speaking at the same time.

"So, the picnic?"

"Should we head out?"

Both laughed nervously, a weird tension somehow between them. It wasn't like this was a date. They were simply hanging out as friends - were they even friends? - and nothing more.

Jungkook blamed Juyeon for all of this.

"I brought some stuff," Taehyung announced, jerking his thumb backwards. "It's in my car."

"Right. I packed some things, too," the younger said, quickly running to his room to collect a bag.

Once he met Taehyung in the living room again, the elder cleared his throat. "Do you have a specific location in mind? I could drive us."

Jungkook shook his head as they headed outside. "The place I usually bring Juyeon is just a short walk away."

It took about ten or so minutes to get to Jungkook's desired location. In his opinion, this place was a hidden gem since no one else seemed to know about it. He was excited to show Taehyung, thinking the elder would be inspired by its beauty like he always was.

They came upon the site and Taehyung stopped in his tracks.

"It's the lake from your photo," he commented in awe, scanning the view. "I never knew something so stunning was so close by."