The Theft (taekook)

27. A withering petal

"You adore her, don't you?"

"W-what.. H-hyung haha.. what are y-you.. Is it that evident?" Namjoon bit his nail sitting up hastily from the ground to look up at the older who was laying back on the garden bench.

One leg extended over the armrest and one flexed with a hand on the knee, Jin never averted his gaze from up above. Head resting on his folded arm he observed the bright blue sky.

A boundless canvas, colossal spreading to miles far beyond the eyesight can accommodate. Colors of assortments of all sorts but the most in the foreground was Jin's shade.
The blue. Blue in his melancholy.

"Jin hyung! Tell me!" Namjoon whined now vigorously shaking the man's arm on his knee, still sitting on the ground.

"Lord! Calm down." he scolded, eyes finally preclude scrutinizing the sky and turn to the worried younger. "It's not obvious, I'm just too good of an observer."

Namjoon nodded in return and sighed now resting his head on Jin's leg; elder reaching out to brush his fingers through the buoyant brown hair that fall on his face in the process.

"Well, if you are a good observer of these things, you must also have seen who she is exorbitantly fond of."

"I'm not a good observer of these things, Joonie. I'm just a good observer of you." mumbling nimbly he espied at the flowerbed beside them. "If Taehyung has to leave I shall take it upon myself to nourish his garden."

"Do you envisage him winning, hyung?"

"The boy has given his heart and soul, every piece of his body into the training for the last three weeks, Joon. If he still tastes vanquish, I might annihilate my belief in the almighty."

"That boy, Jungkook, I really hate him if truth be told, yet I can't help but be grateful to him. He gave us a Taehyung who talks for himself, believes in himself.. Loves himself."

"I could not agree more with you. He called the queen 'witch' to her face! Can you believe that?! I almost fainted when Hoseok told me about that day."

Both of them cracked up reminiscing the faddish tale of the meeting from three weeks ago. No matter how egregious the servants found Taehyung to be for the other things, they revere him a hero just for that one remark on the queen.

"And if you see the starry smile that decorates when I serve him his food everyday. It's spellbinding! I have no idea what the scarred-man did besides the betrayal, but it must be something right to give that result."

The older nodded, reaching out his hand to pluck a turf and mindlessly twirling it between his finger and thumb when the younger broke the silence again.

"You."

"Hm?"

"The one she is exorbitantly fond of.. It's you."

"What? You're delusional, Joonie! Why shall anyone be fond of me in that way?" cocking his head to the side Jin elicited a mocking tone.

"No hyung, you're ignorant! She carries her heart on her sleeve for you. Even the moths on bamboo plants can see it, and the bamboo plants are three kingdoms away!"
Namjoon chuckled as dry as the fields in Arauna that year.

Jin sat up straight aghast by this new information. And not in a good way.

The glum smile on Namjoon disappeared suddenly as he frowned at the older. "Wait! What do you mean? Why would anyone not be fond of you? If you were a girl, I would be head over heels for you!"

It was a sentence like lemon juice. With all the ingredients that Jin craved for, just a particular tinge a tad bit too much for him. It was too sour.
'If you were a girl.'