Where Love Locks

"There you are," Taehyung said quietly, almost fondly. "You always cry when you're overwhelmed."
Jungkook swallowed. "You said you just wanted to talk."
Taehyung smiled.
"I did. I do." He walked closer, slow, deliberate, holding something behind his back. "But you never listen when I talk normally."
Jungkook's chest tightened. "I told you no."
"Yes." Taehyung nodded, as if agreeing to a harmless fact. "You did."
He stopped in front of him, close enough now that Jungkook could smell his familiar scent-clean, warm, wrong in a place like this.
"I told you I wanted to date you," Taehyung continued softly. "You laughed. You avoided me. You pretended not to see what was obvious."
Jungkook's voice cracked. "This isn't okay."
Taehyung tilted his head, studying him like art. "You're shaking."
Then-slowly-he revealed what he was holding.
A rose.
Large. Deep red. Perfect.
"I brought this for you," Taehyung said, extending it with both hands. "Because dates should have flowers."
Jungkook stared at it, tears slipping free despite his effort to stop them. His body felt heavy, pinned by Taehyung's gaze rather than anything physical.
"This isn't a date," Jungkook whispered.
Taehyung's smile didn't fade. If anything, it softened further-dangerously tender.
"It is for me," he said. "I waited a long time to sit across from you like this. To have your attention. To finally stop sharing you with the world."
He leaned in just slightly-not touching, never touching.
"You don't see it yet," Taehyung murmured. "But you will. You always calm down when it's just us."
Jungkook's tears fell silently now.