“Taehyung, are you sure that you don’t want a ride with me? We're going to the same place after all.”

“No thanks, Dad.” Taehyung declined, “I’ll drive myself - I need the practice anyway.”

“Alright then, but don’t forget that I’ll be examining your progress today, so you better be exceptional this time.” His father said as he bid him goodbye and left the house.

Taehyung rolled his eyes and sneered behind his back, absolutely pissed at having to engage in conversation with his dad. He didn’t even like to see him most days, and now he was going to have to cope with the old man breathing down his
neck the entire time.

This was going to be a long-ass day. (A/N: Uh and that’s a long-ass ride)

●

Taehyung trudges into the tennis courts with complete, overwhelming apathy, ready to turn around and take himself back home already, despite it only being 9:45am.

He's half expecting the kid from yesterday (he forgot his name) to be standing there already, and is pleasantly surprised to be met with the expectant face of none other than Jeon Jeongguk.

“J-Jeongguk?” Taehyung asks in wild confusion.

“You’re a whole 15 minutes late.” Jeongguk teases, “I demand overtime.”

“Why are you here? I thought you weren’t going to help me anymore?”

“I’m not.” Jeongguk deadpans, smile disappearing completely, “I only came to ask you where Jimin and Yoongi were.”

“Oh.” Taehyung says, and his whole body visibly sags with disappointment.

Jeongguk barks out a laugh.

“You fucking nerd. You should’ve seen your face.” He snorts, “Of course I'm here to help you. You're not gonna get rid of me that easily.”

Taehyung smiles genuinely at him, putting his racquet on the ground and stretching his arms out for a hug.

“Dear god, don’t start fucking crying again.” Jeongguk groans, pretending to be annoyed at the hug. He pats Taehyung’s head twice and then pries him away. “Go back to being bitter and angry; this is weird.” He teases.

“I promise I'll never do anything so awful ever again. I’ll learn to manage my anger a lot better. I swear.” Taehyung says seriously.

“Yeah yeah yeah,” Jeongguk shrugs, “Let’s just get to the pitch before they’re all gone.”

And Taehyung has never been happier to call him an idiot.

●

Practice was actually quite nice. Enjoyable, one might dare to say.

Taehyung had known he’d missed Jeongguk, but he wasn’t aware of the extent until they had fallen back into their old rhythm so easily. As dramatic as it sounded, he didn’t feel as empty as he had before and he found himself not constantly checking the time on his Fitbit and actually immersing himself into his practice. It was nice to bicker and squabble and laugh at stupid jokes, and it was even nicer as Taehyung loosened up a bit more and began telling a few (albeit awful) jokes of his own.

“What do you call a factory that sells decent products?” He asks as he tosses the ball up for a serve. He knows he shouldn’t be talking but he can’t help it.

“What?” Jeongguk responds.

“A satisfactory.” Taehyung laughs heartily, allowing the ball to drop to the ground so that he can laugh properly. Jeongguk stares at him dryly.

“Really.” He asks, straight faced.

“What?” Tae asks, still giggling.

“That joke was so crap.”

“Really? All of my friends think it’s funny.” Tae responds.

“And remind me again how many friends you have?”

Taehyung scowls and lobs a tennis ball at Jeongguk’s head in retaliation, but the ball boy skilfully catches it with one hand, not even needing to take a step backwards. He tosses it back as he laughs.

“Loser.” He says childishly as he sticks out his tongue at Jeongguk.

“I’ve got one,” Jeongguk says.

“Shoot.”

“Why do birds fly south for the winter?”

“Why?”

“Because it’s too far to walk.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Taehyung groans, but he can’t help that he’s laughing as well. It tugs at his lips and threatens a smile, but what really makes him cave is the ridiculous squawking sound of Jeongguk’s enthusiastic laugh.

Had Jeongguk always been this funny?

A few more hours pass in a similar fashion, just telling meaningless jokes and anecdotes and, though he knows his practice is rather ineffective at the moment, Taehyung his very pleased over all. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

Jeongguk’s phone – which he is not supposed to have on him – rings and he answers the call after looking at the ID.

“Yuna?”

“I need you to come pick me up.”

“I can’t - you know I'm at work.”

“It’s kinda important."

“Well where are you?”

“At the police station.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I know. I know.”

“You weren’t even supposed to leave the house today. What the fuck are you doing there?”

“I’ll explain later. Just, can you pick me up or not? Otherwise, I have to sleep over in this stinky old cell.”

“I’ll see what I can do – my car’s in the mechanic, remember? I’ll come pick you up but I can’t really say how long it’s gonna take.”

“Thanks, Oppa.”

“Shut up. You can forget about getting chicken today, by the way.”

“But Jeo-”

Jeongguk ends the phone call before he can hear her rebuttal and he lets out a sigh, frustrated and confused. What on earth was she doing in a police station? He hoped she hadn’t done something fucking stupid. He’s about to call Namjoon, and then he remembers that his friend doesn’t even drive in the first place. He groans as he realises that most of his other friends are currently abroad on holiday and would most definitely not be available to take him down to the police station.

“What’s wrong?” Taehyung asks.

“My stupid sister is down at the police station.” Jeongguk sighs.

“Oh. Oh dear. Um...do you need to go? If anyone asks where you are, I can cover for you?” He offers.

“Thanks, but it’s not just that. I have to go down there and collect her dumb ass, otherwise she has to spend the night in the cell. But my car’s at the mechanic right now. Fuck, whatever. I'll figure it out.” Jeongguk groans angrily as he begins to grab his stuff and turn to leave.

“I-I could drive you?” Taehyung offers feebly.

“Huh?”

“I-I said I could take you down to the police station. To pick up your sister.” He says clearer, not really knowing why he’s feeling so awkward. He narrows it down to the fact that he’s not really used to giving people favours, much less personal ones. He hopes he doesn’t come off as nosey and rude.

“That would be fucking great, dude. Thanks.” Jeongguk says, relief tangible.

“It’s the least I could do.” Taehyung says as he grabs his stuff too.

“Yuna, I’m going to kill you.” Jeongguk mutters under his breath, as they make their way out of the club and to the car park. “You stupid son of a bitch."

●●●