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              This story was requested by luhvante                                                            ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

As far as Taehyung could recollect, he had never been the type of person who would take the initiative to wake up early in the morning, wash his body thoroughly, making sure to use a specific lemon scented shampoo, put effort into his clothes and hair and bribe his lazy dog to go out for a walk. Taehyung often wondered if Yeontan was a bulldog in his previous life because that little fellow would not budge at the slightest even if Taehyung wiggled his favourite half-eaten squeaky toy infront of him. Hence, Taehyung had to accept his terrible fate and buy one of those expensive dog treats to lure Yeontan out of his mini bed at half past six in the morning.

As if that was not enough, Taehyung had to deal with one of his most loathed foes; coffee. As much as he hated the bitterness of the warm beverage, he had to depend on the caffeine to regain the energy he would use up the previous night for work. In addition to that, he had to iron his clothes until there was not a single crease in the material.

You must be wondering what sort of incentive did Taehyung receive to endure such torture.

Well, you see, the incentive came in the form of a gorgeous man with the softest doe eyes, brown mop of luscious hair, a set of broad shoulders, a pair of delicate, crooked fingers and a smile so adorable that it made waking up at the crack of dawn worth it for Taehyung. The incentive had the most romantic name Taehyung had heard, Seokjin, which meant precious treasure and Taehyung could not agree any less that the name fit its owner perfectly.

It was that one morning when Taehyung had woken up unusually early because his platonic soulmate decided to ruin his sleep to announce that he got engaged to that coconut headed boyfriend of his. Taehyung was elated to hear the news and in between discussing the wedding plans with Jimin, his sleep said goodbye. Therefore, he dragged his grumpy dog outside to get some morning air. The park near his apartment complex was serene with birds chirping here and there and the occasional fitness-crazed jogger passing by. However the peace was shattered when a white ball of fur bolted past him followed by a flash of pink.

Without a second thought, Taehyung picked up Yeontan and ran after the white dog. He easily caught up with the mischievous ball of fluff and scooped him up with his other arm.

"Your-" Taehyung was about to present the dog to its owner but his words failed to leave his lips one he set eyes on the owner.

"-beautiful," Taehyung said instead of 'dog'.

The man's rosy cheeks had bundled up in a cute smile. They started to stroll together, their dogs playing with each other as their owners talked in the midst of profuse blushing from both parties. Apparently, Jjangu, the devil in white, had been extremely excited to see the patch of daisies and could not contain himself anymore so he dashed off. Taehyung found out that the beautiful being in an oversized pink hoodie, Seokjin, had recently moved into the apartment complex a few buildings away from where Taehyung resided. Their conversation seemed to be never-ending as the both were passionate fans of anime but sadly it was nearly 8 o' clock and Taehyung had to leave for work.

And that was the beginning of Taehyung's morning battles with himself and his dog.

It was the third monthly anniversary of their meeting, although Taehyung doubted if Seokjin kept track of it like him but Taehyung decided to buy flowers for his special friend. Perhaps he could talk about the unconditional affection that developed within him for Seokjin. Their daily meet up at the park with their dogs had led to a bond that was a little hard to comprehend.

During the one hour Taehyung spent with Seokjin, he learned how caring the man was (courtesy of that one time when Taehyung slipped on dog droppings and scratched his knee badly and Seokjin tore the bottom of his shirt to wrap it around Taehyung's wound and even supported him back to his apartment), how empathetic he was (Seokjin's tops had become a personal tissue for Taehyung whenever the latter got teary-eyed and snotty-nosed) and how ambitious he was (he worked in a small café as a barista in order to gain experience for the café he wanted to open even though the manager of his workplace was a total ass).

Upon arriving at the park, he found Seokjin sitting at one of the benches near the entrance with Jjangu hopping around and barking at the birds that rested on the tree branches. Seokjin seemed to be in deep thought by the look of his furrowed eyebrows and unfocused eyes.

Taehyung silently approached him with a pounding heart, with the small bouquet behind his back, and imagined how cute Seokjin would look once he scared him. However, his devil of a dog leaped on his lap and barked in Taehyung's direction, causing Seokjin to snap out of his train of thoughts and look at Taehyung with those molten chocolate eyes of his. He smiled, but it did not reach his eyes much to Taehyung's surprise, and waved his sweater paw covered hand.

"Hi, hyung. Hi, Jjangu," Taehyung gave his usual greeting as he took a seat next to Seokjin. Jjangu jumped out of Seokjin's lap and began playing with Yeontan who tried to feign disinterest at first but gave in anyways. Taehyung noticed how Seokjin's hands were constantly mobile, brushing strands of hair behind his hair, fumbling with the edge of his knitted blue sweater and rubbing his forearms.

"Are you sick, Voo?" Seokjin asked with a frown, making Taehyung's heart skip a few beats at the pet name. Oh how pleased his ears were every time Seokjin called him Voo in that voice which dripped with the sweetest honey.

"Sick?" However, Taehyung knew that Seokjin was indicating to his blotched red nose. Apparently, he had an allergy to pollen.

"Your nose is red and your eyes were watery. Were you crying? Are you alright?" Seokjin tilted his body a little closer to Taehyung to check his temperature by placing his palm on his forehead first and then against the side of his neck. Taehyung smiled widely at touch, forgetting all about his itchy nose.

"It's just the weather, hyung. Don't worry about it," Taehyung assured the man.

"Oh alright. . ." Seokjin trailed off and watched their dogs sniffing each other (for reasons unknown) in unusual silence.

"You're glowing today, Voo," Seokjin commented suddenly.

"I am?" Taehyung's smile grew.

"Mhmm. Oh, flowers?" Seokjin peeked behind Taehyung (and maybe checked out his ass but it was gone unnoticed by Taehyung) to see the bouquet.

"Are these for someone special?" Seokjin asked, a nervous edge to his voice.

Taehyung bit his lips to contain another smile that threatened to expose his intentions.

"Yeah, hyung. Someone very special."

Taehyung thought he saw Seokjin's eyes droop for a while but it was for a miniscule of a moment so he brushed it off. Seokjin smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You like them a lot, don't you? You're cheeks are pink," Seokjin commented before pinching Taehyung's cheek, causing the latter's stomach do backflips.

"So much," Taehyung confessed,"To be very honest, I think I'm falling for them slowly."

"I see. . ." Seokjin retreated his hand and looked at his lap, his gaze melancholy.

"Hyung, are you okay?" Taehyung asked in a worried tone, internally panicking at the thought that he might have ruined it.

Or worse, maybe Seokjin did not feel the same way for him.

Taehyung was about to say something when a voice interrupted him.

"Seokjin hyung!"

A dwarf of a man who looked suspiciously like a kitten jogged towards them.

"Yoongi!" Seokjin's eyes lit up immediately as he got up and practically threw himself on the smaller male who struggled to maintain his balance.

Taehyung quietly watched the two male excitedly gush about things he could not comprehend. He was already agitated that the guy had interluded what could have been a life changing moment for Taehyung but his blood boiled even more when Seokjin pressed a kiss on his cheek and the man wiped it off with disgust. if Taehyung got that kiss, he would have never washed that area ever again.

"Who's that?" Seokjin's friend asked in the most impolite manner.

"Oh, that's just Taehyung. We walk our dogs here every morning," Seokjin explained while his friend scanned Taehyung from head to toe as if he was some unearthly beast.

Just Taehyung

Taehyung felt a lump in his throat. He blanked out completely, replaying the words and the affectionate interaction between the duo. He was so emerged within his thoughts that he failed to notice Yeontan chewing his flowers.

"I'm pretty sure your girlfriend won't like those flowers anymore, Mole Face" Yoongi remarked.

Taehyung snapped out of his thoughts and shooed away Yeontan before saying, "Mole Face?"

"With the amount of moles you have on that pretty face of yours, one might think that you pick your nose so much that your boogers are everywhere," Seokjin's friend commented.

Taehyung sat there astounded. Nobody had ever said something like that about his precious beauty marks.

"Yoongi!" Seokjin rebuked the short man, "You can't just say stuff like that to anybody."

From Just Taehyung to Anybody, Taehyung's day got even worse.

Yoongi opened his mouth to spew more nasty comments when Seokjin picked up Jjangu and pulled the guy towards the entrance, throwing a quick goodbye to Taehyung without even looking at him and disappearing from his sight.

The next day Taehyung arrived at the park with a new bouquet of sunflowers only to spend the hour alone with an equally upset Yeontan. It was repetitive; every morning Taehyung would go to the park with flowers and would never encounter Seokjin.

At first, he visited Seokjin's apartment complex and found out from the guards that Seokjin had left a few days previously with a suitcase and his dog, causing Taehyung to panick at the thought of Seokjin moving to a different place. However he was assured that Seokjin might had just gone on vacation when he did not see any furniture transferring vans infront of the building. Perhaps Seokjin had gone to spend some time with his short friend who might just be his boyfriend or so Taehyung liked to think to depress himself.

Taehyung had then started to lock himself up in his apartment, only going out for work and grocery shopping. He did not feel like showering or brushing his teeth, he only ate after starving himself like crazy and would often forget to feed his fuzzy companion which made him terribly guilty afterwards. He cursed himself day and night for never asking Seokjin for his number or adding him up on social media.

In short words, Taehyung became miserable and he stayed miserable until Jimin dragged him to Busan for his wedding ceremony. After a few drunken nights and tantrums, Jimin finally managed to divert Taehyung's mood into the festiveness of the wedding. Taehyung was grateful for having Jimin assign him to look over specific elements for the ceremony to help him distract his mind from Seokjin and his indirect rejection.

On the day of the wedding, Taehyung was crying rivers while fixing Jimin's hair one last time.

"Come on, Tae, if we walk out with you crying like this, the guests would think that I forced you into being my best man," Jimin joked in an attempt to make his best friend laughed but instead it caused Taehyung to sob louder.

"I can't believe that I'm your best man and this is your wedding and all our silly childhood imaginations are coming true," Taehyung rambled in between sniffles.

"Aish, you're going to make me cry even before I see Jungkook."

"But it's just-"

"Listen, Kim Taehyung, if we don't exit this room within the next two minutes then people are gonna start thinking that we eloped, so man the fuck up, lead me outside and hand me over to my man," Jimin ordered with joking undertones.

Taehyung chuckled and wiped his eyes. He inhaled deeply before putting on his devilish smile and linking his arm with Jimin's, leading him out.

The guests bursts in cheers as they walked down the aisle and towards Jungkook who had the widest smile on his boyish face once he saw his groom. After depositing Jimin next to Jungkook, Taehyung stood behind the duo and allowed his eyes to roam around while the vows started. The guests were either beaming brightly or shedding happy tears, or feigning to atleast. The soft melody that was being played by the pianist was so appealing that Taehyung decided to personally praise the man afterwards. He titled his head to see the pianist's face and upon recognition, his eyes turned into the size of saucers. It was Seokjin's sharp-tongued friend, Yoongi.

Wait a second.

Taehyung finally turned to Jungkook's best man who stood opposite to him and sported a mirrored expression of Taehyung's.

There stood Seokjin, clad in a white suit and black pants with a cute little black bow tie, gelled hair exposing his forehead and gloss covered lips that made him impossibly irresistible. Taehyung could not help but drool over the curves that had been always hidden inside his oversized clothes. Those pants were doing complete justice to Seokjin's plush ass. He looked so-

"Taehyung?"

"-sexy. . ." Taehyung could not believe the word that just left his lips while he hungrily stared at Seokjin with an entire audience to witness his clownery.

"Uh, I mean, the rings. The rings are sexy. The design is great, the texture is amazing. Gold, is it? Oh wait, here you go," Taehyung presented the rings to the couple and pictured many scenarios where he banged his head purposely against one of the pillars of the archway. He could hear sniggers from the guests.

He glanced at Seokjin who was trying his best to contain his smile which caused his cheeks to bunch up. Taehyung responded with a sheepish lop-sided grin which caused the tips of Seokjin's ears to turn into a burning shade of red.

After the kiss, the newly wed couple engaged themselves with the guests who congratulated them. Taehyung took this as a chance to approach Seokjin who was currently laughing with two undeniably handsome men. One of them, Taehyung recognised, was Hoseok, Jimin's friend from the dance academy they attended together. The other, tall and dimpled, must be from Jungkook's side.

"Jin hyung," Taehyung greeted the male with a smile. The trio paused their conversation and looked at Taehyung.

"Hey, I know you! You're Jimin's best friend Taehyung, right? Hoseok asked.

"That would be me." Taehyung nodded.

"Hello, Taehyung, I'm Namjoon," said the other guy with a welcoming smile.

Taehyung nodded with a smile to acknowledge his greeting before fixing his eyes on Seokjin.

"So, how are you doing, Jin hyung? You kind of left without a notice," Taehyung said, trying not to let his frustration surface.

"Oh, I thought you won't notice since you'd be busy with your girlfriend and all. . ." Seokjin said without meeting Taehyung's eyes, his lips curved downwards.

"I don't have a girlfriend, hyung," Taehyung answered wondrously. He wondered how Seokjin came to such a conclusion.

"But those flowers and the person you were talking about?" Seokjin inquired with his eyebrows knitted in a frown.

"Namjoon-ah, let's give them more privacy." Taehyung heard Hoseok say as he dragged Namjoon to somewhere away from them.

"Hyung, they weren't for any girlfriend of mine. I don't even like girls to begin with!" Taehyung said.

"You what?" Seokjin stared at Taehyung for a while before looking down again. "So your boyfriend?"

Taehyung sighed. Seokjin was hopeless.

"Hyung, those were for you. I brought those flowers for you. The person I was talking about was you. I was going to ask you out but that demon guy interrupted me," Taehyung said the last part in a grumbling tone.

"You were?" Seokjin asked with a surprised face. "I- I wanted to ask you out as well. . .but then I saw those flowers and you said you liked someone. . .so I thought I would just. . .stay quiet about it. . .and I thought I would try forgetting you by avoiding you but. . .I couldn't forget you. . .and you just appeared here and-"

Seokjin was hushed as Taehyung pressed a shy kiss against his cushiony lips.

Slow music started to play and everyone began guiding their partners to the dance floor. Taehyung turned to Seokjin with a smile and bowed before stretching his hand.

"Dance with me, hyung?"

Seokjin intertwined their hands with no reluctance and starry eyes.

"How can I say no, Voo?"

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Serendipity:
Finding something beautiful without looking for it.
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