There's a stranger in Jungkook's bed. A very pretty stranger, but a stranger nonetheless.

A stranger he was never supposed to have gotten involved with or even met that day because he was supposed to be walking into Taehyung's wedding to stop the ceremony.

Fucking Taehyung's wedding!

He knew where the chapel was. For some unknown reason the monstrous church had two chapels, one on the South wing and one in the North.

Jungkook knew– he knew– Taehyung's was in the North one.

So then why in the hell did he go to the other one? The only other one in the building?!

Was he that nervous that he took a right instead of a left when he walked through the main door into the building or what the hell!

This is ridiculous. He'll blame his shitty sense of direction on his utter disdain for what he had agreed to do and hope Taehyung will understand.

Jungkook runs an exhausted hand over his face as he slumps back onto his couch.

He let his best friend down and now the man is stuck in a sham of a marriage with that terrible-

Jungkook jolts upright when he hears the sound of a door shutting.

His heartbeat begins to exhilarate and he jumps to his feet.

He can't bring himself to peak down the hallway to see if his anonymous guest has woken up.

But, to his dismay, he doesn't have to.

It's Taehyung's voice he hears coming from his entryway– which is also out of eye sight from the living room– calling his name.

The door he heard was his front door.

Taehyung does have a key so it makes sense that he- wait. Wait?!

"Tae!" Jungkook exclaims much too loudly as he rushes to where he's heard his friend's voice.

When Jungkook sees Taehyung he wraps him into a large hug, barely noticing that his friend is no longer in his tux.

When did he change? And why isn't he at his wedding reception?!

Jungkook sure as hell wasn't there to stop the wedding so he assumes the after party meant to celebrate the unwanted union happened as it had been planned to go!

It had to have happened because Jungkook didn't stop the wedding!

Which reminds him...

Jungkook's shoulders shake as a sob racks through him. "Hyung I'm so sorry! I wasn't- I didn't mean to miss my cue!"

He pulls away to look at Taehyung with sorrow filled eyes.

"I did what we planned. I listened for the priest to ask if anyone objected then I threw open the doors and declared that I did. You should have heard me! I sounded so brave even though I could have burst into tears any moment. Then I really wanted to fucking cry when-"

"It's okay, Kookie," Taehyung cuts in, voice sounding much softer than Jungkook imagined it would be upon him facing Taehyung after failing to keep his word to help him.

"Y-you should be angry Tae. Furious!" Jungkook's lips turn down into an unhappy frown. "You should be punching me or hitting me or something. I made a mistake and ruined your life!"

Taehyung only sighs with the same soft expression as he wraps an arm around Jungkook's shoulders and begins walking them into the apartment towards the living room.

"I'm not mad," Taehyung says as he pulls Jungkook onto the couch next to him.

He then moves his arm from Jungkook's shoulders down to his waist in order to pull the sniffling man closer to his side where Jungkook can rest his head on his shoulder more comfortably.

"At first I was mad. Very much so," he lets out a breathy chuckle. "When the priest asked for objections and you didn't come in I reasoned that your nerves must have gotten the better of you. That was the only explanation in my mind and after a split second of being- not so much mad but annoyed– I realized how unfair it was to rest such a large burden on your shoulders.

"How I was being a bad friend to rely on you to do something so far out of you comfort zone just because I didn't want to do it myself," Taehyung pauses, gulping down his emotions. "This was something I needed to do. I should have realized that a long time ago and never even brought you into this mess. But I'm an idiot and it wasn't until today, standing at the alter that I realized all of this."

He goes quiet in a thoughtful silence as they both digest what Taehyung's said.

He's not angry with me. He understands why I couldn't do it... Except, I did do it. Technically.

"I did do it though, Tae. I did storm into a wedding and stop it."

Taehyung leans away from Jungkook with wild, wide eyes of surprise.

"You what?"

"I told you just now at the door," Jungkook's brows crash together. "I just told you how I was so brave and threw the doors open, yelling about how I objected. Then realized seconds later that I was in the wrong chapel. That it was the wrong ceremony I had just walked into!"

After only a beat, Taehyung doubles over, laughing loudly in disbelief.

Jungkook can't help but smile at the sight because since the announcement of his friend's marriage he hadn't seen him laugh like this. Seen him be so relaxed in what feels like forever.

"Oh my God! So wha-" Taehyung gasps, looking up at Jungkook, wiping tears from the corner of his eye. "What happened? Did you turn around, yelling apologies as you hightailed it out of there or what did you do?!"

He speaks again before Jungkook has a chance to say anything.

"Or!" He suddenly bounces on the cushion in excitement. "Or did they have security at the ceremony and you were dragged out?!"

For some reason, Jungkook feels very smug. Very proud of himself when he answers that no, he did not chicken out. He went through with the plan.

That stops all of Taehyung's laughing.

"Now I'm really confused."

"Again, like I've already said, I did what we'd planned. I walked in, said the thing, then I realized I was in the wrong place," Jungkook's shoulders drop a little. "I wanted to leave. Really I did. Wanted to run right the fuck out of there and never look back. But..." his eyes trail towards the hallway. "The groom..."

After that Jungkook's voice trails off. Taehyung lets him goes silent because he knows whatever Jungkook says next is going to be something out of a movie, he just knows it.

When Jungkook finally does continue, Taehyung is not disappointed.

"He heard me and then he saw me and he just," Jungkook turns his attention back to Taehyung. "He sprinted to me, someone he'd never seen before who just interrupted what should have been the best day of his life, and clung to me like I was some sort of lifeline. The moment he was close enough he latched onto my shirt with both hands and seemed to have no intention of letting go."

Jungkook's face goes even more serious, his tone of voice even dropping to reflect the same.

"The first thing he said to me... he didn't ask who I was or what I was doing there. Why I was there, he just said asked me to get him out of there.'"

Silence again fills the space between the two friends. Heavy and laden with questions neither man knows exactly how to articulate in order to ask any of them.

"Did you? Get him out I mean?"

"Yeah," Jungkook nods, voice quieting as he remembers his assumed to be still sleeping guest.

"He's in my room. He collapsed in my arms and I had to carry him. As soon as we stepped outside he passed out. Because of that I didn't really have a chance to ask him where I should be taking him, so I just brought him here. He slept the whole drive. Didn't wake up when I lifted him out of my car, carried him into the elevator up here or when I laid him down on my bed."

Taehyung's jaw hangs open as he gawks at his friend.

He sputters for a few seconds, trying to organize his thoughts before asking for clarification. "You carried him all those times?"

Jungkook brightens, "You should see him, hyung! He's like, tiny. Jiminie-hyung tiny."

Taehyung is a bit confused by the change in Jungkook's mood. The obvious hint of fondness for a man wbo came out of nowhere, but he chooses not to dwell on or point it out.

"I know you said all he asked was for you to take him away from the church so I'm assuming you didn't catch a name?"

Jungkook shakes his head, pout in place on his anxiety bitten lips.

"No, but it's the first thing I'm going to ask when he wakes up," he smiles softly. "He can sleep as long as he wants for now," Jungkook states before his lips turn down into a frown. "He was so sad. So sad but then so relieved to see me there. I don't want to overwhelm him, but I want to know why he was there if he was so obviously unhappy. I want to find out how to help him."

Taehyung scoffs. "Maybe his parents tried to push him into an arrangement like mine did. And if that's the case, no fucking wonder he was willing to leave with the first person who had the balls to step in and stop it."

Jungkook eyes bulge and his jaw drops open.

"That reminds me! How are you here if I wasn't there to to stop the ceremony?!"

Taehyung expression immediately twist into something smug and proud.

"I walked out."

Jungkook nearly falls off the couch.

He walked out...

Taehyung walked out.

What?!

Jungkook is in shock.

He isn't quite sure he heard his friend correctly because he could have sworn he just heard him say he walked out of his wedding but, that can't be right.

The whole reason Jungkook was going to step in was so Taehyung wouldn't have to do that.

Taehyung himself ending or leaving the union would cause his parents to take away his inheritance.

In the deal they'd made with Taehyung– the one they forced him to make with tactics and blackmail Jungkook still doesn't exactly know the details of– they told Taehyung that after the first child was born he was welcome to end the marriage.

If he ended it at any point before then, the money would be off the table.

Millions, gone.

The only way he would have been able to keep anything was if his fiancé broke off the engagement, which they weren't counting on because she was definitely a gold digger.

She was all in on having access to the Kim's bottomless bank account and was going to hitch her horse to Taehyung's cart for as long as possible.

She wasn't going anywhere if she could help it.

The work around Taehyung found with his parent's little condition was the loophole of someone besides Taehyung being the one to stop the wedding.

That is when he had the idea to ask Jungkook for a favor.

A massive favor, but a favor nonetheless.

But, now he's saying he walked out?

"What do you mean by that?" Jungkook gapes.

Taehyung pokes his cheek with his tongue.

"When you didn't come I kept looking out over the crowd towards the door, waiting. I thought maybe you'd just missed the cue or were running late. Before I concluded that you must have backed out I was holding on to the hope that you would show up any second.

"At one point when I again looked towards the exit, I caught my mother's eye," he pauses, his expression darkens. "The look she gave me," he sneers. "It was like she knew she'd won. Knew she'd gotten what she wanted and I just- it made me sick.

"That's when I decided, fuck their money. It's the only thing they have to hold over my head and if I let it go there will be nothing they can use to get me to bend to their rules ever again. So," his chest puffs out as his confidence and pride seeps back into him. "I walked out."

Jungkook nods slowly.

"You walked away, left the church and..." Jungkook glances down at Taehyung's white t-shirt and linen pants. "Changed your clothes then came here?"

"Yep!" He beams. "I went back to my apartment, got out of that uncomfortably suffocating outfit and packed some things into my car then came here to make sure you were okay. If I'd known just how okay you were, I'd have taken my time getting over here."

Jungkook gives him an affronted look. "Just how okay I am? What is that supposed to mean?"

Taehyung continues to smile. "What I mean is that I can't wait to meet the groom you did end up saving today. I'm very interested to hear his story."

Jungkook continues to eye his friend skeptically before clicking his tongue in resignation.

"Okay," he drawls before checking the clock hanging on his wall. "Well, I'm starving and I think we have time to either cook or order in before he wakes up so, you up for some food?"

"Sure!" Taehyung exclaims, jumping onto his feet. Reaching out his hand to Jungkook he says, "I'll even pay if you want to order from that expensive Japanese Steakhouse you love. The one with the 'perfect steak' as you so frequently proclaim your feelings for."

"You'll pay?" Jungkook asks as he allows Taehyung to pull him up so he's standing beside him.

Taehyung hears the underlying question of With what money will you pay if you've been cut off?

"I doubt they've had time to cancel my cards yet. You know, consoling the bride and saving face with the guests and all that. Better spend their blood money while I still can. We may even want to make a quick trip to Lotto World. Do some shopping," he jokes.

"Maybe..." Jungkook murmurs turning his head to look at his friend as they walk to his kitchen where he had a copy of the restaraunts takeout menu stashed.

"I know you're mostly joking, but if you're even partly serious then we have to wait until after he wakes up. I don't think he should or will want to be alone when he does."

Taehyung goes quiet, watching Jungkook thoughtfully as the younger rifles through one of his kitchen drawers for a copy of the restaurants paper menu.

"He must have made quite an impression on you. You don't usually care so much about strangers."

Jungkook huffs, sounding annoyed. "Firstly, I do too care about people, even the ones I don't know, on occasion. I'm not an asshole. And secondly..." Jungkook pauses, placing both hands on the counter's surface, looking directly at Taehyung. "You didn't see him. He was so-" he exhales. "I don't even know how to explain it. He looked at me like some sort of hero. It made me feel a very weird combination of pride and overwhelming pity. It was very strange."

"I see." Taehyung quips, leaning his forearms on the countertop. "Well, whenever the prince awakes we better have lots of food at the ready. Speaking from personal experience, being a runaway groom is exhausting work," he grins with a wink. "He's bound to have worked up an appetite."

Jungkook rolls his eyes but doesn't say anything further.

He's starving and he wants to take full advantage of Taehyung's offer to pay for food.

Additionally, because of the man he's yet to be formally introduced to just on the other side of his apartment, he plans on getting enough sides and main dishes to feed a dozen people, not just the three of them.

Jungkook hopes when he wakes, whenever that may be, he will be okay with staying to eat.

From Jungkook's short glimpse into the stranger's life he would venture to guess that today wasn't a one off day when he's felt like he needed saving.

And there's something about him. Something so vulnerable and fragile. Jungkook, although he knows virtually nothing about him, has the overwhelming urge to help.

To take away whatever burdens he's feeling and help him find happiness.

But for now he will settle with providing the stranger a meal.

If the stranger's day– his wedding day– was anything like Taehyung's, he likely hasn't eaten in hours.

That makes Jungkook remember back to carrying the man.

He was so light. He wasn't skin and bones per se, but he is on the thin side.

It makes Jungkook suddenly worry that maybe he never quite eats as much as he should.

With that in mind, Jungkook locates the menu and retrieve his phone to call in the order while Taehyung retrieves his credit card from his wallet.

When the call is answered and he begins to order, he triples it.

It's likely overkill and he might have to give food to their friends as he doesn't have much room in his fridge, but at least they will have options. And lots of them.

He isn't sure what kind of food the stranger prefers, but he intends on finding out.

He intends on finding out anything the man is willing to share with him.