■

"why are we going to the mall?" taehyung questioned, looking at yoongi.

"well, jimin and hoseok want to buy some stuff. and there's an arcade there. so i thought, why not go along and ask you guys too, it'd be fun." he said.

"oh, okay." taehyung said, following yoongi. jeongguk trailed behind them, watching as jimin and taehyung linked arms.

"you guys are riding together right?" yoongi questioned the duo, jimin happily nodding.

"okay. we'll see you there." yoongi said, leaning in and giving jimin a quick kiss on the lips, hoseok doing the same right after.

taehyung and jimin made their way to jimin's car, getting in while jeongguk rode with hoseok and yoongi.

"you guys are so sweet." taehyung said with a soft smile, referring to jimin and his boyfriends.

"really? you think so?" jimin asked, his face lighting up.

"yes! it's adorable!" taehyung said.

"thank you." jimin said, grinning. taehyung turned on the radio, a catchy song starting to play. him and jimin sang to whatever was playing the whole way there, both of them getting into the music and singing dramatically.

their voices were worn out by the time they got to the mall from screaming/singing, both of them out of breath too.

"did you two run here or something?" yoongi asked, noticing their tired demeanor.

"no. we had an intense karaoke session in the car." jimin explained.

"cute." hoseok beamed, pulling jimin close and giving him a big kiss.

"where's jeongguk?" taehyung asked softly, mainly to himself as he looked around the mall with wide, worried eyes.

"he's in the bathroom." yoongi explained.

"oh, okay." taehyung said, standing patiently and playing with the end of his sweater, feeling the soft fabric between his fingers.

"taehyungie look! it's your favorite store!" jimin said, pointing to a store on the other side of them.

"i know! jin only takes me there on special occasions." he said, his eyes longingly staring at the store which consisted of pastel clothes and stuffies and tons of pretty makeup. it was his favorite.

"why don't you go in there now?" jimin asked.

taehyung bit his lip, debating it before nodding eagerly and running over to the store, entering.

cute indie pop music was playing on the speakers as he looked around the shop with a wide smile.

"hi there, is there anything you need help finding or anything i can help you with?" a feminine voice said from his left. he turned and saw a pretty girl with long strawberry blonde hair and a super thin waist.

her name tag read "rosé."

"no thank you, i think i'm okay!" taehyung replied.

"alright! just let me know." she said, smiling. he returned the smile before turning away and walking through the store.

it had been about ten minutes later when he had at least seven items of clothing draped over his arm. it was getting heavy and he couldn't hold much more, but luckily someone came to save the day.

he felt a hand on his waist, causing him to look beside him and see jeongguk. his cheeks immediately became red, causing him to look down at his feet.

"need some help? i'll carry these for you." he said, taking the clothes from his arms.

"o-oh, thank you. why are you in here?" taehyung asked.

"the group texted me and said you were in here and they were going off to find some stuff so i decided to drop by." jeongguk explained.

the truth was that he actually saw the store and was going to head in to buy something for taehyung, but then he saw the boy in the shop.

taehyung nodded, biting his lip. he continued wandering around a little, looking through all of the items. he gasped when he saw a pretty skirt on a display mannequin, admiring it. he looked at the price tag and frowned, sadness evident on his face.

"shoot, i can't afford anything else. that's okay, i'll just get these things." taehyung said.

jeongguk watched the boys expression fade, and it made his heart hurt. he glanced back at the skirt, and suddenly had an idea.

"why don't you go try this stuff on? and ask me if you need a different size and i'll get you one okay?" jeongguk asked.

taehyung nodded gratefully, walking over to the changing rooms as jeongguk handed him the pile of clothes. once he was inside a stall and he closed the door, jeongguk quickly dashed back out into the store, grabbing one of the skirts in what he guessed was taehyung's size judging by all the pants he picked out. he ran over to the cashier, setting it down.

"i don't care about rewards or savings or anything, just let me pay for the skirt please." he said, looking desperately at the girl.

"okay. that'll be $55.95 please." she said, laughing softly.

jeongguk pulled out his wallet, handing her his card. "ah, you can just scan the chip." she said. "oh, right." he said sheepishly, pushing the card into the slot as it scanned.

once it said, "you may remove your card." he quickly took it out and put it back in his wallet, watching as she put the skirt in a bag.

"thank you so much." he said, taking the bag from her. "you're welcome!" she said with a grin, watching him run back towards the dressing rooms. "whipped." she mumbled to herself.

❦

"they said they'd be here at this bench, but i don't see them anywhere!" taehyung said with a sigh, setting his bags down that were now filled with clothes and makeup.

"they'll be here soon." jeongguk said with a soft smile, sitting down. taehyung sat down beside him, his legs pressed together and his posture very straight as he rested his hands in his lap, looking around the mall and kicking his legs back and forth. the bottoms of his shoes scuffed against the floor every time he swung his legs, the repetitive action soothing him.

"hey, taehyung." jeongguk said, catching the boys attention. he turned to look at the older, tilting his head like a curious puppy.

jeongguk opened his jacket, pulling a folded bag out of his inside pocket and handing it to taehyung. "i got this for you while you weren't looking." he said softly.

taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, unfolding the bag and looking inside. his eyes widened when he saw the skirt that he couldn't buy, his heart hammering against his chest.

he turned to jeongguk, throwing his arms around him and hugging him tightly.

the older was slightly taken aback, but nonetheless accepted the hug and wrapped his arms securely around taehyung's thin waist.

"thank you jeonggukie." he whispered, hiding his face in the crook of his neck.

"you're welcome, tae." he whispered back, closing his eyes and enjoying their embrace. taehyung smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, the scent soothing him even further.

their hug was interrupted when they heard their friends voices.

"there you guys are... what are you doing?" hoseok questioned, smirking.

taehyung blushed and quickly pulled away from the hug, jeongguk almost audibly whining from the loss of contact but luckily kept it hidden.

"n-nothing." taehyung replied.

"what'd you get?" jimin asked curiously, sitting down beside taehyung.

"lemme show you!" the boy said excitedly, grabbing his bags and opening them, sifting through the clothing to show to jimin.

"do you guys wanna go get some soft pretzels?" hoseok asked, watching as jeongguk stood up and stretched.

"yeah!!" taehyung said excitedly, standing up.

jimin stood up too, locking arms with taehyung and tugging him along towards the pretzel shop.

the older three lagged behind a bit, hoseok and yoongi bickering over something while jeongguk watched taehyung laugh with jimin.

"should i ask him to homecoming?" jeongguk questioned aloud, voicing his thoughts. yoongi and hoseok stopped their argument and looked over at jeongguk, seeing his eyes trained on taehyung.

"yes!!" the two boys said simultaneously.

jeongguk looked over, confused but then he realized what they were saying yes to. he blushed deeply, looking away.

"you think so?" he asked quietly.

"yes. taehyung has gone with jimin ever since freshman year because he never had a date. it's your time to shine, also so yoongi and i can finally take him." hoseok said.

"i don't want to just be a date to accompany him, i don't want it to be like 'oh here's someone who will go with me so i don't have to be alone.' you know?" jeongguk said.

"i assure you it won't be like that. taehyung likes you, don't worry. he'd love to go with you. and besides, you still have a couple of months until homecoming to get to know him better." yoongi said, patting jeongguk's shoulder.

jeongguk smiled, nodding gently. "yeah, you're right. thanks."

jeongguk looked up, seeing a familiar group of guys sitting at a table outside the pretzel shop.

"oh shit."

■

thank you so much for 1k reads already! i'm honestly surprised!! this is the fastest one of my books has reached 1k uwu

- nat <3

■