Growing up together has its perks (i guess)

Growing up with Taekook in a chronological(ish) order.
(Aka Taehyung and Jungkook as children, middle schoolers and high schoolers together. Taehyung loves and loves and loves and Jungkook merely watches him get into relationship after relationship. Although that's not the main focus. )

Notes:

i suck at titles can you tell i really struggle with titles, be it remembering them or making them.
anyway, a foremention that this is all fiction :) (and it's bottom kook, top tae if anyone cares but there's most likely no smut so please just enjoy the fluff)
also how they act and speak might not accurately reflect their ages but roll with it pls :)
there is a mild mention of time travel where jungkook travels to different universes to fall in love with all the other members (me just wanting to write several tropes and connect them) and jin was first but i haven't finished his one or this one to be fair and i haven't started the others but i have the most material to post for this one so that's why it exists. basically it makes no sense, don't worry about it, you can just ignore it.
also while kook is mentally in his twenties, he doesn't see tae in a romantic way when he's a kid physically so don't hurt me. not that it really matters in this case bc that age gap is not visible at all sjdkfjdsf
i lub you
(Why did I use that type of schooling system I don't even understand it that well but roll with it)

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: as kids we were cute

Chapter Text

The light pierced into his eyes immediately when he finally opened them. He winced, slapping his hand over to protect his sight from the beaming sun. He shuffled out of bed, rubbing his eyes to try and make himself feel a little more awake before noticing that everything seemed to be a little taller than what he was used to.

Scratch that, everything in his sight became unsettlingly tall, making his brain blast out a warning signal that something was not right. He glanced at his hands, much smaller and chubbier than they used to be, and took a peek at his feet, which were also unnervingly small. He needed a mirror to check if what he was assuming was right.

Step by step, he stumbled out of his pastel yellow room to a lavender coloured room - which luckily enough had a mirror in it. Jungkook ignored the large bed smack in the middle, the homely feeling of the room and instead, headed for the mirror.

Jungkook stared. And stared... And stared.

What the fuck. Was this.

With a hesitant touch, he reached out to the mirror and saw the reflection was copying his actions.

Oh. Well. That was supposedly him now? This tiny toddler? (He would have panicked more if he wasn't suddenly aware of the quiet murmuring on the lower floor of the house, or so he presumed.)

He still had his soft black hair, large nose that tempted others to boop, big doe eyes and if his characteristics were going to chase him around, then he would have his bunny teeth.

"Oh, Jungkookie." He heard a woman sigh with exasperation. "How come you're here again? Eomma told you to stay in bed, sweetheart." She lifted him up effortlessly, placing him on the side of her hip and walking back down the stairs. She was warm and had rather long hair, but sounded nothing like his mother.

She called out to another person. "Look who didn't settle down for his nap?" A man looked up from the newspaper, glasses falling down his nose. Again, nothing like his actual dad prior to the whole meeting Jin again thing.

...that's right. If he was here now, then where was Jin? Although it was extremely strange to be put in this sort of situation again...perhaps he would be lucky to meet Jin again?

'No.' Jungkook chided himself gently. 'Mustn't be so greedy. I've managed to meet Jin again and live with him again - that's enough. I shouldn't get my hopes up.'

"He's unusually quiet today, isn't he?" The man said, stroking his hair gently.

"Yeah, I know. Normally he throws quite a fit over not getting sleep." She shifted him into a comforting embrace, supporting him from the bottom with one arm and started to sway him to sleep. "Come on baby. Let's get some sleep, huh?" She rubbed his back gently and hummed a soft lullaby. It was weird how his eyes started to drop lower and lower until he succumbed to sleep.

It had been a week or so, and Jungkook was steadily getting used to his new life. Although it was difficult to learn the motor skills of a child again, he eventually managed to navigate around without much trouble (despite still desperately missing his adult body which was much more efficient).

He had been exploring around the house, attempting to find some more information about his parents. He managed to figure out that his parents were both quite well-off, both having business related jobs.

"Jungkookie! Why have you taken these out again?!"...he got caught again. He stared at his mother's looming figure before blinking innocently and giving her a big, toothy smile.

She sighed, before lifting him up and giving him a light kiss on his hair. "You're lucky you're cute."

Damn right he was.

She placed him by her side as she continued tapping away at her computer. He stared intensely on the numbers on the screen, trying to make sense of what on earth she was doing. His mother noticed this, and burst out laughing at the zoned out face on her son. "You must be bored to death! We need to find new ways to entertain you, huh?" She squeezed his plump cheek lightly, cooing at the adorableness of her child.

She then turned her attention back to her work, not noticing the subtle nodding in agreement from the little toddler.

"I think I've found a playmate for our little Jungkookie!" His mother barged the door open, dressed in a smart striped suit and squealing excitedly.

His dad cradled Jungkook in his arms, who was still adrift in sleep. He was still quite small in his arms even though he was three years old. "Shush, he's still napping." His mother mouthed a 'whoops', took off her heels and tip-toed silently towards the father-son duo. His father raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'And so?'

"Yeah, anyway, I have a friend who has a kid around the same age, and she told me he in need of a friend too, so I suggested we have a playdate to see how it goes!"

"That's actually a good idea...It'll be good for Jungkookie, wouldn't it?"

"Here, Kookie-ah, look who's here?" His mother walked in with another boy on her hip, another woman following behind.

"Is this Jungkookie? Aigoo, he's adorable!" She pinched his cheek and lifted him up to kiss his nose. "Hi there, little one. I'm eomma's friend." She cooed even more when he put his small hand out to shake.

"Aren't you a smart cookie?" She snorted at her joke, before giving her finger to shake with. His mother laughed as well, patting the boy in her arms on the back.

"Eomma, who...that?" Jungkook asked, scowling internally at his stupid speaking skills. He pointed at the little boy who was dressed in blue denim dungarees and a bright yellow shirt.

"It's auntie's son, Taehyungie."

"Auntie?" He stared up at the woman holding him. "This...auntie?" He tugged lightly on her shirt.

"Yes, Jungkookie! That's auntie!" His mother looked proud of him. His aunt joined in with the fond look directed to him, before patting him lightly on the head.

"He's a smart one."

"Taehyung is smart too!" A higher pitched voice piped up from his mother's hold.

"Alright, Taehyung-ah. You're a smart boy too." His aunt chuckled. Taehyung asked to be placed down, before running up to Jungkook and his aunt. The other boy stared intensely at Jungkook's face, moving in all directions to see the different angles.

"Who are you?" He poked Jungkook's plump cheek rather firmly, watching it bounce back up.

"Ah-ah, Taehyung-ah. Be careful with Jungkookie; he's still young." She pulled back Taehyung's hand, patting it gently.

"Why? He don't look like a baby."

"That's because he's three, sweetie. He's your dongsaeng, so be a good hyung, okay?"

"So, like for Hani-ah and Jihoonie?" Taehyung's mother nodded proudly, seeing his oldest son take on his older brother role with such enthusiasm. Taehyung whispered quietly to his mother (not so subtly), asking "So baby Kookie the same age as Hani and Jihoonie?"

"No, darling. Jungkookie here is also a hyung to your younger brother and sister."

"Wow!" He said in awe, staring even more intensely at Jungkook

"Alright, Taehyungie. You'll scare my poor baby with that look of yours." His mother joked lightly, putting down a tray with two cups of tea and a cup of orange juice. She handed the small cup to him, and took out a pack of cookies to snack on.

Taehyung gazed at it, horrified. He whispered loudly with a gasp. "You can't eat cookies! The baby is called Kookie!"

"Honey, it's okay. Look, Jungkookie likes cookies too." She handed one to Jungkook who giggled and ate it happily. Taehyung eyed her warily, then eyed Jungkook suspiciously too.

Jungkook quietly handed him another cookie while munching on his, amazed at how naive kids were. But then again, it wasn't like he spent enough time with them to actually know.

Taehyung grabbed the snack hesitantly and sniffed it repeatedly. "Eomma, he gave me a cookie!" Taehyung's mum laughed at the toothy grin and enthusiastic waving of the cookie, patting on the head affectionately.

"That's nice of Kookie, isn't it? You know what to say when someone does something nice for you, right?"

The five year old nodded and turned to face Jungkook. "Thank you!" He giggled at the slightly bewildered face on Jungkook, deciding that he was cute and plopped himself right next to the younger.

And so, he supposed that this was the start of their friendship.

"One...two ...three..."

Jungkook stood in the middle of the living room with his hands over his eyes. Taehyung had been bored with watching the television at some point today, body squirming endlessly. He ended up being dragged into playing hide and seek as Taehyung needed to burn off that excess energy.

The now five year old dropped his hands as he reached a hundred, going to the kitchen first to get a drink. Taehyung could wait. He grabbed a bottle of banana milk for himself, stabbing it with the straw and sucking enthusiastically.

Yum. Now his throat wasn't as dry (he wasn't used to talking much), he started to call out his hyung's name, a bit muffled by the straw in his mouth. "Taehyungie-hyung! Where are you?"

He walked around the house, peeking into the kitchen cupboards, the bathroom, the garden but having no luck in finding Taehyung. For such a energetic kid, he knew how to hide and be quiet (which only made his life more difficult).

Finally, he checked his room, where there was a lump on his bed. That guessed that was Taehyung and so he dashed towards his bed and jumped on Taehyung's lying body; the elder making an 'oof' sound as Jungkook took him by surprise.

"Found you, Taetae-hyung!" Jungkook giggled as he got up from the bed, removing the blanket shield so he could actually snuggle with Taehyung.

"You took forever, Kookie! I thought I was gonna die from boredom waiting for you!" Taehyung pulled the blanket over the two of them, wrapping them closer together. He stared into Jungkook's pretty eyes, sparkling up at him with fondness.

His little Kookie was so adorable! Taehyung hugged him tighter, mouth yawning wide open and eyes slowly drooping.

"Sleepy?" Jungkook murmured, reaching out to pet the soft hair and get him to fall asleep.

"Shaddup, Kookie. I was—" He yawned. "—waiting for you for so long that—" There was another yawn. "—this bed felt so comfy...and sleepable..."

"Alright, alright. My fault Tae-tae is sleepy."

"Yeah..." Taehyung paused to rub his eyes sleepily. "So Kookie has to play with me forever, okay?"

"...okay." Taehyung smiled, reassured that his Kookie wouldn't run away from him and finally closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

Taehyung's slightly bigger hands still gripped onto Jungkook's hands, so he couldn't escape and get to watch Ironman. He sighed a little, before snuggling into the covers even more and allowing Taehyung's warmth soothe him to dreamland.

"Right, baby. How do you feel?" His mother crouched in front of him to neaten out his school uniform, and help him buckle on his tiny shoes.

"I'm excited, eomma." Jungkook clutched at his backpack with his little fists, soft hair tucked under a cute sailor's hat. His mother laughed at the bright eyed expression and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

"Have fun at your first day, okay? Make sure to tell me how it was when eomma returns from work!"

"Okay!" He hugged her tightly, then left the house waving her goodbye (he could see some tears in her eyes as he slowly walked away).

The sight that met him was Taehyung bubbling with energy outside his house. His eyes lit up at the sight of Jungkook, rushing to glomp him happily. "Missed you, Kookie!"

Jungkook sighed, more fond than anything. "You saw me yesterday, Taetae-hyung." He patted the crown of Taehyung's head as Taehyung continued to rub his face in the crook of his neck like a needy pet.

"Always never enough Kookie in my life." Taehyung yawned against his shoulder, still resting his head on it. Kookie nodded, although not really agreeing with him. Too many cookies would result in diabetes, although explaining that to a seven year old would be a bit...unusual.

"What's with that blank look on your face?" Taehyung's mother laughed, pinching Jungkook's chubby cheek. Jungkook blinked at her several times, slightly confused but still put up with the overly touchy pair. Like mother, like son (in this case).

She smiled at the two children dressed cutely in their uniforms, snapping a quick photo on her camera. "Aren't you two the most adorable?" She cooed even more. "Although I've seen Tae in this outfit for two years already," She sighed, feeling incredibly nostalgic. "Where has all this time gone? My two kids flying off and growing up!"

"Are we not going to school, auntie?" Jungkook asked Taehyung's mother with his doe eyes, slightly concerned at her lamenting speech.

His aunt shook her head, asking for him and Taehyung to pose for a couple more pictures. "Now we can go! Gosh, you're both so cute!" She glanced at the photos with a large smile spread on her face. "I can't wait for Hani and Jihoonie to join you two!" She put the camera away, clapping her hands and saying, "Alright my beloved minions, off to school!"

If she just kept taking pictures of Taehyung and Jungkook holding hands and singing together softly on the way to school, well...who could blame her? They were too cute.

(She filmed it too.)

Jungkook sat quietly in his desk, watching the teacher brightly talk about the basics of the hangul. He gripped his pencil, which was not suited for children's hands. Luckily for him, he still had his memories, and so he remembered some stuff from school. He would still have to study, unfortunately because he still needed those qualifications but for now he would try to practise his handwriting and stuff.

He was strangely at peace with himself. The bright chattering of the children, the soft voice of his teacher and the nice breeze was surprisingly comforting, making him relax more comfortably in his tiny wooden chair. It was cute how everything (well, most things) had been minified for the tiny bodies of five year olds.

The day already felt a lot better than his actual first day of school, where he felt consumed by his fears and was so timid and shy. Although he was still pretty shy, it wasn't to the point where he couldn't feel okay with himself. He was comfortable.

Jungkook took out his packed lunch quietly, sitting alone on the table. Taehyung hadn't been released from his class yet, and rather than try to mingle with the other kids, he scuttled off to feed his hungry stomach (in the meantime, he thought to himself that stomach would be a cool name for a pet) and waited for his best friend to arrive.

The so-mentioned boy ended up walking in when Jungkook had finished his lunch and was merely sipping on his banana milk, watching the clouds outside through the windows. He dashed towards Jungkook, hugging him tightly before letting go and sitting next to him (if he sorta choked on his banana milk, well, he never told Taehyung).

Taehyung took out his lunch too, digging into it heartily as the younger boy watched him shove spoonfuls into his mouth.

"Hyung...are you always this hungry?" Taehyung paused to take a breath, glanced at Jungkook seriously and nodded before eating again. Jungkook stared at him warily. "Don't eat so fast...you'll choke."

Taehyung grinned, ruffling Jungkook's hair fondly and thumped his own chest lightly. "Trust hyung, I'm older. I won't choke; I've been doing it for years now."

The younger male nodded unsurely, patting Taehyung on the shoulder as if to say, 'sure, dude'.

"So, Kookie, how was your first day in school?" Taehyung asked excitedly, bouncing up and down. He was so energetic that he himself, a five year old felt tired looking at his movement.

Jungkook placed his bottle of banana milk quietly, shrugging. "It was school. What I expected."

"Jeez, can't you sound a little more excited? Aren't you glad to spend every day with me at school now?"

"I see you everyday. I'm gonna see you more at home than at school, Taehyung."

Taehyung clicked his fingers and pouted. "Stop making this sound so sad!"

"I'm not. It's like I spend my whole life with you." Jungkook patted Taehyung lightly on his head, needing to stretch because of his short arms and tiny fingers.

"And it better stay that way!"

"I don't know...lately Hani and Jihoonie have been super cute lately..."

Taehyung hit him lightly for that comment. "They're my siblings! Plus, you're my best friend! Not theirs!" He pouted exaggeratedly, eyes becoming pitiful like a begging puppy which made Jungkook giggle.

Jungkook could only internally shake his head, being engulfed into a tight embrace courtesy of Taehyung. He was such a kid. He was cute.

He relaxed into the embrace more, yawning silently and resting his head on the elder's shoulder. Jungkook exhaled, his limbs loosening thanks to the warm physical contact. "Hyungie won't mind, right? I just wanna sleep..."

Taehyung hummed in agreement, his voice soft and light. "Sleep well, Kookie." He fluffed up the back of his hair, feather light touches soothing him to sleep.

"Hi babies! How was school?" Jungkook's mother hugged both Jungkook and Taehyung tightly, pressing a kiss on their cheeks. The two giggled, hugging her back just as tight before telling her about their day.

"...and I made a new friend today, he's called Mina - she's new to our class too and she's super cool, auntie! Can we invite him over sometime to play with me and Kookie?" Taehyung rambled to Jungkook's mother happily, swinging their hands together as Jungkook trailed behind the two.

"Alright, Taehyungie. Ask your friend and then we'll see if we can contact her parents, okay?"

Taehyung nodded enthusiastically, turning around to Jungkook with bright eyes to express his excitement. He clasped his hands around Jungkook's hands, shaking him back and forth, the biggest smile appearing on his face. "Kookie, aren't you excited? We're gonna have a new friend!"

The younger boy nodded slowly, very unsure what the introduction of a new person would do to their relationship. He tried to mirror Taehyung's boxy smile, lips curling up but not really reaching his eyes. Taehyung just hugged him tightly and waved goodbye, lost in his own happiness.

When Taehyung entered his house, his mother nudged him gently, eyes slightly concerned. "Baby, are you okay with this?"

"It's okay. Hyung...can have other friends too." His face said otherwise. If there were tears building up in his eyes, well...he got attached. He was a selfish person that didn't want to share, but he couldn't let his own selfishness overtake Taehyung's freedom.

His mother sighed, ruffled his hair and lifted him up, carrying him the way back home in her warm embrace, murmuring into Jungkook's hair about how proud she was of him (which, truth be told, made his eyes water more).

"Kook-ah, this is Mina!" He brought a girl with bobbed black hair to their lunch table several days after telling his mum about her. Jungkook nodded shyly at her, hiding behind his bag while Taehyung introduced him. "And Mina-yah, this is Kookie, my bestie!" Taehyung watched the two exchange sentences awkwardly with each other in anticipation; finally, they had met!

He slung an arm around both their shoulders, dragging them closer to him which made Jungkook avoid eye contact with the girl even more. He himself could feel the discomfort given off by the older girl.

"Anyway, Kookie, we're going to go to your house to play, right? I'm gonna bring Mina too, so we can all play together!"

Jungkook nodded, sneaking a glance at the other child on the table. Although she wasn't completely familiar with Jungkook, he could see there was some excitement at the prospect at playing with friends, which made Jungkook think that kids just want to have fun at this age, nothing more, nothing less.

Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. If he knew Taehyung well, then he wouldn't want to let go of his friends and so in the foreseeable future, he'd have to learn how to deal with more friends in Taehyung's life.

(He was mature enough for that, right? Who was he kidding? Even when he was an adult, he had the heart of a child.)

He sat there watching the two talk excitedly as he munched on his lunch, a little bit bitter. Taehyung occasionally smiled and brought him into the conversation, but he seemed so enraptured in Mina that he mainly conversed with her for that majority of the lunch period.

"Hyung...Mina-ssi... I have something to do. I'll leave now." He packed his lunch, giving Taehyung a weak smile in return to his slightly hurt, concerned look and ignoring the strange expression on Mina's face.

"...Taehyung...he doesn't like me, does he?" She asked him sadly, poking at her food.

Taehyung was unsure. Although Jungkook was his best friend, he still found him difficult to tell what he was truly feeling even after all this time. He pouted; he wanted his friends to get along.

"Ah, Taehyung-ah! Don't be sad, I'm sure we'll get along soon - it's fine!" She waved her hands encouragingly, then patted him on the back, giving him an encouraging smile.

Taehyung really hoped he did.

"Okay, auntie, I'll see you soon! Mina's going to come around too, so you'll finally get to meet her!" Taehyung chatted to Jungkook's mother over the phone, bright and energetic, clearly excited for their very first sleepover with Mina.

"Okay, Taehyungie, don't you have something to do now?" His auntie chuckled, hearing the sudden 'oh, yeah!' and a hurried 'bye auntie' before the call was cut off. She sighed, feeling her back ache suddenly. "It must be nice to be so energetic... Oh, Jungkook-ah!" She noticed him rub his eyes sleepily, blinking at her several times blankly.

"Tired, baby?" She pressed a quick kiss on the top of his head before sitting back down on the sofa. Jungkook nodded, following after his mother to go and snuggle with her. Brushing through her son's hair lightly, she murmured, "Are you excited? Your first sleepover with another person other than Tae!" She heard the boy grumble under his breath, pouting with his soft baby cheeks all puffed out. "Time to share, baby! You can't hog him forever!"

Jungkook merely nodded, aware that that would never happen. He could knew that the older boy in question was a social butterfly, and so there was no benefit in staying glued to his younger childhood friend at all times.

There was knocking at the door.

Speak of the devil, Taehyung arrived with Mina shyly hiding behind him.

"Kookie, where are you? Your favourite hyung has arrived!" He spotted a small, black haired lump cuddled to the side of his auntie, and immediately he knew it was his beloved Kookie. He ran towards him, dropping his sleepover bag at the entrance and wrapped his arms tightly around Jungkook.

Jungkook blinked at him, still slightly disoriented from his quick nap; he snuggled into Taehyung's arms and breathed in Taehyung's clean smell.

"It's nice, right? Eomma got a new soap she's been trying out." Taehyung giggled at the weak nod given in reply in the crevice of his neck - Jungkook was always the cutest when he was sleepy.

Taehyung gazed upon him fondly, petting his hair and lulling Jungkook asleep in his arms. The two were lost in their own world, so Jungkook's mother decided to approach the fidgeting girl still standing by the door.

"They're quite close, aren't they?" She crouched down, giving her a welcoming smile. Mina nodded, glancing at the two boys a little enviously.

She gave out her hand, watching the child shake her hand hesitantly. "Hello, I'm Jungkook's eomma."

"Hello... I'm Mina..." She hid defensively behind her bag, shoulders hunched back almost like a mouse cornered by a predator.

Jungkook's mother laughed. "Am I really that scary?" She welcomed her in; Mina bowed politely, then seeking the only familiar faces in the unfamiliar house. The older woman walked off to get some refreshments, leaving Mina to watch the two boys awkwardly in the corner.

Taehyung, bless his soul, noticed the poor girl and waved her over to the sofa the two were on; his arm was still wrapped around Jungkook who had fallen back to sleep. His forehead was tucked in Taehyung's neck: Taehyung leaning back on the arms of the sofa to support the younger boy in his arms a little more comfortably.

"He must be tired..." Mina mumbled, staring at Jungkook in slight awe - she had never seen him so defenceless before, but it wasn't like she could say that Jungkook had warmed up to her yet. Unlike with Taehyung, where she spent her time as his seat partner, the only time she saw Jungkook was during lunch, and it wasn't like he was particularly chatty either. Thank god for Taehyung and his bright personality to fill in that awkwardness.

Taehyung hummed lightly, agreeing with her comment. "Well, I guess we're gonna stay up late today." He grinned at her, continuing to pet Jungkook's hair and fluffing it up occasionally which made the other two children giggle at.

Jungkook's mother smiled fondly over the three kids in her living room, two awake and watching and her little one cuddled up and sleeping. She placed the tray of snacks on the table, giving a brief reminder to the two. "If you need anything, I'll be in my room. Don't do anything stupid." She petted the kids' heads and left.

"Wow... are we really not going to have an adult to at watch us?" Mina asked Taehyung, not used to the laid-back attitude of Jungkook's mum.

"She's always been like that. Pretty cool, huh?" Taehyung brushed off her worries easily. "It's not like we're gonna set fire to the house or anything. Plus, we're good kids."

Taehyung felt Jungkook shuffling in his hold, so he attempted to stroke his hair to coax him back to sleep. Jungkook grumbled a little, pushing him further into Taehyung's warmth, before deciding he didn't want to go back to sleep anymore.

Jungkook blinked up drowsily, rubbing his eyes back and forth to adjust to the sudden brightness. He looked up, seeing a familiar boxy smile, and felt his skinny arms wrapped around him.

"Oh. You've arrived." He stated with a lack of excitement. Taehyung huffed, pinching the soft baby fat on Jungkook's cheek.

"Gosh, is that what you say to your most favouritest hyung? So rude."

"Bleh." Taehyung felt so fond of the boy sticking his tongue out at him. He tapped under his chin and booped his nose, making Jungkook scrunch his face up and make himself look more adorable. Then the younger turned his head round to find Mina, greeting her quietly.

"Hi noona."

She returned the greeting with flushed cheeks, excited that perhaps she could finally have a chance to get closer to the younger. Taehyung beamed at the interaction, the whole atmosphere was a lot less tense like it normally was when they had lunch together. He hugged Jungkook tighter, burying his face into Jungkook's sweet smelling hair (he'd have to check what his aunt was using on him to smell that nice later), thankful he was trying to accept Mina into their friendship group.

"Oh!" She murmured quietly, noticing Jungkook walking up to their table, sorely missing Taehyung by his side. "Um... Taehyung's not with you?" She peeked up to see Jungkook shrug, placing his food down.

"Why would he be with me? He's in your class, and anyways, he's sick."

"Oh." She fiddled with her food a little, pushing it around while trying to find something to say. The awkwardness had gotten slightly better since the sleepover but honestly, it was still so hard to talk to Jungkook. "I dunno, I'm just so used to seeing you two together."

"Same."

Gosh, why was he like this? Why did he give her literally nothing to work with? How was she supposed to respond to that?

"I'm trying to make conversation, Jeon Jungkook. At least give me something!" She snapped, shoving a forkful of food in her mouth.

"...sorry, noona..." He sweated slightly under her suddenly sharp gaze. He laughed nervously; he didn't expect her to be so scary when she was acting so shy and timid (now to think of it...he was sorta, kinda like that too).

"I'll..um...here. Something." He placed a sandwich in the palm of her hand, before clasping them together and patting it as an attempt to calm her down.

She gave him a withering look before sighing and taking the sandwich. "You, mister, are lucky you are cute."

"That's what my mum says too..."

She nodded. "Is that so? I knew I liked her for a reason!"

"That's so mean, noona." He pouted, making her roll her eyes.

"You're just a whiny little one, aren't you? And I thought you were cold!"

" 'm not little. Just you wait, I'll be taller than you when I'm older." He sulked, glaring weakly at the older girl.

Mina shuffled closer to Jungkook, patting his head lightly. "It's okay, Jungkookie. Now you've revealed your softness to me, we can be better friends now! I like cute things like you!"

Jungkook scowled at her, but inside he was actually happy. His only friend up until now was Tae, and although he loved him to pieces, he couldn't spend every living moment with him. It was too unrealistic.

"Jungkookie? Where's Kookie? He promised he'd be here!" Taehyung cried, bright red spots on his cheeks and hair wetly glued to his forehead. He was tucked back into bed by his mother, a wet towel placed on his head; a warm voice coaxing him back to sleep. Taehyung's eyes fluttered, still stubbornly searching for his bunny.

"Come on, baby, fall asleep. Kookie will come back from school soon, so get some sleep in the meantime." His mother stroked his hair, moving the sweaty strands away from his face.

"Mummy...promise you'll wake me up when my bunny arrives?" He tugged on her sleeve as he felt his eyes droop down rapidly. With sad, wet eyes, he gave her a pleading look, which she could only sigh to and agree weakly.

"Kookie will have to look after you then."

Taehyung's mouth stretched out faintly into a smile, excited at the idea of Jungkook nursing him back to health. "Kookie is the nurse and I'm the doctor! Kookie is my helper!"

"Not today, honey. You're the patient today. I'll be the doctor and Kookie can be the nurse, okay?"

Taehyung's brightened expression fell, eyes starting to water and he pouted a little. "Okay..."

"Hi auntie! Is Tae feeling better yet?" Jungkook took off his shoes and placed his sailor cap on the lower nooks of the rack, dropping his bag on the sofa and dashing to Taehyung's room after greeting her.

"Wait, Jungkook-ah!" She followed after him, worried that his running would disturb Taehyung. "Taehyung's asleep..."

Jungkook grinned at her, climbing up the seat to sit by Taehyung's side and clasping his hand between his. "It's okay, auntie. I won't wake him up, promise!"

Taehyung mumbled lightly under his breath, shuffling closer to their interlocked hands, still peacefully asleep.

Jungkook giggled at the cute sight, patting his head lightly (and perhaps he was still very sweaty so he wiped his wet hand on Taehyung's clothes). He hurriedly went to grab some of his school work to do while he was watching over him (if only he could have a phone now but his parents would never let a five year old have a phone because that would be ridiculous). There were now only the quiet scribbling and soft snores heard from the room.

Taehyung squirmed under the covers, feeling a tad suffocated by the warmth surrounding him, especially near his stomach area. He lifted his head to see why his stomach was both numb and hot, and now he came to think of it, his right hand also felt sweaty, although pleasantly warm.

Squinting at the lump on the bed, his vision slowly cleared up to reveal a slack jawed bunny asleep, resting his head on his stomach; Jungkook was clutching into his hand tightly and his other hand tightly holding his pencil as his homework laid crumpled underneath him.

Taehyung felt his cheeks hurt from the smile that took over his face: his Kookie was finally here! He shook his shoulder excitedly, after all his best friend had been gone for so long (yes, he practically saw him hours ago and it wouldn't have mattered anyway because he was asleep for the most part but still he and kook had spent practically all their lives together).

Taehyung waited impatiently for Jungkook to wake up from his nap, ignoring the damp towel that dropped off his forehead as he watched the younger break out of his slumber.

"C'mon, c'mon, Kookie! Talk with me!"

Jungkook swatted his hand away with his own chubby hand, irritated by the pestering seven year old.

Taehyung pouted. He reached for a plush cheek and pinched it gently, causing Jungkook to squirm at the sudden attack, which made him open his eyes.

"Hyung! Stob it!" He tried his best to wrench himself away from Taehyung's surprisingly strong grip, whining at the unfairness of it all, which only made him sound cuter and so Taehyung shifted his attention to hugging his Kookie instead.

Very quickly, Jungkook was relaxed in Taehyung's loose embrace, which made him curse internally at how good this child was at giving hugs.

"Missed you, Kookie."

"...I missed you too, Taetae."

Taehyung's mum cooed at this scene, filming it all secretly on her phone so when they grew up she could rub it in their faces.

("Alright, kiddos, let me into the hug too!"

She extended the hug for 20 minutes; the two boys awkwardly hanging off her.)

"Okay, Taehyung-ah, say ah." She placed the thermometer in his mouth. "Hmm... well, it's risen down a little but you're still quite hot. Yet you're suddenly so energetic!"

"Bunny is here, so TaeTae can play with Kookie bunny now!" He stared at his mother with big puppy eyes, begging her to allow him to get out of bed rest.

"No, Tae-hyungie! You gotta rest or then TaeTae will get sick again and take longer to get better!" Jungkook clung onto the sheets and climbed on top of Taehyung, draping his body to prevent him from getting up.

"Kookieeee!" Taehyung whined at the younger unhappily, unwilling to stay bedridden when he could spend some time with his friend before he left.

"Now, now, Kook-ah. We'll let Tae play a bit and when he feels dizzy or sick again, we'll tuck him in bed, okay?" She brushed Jungkook's soft hair lightly with her fingers, smiling at his obedient nodding and suddenly focused gaze directed at her son. She sighed fondly at Jungkook, pinching his cheek lightly and ignoring the angry gaze sent by her one little sick boy trapped under a menacingly cute bunny.

"Come on, babies. Jihoonie and Hani want to play with you too." Jungkook got off Taehyung reluctantly, and the two children linked their hands together as they migrated down to the living room, where the chatter of a four year old and a three year old were heard.

"TaeTae okay now?" Jihoon's small hands clutched on the edge of Taehyung's pyjamas, staring intensely at his face.

Taehyung laughed, plopping himself on the sofa and dragging Jungkook with him with their interlocked hands; the other hand used to ruffle Jihoon's hair. "I'm good, Jihoon-ah."

Jungkook shook his head behind Taehyung, mouthing to the youngest one in the room, "He's still sick!"

Jihoon gasped, gripping tighter on Taehyung's pants. "Not okay?"

Jungkook nodded with fake seriousness, watching Taehyung's younger brother start to tear up in concern.

"No, why are you crying, Jihoonie?" Taehyung panicked, attempting to soothe the crying child by awkwardly patting his head and holding his hand, which made Jungkook laugh at the flustered older brother.

"Stop laughing, Kookie! How do I stop him from crying even more?"

Jungkook patted his back sympathetically. "You're doing great, Taehyungie!" He still was laughing internally; after all, Taehyung was never normally like this around him.

Jihoon had stopped shedding tears, just sniffling and tugging on Taehyung's clothes. "Kook, what do I do? He's still sad!" Taehyung whispered frantically, seeking help from anyone he could get as his mother was currently occupied with dinner.

Jungkook giggled, stretching his arm out to pat Taehyung lightly on the head. "I think he wants you to cuddle him, hyungie."

"Oh." Taehyung quickly adjusted his position, crossing his legs together to let Jihoon sit on. "Come on then, Jihoonie!" He patted his lap enthusiastically, letting the younger boy climb on and hug him tighter.

Jungkook sighed fondly at the two, knowing that he would have to put up with Taehyung's whining at his numb legs after Jihoon got taken for his nap. It was cute how he was trying to be such a good older brother though.

Another small hand tugged at Jungkook's sleeve. He turned his head to face Hani, who was surprisingly quiet for a child. He cocked his head to the side, peering at her in confusion.

"TaeTae... really okay?"

"Yup! He's gonna get better soon - it's only a cold!" Jungkook answered with as much cheer as possible; clearly they didn't believe him, but maybe that was a reoccurring trait in all the Kims with their tad overwhelming concerns. Still, he couldn't blame her - Taehyung was normally a very healthy child so to see him sick was indeed out of the ordinary.

Jungkook could still see the worry embedded on her face, unfitting for a four year old, which made him click his tongue and hold his hand out. "You're a good kid for worrying about Tae, but it's okay, I promise he'll definitely get better."

Hani reached out to clutch his hand, still a tad fearful, but somewhat reassured. Jungkook could only wonder what they were imagining when it came to Taehyung's illness.

He pulled her hand towards him, getting her to sit on the sofa in between him and Taehyung. "It'll be fine. Taehyungie's surprisingly strong."

(An offended 'hey' was drawn out from Taehyung which made Hani laugh, which made Taehyung smile.)

"I'm back! I'm all healthy now, see!" Taehyung provided a little tap dance in front of Mina, who sat on the bench in the playground.

"Yeah...I see that."

"What's with that cold reaction?" Taehyung grumbled as he took the seat next to her on the bench.

"Oh, shush. It's good to see you back, but you left us in a very awkward position."

"Oh. Oops. Well, it's not like I can control my sickness." He poked her lightly on the arm. "I'm sorry?"

"Forgiven. But I'm stealing Jungkook away from you now." She stopped her faux annoyance at Taehyung and grinned at him. "He's such a soft lil bun and I can't believe you never told me!"

"Nooooooo! You can't have him! He's my little bunny!" Taehyung gripped her shoulders, dragging her back and forth, which was what Jungkook had arrived to see.

Jungkook took a look at the two, who both sheepishly smiled at him. "...do I want to know?" He placed three bottles of banana milk on the bench, watching the two exchange eye contact.

"You know, the usual, you're so cute, you're a bunny, obviously you're mine..." Taehyung said casually, sipping on the sweet milk with an innocent smile directed at Jungkook.

"...okay. Well, if anything, I'm my mum's. Go and fight her first." Jungkook rolled his eyes internally at this childish squabble (although it was kinda cute how they were fighting over him).

"I never thought about auntie..." Taehyung whispered to Mina, not so subtly.

"You wanna team up and try and get Kook off her first?" She whispered back, just as unsuccessfully concealing their discussion.

"We can try... But auntie adores Kookie and Kookie adores auntie." Taehyung and Mina sighed together.

"There, there. You tried." Jungkook comforted unenthusiastically.

Taehyung jumped up and tightly hugged him, pushing his face into Jungkook's neck, practically attempting to glue himself onto the younger. "No! Stay with me, Kookieeee!"

"Ah, you cheater! You know Jungkook has a soft spot for you! That's not fair!" Mina yelled, pointing her finger at Taehyung.

"Haha." Childishly, Taehyung stuck out his tongue, which made Mina jump out of her seat and chase Taehyung, who upon seeing the angry face of the girl, darted up immediately and dashed away.

"Such kids..." The five year old glanced at the seven year olds running around. "Well, at least they're having fun like kids should."

"Happy birthday, Jungkookie!" Mina greeted, giving him a big hug as he entered the school gate.

"Thank you, noona!" Jungkook smiled, a bit embarrassed at the attention directed to him. She placed a cute handmade card, with a bunny and slightly wonky handwriting inside. His smile grew bigger at their sweet words, giving her a hug back.

"It's not much, but since me and Tae don't have money, we can only give you a card." She said apologetically.

"It's okay. Thank you for your hard work, noona!" He hugged her again, immensely grateful that she and Tae took the time to make him a card when he knew both of them preferred to be up and about.

"Also, where's Tae, that sticky child? Normally he's glued to you." She held out her hand, which Jungkook took and walked together to their classrooms. "Oh well. I guess I get more Jungkookie time; good for me!" She waved goodbye as she dropped him off his class, waiting for him to leave her sight before dashing off to her classroom like madman.

"Taehyung-ah, are you anywhere near finished?" She saw Taehyung folding diligently on the floor, ignoring his classmates staring at him in mild interest.

"Do you think he knows anything?" Taehyung asked, head still down and focused on the red paper.

"No, actually. I think I was the first person to say happy birthday. Did auntie not say anything?"

"I think auntie's going to make him a cake and she can't lie to save her life, so Kookie will know." He fiddled with the glue a bit more before sighing in relief. "It's finished! Now you gotta help me make more stars!"

(Their teacher stink-eyed them the whole time and threatened to call their parents before she gave up in face of their most innocent expressions and a promise to not do it again.)

Jungkook sat in his desk quietly on his own, his teacher talking, but it was all background noise as he stared at the clouds (he'd be able to catch up... right?).

Six years old, another milestone to mark. He'd been alive in this world for so long already, strange because he never anticipated things to go this way. He remembered memories of his original Seokjin, and how it resulted to this sudden transportation to a world where another Seokjin lived, and now he was here.

How long was he going to last? How long could he build affections with these people before he was ripped away from them? Or was this the final destination?

He wasn't sure how things were going to end, even though it was probably too far in the future to think about. He just hoped he was lucky enough to last the whole journey with the people in his life.

Lunch came around quickly (probably because all he was doing was getting lost in his own thoughts) and yet when he came to their usual table, he found it empty. He sat down, eating alone, deciding it would be better to search for them after he had finished eating. He didn't know how quiet it was all alone on the table, after weeks of Tae and Mina's chatter.

After he had finished, he got up and started looking around, tugging on teachers' clothing who were supervising each area to ask about Mina and Taehyung. Their class teacher pointed towards their classroom, where Jungkook walked over to and opened the door cautiously.

There were two familiar heads he saw, both of them sprawled on the floor on their tummies, tongues sticking out in rapt concentration.

Sneakily, he crept towards the two, deciding it would be nicer on Mina to rest his entire weight on Taehyung's back (because at least she actually greeted him and wished him a happy birthday).

Taehyung let out an 'oof', turning his head to be faced with the very person they were hiding from. Mina, who heard the noise, also lifted her head up to see a wild Jungkook, whom they were not prepared for.

Mina hurriedly attempted to shift their presents away from Jungkook's sight, which was pretty hard to do because they were so fragile. "Tae!" She hissed, ignoring the suspicious looks they were getting from the younger. "What do we do?"

"I don't know, man! Jungkook's not stupid; he probably knows something's up!" A panicked reply was given.

"Should we come clean then? We're nearly finished anyway..." Tae agreed, finishing off the star in his hands.

Jungkook coughed lightly. "So, whatchu doing?" He rested his arms casually on Tae's head, supporting his own face up.

"It's not anything fancy, but we've been making you origami stuff!" Taehyung smiled with slight embarrassment, handing over a neatly folded yellow star.

"Oh." Jungkook could feel a wave of gratitude build up in his heart as he held the star in his tiny tiny hands. "Thank you, Taehyung-hyung, Mina-noona." It was all warm in his chest, a smile spreading on his face. "Thank you."

"That's not it, Jungkook-ah! We have a whole jar of stars, for our special birthday boy with sparkly eyes! It's fitting, isn't it?" She pulled out a clear jar filled with various paper stars in soft pastels and occasional sparkly paper stars.

"Is this what you've been working on all day and avoiding me for?" He took the jar gratefully, screwing it open to place the last star in.

"That's not it. Taehyungie's been hard at work on something else too!" Mina scooted closer to Taehyung, nudging him not so subtly.

Taehyung blushed, sparking some interest at what could be so embarrassing for someone as shameless as Kim Taehyung.

"What is it?"

"Again...it's not anything fancy."

"That doesn't matter, Taehyungie. I'm happy you even remembered."

"Well, you gotta get off me so I can get it, bun." Jungkook whispered a quiet apology to Taehyung, rubbing at his back lightly after he got up off him.

Taehyung grinned, shaking it off and ruffled Jungkook's hair before running off to his desk, where he magically whipped out a bouquet of roses.

"It's cheesy, but I see mummy get them on her birthday too, and I love you just as much as mummy."

"Thank you so much, Taehyung-ah." He took them carefully, seeing the delicate folds that formed the red roses in his arm. "They're really pretty." He whispered in awe.

(How couldn't he be? A seven year old spent time to make fiddly flowers for him on his birthday. Literally, what the fuck.)

Jungkook placed them on the table to give both Taehyung and Mina a big hug. "Thank you so much!"

Their bright smiles in return only made him smile more.

"Hi, baby! Happy birthday!"

When he returned from school (his dad excited to walk him back home, where both Taehyung and Mina suspiciously ran to their parents), he was met with his mother waiting eagerly for him, opening her arms out.

Jungkook dashed towards his mother, feeling arms wrap around him tightly and lifting him up and attacking his face with kisses.

"My baby's six now! Why are you growing up so fast?" She sighed, both proud and nostalgic. She put him down after giving him another kiss on his cheek, telling him to get dressed for his birthday party.

Jungkook nodded, and when his mother was distracted, he 'borrowed' a vase and took his presents from Taehyung and Mina upstairs with him. Arranging the paper roses on his desk and the jar of stars as decoration made him happy; it was going to be his constant reminder of how sweet kids could be.

Taehyung and Mina ended up arriving all dressed up; Tae in a cute black suit and bowtie, and Mina in an adorable pink dress.

"Why are you dressed so smart today? It's nothing special." Jungkook asked, changed into a comfortable pair of dungarees and a stripy t-shirt.

Taehyung laughed awkwardly. "Yeah...I didn't choose to dress like this. You know Mum - she loves things like this and she got so excited to make me wear a suit and do my hair and stuff... I miss my jeans."

"You look nice, TaeTae." Jungkook stretched out to pat his head, a bit challenged by the height difference. "Though I miss your fluffy hair. I can't run my fingers through this style."

"It feels weird too." Taehyung ruffled his own hair as an attempt to get it out of its fixed shape, which made him look more like the boyish Taehyung he was used to.

He felt himself getting dragged into a loose embrace, feeling Taehyung rest his head on his shoulder as they both turned to talk with Mina. He relaxed comfortably in that position, thinking that it probably wouldn't be good for Taehyung's neck if he kept it like that so he held out his hand to Mina and shifted himself with his friends to the sofa.

( The adults looked fondly upon this trio as they were waddling to sit down.)

"Mina-noona looks pretty."

She smiled, hugging Jungkook tightly, as she said, "That's why you're my favourite! Taehyung said nothing to me at all!"

"Hey! I said something nice too!"

"Yeah, if, 'you look weird, different than normal' is a compliment!"

Taehyung pouted childishly at the unfairness, clinging on to Jungkook as he whined in his ear. "Kookieeee, tell Mina I'm a nice person!"

"Mina-noona, I'm a nice person." Jungkook smiled cheekily to her as he grabbed his favourite beverage off the table.

"Kookieeee, don't be like that! Love meeeeeeeee." Taehyung complained, suffocating the younger with his hug.

"Hyung, I love you. Do you feel better now?" Jungkook glanced at Taehyung to see an immensely satisfied expression on his face. Taehyung beamed at him, holding Jungkook tighter, shoving his face in the crevice of Jungkook's neck even more to hide his bubbling joy.

Mina sighed, a bit envious, although fond. "It must be nice to be that close with each other."

"It's okay, Mina-noona. It'll grow with time." Jungkook patted her hand lightly, like a grandmother comforting her sulking child.

"You two are so close that it feels like I can never reach that level of friendship."

"Sorry, Mina-yah... I didn't know you felt that way..." Taehyung apologised, getting up to hug her and leaving Jungkook strangely cold. He ignored that sensation and joined the hug too.

"What do girls like anyway?" Jungkook peered over Taehyung's shoulder, who was flicking through a magazine to get ideas.

"I don't know, flowers, perfume, make-up?" Taehyung mumbled, staring at the colourful pictures of products on the paper.

"That's a bit...typical, isn't it?" Jungkook commented, resting his head on Taehyung's shoulder as he laid on top of Taehyung.

"Ah! You're heavy!" Taehyung complained, pulling the younger off his back and got up instead. "C'mon, let's just sit down and we can look at this together."

Jungkook still rested his head on Taehyung shoulder as he comfortably sat next to Taehyung, placing the magazine on both of their laps.

"Why is birthday shopping so hard?" Jungkook whined, closing the magazine once and for all.

"Hey, hey, making you a birthday present was super hard too!"

"Yeah, but you know me! I'll like whatever you give me anyway!"

"That's the good thing about growing up together, isn't it? I know you too well and you know me too well." Taehyung smiled, suddenly a lot calmer. "I'm expecting something good for mine, if you're wondering!" He teased, poking at Jungkook's puffy cheeks, his mood switched back to energetic.

"Don't do that to me, hyung! I don't even know if I can find anything good for you..." A massive sigh was released.

Taehyung ruffled Jungkook's hair. "It'll be okay, you know me so well so I'll be happy with whatever Kookie gives me!"

Jungkook nodded, still feeling burdened. At least he had a month before Taehyung's birthday came around. Birthdays were probably the most worrisome when it came to having friends, provided that their friendships were good.

"C'mon, Kookie, let's not get distracted! We gotta get some ideas for Mina!"

"Okay..."

(If anyone was curious, Jungkook and Taehyung ended up making (fake so they could last) flower crowns with the help of Taehyung's mother, which Mina adored and made Taehyung and Jungkook wear them with her.)

"Hey, auntie...you call Taehyungie your tiger, right?" Jungkook asked, watching Taehyung's mother knitting a scarf as she was watching a TV show. Taehyung was out with Mina to the park, even though it was freaking cold with Mina's dad as supervision, while he stayed with his auntie.

"Yeah, what about it, baby?" She watched him shuffle around in his seat, taking a while to come out with his request.

"Can you make a bunny plushie and a tiger plushie? For Taehyungie's birthday?"

She laughed a little into her hand, watching her practically fourth child squirm unsurely, almost expecting a refusal. She patted his head lightly, put her knitting materials to the side to pull Jungkook into her lap and give him a hug. "Of course I'd love to do it, bun! Why would you think I wouldn't; especially when it's for you?"

Jungkook looked down into his lap, mumbling. "It's childish...and I dunno if Tae would even want a plushie..." To be totally fair, he had no idea what kids wanted for their birthdays, but he always adored playing with teddy bears and such, so it wasn't such a terrible idea, would it? (He'd never been in the position where he could be aware enough to care about what to get a kid for their birthday.)

"It's a cute idea! Are you planning to give both to Taehyung?"

"No..." He admitted sheepishly. "I want the tiger one..."

"Alright, baby." She coughed in her hand, concealing her laugh. "Taehyung gets you, and you get Taehyung, right?"

A shy nod from Jungkook.

Taehyung's mother could only squeal inside.

"Which colour, Jungkookie?" Taehyung's mother pulled out a basket filled with balls of wool. Jungkook pointed his tiny finger at the pastel pink and bright orange.

"Pink for bunny...orange for tiger..." He thought they looked super pretty, fitting the idea he had in his head because it was screaming at him 'the bunny is going to be too girly and Taehyung won't like it!' but screw toxic masculinity he can have the damn bunny if Tae didn't want it.

"Okay...and can you pick out the eyes for me, darling?" Jungkook placed two big sparkly round beads in her left hand and two big beads that looked like puppies' eyes into her right (okay there wasn't much difference, but he could tell!).

"Bunny," he pointed at her left hand. "Tiger." He pointed at her right.

"Anything else you want, bun?" Jungkook shook his head, his hair swishing back and forth cutely.

"Thank you for your hard work, then. Do you wanna watch me?"

A nod.

Jungkook rubbed the ears of the bunny rabbit anxiously, feeling the glide of the satiny material, with it connected to a knitted body. The ears were silky soft, and the paws just as soft but the tummy and arms were knitted, with a cute cotton tail (thanks to his auntie's mish-mash usage of materials).

He wanted to chew on the ear to curb his anxiety somehow, but since it was Taehyung's present, he didn't dare. Instead, he nibbled his sleeve as he waited for someone to open the door, watching his dad clumsily tie the ribbon on his present next to him. He could hear mutterings of 'this damn ribbon' which made him giggle quietly.

Taehyung bust open the door, immediately darting to Jungkook and hugging him (which took him aback because he looked like a pouncing pup - scary but cute).

"Happy birthday, Taehyungie!" He said, snuggled into Taehyung's embrace, one hand holding the bunny carefully, the other holding onto his shirt. "You're now two years older again."

"Mhm." Taehyung took in one last breath of his beloved Jungkookie, welcoming the two Jeons in. (Jungkook's dad was just awkwardly watching the two embrace - a bit concerned at their clear attachment to each other because the two year gap would end up separating them in school, and a bit dying on the inside at how cute they were.)

The birthday party hadn't started yet, but Jungkook wanted to give him his present immediately. There was only so much shamelessness he could hide behind as a six year old before he ended up cringing too.

"Tae, here! Happy birthday!" Quickly he shoved the bunny in his open hands (so much for that careful treatment, but he was freaking the fuck out, which is stupid because he was an grown ass man, whom, fair enough, wasn't that responsible, but he shouldn't have such a bought of panic rush but kids were so blunt that it hurts).

"It's not much but I asked your mum to make it so you have a reminder of me because I know you need to cuddle to fall asleep and I have one of you too so we match!" Jungkook delivered in rapid fire, making Taehyung squint confusedly at him (like that would do anything to help h understand the gibberish that came out of my mouth, Jungkook scoffed internally).

"...what?"

"He meant that I made that bunny, with help with Kookie here, for you to sleep with and he has a tiger one to match with your bunny." Taehyung's mother said, ruffling Jungkook's hair as a greeting.

Taehyung's eyes welled up, reaching out to hug Jungkook tightly. "Thank you Kookieeee!" He sobbed into Jungkook's neck, which wasn't exactly the reaction Jungkook was going for...

"I'll treasure it forever! I'll take it everywhere I go!"

Jungkook really hoped he didn't. He didn't want Taehyung to be made fun of even more; especially when he'd end up crying to him about it. "You don't need to, Taehyungie-hyung. It'll get dirty if you bring it to school."

"Okay..." He sighed, squeezing the bunny in his arms.

(As Taehyung's mother's watched them, she felt that sometimes, no, most of the time, Jungkook acted like the older one out of the two, which was slightly unusual considering he was responsible when with Hani and Jihoon. But no matter, they were cute.)

When other relatives and friends came over, Taehyung excitedly jumped up, holding the bunny toy in his arms and promptly showing it off to anyone that was willing to listen to him, proudly claiming it was from his 'beloved Kookie'. That wasn't even the most embarrassing part though, Taehyung then instigated a whole speech about how the bunny looked like Jungkook and how 'sparkly the beads are, like his eyes' and how 'his bunny nose is just as cute, maybe even cuter than the plushie' and other unnecessary, but sweet, comments that made Jungkook want to dig a hole so he could hide.

Eventually, he got around to everyone, ending on Mina. He hurriedly hugged her, receiving his gift thankfully and proceeded to shove the bunny in her face in too much excitement. Jungkook watched the two interact, feeling way too embarrassed to get up from the sofa after watching Taehyung indirectly compliment him to everyone he could get his hands on.

He flopped his head onto the armrest, waiting for the two to finish their squealing over a simple toy.

"I love it, Jungkook-ah. Thank you for thinking about me " Taehyung gave him one last hug, the sky especially dark. Taehyung held him for an especially long time, almost as he was trying to engrave the sensation of hugging Jungkook in his head. Jungkook patted the back of his head quietly, watching the reluctant removal of Taehyung's arms and then he forced a smile, a great grin on his face and let Jungkook go back home without a clingy Taehyung.

Somedays, he felt it would be better if Jungkook didn't ever have to leave his side.

Chapter 2: slowly, I see you drifting away from me

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Taehyung: 11

Jungkook: 9

"I'm scared, Kookie." Taehyung turned around to face Jungkook, hugging his bunny toy securely in his arms as he watched the younger yawn and blink sleepily.

"Why?" Jungkook's voice was slightly muffled by the shared blanket.

"I don't want to leave you... I don't want to start middle school without you..." Taehyung mumbled, reaching out for Jungkook's hand without much help from the dark.

Jungkook yawned again, feeling the soft pillow he was resting on and being surrounded by warm things made him feel like his eyes were slowly drooping. "You'll have Mina-noona. You can also make new friends too; you're not all alone."

"But what about you, Kookie?"

"I have Hani, although she can't replace you. Jihoon's gonna join me this year too. Don't worry, TaeTae-hyung. You'll be okay without me; I'll manage too. We'll still see each other every day anyway." Jungkook reached out to pat his head, showing off his cute little bunny teeth (although it was night time so Tae couldn't really make it out). "You'll be fine."

"Kookieeee! Come back here - I need another hug so I can make it through school!" Taehyung chased Jungkook around in his new uniform: black pants and a white buttoned up shirt, hair nicely fluffed up and ready for school. Jungkook could only admire how good Taehyung looked, even as an eleven year old. He would be frightened by the amount of people who would be attracted to Taehyung when he got older.

Eventually, Jungkook gave Taehyung another hug, knowing that he wouldn't see him as much as he used to. They had grown too used to spending time as a duo, gotten too comfortable, but what was wrong with that?

He knew he would sorely miss Taehyung, even if he avoided expressing it because it was embarrassing - he always struggled to bridge the gap between his mouth and his emotions, and even then, he didn't understand why he was so attached.

The grip of the hug loosened reluctantly; Jungkook gave him a weak smile and telling him he would have Mina, and watched him slowly depart in the opposite direction.

He felt just the slightest lonely watching his figure get smaller and smaller, until he just completely disappeared from his sight.

"Hey! Kim!" A boy opposite Taehyung gestured for him to get closer, expression a bit leery for his tastes. He stepped closer to his desk, watching him cup over his mouth and whisper, "Who's that cute girl that you were talking to before class?"

Taehyung sighed; he didn't understand the others' interests in girls so soon. Maybe it was just him, but he hadn't had a crush yet, nor did he have any interest in pursuing a romantic relationship at this moment of his life. He was eleven, for god's sake! 'But to each to their own,' he thought.

"Friend from my elementary." He said, watching the interested look in his eyes brighten even more.

"Oh! Really? ...Well, can you introduce me to her?" He shuffled in his seat.

'Wow, how direct of him...' Ironic he went straight to asking him for an introduction but couldn't go up to her and do it himself. He shrugged, thinking it was better to approach Mina himself if he really was interested in building a friendship at the very least. "I mean, I can't do much. I can introduce you two but I can't promise anything."

"That's great! Thank you, uh," He looked at his small nameplate pinned to his uniform. "Taehyung, right?" He patted him on the back cheerfully, which was a sudden jump from calling him Kim to this friendly gesture.

He sighed. He missed Jungkook.

When it came around to lunch, he saw Mina holding a seat open for him at an empty table. As fast as possible, he paid for his food and sat down nest to her.

Immediately as his butt met the seat, he started whining. "Mina! Do you know how many guys have come up to me asking who you were? Can you stop being cute so guys stop asking me?!"

"Yah, Kim Taehyung! Do you know how many girls have come up to me asking who you were? Can you stop being so stupidly attractive so girls stop asking me?" Mina huffed, punching Taehyung lightly.

"Gee man, you're so mean..." He pouted, intimidated by the scowl embedded on her face. "...why do people even like you..." Taehyung mumbled, silently praying that Mina didn't hear him.

This sucked. He didn't have Jungkook here to calm down Mina, nor was he here to give him a hug to fuel him for the rest of the day.

"Minaaa..." Taehyung poked at her arm, where she huffed but still turned her head around. "I'm sorryyyy..."

She sighed and nodded, stealing some of his food. "Forgiven. I'm sorry too."

"It was hell. Don't leave me again. This was a stupid idea." Taehyung mumbled into Jungkook's shoulder, sprawled on his side as they sat next to each other to watch a movie.

"Yeah, well..." Jungkook looked at him unsympathetically, munching on some popcorn. "You gotta deal with it. I'm not going to your school for a while."

Taehyung sighed. "I just... I don't know, expected it to be easier."

"Why? You've been pretty scared for a while anyway, and it's normal that it's not great but you'll get used to it. Probably."

"I don't know." He clung on tighter to Jungkook's hand, starting to fidget with it aimlessly. "I was anticipating it, you know. I thought it'd be easy to make friends, but it's really hard. I feel lost and I have no friends and I don't see Mina as much. I'm not sure how to adjust and I couldn't run to you to get a hug or anything to make me feel better. I don't have anyone to hang out with in classes."

Suddenly Taehyung felt Jungkook move from his side. A pair of lips softly pressed against his forehead. Taehyung gaped at Jungkook who merely sat down and looked like he thought nothing about it. He pressed his fingers to his forehead, feeling the lingering warmth and the warmth accumulating in his chest.

"Don't be scared, hyung. I'll still be here with you even when we're separated." Jungkook said calmly, patting his hand comfortingly. "You're good at socialising. Be how you are around me; it won't be long until you'll meet people you'll like."

"...but don't you miss me?" It was something that stemmed from insecurity - how could Jungkook act so calm about this? Indeed, he would have never called himself the most mature, but he didn't think he didn't have it. And yet, in moments like these, Taehyung could only feel helpless, because Jungkook was younger. He was supposed to be an older brother figure and help him, instead of it feeling like the roles were reversed.

"Yeah, I miss you, Kim Taehyung. I've spent the longest time with you, and it's weird to be spilt apart. It's two years before I get into middle school, so you'll just have to wait. I'm sorry, hyung."

Taehyung flung his body across Jungkook's lap, complaining. "Why do you have to say such smart things? How do you even know what to say to soothe me?"

"Sorry, TaeTae-hyung." Jungkook laughed quietly, running his hand through Taehyung's hair.

Taehyung sighed, resting his head on the younger's lap. "Why are you growing up so fast?" His voice was a tad mournful. "Where has my little bunny gone?"

"It's on your bed." Jungkook remarked cheekily. He was fully aware that Taehyung still cherished that bunny toy to this day, and slept with it religiously when he didn't have Jungkook with him.

"Aish, this kid." Taehyung pinched Jungkook's soft cheek, making the younger whine and complain. "Where has my cute little Jungkookie gone, seriously?" He teased the younger playfully, watching his doe eyes sparkle as he squished him.

Jungkook was still his treasure, even with his cheekiness (and his inability to let Taehyung older brother him properly).

"Hi, auntie!" Jungkook slipped off his shoes, walking into the house to hug her.

"Hey, Kookie." She ruffled his hair lightly, before washing her hands and getting back to chopping her vegetables.

Jungkook looked around the house, searching for one person."Where's Tae-hyungie?"

"Oh, Kook-ah, he didn't tell you? He's taken on a lot of clubs all of a sudden,' she sighed. "Art club, photography club, music club, god knows what more!"

He sighed too, but he supposed that was expected of Taehyung. He really lived by his own pace; it felt like Taehyung was slowly accelerating ahead and leaving him behind.

"I'm sorry, Jungkookie."

Jungkook smiled faintly. "Why are you sorry, auntie? It's okay that Taehyung is busy - you can't help that. I'll...I'll just go and play with Hani and Jihoonie instead." He walked off, trying to keep his disappointment from showing as he went to find the younger two.

Taehyung's mother could only sigh, missing the days where Jungkook and Taehyung would arrive home from school together, the house filled with their soft giggles and soft padding of feet as they chased each other around the house.

(They used to be so young.)

"And it's just really cool! I made a ton of friends, and it's just really fun! You'll love it when you come!"

A couple weeks in, Taehyung flourished in middle school. Of course, there was no doubt in it, because he was friendly, energetic and incredibly sociable. The fact that it was easy for Taehyung to make new friends made him both relieved but also conflicted, because it felt that Taehyung was drifting away from him and it couldn't be stopped.

"That sounds cool, Taehyungie-hyung." In regards to expressing this fear of abandonment though, he found increasingly difficult. Taehyung looked so ecstatic talking about his new friends, his new school, his suddenly new everything, that it worried Jungkook that he might guilt Taehyung by telling him he was lonely.

He felt there wasn't a need to tell.

After all, he wasn't completely lonely. He had Hani and Jihoonie, right? He still had Taehyung and Mina...right?

(He could only hope.)

Jungkook glanced at the time, waiting for Jihoon and Hani to arrive to the lunch table. They had grown up so well, no longer the small toddlers they were, trailing behind Taehyung.

"Jungkookie-hyung!" Jihoon called out, dragging Hani along. Jungkook still felt a bit uncomfortable being called hyung, to be totally honest, but he knew he couldn't avoid the hyung title forever.

"Hey kids." Jungkook greeted them casually, watching them complain about the way he addressed them. In his defense, he did watch them grow up after all, so he felt like it was appropriate. (How ironic, that he could easily call those younger than him kids, perhaps those older than him kids, but not get used to hyung.)

"Taehyung-hyung was asking about you last night, hyung!"

"Oh." Jungkook nibbled on his food, a bit happy that Taehyung mentioned him, although with a twinge of sadness, because he hadn't seen Taehyung face to face for a while, throwing himself as many activities to distract himself from Taehyung seemingly moving on.

"You want me to pass any messages over to him?"

This was how far their friendship had succumbed to. It was pitiful, how a gap of two years could cause this much damage. But, if he was totally honest, he wasn't doing the most he could to preserve their relationship. Perhaps he was only making excuses for himself, but he didn't want to see how Taehyung would slowly drift away, and find other people to replace him in his life, because he wasn't the most accessible option right now.

And here he was, expecting their friendship to last. Perhaps Taehyung expected the same. Their dwindling communication wasn't helping either.

He shook his head. Things happened for a reason, he tried to console himself (because otherwise he would spiral in searching for reasons why they weren't working out anymore, and finding ways to blame himself while not doing anything about it because, to put it simply, he was scared of what would happen if he did. Would he be rejected, would he be pushed away? Or would he be embraced and suddenly things would get better?).

(He was being stupid, he knew. But he didn't know how to stop his fear talking for him.)

He put on a false smile, enough to fool Jihoon and Hani. "Nah, it's okay."

He was fine. It was all okay.

(If he kept telling himself that, maybe he'd eventually feel that way.)

If Taehyung noticed the distance slowly growing between him and Jungkook, he didn't pay much attention to it.

In a way, it was natural. It happened to disintegrate over time and he never really knew until it wasn't there anymore.

Taehyung genuinely thought things were okay with him and Jungkook. They hung out after school; Jungkook listening to him ramble about the horrors of middle school and laughing along with him as they played together. There was still that affection for Jungkookie, although it was true that he didn't have as much opportunity to show it.

Soon, he became trapped within the lures of his newly made friends at school - they encouraged him to join various clubs, and invited him to hang out after school. He felt cool, and wanted. It was never like that in elementary, and so he relished in this sudden popularity.

Truth be told, he was slightly overwhelmed. He felt increasingly busy with a sudden increase in assignments, increasingly busy in terms of social life with clubs and other friends and he was still struggling with himself, in all honesty.

Taehyung just couldn't find means to get to Jungkook, even though he was so near. In a way, he felt worried that if he went to Jungkook showing how he was struggling, his usual source of comfort, Jungkook would lose all respect for him, because Taehyung was eleven now, he wasn't a child anymore. And in another way, he felt worried that others in his school would see that he was friends with someone younger than him, and think that he was lame - he was scared that his sudden coolness would drop back to lameness, and he saw how hurtful people could be.

Unconsciously, he could have been putting distance between himself and Jungkook. He never actually realised how bad it got until Jungkook finally started middle school...

Taehyung: 13

Jungkook: 11

"Taehyung-ah, make sure to say hello to Jungkookie at school for me! He hardly ever comes around anymore." His mother reminded him while eating breakfast together.

"Ah." Taehyung didn't realise that Jungkook was starting middle school this year, or that he was going to his school. He felt like a bad hyung, forgetting about such an important date. He paused his eating, feeling a discomfort in his stomach thinking about it.

"Tell him to come over some time, yeah?" She ruffled his hair lightly before leaving for work. "Bye, baby. Eomma's leaving now."

Taehyung huffed. "I'm not a kid anymore, eomma!"

"Alright, alright." She chuckled. "You're all growing up so fast. Where did my Taehyungie who was glued to Jungkookie go?"

He wasn't exactly sure either.

"Hey, did you know Jungkook was coming here?" He asked Mina before homeroom started, keeping an eye out for familiar bunny features.

"Jungkookie?" She tippy toed, placing her hands on Taehyung's shoulders to gain more height to search for him. "Well, I don't see him. Maybe he's already gone to the hall for the welcoming assembly?"

"Jeon Jungkook." The principal finally got to his name, making Taehyung perk up and pay attention to the small boy walking up on the stage to get his paper.

He noticed that Jungkook was still small, his face still sweet and soft with baby fat, large doe eyes, and although Jungkook maintained a neutral face the whole time, he knew there were still the cutest bunny smile behind that expression.

Something about it felt so familiar and yet something about it felt different. It just surprised him, how seemingly little but yet how much had changed.

"Hey...um, is Jeon Jungkook here?" Taehyung asked the student who opened the door.

"Jeon?" He looked inside and yelled. "Hey, Jeon! Somebody's looking for you!"

Out came Jungkook. Taehyung was faced with the same doe eyes, although they were a lot less sparkly and excited to see him.

Hesitantly, Taehyung smiled. "Hi, Kookie." No smile back. "It's Taehyungie...?" He didn't know what to say, he didn't know what to expect from this Jungkook. He was used to big bunny smiles, reciprocated affection, not this sudden shut out.

It had only been two years...

"Jungkook-ssi. Was that Kim Taehyung?" A hoard of girls surrounded him excitedly, eyes gleaming like they had found something to prey on.

"Yeah." He shuffled into his seat, feeling uncomfortable with their intense gaze. He tucked his feet underneath his chair, hands folded neatly in his lap and attempting to make himself smaller so less people could see him. "How do you know him?"

"Jeon. Kim Taehyung is probably everyone's biggest crush. He's hot, but nice to everyone and really friendly and super talented, but the only one he's always with is that Mina girl."

"Oh." Jungkook thought it was cliche how Taehyung was being described. Plus these girls were eleven, maybe twelve. Why did they care about this kinda thing already? (But hey, they could do whatever they wanted. He wasn't their parent. Though he'd appreciate not being interrogated. Also, Mina was their sunbae...they should have a little more respect...)

"Hey, Jeon! Are you even there?" She waved her hand frantically in front of his face.

". ..yeah..." He paused. "I didn't know he was that popular? I didn't know these things happened in middle school?" Teenagers were mysterious people...and they hadn't even become teenagers yet... He worried for his stress levels.

He received a consoling pat on the back. "You're going to be eaten up if you continue to be this naive, Jungkook-ssi."

He was going to okay...right? He was old enough...he could handle a bunch of pubescent teens, as well as his own puberty, right?

Fuck he wasn't prepared.

"Wait, what about Mina?" Jungkook suddenly remembered to ask, after fearing for himself for a couple of minutes.

"So many guys have a crush on her; she's stupid popular as well. She's always by Taehyung-sunbae's side, except for class, just because she knew him in elementary." She scoffed.

He didn't know what to say. It just seemed extremely petty but a bit intimidating...to the point he didn't really want to say what his relationship with Taehyung was.

"Why are you here?" Jungkook looked around nervously, hoping Taehyung making a sudden entrance back into his life did not draw attention. (It was a total lie, he could see people whispering already. Why did they care so much?)

Taehyung smiled at him, moving from the gate entrance towards him, bag being pulled up his shoulder. "Kook-ah, eomma wants you to come over!"

Jungkook could feel the impending need to face palm, because Kim fucking Taehyung went and announced that to the surrounding people too.

God forbid if more people come and pester him about Taehyung tomorrow...was it so hard to ask for a little peace and quiet? He missed the simple days in life...

Nevertheless, he was a bit unsure what this meant for the both of them. Jungkook was pretty sure this wasn't out of Taehyung's own decision, because he had the tendencies to clamp up when it came to his feelings, especially when it came to him.

Taehyung always wanted to be the bestest best friend, the bestest older brother figure to Jungkook. In a way, he could truly be himself with Jungkook, but Jungkook knew how much he feared losing his affection, and how he didn't know how to fix that when things started to fade. He would just plaster a happy face on to make sure he wouldn't worry his baby Kookie. It was scary how good he was at that at such a young age.

He couldn't help but feel a little bit grateful that someone had interfered with their shit, though. He didn't know how to approach Taehyung on the matter of their friendship, and Taehyung didn't know either. He sorely missed the good days of running around with Taehyung, so affectionate and clingy, although whose to say that Taehyung hadn't changed at all? He found that children grew up incredibly fast, at the blink of an eye, and he felt like he had his eyes closed for a long time.

It was bittersweet.

Jungkook sat facing opposite Taehyung, the two not making eye contact and picking at the food. The other members of Taehyung's family chattered, making their side of the table even more quiet.

"Jungkookie-ah! Come, eat more!" She placed some more food into his bowl, beaming at him.

He could see Taehyung staring at him, giving him a consoling look. "There, there." He mouthed, a small amused smile creeping on his face.

Jungkook scowled. He grabbed the largest clump of vegetables with his chopsticks, dumping it into Taehyung's bowl. "Taehyungie-hyung needs to eat more. I heard he's doing so many things - you need to keep up your energy!" He said a little too brightly, plastering on the biggest smile he could.

"My, still as sweet as ever, Jungkookie!" Taehyung's mother commented happily, ecstatic to see all her kids (including her honourary child, Jungkook) eating at the table with her.

"Yeah, so sweet of you, Jungkook." Taehyung grumbled, eating the food in his bowl anyway.

"So that's it. I've pretty much shown all of the school now; hopefully you won't get lost." He paused, insure of how to finish. Taehyung didn't want to seem like he wanted to escape immediately after his tour was done, but the empty silence between then was getting too much to bear, especially when he just wanted to talk but felt like he couldn't because what was he going to say? What happened to us?

The two years spent without Jungkook created a big drift to happen. Overwhelmed with everything new in his life, he tried to overcome it by diving straight in and finding himself left with little time to really hang out with his little Jungkookie.

This Jungkook seemed a lot more reserved. Hell, it had only been two years, and yet suddenly Jungkook's no longer as smiley as he used to be.

"Bye then."

"Wait, where we you going?"

"Your face doesn't seem to want me here, so I'm leaving. Say hi to Mina-noona for me, Taehyung-hyung."

"I-wait, Jungkook-ah."

Jungkook turned around, pivoting slightly on his foot, to face Taehyung.

"Look, we drifted apart. I hate how our relationship is falling apart, and fuck, it was probably all my fault, but can't we...I dunno, be friends again?" He sighed. That wasn't planned.

"...when did you start using fuck?" Jungkook asked with a surprised tinge to his voice.

"Why does it even matter?" Taehyung asked, a bit baffled. "Don't you have anything else to say about my emotional speech?"

"Wasn't much of a speech..."

"Listen, right, I'm no Shakespeare." Taehyung huffed. "I'm trying to work with what I have."

Jungkook cracked a shy smile at him. "I know, hyung. I missed you too."

"Great, now come and give me a hug, you mug."

"How come your words have become so sharp?" Jungkook still hugged him eagerly, tip toeing to place his arms around Taehyung's shoulders.

"Aigoo-ya, that's what age does to you." Jungkook rolled his eyes at Taehyung, like he could talk about age. Taehyung saw this act and reached out to pinch his nose.

"You've become mouthier too. What happened to the little Jungkookie who would follow me around?"

"I grew up too, you know." He fidgeted with his shirt, avoiding his gaze. "When you were gone."

Taehyung felt like someone punched his gut. "I'm sorry, Kook. I thought it would make things hurt less. I was stupid."

"It's okay. I was stupid too. Waiting, but never really doing. I was too scared you'd want to leave me if I pushed too far."

Taehyung tugged Jungkook back into the embrace, nuzzling his hair with his cheek. "At least you haven't sprouted up. It'd be a lot harder to fit you under my chin that way."

Jungkook pinched his arm lightly, making Taehyung yelp in pain. "Why can't I be taller and you fit under my chin?" He asked petulantly.

"Don't try and kid yourself, Kook."

"I could!" He puffed up his cheeks although never really leaving the embrace. He was comfortable there.

"Please, you like feeling small and protected. Don't act like you don't like being the little spoon." He pinched Jungkook's nose in return, feeling a sudden wave of nostalgia as well as content crash over him - it had been a long time since they had talked to each other like this, hugged each other like this and interacted so comfortably.

It was weird, but not unwelcome.

"Hey, auntie! It's been a while, huh?" Taehyung waved at her, dragging along blankets and pillows with him.

Jungkook's mother chuckled, opening the door for him to enter. "Welcome back, Taehyung-ah." She gestured towards the lump buried under blankets in the middle of the room. "You made up with my little bun over there?"

"Yep!" His smile was bright and sweet. He continued to talk with Jungkook's mum for a while, dumping the extra blankets and pillows on top of Jungkook, making him yell out a muffled 'hey!' and helplessly try and kick himself out.

"Come, Taehyung-ah, let me see your face." Jungkook's mother sat down on the sofa, pulling him alongside her. She held his face carefully, taking a good look. "Aigoo, look how much you've changed in two years! You've gotten so handsome!"

"Aha, that's not true auntie..." Taehyung laughed, embarrassed.

"Just take the compliment hyung, or she'll keep telling you until you die of embarrassment." Jungkook popped out from the pillows, hair all ruffled and cheeks lightly pink from all that kicking.

"...well, okay then, thank you auntie." He paused. "You look like you haven't aged a single bit since I last saw you!"

Jungkook's mum slapped Taehyung's arm lightly. "Aish, you sweet talker! I bet you get all the girls with those words of yours."

"Haha, not really." He blushed, trying to cover it up by drinking his tea, which burnt his mouth and made him cough.

Jungkook rested his chin on Taehyung's knee, sticking out his tongue at him. "Silly."

He noticed his mother leaving the room; she winked at him, gesturing at herself then upstairs to let him know where she'd be.

And then it was only two of them.

"This is the good bit, watch." Taehyung whispered into his ear, leaning his head on Jungkook's shoulder.

"Hyung, why are you even whispering?" Jungkook looked at him, seeing the light of the TV illuminate his face.

Taehyung shrugged, lightly brushing it off as he responded back a little louder. "I dunno. It kinda suited the atmosphere, you know?" It was completely dark, the only light source coming from the TV and they were both cuddled under the blankets.

"Alright, hyung, if you say so."

"Shush and watch the movie."

Taehyung cuddled closer to Jungkook, looping an arm around the younger's waist and tucking his head comfortably in his shoulder.

Taehyung was incredibly warm, body extremely close and pressed against him. It made him want to scream a little - he hadn't had much physical contact in a while, and jumping from hardly even talking to Tae then to cuddle made him feel so frazzled.

It made fuzzy feelings flicker in his stomach. Weird. It was weird, but nice-feeling. He let himself fall into the snuggly warmth without much thought, enjoying the peacefulness of his brain for once.

"Aigoo-yah," Taehyung cooed as he entered Jungkook's room, all neat and tidy. He touched the paper roses still arranged in a vase on the desk, a fond smile blooming on his face. "You kept the roses I made for you."

His voice was warm, soft and made his insides liquid. He rested his palm on his quivering tummy, feeling his insides melt from the utter fondness of Taehyung's voice.

"Awwwww, is this the matching doll to my bunny?" He lifted up a soft tiger plush from his baby blue sheets, stroking its fur gently as he looked at his actual bunny boy in the corner of his room. He laughed, seeing Jungkook hide in the corner of the room.

"W-why are you laughing?" Jungkook stammered, a blush rising to his cheeks as he tried to wrap his arms around himself more as a protective measure.

"Aww, you're so cute!" Taehyung jumped from the bed, darting towards Jungkook to wrap his arms around him and rub his cheek gently onto Jungkook's soft hair, inhaling in his soft clean scent.

His voice softened considerably. "You haven't changed much, huh?" His hands were warm, lightly clasped around the younger's shoulders while nuzzling his hair.

Jungkook hummed quietly, tinged with a little nervousness. "Is that a bad thing?" He felt Taehyung slowly draw them both down to sit on the bed, Jungkook resting in between Taehyung's legs. He fiddled with Taehyung's fingers, fascinated at how large his hand had grown since the last time they held hands.

"Mm...not really. I was scared, you know. That you'd change without me being there to see it happen."

Jungkook clicked his tongue. "Taehyung-hyung...you know that's gonna happen anyway. We're all gonna change and we won't be there at every point to see it."

"But, you know, it's still you. I didn't want to turn around one day and then you would no longer be soft little Jungkookie but someone I didn't recognize. It's scary because even though I was aware that we weren't talking as much, I never found the time to fix that, and so if me being stupid because I got caught up with school meant that you would change 180° ...I would have felt so guilty." Taehyung buried his face into Jungkook's neck, pressing his chest closer to the younger's back.

"Tae..." He reached behind him to pet the elder's fluffy hair, hearing him sniffle in his neck. "Are you crying?"

"Sorry, Kookie. I was stupid." Taehyung muffled into his neck, suddenly sounding so small.

Jungkook merely sighed, resting his head onto Taehyung's shoulder, pressing back into his chest. " 's not just your fault. I could have made more effort to talk too but I didn't. I'm sorry, TaeTae."

The two spent a while like that, just talking together about what they missed in those two years.

"-I was with Mina, right-"

"You really hung out with Mina a lot, didn't you?" Jungkook turned his head on Tae's shoulder to glance at his face (mainly his chin which was starting to lose some of his baby fat).

"Well, yeah. I didn't really have anyone else." He shrugged, making Jungkook grumble a little at having his head jostled.

"Poor TaeTae." Jungkook mumbled, patting his interlaced hands in front of him, feeling loose-limbed and sleepy in the elder's embrace.

"Yeah, poor TaeTae indeed." He sounded petulant, a little whining escaped out of him, feeling that Jungkook didn't give him as much of an enthusiastic response as he wanted. Where was his tiny little bunny who started tearing up the moment they were separated? He pouted, poking the soft cheek of the younger. Jungkook batted away his prodding finger with mild irritation, grumbling with the cutest disgruntled face.

Jungkook just felt so warm and sleepy in Taehyung's arms. He didn't want to be bothered.

"Jungkookie..." Taehyung whined. "You really fall asleep on me the first time since we've had bonding time? You suck."

He watched Jungkook's eyelashes flutter and his eyelids slowly droop, finally off to Dreamland. He felt the corners of his lips quirk up at the peaceful expression the younger had on, made more visible by the careful adjustment of Jungkook so they could both rest comfortably lying down.

A wave of fondness and nostalgia hit his chest, gently stroking strands of hair away from his bunny's face, thinking about the many times they shared beds as kids. It caused a weird bubbling sensation in his stomach thinking about how much they had grown since then, how Jungkook had become a bit taller and heavier and yet still comfortably tucked away in Taehyung's arms.

He missed this a lot; it wasn't anything he could really do with anyone else.

"Say hi, Kookie." Taehyung guided him to his lunch table, already quite packed with people.

Jungkook tucked himself behind Taehyung quietly, clutching as subtly as possible onto the back of Taehyung's shirt.

"Don't be shy, baby. They're nice, I promise."

Jungkook flushed even more at the endearment. "Stop embarrassing me like this; they're looking!"

"Oh hush, you're adorable, you big baby. They'll love you."

It had been a couple of weeks getting used to the new people on the table, first starting out awkward with or without Taehyung (especially without!) but having them quickly dote on Jungkook as they shared the lunch table with him.

However, he still hadn't seen Mina in those weeks. No one seemed particularly perturbed, perhaps they were used to it, although from time to time they seem concerned.

She walked into the lunch break that day, a bright smile on her face, and greeted him with the warmest hug (as expected from Mina-noona), although she seemed pretty exhausted.

"Hi, Koo baby." She rested her head against his, stroking his hair lightly as she closed her eyes.

Jungkook stared at Taehyung desperately for help, mouthing a couple of words to get out of this sudden situation. Taehyung shrugged, mildly perplexed too and a faint frown etched into his face.

"Koo baby, missed you lots, you know? You and Taehyung were fighting so noona couldn't come up to you without feeling bad for Tae." She complained, head still resting on his.

He could see Taehyung looking more and more displeased when staring at them.

"Mina, you're not usually like this..."

She tutted. "Oh, shush, Kim Taehyung. I haven't seen him in weeks because of you, and you hogged him over the weekend, you bastard. Don't act like you didn't send all those selfies with Kook sleeping on you while I was away." She continued petting his hair, her other hand occupied with pointing accusatory fingers at Taehyung.

Jungkook automatically tilted his head in confusion. "Where did you go, noona?"

"You really hogged him, Tae." Mina pouted. Taehyung shrugged, seeing no problem in spending time solely focused on his childhood best friend. "Anyway, Kook-ah, because Taehyung didn't tell you, but noona's been modeling lately!"

"I didn't know you were interested in modelling..."

"I wasn't! But now that I've started... it's been really interesting!" She giggled, making some of the other people on the table flush too. It seemed like Mina had also blossomed into a beautiful flower.

They had both become so much...maturer than when he last saw them. It made something twinge in his chest. That was weird. Somehow, he never anticipated the growth of these two - he was too caught up in the idea of them staying the same, which was familiar and comfortable.

Suddenly it felt like there too much distance between him and them. He was comfortable where he was, having struggled through a life already, that these two kids were leaving him behind, alone. Perhaps that's what made his stomach twist.

Taehyung: 15 (in the summer, graduates)

Jungkook: 13

"How you feeling, TaeTae-hyung?" Jungkook asked the elder, finally being able to get to him after the hordes of people that surrounded him to wish him the best.

He chuckled, taking out a shiny button out of his pocket and handing it to Jungkook. He fondly ruffled the younger's black locks, slowly starting to get longer.

"Here, Kook. My second button of my uniform. As I promised."

Jungkook pouted but took the button anyway, a little too enthusiastically. "Why are people still doing this clichéd thing? No one who gets the second button ends up together anyway!"

Taehyung booped his nose affectionately. "Shush, you baby. Take the damn button," he laughed, eyes crinkling into a warm smile. "It'll be a memory of me when we part ways again."

"Stop acting like we'll never see each other again, hyung." Jungkook sighed, although his small smile directed at the button in his hand spoke otherwise. Taehyung saw that joy in his face, making him smile in turn. It was well worth the effort in saving it for his favourite underclassman.

"Thank you, hyungie." Jungkook said quietly, holding the button as if it was the most precious thing he had ever gotten.

"Anything for you, Kookie."

Taehyung: 16 (around spring, so past his bday)

Jungkook: 14

"Hey, is Jungkook here?" Taehyung leaned through the open window of the classroom, startling a student.

She blushed, his gaze surprisingly stern and serious, much unlike the friendly demeanor he was rumoured to have. His hair had gotten longer too, fringe starting to poke at his eyes.

"Uh, no, sunbae. He said he was going to eat lunch with someone." She felt her cheeks pinken up more as Taehyung's eyes narrowed, looking more displeased.

"You know who? Or where?"

She shook her head, eyes wide and slightly afraid of his deepening voice. He sighed, gave his thanks and walked off, grumbling about little bunnies who kept running away.

She silently prayed for Jungkook...that sunbae didn't seem very happy to hear that he wasn't there.

"Found you!" Taehyung let out a sigh of relief, slumping to the ground almost immediately. He panted a little, chest heaving slightly as he tried to catch his breath.

"Aish, why are you hiding up here? Do you know long long it took to find you?" He whined towards Jungkook, who was stuffing his cheeks with his lunch, a bit bewildered at the appearance of Taehyung.

"Taehyungie-hyung...while it's nice to see you...why are you on the middle school campus?" He tilted his head slightly, chopsticks lightly resting on his bottom lip.

"I-" Taehyung sighed again. "Seriously, the effort I take to see you, and you're not even excited to see me." He ruffled his fringe, recently trimmed so it wasn't past his eyes anymore, and rested his arm on the concrete, watching Jungkook continue to eat fondly.

Jungkook's cheeks were full, eyes bright and wide, making occasional sounds to express his joy. Taehyung merely rested his head on his palm, steadily secured under his chin as he lounged on the rooftop.

"Hey, cutie." Taehyung reached towards Jungkook's face to wipe of some sauce on the edge of his mouth with his thumb, caressing the soft skin lightly. "You got some sauce on you."

Jungkook wanted to scream and yell "what the fuck" to him, because it was strangely uncharacteristic of Taehyung to do this. Sure he was affectionate, but not this kind.

"Hyung... that's really clichéd. What the fuck happened to you?" His tone was judgemental type of serious, almost like you could hear the disappointment in his speech.

Taehyung partially hid his grin on his hand, shoulders shrugging. "I dunno. I felt like it."

"Wah, hyung, you're gonna kill everyone if you talk to them like that. It makes you stupidly attractive."

Taehyung let out another large grin, seemingly too pleased with himself. "Does little Kookoo think I'm hot?" He cooed, pinching his cheek lightly, which made Jungkook roll his eyes (but still cracked a smile).

"Kim Taehyung, you know you're hot. Objectively, you are hot, subjectively, you are still hot. Happy?"

"Mhm!" His face lit up with joy, pulling Jungkook closer to him to cuddle into his chest. There was a warmth that wasn't there when everyone else told him that he was attractive fluttering under his chest, but he made little note of it, basking in the warmth of his Kookie.

"Ah, oppa, why are you here?!"

"Shush, Hani, be a good sis and let me be. I need my Koo time."

She placed her hands on her hips, her recently dyed brown hair neatly curled and lips tinted pink. "You know the middle school building and high school buildings are separate for a reason! You'll get in trouble!"

"It'll only be a detention if I get caught, don't worry. I just have to do it for another year then Jungkook's back with me." He still had Jungkook cuddled in his arms, who seemed perfectly comfortable in leaning his head on his chest.

"Gosh, you two are close. No consideration for your younger sister, huh?"

"I see you enough plenty of times. But with Kookie, when else do I get to see him?" He started petting his hair, occasionally navigating to his piercings and playing with his ear lobe.

Hani huffed, sitting down next to the two. "Anyway, oppa, I heard another girl confessed to you."

Taehyung hummed. "Yeah."

"So, what happened? Did you say yes? No?" Hani reached for some of Jungkook's food, knowing that he'd be too comfortable to complain.

"I said yes." Taehyung said it casually, almost like he didn't think much of it.

Hani choked on her sandwich, hand thumping her chest. "What do you mean, YES?" She took a side glance to Jungkook who looked slightly intrigued, but not as upset as she thought he'd be.

"Well, I thought, why not give it a go? I've been rejecting a lot of them for a while, but I thought, I might as well give dating a shot. Maybe I'll find love."

Jungkook felt a harsh sting in his heart, but he ignored it. It was fine. Taehyung was allowed to date whomever he pleased; it was no fair for a boy like Jungkook, who'd already experienced his youth, to stop Taehyung from exploring his.

"Yeah, I took her on a date and everything. I think it went well, we're doing pretty well I guess - no kisses yet, but that's okay, no rush -"

Jungkook filtered everything out, ignoring the seething burn in his chest and instead, trying to concentrate on the steady thump of Taehyung's heartbeat.

Things were okay like this.

Notes:

Did I make myself finish this so I could post it for Tae's birthday? Kinda, yeah. Happy birthday, Taehyungie, our precious winter bear.
Also, I haven't edited anything so apologies if it's a bit difficult to read. Thank you for reading haha, I'm grateful. If you have the time, please leave a comment > <

Notes:

it was meant to be a oneshot...and i still have more i have to write...haha. honestly it was a panic post because i didn't want to lose these words on my phone in the chance that my screen is unreadable and can't be fixed (it's okay btw it's functioning just not very well in terms of resolution? idk how phones work)
i emailed it to myself and did you know that at least in my email you get confetti pops when you scroll over happy birthday? idk maybe it was just me lol.
thank you for toughing out and reading through the fic - i love and appreciate you (and if you read the longass notes you are a star)
(please leave a comment?)

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Rucsandra_A, princesskoo, lizbangtan, dollkoos, salahe, and waniey87 as well as 5 guests left kudos on this work!

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princesskoo on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2019 07:08AM UTC

this is so good omg !! can't wait to read more, thank you for this <3

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1. DreamingPotential on Chapter 1 Thu 08 Aug 2019 12:03PM UTC
  
  Thank you so much <3333
  
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waniey87 on Chapter 2 Thu 09 Jan 2020 07:00PM UTC

thanks for updating author-nim!!!hoping to read another chapter soon~fighting!!^ ^

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1. DreamingPotential on Chapter 2 Thu 09 Jan 2020 07:24PM UTC
  
  Thank you so so much for commenting 💜💜💜 and it might not be soon haha but thank you for your interest and thank you for reading!
  
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