Chapter Text
The alcohol is cheap.
It tastes bland and all the mixers suck. Fruit Punch? Really? If he wanted to go to a college party then he would’ve.
He wishes he brought his own stuff, but it's not even a party he was technically invited to. He just came to check out the music scene. But maybe he shouldn’t have come at all, because not only is he not enjoying his drink, he doesn’t have anyone here to talk to. So it has resorted to him just casually walking around trying not to shuffle awkwardly through crowds of people he doesn’t know and talk himself into just saying “Hi” to someone and starting a conversation.
Instead, he continues to linger around, lean on counters, and go outside for a fresh breath of air every now and then to ignore the little bit of embarrassment that's settled down in his chest.
He should just leave. Why did he even come?
He’s made another round of walking across the rooms filling the house, occasionally stopping to watch a couple of groups of friends dance to the music blasting through large expensive speakers before walking back outside for what must be the seventh time.
He sits on a white porch chair, swapping his drink for a cigarette to settle his nerves. He reaches into his front pocket for his lighter, which isn’t there. Jungkook stands up and pats his other front pocket, and his back pockets, and even runs his fingers along the fabric of his jean jacket but it’s not there.
“Fuck,” He sits back down and almost tosses the stick until a voice speaks up from behind him.
“You need a lighter?”
Jungkook turns his head and there standing by the front door is a man with blonde hair and one of the most interesting collages of colors and patterns he’s seen on a cardigan. That's not the only vibrant statement piece he's wearing, he's got on a pair of yellow converse.
“Um yeah actually I do need one,” He puts the cigarette between his lips and the stranger leans down and lights it for him, “Thanks…”
“Taehyung.”
“Thanks, Taehyung,” He breathes in, letting the smoke soothe away the swoop in his heart and the red on his face. He tries to ignore it but the sudden fluster that caught him off guard is heating his body more than the cigarette.
Taehyung has a memorable face. The color of his eyes, the texture of his skin, the curve of his mouth, it's all so perfect his brain is malfunctioning.
And Jungkook can't help but observe the way he moves around him to sit in the other chair across the small round table. He's instantly captivated by this man's mannerisms.
He’s spent so much time during this party trying to convince himself to just talk to someone and the opportunity literally walked up to him. Yet, he can see himself stuttering and stumbling over his words and it makes his hands shake slightly, “So um, what are you doing out here?”
“I was thinking about leaving but remembered I didn’t drive myself here.”
Jungkook's words start spilling out before his mind can even catch up to the alcohol-inhibited delay, "Are you trying to get me to take you home then?” He laughs to make sure it plays off as a joke, because why the hell would he say that to someone he just met?
“I could smell the alcohol in your breath when I leaned down to light your cigarette.” Taehyung busies himself with picking at the edges of his fingernails, his own cigarette dangling between his fingers.
“So… that’s a no?”
Maybe he should’ve relaxed with the drinks twenty minutes ago. They taste bad and they make him say stupid and embarrassing things.
Taehyung laughs, “Yes, that's a no. Did you come with any friends?”
“No, not really? He’s my neighbor—um the person who invited me. I'm guessing you came with friends since you didn't drive yourself, what's up with them? They didn't want to leave?”
Taehyung sighs and tilts his head back, running his hand through his hair to settle the frizz from the humidity. Jungkook finds his eyes watching longer than normal, “They're still inside getting drunker than they should and dancing. They never want to leave parties ‘prematurely’ as Namjoon claims it to be.”
“Do you not drink?"
"Yeah, I just don't like the taste that much."
Jungkook scoffs, "Probably because they're serving shitty alcohol.”
"Wouldn't know," Taehyung blows smoke into the air.
There’s something classy but rigid about the way he holds the cigarette in between his fingers, and Jungkook can’t understand why he pays attention to this. He doesn't seem to really understand anything when it comes to Taehyung.
He forces himself to stop staring. He’s just drunk and when he’s drunk his mind likes to wander.
The conversation dies off, neither person is sure what to talk about or how to act so there's only mutual silence. Jungkook takes a few more drags off his almost-finished cigarette.
A sense of exhaustion radiates off Taehyung from Jungkook's point of view—wondering if he was having a rough night that affected his party energy, but then again, Jungkook didn't even notice him inside. He doesn't think it's the right time to ask.
However, something he does want to ask about is his dyed hair. It's not a popular and typical style, yet Taehyung has amazing blonde hair. He wants to touch it and see if it feels as soft as it looks tonight. But he wants to resist because wouldn't that be too weird since they just met?
It’s the colors to him—the hair, the clothes, and the shoes. It makes his aura burn brighter and the flames are grabbing at Jungkook, he doesn’t know how to let go. His mind snaps to wanting to spend time with the other, to enjoy more of the warmth.
Jungkook clears his throat and stubs his cigarette out in the ashtray, "Would you want to go get something to eat? I'd pay. It just seems like we are both bored and don't want to go back inside," He lightly laughs to ease any tension if he's wrong about Taehyung being bored.
But something in his gut is telling him he's not wrong, that this all seems a little too tied to fate. It could just be the alcohol and the smoke from the cigarette but Taehyung’s eyes have an extra star in them and he would like to think that it's for him.
That this is perhaps his sign, his chance at something. Something he's not too sure about yet.
Taehyung seems to light up, energy igniting his bones, "Yeah sure, um, where would you want to go?" He stubs his cigarette out too.
"There's this diner a few miles away that I go to a lot and they have like, cool lights and shit—oh, and they have a jukebox.”
Taehyung puts his hands in his pockets and laughs, "’Cool lights and shit’?"
"You'll see what I mean when we get there," Jungkook laughs and fumbles around, trying to get his keys out. He might not be as clear-headed as he thought.
"You're not driving though,” Taehyung's hand takes the keys from Jungkook, he ignores the way his mind wants to stick to the moment of touch. Taehyung's fingers are soft and light, it could give him full-body chills, but he suppresses it as there's no better excuse for the strange reaction at the moment, “Are you sober enough to tell me the way?"
Jungkook snaps out of his thoughts, “Oh um, I usually don't let anyone drive my car, but for our safety, I'll make an exception. And yes, I can tell you the way.”
“Okay, sounds like a good idea.”
The porch steps creak, the wood is rotting through, and Jungkook's heart feels just as unstable as the infrastructure. He doesn't really know why, he recognizes it for what it is but it's still… different. Too loud in his head and too hard against his ribs. The butterflies seem more like vultures picking at his insides.
If he tosses out the thoughts and the secret meanings, he can hopefully wake up and move on.
But something about Taehyung, about the brief moment of skin-on-skin contact has left his brain to run around in circles on the interaction. As if he stops obsessing over it he'll forget it in its entirety.
"So what kind of car is it?" Taehyung's voice makes Jungkook pause in his tracks.
He can't keep his jaw from dropping, "What? You don't know!?"
"Um…no?"
"Oh my god, I have so much to tell you. Just start up the engine first. Thinking about food has me getting more hungry by the second."
Think about food, think about the car, think about anything else besides the way he leaned down earlier and the way he touched his hand a minute ago because anything is easier than that.
"I'm not that big of a car person you know... I'm not very knowledgeable about any of it."
"Which is exactly why I have to tell you about it!" A perfect distraction from his mind.
"Not the drunk rants starting up," Taehyung slaps a hand over his face.
“Hey, both hands on the wheel. And what? Do you not want to know more about me? You're driving a person's car you just met 15 minutes ago. Who knows, I could be—”
He rolls his eyes, "Just tell me about the car."
And so he does.
“Well first, it's a 1979 Cadillac Eldorado. Do you know what that is?”
“I do now.”
“Okay smartass,” Jungkook mumbles out under his breath, “It has a v8 engine which means it has better power—if I remember right I’m pretty sure it's like 170 hp, definitely more power than the v6. Even though the v6 engine is more fuel efficient.”
Jungkook continues to ramble on, his hands trying to draw out and recreate the eight-cylinder engine in the air. He’s too stuck in his mind.
“I feel like how I felt when reading The Catcher in the Rye . That one part where Holden is drunk as hell and goes on for like 10 pages about the most random things ever.” Taehyung's giggle fills the atmosphere and Jungkook catches his eyes stealing a glance.
Jungkook tilts his head, thinking back to his young years spent in high school, " The Catcher in the Rye ? I've never read that before. Oh um anyways, it was about $13,000—Uh turn right at the stop sign—I almost died on the spot when I got the keys,” He presses his hand over his heart.
Taehyung turns the radio on and adjusts the audio.
“The radio is one of my favorite parts, something about it just looks so much cleaner than the other versions. I only have a few other cassettes in here right now so I need to go buy some more sometime soon.”
“Are you a big fan of music?”
“Definitely. Um, take a left at the light. Life without music would be impossible."
Taehyung hums in agreement, “So your head isn’t just one big car battery and alcohol is the gas, you got other things to you.”
Jungkook can’t even take offense, he really did just talk about cars the entire time. His face flushes red but thankfully he can’t see the color in the dark, "Yeah, there’s a few other things I’m interested in. Right at the next light, and then we are there."
"Okay, Jungkook."
He likes it when Taehyung says his name.
He wraps up the last few facts about the 1979 Cadillac Eldorado and the past few versions like the 1975 and 1978, not forgetting to mention their similarities and how they're basically the same car just look a little bit different in shape.
However, he’s not sure where he lands. Because somewhere in between the seriousness and the teasing he can feel his heart grow and it all feels a little too vulnerable too soon.
He doesn't know what to do with it.
Before he knows it, they're pulling into the parking lot and he realizes it's probably a good time to shut up and think about food. His head hurts a little bit and his body still feels kind of numb and light. He should be sobering up after this.
Stumbling up the stairs drunk isn't a good idea and he doesn't need to experience it again to remind himself why.
—
The neon lights of the diner reflect off metal tables and plastic cushioned benches. It’s not even half packed with people, most of everyone wanting to spend their Saturday night somewhere else than here.
“Bar or table?”
“Table. I don’t plan on drinking and you shouldn’t either unless you plan on dealing with a hangover in the morning,” Taehyung cautions.
He groans, “Don’t remind me of that. I’ll take a few aspirins later.”
They walk together past the empty tables, occasionally finding a few with people enjoying their meal. The tiled floor seems to never end as they continue down to the nearing wall, they sit at a table just one off from the end. There are still food crumbs left on the other.
Jungkook looks up to the ceiling wondering why it feels abnormally warm. Did they turn the fans off? But he watches the blades spin and thinks maybe it’s just him until he catches Taehyung doing the same thing before removing the cardigan he wore to the party.
He clears his throat, ignoring the random uprising fluster, "Have you been here before?"
"Maybe once or twice. I vaguely remember eating here."
"I only live a little bit away from here so this is my lunch place."
Before Taehyung can get his words out, someone approaches their table.
“How are you guys doing tonight? I’ll be your waiter and here are your menus. I’ll give you two some time to decide.”
“Okay, thank you,” Jungkook picks up a menu despite knowing what he wants to order. He's not sure why he does this, maybe it's the nerves?
He picks at the corner where the lamination is peeling up from the paper underneath because he doesn’t think he can wrap his head around why he feels abnormally comfortable but kind of stressed out with someone he just met a few hours ago.
Maybe Taehyung is the one who's peeling back his shell of anxiety and he doesn’t even realize it.
“So you must work nearby? What do you do? You seem to know a lot about cars.” Taehyung looks up from his menu.
“Oh um yeah, I work in the auto industry, it would probably be good to know a lot about them,” He flips his menu to the other side but his eyes are watching Taehyung.
“You have a bit of a sarcastic attitude to you too?”
“Yeah, most people love that about me,” Jungkook replies.
They make small talk in between the time it takes for the waitress to take their order and their food to come out.
It's easy to talk to him. As he drinks his water and eats his burger, his head begins to clear up and his body gains more heaviness to it. Being sober grounds him. Yet his heart still feels like it's going to float away and his brain encapsulates the universe to attempt to put a meaning to what direction he wants to go with this.
Because he's had a pretty good time with him and even the most challenging things like trying to calculate the tip feel tranquil with him.
He's gone head over heels within two hours of meeting a stranger but he's at peace with it because isn't the meaning of life to just love? Why is he making this seem so much bigger, so much more difficult than it really has to be? This could be simple.
They walk towards the door after settling on a twenty percent tip.
Taehyung opens the car door for him, “Where do you live? I'll drive you back home and if I need to I can get a taxi or take the bus.”
“The boring beige apartment complex on vine street. Although, I'm not sure if you can parallel park?”
“Seriously? I know we just met but come on, give me more credit than that.”
Jungkook crosses his arms and doesn't break eye contact. He needs to make sure Taehyung can take care of his car.
“Of course I can parallel park you drunk, don't ask dumb questions.”
Jungkook leans back and puts on his seatbelt, “This might make or break our new friendship.”
“I think it'll make the start of something.”
He turns up the radio.
Taehyung drives Jungkook back home. And to his surprise, the man can parallel park, perfectly well. He might actually end up hanging out with this guy now. He's past the made-up test.
"Wait, how do you plan on getting home?" Jungkook asks a little bit too loud and quick. He scrunches his nose.
"I don't live that far away actually," Taehyung points towards the nearby bus stop, "I can take the bus for 10 minutes and walk for a few more and I'm home. Don't worry," He playfully slaps Jungkook's arm.
He keeps his hands inside his jacket pockets, hands a little bit too sweaty, "I'm not worrying, I just want to make sure you get home safely."
"I think it should be the other way around with how you tripped over your own feet one too many times getting in and out of the car."
"I told you it's just the shoelaces, they get caught under my foot."
"I'm sure that's why," His boxy smile and short laugh shoot straight through Jungkook's heart and the more he tries to shoo away the pink rising in his cheeks the worse he's sure it gets.
He sits with Taehyung as the bus comes too soon, the headlights dancing across the pavement in front of them. The electronic number glows so bright that it etched itself into Jungkook's mind. Taehyung takes route seventy-seven.
"Oh one second," Taehyung pulls out a piece of paper that looks like it could've been living inside his pocket for months and holds it up against the plastic of the bus stop before writing something down, "Here's my number, call me later!" He shouts and waves before getting on the bus.
Jungkook waves and replies “Okay” before turning around and heading inside his building, he walks slowly. Fighting the urge to turn his head and look back, wanting to spot Taehyung one more time than what's probably normal but there's an ache, a pull in his chest that wants him to stop moving. To see if he's still there for an extra second.
It's in his feet that stutter while taking a step as if there is gum stuck to the bottom.
He refrains from turning around again, focusing on the crumbled texture of paper beneath his fingertips, rubbing along each indent and sharp line of an edge.
He continues up to concrete stairs and loses the battle; he looks past the banister—the bus has left.
The keys jingle, the door clicks open, he pulls his shoes off, and Jungkook beelines straight to bed.
The only thing he does is stare at the ceiling, the written-down phone number crumbled in his hands. He can't completely identify what he's feeling or maybe he just rather not put a label to this emotion that has his chest congested, he's felt nothing like this before. He thinks it's a crush, that it's love. It reminds him of anxiety but he's energetic, not worn down. He had a good time, he's happy, not panicked and not regretting his social outing.
Although panic might start settling in with how warped his mind is around this subject.
When he returns to the moments he had with Taehyung, he feels calm and relaxed, as if socializing has never been easier in the years he's been breathing on soil. But simultaneously there are roots growing through his lungs and he finds it hard to think and breathe. He’s suffocating but it’s one of the best feelings he’s had in a long time.
And he's not sure what to do about it because too much of it will surely kill him. Nevertheless, he wants to reach out for it, to let it consume him whole, bones and blood. Because in the time he’s spent with one person, he can feel a million more hours coming.
It makes him restless, wanting to stay awake and think about every word they exchanged, every slight action. To dive deep into an ocean where each molecule of salt is a piece of Taehyung that he wants to learn and memorize. Because it takes knowing to build connections and he’s never wanted to be closer to someone than now. He thinks of it until his eyes begin to waver and he can no longer keep them peeled open.