Chapter 2

The lake stayed quiet. The water, still and reflective, held the soft outline of two figures sitting on the dock legs swinging, shoulders brushing, laughter muffled like it was made only for the evening to hear.

From behind the tall hedge across the path, two men stood in the shadow, eyes fixed on the lovesick boy who has a bunny smile on his face.

One stood tall and composed, face unreadable, arms folded across his chest like he'd seen far too much to be surprised anymore. The older bodyguard. Min Yoongi.

The other one shifted beside him, newer to the job, cute looking but observant, curious in a way he hadn't learned to hide yet. His name was Park Jimin.

"Sir...." Jimin hesitated before continuing. "Why is Young master smiling all lovy dovy? And who is the one he is talking with?"

Yoongi didn't respond right away. His eyes stayed on his Young master smiling and talking with his lover at the dock, on the way Jungkook leaned his head onto Taehyung's shoulder like it was something he'd done a hundred times. Because it was.

Jimin tried again. "Sir.... Please tell me, I'm curious...."

Yoongi exhaled slowly, hands behind his back now, a small tug at the corner of his mouth.

The younger man waited.

"They've been lovers since high school," Yoongi finally said. "Since that damn school festival when Jeon Jungkook, son of a business empire, stood onstage and sang a song he wrote while staying up for several nights, just for a boy who sat in the second row wearing a mustard yellow scarf and trying to look disinterested, but he was actually not."

Jimin's eyes widened slightly. "You were there?"

"I've been with Jungkook since he was fifteen," Yoongi said. "I've Seen him grow up. Seen him fall in love. Seen him mess it up and fix it again and again."

The older man's voice had softened. There was a worn out warmth in his tone, like someone who'd watched an old movie too many times but still stayed for the ending.

"Taehyung was different," Yoongi continued. "He was art. Messy, wild, loud. He painted on the walls of Jungkook's life, and the kid just let him. Happily. It was.... strange, at first. Jeon Jungkook didn't even look anyone in the eye until he met him."

Jimin tilted his head slightly. "And his family, King Jeon?"

"He didn't like it. You can imagine. But love, it's stubborn. Quietly stubborn. And they were so in sync, they didn't even need to explain it to anyone. You know how sometimes you look at two people and just know?" Yoongi's voice turned distant. "They were like that. Like one soul, two bodies."

He paused, then nodded toward the dock. "See that? That's not new. That's a memory repeating itself."

.....

"I think your shoulder's bonier than it used to be," Jungkook murmured with a faint smile.

Taehyung laughed lightly. "You think your head's gotten heavier. Maybe you're just a old bunny."

"You're like three months older than me. If I'm 30 then you're 30.3." Jungkook huffed, lifting his head and narrowing his eyes.

Taehyung smiled, "Yes, I'm your Taehyungie Hyungie."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, but the corners of his lips twitched upward.

"Do you still write songs Kookie, Just as you wrote the song STILL WITH YOU for me in our School days?" Taehyung asked after a while.

"Sometimes," Jungkook said. "Mostly when I miss you too much."

Taehyung looked at him sideways, his voice softer now. "You always said I was your muse."

"You still are," Jungkook replied without hesitation.

A beat passed.

"Play me one next time," Taehyung said.

"There'll be a next time? You don't come to meet me often now." Jungkook asked, only half joking.

Taehyung smiled, not answering.

And that was enough.

..........

Yoongi shifted, adjusting his stance. "They had their first real fight during college. Taehyung wanted to go into theater, travel. Jungkook was expected to start learning about the company. Different dreams, same heart. They didn't know how to hold both."

Jimin asked quietly, "Did they break up in the middle?"

Yoongi gave him a look. "They tried. But they kept finding each other, no matter how far they went. They had a different kind of understanding between them."

He looked back toward the dock. The light flickered again. "They built a world just for the two of them. Quiet, away from the noise of the world. Places like this, quite like the lake."

Jimin looked a little confused but anyways proceeded to listen.

"Then what happened?" the younger man asked.

Yoongi didn't answer just smiled.

His eyes stayed on the dock, where Jungkook had now turned fully towards his left facing Taehyung, talking in soft gestures like he was trying to make him laugh.

Yoongi didn't look away.

Because he knew something Jimin didn't.

But that part of the story?

He wasn't ready to tell it.

Not yet.

To be continued.....

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