Archive of Our Own ^beta

Taehyung loves carnivals.

There’s absolutely nothing that he doesn’t love about it.

It’s like the beach, the sound of waves crashing against the shore, warm sand underneath your feet, and boundless discoveries ranging from sea dollars to love messages in glass bottles. Like getting into bed when the covers and sheets have been freshly changed, bare skin brushing against warm and fluffy blankets. Like a warm mug of hot chocolate held between your hands while watching Christmas movies as a snow storm rages on outside your window.

It’s like all of that except better.

Every carnival is nearly identical whether it’s the games, the food, or even the small and creaky roller coaster rides that have you wondering whether it’s truly safe to get on. But the different memories that he has managed to create each time, that’s what really does it for Taehyung.

His first time at one, he had been four years old with a love for strawberries so intense that it was the only thing he had eaten for three days straight. His parents chattered in the car with the radio humming softly in the background as he looked out of the window and wondered whether the white clouds that dotted the sky would feel just like cotton candy between his small fingers. That night, he rode the Ferris wheel for the first time and wet his pants from his newly found fear of heights, crying in his father’s arms on the entire car ride home.

He won his first stuffed animal all by himself when he was seven years old. The power and control he held between his hands as he’s handed the doll that he had picked out himself was ineffable, a high that he continues chasing after even until today as he scours the carnival grounds for his next victim. But he also had caramel covered apples that day and discovered that as much as he loves caramel and apples by itself, those two items do not belong together.     

When he was ten, he learned about heartbreaks under the canopy of a tent where cheap face tattoos and paint were promised. Taehyung doesn’t remember her name anymore, her pigtails and dress a buried memory in the back of his mind. The pink stuffed monkey that he had thrust into her arms had been thrown to the ground, followed by a cackle too much for ten-year-old him to handle in the face of rejection. He quickly tracked his parents down afterward and made them buy all the curly fries he could stomach, shortly throwing them up when he foolishly gets on a roller coaster.

All in all, there’s just so much shit to do at carnivals and Taehyung dies a little inside every time he leaves with numerous stuffed animals in his arms, lights and machines slowly shutting down as the small city is brought to a dull stillness, one that stays with him all through the night.

He’s grown up going to carnivals and a part of him is always going to find a home in twinkling lights and popcorn scented air.

Taehyung likes to think that he’s got carnival games figured out through and through like the back of his hand. Wherever there are precision and accuracy involved, Taehyung is sure to leave with a stuffed animal tucked underneath his arm— amongst the many other prizes that he has won along the way.

There’s an annual carnival in his town that takes place at the peak of summer when night skies are still a timid blue and the air is so thick it makes the back of your shirt stick to your skin uncomfortably. He started off young— dominating carnivals until he has to practically rip away the fifth stuffed animal from the same worker’s hand, that is.

His large collection of stuffed animals and non-animals that’s collecting dust back at home proves exactly that.

Taehyung’s sure the fresh faces that he sees every year has been warned of his skill set, probably given a flyer with the description of “Beware: Kim Taehyung— stuffed animal enthusiast, will smile at you innocently and proceed to win everything at your booth” and a rough sketch of him.

It’s the only explanation that makes sense.

They all wear that same look of caution and skepticism, hidden behind forced smiles and disguised friendliness when he approaches their booths.

He doesn’t need his parents to be on either side of him anymore, to hold his hand as they walk through crowds of people to get to the nearest cotton candy vendor.

Taehyung’s with his friends right now, not sure if they really deserve that title considering they just ditched him to go on the Ferris wheel. He doesn’t have time to spare to indulge in such silly activities.

No, Kim Taehyung is a man on a mission.

He ties the red bandana around his forehead a bit tighter— it’s cute, okay?— and checks his watch. He’s got two hours to hit every tent and completely dominate this place. Jimin and Hoseok can go fuck themselves. Or each other. Whatever people do on Ferris wheels when they’re not pissing their pants.

Taehyung skips his way to the tent where bottles are rigged in a way that made it nearly impossible to knock down. His long legs take him far and wide and before he knows it, he’s slamming two tickets down onto the counter, looking at the alarmed worker with a huge grin on his face.

“Balls, please.”

Some gears seem to turn in her head and she’s looking at Taehyung warily now, reluctantly handing him two orange-sized balls.

“Behind the white line, sir,” she instructs him and points at the white line of tape a foot behind him.

He smirks. “Of course.”

Taehyung steps back more than he has to— he’s confident after all. Just when he pulls one arm back to aim and throw, a rough hand circles his arm.  

He turns around, surprised, and is met with brown doe eyes that widen innocently, filled with shock to the brim.

It piques Taehyung’s curiosity.

“Can I help you?” Taehyung asks just a bit irritatedly, not appreciating anyone stopping him midway during his conquest for that stuffed fat chicken drumstick in the corner over there. He needs that fucker in his arms like, now.

Not even if it’s an awfully cute boy that looks borderline unreal. He says borderline because the stranger’s veiny— Taehyung’s ultimate weakness— hand is still clasped around the thick of his arm so Taehyung knows that his mind didn’t just conjure images of the other. For all of the creativity juices flowing in him, Taehyung doubts someone so hot can simply be a figment of his imagination.

The stranger retracts his hand quickly as if only realizing now that it’s not okay to grab people’s arms when you don’t know them. He coughs before pointing at the stacked bottles next to the impatient girl who looks like she wanted to be anywhere but here right now, tending to two other teenage boys seemingly her age.

“Can I help you?” His supposedly shy demeanor had quickly vanished to make room for arrogance. His eyebrow is quirked up annoyingly along with the corner of his mouth.

Taehyung does not fuck with guys like this— obnoxious boys who think they can sweep Taehyung off his feet with a tilt of the head and a wink. Uh-uh.

He pulls a disgusted face, the same one he wears when he accidentally touches something slimy while washing the dishes without gloves, and scoffs. Back turned to the other, he throws the ball underhandedly and successfully knocks down every single bottle, the entire structure crashing down as easily as a house of cards.  

“Oh,” comes the stranger’s soft reply.

“Yeah, thanks,” Taehyung smiles at him. “But no thanks.” His overly sweet smile falls as he rolls his eyes.

He doesn’t know why he’s so angry. Perhaps it’s because he was kind of hoping that someone like that would show genuine interest in someone like him.

He practically flies to the counter, body leaning over it as he points to the stuffed drumstick in the far corner and grins at the girl who seems to have a perpetual frown on her face. She uses a rod to take it down and places it in Taehyung’s wiggling fingers.

She gives him a look of disdain, gears clicking into place. “Kim Taehyung?”

He clutches the drumstick, big enough to be used as a weapon, to his chest and smiles brightly. “You bet.”

She sighs. “Yeah, we’ve been warned about you.” Tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before shooing him away with one hand. “You gonna go again or what?”

“Ye—”

Stranger dude slides two red tickets forward on the counter, arrogant demeanor that seems to be forever there like an ugly outfit he can’t quite get enough off. “On me.” He looks up slyly at Taehyung, large front teeth somehow simultaneously adorable and grating as he smirks, leaning against the counter on one elbow.

Taehyung scoffs, pushes the tickets back to him with his palm. “This isn’t a bar. You can’t just,” he vaguely gestures at the other with a wave of the hand, “do this.”

And for a split second, the stranger seems to be at a loss for words, ears reddening and arm slumping against the counter. He coughs away from Taehyung and pulls the collar of his shirt away from his neck as if it’s suffocating him. He says quietly this time, “Let me win something for you,” looks up, “please?”

He completely avoids Taehyung’s inquisitive gaze altogether once the question has been raised, the tip of his sneakers rubbing against the dirt and rocks on the ground. His pink, pouty lips are pursed before they part, releasing a soft exhale as he awaits Taehyung’s answer.

Taehyung’s floored.

How fucking adorable.

Taehyung gives it a moment, pretending to think the proposal over as if his mind hadn’t already been made up the second those doe eyes reflected pure intentions and nothing more. He’s weak for veiny arms and guys that are shy, so sue him.

“Sure,” Taehyung replies, stepping away as the stranger looks up at him excitedly, eyes all big and round.

“Really?” he pipes up.

Taehyung notes how pleasant his voice actually is when it’s not dripping with-- condescension.

He shrugs. “Why not?” He points at the Pikachu figurine hanging on the wall in all its neon yellow glory. “I want that one.”

Straight white teeth are on display as the stranger is handed two balls— you get a big stuffed animal for knocking it down in one try, a smaller one if you do it with two. Taehyung doubts he’d need more than one try though if those arms are anything to go by.

He manages to peel his eyes from the way his muscles are just straining against the short sleeve of his shirt to witness the stranger knock down the stacked bottles. It flies off in different directions from how hard it was hit, bouncing off the girl’s skull in its projectile.

That particular bottle hits the floor with a quiet thump, everyone’s faces frozen in shock.

“Oh my god, I am so fucking sorry!” Jeongguk squeaks, hands reaching forward to brush her hair away from her face, ease the possible bump on her head, something.

Unamused, she immediately throws the stuffed Pikachu at Taehyung while shooting daggers at Jeongguk. “Leave.”

Not wanting to intrude any longer, Taehyung cackles and takes the stranger’s hand into his before he even realizes, running off until they’re far away enough to not be on the receiving end of her glare.

Taehyung breathlessly chuckles and holds the drumstick and Pikachu closer to his chest when they sit down on the wooden bench. He drinks in the other’s appearance underneath the night sky, his features perfectly illuminated from the carnival lights all around them.

Taehyung has never been one to care much for appearances— people around tell him he’s beautiful all the time and he just takes it in stride. Does it really matter how attractive you are if you don’t even like dogs?— it really had been a nice second date until Hyungwoo let it slip that he hated animals, especially dogs.

But--

Stranger Dude is very attractive and Taehyung’s thoughts are colliding into one another like freight trains, brain working overtime just trying to comprehend how someone can look like that. Now that they’re in such close proximity with the other not being as much of an asshole anymore, Taehyung doesn’t know what to do.

He blurts the first thing that comes to his mind.

“Do you like dogs?”

Although a bit taken back, the guy who looks to be about his age— please don’t be thirty-five years old with a child on the way— merely chuckles. “Yeah, of course. I have one back at home, actually.” His eyes light up as he fumbles around in his pockets for something.

If the other is going to pull out his phone and show him pictures, Taehyung might just have to marry him.

As fate would have it, aforementioned beauty and dog-lover does indeed pull out his phone, thumb flicking across the screen until he reaches his desired destination and hands the device to Taehyung. “His name’s Cloud,” he informs Taehyung. “We got him from an animal shelter a while back. He wasn’t in such good shape then, but he is now and that’s all that matters.”

The dog’s missing a bit of more hair than Taehyung is used to, but any dog is beautiful so he coos, lips curling downwards from not being able to pet him. Taehyung keeps flicking through the pictures— with permission, of course— smiling widely when he hands the phone back upon reaching the end of the album.

Anyone who has an entire album of pictures dedicated to their dog on their phone automatically earns brownie points in Taehyung’s book.

“I think I have to marry you now,” Taehyung deadpans, not fully knowing how much of that statement is actually a joke.

The other blinks at him. “Don’t you think I should get to know my future husband’s name first, at least?”

“Kim Taehyung, nice to make your acquaintance.”

He shakes Taehyung’s extended hand firmly, eyes crinkling as he grins. “Jeon Jeongguk, and likewise.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s elope!” Taehyung stands up so quickly he’s thrown off balance, but Jeongguk— he’s glad to be able to put a name to that pretty face now— has one hand on his back, propping him up before he even has the chance to fall.

“Careful,” Jeongguk mutters, quickly retracting his hand to his side.

“Glad to know we’re building a solid foundation for our marriage with trust for one another,” Taehyung remarks, grabbing his hand to pull him along.

As they pass through crowds of families and high schoolers, Jeongguk finally decides to clarify about what had happened earlier. “Sorry about that back there. My friends were just egging me on to go over to talk to you, and I didn’t know how to so I just—”

Taehyung stops in his tracks, nearly causing Jeongguk to walk into him. He turns around and meets the other’s eyes impassively, his own eyes reflecting no emotions whatsoever. “What, was getting my number your endgame? A joke between you and your friends?”

It’s quite alarming how Taehyung can just switch on and off like that— how his attitude does a complete 180 when he thinks he might get hurt.

Jeongguk’s face morphs into one of horror as he quickly raises both hands in defense. “No, no, no. Nothing like that at all. I just said you were cute and next thing I knew, they were pushing me into your direction.” He blushes and almost holds back the last piece of information to himself. “I only grabbed onto your arm so I wouldn’t fall down earlier.”

Taehyung’s bottom lip juts as he considers that for a moment. He shrugs. “Alright, seems legit.”

“So you’re not mad?” Jeongguk asks quietly.

For all the muscle he’s packing, the other’s presence is anything but intimidating once he opens his mouth. Taehyung has to stop himself from leaning forward and squeezing his cheeks together, as one would often do to a child that’s just too cute for their own good.

“Wait a second,” Taehyung freezes, stares at the other with wide eyes. “You’re not in high school, are you?” This could easily turn into a case of accidental kidnapping if the other is younger than he had anticipated.

Jeongguk actually snorts at that, and a huge wave of relief washes over Taehyung. “No, I’m in my first year of college.”

“You’re basically still a baby then,” Taehyung actually coos this time, pinching one cheek.

Jeongguk scrunches his nose but makes no effort to actually remove Taehyung’s hand from his face. “What then, are you thirty years old?”

“No, but close enough,” Taehyung says, continuing walking. He turns around when he no longer feels Jeongguk’s presence behind him. Jeongguk stares at him, open-mouthed, eyes briefly flicking to the stuffed animals in his arms.

“Kidding.” Taehyung tugs at his arm for him to follow along. “I’m in my third year, but that’s literally light years away from being a freshie.”

Jeongguk laughs breathlessly, more out of relief than anything as he lets Taehyung guide him. “You’re using ‘literally’ wrong.”

“I came here to win every stuffed animal there is, not to have my word choice judged. Tell me, are you going to help me or what?”

Jeongguk raises an eyebrow suggestively, steps just a tiny bit closer towards Taehyung. “And what does the ‘or what’ option entail?”

Taehyung laughs and shoves his chest lightly, fingers lingering on the hard muscle there. Fuck.

“Don’t be gross.”

Jeongguk places his hands atop of Taehyung’s shoulders and spins his body around so that a wall of stuffed animals and basketball hoops were in his sights. His eyes light up with glee.

Jeongguk tilts his head towards him and smiles, “Why don’t we start now?”

Tickets and basketballs are exchanged and soon enough, Taehyung and Jeongguk are standing side by side to see who can make the most shots. They were each only going to be given three chances because the hoop was far away enough that simply getting in one was quite a feat. But Taehyung rocks when it comes to accuracy, so he’s sure he’s got this one in the bag.

He’s just not too sure about Jeongguk.

“You sure you wanna compete with me over this?” Taehyung asks him smugly, palms flat against the rough and cool surface of the basketball.

Jeongguk just shoots back an easy grin, lopsided in all its beauty. “Loser has to buy cotton candy?”

“Oh, you’re fucking on .”

Taehyung’s aim is on point, as per usual. He’s that guy, to be honest. The guy who sees every trash can as a basketball hoop because he finds pleasure in knowing he’s going to make every shot. Gets bullseye every time he plays darts. Never even colored outside the lines as a child, his parents would tell him.

So this, standing far away enough from the hoop so that it was practically a half-court shot— no fucking problem.

He bends his elbows, tucks it by his sides, jumps, and shoots. The first ball makes a swoosh! sound as it goes through, all net.

The guy working the station looks at him mouth agape, eyeing his lithe frame as if someone of that size shouldn’t be able to make such a challenging shot. He’s already walking over, the question of which stuffed object he wants on the tip of his tongue.

Taehyung beams at him. “Is it okay if I go again?”

Furrowed eyebrows and faltering footsteps. “S-sure?”

That was a one-time thing. You’re not going to get lucky again.

It’s probably what he’s thinking, but he indulges Taehyung anyways, throwing it to him swiftly without much-required thinking.

“Damn, you are good,” Jeongguk lets out a low whistle and tilts his head towards the hoops. “But I’m miles ahead.”

He aims, shoots, misses.

Taehyung lets out a loud wheezing laugh, making him sound like a goat choking on grass or something of the sort.

The ball bounces off the backboard and falls to the floor. The worker dribbles it before passing it back over to Jeongguk, who catches it dejectedly with one deft hand.

Taehyung snorts at how pink his face has gotten and observes how the other spins the basketball on one finger easily. His fingers seem to be familiar with the touch of the rubber and Taehyung’s eyes travel down to the thick thighs partially covered by basketball shorts and muscular calves.

“You play?”

Jeongguk smiles sheepishly and dribbles the basketball. “Yeah. Did you guess from that fantastic airball just now?” Pink dust his cheeks.

Taehyung isn’t one to be subtle and he makes it painfully obvious that he’s checking out the other, eyes lingering on his form and practically mentally stripping him. “You’ve got nice legs.”

Jeongguk scoffs at that, backs up a bit before he aims again. This time, the shot goes in. “Ah, that just took a bit to get used to. The hoops’ shape is fucked up, aren’t they?”

Taehyung clicks his tongue, slightly disappointed that he doesn’t get to see Jeongguk narrow his eyes in focus again. “Yeah, it’s more oblong than circular,” he points to the hoop and Jeongguk nods in acknowledgment.

“You guys ready to pick a prize?” The worker strolls over and asks, nothing short of impressed as it’s not a usual occurrence to have someone actually make a single shot, let alone two people within the span of five minutes.  

Jeongguk glances over to Taehyung quickly before replying, “If it’s okay, can we go again?”

Taehyung looks at him strangely before his face breaks out into a full smile, a boxy-like quality to it.

Within fifteen minutes, they’ve nearly spent all of their tickets and wiped out all of the stuffed animals. It came down to a close tie with Taehyung’s aim being impeccable each time and Jeongguk having been already used to the sport itself. Eventually, Taehyung’s weak arms and Jeongguk’s not-as-spectacular aim become their downfall, with Taehyung coming in first as the person who’s scored the most shots.

It’s literally impossible to carry twenty-five stuffed prizes that are of your height, so Jeongguk and Taehyung give it to random children passing by, making sure that the parents don’t think they’re creeps first. Taehyung’s smile is more than enough to have parents letting down their guards so they don’t have an issue with security thinking they’re kidnappers until the only prize left in Taehyung’s arm was the stuffed drumstick he had won himself earlier.  

The whole game shuts down because there’s no prize and rather than looking pissed or even the slightest bit irritated, the young worker actually shuts his eyes and quietly mumbles thanks to God. Taehyung and Jeongguk get the satisfaction of completely wiping out the place while the guy gets to go home early— it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

They hit up every single place after that.

Jeongguk takes the mallet, subtly flexing his arms to hear Taehyung squeal excitedly, and swings it with all of the force that he can muster. The deafening ring that resounds as soon as the mallet makes contact with the machine signals how Jeongguk has won the ultimate carnival strength test, Taehyung jumping into his arms from how proud he is.

He doesn’t even stumble back from the sudden intrusion of Taehyung all up in his space, catches him with ease and soft giggles slipping past his own lips. Taehyung’s laughter is much deeper compared to his, a whole octave lower than his— maybe even two.

They go again and again until there’s a family of three waiting behind him, a father with arms twice as large as Jeongguk’s with a twitching eyebrow signaling their time to leave.

Taehyung looks at the younger girl who’s holding onto her father’s hand for dear life with a sheepish look, having won over more than half the prizes at that booth as they leave.

Ring toss, ball toss, darts, break-a-plate, tic tac toe where you have to throw bean bags into your desired box, any fucking carnival game, you name it — Taehyung comes and wins before the worker have enough time to even turn around and put his ticket into a box. It’s exactly what he planned for himself at the carnival this year around, except better in every way possible.

Because this time, he has a whole Jeongguk walking with him around carrying all of his prizes and winning all of the strength-based games.

Now, Taehyung is by no means weak.

He packs a lot more muscle than people would suspect of someone his size, more lean and tone than he is muscular, often giving the illusion that he was just scrawny. But--

If pretending he couldn’t whip the ball hard enough to hit the plate, like the mallet was too heavy for him to even pick up, like that punching bag was too hard for his delicate fingers to even brush upon meant that Jeongguk gets that look of determination in his eyes, arms bulging against the fabric of his shirt as he grins— then so be it. Taehyung would play the role of damsel in distress any time if it meant that he gets to witness a cocky Jeongguk displaying his indeed impressive strength.

Taehyung doesn’t mind, and if Jeongguk has been getting a clue and is just not showing it, then he certainly doesn’t mind either.

Jeongguk and Taehyung stop in front of the dreary looking set, the haunted house looking as ominous and ever with the constantly overworking fog machine and workers cosplaying as monsters of your worst nightmare.

Jeongguk turns his head to meet Taehyung’s eyes, a soft smile playing on his lips. “We’ve practically won every prize everywhere, except this one. What do you say?”

Taehyung gulps. It’s true. This is the only place left from which they haven’t figuratively wrecked, but he’s not too sure if he really wants to risk the dryness of his pants to just win a measly prize at this one. Supposedly, they offer a huge prize— that anyone’s yet to win— to those that can enter and not release a single scream. No sounds, whatsoever. Not even a sigh, gasp, or sharp intake of breath.

The two guys who have entered before probably could have won if only they weren’t cackling their asses the entire way through.

“I can hold your hand if you get scared,” Jeongguk offers wholeheartedly, not at all teasing.

Taehyung’s heart does something funny.

“Yeah, sure.”

Within ten minutes, they have just taken their first step through the haunted house, Jeongguk saluting the worker that took his ticket. It’s nearly impossible to see anything in there, and Taehyung just hopes he doesn’t fall onto his face and break his nose in front of Jeongguk. Well, it’s not like the other would be able to see much anyways.

He’s glued to Jeongguk’s side as they take small steps, Taehyung having to hold back whimpers each time he thinks he sees something moving in the distant. Jeongguk’s arm is curled possessively around his waist, almost a silent promise to not let anything happen to him in here. And yeah, it’s reassuring and cute, but Taehyung is too busy nearly pissing his pants every time some fucking bastard decides it’s hilarious to stick out their hands and grab at his ankle.

Hand fisted into Jeongguk’s shirt, Taehyung has to waddle because of how he’s attached to the other’s side, making it impossible to take normal steps.

“Gah!” Taehyung screams when someone grabs onto his ankle and just won’t let go, causing him to almost trip. +

“Jeongguk, what the fuck! I’m gonna die, you son of a bitch! Stop laughing and help me before they drag me to hell!” His voice is shaky and nearly cracks at the end, and it’s only then that Jeongguk stops laughing and wraps his arms around Taehyung’s waist, hooking his chin over Taehyung’s shoulder.

“You got your foot stuck in the wires, silly,” he chuckles and hoists Taehyung up so that his foot wasn’t caught in the— well, would you look at that — bundle of thick black cords and wires.

They lose, obviously.

Taehyung refuses to talk to Jeongguk for the next five minutes, nose upturned and eyes casted elsewhere. It’s not until Jeongguk thrusts cotton candy into his mouth with a mirthful glint of the eye and a soft laugh does he finally relent, accepting it with a frown nonetheless.

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” Taehyung mutters as he takes in huge mouthfuls of the pink cotton candy.

He plants himself closer to Jeongguk’s side, the boy emitting heat like crazy, when he feels a particularly strong wind nipping at his ears. It’s like entering the haunted house had dissolved some unspoken question between them regarding physical boundaries.

Jeongguk’s eyes crinkle and he swings a loose arm over Taehyung’s shoulder. “You sure about that?”

“Mhm,” Taehyung reaffirms, tilting his head to look into Jeongguk’s deep brown eyes. He can’t help it when his own eyes travel down Jeongguk’s face, zooming in on his pink lips instead. “Make it up to me,” he says quietly.  

Jeongguk takes a bite out of Taehyung’s cotton candy to avoid the implications of the statement, only to have their faces so close to each other Taehyung forgets to breathe, all the words caught in his throat.

Jeongguk’s eyes wander as well, and Taehyung’s positively sure he’s not the only one wanting this anymore.

“F-ferris wheel!” Jeongguk shouts and drags Taehyung to the gigantic contraption by his wrist, effectively ruining the moment.

They have to leave all of their prizes with the worker when they enter the Ferris wheel because of the weight limit that each car hold. Thankfully, the worker there gathers all of their stuffed animals into a large black bag so that they can carry it around more easily afterward.

“In you go,” the young male instructs them as he opens the door to the slowly moving Ferris wheel.

Jeongguk, ever the gentleman, enters first and holds out his hand for Taehyung to take

Once they’re inside the enclosed area so small that their knees were bumping just from sitting across from each other, it gets eerily quiet.

Taehyung wordlessly turns his head to look at how the people underneath them were getting smaller and smaller until all of the lights at the carnival were the only thing he can see. He picks out wispy fluffs of the cotton candy and puts it in his mouth, letting the sugar dissolve onto his tongue in favor of talking to Jeongguk.

What do you even say to a stranger that you had only met several hours ago? A terribly attractive one, at that.

“Wait, aren’t your friends worried about you, or something?” Taehyung asks, not knowing why he feels the need to keep his voice low and steady. “You kind of just left them.”

Jeongguk laughs, and the reflection of the twinkling lights in his eyes takes Taehyung’s breath away. His lips are pink from the cotton candy that he had eaten. “You kind of just stole me, remember?”

When Taehyung blushes, Jeongguk’s quick to reply, “Seriously, it’s fine. Their fault for being assholes and just pushing me over to you like that, anyways.”

He places both hands on his knees timidly and looks up at Jeongguk through his lashes. “Do you regret it?”

Jeongguk’s eyes widen, sensing the hurt in his voice. “Spending time with you today? Of course not,” he argues, placing one hand atop of Taehyung’s own. He pulls away when he realizes what he’s done, tucking both hands between his thighs so they wouldn’t stray from his side again.

Taehyung has a small smile adorning his lips when he looks out of the window at all the soft yellows against the night sky, and amazedly breathes out, “It’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, you are,” Jeongguk replies softly, eyes unblinking.

Taehyung rips his eyes away from the breathtaking scenery to meet Jeongguk’s heavy gaze, the tension so heavy it’s almost palpable. His lips part to find words to reply with, but his expansive vocabulary fails him when Jeongguk’s looking at him like that— like he’s the beautiful one.  

Jeongguk slowly rises from his seat, slow enough so that Taehyung could turn away if he chooses to. But he doesn’t. He surges forward instead, closing the last small bit of distance between them and catching Jeongguk’s lips with his own.

It’s a firm press at first, nothing less and nothing more, a strong but insistent touch of closed lips. Jeongguk’s lips are so soft against his that he’s content with just this, breathing the same air as the night winds and city life thrum beneath them.

It reminds him of early high school relationships with giggles behind sweater paws and cheek kisses.

It’s cute .

But then the car rocks forward and Taehyung finds himself stumbling onto Jeongguk, arms that had been limp at his side finding place on Jeongguk’s broad shoulders. He’s standing in between Jeongguk’s open legs now, the other’s muscular thighs on either side of his knees, leaning down to connect their mouths again except this time, it’s not as innocent.

Jeongguk nibbles and swipes his tongue along his bottom lip to ask for entry and Taehyung nearly moans simply at that. He parts his lips and feels Jeongguk expertly licking into his mouth, brushing against his tongue, against the roof of his mouth, every sensitive place that Taehyung didn’t even know was supposed to feel this good .

He tastes like cotton candy, so sweet, it has Taehyung feeling almost light-headed, completely addicted to the taste.

Strong arms pull him into the other’s lap until he’s basically straddling Jeongguk in what seems like miles up in the air. He runs his hands along the front of Jeongguk’s torso, nimble fingers brushing against defined pecs and the ridges of his abdomen as Jeongguk delicately cradles his face with a rough hand, the other one pressing into his lower back so that they’d be even closer, hips in alignment.

Taehyung has a height leverage and the angle allows for him to kiss Jeongguk so deeply, he feels the air punched out of him when Jeongguk’s velvety tongue brushes against his own, the taste of cotton candy crystals still lingering in their mouths.

He lets his lips wander and peck the corner of Jeongguk’s mouth, pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses along his strong jaw, down the front of his throat. His hands have come down and begun pushing the hem of Jeongguk’s shirt up, finally fucking feeling those bare muscles underneath his fingertips, Jeongguk’s skin so hot the heat seems to travel from Taehyung’s hands all the way to his lower stomach.

Jeongguk breathes heavily through his nose as Taehyung continues with his ministrations along his neck, purposefully sucking hard enough to leave hickeys that color his tan skin beautifully.

His hands grip at Taehyung’s waist, thumb rubbing into the hipbone there until the other’s lips brush at an impossibly sensitive place behind his ear, causing his hips to rut forward before he even registers it.

“Taehyung, stop,” Jeongguk mumbles, feeling dizzy from how embarrassingly hard he already is. He’s sure Taehyung feels it, and he would be ashamed if it weren’t for the fact that he can feel Taehyung straining against his pants just as much as he is as well.

Taehyung lets out a growl at that, and abides, rests his forehead against Jeongguk’s. “You’re so fucking hot,” he bumps noses with Jeongguk. “I’ve been wanting to do that for the past two hours.”

Jeongguk— god forbids — giggles, and Taehyung feels himself absolutely infatuated. He’s positively sure his soul just left his body from the cuteness of it all.

They fly apart when the door to the car opens and they’re met with the sight of the shocked worker. “T-time’s up,” he stutters upon taking in the sight of hickeys lining Jeongguk’s neck and Taehyung’s red, swollen lips.

Taehyung devilishly grins at him, having always gravitated towards exhbitionism. Jeongguk sits opposite of him, eyes casted downwards and ears burning red, not so satisfied with the situation.

They step out of the rocking car hand in hand, stuffed drumstick tucked underneath Taehyung’s arm. The worker hands them their bag of stuffed animals while refusing to meet their eyes, and understandably so.

“You’re not a bad kisser, to be honest,” Taehyung feels the need to tease him after all of that, swinging his arm and looking at how nicely their fingers interlock.

Jeongguk squeezes his hand and laughs. “I can be better.”

The promise makes butterflies flutter in Taehyung’s chest in anticipation of how the night might unfold.

It’s only when they leave the metal gates with the trash bag dragging behind them that Jeongguk takes notice of the two security guards waiting for them, arms crossed over their chests to make themselves look even more intimidating— and fuck, did they look intimidating.

Taehyung looks at them curiously and holds onto Jeongguk’s hand even tighter as they’re being approached. “What’s going on?”

“You guys have to leave,” the buffer of the two instructs in a low, gruff voice, decked out in a security uniform that looks to be more for show than anything.

“Why?” Jeongguk asks, almost defiantly. They haven’t done anything wrong now, have they?

“You’re ruining the carnival for everyone else,” the other short but stocky man replies. He raises his eyebrow at the trash bag filled with prizes that Taehyung was holding. “Winning all of the prizes when the games are supposed to be rigged is cheating.”

Taehyung blinks. What kind of fucking—

Jeongguk just shrugs, taking his hand from Taehyung’s to curl one arm around his slim waist. “Okay.”

Taehyung smacks him on the arm, hard. “Jeongguk! We can’t just listen to them. We have every right to be here!” He looks at Jeongguk while pouting, eyebrows furrowed because here he was, thinking that they were on the same side.

It’s then that Jeongguk brings Taehyung even closer to his side, lips pressed against the shell of his ear. “I have a better idea of what we can do at my place,” Jeongguk whispers, voice all low and sultry.

Taehyung gulps, feeling his heart beat a mile a second in his chest, cheeks flushed. He nods slowly, sparing the security guards one last look and sticking his tongue out at them until he’s being whisked away by Jeongguk, arm still comfortable tight around his body.

And for once, Taehyung doesn’t feel so empty leaving the carnival.

“Mario Kart or Overwatch first?” Jeongguk nudges at his shoulder when they’re in a cab on their way to his apartment, thighs touching despite there being plenty of room in the backseat.

Not by a long shot.