#akshverse

That was their thing.

So, when that particular day, Jungkook left her a message saying he couldn't accompany her back, Moon was slightly concerned but she brushed it off.

Jungkook was still a kid, but of course, he didn't require supervision all the time, that too during broad daylight. She repeated that to herself throughout the day and during her walk back to the company.

But as soon as she reached the company and saw the boys sans Jungkook, her heart dropped. She was worried but at the same time, didn't want to be overbearing, so she resigned to working a hole through the practice room. The boys who noticed her pacing, simply chalked it up as her being aloof as usual.

This wasn't unusual for her, Moon walked anytime she was stressed and with the new routines coming up, they understood why she'd be stressed. They resumed to work on their own until everyone gathered for group practices.

When the call was finally made for a group practice nearly an hour later, Moon looked around again as if she'd have missed Jungkook's presence in the room.

"Guys," She called out, making the boys look at her. "Where's Jungkook?"

"He isn't here yet?" Namjoon asked, looking around. She shook her head, stomach bubbling anxiously. "He said he'd be here around this time," He added thoughtfully.

"Did he tell you where he went?" J-Hope asked, looking at Namjoon who shook his head.

"No, he said he had to meet some of his friends and that he'll be back in time for group practice," He added, remembering the boy stuttering away his reason that morning.

Moon who was quietly listening so far, spoke up, "What friends? He doesn't have any friends here!" She glared at the other boys, her protectiveness kicking in. "Why the hell would you let him go alone? He's been freaking stressed about the routines and you guys just freaking let him go alone?!"

"Why are you guys so irresponsible when it comes to him? He doesn't even know this place all that well!" She was breathing heavy, having yelled at all the boys surrounding her. "And none of you are even bothered about him not being here? Is this how you are going to treat your teammate?"

She was going off on them, and while in the back of her head she knew she was overreacting, she didn't loosen her glare on the boys around.

"Hyeon, you are overreacting," Namjoon told her, trying to calm her down. "He'll be back here soon."

"He's a big boy, Hyeon." J-Hope tried, "He can take care of himself."

"He's fourteen for fuck's sake! We should be looking after him."

Moon scoffed at the boys' audacity to make it seem like Jungkook was all grown up, when all of them clearly knew and understood that the kid was young, constantly worried and feared being thrown out of the group.

But, look at his Hyungs! Not even giving a single fuck over where he might be!

She was understandably angry, face and eyes red and her rage coming out as tears in her eyes. The place was quiet for a minute, the boys not knowing how to react to Moon's tears and Jungkook's sudden disappearance, but mostly to the tears. They knew Jungkook was a strong kid who just needs time alone to gather his thoughts and that he'd be back soon.

But Moon's tears were a whole new territory. They knew Moon was protective over their youngest, doting and coddling him in the most overbearing motherly way but she was crying, right now.

How do they handle her tears?

"Moon, calm down," Suga tried to calm her, placing his palm on her shoulder.

Moon shook him away, "He'll be here soon. Don't worry."

"I'm going to find him!" She said, picking up her things, putting on her jacket and running out.

The moment she stepped out, the cold winter air hit her. Her watered eyes and nose stinging painfully, as she wiped them harshly. She sniffled, walking away from the company towards the school where she thought Jungkook might've taken refuge.

The walk to school usually would've been short, but Moon went to every park there was on her way to check for Jungkook. She couldn't find him anywhere and Moon's anxiety was really tiring her out; she's been searching for him for quite some time now.

Where was he? Was he kidnapped? Did something bad happen to him? Was he okay? Did he run away? Did he quit? Worrying questions ran through her mind, stopping abruptly when her phone rang. It was Namjoon.

"Is Jungkook there?" Moon asked, breathing heavy, not bothering with a greeting, "Is he okay?"

"He's not with you?" He asked her back, not sure if he heard her right. "You haven't found him yet?"

"Namjoon," Moon scoffed, "Would I ask you if I found him? No, I haven't found him. I don't know where he'll be. It's late. He doesn't know the way around this place. He's all alone now." Her tone was flat, like she was blaming him for all that was happening.

"Moon, calm down." Jin was on line now. Moon rolled her eyes, telling him that she'll calm down when she finds Jungkook. "He's all alone in a new city at night!" She repeated.

"Where are you?" He asked in a calm voice, ignoring her outburst. Moon sighed, his calm tone somehow watering her rage. She told him where she was, sniffling slightly.

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" He asked. Moon rolled her eyes; this was getting on her nerves. She could be searching for Jungkook instead of being questioned like this, but no, Father Jin has to make this a freaking quiz.

"We would have had an idea if Leader asked him about it, wouldn't we?" Her voice was getting shivery, as she walked to the final park by the school. If Jungkook wasn't here, then she has no idea where he might be. "But no, Jungkook's a big boy, isn't he? so, I have no idea where he might be!"

"Hyeon-ah, Calm down, okay?" Yoongi seemed to have taken the phone now, "Go, look at the park, if you can't find him there, we'll file a complaint, okay?" Moon agreed, "Call us once you search the park, okay? We'll try searching around here too. He'll be okay."

Moon hummed into the phone, disconnecting the call. She hoped Jungkook was okay. The boy was so young and so talented, she really hoped the stress of debut wasn't harming his health in anyway.

The park was deserted, mainly because this was kid's hangout spot and now, it was way too dark for kids and parents to hang out here. Moon walked in the area, trying to find the boy, praying he was in there somewhere. She looked around the place, eyes scanning the place for the boy. She had almost lost hope when she saw him, sitting in a secluded bench, hunched over.

In an excited haze, she ran to him calling his name loudly.

"Kookie! Jungkook!" She screamed his name, startling the poor boy who visibly shook before turning around to face her. She ran to him full force, hugging him and cradling his face to her chest.

"Kookie! You are alright! I was so worried! I was fucking scared that you quit or something! Why didn't you tell us anything? Oh my god, I'm so happy I found you!" She hugged him tighter, rubbing him as if to reassuring to herself that yes, he was okay and in her arms. She pulled away from him finding him quiet. She sniffles, looking at him and checking his face again.

"You are okay, right? You are not saying anything. Is everything alright?"

Now, that Moon was calmer and settled into her mother mode, she noticed his red, teary eyes and nose. It looked like he had been crying for long. His ears were red and he wasn't even wearing a jacket to keep out the cold.

"Why don't you have a jacket?" She pulled off her own, wrapping around him, as he sniffled. "Are you okay Kookie? You can tell me what's bothering you."

Jungkook stayed silent, eyes brimmed with tears as he tried to collect his thoughts. He was just so overwhelmed at Moon's sudden appearance that his head was practically empty as she smothered him.

What was he actually doing in this deserted park?

He had left home telling Namjoon that he had to meet up with his 'friends' so that he had some time to wallow in his worries. His original plan was to wallow for some time and return to the dance practice.

He must've lost track of time because it was darker now. He had spent the past few hours here, crying and shivering in cold but still not ready to go back home.

The future terrified him to be honest.

He was the main vocalist apparently and he can't sing all that well. He missed being home. He missed his family. He was afraid of his future, of falling short, of letting everyone down, of everything. He didn't have friends in here. He was too shy to actually speak to his team members. He felt so out of place in here that Jungkook didn't know how long he'd last in Seoul, in the idol world.

All those emotions had been too much for him and he had resorted to breaking down in this park away from prying eyes. He had forgotten his jacket, so he was cold. He had skipped lunch, so he was hungry.

He looked up at Moon, who was looking at him like he was an injured puppy, with so much care and love that Jungkook leapt into her arms, crying harder. Moon unlike he expected, wasn't all that startled at his actions.

Instead, she hugged him back, soothingly rubbing his back, petting his head and muttering assurances. She didn't know for sure, but she had an idea why Jungkook was so emotional. She let him cry into her shoulder, her heart breaking at the young boy's obvious breakdown. She might've cried a bit too, but she wasn't letting Jungkook know that.

Eventually, Jungkook calmed himself down letting her go. Moon let him go, cupping his face and wiping his tears as he sniffled.

"Are you okay?" She asked him, making the boy nod. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

He looked hesitant, but soon spoke up, tearing up as he revealed every detail of his fears and worries. Moon's heart only shattered more as she looked at how much these worries had damaged him. He was a young kid with so much hope and innocence that this industry would just ruin him.

"Kookie," She called him in a soft tone, cupping his face, "Do you trust me?" He nodded, "Then listen to me, okay? I'm not going to lie to you and tell you all this is going to be easy, because it's not. I can't promise you a cakewalk in this industry, but all I can promise to you is that we'll be here with you until the end. You are not alone in this. You have us. You will always have us. I'll always be here for you. We'll be here. You can always come to me. I'll be here for you, anytime anywhere for anything. Okay? Remember this." Moon petted his hair, running her fingers into his hair soothingly.

Moon wasn't all that great in talking and doing the whole communication thing but she hopes that she got through to Jungkook. She hoped that he knew, he was important and that he wasn't alone in this and that she'd be there for him. She understood where he was coming from and while she also felt the same towards herself, she knew she didn't want to be in this weird space all her life. She wanted to work hard and move forward to a better space in life.

She would work towards that.

"Okay," He nodded, smiling in what seemed like days. "I'll remember that."

"Good,-" Moon's next words were cut short when her phone rang loudly. It was the other boys. Moon rolled her eyes comically making Jungkook crack a wider smile.

"Did you find him? Is he okay? Should we file a complaint?"

"Found him," She smiled at the younger boy now looking at her, scared of the reaction of the boys. They sounded worried and Jungkook knew he really caused trouble.

"Jin and Yoongi meet us at the mart near our dorms. Let's end whatever you were doing at the company and have a meeting over dinner. There are things we need to talk about, right?" Moon asked in a measured tone, she knew she had lectured coming for her. She had just been so damn rude and had exploded on them even without any fault of theirs.

"We aren't at the company," Namjoon told her, "We were searching for Jungkook near our dorms. We'll meet you there."

Moon agreed, "Okay. I found Jungkook, he's fine. Just a little stressed, but he'll be fine." She said quietly, feeling sorry at having yelled at him earlier. He hummed and the call was done.

"Are-are they angry?" Jungkook asked.

Moon shook her head, "Worried is more like it. They were worried why their maknae didn't come." Jungkook's heart warmed at being referred as one of them, but he still wasn't convinced.

"They sound angry."

Moon laughed, "No, Kookie. They aren't angry. They are worries and tired. That's it. They will be waiting for us, now come on. Let's go. You've had a rough day. Let's get home, get you cleaned, warm and fed." She pulled him up when his stomach growled loudly.

Moon guffawed as the younger boy's face-tinged red.

"Aigoo, Kookie." She pinched his cheeks. "C'mon, I'll buy you hotteok for now. We can have dinner at home. On second thoughts, I'll buy you two." She grinned, grabbing his hands and leading him to the nearby hotteok stand.

Jungkook followed her, not complaining. Once the two had brought the pancakes, two for Jungkook who held one in his hand each. The two walked to the mart, arms linked.

There was an odd sort of comfort between as they walked. They felt more comfortable around each other. Not that they weren't before, but Jungkook was always quiet and stayed away from her, calling her 'Hyung' if he ever had to address her and spoke softly and respectfully.

This felt nice, like having a younger brother to dote on. She was happy that they were moving away from this professional relationship they had to becoming proper friends. They were nearing the mart, Jungkook stopped.

"Can I call you noona?" He asked, eyes wide and sparkling that Moon doesn't understand how he was all this cute. Like she has younger siblings, has seen a multitude of young kids but none of them come close to how cute this boy is really.

"What is this? Was two hotteoks all it took for you to finally acknowledge that I was a girl? I would've brought you five of those sooner if this was going to be the result." She told him. He laughed, pouting at her.

"Maybe, you should have bought me hotteoks earlier." He said, making Moon's eyes widen.

"That's my fault? Kid, you wouldn't look at me if I didn't call you like three times." She scoffed playfully, but smiled. "But yes, you can call me Noona. I've been calling you Kookie after all. Also, if you call me Noona, you are basically signing up for me to be your stand-in mother. Is that okay? I'll be really annoying and will be mothering you every second of your life from now on. Are you sure about that?"

"Yep, I would love that."

"Remember you said that!" Moon ruffled his hair. "But seriously, if I ever get annoying, tell me, okay?" He nodded.

"You have to tell me." She added again and Jungkook laughed louder.

"Okay, noona. I'll tell you."

"Good, my son." Moon tried and Jungkook made a face. Moon laughed, "Don't make a face at your mother, child. It's rude."

Jungkook rolled his eyes, but had to tease her back.

"Will you write me into your will, noona?"

When she donated all of her winning money and money from her charity concerts -something he wanted to attend but knew could not- to underprivileged kids and families, he remembers distinctively how his family cooed at her being an angel and hoped that she'd do well in her life.

Over the years, he kept seeing her on billboards, posters and occasionally on TV till he heard of her debut. She was finally debuting but as a member of a group. Taehyung didn't think much of it, as long as she sang again, he was happy. A group was a start.

When he heard of her debuting in a boy group, he was taken aback. Why was a pretty, talented girl like her debuting in a majorly boy, co-ed group?

He saw the slander and hate she was being put through and hated that he couldn't do anything to help. He didn't have enough money to buy her albums, didn't have enough to attend her shows, he was helpless but he constantly prayed she'd stay strong and do well. This was a storm and it would pass. He prayed she had people around her who loved her and took care of her.

Amidst all this, he had grown a love for performing and music himself and moved to Seoul.

Seoul was scary as he had expected, he met and became friends with his now bandmates and he became V of BTS.

Over the years as V, he did most of what he wanted to do as a Heart Fanboy. He brought her album, attended her concerts, binge watched her dramas, watched her musicals, attended her art exhibitions and movie premiers -thanks to Moon for getting him VIP entry tickets- and brought all her collaborations with different fashion brands and endorsements once he was able to afford them.

When she was announced as his favorite brand's ambassador and muse, he was over the moon. All the more reason for him to wear Gucci now. He brought anything with Heart's face on it and supported all the causes she supported. He talked about her in interviews, in nearly all the shows BTS were in and in his everyday life, on and off-camera. In simple words, V was a full-fledged fanboy.

Everyone knew of it; his family, friends, army and even his antis. He'd get hate for liking Heart, but he didn't care. Army -in an attempt to cheer him up- brought him exclusive Heart goodies during fansigns and for his birthday. He lived happily as a fanboy, being one of the millions that loved her.

He didn't mind it at all.

Anytime he had to have an actual interaction with her, he'd avoid it. He was too shy to talk to her, making Moon do all his work for him. He'd ask her to get his albums and posters signed, and get her to give him exclusive Heart content, which Moon always reminded him was awfully stalker-ish while the rest teased him for his very obvious crush pestering him to make an actual move. They'd set him up with Heart, his actor friends told him, if he mustered up the courage to actually go on a date with her.

As time went by, he became friends with most of her friends, their friend circle expanding into each other and meshing almost as one. But, he still never made a move. Something in him always stopped him. He wasn't enough, he felt. He needed to do better to be with her, to be worthy of her. He had stayed away from her, made and avoided his plans to talk to her.

That is until early 2018, when the rumor broke out.

Taehyung had been ecstatic to receive his birthday gift from Moon; an in-demand, hard-to-find Gucci bag -it was on his wishlist but he never managed to get it- with art painted over it. Before he could marvel at the art, his eyes first noticed the signature on it.

Love Marie.

It was signed and fanboy Taehyung could recognize the signature anywhere. The bag was an ink black with both it's sides painted. One side was filled colorfully with images of things that made him happy; his members, army, etc and on the other side was him, though the painting didn't take the whole of the surface. It was a painting of him, donning a look from the recent DNA era.

His hair was a fluffy, silvery grey, he was wearing a white shirt and earrings adorning his ears. It was his best look so far, everyone had told him. DNA had been his era. Maybe even Heart thought so, because according to Moon, she had given Heart all the creative freedom to do whatever she wanted with the bag and Heart had conjured up the masterpiece in his hands. There were flowers painted around him and every detail of him was painted so precisely and beautifully that Taehyung felt beautiful for a long while. He was good-looking, he knew that but as an art lover, he knew art was how artists saw their world and his heart soared at being seen as so pretty in Heart's eyes. He was doing the most for himself, he was aware of it but he couldn't help it. His fanboy self was on cloud nine.

He had tucked the bag away safely in his closet, promising himself that he would personally thank Heart for the masterpiece bestowed upon him.

When BTS left for LA that January, he had pulled out the bag and had made it a statement piece of his airport look. The bag was going to make so many appearances from then on. But, that first appearance had caused the rumor, and the fear and stress that caused Taehyung on that beautiful day was not funny.

It all started when he had this influx of congratulations from friends, who all sent very similar messages; finally, can't believe you did it, you lucky thief, congratulations, when are we meeting her etc. Honestly, Taehyung had been clueless as his phone blew up. When he was about to question them about what was actually happening, Manager Sejin came bearing news. He had called them up while they were settling down in their hotel rooms, simply interrogating Taehyung over his dating life with Heart.

Moon had come to his rescue claiming that they weren't dating and she had commissioned the bag from Heart, for Taehyung as a birthday gift. Manager Sejin had accepted the answer, begrudgingly wondering why even bothered to think that Taehyung had finally gathered courage to talk to his beloved Heart.

BigHit had a talk with SM and they released a statement each. While SM had given a standard statement saying Heart wasn't dating anyone, BigHit had done theirs with a shadowed snark claiming Heart and V weren't dating, weren't even friends actually, all because V was too big of a coward to actually speak to her. They also added a heartfelt thanks from Taehyung's side because they thought he'd never even be able to thank her.

It had become more of a joke in the industry than a scary scandal.

Taehyung had spent a large part of the night, reading through all the articles, videos, their comment section, even online communities and major internet sites regarding the rumor, wondering what the reaction was; much to his surprise, a lot of them were positive. Many were congratulating them and celebrating.

Once the statement had been released, the reaction seemed disappointed but most of the fans seemed hopeful; maybe this will finally initiate a conversation between them, maybe they'll get together in the future, maybe Heart will approach him etc.

Taehyung went to bed around early dawn, making up his mind that he was finally going to make a move. He had gone about with his days after that, with usual teasing from his members, fans bringing him Heart's merch and all until Taehyung was called to the BigHit office where they told him the news.

"Vogue contacted us," The woman had told him, "They want you to model for their newest release with Heart, and it's a green from Heart's side. Gucci is sponsoring it. They want you and Heart."

Taehyung had stayed silent for a whole five minutes and then told them he'd have to talk to his members before deciding on anything. He had calmly walked out after their agreement and the moment he was out the room, he ran. He ran straight to his members who were waiting for him in the dance studio to practice. He's panting roughly as he relayed the news.

The boys weren't shocked, they had expected this. Heart had called Moon and told her about the collaboration, if you will and had told her that if by any chance Taehyung was uncomfortable, even to the slightest, Moon has to tell her and she would stop this from happening, she'd find another partner or she'd find someone else for him to model with.

"Are you uncomfortable with this, Tae?" Moon asked, looking at him as if searching for any sign for his discomfort. "I can te-"

"No no no, oh no." Taehyung gestures wildly, "It's not that! I'm- I'm not uncomfortable! I'm freaking happy that this is happening!"

"Um, okay." Moon nodded, slightly startled at the sudden movement from V and added, "You'll do it, then?"

"Yeah, Yeah," He sounded so giddy and happy to his own ears that he couldn't stop himself from blushing, at the thought of a couple photoshoot with his long-time crush. "I want to do this. I can't believe I get to do this!"

His happiness knew no bounds and over the few days up until the day of the shoot. Taehyung could barely sleep the night before the shoot. His band mates laughed at him, uttering words of encouragement and comforting head rubs.

Even the staff were teasing him and laughing anytime Heart was mentioned. Like he knew he was obvious, years of teasing from his members taught him that. But how obvious must he have been for the staff to tease him? He thought he was getting better at his poker face? Was he not? Anyways, he wasn't allowed to dwell on it much.

On the day of the photoshoot, he was dressed to impress. He wore a nice button up and slacks with shiny loafers. His hair was nicely made, even though the stylists would change up everything for the shoot. He had stayed silent throughout the ride to the venue, going through the file filled with the magazine's mood board for the shoot.

It was filled with photos of couples, in various poses that involved being close and very much in each other's personal space. He wondered if he could just stand that close to her and not combust. His anxiousness must have been very obvious cause his manager was shooting him looks.

When he reached the venue, he greeted everyone gathered and thanked them for the work they would do. While the staff giggled their praises at him, he was discreetly informed that Heart wasn't there yet. She would be there soon and he was asked to wait in the dressing room. He sat there, updating his members on what was happening.

All this time, he was blowing up their group chat and as expected they began teasing him and he was about to call them to relieve his nerves when he heard an all-too-familiar voice called out to him.

"Hello, Taehyung-ssi!"