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softjeon · 5 years

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Cinnamon and fairy dust | Pt. 1

• Pairing: elf!Jungkook x Taehyung • Genre: Fluff (with a little bit of angst) | elf!AU ( → Gifset Trailer) • Words: 7k | Co-Writer: Cat @cassiavioletblue • Disclaimer: mentioning of violence / smut

↳ There are no things such as fairy tales, magical reindeers that could fly, fairies and Christmas elves - at least Taehyung believed so. But everything was about to change, when Jungkook offered him shelter from a snowstorm and a sweet, hot cocoa, wondering about the boy who hated Christmas so much. Nothing that a bit of fairy dust couldn’t fix, right?

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Kim Taehyung hated Christmas. He hated the social deception of claiming to be glad to see people whose names he’d happily forgotten. Suddenly everyone pretended to be nice, spending way too much money on presents for people they didn’t even like in the first place. He hated eggnog and one better not ask him about Christmas music. As a child it may have been full of wonders, but now it only was a dreadful time. Sometimes Taehyung wished that Santa Claus was real and bring them all the stuff, so he could maybe enjoy the day again. But of course, these things don’t happen. There are no things such as fairy tales, magical reindeers that could fly, fairies and Christmas elves who were Santa’s little helpers.

Taehyung gripped the steering wheel tight, his knuckles whitening for a second. God, how he hated it and the memories it evoked. He saw the village’s sign from afar. He wouldn’t have needed the lights of his car to see anyway. Every lamppost and streetlight was wrapped in garland and twinkle lights, ribbons and tinsels lighting the way.

Of course, he knew people who loved Christmas, for specific reasons. His mother did. Way too much. Closing the door of his car, he looked up. A bunch of Christmas ribbons looped up the stairs to her house, with a large tartan bow at each peak. Taehyung had suggested his mother to go with a more minimalistic look for the festive season this year, but no, she’d been adamant. ‘Tradition”, she’d called it and a pain in the butt, Taehyung called it. Either way, he had been forced out of the big city to come down here to celebrate Christmas. He couldn’t come last year due to his job, so his mother had come to him, but this year Taehyung couldn’t find a way around it and his mother was only getting older. She doesn’t like the long train rides anymore and she never learned how to drive a car.

Walking up to the stairs, he wrapped his scarf a little tighter around his neck. The weather suited a polar bear more than a person. But here he was, six days away from Christmas, getting greeted with eggnog and the smell of cookies. At least one good thing.

He loved cookies.

It didn’t take long for Taehyung’s mother to involve him in decorating the house even more, for a bunch of people, or just the neighbors who probably wouldn’t appreciate it. Except for his mother, of course. She loved this time of year with a childlike passion, right down to the snow.

Taehyung hated snow, just not as much as he hated Christmas in general. When the house finally looked festive enough, he sat down with a sigh, wrapping his hands around the cup of tea she brought him. He hadn’t got time to unpack, yet, wanting to finally settle in, when his mother was already ahead giving him a new task to do. Why are people so full of energy around Christmas? He rubbed the bridge of his nose, only to flash a smile towards his mother, when she turned to him.

“Could you bring this over to Mrs. Jung,” She said, pointing to a little bag before she was wiping her hands off the apron. She got her baking gloves on to get some more cookies out of the oven. “I promised her to bring her some,” She kept on talking, almost burning herself on the hot surface. Taehyung sighed deeply as he looked out of the window. Great, now he had to go out in the cold again.

At first the snow was falling in soft, heavy clumps and Taehyung hid his hands in his pockets, keeping his head low. He really didn’t want anyone to recognize him, yet. He would get enough of the ramblings over how tall or handsome he had gotten all through the next days. Taehyung could feel the wind howling around him, making him shiver and his ears got red and cold. The wind seemed to loom around him, holding its breath and waiting for him to go back inside, but he still needed to get the cookies to his mother’s friend.

Mrs. Jung lived on the other end of the village and since he had no bike around and wasn’t crazy enough to try and ride it with the heavy snow that was falling right now, he had to walk. Though Taehyung could have used the car, he felt it was a little unnecessary - now he regretted it.

There weren’t much people around and those who were still outside, kept hiding in their jackets, trying to get inside and hide, crawling into their beds with a mug of tea and an old movie. Just like he wanted to do so desperately. He was happy though that Mrs. Jung didn’t seem to have too much time for him right now, when Taehyung stood in front of her door. She squished his cheek once, cooing over how broad shouldered he was, making Taehyung cringe a little with the old lady, feeling him up but thankfully, she took the cookies with a smile and let him go back without even stepping into her house. Oh yeah, he hated small talk with a passion as well.

The snow was falling faster and heavier on his way back now. Taehyung huddled deeper inside down his jacket, the only sound audible right now was the snow itself, falling so fast that he could hear the strange sush of it accumulating. The snow began falling even harder as Taehyung walked up the hill. The sky was so dark and grim already, his boots sinking deep into the snow with every single step. And then it was getting windier and when Taehyung looked up from his feet again, the snow was blowing around like crazy.

“Fuck,” He cursed, realizing that the weather was turning into a big heavy snowstorm, maybe even a blizzard. It was getting harder for him to see what was in front of him, so Taehyung did the next best thing, that came into his mind.

The bell rang, making him flinch a little from the loud sound. Who used old bells in shops anymore to announce a new customer? Looking up, he eyed the weird, rusty looking thing before he was shaking off the snow off his shoulders. Taehyung didn’t even turn to see in what kind of shop he stumbled into, looking outside the window with furrowed brows right away. The owners probably didn’t mind anyways if he seeked shelter until the snowstorm calmed down a little. Right now, he couldn’t see his own hand in front of him. And on top of that he wasn’t really good with directions in general. He would even buy something if it was necessary. As long as he didn’t need to walk any further. “I hate this,” He mumbled more to himself than anyone else and only now did he turn around to see where he was.

Normally when the door opened Jungkook greeted his customers with a vibrant smile. He was amazing with assessing people and finding out what they needed to get into a perfect state of calm and relaxation for them to fully enjoy the festive mood and feel the spirit of Christmas. This way while the customers were getting accustomed to the interior of the shop Jungkookie normally already headed for a sugar cookie or some cacao nibs to give them for free and after that he could basically watch their eyes starting to shine. It was such a satisfying experience to make humans happy. This time however his greeting totally failed. Because the customer that came in didn’t even spare him or the shop a glance, he just barged in, slammed the door shut and then turned around to watch the snow.

“Uhm, h…hello,” Jungkook tried a friendly greeting nonetheless. He was a bit out of his depth now. He only very rarely had grumpy people in his shop. Normally people were already entranced by his beautiful window decoration or shop windows meaning they were usually pretty excited to get inside. Not this one though apparently, “May I help you?”

Taehyung couldn’t help but furrow his brows a little, looking the other up and down for a second. He had never seen that boy before and Taehyung basically knew everyone in this village. No one came here on their own will, you rather moved away - so it was rare to see new faces. Especially, cute looking ones with curly hair and eyes that you could get lost in right away.

Taehyung took a step closer, looking into Jungkook’s eyes more closely – it was almost like…he was stargazing. How was one’s person eyes so shiny? Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Taehyung put a little smile on his face. “Oh, I’m sorry I barged in like that...,” He coughed a little, his voice sounding rougher than usual, “The snowstorm…it’s turning into some kind of a blizzard and I couldn’t see where I was going anymore. Is it okay…if I stay here for a bit? Just until it calms down again?”

Jungkook took a little step back, blinking, when the boy stared at him like that. Normally people tried to be a bit politer and not stare directly at him whenever they were smart enough to notice that there was something off about him that they couldn't figure out right away. But this one knew no shame.

“Do I... Is there something on my face?” He shyly wiped over his cheek as he sometimes got lost in baking, getting flour or chocolate all over his cheeks. Then the other seemed to regain his manners and acted like humans were supposed to. Still Jungkook couldn’t help but stay a little wary. Only until the other got a taste of his baked goods or a sip of a warm beverage - that was spiced with a little magical as well. It was pretty normal to him and didn’t have any special effects but to humans it was like warmth and comfort and safety. It brought out the nicest memories and the best qualities. As if they could step in here and leave their sorrows outside, take a breath of fresh air, come back to themselves and be reminded that there was good in the world. That’s why Jungkook wasn’t scared to work amongst them. No one had ever harmed him here at the shop and even though Yoongi still argued with him about how this was unsafe and how he should come back to the forest his complaints have gotten less and less frequent when he had noticed how much joy it brought Jungkookie to make others happy. So, he tried his best to comfort his new customer as well, giving him his most beautiful smile. “Ah, of course! Please get yourself comfortable. Do you want something to drink? Something to eat as well? I’ve made cinnamon apple crumble cookies that must be ready every minute now. There’s nothing better than eating them while they’re still warm and fresh.”

Taehyung looked around the shop in interest, only when he noticed the Christmas decoration he scrunched up his nose a little but quickly gathered himself again. The smell of sugar, vanilla and cinnamon permeated the air so thick he could almost taste it as he let his gaze wander around the bakery he had stumbled into.

“Yeah, I can smell that,” He said as he walked over to one of the barstools to sit down. Taehyung got out his phone right away to see if he got any Wi-Fi connection but of course it was as low as it could be. He couldn’t even open his facebook. He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply as he looked out of the window again. The weather was only getting worse and all Taehyung wanted was to get home and preferably on his laptop. Maybe he could still get some work done later – but right now it seemed like he would be stuck here for a little while.

Defeatedly, Taehyung stood up again just to get out of his jacket and whatever was making him feel awfully hot right now. It was way too warm in his thick clothes within this bakery. He rolled his shoulders back, adjusting his sweater a little before he sat down again.

Jungkook was left standing there, watching the guy a bit awkwardly who really didn’t seem to have any interest in sweets at all. But even then, one humans always enjoyed to get themselves something hot to drink if it was as cold and snowy outside as it was right now. So Jungkook was honestly pretty confused.

The other was checking the phone screen, typing frantically and sighing in disappointment, not sparing the carefully arranged mistletoes and branches of holly that the ceiling was decorated with any second glances. Jungkook almost pouted. But he didn’t give up that easily. Maybe the human just needed a nudge into the right direction. “So… can I get you something now? Anything?”

Taehyung looked at the other with big eyes for a second, before he realized that he hadn’t answered any of the bakers questions, “Oh, sorry…I didn’t say anything. I’m just…tired. I just got here a few hours ago. Not that you care, but yes…if you like…” He reached for his back pocket, getting out his wallet to see if he got any money with him. Unfortunately, Taehyung only had a few coins. He mostly paid with card, so he found carrying around loads of money unnecessary, but looking at the old big register Taehyung figured that he wouldn’t have much luck if he asked about paying with his credit card. “I guess, I’ll just take a hot cocoa, please,” Taehyung said, this time with a smile.

Jungkook simply nodded and went to the kitchen to get what Taehyung had ordered. Talking to the guy made him more and more confused. He had told him something personal and then said ‘why would you care’ as if Jungkook was faking interest. But why wouldn’t he care? Taehyung was his customer. He always wanted his customers to feel good. So how could the boy think that Jungkook wouldn’t care about his well being?

He shook his head to get out of his own thoughts and not mess with the recipe. Too much cinnamon in a cocoa that he made was unthinkable! He took pride in his natural talent for baking and creating any kind of treats and he always did his tasks with love, no matter if he’s had one or twenty customers before. When the cocoa was finished he added a little hint of glitter on top. He only dared to do so when he had seen edible glitter in the baking section of a supermarket. Before that he had been too scared someone would notice the pixie dust on their milk foam and his secret would be out in the open - but after time he realized he didn’t need to be scared of that. Even if he slips sometimes and talks a bit too much or reveals a little more than he wanted humans always find a rational explanation for what he had told them. It’s kind of cute how much they insist on magic not being real when on the other hand they have such a fascination for it, buying fantasy books and watching movies and playing dress up at least two times a year. Jungkook loved it, how humans are such a mystery to him, how he can try to figure them out and still learns something new every day.

He takes the cookies out of the oven and then places an especially nice one on the saucer before he brings it over to Taehyung. “There you go. Please enjoy.” He gives him another smile and then hurries back behind the counter to watch the magic enfold.

“Thanks,” Taehyung looked at the cookie with a little smile before taking the cup and taking a sip without looking at it much further. The hot beverage was warming his hands perfectly and Taehyung hummed when he tasted the sweet chocolate. Noticing the boy’s stare, he turned his body sideways on the stool, leaning his back against the wall in the process. “It’s really good,” He said, thinking that the other was waiting for some kind of approval. He sighed again, watching the snow fall outside – only that right now it seemed so far away. It was almost relaxing. Taehyung closed his eyes, licking his lips slowly.

Jungkook started to relax as well when Taehyung was starting to unwind. His broad shoulders looked softer the way he cuddled into his own sweater and with the way he looked outside, no longer scanning the falling snow like it was something awful but rather observing it, acknowledging it Jungkook felt happier. Another Christmas miracle worked.

Reaching out for the cup of cocoa again, Taehyung suddenly saw that there were tinsels and some kind of brushwood (he didn’t care to look closely to see what it exactly was) stuck to his sweater. He tried to get it off him, reaching around his body but in the process, he was almost ripping the whole decoration down the wall with him. “Ahgh, why…is…there…so…much…stupid decoration in this town,” He mumbled in anger trying to forcefully get every bit of decoration and glitter and whatever decoration got stuck to him off.

Jungkook was just about to turn around to wipe down the counter when Taehyung started mumbling to himself, sharp and bitter and so frustrated that it made Jungkook gasp. He turned on his heels, staring at Taehyung in utter confusion. He had put the same amount of fairy dust and magic into Taehyung's cup as he did with anyone else. He couldn’t have forgotten it, he could still feel the prickling sensation in his fingertips. What kind of hatred must Taehyung feel if not even a pinch of fairy dust could soothe his heart?

He rushed towards Tae, coming to defend his poor decoration that was almost cleanly ripped of the holds with the way Taehyung angrily flailed his arms. “Don’t rip it please! I don’t have spare ones and those really took a while to make!” Of course, he hadn’t bought anything. Those were solely made by hand and mostly by him although some of the fairies in the forest had been more than happy to help, weaving delicate little ornaments into the decoration, weaving berries into wraths and dried flowers into beautiful little posies.

Taehyung froze instantly, letting the other help him get out of the mess he had gotten himself in again. Piece by piece Jungkook freed him from the Christmas decoration and Taehyung mumbled a quiet sorry.

“I didn’t mean to rip them,” Taehyung rubbed his neck awkwardly, “I hope I didn’t destroy too much or else just tell me what you get from me and I’ll pay you back!” When he noticed the expression on Jungkook’s face and the faint smile, he slapped himself on the forehead.

“Wait - You made it yourself? Aghh of course,” Taehyung’s cheeks blushed a little and he quickly took another sip of the cocoa to have something else to do and maybe so Jungkook thought the redness of his cheeks were caused by the hot steam. “Please don’t make me do decorations for you,” He blurted out of a sudden, “I mean…I’m really sorry but please don’t. My mother is great at it, but I suck. Really! You don’t want that! Believe me!”

Jungkook tried not to laugh at that but couldn’t really mask it as a cough as it just came out of him. “You just need practice then. I could show you,” He joked, grateful that Taehyung had apologized and not destroyed the wreaths and branches on purpose. It always hurt him to see something beautiful being uselessly destroyed on purpose. Some humans were sadly very good at it while the saddest part was that they didn’t even seem to notice. “Or you could send your mother over and we could bond over weaving decoration and baking Christmas goods.”

“Don’t you think you’re moving a little too fast there? Shouldn’t I get to know your name first before you weave Christmas decorations with my mother?” Taehyung chuckled low, loving the little flustered blush that creeped up the baker’s cheeks right away. “I haven’t seen you here before,” Taehyung said, taking a bite from the cookie, “There are rarely people moving to this village and you must be kind of new right? I mean I haven’t been here for years, but still…I think I know pretty much everyone…” He looked at the other in interest, before reaching out his hand, “I’m Taehyung by the way.”

“Oh!” Jungkook blushed prettily. He was a pretty fast learner, but he was still a bit new to human conventions and although he managed to fit in 99% of the time he was pretty embarrassed if he didn’t. He had been told that it was rather cute and endearing instead of awkward or off putting but it still made him feel a little shy. “Y..yeah, I’m new. Kind of.” He had been here for a while longer, living in the woods and watching the city before he deemed it safe enough to come out and actually work there. But all in all, he was new. He just hoped Taehyung wouldn’t ask him where he had lived before. He hated lying. And he was just as bad at it.

“Nice to meet you Taehyung.” He took the other’s hand, shaking it carefully while trying not to hold his gaze too long. Yoongi had told him that humans didn’t like it if you looked at them too long, so he tried not to do that. “I’m Jungkook.”

Taehyung nodded with a little smile, “Then I hope the old people here don’t bore you out of your mind?” Sitting back on the stool, Taehyung made sure to be much more careful now. He had finished his cocoa quick and the cookie was actually quite deliciously. Munching on the last piece, Taehyung added, “Though around Christmas it seems like they get some kind of extra energy. They go crazy here, honestly.” He looked around the shop again, getting reminded of the decorations that the other had put up himself, obviously liking the festive season himself, “Oh well…anyways, ehm…I should get going, I guess.”

“Ah, no, everyone’s been really friendly and nice to me so far.” Which was mostly true if he excluded the strange looks and behind-his-back-comments he had gotten when he had started working the bakery on his own at his young age. But Yoongi had acted like his ‘guarding’, telling them he was guaranteeing with his own wealth if Jungkook wouldn’t pay his bills. Which was pretty funny considering Yoongi didn’t own a single coin. But apparently you only needed to look old enough to pass as an adult and know how to talk to people to get what you want. He had made some extra vanilla parfait for Yoongi as thank you and even allowed him to lick out the bowl.

As soon as his neighbors and first customers had realized that he was working hard and putting his all into this they stopped talking and visited him regularly. Words soon got around about the new baker in town who was young and friendly and incredibly talented, getting you whatever you needed be it a treat for yourself or some sweet highlights for a birthday party. It came pretty handy that he didn’t need sleep the way humans did or else he wouldn’t be able to manage the bakery on his own.

His smile fell a little when Tae got up, saying goodbye already. It had been a bit lonely today as the people stayed home at such weather, so he was a bit disappointed that Tae was leaving already. Though of course it made sense. It had been just a short little visit by accident and now that the snow storm had lessened Taehyung would continue on his way.

A wave and a smile later, Taehyung made his way home again. Though he had only met the boy, he couldn’t help but wonder about him all evening and even when he laid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling he was still thinking about Jungkook. There was something about him that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Maybe it was just his naturally habit of being curious on why someone as young as him would want to live in such a small village like this one. Taehyung thought about if the boy would come to the town’s celebrations as well, or if he would see him again soon – then maybe he could ask him.

The chance to do so, did come sooner as he thought, when his mother came down the stairs the next day, waving her arms around like crazy, saying something about how her knitting club would come by today and she forgot to get some cake for everyone.

“But…you literally made thousands of cookies last night?” Taehyung pointed towards the boxes full of freshly baked ones that only waited to be eaten. “But I can’t only serve cookies, right?” She said already pushing his jacket into his hands, “It’s about balance, my dear.”

And that’s how Taehyung had walked all the way up to the bakery again, only this time there were a lot more customers around.

The same smell of cinnamon and vanilla embraced him just like yesterday and Taehyung couldn’t help but smile when he saw the boy working non-stop to please his customers, his smile not wavering one time.

The closer it got to Christmas the busier the bakery got so when there wasn’t loads of snow coming from the sky and keeping people from going outside Jungkook had a full house all the time mostly. He noticed Taehyung immediately when he came in for the simple reason that he stood out of the happily chatting crowd as he had put his hands in his jacket and was looking around like he still couldn’t believe someone would decorate their shop so festively.

Taehyung turned, looking around to see what else there was to get for his mother. When he noticed a little gingerbread house that Jungkook must have decorated, he got a little closer. Curiosity had gotten the better of him, when he saw the weird looking snow globe right next to it. Reaching out for it, Taehyung observed it more closely to see what was inside, when a sudden voice behind him made him jerk and almost drop the fragile globe of glass.

Jungkook flinched together with Tae when the other almost dropped his precious snow globe making a mental note to himself to never leave Taehyung with his sugar figurines unattended.

The older quickly put the globe away again, mumbling another ‘sorry’ before turning back to Jungkook. “I…ehm need something for my mother,” He said, noticing that almost every customer was happy and, on their way, out – so it was just the two of them… for now.

“I actually…don’t really know what she wants,” Taehyung walked over to the counter, “Something cake-y, I guess.”

“That’s... not really specific,” Jungkook chuckled, wiping his hands on his apron to not get powdered sugar on what he wanted to show Taehyung. “I made these cupcakes this morning. Do you think she would like them?” He took one of the delicately decorated cupcakes out from under the shop counter, so Tae could look at it.

There was colored frosting in fluffy little tufts on top of it and silvery sugar pearls on top that looked like iced pearls. “If you want to you can try one, just to make sure it has the perfect taste for what you are looking for.”

Everyone loved his cupcakes, no matter what kind of decoration or color they had, and he always had so many options that no matter if you preferred fruit or almonds, chocolate or cream you would always find the right thing. He also enjoyed creating all kinds of special recipes for people with intolerance to special ingredients or vegan diets. Naturally he had great sources of plant-based ingredients.

But Taehyung only raised his eyebrow at the cupcake, “It looks…weird.” He made a cringy expression, shaking his head when Jungkook offered him a piece, “Do you got something that looks less like….it has Christmas written all over it?” Looking around, Taehyung was searching for something simple, something like an apple pie, but he was only looking at more cupcakes. “How do you even got the time to do all of these?” He asked curiously, eyeing the cupcakes that were resembling Christmas trees with pursed lips.

“Weird?! I worked all morning on them!” Jungkook was practically offended. There he was putting all his heart into creating little tasty masterpieces that looked as deliciously as they were tasty - just for Taehyung to tell him they looked weird. He frowned, thinking about something simple that he could offer Tae, maybe one of the cakes that he had back in the freezer that hadn’t been decorated yet, if he took one of these and maybe made some simple cream based frosting or a flower from apple sliced... He was so busy thinking, listening to Taehyung only with half an ear that he accidentally answered honestly to the boy’s question, “I make them at night when you people are sleeping.”

Almost immediately he realized that he had said too much, stuttering and stumbling over his own tongue when he tried to correct his mistake, “I mean, surely I sleep I just...like to work long hours and get up early and...work some more you know?”

Taehyung cocked his head to the side, observing Jungkook closely who was stuttering the words, seemingly nervous. He chuckled a little, “Sounds like you’re a robot or something.” Jungkook was still fumbling around with the cupcake in his hand, his cheeks dusting in a rosy color and Taehyung couldn’t help but smile fondly.

“Just make sure to get enough sleep,” He spoke up again, “Especially around this time...maybe you should get yourself a little helper from time to time...I don’t know.” Taehyung laughed and pointed at the decoration, “I bet some of the older kids around here would love to work for a little extra money. They could be your little Christmas elves! Put a cute little hat on them, just like they do it at the Christmas market and voilà - they would fit in perfectly with your decoration.” Looking back at Jungkook, he smiled brightly, “Even I would find that cute, though I am not very fond of the festive season.”

“I’m... I’m not a robot!” He would have loved to add that he just didn’t enjoy lying around with his eyes closed half of the time as humans did but as he couldn’t just tell Tae that he didn’t have any arguments and just left it at that.

He huffed at the ‘little helper’, thinking about Yoongi, who might call himself that but was rather a little chaos-maker. Or a big one. Depending on his mood and his body size. He immediately stiffened when he caught the word “Elves”, his eyes growing wide, his stance automatically defensive before his brain caught up and he realized that Taehyung was just joking.

“Haha… yeah, that would be… great.” He awkwardly laughed and then put the cupcake aside, wiping his hands on the apron gain as a nervous habit. “Why dont u take a seat while I quickly get the naked cake I’ve stored in the back and you can have a look at it and decide on decorations? If you want?” If he was getting insecure he had the habit of phrasing things as a question and checking for agreement too often which made it kind of more awkward instead of covering up his mistakes, but he just wasn’t like Yoongi. The fairy could go with the flow and practically turn any kind of conversation around to make sure nothing could happen to them. He had rescued Jungkook from precarious situations more than once. Jungkook himself just couldn’t do that although he was living amongst humans for quite a while now. But sometimes they were acting so strange - and it wasn’t as if there was a handbook to their behavior, so he just had to watch and learn and guess and try not to be so obviously nervous about them.

Taehyung nodded, though he had noticed Jungkook's awkward behavior once again. Either the other was really nervous in general or just shy. Shrugging his shoulders, he leaned against the counter waiting for Jungkook to come back.

Jungkook quickly placed the cake on a plate and grabbed a few simple decoration items onto another to show Tae what he could choose from if he wanted to keep it simple. He almost dropped the cake because he was so busy balancing all the things that he didn’t notice that Tae had leaned over the counter to get a look at the hidden kitchen. Which meant that he had basically ran right up into Tae’s personal space, the only thing separating them the plate with the cake. Jungkook swallowed hard, hoping that his curly hair would hide his ears even at this proximity. “This... is it. That’s... the cake,” He commented intelligently while not breaking eye contact with Tae and continuing to stare right at him.

“I can see that,“ Taehyung said with a smile and took a step back. He was watching Jungkook closely, looking at all the things he brought with him. “Do something simple, like flowers maybe?“ He asked and then added quietly, “I guess I would even accept a little bit of Christmas decoration like hollies or something but nothing more!“

“Do you want me to do a poinsettia in colored buttercream? With a little bit of edible golden glitter on top and some dark green ‘leaves’ to cover the rest of the cake?” Sometimes he was sad how little plants and flowers humans knew but the poinsettia, or Christmas star as it was also called was practically everywhere right now and he loved it. It would make an awesome looking cake. And as he had an eye for details and about a lifetime of being close to plants it would also be an easy task for him.

When Tae agreed Jungkook happily nodded, telling Tae to ring the little bell in case another customer would enter the store (hopefully his lunch break time would be less busy so that he would be able to finish Tae’s cake right away) before getting to work immediately. In his mind the Christmas star was already taking form while he mixed the natural food coloring made from berries into the prepared cream, watching it turn into a saturated deep and leasing shade of red that was ready to use. With only a tiny interruption in which he sold the lady across the street some sugar cookies he finished Taehyung's cake in no time and placed it into one of the prepared boxes that his customers could use for transportation.

After securely tying a gold ribbon around it he came back to the front to give it over to Tae. “There you go. Make sure to put it in the fridge if it won’t be eaten right away,” He reminded him. As he had licked the last bit of colored buttercream from the spoon his lips were dark red and shiny and would taste like sugar and cream. He looked beyond kissable, which Taehyung noticed right away. He stared a little too long, watching the boy lick his lips slowly, before flashing Taehyung a bright smile. He nodded absently minded not really listening to what Jungkook was saying.

Jungkook cocked his head a little, repeating the price for the cake, wondering why Taehyung looked so stunned. He wasn’t charging too much, he was actually quite humble with his demand considering the effort he put into the baking and the quality of his creations. “Is it too much? Maybe... maybe I could give you a discount if you can’t pay because it was... some kind of last minute thing. But... only this once okay? I need the money for new ingredients you see?” Jungkook had absolutely no clue that he was completely misreading Taehyung’s stare right now and that the other was avoiding his eyes because he was too busy staring on his lips and not because it was more money than he had on him right now.

“Huh?“ Taehyung looked up at Jungkook again, tearing his gaze from his lips. He was probably just going crazy over the lack of sleep he had and maybe because Taehyung had not kissed anyone in a while and the fact that Jungkook was the only one around his age here…yeah, that made perfect sense, why he was suddenly thinking about kissing someone who was still a stranger to him.

„No, please, no don’t worry!” Taehyung said, quickly getting out enough money and tipping the boy as well, “I just…wondered…sorry if I seem direct but…how old are you, Jungkook?“ He had blurted out the words faster than he could take them back again, so he added quickly, „I just thought…you must be around my age…and you know…actually, I don’t know. I just wondered about it, I guess.“ That boy’s nervousness was rubbing off on him, that was the only explanation why Taehyung suddenly felt so awkward around him.

Jungkook blinked at the Taehyung’s question, the sudden change of behavior startling him a bit. Busy with accepting the money, thanking Taehyung for the tip and putting everything away he was doing too much at once and answered without thinking, telling Tae the first thing that was on his mind

“Five.”

In the silence that followed he tried to find out what had gone wrong when realization hit him. Jungkook didn’t really have a concept of human time and he didn’t knew hold old he was exactly either. So Yoongi made it a joke to tell him he was five, as they knew each other for five years now and Yoongi insisted that Jungkook was a total baby when he had found him. He had accidentally just repeated Yoongi’s words without realizing that it must sound completely mental to Taehyung to talk like that.

“No...no! Of course, not... I’m not... I’m twenty-five, I meant...” He groaned in shame, hiding his face in his hands. Could it get any more awkward with one single person? It had been quite a long time since he’s made a fool out of himself like that.

Taehyung snorted with laughter, “What?“ Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked at Jungkook with a raised eyebrow, “You’re five? So…you’re telling me that you’re working like a robot, don’t really sleep at night and you are only five years old? Don’t tell me you are a vampire or something?“ He couldn’t help but laugh at Jungkook, when the other corrected himself. “No, Vampires are...” Jungkook was about to correct him when he pouted a little at running right into his trap “You’re joking, right?”

Why did Taehyung confuse him so much?

“You’re really too cute for your own good, Jungkook!“ Taehyung said with a wink and took the cake, before flashing Jungkook a bright smile. “Thank you again…for the non-Christmas-Christmas cake,“ With one hand Taehyung opened the door of the bakery again, the bell ringing once more. He looked at the cute boy one more time, before he added, in a soft tone and with a smile that he tried to hide while biting his lip, “Tonight they light up the big tree in front of the town hall…maybe I’ll see you around.“

Speechless he watched the other flirt with him, winking and smiling and then saying something about maybe meeting him at the Christmas tree lighting festival. “This... this is a date, right?” Jungkook shyly spoke to himself, to make sure that this was real, and he wasn’t dreaming.

He knew that this was some kind of romantic thing, asking the one you liked out to be with you on Christmas markets and evening events. He had watched enough soap operas to see the hints - although Yoongi had told him that half of what they showed wasn’t even realistic and that Jungkook shouldn’t believe them at all. But the elf had definitely seen humans acting just like he had seen on Tv, so he wasn’t really sure if Yoongi wasn’t just trying to mess with him - or keep him from experiencing something that he hadn’t had the opportunity yet.

He was a teeny tiny bit jealous of all the lovely couples holding hands and kissing and just generally being sweet with each other. There was no way he could have that too and although he was okay with it most of the time he couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to be like them just once, to be held and cared for and... and maybe even kissed? He hid his blush behind his hands although he was the only one in the room but better safe than sorry. You never knew when a curious fairy would pop up somewhere.

A/N: There it is, the first chapter to our first fluff christmas story. Funny enough, both Cat and I aren’t very fond of the christmas season but still we wrote this in october so you guys have something to enjoy. We really hope you will like this, as it is something completely different from what we usually write. But don’t worry...if you’re a fan of our angst stories, there will be more coming soon. We are currently working on three different stories at the moment.

Anyways, we hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Don’t miss a new update every saturday and tuesday for this story and don’t forget to leave a comment or message us on how you liked the first chapter! We love you guys!

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