the entire car ride was drowned in a comfortable silence, with taehyung's palm gently resting atop the back of jungkook's hand on the car's gear while they waited for red lights to turn green.

taehyung could obviously sense jungkook's growing nervousness from the way the younger's grip would sporadically tighten around the gear and from the way he constantly gnawed at his bottom lip even after he was told multiple times to refrain from doing so. 

at first, taehyung figured it was just jungkook worrying over what his mother's impression would be of his new boyfriend, but as soon as they eventually pulled up in front of a cemetery — seoul national cemetery, to be precise — his stomach sank immediately.

"kook, are you sure?" he anxiously queried, weakly smiling when jungkook adjusted his hand in order to properly interlace their fingers.

jungkook quickly nodded. "i'm sure," he confirmed, leaning down to place a little peck onto taehyung's knuckles before they both stepped out of the vehicle. the moment jungkook was right next to taehyung once more, they didn't waste another second before weaving their fingers together again, as if it was second nature for them at this point. "let's go."

the blond felt himself getting progressively tenser with each step they took towards the entrance of the cemetery. however, he was instantly entranced by the gorgeous cherry blossom trees adorning the whole place the moment he stepped through those large opened gates. 

light-pink petals were delicately swaying in the wind above them as a couple of individual petals chose to take their graceful landing upon the top of a few headstones. he didn't even realize that they had actually stopped in front of a particular gravestone until he registered the feeling of jungkook's hand carefully letting go of his. 

"tae, meet my mother, jeon eunmi," jungkook introduced, crouching down in front of the headstone whilst taehyung's breath hitched. "mom, this is my boyfriend, kim taehyung."

"oh, it's— it's nice to meet you, mrs. jeon," taehyung greeted after he finally managed to force down the irritating nervous lump in his throat, respectfully bowing ninety-degrees before he placed a warm palm onto the nape of the tattooist's neck, chest expanding when he felt the other slightly lean back into his hand. "thank you for bringing your son into this world and raising him into the absolute angel he is today. thank you, from the bottom of my heart. honestly, sometimes i still can't believe i'm lucky enough to be that one in a billion to get to call him mine."

jungkook's thin lips stretched into a wide beam at his lover's shocking words, standing back up straight and fighting back the urge to pull taehyung into a big hug on the spot. "tae..."

"i assure you that i'll try my hardest to cherish him and appreciate him for who he is. i'll never be able to live with myself if i happen to do anything to hurt him or break his heart — the heart which he chose to entrust to me," taehyung paused to smile at the younger, gazing deeply into his onyx-hued eyes as he said his next words with pure genuineness, "i love him, mrs. jeon. i love jungkook."

jungkook couldn't hold back anymore and happily threw his arms around taehyung, burying his face into the junction between the businessman's neck and shoulder, catching taehyung by surprise as his hands instinctively flew up to grasp his waist. 

"god— i love you too, tae," the ravenet murmured into the crook of taehyung's neck, currently overflowing with affection for the elder.

once they both decided to pull away from the long-lasted embrace, taehyung turned back to the gravestone and bowed again. "i wholeheartedly ask for your blessing, mrs. jeon. i promise i'll take good care of your son. i promise i won't disappoint you," he spoke, letting out a satisfied hum when a soft breeze abruptly rummaged through the calm spring air, seemingly completely out-of-the-blue, tousling his blond locks and barely tickling the skin of his neck. "thank you," he whispered.

"you wanted to know more about my tattoos, right?" jungkook then suddenly began when they fell into another state of comfortable silence for the second time that hour. "my mom was actually the inspiration behind most of my tattoos," he revealed.

taehyung's brows shot up in curiosity. "oh?"

"mm. the snake around my left arm — it's pretty basic, but i originally got it because my mother was born on the year of the snake and, well, she always seemed to find snakes intriguing. on the other hand, i chose to get orchids all over my upper torso because orchids were her favorite flower. shortly after her death, i got reminded of her every time i came across orchids and, uh, the flower eventually became my favorite flower as well," the black-haired male explained, lifting the hem of his shirt just the tiniest bit in order to reveal the ethereal orchids which lined the left side of his waist.

"they're beautiful," taehyung breathed out.

"yeah, they are," jungkook fondly agreed, fingers briefly tracing each small flower imprinted on his skin before letting his shirt cascade back down over his hips. "and the huge constellation on my back, virgo, which you were so fascinated by this morning — that's also dedicated to my mom. growing up, my favorite thing to do with my mom was stargazing with her. she used to always find time to stargaze with me whenever the night sky was clear, even if she was incredibly exhausted after coming home from working her ten-hour shift."

he sighed, gaze trailing over the name 'jeon eunmi' written in cursive lettering on the plaque with solemn eyes. taehyung didn't fail to notice that, reaching down to wrap an arm around jungkook's waist in the most comforting manner he could muster as the other naturally relaxed at his touch.

"even now, i... like to believe that she still is," jungkook continued, voice cracking in the middle. "i like to believe that wherever she is right now, she's looking up at the same sky, at the same stars, and still stargazing alongside me."

"she is," the older man assured while pulling jungkook closer to his side. "i'm sure she is."

"thank you, tae." jungkook grinned. his glassy eyes and reddened cheeks made him look more divine than he already was, in taehyung's opinion.

"no, thank you for bringing me here, for bringing me to meet your mother. thank you for trusting me enough to not only tell me about the origins of your tattoos, which are all such important parts of you, but also enough to tell me about how much your mother meant— means to you," said taehyung. "besides, you should've told me earlier that we were going to the cemetery. i could've gotten your mother some flowers on the way."

jungkook pouted. "i-i didn't want to scare you off."

"why would that scare me off?" the CEO asked with a tilt of his head. "nothing you do or say could ever scare me off, kook. i seriously feel bad for visiting her empty-handed."

"c'mon, you didn't visit her empty-handed," jungkook confidently retorted. "i know you made her happy and proud with your words, i know it. you even made me happy and proud."

"i'm glad, 'cause i truly meant every word i just told your mother," taehyung claimed, leaning in to gently press his forehead against his boyfriend's. "i really love you, jungkook."

"and i really love you too, mr. kim," jungkook returned, placing a quick tender kiss onto taehyung's awaiting lips. 

"wait, i thought we were already way pass that—"

"never. it's kinky, i like calling you that."

"fine, call me whatever you want. let's say goodbye to your mother and let's go home?"

"home?"

"home," taehyung repeated with a light chuckle. they say home is where the heart is, and my heart is with you, jeon jungkook.

"yeah, i like the sound of that."