As soon as Jungkook stepped into BigHit, he was greeted with a flurry of activity. People were running around, every phone in the building ringing off the hook. He hugged his camera bag closer to him and fought his way to his own department.

"Namjoon hyung!" he called as soon as he stepped through the automatic doors.

"Oh Jungkook-ah, come over here."

He dropped his bag off at his desk, before making his way towards the conference room, where he guessed the voice was coming from. He popped his head in, noticing Namjoon was alone and wheeling a large whiteboard to face the oval table.

"Namjoon hyung, what's going on with everyone?"

The silver-haired man sighed, pinching the top of his nose with two fingers.

"Just the nightmare project being exactly what we predicted it would be: a nightmare," he sat down heavily, pulling his computer towards himself, motioning at Jungkook to join him. "The main trailer isn't ready, but someone leaked that Kim Taehyung was working with us."

On the computer screen, the rough draft of the trailer they were in charge of stared at them glumly.

"Look," Namjoon pointed at a new window. "Taehyung's fans are currently trending 'Taehyung Actor' worldwide on Twitter. Do you have any idea how big of a deal that is?"

"So we have to post it as quickly as possible?"

"Yeah, otherwise we'll miss the buzz and it won't have the same impact down the line."

Jungkook gulped, playing with this kind of social media presence was no small joke.

"Okay, but it looks terrible at the moment, we don't even have a soundtrack!"

"Yep, and the PR department say that we need it out in the next 21 hours-ish if we want to capitalise on the media. Yoongi hyung has been here since the news came out, looking for a singer, then changed his mind. He's now got Taehyung in the studio recording the song."

"He listened to my recommendation?!" Jungkook beamed.

He was met with a much warier gaze than he'd expected.

"What?"

"Just cross your fingers the feeling matches what we've got so far, otherwise we in editing will have to start from scratch. I'm going to go up in a minute and work on it with them, during which time you'll be in charge of the team here."

Jungkook froze like a dear in headlights. He'd never been in charge before, to be temporarily taking the head of a project, especially one as huge as this, was unheard of. And Namjoon saw the change in his demeanour, set a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine, and besides we don't have any other choice. Every other department has been enrolled to help the PR department to deal with the influx in calls. If it wasn't bad enough that the press want to know about the project, we've also had hundreds of people complain that we're working with Taehyung-ah."

"What? Why?" Jungkook asked, confused.

The sigh this time was bigger.

"He's been getting a lot of hate since coming out as gay, and I mean, a lot. Now that we're associated with him we've had every homophobe in the country calling us. Trust me, the job you don't want right now, is picking up those phone calls, so consider yourself lucky."

But Jungkook was fuming. He was furious and heartbroken and unable to change anything, unable to break these horrible social constructs Korea was still entrenched in. And it was killing him, a true torture, making his chest bubble in painful discomfort from the injustice of it all. All of sudden, in this safe space, he felt the desperate need to say something he'd never really said before.

"Hyung. I'm gay too."

He turned to stare at his mentor with determination, his defensive walls drawn all the way up to the ceiling, fully expecting that horrific conversation to happen, the one he'd been avoiding for so long. He braced himself for it.

"Okay... and?" Namjoon stared at him in confusion, and the wall came crumbling down, Jungkook seeming to deflate.

"I... I don't know, I just... am?"

Understanding crossed Joon's features.

"Oh! Is this your coming out moment? You've never said that before have you?"

Jungkook blushed and ducked his head, feeling sheer acceptance radiating from this man he looked up to so much.

"In that case Jungkook-ah," Namjoon answered solemnly. "Congratulations for coming out, and thank you for telling me. Between us, it changes absolutely nothing, you know? But I'm really proud that you can be yourself."

And he was, very clearly, as he beamed down at Jungkook. It caused him to sniffle and point at the computer, realising they could talk more later. Safe in the knowledge that Namjoon cared only about his comfort; that nothing else needed to change.

"What are we doing then?" Jungkook asked, and his boss smiled knowingly.

"Hyungshik is having to do the colour editing alone, while the rest are all focussing on the special effects we hadn't finished. I'll be going back and forth so I'll still be somewhat in control, don't worry too much about that and focus on the construction. That storyboard you did the other day was perfect, so find a way to adapt it to the limited footage we have right now."

Jungkook nodded, knew it was a horrible task, a difficult one. But he had a sudden hatred against the people harassing their company fuelling him. He took went straight to the board and started replicating the project, heard his boss and mentor get up to leave.

Just as Namjoon was opening the glass door, Jungkook turned and called after him, causing the man to turn around with raised eyebrows.

"Thank you," Jungkook said, heavy feelings put into those two words, and his hyung understood.

He nodded then left with a loving smile, and Jungkook cracked his knuckles, glaring at the board.

"We are getting this project out by midnight," he spoke into the emptiness. "Mark my words. Kim Taehyung is gonna make those homophobes cry themselves to sleep."

***

He felt him before he heard him, sensed the shift in the air and the foreign feelings blooming in his chest.

He'd finally posted the trailer, had insisted he needed to set some ideas for the two additional trailers before he went home and forgot them. So Namjoon had left, along with the rest of the exhausted department which had stayed long after most of the building had emptied. But they'd done it, had gotten it out on time. Jungkook had finished packing up and just then, something within purred in comfort. A small smile flitted over his lips.

"Hey you," V said in a soft voice, and it sent warmth down to his fingers.

"Hey you," Jungkook answered in the same tone.

"Where are you?" V asked, and Jungkook pursed his lips at the thought that because he no longer had access to the Dreamscape, he had no longer knew what the other's real name was.

But he knew him, at least, knew who he was inside. Could've mapped out his soul on paper if asked. Jungkook turned towards where he thought the disembodied voice was coming from.

"At work, why?"

"I can only see clouds around you," the ghost answered with a hum. "Like your surroundings are being hidden from me."

"That's strange," Jungkook said as he swung his bag over his shoulder and went to flick the lights off.

But to be honest, it was far from being the strangest thing they had encountered together.

"It's like whatever brings us together doesn't want me to figure out where you work... which is useless because I already know."

Jungkook had just been locking the doors behind him when he froze. Turned towards the sound of V's voice, confusion painting his face.

"You know where I work?!"

He heard the grin in the answer and it filled him with excitement.

"Yup, I'm going to find you, Kookie."

It made him break out into the brightest smile, felt hope ballooning inside of him.

"You know..." Jungkook finished locking the door, biting his lip as he wondered if he should continue.

He felt shy suddenly.

"Now that you're the one travelling, I can tell you my name..."

They were stood in the middle of the dimly lit corridor, empty building thrumming softly with electricity around them. Time stretched. A soft touch landed on his hand. Fingers ran along his palm, shiver-inducing, and they intertwined with his. Warmth shot through him like thunder.

"Will you?" V whispered next to him.

He felt drunk on the proximity of his ghost; willing to drown in the feeling, couldn't feel the blush creeping up his neck when his whole being was focused on their hands pressed together.

"Jeon Jungkook," he whispered.

A breath answered him, a sigh of relief he felt to his very core.

"My Jungkookie."

He heard the words impossibly close, and skin touched his as V leant his forehead against his. Closeness reverberated, the feeling of home all-encompassing. It made him dizzy.

"Walk me home?" he said, pulling away reluctantly.

He had to, if he wanted to keep his sanity intact.

"I'd love to," the ghost smiled at him, and Jungkook saw a flash of rectangular grin in his memories, stumbling at the strange thought.

He never remembered anything from the DreamScape nights, but he was sure that had been a flashback of some sort, ephemeral. He didn't chase the escaping memory; at this point all of it was so impossible he was giving up questioning the new discoveries which popped up every day.

They walked out the building hand in hand, Jungkook waving goodnight at the entrance night guard with his bandaged hand, trying to hide the one V was clasping in his behind his back. The sight of his hand curled around nothingness looked strange, after all.

When the night air hit them, Jungkook sighed in relief. He felt ten years older after the last two nightmarish days.

They strolled down the well lit streets, hands gently swinging between them, taking advantage that no one was paying attention to Jungkook's slightly unusual behaviour.

As they always did, they lapsed into comfortable conversation about some random subject, which this time happened to be favourite superhero movies.

V was in he middle of a rant, trying to defend Aquaman against all the criticism it had gotten from the public, when Jungkook came to a realisation. He stopped in his tracks, listening to the deep voice continue, V being lost in his own world. That's when Jungkook knew.

Knew that he loved him. Knew he loved this man who's face he didn't know, even if it wasn't an emotion he had encountered before. Like something he had been born with the ability to recognise, suddenly he saw that this was young love: something strong and fierce and selfish. Something terrifying and irreplaceable. Realised he never wanted to lose what they had, even if it meant he never got to see V in real life.

He loved him. Simple as that.

The realisation should have been earth-shattering, but it wasn't. It was just obvious, like the sun peeking out from behind he clouds, reminding you that it's always been there.

"Jungkookie? Is something wrong?"

He stared at thin air; shook his head with a soft smile. Mindlessly, he ran the pad of his thumb over the hand held tightly in his.

"Everything's perfect. Just perfect. More importantly, what did you think of the Flash series?"

***

By the time they were approaching his flat, it was nearly midnight. A walk which normally took 30 minutes had taken nearly two hours. They'd been so comfortable, all tiredness drained from Jungkook's bones with every swing of their arms, that they'd wandered at a snail's pace. But a few minutes away from the flat, Jungkook took a detour, pulling V behind him. When the ghost was behind him like this, following curiously, Jungkook could imagine he was truly here with him, like this was just a normal connection. Like they could be in a true relationship, just the two of them against the world. It was a bittersweet feeling.

They quickly reached a familiar sight, and Jungkook smiled as he guided V towards the bench. The place had become important to him since that night he'd saved V's music, and ultimately his soul. He sat down and felt the ghost join him.

"Jungkookie... where are we?" V asked, his voice breathless and filled with something unknown.

He sounded scared and excited all at once, his fingers tightening around Jungkook's.

"This is where I came after the night of the bonfire, when you tried to destroy that song," he said, expecting some sort of answer but receiving none.

He ran his thumb over the other's knuckles in a bid to reassure himself that the ghost was still there. Figured he was waiting patiently for him to say more, so he continued, eyes wide with wonder as he stared into the night sky and into his blurry memories.

"Someone helped me, after I woke up and... well I had to get to the shop over there." He pointed at the corner shop shining bright light not too far away. "I don't know who they were, but for some reason I can't stop thinking about them. They're my guardian angel, you know?"

A hiccup answered him, shocked. Somehow, Jungkook knew something was up.

"V?"

"Hey Kookie... how did you save the song, that night?"

"Huh?" Jungkook stared to his left, froze because he /swore/ that for a second, he'd seen the contour of a figure sat right next to him, the slimmest of cerulean lines in the shape of a man. "I put my hand into the fire... I think I was begging someone. I can't remember exactly but, I don't know, when I grabbed the paper it just didn't burn."

"Right..." V whispered back, sounding deep-in-thought. "Blue flames."

"Yeah! Blue flames wrapped it up and protected the sheet music, I guess?"

The hand held in his hand was suddenly shaken free, and Jungkook glanced down at his empty palm with confusion and disappointment.

"Is something wrong?" he asked in a tiny voice.

Didn't mean to, just felt insanely vulnerable suddenly.

"Show me your other hand," said the voice, and it trembled slightly.

He lifted the bandaged limb up, and it was greeted with a gasp.

"What? What is it?"

And then a touch. Feather light. Fingers running over the white cloth.

His burnt hand burst into cerulean flames and Jungkook cried out in surprise. The fire was painless, like a hologram, yet his shout strangled itself in his throat.

For the flames were growing, spreading, down to his finger tips and up foreign hands. They engulfed the arms holding onto him, licked at clothes until they outlined a chest. Spread up as a heatless inferno.

Disappeared entirely.

Behind them they left the contour of a person. Jungkook stared, mouth open, hungrily taking in the sight. Couldn't tell what he looked like, not clearly, but he could see.

Could see streaks of soft wavy hair, a sharp jawline and oh blue eyes blindingly clear as they stared into his own with utter confusion. They followed his every movement as he lifted a hand. He ran it slowly, impossibly, against V's cheek. Felt soft skin as the other leaned into the touch.

He choked on air.

"Oh my heavens..." he said, sounded like he'd been running for years, stopping for the first to catch his breath, failing. "I can see you."

He wanted to cry, so so badly, felt his chest lift in rattling breaths when V spoke again.

"Jungkookie, it was me that night. That night after you saved me, I walked all the way here, at random. And I saw you, wobbling. Wanted to help without knowing we'd just been together."

The burns... they'd been bright blue; should have raised alarm bells in anyone's eyes. But now that they were sat here by night, his thoughts no longer obscured by mindless pain, Jungkook saw how dark it was and how someone could have mistaken the burns for a normal injury.

"But it was you?" V continued, his voice layered with some complex emotion Jungkook had no ability to decipher in that maddening moment. "Jungkookie... this whole time, it was you."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Something timeless and instinctive. Jungkook couldn't think anymore, unknown light coursing through his veins, up to his heart and pulsing freely. This whole time, they'd been searching for each other without knowing they had been here before, together. The implications were too much. The thought that they had met before, that they could meet again... it tore a strangled sound from him. A memory flashed in his mind.

"You have a boxy smile..." he whispered, and the outline which shone in the night seemed to burn brighter, and he saw it.

Saw the smile which had haunted his days. The smile of a stranger helping him and disappearing without a trace.

He ran his hand over V's cheek again, thumb swiping closer until he ran it over his smiling lips, mesmerised. Saw the grin disappear, but the eyes watched him with some unreadable message in them.

He hadn't realised how close they were until V spoke again and he felt his breath brush his face.

"This is mad..."

Jungkook gulped, mesmerised. Even as just an outline, the ghost was the most beautiful man he'd ever seen, made from ethereal light. He peered into starlight eyes.

"I know, I know it is."

But everything was mad about the last few months; he couldn't be bothered to decipher it anymore. Didn't care to know /how/, just cared about this moment, where hope was filling him with helium and courage he didn't know he had, and he grew from it. The words tumbled out before he had time to question himself, his eyes roaming the face barely inches from his.

"V... can I...?"

The answer crashed through his insecurity.

"Gods yes."

Warmth met his own, breathing stuttering as their lips connected. Skin against skin and something exploded inside of them. They kissed softly but with something building inside, some determination and a need to be closer. V's hands came up to frame his face, tender and careful, stroking slow circles over his cheekbones.

It made him feel dizzy, so forbiddenly whole as they moved as one, mouths encasing each others, lips pressing and brushing together. It was slow and beautiful, a moment that made their hearts contract in shock. Shock that they could feel like this, shock that someone could make them feel so at home. Blue flames surrounded them, entirely encompassing, and he felt them beneath his skin as he gripped onto V's clothing. Lost himself in the nibbles, the pecks and the lips swiping against his.

Teeth grazed at his skin, pulling his bottom lip ever so slightly, letting go and moving away, stealing a whine from him. Jungkook gripped the clothing between his fingers and pulled him closer.

"Not yet," he whispered, breathless as he combined their mouths again.