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This is it. This is the moment Jeongguk's been waiting for.
His carry-on bag is held tight in his hand as he waits for his suitcase to come towards him on the carousel. He grabs it as soon as it's close enough and steps away from the tiny crowd around the baggage claim, scouting out a corner that he promptly claims as his own within a second.
It's disorientating being in an airport, especially when he realizes that he's in a whole other side of the country, but Jeongguk can deal with the change in time zones.
He finds it completely worth it when he takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at the messages Namjoon has sent him.
joon: i'm here! please let me know when you get off the plane!
joon: also, i hope you didn't stuff your face out on the plane bc i already know where i want to take you for lunch (:
Jeongguk smiles at the smiley emoticon, the tiny feeling of nerves in his chest dissipating when he realizes that he's about to meet Namjoon!
And then it comes back in tenfold when he realizes that he's about to meet Kim Namjoon!
Jeongguk has known Namjoon for about a year and a half now. They met online, on tumblr if Jeongguk's going to be honest with himself. Namjoon had run, still runs actually, an astronomy and space blog that Jeongguk had followed almost obsessively, but not because he's into astronomy and all that. Jeongguk had actually failed the one astronomy class he'd taken last year. No, the reason he'd even found Namjoon's blog was because looking at pictures of space helped calm Jeongguk down when he felt that an anxiety attack was sure to come.
At first, Jeongguk had only interacted with Namjoon through anonymous asks, but then he'd let Taehyung talk him into drinking and he'd drunk messaged Namjoon, spilling what felt almost all of his guts out as he thanked Namjoon for all his space content. Namjoon had taken it all in stride, even when Jeongguk had debated deleting his tumblr all together just to avoid answering Namjoon's long reply.
But Jeongguk prides himself on handling things like an adult, so he'd sat himself down and opened up Namjoon's message, reading it over and over again until the words were ingrained in his head. He replied to every one of Namjoon's points and then some, letting out a relieved breath once it was all done and over. After that, they began messaging regularly, even taking to video chatting after a while.
Writing letters to one another soon followed and during their first phone call, Jeongguk shyly admitted to having a crush on the elder. Namjoon had cooed at him, giggling on his end of the line before letting Jeongguk know the feeling was mutual. Gifts then followed, on both ends, but Jeongguk always turned into a blushing mess whenever Namjoon was involved.
It's been a year and a half now and they've never met before because of the distance between them and both of them being broke college students meant neither could very well splurge on an airplane ticket and mini-vacation whenever they wanted to see the other.
Until now.
Jeongguk had spent a year saving up for this trip. A year full of crappy jobs, allowances from his parents and book fees that left him without food sometimes. But despite that, Jeongguk had saved and saved and saved until he'd had enough, almost crying when Taehyung's parents even donated a hundred dollars to his trip's savings. Namjoon had been ecstatic when Jeongguk had sent him a screenshot of his purchase confirmation on the round-trip plane tickets and within a few days, they had Jeongguk's visit all planned out.
It's winter break and Jeongguk is still a little battered from his finals, but he's going to meet Namjoon in just a few minutes and he doesn't really know how he should feel at this point.
Or maybe he does know and he's just doing his best to combat the anxiety away. There's no point in him worrying about Namjoon finding him awkward enough to not want to pursue a relationship and future with him when he's stuck with Jeongguk for this entire week anyway. That's what Jeongguk tells himself anyway as he taps his thumbs on his phone and fires back a reply at Namjoon.
gguk: i'm at baggage claim! what gate are you at?
Jeongguk takes deep breaths in through his nose and lets them out through his mouth, forcing himself to calm down. Namjoon taught him this breathing exercise soon after they first began talking and it had helped Jeongguk more times than he could count.
Despite all the worries Jeongguk has about this trip, about meeting Namjoon, and about what Namjoon may think about him once they see each other face-to-face, he tries to see the positive side of things, smiling to himself as he thinks about holding hands with Namjoon as they walk through the snow. Jeongguk has never seen the snow before and Namjoon had promised him lots of it, enough to fill all of Jeongguk's snow fantasies.
Jeongguk feels more at ease now and when his phone vibrates in his hand, telling him that he has another message from Namjoon, he smiles down at it. He's certain that he's ready to meet him now.
❧
Their first meeting had gone well.
It wasn't like anything Jeongguk had seen in the movies. It was just Jeongguk finding the gate Namjoon was waiting for him at and smiling at him as their eyes met, walking faster until they were close enough to hug. Namjoon had taken his suitcase from him and led the way outside, hailing a cab almost as soon as they'd stepped up to the curb.
It was uneventful, to say the least, but Jeongguk isn't complaining.
Jeongguk's first day in Namjoon's city was relatively uneventful as well. They'd gone back to Namjoon's place where the elder's parents were cleaning up the guest room for Jeongguk and Jeongguk had loitered about Namjoon's bedroom all day.
During the night, Namjoon had snuck into his bed and cuddled with him, pressing soft kisses to the tip of Jeongguk's nose, the crease between his brows, the mole under his mouth, but never to his ready and willing lips. Jeongguk had woken up to Namjoon's mother smiling down at the two of them as she whispered something about pancakes and breakfast and Jeongguk had nodded drowsily at her, anything to get back to sleep.
Now, they're decked in the warmest clothes they own, hands in their pockets as they walk the streets. Namjoon is taking him to his favorite cafe, wanting to show Jeongguk everything he can within the span of a day. Jeongguk's face feels cold, but he can't deny that Namjoon's excited smile is beautiful.
"You're gonna love it," Namjoon's been saying ever since they finished breakfast. "They have the best sandwiches in town."
Jeongguk laughs and smiles, blushing when Namjoon smiles back and reaches out to take his hand. "If you say so, then I believe you."
They continue their walk from there, with Jeongguk listening to Namjoon talk about his classes and his field of study. He feels a little out of his depth when Namjoon starts to dig into the more technical terms, but he smiles anyway and nods, humming in the appropriate places so that the elder will continue to speak. Namjoon smiles at him all the while, his hand warm in Jeongguk's and even though he's feeling anxious about Namjoon suddenly realizing that he's too smart for the younger, Jeongguk pushes the feeling away and focuses on how the snow is a great backdrop to Namjoon's peaceful features.
Wait.
The snow?
Jeongguk blinks, pulling them both to an abrupt stop and stares at the snow falling down on them. He looks up at the sky, his face tilted upwards and Namjoon giggles beside him, a dopey smile on his face when Jeongguk rips his gaze away from the sky to stare at him instead.
"You mentioned never seeing snow before," Namjoon says softly, still smiling as he starts to tug Jeongguk along. "Trust me, it'll look better after we eat lunch. The snow is going to start sticking and when we get back to my place, there should be enough of it for us to play in my backyard."
Jeongguk smiles back, blushing at how schoolyard-y it all feels. His love for Namjoon, how nervous he is around him, the snow making everything look softer, Namjoon's grin when he said "play."
Namjoon is still smiling at him when Jeongguk nods his head and allows the elder to lead the rest of the way towards the cafe he wanted to have lunch at.
❧
When they return to Namjoon's, Jeongguk discovers that the elder was right.
The snow is sticking to the ground and there's enough of it that Jeongguk laughs when Namjoon stumbles and takes Jeongguk down with him. Jeongguk ends up on top of Namjoon, his mouth wide open with the force of his laughter as he looks down upon the elder. There's snow in Namjoon's hair and Jeongguk is already beginning to lose the feeling in his fingers, but when he tilts his head down and meets Namjoon's gaze, a quiet sense of peace and calm descends on them.
Namjoon smiles up at him, the dopey look back with full force as he curves his palm against Jeongguk's cheek and lets the other wrap around his neck, pulling Jeongguk down. Jeongguk goes willingly, not able to think of a reason to deny Namjoon this.
"I love you," Namjoon says softly, his breath a cloud of white mist between them. "You look like a snow angel. My own beautiful snow angel. I love you."
And just like that, all the worries Jeongguk had about not being good enough for Namjoon evaporate into thin air. Namjoon wants him. Namjoon thinks he's his own piece of heaven. Namjoon called him beautiful. Namjoon loves him and Jeongguk loves him too.
It's easy for Jeongguk to lean down and rest his forehead against Namjoon's, waiting until the elder has closed his eyes before pressing his lips to his. Namjoon smiles into it, pressing down on Jeongguk's neck to bring him even closer and Jeongguk moves with him easily, smiling as well.
His heart is beating furiously in his chest and the snow is cold, but Namjoon is warm against him and Jeongguk's first snow consequently pales in comparison to his first kiss with Namjoon.
"I love you too," Jeongguk whispers when they break away for air, their faces cold with heat sizzling in their veins. "Thank you."
Namjoon giggles and kisses him again. And again. And again until Jeongguk can't feel his hands and they rush inside to warm up, Namjoon's parents smiling at them as they all sit around the fireplace, sipping on hot cocoa while debating how to decorate the Christmas tree in the corner.
This is definitely a winter break Jeongguk won't be forgetting any time soon.