Chapter Text
Jeongguk doesn’t know how he does it. Bullshits this so well.
But the two younger kids are listening to him intently with awe etched on their faces as he rattles off some bullshit sexual encounter he had with some bullshit random hot girl. Of course, they think it actually happened, when, of course, it didn’t. Like Jeongguk would ever reveal that personal shit to some random kids. Well, as random as his brother, Hoseok’s, friends can get.
“So...,” one of them goes, looking around the mall as if someone could possibly care. “What were her boobs like?”
Jeongguk internally cringes. How can he make this sound realistic?
“Soft,” he goes with. “Squishy, great.” He hopes to God he nailed that.
“Awesome,” the other kid says, and Jeongguk breathes an internal sigh of relief. “What do you even do with them? When you’re...y’know...”
“You fuckin’ hold ‘em, dude,” the other says.
“That is not all you can do,” Jeongguk cuts in suddenly. “I’ll tell you what the best thing is to do.” They lean forward and Jeongguk searches his brain for that one porn he saw. “Nibble ‘em.”
“What, with, like...your teeth?” one asks.
“No, with your hands- Yeah, your teeth. Nipple is best.”
“Oh,” the kids chorus, and finally, finally, Hoseok comes back out of the bathroom.
“Hyung,” Hoseok says as he jogs up behind Jeongguk, and taps him on the shoulder. “I’m ready, can we go home now?”
“What the hell were you doing in the bathroom, Hobi?” Jeongguk asks, turning around.
“Taking a shit, what the fuck else?” Jeongguk flicks him on the forehead.
“Watch your language, child. C’mon.” Jeongguk stands up, as do Hoseok’s friends, and Jeongguk sighs. Why he agreed to let him have a sleepover, he doesn’t know. But Hoseok pulled Puppy Dog Eyes and Jeongguk turned to mush.
“Wait,” Hoseok says suddenly, and points to the food court. “Can I get a pretzel first?”
“Why, so you can go to the bathroom again?” Jeongguk asks, and Hoseok pulls Puppy Dog Eyes and Jeongguk regrettably goes for his wallet and hands Hoseok his debit card, to which Hoseok already knows the pin number. “Get me one, too.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Hoseok says, running off again, and Jeongguk’s, again, stuck with Hoseok’s friends. Who are sure to ask him more questions.
In an attempt to ignore them, he casts his eyes across the mall and looks for a store to go into that won’t make him seem rude or like he wants to ignore them.
In his search, his eyes land on a guy, sitting alone at a table in the food court, reading a book and chewing on what looks like a pretzel. And, for whatever reason, Jeongguk doesn’t stop staring. The guy’s got some serious hat hair going on, all silvery in the lights of the mall, and his intensely oversized plaid shirt looks like it’s going to fall off at any moment.
In short, it seems like the guy had woken up, grabbed a book, and walked to the mall. Or he’d gotten lost and decided to sit in the food court and wait for someone to rescue him, and just happened to have a book that Jeongguk can only make out as a Stephen King novel. Or possibly a Wattpad novella.
But then the guy looks up and around and settles his gaze on Jeongguk, and stares back, and Jeongguk feels his face go red as he looks away at his fingers, then pulls out his phone to make it seem like he’s doing something else.
Why the hell was I staring at him? he thinks to himself as his cheeks stop flaring up. He scrolls mindlessly and chances a glance back up, and Hat Hair Guy is still staring at him before he quickly looks away.
Oh, shit, is he checking me out? Jeongguk realises, and thinks, just maybe, yeah. And he probably thinks that Jeongguk had been checking him out, which Jeongguk was, but not in that way. More in a curious, is he okay? kind of way.
Jeongguk’s completely, totally straight, and no one knows it better than the near entirety of the college student body, where he’s known for dating and fucking, drinking and fucking, and fucking and fucking, every single girl he comes across. Which doesn’t happen, but he’s too afraid of being beaten up by actual fuckboys, so he’ll play the part until he’s done with college. Or he transfers. Whatever comes first.
“Here, now we can go,” Hoseok says suddenly, shoving a pretzel in Jeongguk’s face, and Jeongguk jumps before he snatches the pretzel and completely forgets about Hat Hair Guy as he stands up.
“Okay, kids, let’s go,” he huffs, starting to walk in the direction of the exit. The three trail behind him, exchanging conversation, and Jeongguk goes back to his phone as he tries to expertly go around people.
And he jumps back when his shoulder collides with another.
“Sorry-” he says at the same time the stranger does, and he looks up and sees Hat Hair Guy in close proximity of his face and mouth. There’s a long silence before Hat Hair Guy speaks.
“I saw you staring at me,” he says, and Jeongguk gulps. Shit, he noticed. Jeongguk turns and gives the keys to Hoseok.
“Here, take your friends to the car, I’ll be there in a minute,” he says. Hoseok looks at him, shrugs, and walks away, his friends now trailing behind him. Jeongguk watches them walk away before he goes back to Hat Hair Guy, and briefly wonders how he can no homo his way out of this.
“I’m...Jeongguk,” Jeongguk says, holding out his hand, and Hat Hair Guy shakes it.
“Taehyung,” he replies. Okay, good, he has a name. That’s a good first step, and he can stop calling him Hat Hair Guy. “Why were you staring at me?”
Jeongguk, in a fit of panic and the overwhelming urge not to be That Guy that denies any notion of being even slightly interested in men, goes, “Sorry, you just- You’re cute.”
Taehyung seems caught off guard until he replies, “Thanks, you... You’re cute, too.”
Plan backfiring, abort, abort, abort.
It’s normal to tell another guy he’s cute, right? Definitely normal. Two guys can appreciate the cuteness of each other. Girls can do it, so guys can, too. Right?
“I guess I was kind of checking you out,” Taehyung speaks again, and that is definitely not a friendly friend thing to say.
“Yeah, me, too,” Jeongguk blurts, and his brain continues to tell him to talk, so he says, “We should...go out. Sometime, a time.” And Taehyung nods.
“Yeah, we should, uh... Yeah.” Jeongguk realises they’re still shaking hands and he lets go, finally, the warmth gone but still there, sort of. Taehyung pulls out a pen and goes for another pocket, but Jeongguk just holds out his arm. “Oh, uh-”
“It’s okay, just...write it on my arm,” Jeongguk tells him, and Taehyung carefully grabs hold of the muscle and scrawls, in a chicken scratch, ten digits, his name, and a little heart. One that Taehyung maybe spends too much time trying to colour in, but Jeongguk just lets him. Who is he to interrupt?
As soon as Taehyung’s done, his arm is let free and Jeongguk hastily curses himself for not wearing a long-sleeved shirt, instead clad in his signature white shirt, a backwards baseball cap, basketball shorts, and Timberlands. Whereas Taehyung’s clad in an oversized plaid shirt, sweatpants, and slippers. They’re almost opposites, but it’s okay.
“I’ll...call you,” Jeongguk says, nodding, and Taehyung nods back. “Or text you.”
“Yeah, okay,” he replies, and smiles, and Jeongguk’s chest does a weird little flip, as Taehyung continues past him. “I’ll see you, Jeongguk.”
“Yeah, see you...,” Jeongguk mumbles as he watches Taehyung walk away, and then turns back towards the exit and walks out in a daze.
As soon as he’s outside, he shouts at himself and stamps his foot on the ground because he’s so fucking dumb.
“Pretty hypocritical to tell me I’m taking too long when you kept us waiting in the car,” Hoseok quips with sass as Jeongguk hops in the driver’s seat and starts the car.
“Shut your mouth,” Jeongguk huffs as he pulls out of the parking space and attempts to weave around the cars and somehow get on the freeway without pissing anyone off. “Just shut-”
“Hyung, what’s that on your arm?” Hoseok interrupts him, and before Jeongguk can avoid him, Hoseok grabs it and looks it over. “Who’s Taehyung?”
“No one, shut up,” Jeongguk curses.
“You got someone’s number?” one of Hoseok’s friends pipes up from the backseat. “Taehyung’s a guy’s name, though-”
“Well, it’s-”
“Why do you have a guy’s number?” the other friend questions.
“I just-”
“Hyung, what’s going on? Why’re you lying?” Hoseok hits the nail on the head and Jeongguk abruptly stops the car and hits the wheel, glaring at Hoseok, then at his friends in the backseat.
“Alright, everyone shut it!” he shouts, and Hoseok slinks in his seat, but still holds the expression of someone who definitely knows something. “Nothing happened, Taehyung is nobody, let’s just go home and you can have your sleepover and I can take a fucking nap.”
The car is silent as Jeongguk gets onto the freeway, save for the sound of the stereo (playing a crappy love song that Jeongguk, sadly, knows all the words to), and he huffs to himself.
“I’m sorry I yelled,” he says to Hoseok, who’s on his phone. “I didn’t mean to, I hate yelling, you just... You’re very irritating sometimes.”
“I know,” Hoseok says distractedly, texting someone. Jeongguk switches lanes on the road during the silence, and Hoseok speaks again, “It’s okay if you’re gay, hyung, I’m okay with that.” Jeongguk chokes on his spit.
“I’m not gay, what the fuck?” Jeongguk says.
“Fine, bisexual, either is fine,” Hoseok shrugs, still looking on his phone, and Jeongguk eyes the kids in the backseat, who both have their headphones in, thankfully, and Jeongguk would have found it rude had he not wanted them to hear his and Hoseok’s conversation.
“Are you even allowed to be talking about this?” Jeongguk asks instead, trying to turn the problem on Hoseok, and Hoseok looks up, offended.
“I’m fifteen,” he presses. “I’m not stupid, I know what sexual orientation is.”
“I know you know what it is, but aren’t you a little young to be thinking about dating?”
“No.” Damn it.
“Should wait until you’re a little older, in my opinion-”
“You were dating when you were thirteen.”
“That’s beside the point.” Jeongguk huffs. “Do as I say, not as I do.”
“I’m not, you were thirteen, I’m fifteen. That’s two years I have on your bullshit.”
“Language, Appa would’ve kicked your ass by now.” Hoseok smirks to himself and Jeongguk drives the rest of the way home in silence.
____________________________________________________________
Taehyung is panicking because fuck, fuck, fuck, did he actually do that? Give some guy his number with in an intent to go out? With a guy? When he, himself, is a guy?
It had been impossible to burst Jeongguk’s bubble when he was acting so shy and, admittedly, cute. But cute in a sort of friendly way. Not with the urge to kiss him or take him out or whatever.
He caught him staring, and didn’t know why he mentioned the fact out loud. Maybe he had been curious, maybe he found it flattering that a guy liked him, even if he wasn’t interested. But he’s been told he’s too nice and he hadn’t wanted to be mean and say, “I’m sorry that you like me because I’m super straight and only into chicks.”
So instead of that, he gave out his number and now he’s sitting here, waiting to see if it’ll follow through. Subtly, he hopes it will, because Jeongguk seemed cool, and he hopes it follows through in a friend way, not a date way.
from unknown number
hi, this is jeongguk! is this taehyung?
Taehyung takes a deep breath and starts typing out the most subtle reply he can.
to unknown number
hi, yeah, this is taehyung!
what’s up?
Good. That doesn’t make him sound like he’s interested, but more like he’s friendly and nice. He moves to change the contact name to jeongguk as another text comes.
from jeongguk
so about that date.....
was thinking dinner and a movie?
Well, there goes his plan of being Just Friends. He decides to just play along.
to jeongguk
that sounds fun, yeah, haha
we should see that new romcom
the one with whats his face
from jeongguk
i heard it was good, we can go see that
and hey
i know it sounds cheap for a date, but i was thinking i could make dinner and we could eat outside
Shit, that’s romantic. His plan to ward off the date is slowly diminishing, and the only thing left to do would be to come clean, but his immense fear of breaking Jeongguk’s heart is too much to bear, so he knows he has to suck it up and just go on the date. Maybe afterwards, he can say he just wasn’t really feeling much happening and that can be that.
to jeongguk
aw no that sounds fun!
i like picnics
theres a park nearby the theatre next to the college
we can eat there and then go straight to the movie
from jeongguk
i hope youre one of those people that sneaks candy in because im not paying 6000 for a candy bar
not when i can get it for 1000 at the corner store hahaha
to jeongguk
trust me, i totally am heh
theatre food is overpriced
i like someone who thinks about their money management
That...maybe sounds too much like he’s into it, but he can’t take back the text. He’s trying immensely hard not to use any sort of gender-based pronouns, just in case Jeongguk suddenly goes, “Oh, I meant, like, a bro-date.” Even though that sounds like the lamest thing ever.
from jeongguk
im one for buying tickets online, so does 7pm work tomorrow?
Tomorrow? Taehyung was thinking more like next week, but in order to get it all over with, he has to agree.
to jeongguk
sounds like a plan, stan
sorry that was lame
in other words, yes, 7pm is super good for me
with the addition of having no classes tomorrow too
from jeongguk
you go to the college?
whatre you studying?
to jeongguk
veterinary
you?
from jeongguk
aww thats cute to want to take care of animals
as for me its not much
counseling
minoring in psychology too
Shit, he’s nice and kind-hearted? Jeongguk must be heaven-sent to be this wonderful. Taehyung can only hope that Jeongguk will realise they’re not for each other, because there’s no way Taehyung can say he didn’t enjoy their date. Which would be hard anyways because he has a feeling he’ll have a great time.
He hates that Jeongguk is so soft-shelled and he hates that he’s so nice.
Plus, he said it was cute that Taehyung was going to be a vet. He’s screwed.
____________________________________________________________
Jeongguk looks at the picnic basket he dug out of his closet and wonders if it’s too much. He then decides it won’t matter and puts the vegetable stew, sodas, and bread inside, closes the lid, and stuffs a blanket under the handle. He figured that, with Taehyung being an animal-lover, that he wouldn't like meat.
“Where’re you going?” Hoseok asks, and Jeongguk jumps as he looks at him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?” Jeongguk says.
“It’s six o’clock,” Hoseok replies, “stop babying me.”
“But you are a baby.” Hoseok leans forward and kicks Jeongguk’s shin. “Ow, you little shit-”
“Are you going on a date with Taehyung?” Jeongguk freezes.
“It’s not a date,” Jeongguk hisses as he rubs his attacked leg, “it’s just...a picnic with a friend.”
“Right, and then you’re going to see a movie with him, right?” Hoseok points to his jacket. “I saw the candy you stuffed in your jacket.”
“Shut up and go do your homework,” Jeongguk orders, but Hoseok stands his ground.
“Hyung, can’t you just be honest and admit you like guys?” he asks.
“I don’t!”
“But you’re going on a date with one.”
“Because I didn’t want to be mean and say no!” The words leave Jeongguk’s mouth before he can stop them and Hoseok smirks. “Look, I’m going to go on this date, and then afterwards, I’m going to tell him it’s not going to work out and we should stay friends. That’s. It.”
“What if you can’t?” Jeongguk blinks.
“What if I can’t what?”
“What if you can’t tell him you want to be just friends?”
That’s farfetched, why wouldn’t Jeongguk be able to do that?
“You’re too nice, y’know,” Hoseok continues. “You can’t stand to turn anyone down or hurt their feelings. What makes you think you can tell him no now if you couldn’t yesterday?”
Jeongguk groans, snatches up the basket, and grabs his keys as he toes on his shoes at the door.
“Have fun on your date!” Hoseok shouts after him as he gets in the car, and Jeongguk (even though he shouldn’t) flips his younger brother off as he pulls out of the driveway. He’s earned a hand-heart in response before the door shuts and he’s driving off down the street.
He’s at the park before he knows it and he’s looking for the silver hair as he parks. Maybe he’ll be stood up and he can forget about it all.
Ah, no such luck as he spots the silver hair and a hand waving in the air at him. At least Taehyung’s properly dressed in slacks and a button-up t-shirt. Jeongguk opted for skinny zipper jeans, a black long-sleeve, and a hoodie. He hasn’t been on a real date in awhile, with anyone, so it took him some time to remember how to dress up for one.
“Hi,” he says as he approaches Taehyung, and Taehyung smiles.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“...Uh, so... I made a vegetable stew. In case you...didn’t like meat.” Jeongguk holds up the picnic basket and Taehyung claps his hands together.
“I do, actually, but I like vegetables, too, so it’s okay,” he says, and takes the blanket from the basket and starts laying it on the grass so they can sit down. Jeongguk follows after him, sitting cross-legged and a respectable distance away, but not enough to make it seem like he’s avoiding. Slowly, he takes out the vegetable stew and some plastic bowls, and then the sodas and the bread wrapped in plastic.
“So... I hope this is okay,” Jeongguk hums.
“It’s great, I love it,” Taehyung nods as he takes the chopsticks offered, and starts to serve portions. “Thanks, Jeongguk, this is much better than going out to a restaurant.”
“My pleasure,” Jeongguk replies.
For the most part, they eat the stew in somewhat of a silence, occasionally looking at each other and then looking away, embarrassed. Jeongguk notices Taehyung makes a lot of different noises while he eats, ranging from grunts to slurps.
“I-Is it really that good?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung pauses before he nods.
“It really is,” he says as he swallows. “I promise, I really like it.” Jeongguk smiles into his bowl. At least he’s revered for his cooking. “I’m no good at cooking, so you’ll have to be the one to make all the meals.”
“I-I really don’t cook all that often,” Jeongguk says as he finishes his bowl and takes a sip of soda. “Really, I just- If this wasn’t a date, I would’ve made, like, instant ramyeon or something.”
God damn it.
“Well, that’s really...sweet of you,” Taehyung hums lightly as he looks down at his bowl. “I have instant ramyeon all the time, too, so to eat a real meal with someone else is nice.”
If Jeongguk’s right, Taehyung is definitely finding him charming and likeable and everything he doesn’t want Taehyung to find him. Unfortunately for him, he unintentionally plays the charm card without realising it because his mouth starts going without consulting any rational part of his brain first.
“So... How old are you, how long have you been at the college?” Jeongguk decides to ask, to switch to a more friendly, general topic.
“I’m twenty-one, but I’m still in my first year,” Taehyung says as he finally eats his own last bite of the stew and starts one some plain bread. “I took a year at home to help my mom out. What about you?”
Oh, shit.
“I’m, uh...,” Jeongguk hums. “Well, I’m twenty-five, believe it or not, and still in my first year.” The look of surprise is hard to miss.
“But you look so young,” Taehyung decides to say, and Jeongguk isn’t really sure if it’s a compliment or not. He assumes it’s supposed to be.
“Thanks,” he chuckles.
“Why did you take so much time off?” Jeongguk shrugs.
“My younger brother. I had to - still have to - take care of him. But...he was only nine and my dad passed away during that summer, so I got a job and took care of Hoseok until he got old enough to take care of himself.”
Okay, maybe Jeongguk’s revealing way too much on a first date, but, again, his mouth and his brain don’t cooperate at all.
Also, his brain tells his eyes to cry.
“Oh- Jeongguk, no, don’t cry,” Taehyung says immediately, already by his side and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “It’s okay.”
“Yeah, I know,” Jeongguk huffs, wiping his eyes. “It happened awhile ago, I’m okay. I still have my mom, but she lives all the way in England and Hoseok didn’t want to move up there.”
When he looks back up from his lap, Taehyung’s face is right there, and then his hands are wiping his eyes free of tears. Taehyung grins wide as if to cheer him up, and by some weird miracle, it works.
“Thanks,” he says without thinking, and he looks at Taehyung’s arm, then at the watch, then panics. “Oh, shit, we’re going to be late!”
Jeongguk jumps to his feet and grabs Taehyung’s hand, pulling him off the blanket and grabbing everything, throwing away any unwanted food and stuffing the bowls in the basket and running to his car with the blanket trailing behind him like a fucking cape.
“Shit, let’s go!” Jeongguk says as he grabs Taehyung’s hand once again and starts dragging him away to the theatre without another word.
____________________________________________________________
That was a lot for a first date. Also, Jeongguk is older. By four years. Taehyung had thought, just from his face, that he was his age, if not younger.
And now he’s being tugged along by the hand - not the arm - towards the movie theatre. He doesn’t even remember which movie they’re seeing, but they’re inside before he can ask.
“Do you want popcorn?” Jeongguk asks him, and he shrugs with a nod. Jeongguk gets a medium popcorn to share, with extra butter, and then looks to the soda machine. “Uh... Are you okay...sharing a soda?”
Well, in all honesty, no, but in order to stay true to his self-promise not to break any hearts, he nods, and Jeongguk grabs a large soda and gets regular Coca Cola.
He realises while watching Jeongguk struggling to put the lid on that it’s because they’re still holding hands.
Of course, instead of letting go like a normal person, he puts the popcorn down and helps close the lid with his free hand. In response, Jeongguk looks at him and shoots a bright smile, squeezing his hand.
“Thanks,” he says, and Taehyung’s heart aches a little bit, maybe because of the hand-squeeze, maybe in preparation for all the junk he’s about to eat in the theatre.
He grabs the popcorn, Jeongguk handles the soda, they pay, and Jeongguk grabs an enormous amount of salt packets before they’re off to the theatre. Taehyung can’t even make out what the movie is from the shortened title above the door, but they pull it open together and walk inside.
“Where d’you want to sit?” Jeongguk whispers as they overlook the seats. Most are couples, and straight couples, too.
“I usually sit in the back,” Taehyung answers, and he catches the slow blink Jeongguk gives him. He doesn’t think to mention it’s only because the back seats are where he can see the screen best, and of course, Jeongguk probably thinks it’s so they can be alone and private.
“Okay, c’mon,” Jeongguk says, tugging Taehyung along up the stairs and to the middle of the back row. No one else is seated up there, and no one else is probably even going sit up there with Taehyung’s luck. Which means he’ll have to mentally brace himself.
Jeongguk pours salt all over the popcorn in his lap, their hands finally untangled, and Taehyung checks his phone, making sure to get the brightness down and the ringer completely off. Meanwhile, Jeongguk’s unloading his fifth packet of salt, and Taehyung feels obligated to say something.
“Got enough salt on there?” he asks playfully, and Jeongguk doesn’t stop. “You’re too sweet for all that salt.”
In a panic, Taehyung’s never had the best filter.
But it seems to make Jeongguk blush and stop pouring salt.
“Sorry,” he apologises. “I just...really like salt.”
Taehyung finds it nearly endearing, if he wasn’t so afraid now of eating the over-salted popcorn. He settles instead for the soda, and jumps when his hand comes in contact with Jeongguk’s. It pulls back and Taehyung gently picks it up, sips, and then holds it out for Jeongguk to take a drink.
It’s not a non-direct kiss, Taehyung thinks to himself as he watches Jeongguk watch him watch Jeongguk drink the soda. God, his head hurts so much, trying to concentrate on being friendly when it’s clearly not working. Jeongguk stops drinking and Taehyung takes another drink, then finally puts the soda down, and then takes a chance with the popcorn, trying not to recoil at the saltiness.
Oh, thank God. The movie’s starting and Taehyung’s thankful he doesn’t have to talk anymore.
Although, as he had suspected, it’s not too interesting. Jeongguk devours most of the popcorn before putting it in the seat beside him and Taehyung downs the soda. Somewhere in the middle, Jeongguk pulls out candy from nowhere and offers Taehyung a piece of dark chocolate Hershey's, which is, surprisingly, his favourite.
Sadly for him, after downing the whole soda, his body’s cold in just a t-shirt and slacks. Of which Jeongguk notices him continuously shivering.
“Here,” Jeongguk says quietly, almost too quietly to the point that Taehyung can barely hear him. But the soda cup gets moved, the arm goes up, and there’s a warm hoodie draping over his shoulders, and as warm as it is, he hadn’t wanted Jeongguk to compromise his own warmth for Taehyung’s.
“You didn’t have to,” Taehyung replies, equally quiet. “You’ll get cold.”
“I’ll be fine,” Jeongguk assures. “Long-sleeves...” As he says it, he shivers, and Taehyung, without thought, shuffles closer and puts his arm around Jeongguk. It helps that he’s slightly taller despite being younger, and Jeongguk tentatively settles into the crook of his arm.
God, he needs to get a grip on the plan he’d formed, because this proximity is not friendly.
By the time the movie ends, Jeongguk’s nearly asleep, so Taehyung shuffles him awake.
“‘s over?” he asks, jolting awake.
“Yeah,” Taehyung nods. “You didn’t miss much, they fell in love and lived happily ever after, like usual.”
“Sounds like a romcom,” Jeongguk yawns as he sits up, then looks at Taehyung’s arm around his shoulders and blushes. “Sorry about falling asleep on you.”
“It’s okay, you’re cute when you sleep.” Oh, my God, Taehyung, shut your brain up.
“T-Thanks...” He rubs his eye out again. “Let’s go, yeah.”
“Yeah.”
With a combined effort, they grab all their trash (they both have the decency to make the janitor’s job easier by disposing of their trash themselves) and leave the theatre, shuffling their way with the crowd until they’re outside.
“That was fun,” Jeongguk finally says, turning around. Taehyung barely realises they’ve stopped by Jeongguk’s car and smacks into his front. “Sorry, I- Are you okay?”
“Mm-hm,” Taehyung hums, not moving, and they’re both right there, and Taehyung’s still wearing Jeongguk’s sweater. “I-I had fun.”
Jeongguk’s eyes flit down and Taehyung freezes, oh, no, he’s going to kiss him, is he going to kiss him?
____________________________________________________________
Jeongguk watches as Taehyung’s head leans forward, oh, God, they’re going to kiss, aren’t they?
____________________________________________________________
The kiss is short, like a goodnight kiss, and Taehyung doesn’t step back, nor Jeongguk. They sort of just...stand there in each other’s bubble.
“D-Do you need a ride home or anything?” Jeongguk asks quietly, and Taehyung blinks.
“N-No, I live in the dorms,” Taehyung replies at the same volume. “B-But I’ll call you.”
“Okay.”