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Taehyung wouldn’t call his life boring.

In fact, he has always believed the word ‘boring’ shouldn’t be used as often as people do. He’s got things to do, and, although those are always the same things, he can’t say it makes him bored. He trusts that, whenever one finds himself a daily life steady enough for him to proceed with it for a long while, it means he found something good.

It’s not that he wouldn’t take more if someone ever offered it to him. It’s just that no one ever has, and he isn’t going to complain or cry about it.

He’s thinking about it, though, while getting dressed for work on a Monday morning and staring at his reflection on the mirror with a frown. He remembers his mother telling him not to frown unless he wants his forehead to get all wrinkled, and laughs softly to himself as walks outside the apartment. He’s already twenty-three and his mother is still the most influent voice in his mind.

For a while now, he has been working for this up-and-coming magazine in Seoul, not because it’s his dream to write the most random articles they tell him to do, but because he’s been saving money while working as a barista for two years and realized the magazine would pay him better just recently. He can’t say he doesn’t miss the Coffee Shop, but the magazine’s money is good for him. He doesn’t even know what he’s saving for, but he hopes he’ll find out before hitting the thirties.

As soon as he arrives at his workplace, the one good reason — despite the income — for him to like this job is standing at the entrance, wearing a headband that’s pushing his hair back and making him even more good-looking than he is naturally. Kim Seokjin is technically his boss, but he’s one of the nicest people Taehyung has ever met.

“Jin-hyung,” Taehyung greets as he leaves the car, smiling at him, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Tae,” Seokjin says, smiling friendly at him, “You’re always a bit early. How come?”

Taehyung shrugs, “It’s not like I’ve got anything else to do. Don’t get this wrong, I love working here.”

“Yeah, sure you do,” Seokjin laughs, rolling his eyes and tilting his head, “I like the blonde hair.”

Taehyung blinks, forgetting for a moment that he bleached his hair last night, the one and only reason why he didn’t attend the bar he usually goes to everyday, “Oh, right. Thanks. You don’t mind, right?”

“Don’t worry,” Seokjin replies calmly, “We don’t really care about hair color here. You’re a good professional and that’s all we want.”

Taehyung smiles, “That’s all I want too.”

It’s not a crowded day. Sometimes, the workers are so busy with important tasks that they leave it up to Taehyung to interview random people or writing articles that he isn’t used to. Today, however, he sits down quietly and does his work with a few nods of his head to greet whoever arrives late. Seokjin walks past him a couple of times a day, but they don’t really make any small talk during work, which means more head gestures and a bit of paperwork to translate into a useful article keep his day busy.

He remembers that, when he came to Seoul from Daegu when he was only fifteen years old, he trusted the popular belief that every dream comes true in the big city. It turns out popular believes are nothing more than filthy liars. But then again, Taehyung did get a job for the first years and kept himself sufficiently steady. Besides, working at the magazine might be considered some kind of evolution, if he thinks real deep about it. He decides not to doubt Seoul too much, albeit he doesn’t think he’ll fully trust it ever again.

The day happens really fast. Before he can think about it, he’s leaving work and heading home. Then, at home, he’s calling his mother, and telling her about his day, and it feels like a déjà vu, but every single day always does. They’re always somehow a copy of one another. That’s what having a routine usually feels like, he guesses.

Then, once he’s eaten dinner and he’s ready to get his day finished, he grabs a coat and walks to the end of the street to go have a drink at the bar and call it a day.

This time, though, something unusual happens. He usually orders drinks with Kim Minjae, the friendly bartender who talks to him on a daily basis, but, tonight, Minjae isn’t here. Instead, another man, who Taehyung guesses might be the same age as him, is standing behind the counter. He’s got brown hair, sharp features, dark eyes and, well. He looks incredibly hot.

He sits before the counter and that’s the guy who comes to get his order.

“Hey,” the man greets, and Taehyung doesn’t bother to hide the slight curiosity on his face, “What can I get for you?”

“Hi,” he says, “Where’s Minjae?”

“He quit,” The other replies simply, shrugging, “Got himself a better job. I’m the replacement for a while.”

Taehyung hums in comprehension. Minjae has always been a nice, promising person. He should’ve guessed the day would come when life would hit him with a big ass opportunity and he wouldn’t be able to decline it.

“Just a beer, please,” Taehyung finally says, looking back down at his cell phone. He tries not to frown as he notices the bartender isn’t moving away to go grab his drink, and he’s about to ask if there’s something he can help him with when the man speaks up.

“Are you sure?”

“Pardon?” Taehyung blinks, “If I’m sure that I want a beer?”

“You look more like you’d pick something else,” he comments, shrugs, “I didn’t mean to offend.”

Taehyung squints. He doesn’t seem troubled with the possibility of offending the customer; more like he’d enjoy it if Taehyung listened to his suggestion. Taehyung wouldn’t call him intimidating; cocky, maybe.

“It’s your lucky day,” Taehyung starts, giving him a quick smile, “I left work earlier and I’m in a good mood, so allow me to indulge this. What would you suggest?”

“Manhattan, maybe?”

Taehyung’s nose wrinkles, “Do I look snobbish?”

“Is it a snobbish drink?” The man asks back, frowning, “Is it snob to drink something tasty?”

“Well,” Taehyung drawls, tilting his head in slight amusement, “I can’t say you’re not convincing me. More like talking me into spending more money, of course, but it’s an interesting approach.”

He smiles, “Can I get you one, then?”

“Yeah, do that.”

Just a few minutes later, Taehyung finds himself drinking a cocktail rather than the beer he had planned and letting his gaze wander around the bar only to fall back on the cute bartender while he works. It’s endearing, the way he talks to some of the customers like old friends and some like a real professional. Taehyung guesses he’s good in evaluating people’s personality and the way they’ll react to their treatment.

After all, he sure did catch Taehyung’s attention.

Taehyung isn’t one for one night stands or casual hook-ups, but he’s a single man working most of his day and spending his nights at a bar. It’s his right to get enamored for cute guys like the bartender.

It’s when the bartender stops before him again, drawing Taehyung’s eyes up and smiling a little that Taehyung speaks again.

“Can I help you? Again?”

“Technically, I helped you. How’s your drink?”

“Excellent, thank you,” Taehyung smirks, leaning forward the slightest, “Shouldn’t you be wearing a nametag?”

The bartender shrugs, “It’s not ready yet.”

“Does that mean I can’t get your name?”

“Oh, well, if you insist,” he says, smirking back, and Taehyung thinks he looks hot rather than cute like that, “I’m Jeon Jeongguk.”

“Kim Taehyung,” he introduces himself, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure, Taehyung,” Jeongguk says, and he has the audacity to wink before moving away to get another customer’s order. Taehyung laughs from the back of his throat, rolling his eyes and taking a final sip from the cocktail. He has learned to always keep a piece of paper and a small pen on his pocket for interesting things he could find in the ordinary world that would fit the magazine, but, right now, he uses it to right “thanks for the drink, love” with a wink and place it on the counter along with the money.

“Hey, Jeongguk,” he calls, already on his feet, and, when their eyes meet, he smirks and gestures to the counter, “See you later.”

He leaves without another word, but he could’ve sworn he felt Jeongguk’s intense stare on his back.

***

“You look happier today.”

“Um?” Taehyung looks up from his computer, meeting Seokjin’s soft eyes and blinking in slight confusion, “I’m sorry, Jin-hyung, what did you say?”

“I said you look happier today,” Seokjin echoes, “Brighter, y’know? You’re usually really composed, like you’re trying to do everything according to the rules, and it kind of got me wondering what your real personality looks like. I think I’m seeing a bit more today.”

“Oh, really?” Taehyung asks, genuinely surprised. He hasn’t realized he acted different today. Despite the few times through the day in which he found himself humming a song quietly and the few smiles he greeted people with, he imagined everything was normal, “I guess I’m just in a good mood. Leaving early the day before does that to people.”

Seokjin nods, smiling at him, “That’s good to know, Tae. Now, listen, we need to take some pictures from this public garden due tomorrow, but our photographers are all busy. I was wondering if you’d like to do it?”

Taehyung’s eyes lighten up immediately. Ever since he was a little kid, he loved photography. He believed he’d take pictures for a living once he grew up, even imagined himself running around with a bunch of happy people and capturing their happiness with his fancy camera and incredible enthusiasm. However, the dream wore off with time, and Taehyung didn’t exactly remember that goal very often.

Right now, though, all he can do is nod excitedly, “Of course I’ll do it.”

“Really? I mean, it’s more than we pay you to do. It’s alright if you want to decline it.”

“No,” Taehyung assures him, firm, “I want to do it.”

“Oh, great then,” Seokjin’s expression breaks into a smile, “Are you finished with that article for today?”

Taehyung nods, “Yeah, I was getting some stuff for tomorrow in advance, but everything is good for today. I’ve sent it and everything.”

“Good. I think that means you can turn off your computer and come with me, then. The sooner you’re done at the garden, the sooner you can go home.”

For the first time while working there, going home early isn’t going to be Taehyung’s priority.

There’s no team to accompany him to the garden, but Seokjin gives him every detail on the pictures they want and shares the address through his cell phone. Taehyung says goodbye with an excited tone, and it doesn’t even go unnoticed by Taehyung himself. He guesses this is the closest he’ll get to his childhood dream, so he’ll enjoy it.

Fortunately, the garden isn’t too far away, and Taehyung founds it easily. Whoever the person who invented the GPS is, they saved his life in Seoul. He wouldn’t find his own clothes if it weren’t for it.

As soon as he gets to the garden, a sympathetic woman guides him to the correct place, and he can’t help but look around in wonder. It’s a beautiful place, it doesn’t matter from which angle. The flowers, the smaller plants, the huge amount of green and vivid colors. It’s not what he had in mind back in Daegu, and yet, it’s more than enough.

“You can focus on the flowers,” the woman instructs him, gesturing, “Some of those are prettier with the edition, some don’t really need it. Seokjin told me you’re not a professional, but I take it that you’ve got some kind of experience?”

Taehyung nods, “A little bit, yes.”

“Do you like photography, at least?”

“A lot.”

She smiles, satisfied, “That’s good. I’ll go grab the camera for you. You can take it home with you and send the pictures to Seokjin tonight, then return the camera to us tomorrow by noon. Is that okay with you?”

“Absolutely.”

“Awesome.”

Less than ten minutes later, Taehyung finds himself kneeling on the grass, feeling the fresh smell of the flowers and his heart swelling a little. It’s welcoming, like this is what he came to Seoul for. He knows it’s only going to less for this afternoon, so he enjoys it. He takes the pictures the way he sees fit, and then he evaluates them like a professional.

When the woman from early comes to check on him, she widens her eyes at the pictures, “Are these the ones you took?”

“Yes,” he replies, mouth slightly dry as he notices the startled look on her face, “Why? Isn’t it correct? I can change it—“

“Easy, Taehyung-ssi,” she asks, laughing a bit, “They’re wonderful, that’s all. I didn’t know you were so good. It’s definitely not the work of a professional, but I’m impressed. Congratulations.”

He goes home with a much brighter expression than the day before that evening.

Even his mother notices the slight change on his voice. When he tells her about the day, her voice gets so excited for him that he feels an invisible hand wrapping around his heart and squeezing.

“I’ll come and visit as soon as I can, mom,” he assures her, “I’ll bring you to Seoul, too.”

“I know you will, my dear,” she says, and he feels a bit teary-eyed, “I’ll hang up, now, okay? Have a good night. I love you.”

“I love you too, mom.”

He sighs while placing the phone on the bed, standing up and looking at himself in the mirror. Perhaps it’s because of the wonderful day he had, perhaps because of something else, but he feels especially attractive with the clothes he chose tonight. He’s wearing his favorite t-shirt, a fake version of Gucci’s piece of clothing, and the leather pants he used to wear to go clubbing one or two years ago. Besides, he feels like a choker would add a nice touch to the outfit, so he goes for it.

Soon enough, he’s walking inside the bar and sighing happily at the not-so-loud-not-so-low music filling the place. He can tell it’s a bit more crowded than last night, but it’s still not noisy enough to bother someone who’s used to it.

He can see Jeongguk from where he chooses to sit before the counter. The bartender is greeting a girl that must’ve walked in a few seconds before Taehyung himself, which means another bartender comes to take Taehyung’s order. He has seen him there before, knows his name is Hoseok and everything, but they’ve never really interacted, seen the fact that Minjae was kind of Taehyung’s favorite bartender every night.

“Night,” Hoseok says, and Taehyung smiles at him. Hoseok has always had this happy aura around him, and Taehyung imagined it was one of the reasons why Minjae had so much free time to talk to Taehyung — because everyone else wanted Hoseok to take their orders. “What can I get you tonight, Taehyung?”

“You know my name?”

Hoseok smiles back and shrugs, “I’m a watcher.”

Taehyung nods, “Wine, please.”

“On it.”

“I’m wounded,” Jeongguk’s soon-to-be-familiar voice approaches as he walks towards Taehyung, and the latter can’t help but smirk a little, “You couldn’t wait for me?”

Taehyung supports his chin on his fist absently, “Sorry, Jeongguk-ah. You can suggest me a drink some other day.”

Jeongguk nods, quirking up an eyebrow playfully, “Why did you assume you’re older than me?”

“Because I look like it,” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk squints, “Twenty-three.”

“Oh, dammit,” Jeongguk fake-protests, pouting, which makes him look cuter, “Twenty-one.”

“Two years, woah,” Taehyung jokes, smirking growing a bit wider than intended, “Guess I’m ancient.”

“Another customer just walked in,” Hoseok tells Jeongguk once he’s back with Taehyung’s glass of wine, although it comes out sweetly rather than aggressive, “You just got the job, don’t piss the boss off.”

Jeongguk sighs, nodding and waving his head slightly at Taehyung. Taehyung simply reciprocates the gesture and purses his lips as Hoseok places the drink in front of him.

“I’m sorry for distracting him,” he says, and Hoseok chuckles quietly.

“It’s alright,” Hoseok tells him, scrunching his nose, “It’s normal, y’know? Talking to customers is part of business, but we’ve got to be careful sometimes. Jeongguk will get the get the hang of it soon and then you can flirt all you want.”

Taehyung smiles, taking a sip of his wine, “Who said I was flirting?”

“No one,” Hoseok says, “I’m not even here. Excuse me, Taehyung.”

“Sure.”

Taehyung focus on scrolling down his Instagram Feed once Hoseok walks away, sipping the wine ever so casually, not mentioning the fact that he only drinks wine at celebratory occasions, because, to him, the photography session early definitely seemed celebration-worthy.

He left the camera at his place, as protected as it could, but he e-mailed himself the pictures before e-mailing Seokjin, and he decides to take another brief look at it from his cell phone. He smiles into the drink as the pictures expand into the screen. Those are, indeed, beautiful pictures, and it makes him glad that he managed to take them without breaking his strict routine.

“Did you take those?”

He doesn’t even flinch as he feels Jeongguk leaning above the counter to look at the pictures. Instead, he tilts his phone forward to make the bartender’s view easier.

“I did,” he replies, looking up at him, “This afternoon.”

“That’s really cool. Is that what you do for a living? You’re a photographer?”

“I write articles for a living,” Taehyung admits, “These happened because of an unlooked-for situation. I replaced the photographers.”

Jeongguk nods, the ghost of a smirk dancing on his appealing lips, “You’re too good for a replacement. Why not becoming professional?”

“Because it would take a huge step upwards,” Taehyung explains, tilting his head and enjoying the way Jeongguk seems genuinely interested in his words, “The higher they rise, the harder they fall.”

Jeongguk’s gaze remains fixed on him for a few seconds, and, for the first time in a while, it doesn’t bother Taehyung. When he was younger and a social butterfly, he couldn’t talk to someone without looking straight into their eyes. As he grew up, though, he learned that most people didn’t like being stared at, it didn’t matter if the intention wasn’t to pressure them, so he stopped. Right now, however, Jeongguk doesn’t seem like one of these people who made him stop.

“It’s your call,” Jeongguk finally says, too softly, too sweetly, “I do think it’s a waste to own such wings and choose to stay on the ground.”

“Work,” Hoseok whispers while walking past Jeongguk, and Jeongguk laughs.

“On it,” he says, looking at Taehyung one more time, “How’s your wine?”

Taehyung smiles, “I like it better than the Manhattan.”

“I should work harder, then.”

“Certainly.”

This time, when Jeongguk walks away, Taehyung can’t help but wonder how serious flirting is to him. However, all he does is finish the wine, a bit slower than he finished the cocktail last night, and leaving the money on the counter under the glass.

No note this time. He needs an answer for that test.

***

Which, by the way, he gets as soon as he finds his eat on the bar the next evening.

“No note yesterday?”

Taehyung tries to suppress his smile, looking up at Jeongguk, “Hello to you, too.”

“And no choker today,” Jeongguk notices, and Taehyung rolls his eyes playfully, “Am I being punished for something?”

“Is that a kink of yours?”

“You’re a bit weird,” Jeongguk admits. Taehyung confirms with his head, causing him to laugh. “You need to know I usually don’t flirt with customers.”

“Is that so?” Taehyung asks, “Why would that be? Perhaps, because it’s your first time working as a bartender?”

Jeongguk sighs, “I guess you could say that. But I can assure you I’ve had a substantial amount of customers for the past three nights, and I haven’t flirted with a single one of them.”

“Except for me. How adorable,” He coos, and Jeongguk smiles widely at it. Taehyung can’t help but notice that Jeongguk looks a bit like a bunny when he isn’t acting all hot, “What suggestion do you have for me tonight? Something I can afford.”

“Martini?”

“Let me repeat myself…”

“I’ll pay for it.”

Taehyung stops, blinking, “No, Jeongguk. That’s too much.”

“Not like the friendly bartender,” Jeongguk explains, smiling, “Not because you wouldn’t be able to afford it, but because I want to buy you a drink. How about it? Let me?”

Taehyung ponders about it, tilting his head and sighing as he learns forward a bit, gesturing for Jeongguk to do the same. He complies easily, and Taehyung sees Hoseok giving them A Look^TM a few feet away, but Taehyung restrains himself to speaking a few inches away from Jeongguk’s ear.

“I’ll have that beer tonight,” he says, and moves away, meeting Jeongguk’s slightly confused eyes, “Save your money for when I ask you out. That suggestion wasn’t even date-worthy. Besides, I like to pay for my drinks.”

Jeongguk pauses for a bit, but then he lets out a soft chuckle and nods, “As you wish. I’m on it.”

Taehyung finds a bit funny, he thinks as Jeongguk walks away, that he clicks so easily with the bartender. He used to be friendly with Minjae, but they never crossed that line between jokes and flirting. Jeongguk, however, seems to have a natural magnet system that convinces Taehyung that flirting and insinuating dates will be a good idea.

Perhaps it will, indeed.

It’s been three years since the last time Taehyung dated someone, and nearly a year since the last time he kissed someone. It’s not a wish or a need itself, but it’s a mental note that he keeps to himself as Jeongguk returns with his beer and tilts his head to the side, smiling at him.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you,” Taehyung says, lips pursing into a smile, “Shouldn’t you get back to work?”

Jeongguk quirks up an eyebrow, “Want me to leave you alone?”

“You should know that’s not what I meant. I wouldn’t want you to get fired.”

“Did you already come here every day before I started working here?”

Taehyung smirks, pouting playfully at him, “Oh, did you want to be my reason to come here every day, sweetheart?”

“That’s not an answer.”

Taehyung shrugs, sighing happily, “I always did. I have this… strict routine. The bar is the last part of my day, sometimes followed by dinner, but definitely the last important detail every night before I go to sleep.”

“I always found it weird that people manage to find a way to keep strict routines, y’know?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung gives him a curious glance, “I mean, I usually don’t like keeping my daily life as a pattern. I like doing different things each day, just so I can feel like not every day is the same day.”

Taehyung hums in understanding, drinking a bit of his beer and looking back at Jeongguk, “I guess it makes sense. It’s harder to own the control of your life when you vary the daily life like that, though.”

“Who says we need to have control?”

With a sigh, Taehyung leans head his backwards a bit, “You’re something else, Jeongguk-ah.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Jeongguk proceeds to ask, smirking a bit, and Taehyung shakes his head easily.

“No,” he replies, simply, “I like it. Quite a lot.”

Jeongguk offers a smug smile and nods, “Does that mean I get a note tonight?”

“Who knows?”

“How was your day?”

Taehyung blinks, raising his eyebrows curiously at him, “Are you genuinely asking?”

“Yeah?” Jeongguk’s nose scrunches, “Is it weird? A deal breaker?”

“How could it be a deal breaker when it’s so cute?” Taehyung asks, chuckling, “My day was fine. Nothing special today. No photography sessions, but I didn’t expect it either way. Had a burger before coming here. How about you?”

Jeongguk shrugs, apparently satisfied by Taehyung’s answer, “I delivered a package for my friend who works at this bookstore and had to leave early because he caught a cold. Had lunch at this new restaurant downtown. Bought a pair of earrings on my way here. Now I’m working and flirting with a cute guy.”

Taehyung grins and circles the rim of the cup with his fingers, looking at the door as someone else walks in and gesturing towards them discreetly, “You’ve got a new customer.”

“You do want to get rid of me,” Jeongguk points out, jokingly, and he gives Taehyung a last grin before nodding, “Alright, I’ll get going. Enjoy your drink.”

“Thank you.”

Another customer walks in that moment, and Taehyung barely pays him any attention until he sits beside him and leans over the counter, like he’s looking for someone. Taehyung side-eyes him, observing the man a little. He looks a bit shorter than Taehyung himself, although he definitely looks more like someone who would fit the stereotypes of people who attend bars. While Taehyung wears simple clothes and exaggerates the maximum by wearing a choker, the man is wearing leather pants and a leather jacket with a black t-shirt under. His hair is a black mess, and, from this angle, Taehyung thinks he might be wearing blue contacts. His ears are filled with earrings and there’s not a single finger that doesn’t own a ring.

He nods at someone behind the counter, but Taehyung can’t quite say who it is, because someone else sat a few chairs away is covering his view. He decides not to bother about something that is none of his business.

That is, until he sees Jeongguk walking back towards them and realizes he was the person this guy was looking for.

“Jimin-hyung,” Jeongguk says, catching a glimpse of Taehyung only before turning back to the new presence, “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t I visit my best friend’s workplace?” The man, Jimin, asks, smiling adorably at him, “This looks really nice. I can’t believe you got yourself such a cool job and I’m still working as a cashier.”

“Don’t underestimate your job,” Jeongguk tells him, well humored, “What can I get for you?”

“Wine? Or soju. Definitely soju.”

“On it.”

Taehyung feels a bit like he’s intruding by hearing their conversation like this, so he grabs his cell phone and decides to scroll randomly through some stuff. That’s usually what he does when there’s nothing better to do, and he guesses it’s still a bit early to go home.

Once Jeongguk returns and hands Jimin his soju glass, the latter grabs his wrist carefully and brings him closer, whispering, although not low enough so Taehyung won’t hear it, “Who’s the hot bartender holding a glass of wine there?”

Taehyung pretends he doesn’t know who Jimin is talking about, but he needs to suppress a smile. Hoseok has always drawn too much attention, but Jimin looks like he’d stand a big chance.

“No, hyung,” Jeongguk replies, “You’re not sleeping with one of my co-workers.”

“It’s an offense that you want to stop me from sleeping with a hot guy just because he needs to see your weird face every day.”

“My face isn’t weird.”

“What’s his name again?”

“Hoseok,” Taehyung blurts out softly before he gets the chance to stop himself. It draws both Jeongguk and Jimin’s attention to him, and, for a second, he guesses he might’ve screwed up by snitching himself and confessing openly that he was hearing to their conversation. However, the next second, Jimin’s face lightens up and he smiles widely at him.

“Thank you, good soul,” Jimin says, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Taehyung. Nice to meet you. Sorry about… intruding.”

“It’s completely fine,” Jimin proceeds, and then stops himself, frowning, “Wait, did you say your name is Taehyung?”

“Yeah, why?”

“I gotta go,” Jeongguk speaks hurriedly, but Jimin stops him by holding his arm. Technically, Taehyung figures Jeongguk would be strong enough to make him let go, but whether it’s due respect or friendship, he freezes back in place.

Jimin smirks at Taehyung, eyes glistening a little, “Well, hello. I’ve been looking forward to meet you.”

Taehyung blinks, gaze immediately flying to Jeongguk, “You’ve heard of me?”

“Once,” Jeongguk says, and Jimin shakes his head.

“I wouldn’t call it once if he can’t shut up about it,” Jimin proceeds, “You’ve known each other for, what, two days? And you’re his favorite topic already.”

“Quit exaggerating, you’re making me look bad.”

“Oh, my job here is done now that you know about his whipped ass,” Jimin tells Taehyung, winking playfully and standing up, “If you excuse me, I’ll go get a date with the hot bartender. Jeonggukie, that’s what you get for not giving me his name.”

As soon as Jimin walks away, Taehyung gives Jeongguk a pointed look, and he think it might be the lighting, but Jeongguk’s cheeks seem slightly reddish. Taehyung smiles, tilting his head in amusement, “So, what do you say about me?”

“I only said you were cute,” Jeongguk responds immediately, “Because, like, I actually think you are.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes.”

“Is Jimin confirming it if I ask him?”

“Please, don’t.”

Taehyung chuckles, and Jeongguk mirrors it easily.

“Don’t worry, Jeongguk-ah,” he says, wrinkling his nose a bit, “I’d have said something about you if I had close friends too. You’re really cute yourself.”

Jeongguk opens his mouth like he wants to say something else, but then another customer walks in and he sighs, smiling quietly at Taehyung, “Are you leaving already?”

“Any second now.”

“See you tomorrow?”

Taehyung raises his cup charmingly, “You know it.”

Once Jeongguk moves to take the new customer’s order, Taehyung writes a small ‘thanks, darling’ on the cropped piece of paper and adds a tiny heart to it, leaving it on the counter along with the money.

***

The magazine edition with the public garden article is out.

Taehyung wouldn’t say he is anxious to see his pictures there — it’s more like he’s too excited, too giggly about everything, like he’s actually seeing a dream come true when the reality is something so simple.

It’s still early when Seokjin announces that it’s finally out, but Taehyung can sense that something is wrong when he walks up to him with a copy of the edition in hands. Taehyung remains calm, waiting for Seokjin to reach him and smile.

“Good morning, Tae.”

“Morning, Jin-hyung. Is something wrong?”

“Not… exactly,” Seokjin says, handing him the magazine and pursing his lips, “The garden article is on page twenty-one.”

Taehyung blinks, “Okay.”

He flips through the pages hesitantly, a bit uneasy about it now that he has seen the apprehensive look in Seokjin’s eyes. Maybe his pictures weren’t that good after all and they had to edit most part of it out. He knows he’d be upset to see his pictures completely reformed, but it’s not his choice after all.

The moment he reaches page twenty-one, his lips acquire an “O” shape as he slowly takes in the reason why Seokjin would look so concerned.

“You didn’t use my pictures.”

“I’m sorry, Taehyung.”

He shouldn’t be surprised. The pictures are much, much more professional than his own, and they’re all taken from less basic angles. He knew he couldn’t meet a professional expectation, however, it never occurred to him that they would throw his hard-work away like that.

It burns quite a lot more than it’d burn if they had simply edited every original detail out from the ones he took.

“It’s alright,” he lies, handing the magazine back to Seokjin, feeling it stinting in his hands, “I knew it would be a replacement. I’m glad you managed to send a real photographer there to take the pictures.”

“Tae, listen to me, please,” Seokjin requests, and Taehyung’s trembling stare meets his, “I insisted on having your pictures, okay? It isn’t that they weren’t enough, but our editor-in-chief thought it would be… inappropriate for a magazine with so many photographers to use the pictures of someone who isn’t a professional.”

Taehyung nods, “I understand.”

“I’m really sorry. I asked the editor-in-chief to let you out early today, because you had to waste time at the garden and—“

“No,” Taehyung cuts him, feeling his mouth completely dry and doing absolutely nothing about it, “It’s okay, I have work to do. I’d rather just finish things here and leave when it’s my time to leave.”

It’s a bit harsh, the tone he uses to say that, and he feels bad because it’s not Seokjin’s fault, but he hopes Seokjin will be an understanding person and comprehend it isn’t as easy as it might seem for him. It’s not about the time he ‘wasted’ on the pictures or the trouble to find the place. He’s upset because he let himself believe he’d see his pictures on a magazine. But then again, that’s his fault for trusting that it would happen.

“I’ll leave you to it, then,” Seokjin says, softly, “Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.”

The moment Seokjin walks away, Taehyung clicks on the on-line version of the magazine and starts looking for the comments. There are always comments in every section, because people had opinions on everything, whether it was something they would or wouldn’t like.

His lips purse. Of course every single comment would be complimenting the pictures.

He finds a few people telling the photographer to beware of the lighting, and Taehyung agrees with it. It’s too bright, even if it’s supposed to give the sun effect, and it might make the pictures less enjoyable for viewers’ eyes. He doesn’t think the photographer will give a shit about those comments, though, because every other is praising their hard-work and telling them to keep up with the effort.

Oh, well. In the end of the day, Taehyung is still nothing more than a worker there, and he can’t decide what he wants like he’s the boss.

When he’s finished with the articles for the day and halfway through the next day’s details, he looks at the clock and realizes it’s time to leave. Sighing quietly, he stands up, grabs the jacket he hung on the chair and leaves.

The moment he starts driving back home, he notices a headache starting to appear and turns the wheel so he’s driving towards the first drugstore he can think of. He doesn’t usually get headaches, which explains clearly why he doesn’t own any medicine for it; however, he’d like not to spend the night mourning about his job in bed and unable to read because of his head, so he chooses to get at least some medicine.

He walks into the place, grabs a few aspirins and heads towards the exit. He barely looks up to the cashier as he grabs the money in his wallet, massaging his temple impatiently. The only thing that draws his attention up is the strangely familiar voice of the cashier saying his name.

“Oh,” he says, blinking, “Hello, Jimin.”

“Hey,” Jimin greets, smiling sympathetically. He looks nothing like he same person from last night. His earring and rings are gone, and he’s black hair is contained rather than a mess. Besides, he’s wearing white clothes and, without the contacts, his eyes are dark. “Are you okay? You seem a bit sick.”

“It’s just a headache,” Taehyung explains, shrugging, “The aspirins will take care of it.”

Jimin nods, apparently a less intruding worker than Jeongguk himself. He receives the money and puts the medicine in a plastic bag, handing them to Taehyung with a sweet expression, “There you go. In fact, if you want to have them now, I can get you some water.”

Taehyung blinks, “Yeah, sure, please.”

Soon enough, he’s back in his car, throwing the plastic cup away in the trash and waving at Jimin as a last thank you before driving away. It’s a bit darker than it usually is when he goes home, because the drugstore isn’t that close and now he’s a bit more far away from his place than he usually is. 

He feels like that time when the guy he had a crush on asked him out and he believed it was a date until the boy showed up at the ice cream shop with his girlfriend, claiming that Taehyung was a very special friend and, therefore, he wanted him to meet the, quoting, ‘girl of his life’. Taehyung laughs nervously as he remembers it, because it felt humiliating and hilarious at the same time. He remembers laughing when the boy said that and storming out of the ice cream shop with the excuse of feeling sick. He remembers ignoring his texts and changing his contact name to ‘just a friend’ so he’d read it every day and, thereafter, get over him.

Now, though, it isn’t about a boy. He doesn’t know how he’s supposed to ignore the texts or change the contact name of his workplace.

He decides to call his mother while driving home, albeit he knows he shouldn’t be talking on the phone and driving at the same time, because he doesn’t think she’ll take it quietly if he’s too late to call. He knows some people would say he needs to leave the spot under her wings, but she’s been the one there for him, supporting him through the tough process of moving to Seoul, and he owes it to her.

The moment he calls her and talks about his day, leaving the small detail that his pictures weren’t published out, he realizes he just skipped part of his routine. He chews on his bottom lip, saying goodbye to her after a few minutes, and throws the phone on the passenger seat with a frown. Well, he already did call her before getting home, so screw following the routine today.

Instead of going home properly, he puts his car in his garage and, rather than entering his place and relaxing a bit, he walks down the street, straight to the bar.

The music today is a bit louder, or maybe it’s only ringing in his ears because of the headache. But then again, it’s going away pretty fast because of the aspirin. He doesn’t think about the fact that going to the bar after a tough day might be the biggest cliché in history, but, the thing is, it’s only cliché because it works.

Jeongguk looks as good as ever, handing someone a bottle of something Taehyung doesn’t quite intend to identify, but, this time, when their looks meet and Taehyung tries his best to smile at him, Jeongguk simply frowns, walking towards him.

“Hey,” Taehyung greets him, blinking at his expression as he finds his seat before the counter, “Is everything alright?”

“I just got a text from Jimin,” Jeongguk tells him, and Taehyung groans mentally, “He told me that you bought aspirins and that you looked sick.”

Taehyung shrugs, “I feel better.”

“You don’t look better.”

“Are you saying I don’t look good?” Taehyung tries teasing him, but it comes out so blunt Jeongguk is left with no choice but to squint at him.

“I’ll go get you a water, okay?”

“I came here to drink.”

“Take my suggestion tonight, hyung,” Jeongguk asks him, eyes soft in a silent plead, and perhaps it’s about the slightly concerned tone in his voice or the way he calls Taehyung hyung, but he finds himself nodding.

“Fine. A water.”

Jeongguk returns and softly places the water glass on Taehyung’s hand, and Taehyung bites his inner cheek, looking down at the counter.

“Thanks.”

“What’s wrong, hyung?”

“Shouldn’t you be working?”

Jeongguk sighs, tilting his head, “I didn’t know you were the kind of person who’d rather keep it to themselves when they’re hurting.”

“I’m not hurting, it’s not that deep,” Taehyung disagrees, shrinking, “I just had a tough day, that’s all. It’ll go away. I don’t need to talk about it or anything.”

“Well,” Jeongguk drawls, smiling gently, “I’ll be around. Let me know if you need anything, but don’t leave before talking to me again, please?”

Taehyung hesitates, swirling the water inside the glass by circling it around over the counter, “I don’t want to be a bother. We’ve known each other for less than a week, you don’t need to worry about me.”

“What is time, after all?” Jeongguk asks, smiling a bit harder at Taehyung’s confused frown, “I don’t care about how long we’ve known each other. Even if we didn’t, I’d still want to help you. People have tough days and other people being comprehensive about it always does the trick to make it go away.”

Taehyung chews on his bottom lip, uncertain of what to say as he looks at Jeongguk. This is the bartender who’s been flirting with him all week, who just got here and already feels like a close friend to Taehyung. Now, there he is, acting like a truth sweetheart by helping Taehyung with no selfish intentions.

Taehyung thinks it’s way too good to be real, but he finds himself nodding either way. If it’s an illusion, he might as well indulge it a bit longer.

“Go back to work, then,” Taehyung says, “I’m not leaving until I talk to you again. You have my word.”

He stays truth to his word. He finishes his water and thinks about leaving his seat so someone else can take it, but then he notices the empty seats around and the fact that most people there would rather sit on tables with their friends. Hoseok walks by one or two times and asks Taehyung if he’s doing okay, and he confirms it with friendly smiles.

He likes the bar’s atmosphere, always had. Somehow, he knows a few people are hesitant about attending bars and pubs because they think those are toxic places, but he has learned that stereotypes are the ruin of society. Imagine if he couldn’t taste Starbucks coffee not to look like a sixteen years old girl or restrain himself from having bangs not to be called ‘emo’.

“Hey,” Jeongguk throws him off his thoughts as he emerges before him, a kind smile dancing on his lips, “Are you tired?”

“No,” Taehyung lies.

Jeongguk squints, “I’m just asking because, if you wait thirty more minutes, I can drive you home.”

Taehyung chuckles, “That’s not necessary. I live really close.”

“I’ll walk you, then.”

Taehyung blinks, sighing deeply as he looks into Jeongguk’s gentle eyes, “You’ll get in trouble. I bet you’re not supposed to leave so early.”

“We’re closing early tonight,” Jeongguk says, “Hoseok has a date and I can’t handle the bar alone because, and I quote my boss, ‘I’m too inexperienced not to let it burn down to ashes’.”

“That sounds unfair, darling.”

“Doesn’t it?” Jeongguk jokes, tilting his head, “So?”

Taehyung purses his lips, nodding, “Okay, fine. You can walk me home.”

Little by little, through the next thirty minutes, the bar gets less and less crowded. When the last customer besides Taehyung himself leaves, Hoseok leans over the counter and sighs, smiling as Jeongguk raises his arms in victory. Taehyung tilts his head at them, amused.

“Who’s your date, Hoseok?” Taehyung asks, and Hoseok’s cheeks flush.

“His name is Park Jimin.”

Taehyung smirks, meeting Jeongguk’s exasperated eyes, “Lucky you, huh? Where are you guys going?”

Hoseok shrugs, “He said it’s a surprise.”

“If you get laid, don’t tell me,” Jeongguk requests, squinting at Hoseok, “And don’t let Jimin tell me either. I don’t want that image in my head, like, ever.”

Hoseok jokingly blows him a kiss and Jeongguk laughs as he leaves his spot behind the counter, walking towards Taehyung and smiling as the stands up.

“We’re the same height.”

“We’re cute,” Taehyung says, smiling, “It’s the first time I see you without a counter between us.”

Jeongguk smiles back, gesturing towards the exit, “Let’s not make it the last.”

“Bye, Hoseok. Have a nice date!”

“Thank you, Taehyung!”

“Were you guys friends before?” Jeongguk asks as they walk outside and Taehyung starts guiding towards his place, “You and Hoseok.”

“Not really friends, I guess,” Taehyung says, shrugging, “We were friendly, but my friend there used to be Minjae. Y’know, not like a best friend or anything, but we made small talk every time I dropped by.”

Jeongguk nods, “Didn’t he tell you he would quit, though?”

“No, not really. I mean, we were bar friends, and the fact that he quit the bar kind of broke the connection,” Taehyung proceeds, tilting his head absently, “I guess every friendship has a comfort zone, right? People can’t go everywhere with all of their friends.”

“Can’t they?”

Taehyung’s brows quirk up, “Can you?”

“I mean, I hadn’t thought of that before, but I figure I can,” Jeongguk says, “I have, like, other bests friends besides Jimin, and I could easily imagine myself talking about anything at all with them.”

Taehyung nods, comprehensive, “I get that. I guess it depends on the individual, then.”

“Probably. Hey, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Why were you so down earlier?” Jeongguk asks, “You don’t have to tell me, I’m just a bit bugged.”

Taehyung sighs, shoulders tensing a bit, “Remember those pictures I took?”

“Yes.”

“They didn’t make it to the magazine,” he proceeds, but he doesn’t stop as he feels Jeongguk’s eyes on him, “They were supposed to, but the editor-in-chief thought it wouldn’t be a good idea for someone who isn’t a photographer to have their pictures making it to the edition. He sent a professional urgently and he took the new pictures. They only told me about it today.”

Jeongguk remains silent for a few seconds, and then they’re just walking side by side, quietly, peacefully. Taehyung doesn’t hate the silence, but he kind of wishes he could hear Jeongguk’s opinion on it.

Finally, Jeongguk sighs, “I’m really sorry that the world is such an unfair place.”

Taehyung blinks, gaze falling on him, “That’s really poetic.”

“I mean it,” Jeongguk says, “Those were good pictures. It’s not fair that you had to watch someone else’s hard-work replacing yours.”

“It’s alright,” Taehyung says, shrinking a bit, “I mean, it’s not my job, after all.”

“It does sound like you wish it were, though.”

“Wishes are empty desires, Jeongguk-ah,” Taehyung tells him, “They exist only to nourish the desires of those who can afford the dream.”

Jeongguk nods, “I get what you mean. I don’t think we should surrender, though. A few wishes can get granted for free.”

Taehyung chuckles, shaking his head, “Not in this century or economy.”

Jeongguk pouts for a bit, like he’s thinking about something, and Taehyung lets him. He doesn’t mention that they’re just a few feet away from his house or that they should end this conversation soon. Somehow, he feels safer talking about his feelings like that, because Jeongguk doesn’t feel like someone who’ll judge him.

“I wish,” Jeongguk starts, drawing Taehyung’s attention, “To go on a date with you this Saturday.”

Taehyung blinks, staring at him, “Don’t waste your wishes.”

“Is that a no?”

“It’s a ‘wishes are deeper than asking someone out’, Jeongguk-ah.”

“People think of their wishes differently,” Jeongguk argues gently, “My wish right now is to go on a date with you. Can you grant it?”

Taehyung stops right before his place, and Jeongguk seems to understand that they’ve reached their spot. Then, Taehyung sighs, deeply and slightly happy.

“I can,” Taehyung says, finally, smiling at him, “Make it an affordable wish for you, Jeongguk-ah. Don’t wish for movies, though, because, it doesn’t matter how into clichés I am, that one is too much.”

Jeongguk smiles widely, reminding Taehyung of his previous observations about Jeongguk looking like a bunny sometimes, “What if I wish for karaoke and fast food?”

Taehyung can’t help but break into a smile, “Call me genie.”

***

Taehyung hadn’t imagined himself texting his boss about a date until Saturday afternoon.

It turns he can’t remember the last time he went on a successful date, and he’s so used to everything he does on his daily life that such an event isn’t something he just takes in easily. He knows he’s attracted to Jeongguk, he knows they’re flirted and joked during the last nights of the week whenever he went to the bar, however, he also knows dates aren’t supposed to be like a routine. He needs to out his comfort zone, and Seokjin, as the good-looking guy he is, must know how to help him with that.

“So, basically, you’ve got a date with a hot guy and you need my help to get ready?”

Taehyung sighs, holding the phone between his shoulder and his cheek as he removes his favorite t-shirts from the closet and places them on the bed, “I need an attempt at becoming a ‘more interesting person’.”

“Isn’t he going out for you for who you really are, though?”

“Haven’t you been reading too much Nicholas Sparks?” Taehyung asks, dismissing the grey shirt, because it looks a bit like the clothes he wears at the bar.

“Have you ever read Nicholas Sparks or are you just using him for a joke with no knowledge?”

“I know he writes romance and people cry about it,” he says, frowning, “I assumed it would be about being yourself for those reasons. Sorry I was mistaken.”

“You look good in blue. Do you have any blue shirts?”

Taehyung hums in agreement, “I do. It’s a button t-shirt with Van Gogh’s Starry Night drawn.”

“Woah. What a nerd.”

“I like art. Sue me,” Taehyung says, smiling a bit to himself as he notices Seokjin himself isn’t hard to talk to, “Do you think it sounds good for a date?”

“Where are you going?”

“Karaoke and fast food.”

“I’d leave Van Gogh for a restaurant date,” Seokjin says, silent for a few seconds before exclaiming, “Oh! I know it. Do you remember that time when you wore a white button shirt? With long sleeves and a black tie?”

Taehyung’s gaze falls on the shirt he’s talking about, placed on the bed right beside Van Gogh’s one. He wore it the time when a famous man visited the magazine and they asked the workers to come with their best clothes, “Yeah, I have it here.”

“That makes you look good. Wear it. And black pants.”

“Like, leather?”

“I mean, it’s a first date. If you want him to check you out, leather would be appropriate.”

Taehyung chuckles like it’s a joke, but he goes back to the closet and grabs the leather pants nonetheless.

“Alright, so,” Taehyung starts, nose wrinkling as he analyzes the clothes, “I think I’m doing okay so far.”

“Good, honey.”

“Ugh, shut up. This isn’t as easy for us mortals as it is for you.”

Seokjin laughs, “Stop worrying so much. It’s not like it’s your first date ever, right?”

“I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you’re asking. Didn’t recently come out of the closet either. It’s just… every first date is a different date with a different person. If the others didn’t work, doesn’t it mean I should change my strategy?”

“Or was it all a matter of changing the person? I mean, maybe he’s the love of your life.”

Taehyung chuckles, rolling his eyes, “Except that those things don’t exist. I think I’m done with the clothes. Thank you, Jin-hyung.”

“Anytime, Tae. Have a nice date.”

“Will do.”

At least, he hopes so.

He had it set with Jeongguk that they’d meet in front of the bar at seven p.m., but he’s already there ten minutes early because, apparently, he has no control over himself. It makes him feel a lot better, though, that Jeongguk gets there only two minutes after him, which means he might not be the only one anxious.

The moment he sees Jeongguk, though, he feels like maybe he should’ve brought something to cover the surprise on his face. Because Jeon Jeongguk looks hot on a daily basis, but he looks gorgeous for a date.

Unlike Taehyung, he’s wearing mostly jeans. Jeans ripped pants with white details and a matching jacket over a red stamped t-shirt. His brown, smooth hair is parted slightly on his forehead, and he’s got a couple of earrings on.

He looks stunning, and Taehyung kind of wants to kiss him right there.

“Woah,” Jeongguk says before Taehyung gets the chance, and he’s a bit thankful for it, “You look really good.”

Taehyung smirks, “Don’t I always?”

“That’s the part where you say I look really good too.”

“Well,” Taehyung tilts his head, “If you insist.”

“You wound me,” Jeongguk pouts, gesturing towards the motorcycle a few feet away from them, “Shall we?”

That’s another detail Jeongguk mentioned while texting Taehyung earlier — because Taehyung found it slick enough to slide his number in the last note he gave Jeongguk at the bar. Instead of a car, Jeongguk drives a motorcycle. He asked Taehyung if he was okay with it, and Taehyung said he was, but, truth is, he has never ever been on a motorcycle before.

“You look a bit spooked,” Jeongguk remarks and Taehyung feels bad for being so obvious, “We don’t have to take the motorcycle if you don’t want to.”

“It’s alright,” Taehyung assures him, “It’s like travelling in an airplane for the first time, right? You think it’s going to be really scary, but you enjoy it a lot.”

“Honestly? I hate airplanes.”

Taehyung sighs dramatically, “I can’t believe I’m cancelling this date before I get the chance to eat my precious artificial food.”

“I kinda like airplanes?”

“You’re already lying for me, love?” Taehyung teases, making Jeongguk’s expression break into a smile, “Like I said, it’s fine. Just don’t let me fall.”

“Don’t worry, I’m pretty used to it.”

“What, taking people with you in your motorcycle?”

“That’s… not what I meant.”

Taehyung chuckles, following Jeongguk to the motorcycle and ignoring the fact that his thighs look a bit… to much when he hops on the vehicle. Jeongguk doesn’t seem bothered, though. He hands him the helmet and waits patiently for him to put it on. Then, he gives him gloves while putting his own on and explains the dos and don’ts of being a passenger. Taehyung doesn’t think it’s complicated, and he finds himself less scared than he thought he would be when Jeongguk finally suggests he wraps his arms around his waist.

“Cliché,” Taehyung deadpans, but does as he’s told nevertheless. He can feel Jeongguk laughing from this position.

“Isn’t a flirty bartender who drives a motorcycle cliché enough for you?”

“Fair point.”

“We’re going now,” Jeongguk announces, and they start moving. Taehyung thinks he might be holding him a bit too tight, but Jeongguk makes no mention to ask him to lessen the grip, so he doesn’t. In fact, he expected to feel some kind of terrifying sensation when they start gaining speed; however, Jeongguk clearly isn’t going as fast as he could and downtown isn’t that far.

He wonders how it would feel to drive a motorcycle, but, as he watches Jeongguk, he decides he’d rather just be a passenger. It’s comfortable, and he’s no longer scared after a few minutes only. Perhaps it’s about the driver, after all. Someone else could have lead him to a heart attack at twenty-three years old or something.

Taehyung raises his eyes a little bit, just enough to see above Jeongguk’s shoulder, and smiles to himself as he sees the beautiful Seoul all lightened up and crowded. Jeongguk drives carefully among the cars and people on the streets, and Taehyung decides he could get easily used to this.

Then, he reminds himself this isn’t about getting used to anything.

They pull over somewhere less crowded, although apparently safe. Jeongguk helps him off the motorcycle, and Taehyung finds out it’s a bit harder than hoping on, but it’s nothing hideous either.

“The karaoke is around here,” Jeongguk says, “And the fast food I thought of is just beside it. Which one should we do first?”

Taehyung ponders, “I don’t know. What’s your wish?”

Jeongguk smiles, tilting his head, “I’ll give you a wish, genie.”

“What a nice kid, thank you,” Taehyung says, patting his head playfully, and he enjoys the laugh Jeongguk lets out, “Let’s eat and head to the karaoke later, then? I mean, it’s just what I’d usually do.”

“Do you attend karaoke a lot?”

Taehyung stops, “Okay, maybe not ‘usually’. More like, the one time I went to one.”

“One time?” Jeongguk’s eyes widen, “Are you serious?”

“Consider yourself special for dragging me out of my routine in the first place,” Taehyung says, “Bringing me here is already a big deal, bringing me to karaoke… you must be some kind of magician.”

“The genie and the magician.”

“Sounds like a bad double-act title. Where’s the fast food?”

They don’t choose a popular franchise, because, according to Taehyung himself, it might ruin the mood if they have to stop eating to hear a slogan or something. Then, once they’re sat in front of each other, burger in hands — both of them — and respective drinks over the table, Jeongguk takes initiative in talking first.

“So,” he starts, “Are we making this as awkward as every other first date goes or are we going to pretend we’re at the bar, but with burgers and soda instead of alcoholic drinks?”

Taehyung laughs, sighing, “I’d say all we do at the bar is drink and flirt, so, yeah. I guess that’s pretty much the perfect first date.”

Jeongguk nods, smiling, “Good to know. I’d hate to go out on a date with you only to find that you’ve been trying to be someone that you’re not.”

Taehyung stops with his burger halfway to his mouth, lowering it to the plate calmly and staring at Jeongguk. The younger keeps on smiling at him, and Taehyung finally sighs.

“Is it so obvious?”

“I mean,” Jeongguk starts, “Your hair looks straighter than both of us.”

Taehyung squints, “A joke about ‘straight’, we couldn’t miss it, could we?”

“Spontaneity.”

“Okay, so, maybe I overthought about the date,” Taehyung confesses, shrugging, “I haven’t dated in years and you’re a nice and cute guy, so, basically, you can’t blame me. I’m innocent of all charges.”

Jeongguk chuckles and takes a long sip of his soda, wrinkling his nose at Taehyung, “Isn’t that somehow related to the fact that you got life all planned out and a date wasn’t part of your previous plans?”

“To be fair, you weren’t on my previous plans,” Taehyung says, “I like working and being productive and I usually don’t like skipping parts of my routine, and you’re kind of challenging me to do so. And we’ve only known each other for a week.”

“What does that even mean?” Jeongguk asks, smiling.

Taehyung shrugs, “That’s a first, but I don’t feel like it’s bad. That’s basically it. Isn’t this feeling a bit too deep for a first date?”

“Reasonably, if our date consists on flirting and drinking only, we had plenty of those before,” Jeongguk argues, “Besides, if people want to bond, they need to share things.”

“They usually share ‘twenty questions about yourself’ or saliva on the first date.”

“Are you opposed to any of those?”

Taehyung laughs, rolling his eyes playfully at Jeongguk, “You’re not like I would picture a bartender outside the bar at all. I mean, before actually getting to meet you. The first time I saw you, I nearly sighed in disappointment thinking that Minjae had left and been replaced for a playboy.”

“Thanks, that’s comforting.”

“What about you?” Taehyung asks curiously, “What did you think about me the moment I sat by the bar?”

Jeongguk squints, thinking about it, “I thought you looked cute, but, at first, I thought you were lost or something. You look more like the kind of guy who’d rather spend his night at a dance club rather than an actual bar. Then, you ordered a beer and, clearly, I couldn’t hold myself back.”

“Do you usually try telling the customers what to drink?” Taehyung teases, getting a laugh out of him.

“No, I don’t,” Jeongguk assures, “I got kind of scared the moment I told you that you should order something else, in fact. I thought you might report me to the boss and I’d be fired after one day.”

Taehyung smiles, “Screw the stereotypes. They always almost screw everything up.”

“Right? Who’d guess you’d find a bartender who drives a motorcycle and takes you out to fast food and karaoke?”

“Definitely not me, the guy who writes ridiculous articles for a magazine he doesn’t even read,” Taehyung points out, raising his plastic cup a bit before taking a sip and biting on his burger again.

“That’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, actually,” Jeongguk says, drawing his attention easily, “Why do you work there? I mean, you clearly don’t like it, and I get that you’re used to the perfect routine and everything, but what’s the point behind it?”

Taehyung shrugs, “I have no idea. I’ve been saving money for a long time, and the magazine paid better than the coffee shop I used to work in, so I quit the barista job that I quite liked and became an insignificant part of the magazine. Thing is, I’m saving for something that I don’t even know what is. Funny, right? I could just have kept my job at the coffee shop if I were supposed to use the money to pay the bills and buy food only.”

“What about the pictures, though?” Jeongguk asks, tilting his head. He has been looking truly interested through the entire conversation, but, somehow, the new course their talk is taking makes him look a bit more curious, entertained, like he’s trying to comprehend Taehyung just as hard as Taehyung is trying to comprehend him, “You like being a photographer, right?”

“Well, I haven’t tried it professionally.”

“Did you ever give yourself a chance at it?” Jeongguk proceeds to question, “Like, buy an amateur camera and see what you can do by yourself? Or did you restrain yourself from doing it because it would require you to skip parts of your routine?”

Taehyung pauses, swirling the straw around inside the plastic cup, and he finds that Jeongguk’s question is, in fact, a deeply valid one. He remembers giving up being a photographer and convincing himself that it wouldn’t happen while he was still a barista, but he can’t remind himself of any other chances at it that he might’ve ignored for mistaking it for a shoot in the dark.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Taehyung admits, sipping the drink again and sighing, “I’ll give it a few more thoughts, actually. I think I might’ve found myself a therapist rather than a date.”

Jeongguk laughs, the atmosphere around them lighter than before, “A therapist would definitely perform a better job. He’d make you question your life decisions rather than what you’re saving money for.”

“Who said those aren’t the same thing?”

Jeongguk’s gaze falls to his again, and Taehyung smiles a bit, glad that they’re managing to make this into a comfortable, bonding date instead of something awkward or forced. He feels like he’s connecting with a friend, but with a lot more sexual tension and romantic interest to it.

“Excuse me,” the waiter speaks softly as he stops beside them, breaking their eye contact as both of their looks fly to him, “Would you like a refill? We’ve got a promotion and the first one is for free.”

Taehyung agitates the cup a little, not having noticed that, while entertained with the conversation, he managed to finish it. He looks at Jeongguk and they nod quietly in agreement.

“Sure,” Taehyung says, “Make that three, please. To go. I’ll pay for the extras.”

“Split the bill?” Jeongguk asks, dragging a smile out of Taehyung.

“I’ll handle the drinks and you’ll handle the burgers. Whoever pays less here buys the other a drink at the bar.”

“Deal.”

***

The karaoke isn’t as loaded as they thought it would be, and a room for an hour ends up not being that expensive. Jeongguk convinces the clerk to let them in with their fast-food drinks as long as they order snacks and at least one more drink there, and Taehyung doesn’t accept to split the bills for those, claiming that Jeongguk should simply pay for his drinks later.

“Do you ever get drunk?” Jeongguk asks Taehyung once they’re inside the room and Taehyung starts placing the snacks and drinks at the center table.

“Rarely, why?”

“Just wondering,” Jeongguk says, “You’re always so composed about your drinks whenever you’re at the bar. I’ve known you for a week and I’ve never seen you drinking more than a glass.”

“You say it like a week is a lot of time.”

“Sure feels like it.”

Taehyung smiles, grabbing the remote control and scrolling through the songs, humming happily, “What should we sing? Do you like American music?”

“Yeah, a little bit,” Jeongguk says, shrugging, “I like Korean more, though.”

“Oh! There’s Big Bang. What do you think about them?”

Jeongguk squints a little, “Y’know, you don’t want to go that way. Whatever you say about Big Bang might define the course of this date from now on.”

“Is that so?” Taehyung smiles, tilting his head, “I’ll take that as an ‘I’m a big fan and will not tolerate breathing the same air as a hater’.”

“It’s not that deep.”

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with the most uncool bartender in history,” Taehyung jokes, picking Big Bang’s Fantastic Baby and placing the remote control on the table, “Come on, loser. Get a microphone. That must be your jam.”

Jeongguk sighs exaggeratedly, grabbing the microphone and side-eyeing Taehyung, “I’m not a good singer.”

“No one is.”

It turns out that’s the first lie Jeongguk ever tells him, because, the moment they start singing, Taehyung realizes that not only Jeongguk can sing, he can sing incredibly well. Taehyung practiced singing for two weeks when he was younger because people said his voice would suit the musician career beautifully, but he accepted his fate as someone who wasn’t exactly meant for that, despite the voice he had. Jeongguk, on the other hand, sounds like he’s been having singing classes for years, which Taehyung doesn’t doubt. He’s learning very well how not to judge based on stereotypes.

They sing, dance, and joke around for a whole hour. They also eat the snacks and take sips of the drinks. Nothing is wasted; not their money, not their time. Taehyung feels lighter than he usually does, singing and having fun like that. While they’re in the middle of a song and getting too tired to proceed on their feet, Taehyung throws himself on the couch and Jeongguk follows him, sitting by his side.

Somehow, it makes them really close to each other. Taehyung can feel Jeongguk’s shoulder against his, and their noses almost touch when he turns his head to the side and looks at the bartender, who’s also looking at him.

“Tell me about this cliché,” Jeongguk calls softly, drawing his attention. His eyes drop slowly to Taehyung’s smile and he inhales, “Do you kiss on the first date?”

Taehyung’s smile widens a bit, and he pretends to ponder by cocking his head a little, “You know how there’s a few clichés that you just want in your life because they make sense? Because, if they didn’t exist, life would be probably really boring?”

Jeongguk squints, nodding. Taehyung’s happy smile slowly turns into a smirk as he leans forward.

“That one isn’t one of them.”

Now, there’s another cliché. He’s not sure about which one of them moves forward first, but, the next second, they’re molding their lips together. Taehyung can’t believe how soft Jeongguk’s lips feel against his, and he melts a little as he feels Jeongguk’s right hand raising to his face and caressing his cheekbone.

The song stops playing and Taehyung smiles against Jeongguk’s mouth as he blindly reaches for the remote control and clicks a random button. Three seconds later, a loud song by some unknown group starts filling the room, but Taehyung can’t bring himself to care about it. His lips part spontaneously when Jeongguk inches closer, and he makes a small noise from the back of his throat that sounds a bit like a groan.

Unfortunately, the need for air makes Taehyung move away slightly, but he dies a little as Jeongguk, eyes still closed, tries leaning forward and reaching for his mouth unconsciously. He’s adorable and Taehyung is screwed.

“Y’know,” Taehyung half-whispers, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek, “I think I might reconsider my clichés.”

“Yeah?” Jeongguk chuckles, “Why is that?”

“Don’t know,” Taehyung replies, “I got this feeling that some of them might actually be really good and I’m wasting time by dismissing them.”

Jeongguk hums, tilting his head to kiss Taehyung’s neck sweetly and make him tremble a little, “What a smart remark.”

“Isn’t it?” Taehyung laughs, sighing, “However, it doesn’t matter how good the clichés are, I’ve got work to fill this weekend and I gave you my Saturday night, so we should— ah, go.”

Jeongguk grins at the small noise Taehyung lets out when he kisses a particularly sensitive area, pulling away and smiling at him, “That’s not cliché.”

“We’ll have to deal with a tiny bit of reality. Not everyone can have a nice job as a bartender.”

“Right,” Jeongguk smiles, “You still at that horrible place. Hey, how cliché is it to run away together?”

Taehyung frowns, standing up and thinking about it, “After knowing each other for a week? It’s extra cliché, but it’s a line I won’t cross.”

“Aw, how terrible.”

They smile at each other, and Taehyung feels his heart a little warm, but he makes no mention to lower himself and kiss Jeongguk again. Instead, they collect the rests of snacks and the empty plastic cups and put them in the trash, leaving with happy sighs.

The streets aren’t just as crowded as they were before, but they’re still sufficiently full of people for them to know it’s not that late.

When Jeongguk takes Taehyung back home, they don’t kiss goodbye or hold hands, but Jeongguk gives Taehyung a smile that sounds a lot like a thank you, and he thinks his own smile mirrors it really well.

***

Taehyung admits he thought of the possibility of things getting awkward between them.

After, they did go on a date and they did kiss while there. He thinks about it while drumming his fingers over his computer desk, staring blankly at the article he’s been writing with his brows furrowed. He remembers going out with a guy who worked at the same coffee shop as he did and then being awkward for the next few weeks because the guy seemed to want to make it clear that they weren’t dating and that the date might not have meant anything. Taehyung remembers frowning a lot whenever the guy started flirting with a customer just because he got close. He didn’t even enjoy the date that much, but, somehow, he never managed to tell the guy that before he quit and went to work at their rival, an Irish café across the street.

Taehyung’s boss laughed at it, and so did he after a while. It kind of make him wonder how to define where people stand after a date.

The thing is, Jeongguk seems to be too carefree to not make his opinion clear. Taehyung feels like he’d be the guy to come up to him and say what he thinks, whether it’s good or bad. He wishes they had made an habit out of texting during the weekend, but, apparently, Jeongguk still works at the bar at weekends — someone replaced him at Saturday — and Taehyung still has work to do himself.

Taehyung doesn’t even remember asking Seokjin for help until, by the evening of Sunday, he gets a call from him.

“So? How did it go?”

“Oh, hi, Jin-hyung.”

“Don’t ‘hi, Jin-hyung’ me. You were pretty concerned about what he’d think of you there. How did it go?”

“It went great,” Taehyung says, scratching absently on a paper under his hands, “He found out I tried too hard to look presentable, though. I quit the act and just acted like myself. I guess it’s me who’s reading too much Nicholas Sparks.”

“For the last time, you have no idea what Nicholas Sparks’ books are about.”

“People cry, Jin-hyung. Who wouldn’t cry while reading about being yourself?”

“You’re not really telling me anything.”

“It was nice. We ate fast food, talked a bit about life, went to the karaoke and kissed. That’s it.”

“You kissed and you were going to tell me nothing about it?”

Taehyung laughs softly at the fake resentment in Seokjin’s voice, “I’m, right now, trying to figure out where we stand, actually. I didn’t want to tell you like I’m talking about a crush and then find out that’s all that’s going to happen.”

“I thought you had declared him as a crush already.”

“We’ve known each other for a week.”

“So? People sleep with each other after ten minutes and two drinks at a club. What makes you think you need a certain amount of time knowing him to call it a crush?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Stop thinking so hard, Taehyung. Don’t ruin this for yourself just because you think it’s going too fast. Don’t overthink what doesn’t need an analyzes, alright?”

Taehyung sighs, tilting his head and correcting a few writing mistakes on the computer before him, “Alright. Hey, do you think ‘brushing your teeth’ goes into the ‘What To Do Before A Perfect Interview’ article or is it obvious?”

“Nothing is obvious.”

“That’s basic hygiene, though.”

“You’d be surprised to know how many people have presented interviews for our magazine lacking basic hygiene.”

Taehyung’s nose scrunches, “Ew.”

“Right? I detest human beings. I have to hang up now, the editor-in-chief wants to see me. Have a nice night and don’t overthink.”

“Love you too.”

He places the cell phone back on the desk when Seokjin hangs up and sighs. He guesses Seokjin must be right; overthink might not work when it’s about someone who doesn’t even think twice before something.

He shakes his head with the intention of sending those thoughts away and goes back to the article.

***

When he walks into the bar on Monday, he sees Jimin.

He’s sitting a few seats away from where Taehyung himself usually seats, watching the TV on the opposite wall and swinging a little on his chair. He’s wearing the bar visual again; except that, this time, instead of all-black clothes, he’s wearing a grey jacket. He looks good with it; but then again, he looks good in general.

“Hey, Jimin,” Taehyung greets, sitting beside him and smiling, “How have you been doing?”

“Oh, hey, Taehyung,” Jimin’s face lightens up and he offers him a quick smile back, “I’m glad you’re here, I wanted to apologize for texting Jeongguk to tell him you were feeling sick the other day. I know it might have seemed like I was meddling.”

Taehyung shakes his head, “Don’t worry about that. I know you were just trying to help. Drinking alcohol could’ve been a bad idea and I wasn’t thinking straight at the time. Thank you for being concerned about me.”

“Man, you’re adorable,” Jimin says, squinting, “Jeongguk told me you guys went on a date but he refused to tell me what happened there because I won’t tell him about my date with Hoseok.”

Taehyung laughs, “And why won’t you?”

“He didn’t want us to go out in the first place,” Jimin defends himself, “He doesn’t get the right to know.”

“Do I?”

“If you don’t tell him.”

“I’d never.”

“Why are the two of you talking again?” Jeongguk’s familiar voice irrupts into the conversation as he shows up from behind the counter, rolling his eyes dramatically, “Why can’t I have peace?”

Taehyung smiles, “Hey to you too.”

“Hey,” Jeongguk tells him softly, handing Jimin a glass of something that Taehyung guesses must be Cuba, “Here, your drink. If you get drunk just because you don’t have to work tomorrow, I won’t be the one to drag your ass home.”

Jimin looks at Taehyung and sighs, “Find yourself a better guy, you deserve it.”

“Shut up,” Jeongguk says, looking at Taehyung and smirking a bit, “Happy one week anniversary.”

“That sounds terrible.”

“Doesn’t it? Jimin told me it was worth celebrating.”

Jimin sighs, “Everyone rejects my romantic gestures but I’m the one who scored another date for next week.”

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, “Why don’t you go talk to your date, then?”

“I get that,” Jimin says, sighing way too deeply, “You wanted me to go away. That’s fine. Maybe Hoseok will actually help me back home if I get drunk.”

“I sure hope he does, ‘cause I won’t.”

Jimin walks away with the glass in hands and giving them dramatic glares. Taehyung laughs, turning back to Jeongguk once he’s away.

“How mean of you,” Taehyung teases, tilting his head.

Jeongguk pouts, “I’m only good to you.”

“I doubt it.”

“The universe laughs at me every time you reject one of my attempts at hitting on you.”

Taehyung hums, going with it, “What did the universe do when we kissed?”

“It cried.”

“So that’s why that sudden rain appeared yesterday,” Taehyung points out, making Jeongguk laugh, and he feels a bit like nothing changed between. Spending a whole week talking to someone and still having them interested is a first for him.

Jeongguk supports his arms on the counter, leaning a bit forward, which makes his face dangerously close to Taehyung’s, but Taehyung makes absolutely no mention to move away; in fact, he doesn’t even flinch, “What can I get for you tonight?”

“What do you suggest?”

“Gimlet?”

Taehyung ponders, “That might be a nice one.”

“Vodka or gin?”

“Gin, please.”

“Good. It’s on me, don’t forget it,” Jeongguk says, and, before Taehyung can argue, he completes, “Should I remind you that we were supposed to share the bills from the snacks and drinks but you chose to spend your money alone on that?”

Taehyung sighs, “It wasn’t much.”

“A deal is a deal. It’s on me today, and tomorrow, and the day after that depending on what you’re ordering.”

Taehyung laughs, pretending to huff in annoyance, “Fine. I guess I’ll have to accept that.”

“Good,” Jeongguk smiles, “I’m on it.”

Taehyung smiles back. Things are normal, and, at the same time, they’re on the verge of changing every second, because he can’t keep up with how carefree Jeongguk is. Then again, being friends or more with someone has never been about keeping up with me.

He might be learning more than he thought in one week only.

***

For the next few weeks, Taehyung notices a few changes in the way their friendship-relationship progresses.

Taehyung stills goes to the bar every day after coming home, taking a shower, having dinner sometimes and talking to his mother, and, as the day goes by, he grows closer to Jeongguk than he could’ve imagined he’d be. Sometimes he asks for the cheaper drinks because he wants to save some more money — he’s contemplating buying that camera — and sometimes he waits for Jeongguk to finish his shift and walk him home.

During the next entire month, though, there is no such a thing as a second date. Perhaps because neither of them makes a mention to ask the other out since their daily life already feels like constants dates, but also because Taehyung himself has been drowning in work now that people appear to have realized that he can multitask, which means writing more than an article per time.

While Taehyung and Jeongguk remain slowly testing the waters, Jimin shows up at the bar and updates Taehyung about his dates with Hoseok at least once a week. A month and a half after they’ve met, they start dating.

“You’re insane,” Jeongguk tells Hoseok one of these days, elbow supported on the counter and frown on his face. The bar is empty already, and they’re closing, but Jeongguk invited Taehyung to help them, “Are you sure you want to date Jimin?”

“I’m right here,” Jimin reminds him, smiling widely. While Jeongguk invited Taehyung, Hoseok invited him, “Taehyung is putting up with you and I’m not judging him.”

“Except that you are,” Taehyung argues, and Jimin gives him a betrayed glare, “You keep telling me I should call quits.”

“My best friend hates me,” Jeongguk deadpans.

Jimin squints, “That’s my phrase right there.”

“Oh, you have a best friend?”

Hoseok laughs, exchanging a look with Taehyung, “Why do I feel like this two are still going to get a double marriage someday?”

“Are you asking me to marry you indirectly?” Jimin jokes, and Hoseok rolls his eyes playfully.

“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Jeongguk says, “He might kill you and run away with your stuff.”

“Literally, what stuff?” Hoseok sighs dramatically, “We’re bartenders, how much money do we make? It’d be more logical for you to marry Taehyung to kill him and get his money and stuff rather than Jimin with me.”

Taehyung chuckles, throwing his head back, “First, no one’s getting anywhere near my finger with a ring.”

Jeongguk hisses, “Oh shit, what should I do with the ring I bought?”

“Second,” Taehyung proceeds, simply sticking his tongue out at Jeongguk as a response, “I don’t make that much money either. People think working for a magazine makes us fancy and everything but I’ve never met a model in real life and the only picture scenario I’ve met was a public garden.”

“Where’s the fun in that, then?” Jimin asks, “Come work at the drugstore with me. We’re actually lacking a cashier.”

“I wonder why that is,” Jeongguk teases.

“Alright, everything’s clean; we’re good to go,” Hoseok announces, and Jimin raises both his arms in victory, taking the opportunity to throw them around Hoseok’s shoulder and bring him closer to kiss him full on the mouth.

Jeongguk groans, “Come on, the two of you. We don’t need to see that.”

Jimin pulls away, looking at Jeongguk and rolling his eyes at him, “Not our fault that you can’t grow a pair and kiss Taehyung.”

“In his defense,” Taehyung starts, shrugging, “We did kiss once.”

“Are you dissing me too?” Jeongguk asks, squinting, “What happened to us?”

“I don’t know, I’m just siding with Jimin because it has become a habit.”

“Thank you, Taehyungie. I love you!”

Hoseok chuckles, grabbing his keys and spinning them on his fingers as he gestures to the door, “Let’s go?”

“Yeah,” Jimin says, “Are you guys coming?”

Taehyung looks at Jeongguk, waiting for his response. Sometimes, when they’re feeling like it, they close the bar and stay inside a bit more; once a while, even a few more hours. Apparently, Jeongguk feels like this might be one of those nights.

“Do you want to hang out some more?” He asks Taehyung.

Taehyung nods, shrugging, “It sounds fine to me.”

“You guys can go. I’ll lock everything later,” Jeongguk tells them, and Jimin blows them a kiss on his way out. They close the door and Jeongguk sighs, smiling at Taehyung, “Do you want a drink?”

“It’s Thursday,” Taehyung reminds him, “I have work tomorrow.”

“Water, then?”

“Water is great.”

Jeongguk brinks him water in a wine glass and Taehyung rolls his eyes with a smile. They’re growing more and more comfortable around each other, and he can’t say he isn’t enjoying it. Jeongguk is a great person to talk to, and he’s also a huge cliché sometimes, but Taehyung likes it nonetheless.

“So, when are you taking pictures again?” Jeongguk asks him, grabbing a chair and turning it around to sit before Taehyung, chin resting on the chair’s back.

“Good question,” Taehyung says, gulping his water, “Our photographers are still in a great form, we don’t need amateurs taking pictures.”

Jeongguk’s nose scrunches, “Your pictures are brilliant.”

“You’ve seen, like, five of them.”

“Because you won’t take more,” Jeongguk argues, “Come on, don’t you want to take pictures?”

Taehyung nods, “In fact, I’m saving for the camera.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Taehyung says, smiling, “I’ll show a few more pictures once I have them.”

“Good,” Jeongguk affirms, standing up, “That asks for a drink.”

“You’re just looking for an excuse to drink.”

Jeongguk laughs melodically, preparing himself a glass of water and sipping it right away, “Technically, we should all enjoy the perks of our jobs. Mine is free drinks.”

“Does your boss know about it?” Taehyung asks, quirking up an eyebrow.

“Well, now that you’ve mentioned it, I think leaving some money behind might be the best idea.”

“Definitely, hon.”

Jeongguk goes back to sitting next to Taehyung, but he pulls his chair closer this time, facing him directly. Taehyung smirks, tilting his head slightly.

“What are you staring at, you cheesy ass?”

“I didn’t say anything,” Jeongguk defends himself calmly.

Taehyung squints, “You do realize I can’t stay here for much more hours, right? I’ve got to go to work.”

“You haven’t invited me to your house, like, ever,” Jeongguk comments, ignoring Taehyung’s remark with a smile, “Why is that?’

“Well, I don’t know,” Taehyung says, leaning forward, “Why should I?”

“Touché. Do you like cuddles?”

“That’s a very biased question considering the conversation we’re having.”

“Is that a no?”

Taehyung’s fake grimace breaks into a smile, “I do. I mean, who doesn’t?”

“Punk bartenders who drive motorcycles?”

“Oh, please. You’re a huge soft inside and you want me to believe that you don’t like cuddles?”

“I mean,” Jeongguk drawls, shrugging, “I guess it depends on the person.”

“Well, would you cuddle me?”

Jeongguk chokes a bit on his water, making Taehyung smile harder, but he recovers quickly to stare at him through his eyelashes, “You know I love these straightforward conversations we always have?”

“Good. Answer me, then.”

“I would,” Jeongguk admits, and it isn’t much of a surprise to Taehyung, but he fakes a startled gasp nevertheless, “Oh, shut up. Do you like hand-holding?”

“Why does this feel like closing a contract?” Taehyung scrunches his nose.

“To be fair, you turned this into a huge deal. I was merely asking you about an innocent matter.”

“I think hand-holding in public is uncalled for, y’know? Mainly in crowded places. People want to walk fast and then they meet a couple holding hands and blocking their way,” Taehyung says, and Jeongguk smiles a bit, “However, every other situation is good for hand-holding. I think it’s adorable.”

“Aw. You’re cute.”

“Shut up. My turn to ask questions. Do you have any kinks?”

Jeongguk’s brows furrow, “Where is this conversation heading to?”

“It’s your fault, suck it up.”

“I refuse to answer that,” Jeongguk says.

Taehyung hums, tilting his head and sighing, “Well, too bad. I guess I’ll have to find that out myself someday.”

“Excuse you—“

“Ah! This one is good. Are you a bottom or a top?”

“It’s 2018. People switch.”

Taehyung squints, “Alright, Mister I’ve-got-no-preferences.”

Jeongguk sighs dramatically, taking the last sip of his water and looking at him, “Fine. Bottom.”

“Seriously?” Taehyung asks, eyes widening slightly, “Woah, fantasy broken.”

“Shut up.”

“It’s alright, darling, you don’t need to be all tough and a top, unlike anything society tells you,” Taehyung speaks energetically, “I’ll support you no matter what.”

Jeongguk pouts, “You’re an ass. What about you? I’m answering all these questions and I’m getting nothing out of you.”

“You literally answered one only.”

“Bottom or top, Kim Taehyung?”

Taehyung squints, leaning towards him a little and lowering his tone. “What do you think?”

Jeongguk’s brow quirks up, “It’s your turn to answer.”

“Well, what would you prefer?”

Jeongguk pretends to ponder, tilting his head, conveniently turning the angle much easier to move closer, “I must admit, regardless of what you say, I might kiss you.”

“Where is the fun in that?”

“Oh?” Jeongguk grins, “You want more fun than kissing?”

Taehyung chuckles softly, “Why do I feel like our conversations always head this way?”

“Because it’s the best way?”

“Is it?” Taehyung hums lowly, leaning forward so his lips are practically brushing against Jeongguk’s earlobe, suppressing a smirk as he notices the way Jeongguk tries to keep his cool at it, “Prove it.”

Jeongguk pulls away slightly so Taehyung is facing him and delicately grabs his chin between two fingers, gaze fixed on him, slowly falling to his lips. Taehyung feels a teasing remark caught in his throat. He sticks his tongue out a little to lick his lip, and that’s when Jeongguk inclines his head forward, slotting their mouths together gently. Taehyung pliantly parts his lips to allow Jeongguk’s tongue inside and restrains himself from letting out a low moan.

It’s less hesitant than their first kiss. Jeongguk kisses him harder and Taehyung tangles his fingers on the soft hair strands of his nape, angling their heads. Taehyung feels a bit lightheaded from how firmly, yet smoothly Jeongguk kisses, and he makes a mental note to himself that Jeongguk kisses the way he does everything else: calm, but full of attitude; as gentle as anyone can be, but breathtaking.

“You know,” Taehyung whispers hoarsely as they pull away a bit, placing a kiss on Jeongguk’s jaw, “I think today might be a good day to invite you over to my place.”

Jeongguk laughs quietly, nodding with his eyes fluttering closed, “I think so too.”

Taehyung smirks, diving into a kiss again.

***

Taehyung is late to work.

He knows that because his emergency alarm is ringing; and, by emergency alarm, he means the last of the alarms set on his cell phone, the one with the terrible song that could easily be mistaken by noise only.

That’s the first thing he notices. The second, though, that he isn’t alone in his bed.

He didn’t think he’d wake up to see Jeongguk’s peaceful sleeping face so early, but, honestly, he doesn’t regret it a single bit.

He wish he had more time to appreciate the moment, but, again, he’s late, so he jumps out of bed, grabs the clothes on the floor and stumbles his way towards the bathroom. The faster he gets ready, the less Seokjin will have reasons to call him out on his delay.

Less than an hour later, when Taehyung’s practically good to go, Jeongguk wakes up. He yawns and stretches out his arms, and Taehyung thinks he looks a lot like a kitten right now — a kitten with his muscles exposed.

“Hey, sleepy,” Taehyung says, smiling a bit as Jeongguk squints at him, still half-asleep, “I’m leaving to work. I’ll leave the door open so you can leave, okay? I just bought a new toothbrush recently and didn’t use it yet, so you can use it.”

“Slow down, my brain hasn’t woken up yet,” Jeongguk requests, laughing a bit, “This whole thing sounds extremely domestic. Gross.”

“Look who’s talking,” Taehyung rolls his eyes, “I really have to go. I’ll see you at the bar tonight.”

Jeongguk nods, but, when Taehyung is already halfway through leaving, he calls him again, “Wait, wait, come back here for a minute.”

Taehyung sighs, “I swear, if you ask for a kiss, I’ll throw your naked ass outside through the window.”

“I was going to ask you out, but a kiss wouldn’t be bad.”

“Well,” Taehyung crosses his arms, “Be brief, mister.”

Jeongguk smiles, less sleepy now as he leans forward in bed, “Would you like to go out with me tonight to stargaze and pretend we know a thing about astrology and what each star means?”

“You’ve got work.”

“Day off.”

Taehyung squints, tilting his head, “Fine, then. I’m a man of my word, so I’ll be nice to you and accept that. Should I meet you at the bar?”

“I was thinking of driving us with my motorcycle.”

“I can’t leave my car at the magazine.”

“What if you don’t go with your car?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung frowns, “I’m really fast when I want to get ready, and I left my motorcycle at the bar’s parking lot. I can drive you there and then pick you up when you’re leaving.”

Taehyung sighs, “How come we’ve slept together once and we’re already more cheesy than Jimin and Hoseok, who are dating?”

“To be fair, we met first.”

“Go get ready, idiot. I’m already late.”

***

It turns out Taehyung’s colleagues might not have expected him to arrive at work on the passenger’s seat of a motorcycle with a man wearing a leather jacket — which, according to Jeongguk, made it more comfortable and safer to drive. He sees a few side-eyes as he leaves the vehicle and thanks Jeongguk. They don’t kiss, mainly because that might have been too domestic and it’d call even more attention.

Seokjin asks Taehyung if the guy from the motorcycle is the same guy from the date and he smiles and walks away without a single word, leaving an outraged Seokjin behind. He doesn’t mention that he’s late or that Seokjin should forgive him for his reasons, because Seokjin himself pays it no attention. Apparently, being friends with a superior has its benefits.

The day is as calm and monotonous as always. Taehyung thinks that kind of job should be incredibly nice to whoever dreamed of having that routine; to him, though, it feels exhausting the least of the duties sometimes. He wonders how much it would cost to convince a photographer to go away for one day so he could take pictures again, even if they ended up getting rejected.

Somewhere along the day, Seokjin and Taehyung talk a little, but that’s all. It goes overall like the other days, and Taehyung would be starting to feel a little disappointed at those kind of repetitive days and his own routine, weren’t it for the fact that he’s got himself a date for later.

In fact, ‘later’ arrives fast, and Jeongguk is already waiting for Taehyung with the motorcycle outside when he leaves the magazine. Again, some people stare, and Seokjin winks at him from the distance, making him laugh as he hops on the motorcycle and gets the helmet and the gloves.

“Where are we going to stargaze?” Taehyung asks Jeongguk, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“It’s a nice place, don’t worry,” Jeongguk says gently, “Hold tight.”

The ride isn’t as intense anymore now that Taehyung is getting used to it, but it’s still really cool and he feels like he might be flying whenever Jeongguk makes a curve and their bodies lean together. He wonders how Jeongguk found the courage to do this by himself one day. He thinks he’d rather drive cars, but being a passenger for a biker isn’t bad at all.

The place is an open place, like a soccer field, and there’s a telescope right in the middle of it. Taehyung doesn’t ask Jeongguk how he found it; instead, he smiles at the darkening sky.

“We’ll have to wait a few minutes until it’s actually dark to see anything,” Jeongguk says, sitting on the grass and inhaling the fresh air, “How was work today?”

“Great. Are you sure you won’t get in trouble for not going?”

“Like I said, day off,” Jeongguk replies, smiling at him, “Hey, question. What’s your favorite movie?”

“Loving Vincent.”

“Woah, an intellectual,” Jeongguk says, and it makes Taehyung laugh a bit.

He tilts his head, “I mean, I do love Naruto’s first movies too.”

“Forget what I said, you’re just a nerd.”

Taehyung laughs, slapping his shoulder playfully, “What do you like watching?”

“I like Iron Man and A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

“We’re both very eclectic, aren’t we?”

They laugh together, and, for the next half hour, they talk about nothing and everything, and Taehyung feels warm inside. Then, it gets darker, and he can see the stars without actually looking into the telescope already.

“Should we take a look?”

Jeongguk nods, “Go ahead.”

The telescope is nicely located and Taehyung honestly thinks the sky is the most beautiful it has been in days. He feels like taking pictures, but he’d probably look a bit foolish with his cell phone in hands while such a beautiful sight stands before him.

“Y’know,” Taehyung starts talking, moving closer to the telescope to look at the stars, “We’re always talking about my pictures and my job, but I haven’t heard much from you and the jobs you want to have.”

Jeongguk shrugs, “I’ve never had a big dream or anything like that. In fact, every time I watched a new TV show or an anime, I changed my mind about what I wanted to do.”

“I wish you had watched Yuri on Ice. Those tight pants would look good on you.”

“You’re so funny,” Jeongguk jokes, laughing a bit, “The further I got with a dream is being a bartender. I wanted to interact with people and meet new people. As you can imagine, it’s clearly working perfectly for me.”

Taehyung sighs happily, rolling his eyes playfully as he stares at a beautiful star right before his eyes. It looks huge and white-ish, and he low-key loves it. “Tell me, did you ever have one of those phases in your life when you’re trying to accept what you want and then you decide you want to be a bad boy and get people hot all over just by looking at you, and that’s when you bought the motorcycle, the leather jackets, and started looking for the job as a bartender?”

Jeongguk laughs melodically, throwing his head back, “I must admit I got my emo phase in life, but I didn’t realize I was becoming a cliché punk until I got the bartender job.”

“So sad, darling. If you were a bit cockier and acted difficult, you could’ve been everyone’s dream.”

“What about you? What image did you want people to see when you came to Seoul?”

Taehyung ponders, moving away from the telescope and squinting at the sky to recognize the same star much, much smaller, “I wanted to be the small boy living the big city dream. I thought someone would walk up to me on the streets and offer me a job at an entertainment company or something.”

“Do you sing?”

“No.”

“Dance?”

“A disaster.”

“You’re good-looking, they could hire you as a model,” Jeongguk admits, and Taehyung sighs.

“I guess I wouldn’t stand a chance either way. I don’t know, I just saw so many people talking about how many opportunities the big city offered, and I convinced myself that I’d grab all of them. I definitely didn’t imagine myself working at a magazine and hooking up with a bartender.”

Jeongguk smirks, taking absolutely no offense; quite the opposite, in fact. He stretches out his arm to indulge Taehyung to lower himself to the grass next to him, grip firm on his hand even after Taehyung is already there, “This is called living, hyung. Having the whole experience. Diving in rather than testing the waters.”

“Sounds like being impulsive.”

“It’s doing you pretty great so far,” Jeongguk argues, smiling, “You haven’t messed up your job and you’re actually living something you want to live. It isn’t impossible to break the routine and not ruin everything.”

Taehyung sighs, “Why does every conversation of ours become a philosophical debate?”

“Because we’re a philosophical couple,” Jeongguk responds, caressing his arm and making him shiver a little. Taehyung decides not to question the ‘couple’ part. He doesn’t want to ruin anything by doubting what they could become, “Hey, are you tired?”

“No,” Taehyung replies, frowning, “Why? Do you want to leave already?”

“Actually, I was thinking of something else,” Jeongguk admits, smile growing a bit wider, “There’s this art festival happening a few hours away from here. A few friends of mine are coming and I think Jimin might bring Hoseok. Do you want to come?”

Taehyung blinks, brows furrowing, “What, do you mean like, right now?”

“I mean, you don’t have to work tomorrow, and I can find a replacement for me at the bar with a phone call. My cousin owes me for that time at the library.”

“Jeongguk-ah, are you suggesting I travel with you right now, during the night, to an art festival hours away, although we both need to work in two days?”

Jeongguk stops, tilting his head slightly and allowing the ghost of a smile to dance on his lips, “That’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

Taehyung takes a deep breath.

***

“You don’t need to grab so many clothes; we’ll be back by Monday.”

“Shut up, I have one legit Gucci t-shirt that I refuse to leave behind and the other ones are just in case. Where are we staying? Are you sure we can get back here by Monday before I get to work?”

Jeongguk smiles fondly, leaning against the wall as Taehyung stuffs his backpack full of clothes, “I’m sure. We’re staying at my friend’s house.”

Taehyung stops, looking at him, “Jeongguk.”

“Hyung.”

“I don’t know your friend. I can’t just stay at his place like this, it feels like I’m intruding.’

“You’re only saying that because you don’t know him yet,” Jeongguk argues gently, “He’s really carefree, you’ll like him a lot. I know that because you like Jimin, and Jimin is his best friend.”

“I thought you were Jimin’s best friend.”

“We’re the four best friends.”

Taehyung frowns, “Four?”

“My friend’s boyfriend is part of the group too.”

“I see,” Taehyung starts, laughing slightly, “Are you sure I won’t be intruding?”

Jeongguk sighs, “Yes, I am. Jimin is totally bringing Hoseok, so remember him whenever you think you’re intruding.”

“Good. At least we’re intruding together.”

“Look, hyung,” Jeongguk half-sings, walking closer to him and delicately sliding his hand to Taehyung’s jaw, making him lean a little into the touch, “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Taehyung sighs, “I do want to. I’m just hesitant about the whole ‘being a bother’ thing.”

“You’re not being a bother, you won’t ever be a bother, okay?”

“Alright,” Taehyung says, quickly leaning forward and pecking Jeongguk’s lips, “Let me grab my hygiene stuff and we can go to your place to grab your stuff.”

“Thank you.”

“One more thing. I need to call my mom.”

“Cute,” Jeongguk laughs, tilting his head, “If you’re waiting for me to judge you, you don’t know me that well. Just go ahead.”

They’re both very practical and fast whenever they want to do something, and, before Taehyung can actually overthink the fact that he’s travelling at night to a festival with Jeongguk, he’s already in his car, driving with Jeongguk’s instructions. He suggested taking the car instead of the motorcycle because it’d be safer and Jeongguk agreed easily, leaving his motorcycle at Taehyung’s place.

Jeongguk texts his friend about coming to the festival while they’re in the car and Taehyung is stopping by the drive thru of a fast food to get them some sustenance during the trip. Jeongguk says it isn’t far enough for Taehyung to get sleepy, but that, if he does, Jeongguk will gladly change seats. Taehyung nearly does it right away, imagining that Jeongguk might look even hotter driving a car rather than riding a bike, but he feels good and awake enough, so he takes the responsibility into his own hands.

“Namjoon said they’ll be at the festival until sunrise and that they’ll wait for us,” Jeongguk says, reading his friend’s texts, “He’s my friend. His boyfriend, Yoongi, is going to go back home early because he has a schedule tomorrow, so he’ll accompany us if we want to leave and rest sooner.”

Taehyung squints, “When did I hear those two names together before?”

“I probably mentioned them to you.”

“That’s probably it,” Taehyung says, shrugging, “So, tell me, what is this art festival about?”

“Amateur artists expose their stuff for people to come and admire it,” Jeongguk explains, “Amateur singers and dancers are the main responsible people for the attractions. They make the music all the time, there’s no professional bands or whatever to entertain the audience. Then, there’s a stage for amateur models and actors. Artists like painters and photographers expose their stuff at a hallway there.”

Taehyung’s brows furrow, “Painters and photographers, huh?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Am I being lead into a trap?”

Jeongguk chuckles, “If you’re asking me if I’m dragging you to an art festival to show you that amateur talent can amaze people, then yes, that is my main goal. I don’t intend to go there for that only, though. I think it’s healthy entertainment and we might have fun together.”

“You do realize I won’t change my mind about a steady job because I see some good art, right?” Taehyung asks, feeling a little bad for saying it, but knowing how necessary it is, “I might have a lot of fun, I actually do every time I’m with you, but that’s probably not going to change a thing.”

Jeongguk nods, smiling as the tilts his head to support it on the window, “Don’t worry, hyung. I wouldn’t force you into anything. We’re just going to have some fun together and anything that comes with it, I’ll take it. Okay?”

Taehyung exhales, breaking into a smile, “Okay, tricky.”

***

The art festival is like an outdoor party with a lot of lights and a huge amount of people.

Taehyung didn’t expect that many people to enjoy something like amateur art, but he feels a bit warm inside to know that, in fact, they do. It’s beautiful, and the song playing sounds like home. He can ever hear a little Daegu accent in the amplified voice of that singer. It makes him smile.

“Come on,” Jeongguk says, “Namjoon said they’ll meet us at the models’ session. It’s pretty convenient to him.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

They walk through lots of people, and Jeongguk’s hand always keeps a safe distance from Taehyung’s, ghosting over it, but never grabbing. Taehyung smiles slightly to himself he notices Jeongguk must remember the talk they had about handholding. He loves feeling like he can talk about anything and Jeongguk will gladly listen to it.

“Woah, look at that,” Taehyung mumbles, smiling as he notices a few paintings and photos around them. Those are some beautiful jobs, and he can’t believe they’re all amateur, “Are you sure there are no professional ones?”

“A hundred percent,” Jeongguk affirms, smiling proudly, “Those are from underappreciated people with a lot of talent. Does it sound familiar?”

Taehyung rolls his eyes jokingly, frowning as he notices a bit of agitation a few feet before them. Jeongguk smiles for some reason and walks more firmly towards a group of people that seems to be surrounding someone.

“What’s happening there?” Taehyung asks.

Jeongguk smirks, “Someone famous.”

They elbow a few people to get to the center of that mess, and, when they do, Taehyung’s eyes go wide. He comprehends it now, completely, because, standing before them is RM, one of the most famous models in South Korea.

“Oh, shit,” Taehyung says, giving Jeongguk a widened-eye stare, “When you said Namjoon, you meant…”

“Kim Namjoon,” Jeongguk completes, smiling harder, “Also known as RM. My best friend and a worldwide model. Yes.”

Namjoon is looking as good as Taehyung saw him in magazines. His hair is purple, which he hasn’t seen before, which means it is probably recent, and he’s smiling and greeting people as sympathetically as someone can be. Taehyung has never seen a celebrity live, and, as he realizes that, if this is Jeongguk’s friend, it’s at his house that he’s saying, he widens his eyes even more.

When Namjoon’s eyes find Jeongguk, his face lightens up.

“Jeongguk-ah,” Namjoon smiles widely, drawing all the eyes to Jeongguk as he walks up to him and brings him into a hug, “I can’t believe your lazy ass actually came this time.”

“Don’t embarrass me,” Jeongguk says, scrunching his nose, “Where are your bodyguards?”

“I ran away from them a few minutes ago. I think they’ll find me again soon,” Namjoon says, and then he seems to notice Taehyung beside Jeongguk and smiles, “Hey. You must be Taehyung. Jimin said you’re the love of Jeongguk’s life.”

Jeongguk groans, “Jimin hates me.”

“That’s me,” Taehyung confirms, smiling at Namjoon, “It’s really nice to meet you. It’s too bad Jeongguk failed in telling me that the friend I was meeting is famous.”

“Well, to be fair, you didn’t ask.”

“Jeongguk tends to do that a lot,” Namjoon says, “But he’s a softie with a punk face, so, please, take care of him.”

Taehyung laughs softly, enjoying the way he sees Jeongguk’s ears go red, “I’ll make sure to do my best.”

“We should probably go find your bodyguards and a peaceful spot,” Jeongguk suggests, patting Namjoon’s shoulder, “Then you can tell me about what it feels like to have your boyfriend becoming more famous than you at the best thing you do.”

“Wait,” Taehyung says, blinking, “You said his boyfriend’s name is Yoongi. As in, Min Yoongi, the model?”

Namjoon squints at Jeongguk, “What did you tell him?”

“Nothing about you guys.”

Namjoon sighs, “Yes, that Min Yoongi. He signed the contract after I did and now people like him better than me. It’s his luck that I love him.”

“You’re gross,” Jeongguk observes, “Come on, let’s go somewhere less crowded.”

Taehyung finds himself a little — maybe a lot — impressed at the way Namjoon walks away from the crowd with friendly looks and nice greetings. It must be nice to be a fan of someone so dedicated.

The bodyguards seem to find them soon enough, and they’re both huge and very grumpy, but they mention nothing as Namjoon indicates Jeongguk and Taehyung to let them know they’re with him. People are still staring at them, but the bodyguards seem to intimidate them enough not to get too close.

“Yoongi went home to buy us some food for tomorrow,” Namjoon says, walking calmly. He looks even more handsome in person, Taehyung notices, “Apparently, Jimin is bringing his boyfriend too, so we didn’t have enough.”

“Sorry for the trouble,” Taehyung says, and Namjoon smiles sympathetically.

“Don’t apologize. We love it when Jeongguk and Jimin save some of their precious time for us,” he says, elbowing Jeongguk gently, “Do you know Jimin’s boyfriend? It’s your chance to tease him at least half of what he’s teased you.”

Jeongguk squints, “What else did he say?”

“That you and Taehyung would be married by the end of the year.”

Taehyung fake-pouts, “You were planning on proposing to me before properly taking me out to dinner? All I do with you is sit at the bar and drink. That’s not a relationship for marriage.”

“Y’know, I could say I missed it when we were less close and didn’t really say those things to each other, but we started out this way, didn’t we?” Jeongguk laughs, grabbing Taehyung’s chin delicately to place a kiss on his cheek, “I was actually going to propose to you here, but they ruined the surprise.”

“Oh, that explains a lot,” Taehyung says, winking at Namjoon, “Thank you. I was going to say ‘no’ anyway.”

Namjoon smiles, glancing fondly at Jeongguk, “I think you guys look cute together. I’m glad the bad boy façade didn’t stop you from finding a nice guy.”

“Why are you talking like I’m legit marrying someone,” Jeongguk mumbles, sighing, “It was a bad idea. Taehyung, pack your stuff, we’re going back to the bar.”

“They’re literally all packed.”

“Oh.”

Namjoon laughs, “With all due respect, Taehyung, the two of you are idiots.”

“There’s no respect to that,” Jeongguk warns Taehyung, and he shrugs.

“It’s true, though.”

“Hey, are you guys hungry?” Namjoon asks, “I heard there’s a pizza tent somewhere. Should we go find it?”

Taehyung nods immediately, “Yes, please.”

“When does Jimin arrive?” Jeongguk asks Namjoon, frowning as he follows him towards the spot they imagine that contains the pizza tent, “It’s one a.m. already. He should be here to enjoy the first day.”

“Maybe he pulled over somewhere,” Taehyung suggests.

“If his boyfriend is half as bad he is,” Namjoon drawls, tilting his head, “They might be having some car sex right now.”

“First, ew,” Jeongguk lets out, contorting his face, “That’s not an image I need in my mind.”

“Well, sucks to be you. There, the pizza tent.”

They eat pizza together and Taehyung learns that Namjoon got recruited by his modelling agency years ago at one of those art festivals. Apparently, Namjoon had plenty of dreams, unlike Jeongguk or Jimin, and he went for it the harder as he could. A few professionals from the agency went to take a look around and he caught their eye immediately. That’s when his brilliant career started.

Then, there’s Yoongi. Namjoon’s voice drips affection when talking about him, and Taehyung thinks it’s more than adorable. Yoongi had always thought that being a model was interesting, and he met Namjoon at one of the art festivals before Namjoon got recruited. They became friends and started dating at Namjoon’s second year as a model. Namjoon tells with a laugh that Jeongguk didn’t approve their relationship because he thought Yoongi was trying to screw his way to the top.

“Give me a break,” Jeongguk says, sighing, “I didn’t know him and he had started dating you after you started becoming famous. How was I supposed to know it was actually love?”

“I literally had a crush on him since day one,” Namjoon tells Taehyung, ignoring Jeongguk’s defense, “And when Yoongi finally showed interest, Jeongguk and Jimin tried interfering. They legit thought Yoongi would stay with me until he got himself a job and then dump me.”

“He did get that interview because of you.”

“It’s been years since he’s famous and we’re still together,” Namjoon declares, clearly proud, “Joke’s on you.”

Jeongguk sighs, leaning towards Taehyung to support his head on his shoulder. Taehyung laughs softly, burying his fingers in Jeongguk’s hair and massaging his scalp smoothly, “I always thought you and Yoongi looked cute on the magazines I read.”

Namjoon looks at him curiously, “You read magazines? It’s rare these days. People usually find us on the internet.”

“I work for a magazine, actually,” Taehyung confesses, “Writing useless articles, but still there.”

“Did I ever take pictures for you guys?”

“I don’t think so,” Taehyung says, shrugging, “I mean, I wouldn’t know. They don’t let me meet the famous people.”

Namjoon smiles, “Well, now you know the famous people without needing to hire them for it. You’re a step forward.”

“What’s with this gross couples and friendships around this place? I want to have fun!”

Taehyung smiles as Jimin’s melodic, ever so fun voice hits their ears. He’s wearing some colorful clothes tonight, but he’s still full of earrings and rings. Hoseok looks less extravagant and more comfy with a rainbow sweater. Taehyung thinks they’re a good-looking couple with a nice contrast.

“You look adorable,” Taehyung tells Hoseok once they’ve approached enough, and Hoseok gives him a familiar smile.

“Thanks. You look better than I do,” he says, but, once he notices Namjoon, his eyes go wide, “Wait, are you…”

“Here we go again,” Jeongguk sings, looking at Taehyung and smiling. It feels really happy to be like that, and Taehyung thinks it might be worth wasting a day that could be used to work. After all, this feels much more effective than work.

Half an hour later, Taehyung finds out that Namjoon isn’t the only one who looks even more handsome in person, because his boyfriend, Min Yoongi, looks stunning in his white t-shirt and clearly legitimately Gucci coach over it. Unlike the things the magazines say, Yoongi isn’t reserved and cold, not even at first. He greets everyone happily although composedly, and Taehyung notices a gummy slime that never shows up in pictures.

“So, you guys are our friends’ respective boyfriends,” Yoongi says, smiling at Taehyung and Hoseok, “My one and only question is, how can you handle them? We had to get rid of them after a while because they were getting so annoying…”

“May I remind you that you texted me one of these days telling me that you’ve missed us?” Jeongguk cuts him, pretending to shrink and smiling as Yoongi squints at him.

“Gguk, shut up, will you?”

“Gguk,” Taehyung repeats, looking at Jeongguk, “That’s a cute nickname.”

“Please, don’t.”

“I’ll call you that from now on,” he proceeds, “Gguk. Gguk-ah. Ggukkie.”

“Yoongi-hyung, take responsibility for this.”

Taehyung’s phone vibrates on his pocket and he ceases his laugh as he reads Seokjin’s name on the screen. He excuses himself and moves to a less noisy spot, picking up with his brows slightly furrowed, “Hello?”

“Hey, Tae. How are you doing?”

“I’m… fine. Did something happen?”

“No, no, relax. Our editor-in-chief just asked me to call you and ask you to rewrite the last article on the best shoes’ brands.”

Taehyung frowns, “Why? What was wrong about it?”

“Nothing. One of the brands signed with another magazine and he got mad, that’s all. Am I interrupting something? I can hear music on the background there.”

“Oh, I mean, not really. I’m at this art festival. Jeongguk brought me.”

“So it’s serious between the two of you, huh?”

“Slow down,” Taehyung laughs, “We’re with a few friends of his. Hey, listen to this! Do you know Kim Namjoon?”

“Do you mean RM? Yes, of course.”

“He’s here! He’s Jeongguk’s friend.”

“Are you kidding? Taehyung, we’ve been trying to get in touch with RM for a photoshoot since forever. Do you think you can get him to call us?”

Taehyung hesitates, “Jin-hyung, I’m not sure about this. It’s kind of a day off to him.”

“Tae, this would be really good for the magazine. Come on, I’m sure our supervisors would reward you really well if you did this for us. We’ll let you choose anything.”

“Anything?” Taehyung asks, chewing on his bottom lip.

“Yes, anything.”

Taehyung stops, looking over at his group of friends. He knows Namjoon must cost a lot for being such a famous model, but he also knows every photoshoot is good for his career. If the magazine ends up not making him interested, he’s free to turn them down.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

***

Taehyung arrives at the bar with a magazine in hands and an excited smile on his face.

Jimin is already there, drinking something that Taehyung would easily bet that it’s soju. Jeongguk is taking someone’s order a few seats away from him and Hoseok is filling a glass of wine.

It’s been a month since the art festival.

“Hey, Jiminie,” Taehyung greets as he sits beside Jimin, smiling at him and placing the magazine on the counter between them, “Here it is.”

Jimin’s eyes widen and he smiles brightly, leaning over the counter to try and get Jeongguk’s and Hoseok’s attention, “This is so exciting. It feels like it’s my photos at the magazine.”

Jeongguk gets there first, smiling instinctively as he sees Taehyung, “Hey. Are you going to order or—“

“The magazine’s out,” Jimin interrupts him, and Jeongguk looks at Taehyung, seeking his confirmation. Taehyung nods excitedly and Hoseok approaches from behind Jeongguk.

“Did I just hear that? If it’s out, let me see the pictures!”

Taehyung immediately flips through the pages, looking for the ones he’s been staring at for the past few hours at work. He can still feel Seokjin’s arms around him as he gave him a congratulatory hug earlier, and he’s feeling a little giggly inside, a little anxious, a little more alive.

Namjoon looks as beautiful in the pictures as he could. He agreed so easily to take those that Taehyung had to ask him for a few more days if he was so sure about that. Gladly, his agency thought it was a good idea to sign with a magazine that wasn’t so famous to prove that he wasn’t looking for more fame than he already had, but to please people with his work. There’s plenty of pictures there, and there’s more on the internet.

When they get to the final page of his pictures, Taehyung’s eyes immediately run to the end of the page, where those little words are shinning brighter than anything else there.

Photos taken by Kim Taehyung.

“Woah, they look amazing,” Jimin says, grabbing Taehyung’s shoulders happily and hugging him, “Congratulations, Taetae.”

“They’re really beautiful,” Hoseok affirms, smiling proudly, “Your work is amazing, Taehyung.”

Jeongguk is smiling at him too, and it’s almost blinding, because all Taehyung can think about right now is that he probably wouldn’t have dared to ask for that opportunity if it weren’t for him.

But then again, he wouldn’t be half as happy for half the reasons he is now if it weren’t for him.

He stands up from his seat, grabs the collar of Jeongguk’s shirt gently and pulls him closer, widening his smile as their noses brush against each other. Then, he leans forward again and captures Jeongguk’s lips in a kiss. He can barely recognize the couple of whistles he hears from around them.

Taehyung wouldn’t call his life boring a few months ago.

He used to think it was an overstatement, and that he didn’t have to act like his life was boring, because he had something to do. Although it was always the same thing, he had a nice routine. He couldn’t call that boring.

Right now, though, he thinks he might. Because anything before Jeon Jeongguk feels boring to him.