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The first thing Taehyun wanted to do after their quarantine ended was go grocery shopping.
The fourteen days the two were stuck in their small apartment had taken a massive hit to their refrigerator. Taehyun had made good use of the little ingredients they had left for a couple days, making small but filling dinners so they wouldn’t have to go the expensive delivery app route, like they had so often before. It was kind of blessing to live in such a day and age in which someone could literally do your grocery shopping for you and drop it off at your door, but after looking at the bill for that one particular InstaCart order, they had silently agreed they wouldn’t be utilizing the service anymore (if they could help it).
It wasn’t until the day before their quarantine ended that Taehyun put his foot down and announced their upcoming trip to the market as soon as they were both clear to exit their home.
(Also, Beomgyu was ready to get out of the shared living space. He loved his home, he loved Taehyun, and to some extent he loved Hobak, but it was starting to suffocate him a little–not being able to leave, even for five minutes.)
“Where do you wanna go?” Beomgyu had asked the younger man on the night before their quarantine was supposed to end. He was at the sink, washing the dishes they had used to eat just an hour or so before. He looked behind him to see Taehyun cracking open a can of cat food for Hobak to eat, although the cat was nowhere to be seen. For once.
“I was thinking like, one of the healthier groceries around here. You need healthy food after stuffing your face with junk for two weeks.” Taehyun replied pointedly, not looking up at his boyfriend as he emptied the cat food into the small bowl.
“Um,” Beomgyu’s washing paused, and he turned all the way around to face Taehyun, his hands dripping soap onto the kitchen floor. “I have not been eating junk. We are eating the same things, Tae.”
Taehyun just gave him a look, tossing the cat food can into the garbage can. He wiped his hands on his pajama pants, before whistling and calling for Hobak to come eat.
“Okay, fine. We can go to Trader Joe’s, since it’s the closest.” Beomgyu conceded, continuing where he left off with the dishes. He heard Taehyun make a noise of affirmation, before it was quiet for a bit. Then, he felt arms slide around his waist and a head fall gently onto his shoulder. Taehyun stood quietly behind the older man, taking the time to cuddle him standing up.
“Can we go to the Korean market too? I need more gochujang.” He mumbled into Beomgyu’s shoulder blade. Beomgyu reached down and ran his fingers over Taehyun’s arm that was wrapped around his waist. “And that ginger tea brand I like, please.”
“Sure,” Beomgyu nodded, smiling when Taehyun pressed a chaste kiss to his neck in response, mumbling something about his pretty Beomie . “Flattery will get you nowhere, Kang.”
Taehyun pulled away, moving to stand beside his boyfriend with his eyes narrowed in faux-annoyance. “What flattery? I’m just showing you my love, is that so bad? I can stop, if you want me to.” Beomgyu just grinned at him, before flicking water in his direction in response.
“Fresh air!” Beomgyu stuck his nose up, breathing in deeply. Taehyun hit him in the shoulder, taking his apartment key out of his pocket and putting it into the door, locking it promptly. “What? I’m serious. I think I was starting to go crazy, I swear Hobak started talking to me.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Taehyun replied, pocketing his keys and wrapping a hand around Beomgyu’s arm to lead him down to the car park. When Beomgyu made a sound of indignation, Taehyun decided to humor him. “What was he saying?”
“Oh, just what I thought he’d say if he could talk. Something about you being overbearing, feeding him too much, yada yada…” Beomgyu said wistfully, laughing when Taehyun slapped his shoulder again.
“You know what, just for that, you’re driving.” Taehyun huffed as they reached the car, which hadn't been touched in weeks. Beomgyu raised an eyebrow at him, going over to the driver’s side.
“I was already going to drive.” He laughed, as they both climbed into the car. Taehyun shook his head, mumbling something about how that didn’t matter. Beomgyu just let out another laugh, putting the key into the ignition and starting the car. Taehyun plugged his phone into the aux, scrolling for a little as Beomgyu exited the small parking garage. He settled on a song that Beomgyu recognized instantly, “0310” by Baek Yerin. The soloist was an artist the two of them liked to listen to a lot, the album that particular song was from being their favorite. Sometimes, Taehyun requested Beomgyu put it on while they were sitting in the kitchen doing their work together. Beomgyu smiled softly to himself at the memories and at the fact Taehyun was mumbling the song to himself as it played.
“My sea” by IU was on by the time Beomgyu pulled the car into the store parking lot (he and Taehyun still reeling from the giggles that they let out after simultaneously deciding to scream-sing the last chorus of the song together), IU’s voice fading out softly as Beomgyu pulled into a parking space. Taehyun turned to his boyfriend and stopped him from turning the car off immediately.
“Hey,” Taehyun narrowed his eyes in the direction of the other, leaning on the center console. Beomgyu turned his head to face him, an amused smile gracing his features. “We’re sticking to the list we made, got it? We have a strict budget, Choi.” He stuck a finger out and poked Beomgyu’s chest in emphasis.
“I am well aware of our budget,” Beomgyu countered, pushing Taehyun’s finger away playfully. “Before you say it, I won’t go near the toaster strudels. I am cutting my addiction off completely.”
Taehyun let out a small laugh, a noise Beomgyu would never grow tired of hearing from his boyfriend, and nodded firmly. “Let’s go then.”
“Beomgyu, please stop trying to ride the cart like a scooter.” Taehyun sighed, exasperated. Beomgyu pouted, skidding the grocery cart to a stop in front of the vegetable display. Taehyun started to look over the wide array of veggies laid out in front of him, phone in hand displaying the very specific grocery list they put together the night before.
“A head of lettuce right? You like making salads.” Beomgyu piped up, grabbing one of the plastic baggies the vegetables go in. Taehyun shrugged.
“You can get one if you want. I don’t think it’s on the list.” He mumbled in reply absentmindedly, way too focused on picking the perfect couple of cucumbers. The older man reached over and plucked the phone out of the younger’s hand, looking at the open grocery list himself. Taehyun didn’t blink at this, just using the hand that was previously being used to hold the phone to grab a few cucumbers and place them in a bag.
“We can skip on the lettuce then,” Beomgyu announced once Taehyun had refocused back on him. “I think we got everything in the produce area. Did you get those little baby tomatoes you like?” He glanced at his boyfriend, wide, curious eyes meeting Taehyun’s fond ones as they stared back at him.
“They’re called cherry tomatoes , Gyu.” Taehyun responded, smiling affectionately. “I did, they’re under the cucumbers I just put in the cart.” Beomgyu checked for himself, nodding when there was, indeed, a box of ‘cherry tomatoes’ under the newly picked cucumbers.
“Okay, then, like I said,” Beomgyu started again as Taehyun crossed back over to the end of the cart that the former was standing on. “We’re done in the produce aisle. Unless there’s anything else you want over here.”
“I kinda wanted some hummus but I don’t think that’ll be over here.” Taehyun mused, wrapping his hands around the handle of the cart and beginning to push it away. Beomgyu glanced around, shrugging.
“We’ll find the hummus, babe.”
They could not find the hummus.
“How is it possible for a grocery store to run out of hummus? Like…isn’t that a really popular thing for people to buy?” Beomgyu cried, exasperated, as the two searched the condiment aisle. They had gotten everything else on the list–their cart being nearly full–except for the hummus that Taehyun just happened to mention he’d like to have. Taehyun, being the considerate human being he was, had already tried to reassure his boyfriend that it didn’t matter, they can get it later, but Beomgyu was way too stubborn to just give up like that.
“Beom,” Taehyun started as Beomgyu began to wheel the cart back over to the produce aisle for the fifth time that afternoon. “It’s fine. I don’t need hummus that badly. I can get some another day.”
“No, Tyun, you’ve had to quarantine because of me for the past few weeks, the least I can do is get you some goddamn hummus.” Beomgyu bit out, surprising Taehyun so much he stopped dead in his tracks. Beomgyu stopped right after, already feeling bad about snapping at his boyfriend impulsively.
“Beomgyu, are you okay?” Taehyun asked gently, wrapping a hand around his arm. He pulled him into an empty aisle, away from the other people shopping leisurely. Beomgyu let out a small sigh and leaned his body into his boyfriend’s, letting the younger wrap his arms around his shoulders and pull him into a more comfortable hug.
“I swear I’m fine,” Beomgyu mumbled into Taehyun’s shoulder. “I just…felt really bad for having to keep you home because of something at my work, you know. It didn’t seem fair to you. I just hate feeling like a burden to you…to everyone.”
“Beom, you are not a burden, and you never will be a burden to me.” Taehyun said slowly, pulling back and placing his hands gently on the older boy’s cheeks. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead, before pulling back and making Beomgyu look him in the eyes. “Do you understand that?”
Beomgyu nodded solemnly. “I understand. I love you.” He responded, voice barely above a whisper. Taehyun smiled, squeezing his boyfriend’s cheeks a bit before pulling him back over to where their cart was waiting idly by.
“Fuck hummus, by the way. I don’t need it.” Taehyun teased, making Beomgyu roll his eyes and lean over to pinch the younger, Taehyun jumping out of the way just in time with a delighted laugh.
“Owww…” Beomgyu moaned in pain, dropping the six grocery bags he was carrying on the kitchen counter. Taehyun walked in after him, placing the two bags that were in his respective hands gently on the opposite counter.
“I told you not to take all six of those bags in one trip. We could’ve made two trips, Gyu.” Taehyun chastised him, bending down to greet Hobak, who had started to wrap himself around Taehyun’s legs.
“Did you really wanna go all the way down to the parking garage again to get, what, three bags? I saved us a ton of time.” Beomgyu argued, rubbing his fingers like they had been burned.
“You did save us time. But I would like you to take care of your fingers as well.” Taehyun grabbed his hand and kissed Beomgyu’s pointer finger softly, making Beomgyu’s vision go cross-eyed for a second. Taehyun grinned mischievously.
“You’re a sick, sick man, Kang.” Beomgyu whined as Taehyun pulled away and started putting the groceries away. Taehyun shrugged, his back to the older. A couple seconds later, he could feel hands snake around his waist and pull him back into Beomgyu’s chest, who then placed his chin on Taehyun’s shoulder.
“You drive me crazy.” Taehyun said after a few minutes of silence and leaning against each other. Beomgyu had started to slowly rub Taehyun’s side, reveling in the comfort of being with his other half.
“Crazy good or crazy bad?” Beomgyu asked, then stepped back when Taehyun made to turn around. Taehyun wrapped his arms around the older man's neck.
“Crazy good,” Taehyun hummed, playing a little with the collar of his boyfriend’s shirt. “You still give me butterflies. Like when you put your hands on my waist, I swear my heart almost exploded. How do you still do that?”
“I’m a man of many mysteries, Taehyun. I’ll never tell.” Beomgyu smirked, laughing a bit when Taehyun scoffed and rolled his eyes in response.
“You are so annoying.” The younger man mumbled before pulling the other into a gentle kiss, lips pressing together and Taehyun’s hand finding Beomgyu’s cheek in order to keep him locked in. Beomgyu immediately understood what his boyfriend was saying, for as soon as their lips slotted together, his heart sped up in his chest and fireworks exploded in his stomach.
Hobak’s meow broke them out of their kissing trance, and the two glanced down at their feet together to see the cat rubbing his head against Taehyun’s leg, begging for attention. Beomgyu laughed, throwing his head back.
“He’s talking to me again.” He smiled teasingly at Taehyun, who raised his eyebrow.
“Oh yeah? What’s he saying?”
“He’s saying we should get a room and stop bothering him in the kitchen.” Beomgyu giggled, wrapping his hands around Taehyun’s waist again to drag him to their bedroom, the younger man laughing with him all the way there.