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Beomgyu’s face was definitely one of the few joys in life, Taehyun thought. He loved looking at him, in all his emotions and expressions. When Beomgyu listened to him, his eyes sparkling with interest, Taehyun swore his heart would beat twice as fast in his chest. When he scrunched his face up in confusion, focusing on the task in front of him whether it was a very simple Ikea chair or an online midterm, Taehyun remembered how and why he’d fallen for him so fast. And when Beomgyu smiled, when he laughed, Taehyun’s whole world shook. As if it was just him and Beomgyu in the room, everything else falling away into nothingness.
It’s not like Taehyun needed anyone but Beomgyu, anyway.
Suffice to say, Taehyun couldn’t look away from the other’s side profile as he sat patiently next to him on the subway, his left hand holding tightly onto Taehyun’s right. He held his phone in his other hand, scrolling leisurely through a random social media app. Taehyun glanced up at the subway map, noting their stop in his head before he gently fell against Beomgyu’s shoulder.
“Tired?” He heard Beomgyu mumble in his ear, his body shaking with a chuckle or two. Taehyun just shook his head, moving his head to look Beomgyu in the eyes, his mouth pressed against Beomgyu’s soft arm.
“No, not tired. Just thinking about everything we need to do before 6pm.” He replied, big eyes staring up at his boyfriend. Beomgyu smiled, nodding, before glancing back at his phone.
“I know what you mean, but we can do it. And then, tomorrow, you can sleep in as late as you want, you’re off work until Tuesday, right?” Beomgyu nudged his thigh, making the younger close his eyes and nod. He took a deep breath, inhaling the warm and comforting scent of his boyfriend to ground him. “Besides, we’re gonna have fun tonight with everyone else. It’s a well deserved break, for both of us.” Taehyun felt a gentle kiss being left on the side of his head, and he smiled again, tightening his hold on Beomgyu’s arm.
Before long, they were standing as the train slowed to a stop. They kept their hands interlocked as they walked, up the stairs and down the busy street. It was late morning, so it wasn’t too busy along the sidewalks; most people were busy at work. The emptiness widened the pathway—Taehyun could dawdle along the concrete today as opposed to wrapping himself around Beomgyu’s arm and taking quick steps on a more hectic day.
A couple minutes later, the two found themselves in the produce section of a nearly empty supermarket. An old lady pushed her cart slowly by them as Beomgyu inspected the array of tomatoes on display. Taehyun pushed his shoulder, biting back a laugh. “Just pick one, you nerd.”
Beomgyu stood up straight, turning fully toward the younger, his hands out in faux-exasperation. “Gordon Ramsey taught me how to spot a good tomato on last night’s episode of Masterchef, Tyun! I need to make sure we get the best ones.” He whined, and Taehyun couldn’t help it—he let out a rather loud laugh, stepping away slightly as he lost his balance in his laughter. From the corner of his eye, he could see the old woman from earlier glance at them, annoyed.
“You are ridiculous,” Taehyun whispered to him, remnants of the large smile he often wore still present on his face. Beomgyu just smiled back at him, before grabbing three random tomatoes and plopping them into the plastic baggy he held in his hand. “You didn’t even check those!”
“They’re tomatoes, Tyun. Jeez, you’re a bit picky today, aren’t you?” Beomgyu joked, tying the baggy off and placing it softly in their cart. Taehyun rolled his eyes, grabbing the handle of the cart to push it out of the produce, Beomgyu giggling behind him.
“Should we get more paper plates?” Taehyun asked, rolling the cart to a stop in front of the biodegradable cutlery. Beomgyu lifted his head in thought, most likely trying to remember how many they had in the cupboard. He locked eyes with Taehyun, shrugging. Taehyun grabbed a pack, just in case. “Did Soobin mention any dishes he and Yeonjun might be bringing? I know Kai told me he’s bringing these cookies from a bakery he swears by.”
Beomgyu nodded his head from side to side, as if he was trying to remember the details of his last conversation with Soobin. He watched Taehyun grab a bottle of vegetable oil, inspecting the prices listed on the shelf. “I think he may have said something about a noodle dish that Yeonjun wants to make. I’m not sure about anything specific.” He answered wistfully, taking the vegetable oil from Taehyun’s hand and placing it in the cart.
The aforementioned turned to look at him, a wave of genuine worry and concern across his face. “You don’t think he’s going to make that one garlic noodle dish he used to make us all the time back in Uni, right?”
Beomgyu sucked his teeth, forcing down a bubble of laughter that threatened to come out. “Possibly,” he mused, watching as Taehyun inspected him with an arched brow; he let out a breath of laughter, “maybe…” his boyfriend pinched his arm, causing Beomgyu to yelp around a giggle, “okay, yes, he is. I’m sorry!”
Taehyun groaned, throwing his head back. “You are so annoying.” He huffed, turning and pushing the cart down the aisle. Beomgyu skipped after him, throwing an arm around his waist in an apology.
Taehyun smiled despite himself.
There’s a small squirrel tattoo on Beomgyu’s bicep. The dark lines contrast beautifully along his pale skin, and Taehyun’s pretty sure he cried the day Beomgyu got it done and showed him proudly. He never thought he mattered enough to get an entire tattoo done in his honor, but as Beomgyu had proven time and time again, he would always have at least one person in his corner.
Said squirrel tattoo is currently peeking out underneath Beomgyu’s short sleeve, as he had shed his coat the second they entered the warm restaurant to grab a bite to eat to go. The sight of it lifted Taehyun’s mood, and he willed himself not to cling onto his boyfriend’s tattooed arm.
“Tell me about work.” Taehyun had begun, leaning against the wall as they patiently waited for their takeout order to be completed.
Beomgyu smiled at him, shrugging. “I dunno, it’s work. Same old shit…except the other day, I did get this really interesting email from this one mom.” He sighed, shifting his eyes to the restaurant in front of them. Taehyun kept his eyes trained on the older.
Beomgyu worked as a full-time guitar, piano, and percussion teacher at a music school nearby. He was extremely passionate about his job, as he’d always enjoyed taking care of kids and teaching them new things, so he combined that with his love of all things music. It really was the perfect occupation for him, and Taehyun couldn’t be prouder that he was doing something that he would never grow bored of.
“Oh?” Taehyun prompted, nudging his arm. “Do tell.”
Beomgyu let out a sharp laugh, crossing his arms over his chest. “So, she emails me at, like, 6 in the goddamn morning, right? I’m still asleep and everything. I roll over, grab my phone, and open the email. It’s this long ass paragraph complaining about how her daughter has taken a couple classes with me and still isn’t able to play basic notes. I’m extremely confused because, hello, who even are you? I don’t even recognize the name on the email.
“I email her back like, hi, not to sound rude or anything, but who’s your daughter? I’m sure we can get to the bottom of this . And she emails me back, like, five minutes later telling me her daughter’s name and I still don’t recognize it. At this point, I’m ninety-five percent sure she’s not one of my students. So, I ask her what instrument her daughter plays, and guess what she responds with.” Beomgyu turned his head toward Taehyun, who was watching and listening intently.
“What?” He asked, chewing on his lower lip.
“She said she plays the violin!” Beomgyu laughed, throwing his hands into the air. “This woman spent hours complaining about me only for me to be the wrong person to complain about. I don’t even teach violin!”
Taehyun let out a breath of laughter, rolling his eyes and leaning against Beomgyu’s side. The older man threw an arm around his shoulders. “Did you refer her to the right teacher?” He asked.
“I referred her to the head of the orchestral department. No idea who her instructor could be, since there’s like four violin teachers at the school.” Beomgyu shrugged, pulling Taehyun closer to him. “All in all, it was just a weird morning for me.”
Taehyun hummed, basking in the warmth of Beomgyu’s grip. “I can imagine.” He opened his mouth to say more, when he was interrupted by the sharp call of his name for their food. He smiled, untangling himself from the other and bounding over to the pickup counter to grab the bag their food was in.
An hour or so later, Beomgyu and Taehyun sat on their living room floor across from each other, both eating diligently from the takeout containers. Taehyun’s legs were criss-cross atop their comfy rug, and he had changed into the pair of sweatpants he had on earlier that morning.
“This is so good,” Beomgyu said around a mouthful of food, “I think I found our new favorite place for takeout.”
Taehyun laughed, covering his mouth with his hand politely. “I’m just glad this area has good food.” He replied, finishing off his portion.
It was quiet for a moment again, as the two chewed their food happily. A few minutes later, Taehyun found himself lying his body along Beomgyu’s lap, the older’s fingers coursing through his black hair. If Taehyun was a cat, he’d be purring right about now.
“We should start cooking soon, sleepyhead.” Beomgyu mumbled, pressing a gentle finger to the side of Taehyun’s nose. The younger grumbled under his breath—something about being so comfortable and not wanting to get up—but he knew his boyfriend was right. If he wanted their food to be anywhere close to finished by the time their friends arrived later that night, they had to start soon.
Taehyun opened his eyes, Beomgyu’s gentle face immediately coming to his vision. He smiled without thinking, reaching a hand up to softly cup his cheek. The sight of his boyfriend looking at him, so sweetly, was enough to remind him of how lucky he was to be here and to have Beomgyu in his life. It was one of the reasons Taehyun loved his face so much—he just had the innate ability to calm him down with something as simple as a smile.
“Ready?” Beomgyu mumbled, leaning down to place a kiss on Taehyun’s nose, where he had been caressing with his finger before. Taehyun nodded, staring back up at him.
“Let’s get cooking, baby.”