Archive of Our Own ^beta

“I think most people call that codependency,” Yoongi muses as he spins his current favourite ballpoint pen between his fingers. His other hand smoothing out the bond paper over the entirety of his, well Taehyung’s, desk space.

Taehyung pauses his own emotional distress to grant his best friend a look of sympathy, architecture was art if it was devoid of its soul. Yoongi always refutes this but Taehyung can’t imagine using skills he’s honed over years to draw skyscrapers and stairs. Especially under the restraints of “practicality” and “realism”. This is exactly why he is in the fine arts department, focusing on abstract art.

“Most people are also bitter or single or both.”

Yoongi ceases his ministrations with the pen. “Fair point. However, I still think this is not that big of a deal?”

“What do you mean not that big of a deal? The last time we were apart I’m pretty sure a significant portion of my heart fell off and disintegrated. This time he’s going away for two entire months! My organs are on the brink of collapse, Yoons.”

“Neither one of those things is scientifically possible actually. Also can’t you just say I’m sad my boyfriend is leaving the country for two months, must you be so dramatic?”

Taehyung chucks the first thing he can get his hand on at Yoongi’s head, then he realises said object is Jeongguk’s hoodie and he scurries to get it back. He pulls it over his head and lets the buttery soft sensation engulf him. If there’s one thing his boyfriend will splurge on, it’s good quality hoodies, much to Taehyung’s satisfaction.

“I’m going to miss him a lot,” Taehyung laments, the heartache so loud in his voice even Yoongi can hear.

Yoongi heaves a sigh and sets down his pen so that he can join Taehyung on the bed, all it takes is for him to stretch his arm across the pillow for the younger to slot himself next to his hyung. “It’s going to be alright. When I did the student exchange program in Japan, that was for half a year, and you were fine.”

“That’s different. I had Jeongguk and Jimin with me all the time. Plus, it’s not like I wanted to kiss you or sleep with you.”

Yoongi meets his gaze with an unimpressed stare. “So that’s the actual problem, your libido?”

“No!” Taehyung says, sitting up straight to fully deny Yoongi’s implications. He’s not sad that he isn’t going to get some for two months, he’s sad that he won’t have any part of Jeongguk for two months. Which includes his…. nether regions, but that’s not the point.

But Yoongi continues, “It’s not like there aren’t alternatives. I’ve heard video call sex is all the rage these days.”

“Can you try to not sound like you were born during the same time as my literal father?”

Any other time, he’d probably find something to launch at Taehyung in response to a hoodie being thrown at him earlier, but Yoongi simply pulls him back down into his side. Knowing full well that it settles him, and also makes him less snarky.

It’s not long before he feels Taehyung’s heartbeat slow down, the tempo akin to that of the soft jazz sounds he’s always got playing on his vinyl.

“This is what I’m going to miss,” Taehyung admits, nestling farther into the crook of Yoongi’s neck. “Being so close to him all the time. Even when we’re fucking, like yeah we’re both incredible at it.” He doesn’t have to see Yoongi’s face to know he’s rolling his eyes. “But for me, most of the time, it’s just having him so near to me. You know how I am, I need to be able to touch him and hold him. Phone calls aren’t going to cut it.”

It’s a hard thing to say but he knows it’s been all his thought about since Jeongguk told him about the football camp. A once in a lifetime chance to train in Europe, training with players he’s looked up to since he started playing the sport in middle school.

As expected, Yoongi asks the question, “Do you want him to stay?”

“Of course I do, but if he did, I’d kick his ass.” And it’s true, he doesn’t want Jeongguk to leave. But he knows that an opportunity like this is not something he can miss out on, especially if his reason is a sulky, potentially codependent boyfriend.

“So what now?”

Before he can answer, a knock on the perpetually open door gets their attention.

“I haven’t even left yet and you’re already trying to steal my boyfriend? Not cool Yoongi-hyung.” Jeongguk’s got that teasing smile on his face that makes his eyes shine even brighter.

Yoongi pushes himself away from Taehyung, not because of what Jeongguk said but because he knows how handsy these two are and he does not want to be intertwined into it. “If only it was that interesting, this one would not stop talking about you.”

Taehyung has long ago stopped blushing at the mention of his own infatuation with his boyfriend, he wears the love he has for him proudly on his sleeves and pants, and the array of accessories that pull his outfits together.

“What a coincidence, Jiminie threw a cleat at me because I wouldn’t stop talking about you too.”

Concerned, Taehyung’s eyes widen. “Did he really?”

“Yeah, but it was weak. Even if I didn’t duck it wouldn’t have hit me,” he says and it placates Taehyung. Jimin is their goalie, he has an incredible aim. If he wanted to, Jeongguk probably would have been adorning a stud-shaped bruise.

“Anyway, since practice is clearly done, your captain is buying me dinner. Don’t move my papers, I’ll get them tomorrow. And please don’t fuck on the table, cum stains bond paper.”

Both Taehyung and Jeongguk share a mischievous look before simultaneously asking. “How do you know that?”

“The last time the two of you fucked over the table when I left my drawings here.” Which effectively shuts both of them up.

Yoongi grabs his pen and tucks it behind his ear, as he leaves, he calls over his shoulder. “Unlike the two of you, Hoseok-ah and I aren’t insatiable.”

He even closes the door behind himself. Everyone in the dorm knows that the only time Taehyung’s room door is closed is when Jeongguk is over and they do not want to be disturbed.

“Does everyone think we’re constantly horny?” Taehyung asks.

Jeongguk shrugs off his jacket and hangs it over the chair by Taehyung’s desk before joining him on the bed. It’s something they don’t even have to think about at this point, the way their bodies mould into one another. TaehyungandJeongguk.

“Yeah. But they’re not entirely wrong.”

He throws a leg over Taehyung’s waist and places each of his hands on the side of Taehyung’s head to support his weight. With that smile that’s just a little crooked, the one when he’s at his most comfortable, Jeongguk looks at his boyfriend.

“Hi baby.”

A soft, close-lipped smile —so different from the big, boxy grin he’s known for— spreads over Taehyung’s face. “Hi back.”

When they kiss it’s the softest kiss, Taehyung can taste the remnants of his liquorice-flavoured mouthwash still lingering on his lips. It’s an acquired taste for sure, but one he’s grown accustomed to after kissing Jeongguk so much after practice.

“So what were the Daegu boys gossiping about in my absence?” Jeongguk asks, gently lowering himself so that his body is splayed over Taehyung.

“You’ve got far too much muscle for this, bro, I can’t breathe.”

He nips gently at Taehyung’s collarbone in faux-annoyance, before flipping them over in a singular, swift motion. He pushes himself up so he’s more comfortable against Taeyhyung’s array of pillows and jostles his boyfriend so that his head can rest on Jeongguk’s chest.

“The fact that doing that is so easy for you will never stop being hot,” Taehyung says, a little breathless from the movement and the beginnings of arousal pooling in his belly.

Jeongguk’s tongue swipes across his lower lip, a habit that he knows works Taehyung up. He brings Taehyung’s face closer to his own for another kiss, this time going farther than a peck, as he takes his time coaxing his boyfriend’s mouth open. They’ve wasted away whole afternoons like this before, not even going any further. Just two boys making out and wandering hands over their clothes.

“You didn’t tell me what you and Yoongi were talking about,” Jeongguk notes when he pulls away. It takes him a second to drag his eyes away from Taehyung’s lips, pink and glistening slightly. A wave of wanting washing over him.

“We were talking about you having to leave and how I am going to decompose at extraordinary rates when you do,” Taehyung tells him honestly.

Jeongguk’s heart does that thing it always does when his boyfriend is being cute, skips a beat and then rushes to beat twice as fast. “And why exactly will you be decomposing?”

“I will shrivel up and die with no Jeongguk to water and feed me,” he answers like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

He can’t help the slight chuckle that tumbles out, much to Taehyung’s chagrin. “When did my boyfriend turn into a mushroom?”

“You could’ve chosen any flower or plant and you choose to call your most beloved a mushroom?”

“You know I don’t like flowers, too floral-ly for my nose.” His nose involuntarily scrunches as he says it and Taehyung wants to kiss it. “And I like mushrooms, especially the enoki ones. And I like you, especially when you’re next to me with your hair sticking up every which way.”

Jeongguk reaches up to smooth Taehyung’s hair down, he got it permed recently, and the curls are always unruly, but so soft to the touch. He lets his fingers card through his boyfriend's hair, who slackens against Jeongguk at the sensation.

“Gonna miss this the most.”

Jeongguk pauses with a ringlet wrapped around his forefinger. “Hm?”

“Going to miss going to sleep like this, with you next to me. Just want to touch you all the time, just want you to touch me all the time…. Is that clingy?”

He pretends to think about it for a moment as Taehyung watches him, big puppy eyes filled with expectation. “Yes, it is.”

Just before Taehyung’s face falls into that look of disappointment that makes Jeongguk feel like he single-handedly just destroyed the concept of joy itself, he calls Taehyung’s name.

“I love clingy.”

Appeased, Taehyung leans forward to kiss the mole right under Jeongguk’s lips. “Do you want me to massage your back?”

Jeongguk raises a brow in suspicion. Usually, he has to bribe Taehyung with at least three vanilla lattes to acquire a massage. “What gives? Did you do something wrong? Did you lose my ring?”

Taehyung smacks his chest, it’s gentle but firm enough to convey his annoyance. “First of all, why would you immediately think I did something wrong? And second of all, I was just trying to be a nice boyfriend since you seem beat from practice and it’ll be a while since it’s even a possibility that I can do it for you again.”

The longer he speaks the more a pout takes place until it curves around all of his words. Jeongguk wants to cocoon the two of them under his blankets and never leave this room for the rest of eternity. His boyfriend is cute.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. You’re right, you were just being sweet. I’d love a massage.”

But Taehyung is unimpressed. “Who said it was still on the table?”

Jeongguk guides his boyfriend’s face down to his own, hand at the back of Taehyung’s neck, and kisses him the way he knows unravels Taehyung. The unrushed, steady kind of kiss. The type of kiss where Jeongguk is licking and sucking and biting—the type that makes Taehyung feel like his mouth is being worshipped. A slow descent into madness.

When he pulls away Taehyung is buttercream—soft and oh, so sweet.

“What was that you were saying earlier?”

Taehyung tsks. “Just take off your shirt loser.”

With a satisfied grin, Jeongguk sits up and lifts his arms. Truth be told, he is not that tired, he could easily do it himself. He’s just as much into having Taehyung’s hands on him, as the latter is. Just not as vocal about it. Still, he can’t help the sigh of bliss when his boyfriend lifts the shirt over his head and discards it onto the chair—narrowly missing the desk filled with Yoongi’s drawing paper.

Adept fingers travel the expanse of Jeongguk’s chest. Lean muscle that always, always tightens in response to Taehyung’s touch. It always elicits that smug grin from the latter.

“Turn over,” Taehyung instructs him.

Jeongguk’s gaze shifts from Taehyung’s face to their waists, and then back. “It’s a little difficult with you on my lap, baby.”

He rises onto his knees to let Jeongguk flip over so that he is lying on his stomach, then slowly lowers himself down on the back of Jeongguk’s thighs. Football player thighs, Taehyung is convinced, are a gift from the angels themselves.

He reaches over to his nightstand to retrieve the peppermint oil he keeps solely for this purpose, with a flick over his fingernail he lifts the lid and pours a generous amount of the liquid onto his left hand. It’s something he doesn’t even have to think about at this point, knowing how long it takes the oil to warm up as he rubs his hands together and to start just where Jeongguk’s neck and back meet— where he holds most of his tension.

“My back is going to be in knots without this for two months,” Jeongguk murmurs.

Taehyung continues applying pressure as he works his way across his boyfriend’s shoulders. “Your heart better be in knots too.”

Jeongguk doesn’t respond, only sighing as the heel of Taehyung’s palm presses down on certain pressure points.

Taehyung coughs. No response.

Slightly annoyed, he stops massaging. Jeongguk doesn’t seem to notice, back steadily rising and falling and Taehyung knows that means he’s pretty close to falling asleep. That’s how he always gets after a massage.

He leans to the side so he can see Jeongguk’s face, and sure enough, his eyes are closed and his lips are slightly parted revealing his front teeth. Bunny. It dissipates all of the annoyance like marshmallows in hot chocolate and all he wants to do is hold onto him. What he does instead, is finish the massage, making sure to really dig his fingers into Jeongguk’s lower back. When it’s done, he gets off his boyfriend’s thighs and wipes his hand with a tissue (also on the nightstand for easy access).

He gets up to throw the tissue away, grabs his personal sketchbook and pencil as well, and joins Jeongguk on the bed. Most of the drawings, as cliche as it may be, are of Jeongguk. But it’s not Taehyung’s fault his boyfriend looks like that. It would be a crime not to draw him, honestly. He flips through until he finds an empty page and begins sketching, he has to concentrate a little more than usual, Jeongguk’s silhouette is something he has mastered but he’s never drawn him from this angle so he takes his time transferring what he’s seeing onto the paper. Drawing Jeongguk’s hair is probably one of his favourite things in this world, getting the texture, and the softness right, it’s so gratifying.

An hour passes by like that, as he adds more details to the piece, trying to forget that he won’t be seeing this in front of him for a while. He’s so focused on getting the shading right that he doesn’t notice Jeongguk stirring.

“Hey there pretty boy,” he greets, just as he finishes yawning. It’s when he looks over at his boyfriend, that he pushes himself up onto his elbows, and closer to Taehyung.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Jeongguk asks, searching Taehyung’s face for a reason as to why his eyes are brimming with tears.

The latter, only now realising Jeongguk is awake, blinks. A single tear trail follows the movement. “Hi. Oh, I’m crying. I didn’t even notice.”

Jeongguk doesn’t like how far away his voice sounds. He sits up completely now and turns so that he is facing Taehyung. “Are you okay?”

Taehyung’s eyes dart between him and the sketchbook, it’s clear that he’s trying to find the right words to say, looking for them in Jeongguk’s eyes or his drawing, the usual places he finds his clarity. All he manages to say is, “I’m going to miss you.”

Gently, his boyfriend takes the sketchbook from him, to look at the piece Taehyung had been working on. It’s clearly a sleeping Jeongguk from a few moments prior, and as always it’s so intimate. Something about the thick pencil strokes and purposefully smudged lines always gives Jeongguk insight into how much heart Taehyung puts into drawing him. He traces his forefinger along the outline of his own body and it’s like he can feel Taehyung’s heartbeat under it. With as much precision as he can muster, he puts the book on the nightstand and gently lifts Taehyung’s chin so he can look at him.

“I just kept thinking about all the time we spend together and how difficult it’s going to be to adjust to not having any of that. Sorry for crying.”

Jeongguk shakes his head. “None of that. I’ve cried at least a dozen times since I got the news. I don’t know if you’re aware but I’m kind of obsessed with spending time with you.”

Finally, he sees a smile starting to bunch up Taehyung’s cheeks, just a bit.

“It’s not like we won’t spend any time together at all. We can call and text and game together. Also, Jimin told me about this really cool sex toy, it has an app so we can, like, control it, it doesn’t matter how far we are. Crazy right? I ordered two.”

Taehyung’s laugh catches them both off guard; a deep, rich sound fills the space between them. “I’m crying about missing you and you’re ordering us sex toys. I love you.”

“That’s really cool because I love you too.” Then, as if he just registered the first part of Taehyung’s sentence, adds. “And it’s not just about the sex, it’s about having a tangible thing that we’re both connected to. I know how important that is to you.”

Taehyung is so besotted with this boy, so completely in love with him. He wants to plant kisses all over his face, and he does, because he can. He savours each one too. The kiss on his nose, his favourite feature of Jeongguk, the part of his face that’s just so him. The moles on the side of his face, and the one right under his mouth. The scar on his cheek. The landmarks of Jeongguk’s face make up his favourite journey.

When he sits back down, now with his thighs folded under him, he tries to give his most reassuring smile to Jeongguk. Despite it all, he doesn’t want his boyfriend to spend his time abroad, worrying about him.

“I hope you’re prepared for the number of letters I’m going to send you.”

Jeongguk scoffs. “Au contraire, I will be very upset if I don’t get them. Also, the lipstick you got from Yoongi as a gag gift, you should definitely use it to kiss the letters.”

“Where did you learn about that? Somebody sending you letters Jeon?” Taehyung asks, raising a brow in question.

“Tiktok. And no, everyone is scared of my boyfriend who growls when someone cheers too loud when I score.”

Taehyung pulls a face, “Don’t say it like that, I sound like a furry.”

Jeongguk stares at him, an amused grin on his face. 

“I’m not a furry!”

He closes his eyes and nods repeatedly. “Whatever you say, tiger cub.”

And really he can’t be blamed for what he does in response. Clearly, Jeongguk was goading him into action. So he bites him. Nothing too intense, just a soft pressure where his neck dips into his shoulder.

“This is not helping your case whatsoever,” Jeongguk says, trying to sound unaffected. But he can’t stop the full-body shiver that wracks through him. He’s a weak man when it comes to love bites, which Taehyung loves using to his advantage.

“Maybe everyone is right and we are insatiable,” Taehyung says, eyes trailing over Jeongguk’s chest. And his boyfriend is hot, this is not news to him.

He’s got a body carved from hours of training and hard work, sculpted and lean, and he is Taehyung’s personal wet dream come to life if he’s being completely transparent. But the wanting he feels can’t be attributed to that. It’s about the chest he can lay his head on and comfortably talk for hours, which reverberates with laughter every time he tells a particularly amusing story. It’s about strong arms that hold him when he’s anxious about an assignment and come barrelling into his room carrying food when Taehyung is pulling an all-nighter. It’s about that heartbeat that lulls him to sleep. It’s all so Jeongguk and Taehyung never knew a pair of arms could mean so much, and yet, when he thinks of home he thinks about them open and waiting for him.

If Jeongguk notices Taehyung’s sudden pensive mood, he doesn’t mention it. He lies down, on his back, and tugs the sleeve of his sweatshirt that Taehyung is wearing, motioning for him to join him. Taehyung happily complies, resting his head on his boyfriend’s bicep, so that their faces are barely inches apart.

Jeongguk smiles at him. The smile where his dimples are on display.

Taehyung engraves the image into his mind. The soft, muted light of dusk through his windows, the unruly state of his bedding because of all of their movement, Jeongguk as he smiles at him. His dimples. His eyes.

“It’s hard not being insatiable when my boyfriend is so hot,” Jeongguk admits, gaze falling on Taehyung’s mouth. Peach slices. He wants to sink his teeth in them.

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The silence that stretches over them is comfortable but dense; in a tangible way. The knowing of what’s to come settling in the space with them.

Jeongguk wordlessly shifts Taehyung closer to him, allowing him to bend his arm and tuck a few longer strands of hair behind his boyfriend’s ear. Then he gently combs his fingers through the curls. When he feels Taehyung’s body slacken against his own, it feels like being wrapped up in a scarf on a cold, snowy morning.

They stay like that, even after Taehyung falls asleep. Jeongguk simply continues threading his fingers through Taehyung’s hair and watches him as he sleeps. He counts his moles (seven, including the two on his ears and one on his neck), and his long eyelashes (at least a thousand he reckons).

He’s not at all surprised when his vision starts blurring and tears begin rolling down his cheeks. Out of the two of them, Taehyung is definitely the one who rarely ever cries, compared to him who cried that one time Seokjin beat him at FIFA. So it’s not a surprise, after Taehyung was teary-eyed, that he is now the one who is crying.

He hasn’t said it in so many words but he’s going to miss his boy so much. He’ll miss going to sleep like this and waking up in Taehyung’s arms. Seeing the sunrise over his golden skin and his hair sticking up in every direction, the sleepy smile when he greets Jeongguk good morning and his insistence that they stay in bed for ten more minutes.

God, you’d swear they’ll be apart for two years. They both know that’s the way they’re acting. But they can’t help it, not when they spend most of their time together and have been doing that since they started dating. Two months can feel like forever when you’re missing someone, Jeongguk thinks. Especially when it’s your someone.

It’s been a month. Taehyung hasn’t deteriorated (yet), and to everyone’s surprise (his own included) he’s been holding up pretty well. Sure, he misses the tactility of their relationship but other than that they’re still the same Taehyung and Jeongguk they were before the latter left.

There’s only the minor, minuscule problem that Taehyung is averaging four hours of sleep a day. The same Taehyung who, a month prior, could sleep for 27 hours straight and still complain about being tired. It’s gotten to the point that he willingly drinks an espresso with Yoongi before they go their separate ways for their morning classes. The morning classes are the primary problem since he’d sleep in if attendance didn’t count toward his grade. But the root issue is something Taehyung had not anticipated, and still fails to understand; his inability to fall asleep at a decent time.

He knows it has something to do with Jeongguk since it started the very day after he left. A restlessness doing pirouettes on his chest as he tried (and failed) to fall asleep the same way he would any other time. He’s tried to see if calling Jeongguk would help, but because of the time zone difference, when he goes to sleep, Jeongguk has practice. The last thing he’d want to do is be the clingy boyfriend who can’t respect his boyfriend’s obligations.

For the most part, though, he’s been holding up well. Since he can’t sleep he’s spent his time doing coursework and now he isn’t just caught up, but at least a month ahead of his peers. During the day, he busies himself with lectures, sketching, and spending time with his friends. And they’re not a distraction, it’s the same things he’d done when Jeongguk was there as well. It’s not like they were joined at the hip 24/7 but he still finds himself missing him. Mostly at night or in the crevices between his schedule when they’d find a way to see each other, even if that meant him sprinting across campus to see Jeongguk for eight minutes before their next class and give him a protein bar since his boyfriend is perpetually hungry. Other times, Jeongguk would spend his free mornings walking Taehyung to class, hand in hand.

It also has given him time to make good on his promise to send Jeongguk letters, writing and mailing one at least every other day. Most of it is just him finding new and creative ways to tell Jeongguk he misses him, and then two lines of whatever their friends who are still in Seoul are up to. Always littered in kisses even though he can’t stand the feeling of the lipstick on his lips, it’s worth it when he knows it brings a smile to Jeongguk’s lips. 

Taehyung hasn’t told him about the lack of sleep, not wanting to worry him when he’s doing something so important for his future. He hasn’t told anyone else about it too, because he knows how it’ll come across. ‘Needy and clingy Taehyung can’t even handle four weeks without his boyfriend’. This isn’t true, as dramatic as he was before Jeongguk left and at the airport (the halmeonies did not appreciate the PDA on display), it’s not like he thinks of his life as empty outside of Jeongguk. And if he could, he’d be getting a proper night’s rest every time he went to bed. It’s just entirely out of his control.

Yoongi, because he’s observant and actually runs on four hours of sleep by choice, is the first to notice something’s up.

“This is the twelfth day in a row you’ve asked me to pour you a shot of espresso so I know this is not one of your attempts to completely redo your entire personality that you get into the spirit of quarterly. So, what gives?”

Ignoring the quip about his tendencies to treat his identity like a DIY project every time he spends too much time scrolling through Instagram reels, he pretends to not know what Yoongi is talking about.

“What do you mean?”

Yoongi flicks a plastic teaspoon against his forehead. “Don’t play dumb, you hate coffee and Jimin could use the bags under your eyes for his next shopping trip.”

“Somebody’s grouchy. Did your TA reject your cross-section again?” Taehyung asks. It’s not just to deflect, he is genuinely curious. Yoongi has gone through three erasers and eight pencils for this one project. His floor plans, elevation, and site plan were approved but the cross-sections have been giving him hell.

Yoongi heaves an annoyed sigh as he slides the cup of coffee over to Taehyung. “I don’t know what her problem is, if one cross-section is okay, she finds a problem with another one.”

Taehyung hums, momentarily transfixed by the steam swirling upwards from the hot liquid.

“I think it’s because she sees your-”

“Do not say potential,” Yoongi cuts in.

Taehyung makes a zipping motion over his lips as he presses them together.

Once he determines the coffee to be cooled down, he takes a swig. Unlike Yoongi he can’t finish an espresso in three easy gulps. He also can’t help the grimace on his face when the taste settles on his tongue. So bitter.

“Why are you subjecting yourself to this Taehyung-ah?” Yoongi’s tone gets lower but gentler too. It’s what he imagines velvet would sound like.

He shrugs. “Tired.”

“Did you have any exams or projects? You didn’t tell me about them.”

Taehyung shakes his head, intent on not meeting Yoongi’s curious eyes.

“You do realise I’ll find out eventually right?”

It’s stated matter of factly because that’s exactly what it is, a fact. Taehyung could count on his fingers the number of secrets he’s kept from Yoongi. And even then, those were tremendously difficult to maintain.

“I haven’t been able to fall asleep lately,” he admits, staring at the remaining dark liquid in his cup.

Yoongi drums his fingers on the table. “For how long?”

A breath and then, “Since Jeongguk left.”

He waits for an exasperated sigh of annoyance or a lecture on how he’s too old to be acting like this when Jeongguk will be back in a month anyway. Neither happens.

Instead, he finds himself enveloped in his hyung’s arms. And honestly, he shouldn’t be surprised, not when he knows Yoongi as well as he does. The only person gentler with Taehyung is Jeongguk.

“You miss him a lot.”

“I do, but it’s not that exactly.”

Yoongi pulls back, arms still wrapped around his best friend, studying his face. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know how to explain it, I barely understand it myself. I just can’t seem to fall asleep, and it’s been happening since the night after Jeongguk left. I’ve tried everything, it’s like my brain just doesn’t want to shut down.”

This time he does meet Yoongi’s eyes and it’s like he can see the cogs of the machine inside his brain turning. A problem solver first and a consoler later, because of this disposition he can come across as cold to some people. It’s Taehyung’s favourite thing about him though, being the inverse and all. He needs a solution to his problem more than he needs someone lamenting how difficult life is for him at the moment.

“How about I stay over for the night?”

“Hyung, it’s okay, I don’t think that will—”

“It doesn’t hurt to try right?”

“No, no I guess it doesn’t.”

And it doesn’t hurt. It helps. Taehyung wakes up feeling well-rested for the first time in, what feels like, forever. He doesn’t even want to get out of bed, just wants to be enveloped in this blissful feeling.

Unlike Jeongguk, Yoongi is a deep sleeper, so he doesn’t have to be extra careful when he slithers out of bed and pads over to the kitchenette. Which is just a sink, a portable two-plate stove, and a very minimal surface area that houses a kettle and toaster. While Jeongguk would’ve definitely stirred as the water boiled in the glass kettle, Yoongi does not move a muscle. Unlike his hyung he cannot afford a coffee maker, so instant coffee will have to do for now. He scoops in two spoons of ground coffee and places the mug next to the kettle. Giddier than ever about the fact that he doesn’t need a cup of the devil’s piss to get him through the day.

When Yoongi finally wakes, eyes still closed as he waits for the water to boil once more, Taehyung has already showered and is eating breakfast on the rug and for the hundredth time in the last month trying to figure out if it’s an appropriate time to call his boyfriend.

He looks up to see Yoongi eyeing him wearily.

“So?”

“Is that how they greet down south?”

Yoongi walks over, steaming cup of demonic urine in hand, and sits down next to Taehyung. “We’re from the same province. Stop stalling.”

“I think I could set the world record for the longest all-nighter of all time.”

Yoongi sets his coffee mug down slowly and spares Taehyung a glance for one second, and somehow the look on his face is enough to spring the latter into action, grabbing a pillow and shoving it on the table just as Yoongi’s face comes slamming down.

“WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?!?”

Taehyung can feel his own eyes bulging as he tries to make sense of what just happened.

“Fuck.” Then, softer and quieter, almost completely muffled by the pillow. “I’m sorry Taehyung-ah.”

And now Taehyung feels like a jerk because his little white lie, which he thought would yield amusing results, almost sent his hyung into a coma for some reason. Crazy.

“Hyung, I was kidding. I slept like a baby.”

“You’re lying,” he replies, but this time it is completely muffled by the pillow so it sounds more like ‘Oool buyee’.

Taehyung shakes his head resolutely even though his hyung can’t see. “Cross my heart.”

Finally, he looks up, the remnants of the pillow slam, still pink across his cheek. “Really?”

“Really. Best sleep since my Beckham left me.”

“Beckham?”

“Your boyfriend is the captain of the football team,” Taehyung deadpans.

Yoongi raises his brow as if to say is that supposed to mean something?

“Victoria Secret’s husband.”

“Oh… Wait her last name is Secret?”

Taehyung is incredulous. Day-to-day Yoongi is the most level-headed and insightful person he knows, brimming with helpful advice and a seemingly endless stream of knowledge. Morning Yoongi is… not.

“Well, I’m glad you got to sleep, even though I almost cracked my skull because I thought you didn’t.”

“Yeah, uh, why did you do that?”

“I would like to know if you think logic comes naturally to someone who averages four hours of sleep, do you think a simple human brain is capable of such miracles?”

Morning Yoongi also liked to cosplay the Trolls who required you to answer riddles to pass through the gate they were guarding. Alright. “By your tone, I’m guessing the answer is no.”

After a large gulp of his coffee, Yoongi nods. “And you’d be right, that’s why the gods gave us the magic elixir.”

“You’re talking about your coffee? You mean Hades wee?”

He could be wrong but Yoongi’s intent stare looks a lot like someone who is weighing the decision of whether or not to throw his hot cup of coffee at someone. Eventually, he decides against it. Draining the remaining liquid down his throat.

Taehyung squirms. Not only for the taste but also because he saw the steam still twining towards the ceiling.

Yoongi notices it. “Half the waking up comes from feeling the burn down my throat.”

“You like being choked don’t you?”

Now he can see Yoongi considering just launching the ceramic mug at his head.

“Anyway, I’ll come back tonight too okay?”

“Hyung you don’t-”

“But I will.”

And that’s that.

Except, things are never that simple.

A week into this new arrangement, he’s on the lawn waiting for his next class, when someone plops down right next to him. Kim Seokjin. The handsome upperclassman who is always with them when they gather as a group and slightly intimidates Taehyung. It’s quite hard not to be intimidating with a face so perfect, Namjoon even referred to it as being structurally sound at one point — big praise coming from a civil engineering student.

“Hi?”

“Are you greeting me or asking me?” Seokjin asks, a slight smirk is present but his eyes are kind.

“I’m… not sure myself,” Taehyung admits.

Something about what he says turns Seokjin’s smirk into a full-blown grin. “We should talk more, I like you.”

“Isn’t that why you’re here, to talk?” Truth be told, Taehyung is rather curious. It’s not every day that he gets approached by someone other than his boyfriend or one of his best friends.

“Yes and no. I regret to inform you, I am not a bearer of good news. Both today and in general.”

Taehyung leans forward. “I’m listening.”

“I know you’ve been going through some tough times lately, I don’t know the details but I know Yoongi has been staying over at your place.”

Taehyung bristles, not liking where this conversation could be headed. He tries to give Seokjin the benefit of the doubt, however, and attempts to quell his rising defensiveness.

“Just to clarify I don’t think you guys are doing anything. I may not know you that well but I do know you and Jeongguk and I definitely know Hoseok and Yoongi. But I’ve got to be honest with you, I think this is taking its toll on their relationship. You and I both know how bummed Hoseok was that he sprained his ankle and couldn’t go with the other guys, especially as their captain. And we both know how important quality time is to him and a lot of that comes from spending his night with his boyfriend.”

“His boyfriend that has been spending the night at my place,” Taehyung finishes, feeling like he’d just swallowed a cement brick.

“I didn’t even— man I’m such a dick head.”

Seokjin shakes his head, smile more reserved now, but eyes still unflinchingly kind.

“You’re not. You’re just a guy going through something and your best friend is trying to help you. Hoseok is my Yoongi and I know he’d do the same if I needed it. I don’t mean to put you in a tough spot but I’m just-”

“Worried about your friend.” The same way Yoongi was worried about him.

Thank god for friends who worry.

“Yeah, yeah I am.”

“Thanks for telling me.”

Seokjin waves him off. “Don’t mention it. Seriously though, if you could act like this specific conversation never happened that would be great. I don’t think Yoongi would mind but I know Hoseok would be mortified.”

“Yeah, of course.” 

With that, Seokjin leaves as swiftly as he came. Well, the sleep was nice while it lasted. 

-

It’s fine, he can handle it, just a few more weeks until his personal cuddler is back in his arms. What’s a few restless nights in comparison to that bliss?

And as if he summoned him, he hears that familiar jazz melody. Jeongguk.

“Why are you awake?” He can’t guess the exact time, but he knows it’s far too late for Jeongguk to be up if it’s only the afternoon for him.

His boyfriend scoffs. “Hi baby, I missed you too.”

“You know I miss you, I remind you daily. You should be sleeping.”

He does feel like a hypocrite, scolding Jeongguk about sleeping, when he hasn’t told him about his night-time troubles. He reasons to himself that Jeongguk has enough to worry about without Taehyung’s codependent sleep patterns added to the mix. 

“Couldn’t sleep. Miss you.”

Taehyung gets that wavy feeling he always gets when Jeongguk is being cute. He’s never been able to explain it in a way other than really pleasant motion sickness if such a thing existed. But they’re feelings, he figures they don’t have to make sense. They just are.

“You already said that,” he chides, but it’s far too soft to be any sort of reprimand. 

“No, I really miss you. I want you here, I hate that you’re so far away.”

Me too. Me too. Come back.

“If I could, I’d be on the first flight,” he says, wholly honest. 

He hears Jeongguk groan, slightly muffled, he presumes by a pillow. “Now I’m going to daydream about you arriving here and randomly surprising me at practice or something.”

“That’s just masochistic, baby.”

“Coming here was masochistic. I’m stuck with Jimin and Namjoon hyung sucking face all the fucking time. And I’m jealous. I want to be gross too. C’mere, so we can be gross again.”

“We were never gross. We’re the type of couple voyeurs get off to.”

He can picture Jeongguk squirming. “Now that’s gross.”

“I don’t know, there’s a certain appeal to it.”

“Are we about to have phone sex?” Jeongguk sounds positively giddy.

Taehyung wants to kiss this boy. His stupid, heart aching at the fact that he can’t.

“You need to sleep.”

“Killjoy.”

He grins. “Love you too.”

“You know orgasms are good at helping you fall asleep?”

“I’m in the quad. It’s midday and there are hundreds of students around me,” he says, though the idea of it is rather thrilling, even if he won’t admit it. 

He can hear Jeongguk’s smirk when he responds. “But you’re into exhibitionism.”

“So you’re totally cool with me whipping my dick out and not only facing public indecency charges but also giving everyone in my vicinity a free show?” He knows Jeongguk can pick up on the challenging tone of his words. 

There’s a silence that stretches for a minute. Then a soft, “I retract my statement.”

“I know you so well,” he notes, brimming with pride.

“You do. Tell me something, maybe listening to your voice might help me fall asleep?”

Taehyung raises a brow at his phone even though his boyfriend can’t see him. “You calling me boring, Jeon?”

“Comforting,” he corrects. “I find your rambles  comforting.”

There’s that swooping feeling again. “Actually, you will not believe what happened in my anthropology class earlier. You remember Sohee right, she………”

Taehyung’s not sure when Jeongguk falls asleep but he talks until his next class begins, even when he finishes the first story, he just goes on a new tangent. He doesn’t focus at all in class, how can he when all he feels is this intent yearning to be in bed with Jeongguk, dragging his fingers through his hair and talking till his throat is dry and he needs to sip on the water (that his boyfriend always makes sure is fresh) right next to his bed.

—

He doesn’t have a game plan for what he is going to say to Yoongi. They’re in his place, just having finished one of their regularly scheduled movie nights – something Taehyung instated so that they would not ‘throw their friendship to the wolves’ just because they got into relationships. Yoongi of course agreed, on the condition that he picks at least half the time because his best friend’s movie choices were eccentric, to say the least. They’ve just finished the 2018 film Rampant and Taehyung could not tell you what occurred for any part of the movie because he spent the entirety of it trying to come up with an excuse.

He turns to his hyung, who is carrying the empty popcorn bowl and cups over to the sink.

“I’m cured!”

Yoongi does not look amused. “You’re lying.”

And that is exactly why he needed a game plan. Rookie mistake, truly. 

Still, he tries to school his face into a straight expression as he walks over to join Yoongi in the kitchen. He hasn’t gambled a day in his life but he thinks he has a formidable poker face. “Now why would I do that?”

“You’re an idiot who can’t ask for help and hates feeling like he’s bothering people,” Yoongi states, not sparing him a glass as he begins washing the dishes.

Taehyung flinches, fisting his shirt where it clings to his chest. “Damn, you got me right in the facts. And I won’t deny your statements—”

“Because you can’t.”

Taehyung shakes his head. “That’s beside the point, which is that you can go back to your place and spend the night with your boyfriend.”

Yoongi narrows his eyes, pausing his cleaning. “You know something.”

Taehyung shakes his head, then knocks on the kitchen cabinet as he knocks on his own head. “See? It’s hollow, nothing in there. I’m a medical mystery.”

“Taehyung.”

“Hyung,” he shoots right back.

“You need to sleep.” Verbatim what he’d told Jeongguk a few hours earlier, even something about the way they said it was similar.

“I will.” He keeps his eyes trained on his hands as he dries the cups, rubbing a little harder than necessary.

Yoongi refuses to budge. “No, I don’t think you will.”

“Yoongi you can’t sleep here.” It’s not a question or a suggestion. He is drawing a line with no room for compromise.

“Sure, if you give me a good enough reason.” He takes the cloth from Taehyung to dry his hands and holds his gaze.

He groans, exasperated by his hyung’s stubbornness even though he knows it’s borne from a place of caring. 

He says a silent apology to Hoseok and Seokjin before speaking. “How about the fact that your boyfriend is injured and bummed that he can’t be with his team, and instead of comforting him you’ve been spending your nights here, is that a good enough reason?”

Guilt begins wrapping itself around him like a vine, knowing he could’ve taken a gentler approach, knowing his hyung has been trying his best. To help him no less.

“Sorry, that was rude.”

Yoongi looks forlorn, staring at a stain on the laminated floors. “Did he tell you?”

“No and he doesn’t know that I know, so please don’t tell him?”

“And you’ll be okay?”

Doubtful.

“Of course,” he says, bright smile plastered on his face. “What do you take me for?”

He does not let that smile drop until after Yoongi leaves, not only his place, but the floor he is on. As soon as he hears the ding of the elevator, he lets it fall. He rests the back of his head against his door, eyes closed, hoping that doing the right thing won’t bite him in the ass… too much.

When he looks up and surveys his place he decides how he’ll be allocating his time tonight, who says you can’t begin spring cleaning in the fall or at seven pm?

He gets his record player and after rifling through a box for several minutes (and adding organising his records to his to-do list) he finally finds the vinyl he always whips out during their monthly deep cleans. Jeongguk almost always does it with him because doing people’s laundry is both how he shows affection and his own unique form of catharsis. To each their own.

It’s an 80s Japanese City Pop Collection, one of his many Dongmyo flea market finds, and a staple for getting your body in just the right mood. He decides to start in the kitchen and work his way through to his room, doesn’t care if he’s singing the wrong words out loud since it is a Friday night and everyone is undoubtedly either clubbing or doing activities they wouldn’t mind being drowned out.

So he goes through the motions, happily swaying along to the rhythm as he does, silently hoping all the movement tires him out enough to knock him out by the time he finishes. He’s just finished vacuuming the mat in his room when he gets the bright idea to send his boyfriend a video. Nothing too crazy, just him enjoying the music and wishing Jeongguk was with him.

He stabilises his phone on his nightstand and continues softly swinging his hips to the mellow beat permeating his apartment, once it’s over a minute, he sends it over without a second thought. They’ve been together too long for self-consciousness, the comforting reassurance of being with someone you love for a long time.

Afterwards, he returns his phone to the nightstand and continues cleaning. It’s only when he gets out of the shower, the thin layer of sweat he’d worked up now all washed away, that he checks his phone again.

Three missed calls.

He presses on the number to call him back, it doesn’t even ring one time. Immediately Jeongguk requests to switch to a video call, Taehyung knowing his entire upper half is bare, accepts in seconds.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, Loverboy?”

“Why are you— Are you naked?”

Taehyung pads over to the fluffy lemon-shaped mat, “Define naked?”

“You’re not wearing any clothes,” Jeongguk states.

“You’re welcome.”

He sees Jeongguk’s eyes trail down, past his mouth and the line of his jaw, past his shoulders. The way his pupils darken has the effect of making his eyes look bigger too.

One gulp, a sharp intake of breath and a pause. Subtlety has never been his strong point.

After what must have been considerable thought, he returns his gaze to Taehyung.

“This isn’t a booty call.”

Taehyung considers this. “But it could be.”

“It’s 4 AM.”

“I think 4 AM is socially accepted booty call time actually.”

“Taehyung it’s 4 AM and you’re awake.”

Oh. Yeah. That minuscule detail that he’d forgotten about in the serotonin of the moment.

“Astute observation, Watson.”

Jeongguk stares at him, deadpan. He’s not having it at all.

“You know I get the zoomies sometimes, I can’t fight my feline nature.”

“So if I called Yoongi hyung right now, he’d tell me everything is fine?”

Taehyung almost drops his phone, but he tries his best to keep his voice level. “Why would you call Yoongi hyung?”

“Because he is your best friend?”

He sounds even more suspicious now. Shit.

“I know Yoongi hyung’s been sleeping over,” Jeongguk adds.

Taehyung is going to strangle that little weasel he calls a hyung, not even a few hours after he assured him he is fine, his words have not even gotten cold and here he was blabbing to Jeongguk. So much for bro code and a lifelong friendship, what happened to loyalty?

He sends Yoongi a message. Knives fill the screen of their chat.

“Well the thing is—”

“At first I thought it was because he and Hoseok were going through something because Jimin said that Hobi-hyung was being evasive about them, but I know you Taehyung. I know something is up. Tell me what it is so that I can help you.”

You will. When you come back everything will be okay again.

“It’s not a big deal, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“What would you do if I said that to you?” Jeongguk asks, and Taehyung can tell he is a little frustrated that Taehyung won’t just tell him but his tone never loses that gentle timbre it always has when he speaks to his boyfriend.

The fatigue of the day and his deep-cleaning are finally beginning to settle, his bones feel as if they’ve softened into clay beneath his skin. Malleable as the ever-present tension in them dissipates. 

“I’d call each and every one of your teammates and threaten all their valued possessions if they wouldn’t tell me what was wrong.”

Jeongguk allows the hint of a grin to ghost his lips. “Exactly.”

“I miss you,” he admits.

“I miss you too, baby.”

“No, that’s what’s going on. I miss you. You’re not here and apparently, I can’t sleep when you’re not here and I don’t know why, all I know is the nights have been long and torturous without you here and I miss you.”

Jeongguk listens patiently. “So when you say you can’t sleep?”

“Like three hours maximum each night, well that was until Yoongi started sleeping over, that helped a lot. But since it’s been affecting Hobi and Yoongi hyung’s relationship, I’ve forbidden him from sleeping over.”

“Forbidden huh?” Jeongguk teases as he paces around his dorm room. 

It helps him think and gives him space to work through whatever problems are occupying his brain. Taehyung would always complain that it made him dizzy usually because it meant that Jeongguk was not next to him, so ever the problem solver that he is, he’d begun to carry Taehyung on his back like a koala while he did. They wouldn’t even talk most of the time, just Jeongguk muttering to himself while Taehyung ran his fingers through his hair.

“Blame the lack of sleep, my brain is not functioning like it usually does,” he replies, mostly joking. But when he sees the look of genuine concern or heartache he wishes he could take it back.

“Oh, my baby.”

When he says it like that, that’s exactly how Taehyung feels. And he wants to be taken care of by his Jeongguk. So much that he aches with it.

“I miss you.”

“You said that.”

“That’s how much I miss you.”

A screen doesn’t do justice to Jeongguk at all, it washes out that subtle pinkish hue in his complexion and dulls the brightness of his eyes and smile, and still, he’s so goddamn pretty.

“I have an idea, maybe it’ll help.”

Taehyung sits up straighter. “What is it?”

“You’ll see tomorrow, for now, you need to get some rest. Stay on the line, I’ll talk to you until you fall asleep.”

He furrows his brows. “What about practice?”

“Cancelled. Four players vomited onto the pitch today so Coach decided to give everyone a day off just in case it was due to exhaustion and not a bug going around.”

“So you’re wasting a rare day off, you should go out and explore.”

Jeongguk doesn’t even consider this to be an option, or at least an option he is interested in. “There’s nothing I want to do more than talk to you. All of those places are on Google anyway.”

“Guk-ah.”

“Put on your pj’s and get into bed.”

His tone leaves no room for objections, and Taehyung not-so-secretly adores it. Putting his brain off for a while and letting someone else take the reins for his life is an underrated bliss in his book.

He pulls on his briefs and one of Jeongguk’s old jerseys and climbs under the covers.

“Done and done.”

“Comfy?”

“Mmhmm.”

Jeongguk, across the world, settles into the couch of his flat. He is sharing it with Namjoon and Jimin, but the two lovebirds have decided to sightsee together instead of staying in.

“Okay so I’m about to tell you a chronological history of the Champions League, are you ready?”

“You really don’t mind if I pass out mid-conversation?”

Jeongguk shakes his head. “I’d be concerned if you didn’t.”

“Love you.”

“Ditto.”

Taehyung glares at the Jeongguk on his screen.

“I love you. Now settle in. Once upon a time, there was a match we now refer to as the 1985 World Championship…….”

Taehyung tried his best to listen to what Jeonnguk was saying because, despite his boyfriend's previous claim, he could see just how excited he was to talk about it. Yet, when he got to some team named Benfica winning two European cups, Taehyung was in dreamland.

When he wakes up, his phone is on 4%, and the call is still ongoing. He can’t see much other than the side of Jeongguk’s cheek and his floppy-too-long-in-the-way-Taehyung-likes-it-hair falling over his face. He can hear his boyfriend’s soft snores, love really does crazy things to one’s brain, because if asked he’d liken Jeongguk’s sleepy grunting to music.

He puts his phone on charge but doesn’t end the call, padding over to the bathroom, he washes his face and brushes his teeth. It’s a completely thoughtless action when he looks at himself in the mirror but something about it, about how he looks so healthy and well-rested causes this choked-up feeling in his throat. God, he loves his boyfriend.

Enough to cry about it too. What a Jeongguk thing to do.

He brings his phone and charger to the kitchen, plugs it into the outlet near the kettle, and watches his boyfriend out of his periphery as he prepares breakfast. Before they’d gotten together, Taehyung hadn’t been much of a breakfast person, mostly because he’d usually wake up at noon anyway.

Jeongguk, being an athlete and a gym rat, could not fathom the thought of Taehyung going to class on an empty stomach and would always make sure that he ate something. Most mornings, he’d wake up to Jeongguk’s side of the bed empty, and he’d find him in the kitchen — the smell of coffee, orange juice, and eggs signalling it was time for his brain to wake up too. He’d gently walk over to his boyfriend scrambling eggs, wrap his arms around his waist, resting his head in the crook of his shoulder.

“G’morning,” he’d mumble.

He’d hear Jeongguk’s smile when he would ask, “Sleep well?”

He’d nod and then sink his teeth into Jeongguk’s shoulder, nothing too intense, just enough pressure to really feel him.

“That hungry?”

Sometimes he’d say yes, most times he’d shake his head -hair brushing against Jeongguk’s- and say, “‘s just nice.”

Jeongguk would hum non-committedly, clasp a hand around Taehyung’s arms wrapped around his waist, and continue with their breakfast like that.

Present day Taehyung looks up at his phone after cracking two eggs into his pan and sees Jeongguk’s mouth partly open and his hair falling all across his face. It’s not the same but it’s enough for right now.

Strangely, he doesn’t hear much from Jeongguk for the rest of the day. He is greeted by the sight of a very confused, and if the curl of his lip is anything to go by—offended Yoongi. It takes him a second to remember the message he’d sent (and forgotten to unsend) when he thought Yoongi had betrayed him.

Taehyung gives him a meek, “Sorry?”

This does not appease his hyung in the slightest. “I’ll do your laundry for you?”

“The last time you did my laundry I ended up with three pink t-shirts,” Yoongi responds drily.

“And you looked great in them. You’re welcome.”

He ends up explaining the events of the night to his best friend after they settle into his couch.

“So he knows about your Jeongguk-induced insomnia?”

Taehyung makes a face. “Don’t refer to it like that.”

“I don’t know what else to call it.”

He thinks about it for a bit, actually, he doesn’t know what exactly to call it either.

“Nevermind. The point is he knows, and he didn’t yell at me for it, so all is right in the world.”

“When has Jeongguk ever yelled at you?” Yoongi asks, genuine curiosity draping over the question.

“You know, I don’t think he has. He’s not much of a ‘yell-er’.”

“Hmm. And what is his brilliant plan?”

Taehyung cocks his head. “What makes you think he has a plan?”

“I’ve known Jeongguk almost as long as you have. He cannot help but go into problem-solving mode as soon as you tell him something is wrong, he’s like Joon in that way. I think it’s a Virgo thing.”

Taehyung smiles to himself. Hoseok had recently taken up learning about astrology.

“Well you’re right, he says he has something in mind. But I don’t know what it is, he said he’d show me tonight.”

“Fingers crossed then.”

Taehyung nods and then, “I’m trying not to get my hopes up though, just in case.”

“I don’t know. I think there are very few things Jeongguk can’t do. Plus I can’t continue sharing my coffee with you, those pods are expensive.”

“Wow, hyung. Thanks so much.”

Yoongi flashes a bright smile at him, making his gums peek out. Taehyung gives him the finger.

-

He’s in the middle of an assigned reading, The Passion of Artemisia, when he hears the chime he’d assigned to his boyfriend’s number. Without so much as a second thought, he drops the book and picks up the phone.

A video with the caption, don’t play until you’re ready to go to sleep.

The thing about curiosity is, it’s a beguiling thing. Once it has you, it does not let go. Especially if you’ve always been naturally inquisitive like Taehyung ever since he was a kid. So, it takes a herculean effort to listen to Jeongguk’s instructions.

Somehow, he’s successful. As soon as he finishes two chapters of the book, he takes a shower and slips into bed wearing another one of Jeongguk’s old football jerseys and Spiderman boxers.

It takes a little bit to get into a comfortable position and when he does, he props his phone up on one of Jeongguk’s pillows. Then he presses play.

“Hello pretty boy,” a slightly staticky version of Jeongguk’s voice greets him, his face joining the frame a second later. He looks like he’d gotten out of the shower a few minutes before recording this, hair still damp and patches of pink still blooming along his arms and neck.

“So, my master plan is actually quite a simple one. I know you hate ASMR, and I get it, strangers whispering to you in the dark while you’re actually alone can be disorienting. But, as you know, when I’ve really struggled to sleep it helped me a lot, especially back in high school. So I had the brilliant idea of making these ASMR-style videos for you, hoping they’ll tide you over until I return. They will be more cute than creepy, I promise.”

The urge to bite, to feel Jeongguk under his teeth, runs through him like a current. He can’t imagine how one person can be so much, in the best way, the most perfect way.

“And before you send me a recording saying how much you appreciate it but I’m busy and it’ll take too much time andandand— I’m telling you right now, I’m not too busy for this. I’m not too busy for you. Also the videos won’t be that long and the quality won’t be incredible, but I’ll do my best. Because you getting some rest is very important. To me. And to keep homicide rates down for everyone in your general vicinity.”

He laughs at that,  aware that he’s quite unpleasant and impatient when he is tired.

“So now that we’ve finished the intro. Let’s begin.”

Taehyung pauses the video to send Jeongguk a message.

I’m going to kiss you so hard. I fucking love you.

He, then, returns to the video.

“I gathered a bunch of hair things, because I’m a trendsetter everyone on the team besides Jimin and Namjoon are growing out their hair, so I managed to get lots of hair ties. Seongwha also keeps a pack of pins and clips in a bag with other necessities for when he has someone stay the night. Get ready for the best virtual hair experience of your life.”

He pauses the video for, what he swears is, the last time. Without thinking too much of it he types, I’d suck your toes if you wanted me to. The idea of feet repulses him but he can’t think of any other way to express how much he truly loves his guy.

Whenever Taehyung is having a particularly hard or stressful day, it’s near impossible to appease him. But Jeongguk, from day one, somehow just knew to gather Taehyung into his lap, lay his head on his boyfriend’s chest and run his fingers through his hair. He’d do this for hours, just gathering all of Tae’s hair or gently scratching the scalp, sometimes just pushing strands out of his face. With each motion, he would feel the stressors of his day dissipate until he was basically purring into Jeongguk’s chest.

And now, while he can’t be next to Taehyung in bed, he is providing the next best thing in video form.

Taehyung presses play and conjures up the feeling of Jeongguk’s fingers in his hair as he listens along. “Okay first I’m going to just brush your hair, just to get any knots out. Is that okay?”

Jeongguk can’t hear or see him but he says yes while nodding.

He keeps complimenting Taehyung’s hair as he brushes, the swooshing sound of the brush an undercurrent to his whispers of ‘your hair is so soft’ and ‘have you ever permed your hair before?’ and the like.

To his surprise he doesn’t know how the video ends, somewhere between Jeongguk tying his hair up and ‘pinning all the baby hairs’ he actually fell asleep. It worked. Yoongi was right, there are very, very few things Jeon Jeongguk can’t do. 

And it continues like that, everyday Taehyung gets new ASMR-style videos of Jeongguk, meant to lull him to sleep. He tries to tell his boyfriend that he doesn’t need a new one everyday, that he can rewatch them especially since he falls asleep before most of them end anyway, but he will not hear it.

Taehyung will admit it’s very entertaining watching Jeongguk take on all these personas in the videos, he’s been Taehyung’s personal assistant updating him on his schedule for the next five years, his coach running plays with him, his makeup artist getting him ready to receive his Oscar, his best friend helping him get ready for a date (with his hot football playing boyfriend of course) and his doctor giving him a cranial nerve exam, among other things.

There was also the one where he gave Taehyung positive affirmations for twenty minutes straight, the compliments ranged from he looks good with a perm all the way to he could definitely break the Guinness record for the fastest person to tie their shoelaces. It was made all the more intense by Jeongguk’s unrelenting stare, it felt as if he really was standing in front of Taehyung, seeing every inch of him and affirming all of his worth. So he appreciated the more out-there ones, the giggles seemingly the only thing stopping him from being overcome with how much he wants to hold Jeongguk in his arms.

Jeongguk’s foray into the less family friendly style of video was also one that caught Taehyung completely off guard. It’s not like it was the first time they’d done anything like that. Jeongguk has called his boyfriend on more than one occasion while giving himself a hand and Taehyung is inclined to send his boyfriends pictures, especially ones where he is in Jeongguk’s hoodies, and only that. Still, a ten minute long video of your shirtless boyfriend detailing all of the things he wants to do to you and how just thinking about you gets him hard….. well, that would make anyone cream their pants like a virgin.

Taehyung calls him the following day, it rings for a second and a half before he picks up.

“Good afternoon, pretty boy.”

He can just tell by the heaviness in his voice that Jeongguk hasn’t been awake for too long. There's a running joke among their friends that Jeongguk’s voice naturally dips a few octaves lower when he speaks to Taehyung, the latter can’t say he’s noticed it, but is always thoroughly amused and endeared when someone points it out. When he wakes up though, that’s when it’s at its lowest for sure, and hearing it always feels the same— his insides feel like a boa constrictor that wraps around itself, tighttightight.

“G’morning, baby. How’d you sleep?”

“I had a dream we got a dog, but then we fought because you told me to move so you could cuddle the dog on the couch,” Jeongguk tells him. Taehyung wonders if he opened his eyes yet, or if he’s doing that very slow blinking he does when he wakes up too quickly.

'“Sounds like something that would happen.”

Jeongguk gasps. “You would banish me to the end of a couch for a dog?”

“What breed are we talking?”

“You suck.”

“You seem to like that quality of mine,” Taehyung retorts.

“It’s not even 8AM yet,” he chides.

He shrugs despite the fact that Jeongguk can’t see him. “Your fault.”

“What could I have possibly done in the five minutes I’ve been awake?” Jeongguk questions.

“Not today, yesterday. Last night.”

“What did— Ahhh.” Then his tone shifts to something more airy, a little cocky even. “You liked it?”

“I don’t know if ‘like’ is the right word.”

“What would the right word be then?”

Taehyung thinks about it. What would the right word be for a video that riles you up so much you end up grinding against your bed and cumming in your pants like you’re a seventeen year old that just watched porn for the first time?

“I was definitely affected. I thought these videos were to help me sleep. That didn’t put me to sleep, Jeongguk.” The suggestion of what they actually did rings loud and clear.

He can almost see Jeongguk’s satisfied grin stretched across his face. “You’re trying to tell me you didn’t immediately fall asleep after you got out of the shower?”

The silence stretches for over a minute.

“Taehyung…. Baby, please don’t tell me you didn’t shower?”

“Listen! I was really tired okay and you know my legs are like jelly afterwards, I just wanted to rest my eyes for a bit. Next thing I know, I woke up this morning.”

“Did you at least take off the underwear?”

Taehyung stares at his phone hoping Jeongguk can feel his glare. “What part of tired limbs don’t you understand?”

“Tae, nooooooooo.”

“Okay but it was your underwear, doesn’t that make it hotter?’ he offers.

“Well—No, do not fall asleep covered in cum, even if you’re wearing my underwear. It’s a gross feeling to wake up to.”

Taehyung stills, up to this point it felt as if they were joking, the way they always tease each other. He knew Jeongguk, the person who is almost obsessed with things being clean and in place, would react all scandalised. It’s fun to get these reactions out of him. But something about the way he said that last line gets to Taehyung.

“Okay, I get it.”

Jeongguk picks up in the mood change instantaneously. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m great. Nothing anyone loves more than hearing their boyfriend who they haven’t seen in over a month call them gross. What’s next, the way I wear the same shirt three days in a row makes you want to projectile vomit?”

“Baby, I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable, I’ve been there. Waking up sticky, with dried cum in your pants is not fun. It is gross, not you. Never you.”

Taehyung doesn’t say anything, that feeling of dejection still stuck in his throat like a pit.

“I’m sorry Tae.”

Half a minute passes. “It’s okay, I’m probably just over-sensitive right now. I know what you mean.”

Jeongguk nods once, hearing him out. His patience with Taehyung and the way his own feelings can overwhelm even himself has always been one of his most remarkable trait. Never one to call his boyfriend unreasonable or emotional. Always understanding, always kind, always reassuring.

“And you know I don’t think you’re gross?”

“Jeongguk, it’s okay, really.” He means it too, all he has to do is think about the way Jeongguk treats him, about their relationship, to know it's true.

“The reassurance would make me feel better,” he says.

“I know you don’t think I’m gross.”

“You know I think you’re like crazy beautiful and incredible and funny and—”

Taehyung cuts in because he knows his boyfriend will continue until the sun has set. “Okay, okay, I get it. And I know.”

“And you know I love you?”

“Of course I do. I love you too.”

“Thank you,” Jeongguk says.

“For loving you?”

“Nah. Just everything but that too I s’pose. Thank you for loving me the way you do.”

This coming from the person dealing with a gruelling schedule and still making time to make ASMR videos so that his boyfriend can sleep like a regular person? Jeongguk must be some sort of angel, he thinks.

“I should be the one saying that.”

“Why can’t we both say it?”

“Ditto, then.”

“Look at you Kim, single handedly keeping romance alive.”

“Just for you Jeon. Also just to put your mind at ease I showered first thing this morning.”

“Don’t worry, when I come back, I’ll carry you into the shower, clean you up myself. You can be as sleepy as you want and I’ll take care of you.”

“I miss you.”

“Me too, pretty boy. Just a few more weeks.”

“Just a few more weeks,” Taehyung repeats.

—

He’s re-listening to one of the videos that Jeongguk sent him a few days ago, one where he’s softly singing songs from their shared playlist, as he winds down for the night. Just over a week ago he realised listening to the personalised ASMR videos while he does his skincare and packs up his study material of the night (a habit he picked up from his boyfriend) really helps prepare his body to go to sleep and thus he falls asleep faster and stays asleep longer.

While singing along to Jeongguk’s cover of Everything is Love he gently exfoliates his face, his boyfriend has reprimanded him about being too rough on his skin one too many times. Though it’s when he started doing Jeongguk’s skin care for him that he actually learned how delicate he should be in the process. His half-asleep boyfriend’s nose would twitch in discomfort whenever Taehyung rubbed a bit too hard or got toner close to his eyes, too exhausted from practice to do anything but groan. As time passed Taehyung’s routine became doing their skincare and hauling his sleepy boyfriend to bed, and, he belatedly sort of realises, that could’ve felt like ASMR to Jeongguk too.

An anticipatory buzz spreads through him as he tries to guess what the contents of Jeongguk’s video will be tonight, maybe ‘your boyfriend you’re obsessed with finally returns home from the war’. He’s wrong, in fact any predictions he could’ve came up with would be wrong because there is no video when he opens his and Jeongguk’s chats. Instead, there’s a simple: No video tonight, really busy. Love you, sleep well.

Taehyung can’t lie and say he isn’t the least bit disappointed, the anticipation had gotten to him a bit, but he truly didn’t mind. He could always rewatch one of the many videos Jeongguk has already made for him. Something about Jeongguk’s message does bother him though, and he knows something is not right, the tone of his message is just wrong.

He doesn’t really expect Jeongguk to pick up his call, but he feels restless and he needs to do something. It rings twice before that familiar voice engulfs him like a hug.

“Tae?”

“That’s what they call me,” he replies, trying his best to keep his voice light.

Jeongguk, for his part, doesn’t sound upset. “You should be sleeping right now.”

“I know but—”

“Wait, is it because I didn’t make a video? I’m really sorry about that, it’s just been pretty hectic here and I didn’t have a chance and I can—”

This time Taehyung cuts Jeongguk off.

“I don’t care about that.” Then, realising how harsh that sounds he backtracks, “I mean I do care about them, I am so grateful for them, but more importantly I care about you. And I know you, something’s up.”

“Nothing’s up, it’s just been pretty intense lately.”

And something about the way he says that word, intense, really gets to Taehyung. It’s weighted, both on his tongue and on his shoulders. Also, he realises that they’ve been talking for over a minute and yet Jeongguk doesn’t sound winded and he doesn’t hear anyone yelling at him to focus.

“How can you talk right now?”

“Oh, Mingyu is practicing with the squad right now.”

Taehyung is not an expert on football, not in the slightest. But he does know that for the last three years the only time he’s seen Mingyu on the field, is when he comes on as a substitute for Jeongguk or another attacking midfielder. Usually the latter. He’s been to many, many of his boyfriend’s practices (mostly because the coach still makes them play shirts vs skins and Jeongguk is almost always skins) and he’s never seen Mingyu run plays in Jeongguk’s place.

What the hell is going on?

“You’re not practicing?”

“I am!” Then, softer. “Coach just thought it’d be better if we split practice time in half, so that he is ready for the final game.”

‘Just in case I’m not',’ goes unsaid.

“I can hear the cogs and wheels in your brain turning, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m okay.”

He wants to believe him, he wants to feel reassured by Jeongguk’s words. But Taehyung just can’t shake the worry off.

“If it’s really bad you’ll tell me right?”

There’s a pause, a long one, an obvious one. “If it gets really bad, I’ll tell you.”

Taehyung makes up his mind then that he can’t let this go, something is wrong and he needs to figure out what that is. For now, all he can do is try to remind his boyfriend of how incredible he is.

“I’m really proud of you, you know that right?”

“Taehyung, you don’t—”

He’s resilient though. “I’m really fucking proud of you Jeon Jeongguk. Every single day. You’re so hardworking and so talented and the team is lucky to have you. I’m lucky to have you.”

“Taeee,” his tone takes just a little bit of a whiny edge, the one only he can make sound endearing rather than annoying. “You know I’ll start crying and then coach is definitely not going to take Mingyu off the pitch.”

Baby. His baby.

“What if I get someone to like slightly injure Mingyu?”

“My best friend?!?”

“Not like permanently, just y’know put him out of a few games.”

“Kim Taehyung, you cannot cause bodily harm to my friends to get me more play time.”

“What about acquaintances?”

“Tae.”

“Fine, it was just a suggestion anyways.”

He hears Jeongguk’s laughter, light and airy. “You’re ridiculous, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You should go to sleep now baby, it’s late.”

Taehyung checks the time on his phone. He should go to sleep.

“Rack up goals for me, Ace.”

“One hat trick coming up. Goodnight pretty boy.”

Surprisingly, he falls asleep immediately after that but he can’t help but tossing and turning as his brain tries and fails to figure out what is going on with his boyfriend. For a brief moment of weakness, he considers the possibility that Jeongguk has met someone else, and it feels like a dagger has eviscerated his insides. But as soon as that thought comes, he immediately brushes it off, he trusts Jeongguk. With his life and with his heart.

Still, the not knowing bugs him. So, he does what any sane boyfriend would do.

“Who do I have to kill?”

“I know it’s been a long time since you’ve had our amazing influence bestowed onto you, but this is not how you answer a phone call, Kim Taehyung.”

“Where’s Namjoon?”

“I’ve been really good, thanks for asking. Yeah I know you miss me a lot, I miss you too. No training hasn’t been too intense.” He knows Jimin is mostly joking but he can also sense that he is at least somewhat peeved at Taehyung, but now is not the time for pleasantries.

Namjoon also chimes in. “Yeah you’re on speaker. What’s up?”

“I need to know how suspicious it’ll be if I fly to a country where my boyfriend is training, someone that has been in his vicinity dies, and I fly right back after a couple rounds of course?”

“First of all, I’m going to start charging you everytime you talk about having sex with my literal son and second of all why are you even talking about murder?”

“If I may,” Namjoon says, then after a pause wherein he assumes Jimin gives him a visual ‘go ahead’, he continues, “I’m pretty sure Taehyung has picked up on the fact that something is off with Jeongguk, maybe boyfriend telepathy or something. Following this, he, in Taehyung fashion, concluded that some evil person must be behind it and therefore needs to be executed. My deductions are not facts, but I assume therein lies the reason for his homicidal intentions.”

Taehyung is both awed and a little freaked out. “Your brain should be studied.”

The call switches over to Facetime and he sees Namjoon shrug, “I read lots of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie as a kid.”

“Noted. So give me a name?”

“There is no name and I doubt you could wipe out an entire seating section, no disrespect to your murderous streak,” Jimin adds.

Taehyung is confused but before he can ask him to elaborate, Namjoon speaks.

“Unless he had VX,” he notes, almost mindlessly.

Now both Taehyung and Jimin are confused.

“Y’know, venomous agent X?” When neither his boyfriend or his friend show any signs of recollection or understanding he elaborates, “The nerve agent that was used to kill Kim Nam Jong Un.”

“Why do you–”

“I’m kind of  turned on right now.”

“Can you not be when I am right here? Dealing with a crisis might I add.”

He sees Namjoon and Jimin share a look, he’s thankful that it’s not a heated one but immediately worried as he notices just how heavy their eyes look. Something happened. They know something he doesn’t.

“I need to know,” Taehyung urges. 

“Something happened,” Jimin starts.

“And we’re sorry for not telling you sooner but Jeongguk asks us not to, and as much as we’re your friend, we’re also his and he is our vice-captain. We wanted to tell you.”

Namjoon’s words don’t bring him any sort of comfort, rather the seriousness of his tone causes the black cloud over Taehyung’s head to take an angry, thunderous colour. In general, Taehyung is not easily provoked, his anger a rare occurrence. But Namjoon, maybe because of an inherent intuitive nature or years of Sherlock Holmes consumption, has mastered the art of predicting when something is going to make him, essentially, tick-tick boom.

“Jeongguk’s been off his game for a while now, and at first it wasn’t a big deal because y’know Jeongguk on an off day is pretty much how everyone else plays on good days but then we had the last match and it was… bad. You know how football fans are, especially here, and they were screaming these awful things at him and I think it got to him because he missed like three open shots and then the yelling got louder. And it’s not like we’re not used to people being fucking assholes when we’re playing away games but this was grown fucking men shouting abuse at him, consistently. Coach almost called off the entire game, but we said fuck them and continued. We should’ve listened to Coach, we lost the game. Jeongguk’s been in a really weird mental space since then.”

The more Jimin speaks the louder the ticking sound in Taehyung’s head gets, Namjoon called it.

More than the anger though, is the fucking hurt. It’s as if someone is chiseling his heart out of its cavity the way it hurts and the distance between himself and Jeongguk feels tangible, feels like a rope that has coiled itself around him and is wringing Taehyung dry.     

One of the many, many amazing things about Yoongi is that he has absolutely no interest in keeping up with “the new lingo” as he calls it. A lot of the time this results in him setting himself for all kinds of sexual innuendos, and then not understanding why anything is funny until Hoseok or Jeongguk explain said joke to him. Most of the time he’ll just respond by rolling his eyes and if he deems it funny, a upwards quirk of his lips.

When he sends Taehyung a text with only the words ‘Come over’ well, he was basically walking into the hands of Taehyung’s humour.

I always knew you had the hots for me, but I never took you for a cheater hyung.

What the fuck are you on about now?

It’s okay, I get it, I’m pretty irresistible. Still though, you were lucky to bag Hoseok hyung, don’t ruin it.

Has the Jeongguk insomnia resulted in hallucinations and delusions?

The smile drops immediately from Taehyung’s face. 

Too soon, man.

Sorry, just come over, Hoseok wants to talk to you?

Is he going to beat me up because of your crush on me?

I would rather have a crush on Jimin’s pinky toe.

The toe that hasn’t ever returned to it’s normal shape after that one injury? You’d pick that toe over me? That’s cold.

Just get over here before I have to come and then an ass beating is guaranteed.

Kinky.

Yoongi leaves him on read. It’s very rude.

No longer than twenty minutes later he’s pressing the code on Hoseok’s door to let himself in, a man who truly lives by su case es mi casa. He is greeted by the sight of two people who were definitely making out a second ago if Yoongi’s ruffled hair and Hoseok’s spit-slick lips are anything to go by.

“You need to stop doing that.”

Taehyung shrugs. “This was inevitable the moment you gave me the code.”

“You made us give it to you for ‘emergencies’, this is not an emergency rugrat,” Yoongi bites.

“It could be.” He launches himself onto the couch, squeezing in between them, eliciting a bright, amused smile from Hoseok and Yoongi that is looking at him sort of like how a dog with rabies stares at people.

“So, why have I been summoned? Is it for a threesome, because while I’m flattered, Jeongguk-ah and I are deep into this monogamy shit so I’ll have to decline.”

“Do you ever think about anything other than sex?” Yoongi asks.

Taehyung thinks about it for a second. “Yeah, I definitely do. I think about Jeongguk, how much I miss Yeontan and Pharell’s 4 count, it’s such a solid and iconic producer tag.”

He knows the last bit will soften Yoongi up again and is proven right when the latter gives a single nod of approval.

“I actually have some good news,” Hoseok pipes up.

Taehyung turns to give him his full attention, “Messi didn’t actually reject Barcelona and is going to play with Neymar and Suarez again?”

“Well no.”

Taehyung nods solemnly.

“I have a round-trip ticket just in time for the last match of the training camp—”

Just like a flower that has had its stem pricked, he perks up. “Hyung, that's great! I’m sure the team are going to be really happy to have you there and I know it will cheer Jeongguk up.”

Yoongi flicks him against the temple. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to interrupt people? Hoseok-ah wasn’t done.”

Taehyung elbows Yoongi but he apologises to Hoseok because his parents did teach him not to interrupt people.

“Actually I was thinking you could take my ticket.”

Taehyung’s brows furrow. “What?”

“Well, I know Jeongguk has been off his game recently and I think as much as you’ve been affected by his absence, it’s probably the same for him too.”

“Yeah but still. You’re the captain, it’s your team. I’m sure they want to see you and the coach too.”

“The coach is willing to do anything to get Jeongguk back to his A-game.”

“So then why can't we both go?”

“Anything within the team,’s budget,” Hoseok amends.

Still, Taehyung knows he can’t say yes to this.

“But–”

“But nothing,” Yoongi interrupts, his voice taking a sterner edge. “Hoseok is their captain, he knows what’s best for their team better than anyone else. If the coach and the rest of the team agree, I don’t really see what the problem is. Unless you don’t want to go?”

Taehyung’s eyebrows lift, incredulous. “Of course, I want to go, how could you even question  that?!?”

“So it’s settled, you’re going!”

While some of the guilt lingers, Taehyung can already feel the excitement bubbling in his chest. He’s going to see his boyfriend! He reaches into his pocket to get his phone but it’s promptly swiped out of his hold.

“Hyung?”

Yoongi shakes his head. “You’re so predictable, you were about to message Jeongguk weren’t you?”

“Of course,” Taehyung shrugs.

“It’s a surprise, Tae-ah. So no telling Jeongguk.”

Oh, that makes sense.

“What if he tries to call me on the flight or something?”

Yoongi and Hoseok share a look as if they had pre-empted this question. 

“Just say you’re busy.”

“Too busy for Jeongguk? Yeah, and tomorrow Jimin will suddenly get sick of mentioning Namjoon-hyung in every sentence. Want to name any more impossibilities that will occur in the near future?”

It’s almost comical the difference in the way Hoseok and Yoongi are looking at him. Hoseok has a small amused smile, his features soft as he takes in Tae’s dramatics. Yoongi, on the other hand, looks like he is contemplating how far he’d have to go to dodge Jeongguk after the latter finds out Yoongi murdered his boyfriend for being a royal pain in the ass.

“We’ll just say you’re helping Yoongi with a project,” Hoseok answers.

And as far as excuses go, it’s not bad. Despite the mutual annoyance they bring into each other’s lives, they’re pretty much it for each other in terms of their platonic relationships. For Jeongguk, it had taken some getting used to, since he’d drop anything and anyone for Taehyung once they’d said their first ‘I love you’s’ and Jeongguk had made up his mind that this was his forever person. But seeing the way they support each other, and also the effort Yoongi had made to care for Jeongguk, he’s really grateful that Taehyung has someone like Yoongi in his life. Hoseok feels the same about the reversal.

“For fifteen hours?”

“We’ll get a nighttime flight so he sleeps for at least half of it, and these days coach has been extra intense on the training so he shouldn’t be suspicious.”

Taehyung nods and then throws his arms around Hoseok, gripping him tightly. “Thank you so much hyung. I appreciate it so, so much.”

“Remember this when you try to buy us a toaster for our wedding gift,” Yoongi says.

Taehyung can feel Hoseok’s heartbeat jump. So sweet.

He turns to Yoongi, still embracing his best friend’s boyfriend. “If he’s unlucky enough to marry you, I’ll have to get him a really good present to somewhat make up for that.”

“You’re so lucky I love your parents and that they love you.”

Taehyung looks at Hoseok, an exaggerated pout on his face. “Hoseok-hyung, I’m being threatened.”

He just laughs at the both of them. “Hungry?”

Yoongi groans.

Taehyung grins, wide enough that all of his teeth show. “Starved.”

They book his plane tickets while they eat the Japchae Yoongi had made for lunch. Taehyung will sleep in Jeongguk’s room, of course, so they don’t have to worry about booking a hotel. He’ll be flying in the early hours of the morning, so he needs to pack as soon as he gets home. And find his passport.

Yoongi stops him as he’s leaving and hands him an envelope.

Taehyung’s head quirks to the side. “What’s this?”

“Well if you’d open it, you’d figure that out.”

“Hoseok hyung, your boyfriend is trying to secretly give me love letters!” Taehyung yells.

Yoongi smacks him with the envelope.

“You should write him one too!” Hoseok shouts back from their bedroom.

Taehyung’s lip curls downwards, he doesn’t like when Hoseok doesn’t play along.

He does open the envelope, where he finds crisp notes. Not won. 

“The exchange rate at the airport is shit, so I went to Myeongdong this morning after we found out about the ticket,” Yoongi tells him.

Taehyung blinks. Then launches himself at Yoongi who struggles to balance both of their weights, gripping on the door for dear life.

“You’re the best hyung.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Taehyung thinks about it. “Shooting stars are much more common than people think, but because of light pollution and people not really looking up we think it’s much more—”

He is shoved into the hallway and met with a door in his face before he can finish. “Go pack!” Yoongi yells at him from the other side of the aforementioned door.

“Thank you hyung, I love you,” Taehyung says, earnestly, holding the envelope tightly against his chest.

“I love you too, I’ll pick you up at 4 am to take you to the airport.”

It’s only when he’s back in his dorm room that it dawns on him how real this is, he is going to the airport tomorrow morning where he’ll get on a plane that’ll take him straight to Jeongguk. He’s going to see Jeongguk, not through a screen. God, he hadn’t truly realised just how bad his separation anxiety was right until this moment, his itching with the need to feel Jeongguk under his fingers—and multiple other parts of him as well.

He lets his mind wander as he packs for the trip, making sure to include the necessities— his passport, his team jersey with Jeongguk’s number, a charger, and extra hair ties just in case Jeongguk needs them. His boyfriend has a habit of snapping them when he’s in a rush to gather all his hair back. Everything else he throws into the suitcase carelessly. 

Still, it takes a while. Granted he did take two hours to eat and catch up to Jeongguk with My Hero Academia, but by the time he finishes, it is already dark out. Fatigue makes all his movements heavy and he misses the way Jeongguk would carry him into the shower on days like this, doing all the work for him as Taehyung laid all his weight on his boyfriend, eyes periodically fluttering shut. 

As if he summoned him, a message from Jeongguk pops up as soon as he gets out of the shower. It’s not a video, but a voice note. While Taehyung’s always been more of a caller and voice note person, Jeongguk usually sticks to typing. And when he really wants to talk he’d opt for a call over a voice note on most days. The fact that he sent a thirty-minute voice note is curious, to say the least.

“Ahem. Hi.”

He shouldn’t still be this affected by Jeongguk saying a singular word, a perfunctory word no less. A simple greeting and Taehyung’s lips pull into a smile and that familiar warmth blooms in his chest.

“Hi,” he replies, ignoring that it isn’t a phone call and giddy when he realises the next time he says it will be to Jeongguk’s face.

“So no video today because my phone’s storage is obliterated and I’m too tired to go through all my folders and apps and see what to download, so I did the next best thing. Please bear with me, you know I suck at these.”

“It’s impossible for you to suck at anything.” ‘Even sucking’, goes unsaid but his horny sex-deprived brain thinks it.

“Focus,” he says, reprimanding himself.

He tries to picture Jeongguk in bed too, his right hand propping his head up while his left hand holds his phone. He’s probably wearing his freshly washed pajama pants, and if he feels even a little warm, he’s most likely bare-chested. It’s been pretty chilly at night so he’s probably wearing one of the tops they’d cropped— the only type of chest coverage he can sleep in without getting uncomfortably hot. His hair is probably held back with his hairband that he always forgets to take off after doing his nightly skincare routine. A picture of comfort. A stab of wanting hits him.

“So, I found out this place is pretty close to a library and they actually have a foreign section! Of course, I went to peruse it with Namjoon hyung after practice and I stumbled upon A Series of Unfortunate Events which I just so happen to know you were obsessed with when you were younger.”

If Taehyung’s heart could take form, it would grow legs and run and run and run all the way to Jeongguk. His dad had mentioned that once, a throw-away sentence just to make conversation as they were all trying to get through the awkward nature of meeting new people, specifically your boyfriend’s family and for your family, the first guy you’ve ever brought home.

The books were his obsession when he was younger and also where he picked up his biting habit, much to his boyfriend’s chagrin (but not really).

He imagines Jeongguk’s impossibly round and inconceivably big eyes widening as they fall on the book, the way the pride of finding it would puff up his chest causing him to walk with his head held higher. He can see his boyfriend showing the book off to Namjoon and the older giving him a good-natured pat on the shoulder, his way of saying ‘you did good’ when he’s not screaming it on the field.

“It won’t be whispering today, I think the ASMR-tists call it soft-spoken? So yeah, I’ll be talking to you very softly, like a baby. My baby. I miss you so much, I think I’m gonna—Just give me a second.” The tell-tale sniffling and rustling follow, he can only guess Jeongguk is looking for tissues. Taehyung feels something clench in his chest.

“I miss you too,” he says to his empty room.

A few more sniffles, then, “Okay, I’m fine. Sorry for that, I can hear you telling me not to say sorry but I want this to be relaxing not worrying. So back to the book. I’m going to read as much as I can before passing out, I’m pretty wiped from practice today. Again, don’t worry.”

It’s like he can see Taehyung’s frown, the scrunch between his eyebrows as he thinks about Jeongguk trying to keep himself awake just to help his boyfriend sleep.

“I like this, I like doing this for you—with you.”

His heart gets ready to sprint again.

“Okay, I hope you’re comfortable. I’ll start now. If you are interested in stories with happy endings, you’d be better off reading some other book. In this book not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning and very few happy things happen in the middle. This is because not very many happy…”

Taehyung settles more comfortably into bed, slotting a pillow between his thighs as he lets his boyfriend’s buttery soft, lilting voice carry him into his dreams. His eyes are already heavy and close on their own accord and everything besides the Baudelair’s are far, far away.

Violence. Murder. Arson.

Those are the first thoughts he has when his blaring alarm rings through his bedroom, the sound so grating he considers launching his phone at the wall. It feels like he’s barely slept, no way it’s already 9 am. When he finally can manage to squint with his left eye he sees his room enshroud in darkness, so he knows something is up. He sleeps with his curtains open so that the sunlight floods into his room, making sure his circadian rhythm is working so he doesn’t wake up feeling homicidal, like right now. Finally, both of his eyes open and he checks the time, 4 am.

He immediately opens his first contact and presses the call button. “MIN FUCKING YOONGI I SWEAR TO GOD IF THIS IS YOUR IDEA OF A PRANK I’M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS ALL THE WAY BACK TO DAE-”

“You’re still a nightmare in the mornings?” Yoongi asks, his voice doesn’t sound any different from usual. Tired yes, but not sleepy at all.

“Hyung, this isn’t funny,” he complains, his voice climbing octaves into a full-blown whine by the last syllable.

Yoongi sighs. “Also still as forgetful, clearly. Go brush your teeth princess, you can’t kiss your boyfriend with morning breath.”

Taehyung walks into his desk and curses, even more frustrated with the riddles Yoongi feels like plaguing him with before the sun has even risen.

“What are you talking about?”

“Just get dressed I’ll be there soon, don’t forget your passport?”

“Am I still slee-”

But Yoongi has already ended the call before Taehyung can finish his question. He thinks about going back to sleep but then Yoongi’s words repeat themselves, and he blinks.

Passport?

Oh. Passport.

Passport!

His passport which he needs because he is going to the airport and taking a flight, a flight that will take him straight to Jeongguk. A flight that he needs to be ready for very, very soon. As if he’d just taken a plunge into an ice bath, he is suddenly incredibly awake and alert.

Grateful for last night’s Taehyung, he says thanks when his eyes find the clothes he’d already laid out for himself. He makes quick work in the shower and brushing his teeth, he skips his skincare routine save for sunscreen and puts on his clothes despite his body still not being fully dry. He has just finished triple-checking that he has all his essentials when Yoongi knocks at his door, he knows it’s Yoongi because he is the only person who knocks like a police officer with a warrant out for your arrest. Give it some time and he’s sure a knuckle-shaped indent is going to form on his door.

“Coming,” he calls, almost slipping as he rushes to open the door.

When he opens the door, Yoongi thrusts a cup of coffee at him.

“Have you eaten?” he asks at the same time Taehyung asks, “How did you sleep?”

His hyung waits for his answer first.

Taehyung shakes his head. “It’s too early, trying to eat anything now will just make me nauseous. Thanks for the coffee though.”

“I slept fine. Are you ready to go?”

“Where is Hoseok hyung?” Taehyung questions, bringing his suitcase to the door.

“Probably on his fourth REM cycle.”

They drive to the airport in relative silence, neither of them morning people, especially when that morning has started before the birds have come out. It’s still dark out, the sun hours away, but everything is illuminated by bright, artificial light. Thankfully, they coast through the highways, and before Taehyung even realises they’ve been driving for more than half an hour, they’re on the bridge to Yeongjongdo, the airport island.

Yoongi drops Taehyung off at Terminal 2 while he goes to find parking. He decides to check in as he waits for Yoongi to come back, and he’s glad he did when he sees how long the line for his flight is. He wonders, briefly, if anyone else is reuniting with their person. He almost texts Jeongguk while he is in line but luckily, catches sight of one of the digital clocks overhead reminding him that it’s far too early for him to be awake for no reason. Instead, he sends Hoseok another message to say thank you and gives Yoongi the directions to find him.

His check-in is pretty quick, he only has a carry-on and they don’t ask him any questions.

They find a place to sit as he finishes up his coffee and Yoongi gets out his laptop, it’s like he’s incapable of wasting time.

“You don’t have to wait with me hyung,” Taehyung says.

Yoongi doesn’t look up from his work. “I know, I like working at the airport.”

“And how many times have you done this?” he asks, genuinely curious. Yoongi isn’t much of a traveller.

He shrugs, “A couple of times I guess? When I’m stuck or something, I’ll just drive to this airport, there’s this cafe overlooking the check-in area so you don’t have to actually be taking a flight to feel like you’re at the airport. It’s got its own energy that helps me get out of my head for a bit.”

“How did I not know that?” He is genuinely taken aback, after knowing each other for so long he had stopped thinking he’d learn new things about Yoongi ages ago.

“I don’t know, guess it never came up,” he answers simply.

Taehyung elbows him against his side, “I’m still your best friend right?”

“You’re so melodramatic.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

Taehyung crosses his arms across his chest and glares at Yoongi.

“Yes, princess, despite you not knowing every mundane detail of my life, you are unfortunately my best friend.”

Taehyung ignores the ‘unfortunately’ as he barrels into Yoongi with a hug, almost knocking them both over with the chair his hyung is seated on in the process.

“Thank you for everything hyung.”

Yoongi peels Taehyung off of him, literally extracting him limb by limb as he holds on, and lifts his chin in the direction of the flight board. It’s time for Taehyung to go through airport security.

“I’ll pick you up when you come back, don’t do anything stupid.”

Taehyung salutes him, “Sir, yes sir.”

This does actually get a laugh out of Yoongi, and just before Taehyung is out of earshot he hears a mumbled, “I’ll miss you.”

Forgetting all of the social etiquette and manners that have been drilled into him since he was a child, he turns back and screams, “I’ll miss you too, hyung.”

So worth all the weird looks he gets from everyone in his vicinity. People need to lighten up.

By the time he is on the plane, he’s already downloaded ten episodes of the eleventh season of Bleach and all of the playlists Jeongguk has made him on Spotify. Halfway into the first episode though, he’s eyes begin to droop and he ends up sleeping for three-quarters of the flight, completely disoriented when he wakes up to food being served. Which is great since he is starved. 

Thankfully, there is wifi on the plane, so he checks his messages as he devours his bibimbap and fruit. Jeongguk had woken up already wishing Taehyung a good day, and Taehyung had done the same, giddy knowing they’d soon be having that good day together. Yoongi had asked him how the flight was going, Hoseok had told him that Yoongi was actively monitoring the flight and he’d randomly gotten one from Mingyu assuring Taehyung that he wasn’t stealing Jeongguk’s play-time.

After replying to everyone, except Mingyu (who deserved to sweat a little), he connected his headphones to his phone and finally got to watching the Bleach episodes he’d downloaded.

-

It takes a herculean effort not to stand up as soon as the pilot announces that they’ve landed, but for once his common sense outweighs his excitement. People who get up before they can depart the plane are one of the most annoying types of flyers, second only to the people who clap when the plane lands.

So, with his legs bouncing up and down, he waits for the rows in front of him to deboard, then gets his carry-on and makes his way out. He follows the signs leading him to immigration and besides a few questions about where he’ll be staying and how long he plans to visit, they don’t require much else from him. He knows public transport would be the cheaper option but he doesn’t want to risk getting lost on his first day, so he opts to get a taxi instead. He’s headed for the exit when he hears someone call his name.

Confused, he turns to where the sound is coming from, and it takes him a little bit of scrutinising but he finds him. Park Jimin, or as he affectionately calls him, Jeongguk’s Yoongi.

“Jimin!” He yells, uncaring for all the people he bumps into as he rushes over to envelop him in a hug.

He hugs Taehyung back with the same ferocity.

“What are you doing here?” he asks when they pull apart, even he can hear the smile in his own voice.

Jimin takes his carry-on from him and directs them to the airport parking. “You didn’t think this surprise plan would be possible without a man on the inside right?”

“And that would be you?”

He nods. “Namjoon is horrible with secrets.”

“Whose car is this?” Taehyung asks, he’s never seen this Audi before.

Jimin puts his suitcase in the back and when both of them are seated, seatbelts drawn, he tells him it’s the car their coach rented for the duration of their trip. “As you can see he is desperate to get Jeongguk’s ‘head back into the game’ so to speak.”

He makes a mental note to thank their coach.

“He’s at practice right now?”

Jimin nods. He must have been the driver many times during their two months abroad since he seemed so comfortable on the unfamiliar roads, his grip on the steering wheel relaxed as ever. Taehyung didn’t even know he had an international license.

“He’ll be there a few more hours, so you have time to drop your things off at his place and even crash if you need to?” Jimin offers.

Taehyung thinks about it before shaking his head. “I got enough sleep on the plane, I think I just need to take a shower and then I’ll head over to the training ground. You mind waiting for me?”

“Coach is making them do shuttle runs, you’re doing me a favour.”

Taehyung winces, sending his boyfriend mental strength. “I see he isn’t going easier on you guys since this is the final stretch?”

“If anything it feels like he’s gotten worse, he’s squeezing us dry. I feel like the last lemon during rush hour at a bar.”

Taehyung rubs a comforting hand on Jimin’s shoulder. “It’s almost done.”

“And thank fuck for that. Though I don’t mind how hard Coach is riding us, I get it. After our last game, we need to finish strong or this weird funk is going to follow us into the next season.”

Which will be most of their last seasons, with their last year of university approaching. A few of them have gotten offers from national teams, and two of them have been sought out by international teams too, but for the majority of them, it’ll be their last time playing football competitively, even if they’ve done it for the bulk of their lives. Taehyung can only imagine how difficult that transition will be, and what the building pressing leading up to it must feel like.

“How is Namjoon holding up?”

Jimin motions that they’ve reached their destinations and gets his carry-on for Taehyung, he follows the football player dutifully.

“Honestly, he’s been pretty great. I think since Hoseok isn’t here and Jeongguk has been dealing with his mental block he’s taken it upon himself to be the stand-in leader for the time being, and my personal bias aside, he’s been incredible.”

Taehyung’s heart warms at the proud smile on Jimin’s face but it’s immediately followed by a pit in his stomach as he thinks about Jeongguk. Jeongguk who has always had football as his sanctuary from all of his mental stress, and now it’s another part of his life with expectations weighing heavy on his shoulders. And he knows his boyfriend, he knows that his method of coping would be pushing himself more, to the point of exhaustion. The very same Jeongguk who’d found time to make comforting videos to help his boyfriend fall asleep in his absence.

God, he can’t even fathom how tired he must be.

“This is his room,” Jimin tells him when they get to a door with the number 103. “I’ll wait for you downstairs, take your time, I have to practice my FIFA 23’ skills'.”

Taehyung thanked Jimin one more time before using the keycard he’d gotten and pushing open the door. Immediately he is hit with the scent he loves so much. Clean laundry, grass, and just a touch of sweetness. He wants to live in this smell. 

He quickly takes his shoes off and gently deposits his luggage in the cupboard since he knows how finicky Jeongguk is about mess especially when he is already stressed. Taehyung doesn’t think twice about grabbing one of Jeongguk’s shirts and one of the few shorts he has that he doesn’t practice in until he gets the real thing he wants to be enveloped in Jeongguk’s scent.

He is waiting for the water to get warmer when Jimin gives him a call.

“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it started pouring over at the training ground so I have to get back with the car now, we’re moving to an indoor training centre.”

Taehyung nods absentmindedly as he processes this, “I don’t see the problem.”

“It’s cutting into our practice time so Coach doesn’t want any distractions, his exact words were ‘the last thing we need right now is lovers lane’,” Jimin tells him.

Taehyung sighs but doesn’t fight it. “I understand, I guess it is crunch time. I’ll just wait for him here.”

“You’ll be okay by yourself?”

“You’re starting to sound like Yoongi,” Taehyung mutters.

Jimin pretends to choke. “Don’t ever say that to me again.”

“See you later.”

The water is scalding by the time they’re done with their call and Taehyung tries to think about nothing other than the relief it feels to wash the grime that has accumulated the last few hours. But his brain can’t really help itself, he’s using Jeongguk’s body wash and his shampoo and his cleanser and he momentarily considers just finding his own way to the training grounds, Coach be damned. He’s about to try to call a taxi when he gets out of the shower, walking over to the window in only a towel when he sees that Jimin was not joking about the rain. The downpour is causing all kinds of traffic and the last thing he wants is for Jeongguk to come home and Taehyung to be stuck on some highway.

Instead, he takes his time looking around as his body dries with his movement. There’s a small chest of drawers in his room, atop are Jeongguk’s skincare and haircare products, some of the bracelets he doesn’t wear every day and a picture of the two of them in the frame Taehyung had made when he was in his woodwork phase. The picture is from the day they went to Wolmi Theme Park, one of their first dates. They were on the Ferris wheel, the sun setting behind them and Taehyung had just known he wanted something tangible to remember it, grateful for his foresight to bring his Polaroid camera along with him that day.

The two of them were smiling so brightly, the giddiness almost as dazzling as the sun shining on them. Jeongguk had taken his face into both of his hands seconds after this, kissing him until they were both breathless. Taehyung had taken another picture after, one with Jeongguk’s hair all mussed up, the pair of them red-faced and lips a sheen to them that was not existent in the first picture, that one is nestled in a box of his prized possessions under his bed back home in Seoul.

By the time his reverie passes, he’s almost completely dry and gets dressed in Jeongguk’s clothes. He hugs his arms close to his chest and it soothes the longing a little bit.

Moving over to Jeongguk’s bed, he looks over at the trinkets on his bedside table. Headbands, rings, his glasses case and another picture of Taehyung. This one Jeongguk had taken a few months ago, after they’d visited his parents in Busan. They were spending this specific morning at Songdo beach to catch the sunrise and it was incredible, everything was golden and alive and Taehyung had decided to plunge into the piercing cold water and immediately regretted it. Jeongguk was doubled over laughing when he re-emerged, wet hair covering his eyes and pouty as his shivering form trekked back to where Jeongguk was still giggling.

“You could’ve warned me,” Taehyung complains.

His laughter settles into an amused smile. “Hey, you barely gave me time to react! You sprinted into the water…. And it was cute.”

Taehyung stuck his tongue out at him and Jeongguk wasted no time and snapped a picture.

“I probably look like a wet dog,” he moaned.

Jeongguk’s smile just got brighter. “Oh, a pouty puppy for sure. I love it.”

Taehyung rolls his eyes but pulls him in by his t-shirt collar anyway, “You’re not going to reward me for my bravery?”

The kiss was salty and a little aloe vera-ey (from their sunscreen) and here in the present moment, he can still feel the sand beneath his fingernails and Jeongguk’s buttery soft skin and hear the waves lazily crashing into the shore.

He puts the picture down and stretches out on Jeongguk’s bed, that nap that Jimin was talking about earlier sounds so appealing right now, the bed so inviting as the mattress moulds to his shape.

The nap is briefer than he expected and when he wakes up less than an hour later, the rain has been reduced to a drizzle and his stomach grumbles. He walks over to the chest of drawers, grabs one of Jeongguk’s sweatpants and puts it on, along with his own pair of socks. There’s an umbrella at the door that he grabs after he’s gotten his wallet and phone and makes his way out of the dorm room.

According to Google Maps, there should be a sandwich shop nearby and he makes his way there with slow steps as he takes in his new surroundings. The air, he notices, is considerably crisper and cleaner than that of Seoul. He passes a stationary store and decides to come back to it after he eats, there’s a music store and a run-down post office as well as a high school with students in uniform going to their respective classes. He stops to listen for some familiarity but besides English and maybe one or two European languages he doesn’t hear anything else. Not a word of Korean. He’s suddenly really grateful that Jeongguk is here with his team, people who are just like him.

He spends the rest of his walk searching for the menu and practising his order, still, he lets out a sigh of relief when he sees automated machines that take credit cards. There isn’t an option to choose Korean as a language but he’s still about 90% sure he ordered the right thing. When his order number flashes on the screen he collects his food, and is startled by the person working the counter’s cheery personality when she tells him to enjoy his meal.

“Thank you,” he manages, letting out a grateful sigh when his own nervousness doesn’t betray him.

Taehyung makes quick work of the sandwich and the lemonade and is surprised with how quickly he finishes a meal when he isn’t pausing to talk to somebody else. He can’t remember the last time he ate alone.

When he leaves he remembers to stop at the stationary store, he needs some supplies and finds them easily enough, proud of himself when he doesn’t need the clerk to repeat herself as she checks his items out. The scent of petrichor is so vivid as he walks back to the dorm, taking a different route just to see more of the place, and he’s rewarded with a park. There’s not much foot traffic but he sees a few people, mostly walking their dog. Others are reading are talking to someone on their phone. He sees a pomeranian and thinks of Yeontan, he almost takes a picture to send to Jeongguk but luckily he catches himself before he does so.

He places the umbrella back in its place and puts his sneakers by the door before launching himself on Jeongguk’s bed. He empties the contents of the plastic bag onto it, he really made a dent in the allowance Yoongi and Hoseok had so kindly given him but for a very good reason.

“Fuck.”

He’d forgotten to message Yoongi that he was at Jeongguk’s place. As expected his messages were bombarded by both worried and pissed-off messages from his hyung.

It rings for a millisecond and then there’s the familiar sound of Yoongi’s concerned voice climbing in decibels with each word. Taehyung flinches away from the phone, pretty sure at least one of his eardrums had burst.

“I’m sorry?”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it, you’re in a foreign country you’ve never been in before!” Then his voice softens considerably, “I need to know you’re okay.”

Guilt wraps itself around Taehyung’s chest, and he genuinely does feel bad. He’d probably be calling Interpol even if Yoongi had done the same thing.

“Everything just happened so quickly and then I got to the dorms and I guess my brain just got taken over by all things Jeongguk. I really am sorry hyung.”

He can hear Yoongi’s breathing evening out on the other side of the phone, always a good sign.

“Just. Just don’t do it again.”

Even though Yoongi can’t see him Taehyung puts his hand on his chest as he says, “I promise.”

“Are you still with Jimin?”

“No, he had to take them to an indoor training centre because of the rain. I’ve been making myself comfortable in Jeongguk’s room, I’m making posters right now.”

He’d gotten enough paper for about five posters and enough stickers to cover the entirety of a small apartment. He doesn’t just want to show up to Jeongguk’s games wearing his jersey he wants every person in that stands to know someone will be there going full out for Jeongguk. Someone who is not afraid to punch them in the face if they even think about shouting something horrible at him. Taehyung also enjoys seeing Jeongguk’s friend tease him about the fact that he has his own personal cheerleader and the way Jeongguk gets all bashful and his smile all boyish. 

He makes the posters as he tells Yoongi about the different buildings he’d seen so far, answering his architectural questions to the best of his limited ability.

“Do you think you’ll have jet lag?”

He’d specifically timed when he would sleep on his flight to avoid that, so he is confident that won’t be a problem. “No, but my legs have been aching like hell, I think it’s because I was sitting in the same position for so long.”

“Go for a walk?”

“I did, there is still this dull pain.”

Yoongi thinks about it for a beat. “No chance there are baths there?”

“As a matter of fact, there are,” Taehyung tells him.

“One of my friends, an international student, would always complain about not having a bath when she got muscle pain. Maybe try that?”

His first instinct is to ask since when does Yoongi have friends he doesn’t know about, he forgoes this question only because the pain has made itself more apparent. “Just taking a bath?”

“I think you have to stay in there for a while, give the heat time to do its thing.”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt,” Taehyung says, walking over to the bathroom and plugging in the bath stopper.

Yoongi tells him about how he’d finally gotten all of his sketches approved as the water fills the tub. Taehyung promises to take pictures of all the buildings but stresses that he will not go around asking for floor plans.

“Have you slept at all?”

This time it’s Hoseok who answers. “He has barely been able to close his eyes long enough to blink since you got on that airplane.”

Some people go through life never meeting their soulmate, Taehyung counts himself so incredibly lucky that he has two and they’re both the best people on the planet.

“I love you hyung, you’re the best.”

“I know. Take your phone off silent.”

Taehyung grins. “Sir, yes sir.”

“Get some rest hyung, I’ll message you after Jeongguk gets back.”

“Don’t. I plan to sleep for the next 36 hours.”

He doesn’t manage to coax an ‘I love you’ out of him before they say goodbye, but Hoseok says he almost cried when Taehyung didn’t reply earlier and that is more than enough.

The water feels like needles piercing his skin in a way that is soothing rather than painful, an acupuncture sort of effect. He sinks deeper until his entire body is submerged. A moan slips past his lips as feels his muscles contract and relax as they adjust to the temperature. 

Belatedly, he realises that he should’ve put on one of his playlists as he was getting ready to take a bath. He’d let his phone on the sink and now that he’s comfortable the last thing he wants to do is get up to put on a song.

“Siri?” he calls out.

“Yes?” the automated voice responds.

“Can you play my unwind playlist?”

“Okay here is unwind on Spotify.”

This time when he slides his body down further, he lets his head be submerged in the water. The instrumental muffles as he focuses on slowing down his heartbeat, a technique Jeongguk had taught him to get better with anxiety. The whole point was not to panic but to take control and remain calm in a situation where you do have control, to help you do when you don’t.

It helps a lot, and sometimes Taehyung will do it as a way to get his mind to focus on one thing and not the usual thousands that flit in and out by the minute. In fact, he’s so focused that he doesn’t hear the door open, or the sound of Jeongguk’s cleats hitting the floor. His boyfriend rapping on the bathroom door finally gets his attention.

“So I don’t know if this is a prank or something, but I can hear you splashing about and I would just like to warn you that my boyfriend will actually kill you and also I’m proper in love with him, like to the extent that I would be an accessory to murder for him, so I suggest you leave. For your own safety that is.”

Taehyung’s shoulders shake as he laughs, completely unsurprised by the ridiculous claims.

“Care to join me, Ace?”

He’s shocked that the door doesn’t come clean off its hinges with the force with which Jeongguk rips it open.

“Taehyung?!?”

“In the flesh, and nothing else,” he says, gesturing to the bath.

Jeongguk blinks very slowly as he takes careful steps towards Taehyung, it’s as if he thinks his boyfriend is a mirage and moving too quickly will make it disappear.

“Am I dreaming? Did I get a concussion on the field that caused me to have a hallucination?”

“Why don’t you come here and find out?” Taehyung challenges.

Jeongguk obliges, kneeling next to the bath so that they’re eye to eye. He reaches out a hand to cup the side of Taehyung’s face and the latter melts. His hands are trembling, as if he still can’t believe he is actually touching him. Like candyfloss on the tongue, he seems to dissolve under Jeongguk’s touch.

“I’ve missed you.” The declaration falls as Jeongguk’s thumb strokes his bottom lip, clearly still in disbelief.

“How is this real?”

“I’ll explain later, just come here. You’re too far.”

And that’s the thing with them, that’s what made all of this exponentially harder. The fact that they could be in the same room, holding one another, and still it could feel like the distance between them was too large. You throw an actual sea in, well, of course, they wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Jeongguk nods, hearing the urgency in his chest, reflected in Taehyung’s voice.

“I’ll take a quick shower and then I’ll join you,” he says as he peels off the layer of clothing, grimacing at how the sweat makes it stick to his skin.

Taehyung shakes his head. “Just get in now, I don’t care.”

“I’m gross, it’s going to make the bath water all muddy.”

“I don’t care,” he insists, raising his voice.

It only has the effect of making Jeongguk smile. “God, you’re cute. I’ll be two minutes tops, I promise.”

He leans over to kiss Taehyung on the forehead. “Don’t disappear.”

“Be quick.”

Jeongguk doesn’t stop looking at Taehyung even as he turns the shower faucet and takes off his underwear, when he steps into the shower the frosted glass makes it so that he can only see the outline of Taehyung’s silhouette and still his gaze doesn't falter.

“I can feel you staring,” Taehyung calls out, making sure to make his voice even louder so that it carries over the water rushing out of the shower head.

Jeongguk shrugs even though Taehyung most likely can’t see it.

“Just making sure you’re still here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assures him.

“Can you keep talking to me, I know it’s silly but I can’t wash my hair if I don’t close my eyes and if I close my eyes…”

You might disappear.

“Of course I can.”

Jeongguk’s shoulders relax and he listens to Taehyung as he rushes through cleaning the day’s grime off of him.

“...I’ve decided that I abhor flying, it’s so boring and everything about it just feels so restricting like you can only eat certain things and move at certain times and the guy next to me snored so much. The only positive was that I could catch up with you at Bleach and update your pre-game playlist, I might have to make you a new one soon.”

“Not coming here?” Jeongguk asks, getting out of the shower as Taehyung looks over at him.

“Finished so soon?”

“Couldn’t wait,” he admits, coming to stand in front of the bath, the exact position he was in earlier except he doesn't kneel this time.

Taehyung raises an expectant brow, “What are you waiting for? Get in.”

Jeongguk doesn't miss the way his eyes trail the length of his body appreciatively, he stands up taller because of it.

“Waiting for you to name the best part of coming here.”

“Of course, it is seeing you, you’re my raison d'etre.”

The answer satisfies Jeongguk and he finally joins Taehyung in the bath, it’s not made for two people to be in there at the same time but they make it work. Taehyung sits up and pulls his legs forward, and Jeongguk sits down facing him, holding his knees to his chest.

“Maybe we should have thought this through a little bit more,” Taehyung comments.

Jeongguk shakes his head. “I’m having a great time.”

He stares at Taehyung, not saying anything, just looking at him. Then with a sigh, “I missed you so much.”

“That’s why I’m here,” Taehyung says, reaching out to brush some of the longer strands of hair out of the way.

“Yeah, again I’m going to need some clarification on that.”

He reaches over for the grey loofah he assumes belongs to Jeongguk and tells him to turn over and lean against him. “I’ll explain the whole plan and clean you off properly, you’re not going to be able to sleep tonight otherwise.”

Jeongguk doesn’t argue because he knows he is right, and turns so that he is looking away from him. Closing his eyes he listens to Taehyung tell him about the ticket that Hoseok offered him, and their friends conspiring to keep it a secret, about how Taehyung had gotten them to tell him about what was going on and how worried he’d been.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

Taehyung continues swiping the loofah across Jeongguk’s skin, making sure to apply extra pressure where he knows he is tense. Blissful moans trail after Taehyung’s fingers. 

“I know and I know why you didn’t. You didn’t want me to worry.”

“Still, I should’ve been honest.”

Taehyung nods in agreement. “I agree, I almost threatened Mingyu but luckily Namjoon and Jimin were compliant.”

Jeongguk snickers. “You’re something else Kim Taehyung.”

“That better be a good thing,” he says as he sinks his teeth into Jeongguk’s shoulder. God, he’s wanted to do that for so long.

Jeongguk groans. “It’s the best thing.”

“Good answer.” He swipes his tongue over the redness, just a hint of his previous deed remaining and smiles when Jeongguk shivers.

He turns completely to face Taehyung, both hands reaching to pull his face closer and kisses him the way he wanted to as soon as he heard his voice earlier, the way he says Ace so particular and Taehyung-like that it always elicits the same reaction— a smile as bright as the moon and a heart like a shooting star. He kisses him fervently, kisses him so that he knows just how much he’s ached to do this in the last few weeks and is rewarded with the same ferocity, Taehyung’s need to be close to him so tangible he can taste it. They get lost in it even as the seconds pass and the need to breathe becomes more apparent.

Another benefit of the submerging technique Jeongguk had taught him, they’re both able to hold their breaths for an impressive amount of time.

When they do pull away it’s with identical smiles and spit-slicked lips.

“Come here, I want to hold you for a bit.”

They change positions so that Jeongguk is the one with his back to the bath, and Taehyung’s resting against his chest. 

“I’ve seriously been off my game without you here. I think you really might be my lucky charm.” He says this as he walks his fingers across Taehyung’s chest.

Taehyung places a soft kiss on Jeongguk’s upper arm. “Maybe everyone is right and we really are co-dependent.”

“I don’t know, I think we’re pretty cute.”

When Taehyung raises his head, Jeongguk immediately knows to dip his own and meet him halfway for a kiss. This one way softer than the one before, this one relaxed, the pleasure of knowing they have all the time in the world together, the rest of their lives and the ones after that too. A simple I love you between their lips.

FIN.