Work Text:
Day 421;
“You sure?” Jeongguk asks for the nth time, when they get home from the Institute at another ungodly hour. Taehyung replies with a loud open-mouthed yawn. Stumbles in the door to their apartment his legs moving robotically.
They wander toward their bedroom in the dark, not even bothering to switch on a light.
“It will be so, so cut off though babe, you know how sociable you are.”
Taehyung rolls his eyes with a second yawn, prompting Jeongguk’s mouth to fall open with one of his own. His entire body screams for sleep, words starting to slur together.
“I’ll have you silly, and animals - nature. Let’s get a puppy.”
“How about two?” Jeongguk queries with a smile, arms coming around Taehyung’s waist and head dropping onto his shoulder from behind.
Taehyung leans back into him as they walk (waddle) into their bedroom. “Even better. We can still leave for visits, we’re not trapped for life.”
“Mmm, but it’s not like having the hyungs down the street a five minute walk away.”
Taehyung nods and turns to face him, pulling him by his sweater until they both fall onto their bed in a messy heap of limbs. The sheets are still scrunched at the bottom of the bed, duvet coming out of its cover. Both are too tired to care.
“I’ll be fine, stop worrying.”
“I always worry about you.”
“Well don’t, dummy,” Taehyung whispers, dragging Jeongguk further up the bed and snuggling into his side. They should probably get changed, probably have a shower, but the tiredness is settling all the way to Jeongguk’s bones, and he doesn’t need to look at Taehyung to know he’s much the same way.
A glance at the clock on their bedside table causes Jeongguk to flinch as he eyes the subtle move of the hand indicating 4AM. His stomach grumbles loudly as he pauses to consider the last meal he’d eaten. Ramen at six.
Taehyung reaches out to unlace his sneakers and then Jeongguk’s, pushing both pairs off the bed. Jeongguk loses his sweater and t-shirt shortly after, Taehyung letting out a sigh of content on his bare chest. His full-time pillow.
Jeongguk’s eyelids flutter shut as he feels himself near the edge of sleep, Taehyung’s voice bringing him back momentarily.
“Will you be okay though?” Taehyung says softly, his thumb brushing the short little scar on Jeongguk’s cheek. Free hand curling around his waist.
He doesn’t need time at all to consider, the moment only drawn out by tiredness.
“I’ll be with you won’t I?”
Day 482;
“Tae!” Jeongguk calls out, voice going a little high-pitched as it does when he’s exceptionally excited about something. He presses his nose to the thick curved safety glass. A single large eye blinks back at him mere metres away, the size of it almost comparable to the whole of Jeongguk’s face.
“Hurry!” Jeongguk whisper-yells, into the walkie-talkie, his crackled voice reverberating in the large open space.
Taehyung’s noisy steps thunder up the stairs at a surprisingly fast rate. Impressive due to the lack of physical activity he partakes in. (“We have sex like every other day,” he’d shrugged when Jeongguk had tried to coerce him to go for a run once. “Let’s just fuck more,” Taehyung had declared, “If you’re so worried about my physical health.” Jeongguk had nothing to say to that ).
Taehyung sprints into the room, presses against the glass next to him, letting out a soft squeal of delight. “Elaltitan Lilloi ,” he whispers reverently, one hand reaching out to grasp Jeongguk’s own. The magnificent beast seems to appraise them for a moment longer and Taehyung squeezes Jeongguk’s hand tighter.
He’s not scared, neither of them are really, but it does make one feel rather small and insignificant in the face of such a creature. “She’s beautiful,” Taehyung whispers, and Jeongguk murmurs in agreement, it doesn’t feel right to raise their voices even to a normal speaking level.
“How do you know it’s a she?” he enquires, reaching out a thumb to swipe at the fog Taehyung’s breath has collected, blurring the view.
Taehyung grins sideways at him, “I get a feeling.”
And it’s not very scientific, but a lot of Taehyung’s ‘feelings,’ his natural intuition, had led to some of the most prominent scientific discoveries of the world’s biggest kept secret. Literally the biggest.
Dinosaurs.
Taehyung is intelligent, well-educated and hard-working, but there is just something he has that makes his research brilliant. Something more people would have hated him for, if it wasn't for his ability to win over practically everyone.
Jeongguk generally surmises that it is his compassion, his genuine love - not for dinosaurs, but for all living creatures. His work has a sense of purpose that many in their field lack. While many scientists that focus on animals lock them away in barred cages, in thick glass boxes, Taehyung has instead locked themselves in a box - so to speak.
“Amazing,” Jeongguk breathes out quietly, and it’s not the first one of its kind they’ve seen, but each time it sends a shudder through his entire being. How lucky was he, to study such magnificence.
He glances over to a wide-eyed Taehyung nodding in agreement.
Double the luck. To be studying it with him.
Day 509;
“Love?”
Jeongguk blinks his eyes open slowly, Taehyung’s face gradually coming into blurred view. Waking up to Taehyung’s smile is quite possibly the best way one could wake up, Jeongguk thinks.
Jeongguk knows.
“I’m tired,” Taehyung announces, eyes squeezing shut as he leans forward to kiss Jeongguk’s nose, forehead and lips. And then in backwards order.
“Why’d you wake me then?” Jeongguk asks, voice scratchy from lack of use overnight, vocal cords stiff and slow. He gently removes one of Taehyung’s legs that is pinning his body to the bed, stretches out fully.
Taehyung sits up.
“Can we stay in bed today?”
“All day?”
Taehyung shrugs and Jeongguk nods and motions for him to lie back down.
“Okay pretty.”
They lie in silence for a moment longer, the pitter-patter of gentle rain on the roof a soothing melody.
“Hey,” Taehyung jabs him lightly in the ribs, Jeongguk responding with a grunt. “What do you call a sleeping dinosaur?”
“Tae-”
“Just - lemme,”
“What?”
“Dinosnore.”
“You told me that joke last week.”
“Pretend I didn’t.”
“Okay you didn’t.”
“You love me.”
“I love you.”
Taehyung smiles satisfied, re-puts his leg over Jeongguk’s waist, holding him in place.
“Guk-ah,”
“Mm?”
“You put the ass in Jurassic.”
“I’m leaving.”
“Don’t please I take it back.”
Day 521;
“Babe?” Jeongguk calls out, peering his head around into Taehyung’s lab cautiously.
He walks in slowly, footsteps treading softly so as not to startle him. Although he’s not sure he could surprise him with the music blasting so loud the walls are vibrating.
Taehyung is fully engrossed in whatever the task at hand is, as always. Clear glasses slightly askew, foggy, brown hair sticking out at all possible angles.
He’s wearing his safety gloves, Jeongguk notes with a degree of relief. He always complains that they make things difficult, are a nuisance. One time he’d almost dissolved an entire finger in some dodgy looking green concoction, and at that point Jeongguk had managed to make him see reason.
He likes (loves) Taehyung’s hands thank you very much. Would appreciate all ten beautiful fingers staying intact.
Taehyung looks up briefly when he’s an inch away. Smiles as Jeongguk slides a mug of steaming hot chocolate onto the bench, off to one side of the disorganized array littering the space. A line of mugs occupy the full length of one side, stacks of paper and scribbles. A mini speaker, yellow, blares out jazz piano at a volume most scientists would find uncomfortable to work with.
But Taehyung’s not ‘most’ scientists. He’s not ‘most’ anything at all.
Taehyung and Jeongguk are similar in many ways, but their workspaces could serve as an artist’s installation to demonstrate striking difference. Taehyung thrives on mess, chaos and noise. Jeongguk’s space is pristine and ordered, monotone in colour. He works almost exclusively from his series of laptops, preferring to keep his data detailed and neat, something that is more difficult to do with paper.
When they’d first started seeing each other back in College, Jeongguk had surprised him one day by thoroughly cleaning his dorm room - desk and all. Taehyung had walked in with a smile and revealed to him three months later (when they were more at the honesty phase), that he’d cried himself to sleep that night. Jeongguk hadn’t touched it since, other than his bi-weekly trip to clear the stack of cups. That he insisted on.
“This one’s mouldy, Tae,” Jeongguk wrinkles his nose in disgust, holding up a dark purple cup with a slightly chipped smiley face on front. He must of missed it on his last ‘mug round up’ on Thursday. “An experiment,” Taehyung shrugs with a sheepish smile, and it’s most certainly, definitely not.
“You’re gross?”
Taehyung giggles at that, pulls up his glasses until they’re pushed back on his forehead, hair sticking up at odd angles. He stands up, roughly Jeongguk’s height, or slightly taller, swimming in the loose white lab coat Jeongguk had bought for his last birthday.
“Thanks for the drink Guk-ah,” he grins, planting a loud, wet kiss on Jeongguk’s nose.
“No problem pretty. Don’t work too hard.”
Day 603;
“Hurry!” Taehyung screeches loudly through the walkie-talkie, Jeongguk bursting through his door and running down the stairs three at a time, nearly breaking a limb in the process. He skids on the last stair wildly grasping at the hand rail to right himself.
The stairs have borne witness to a series of accidents, Taehyung’s wrist, tail-bone and ankle. (Drunk two times out of three). Jeongguk was still in the clear.
When he bursts through the door Taehyung’s face is pressed right up to his telescope, which is pressed right up to the thick glass. “I think we found one!”
It takes a little bit of gentle coaxing for Taehyung to release his grip and move away, allowing Jeongguk a turn to look. He inhales sharply. They’ve been searching for weeks now, haven’t had a single glimpse. Not until now.
Thank god.
“You can go home babies,” Taehyung is saying, to the horde of speckled eggs nestled in the dimly lit incubator in the corner of his lab. They’re a splotchy light brown and green, comparable to a crow’s egg, in all but size.
They’re gigantic, of course.
Jeongguk had found the dinosaur eggs a few weeks ago, completely abandoned and alone. They’d left them there for a few days after planting a camera close by, watching and waiting for them to be reclaimed - to no avail.
Stealing any animal’s baby (or any baby) is a big no-no, particularly from a Maiasaura, a dinosaur known for its motherly tendencies. It was incredibly rare to find abandoned eggs, and they’d both come to the conclusion that the mother must of suffered an ill-timed fate, not long after laying them.
Jeongguk studies the Maiasaura through the telescope lens, watching its movements intently. After a few well-placed zooms he concludes - as Taehyung did, that it is indeed a female. There’s little doubt in his mind that once the creature stumbles across the motherless eggs, she will surely take them in as her own.
“How will we take them?” Jeongguk wonders aloud, they can’t exactly walk right up to her and lay the eggs at her feet. Unless being trampled is on the day’s agenda.
He steps away from the telescope, watches Taehyung who is pressed up to the glass of the incubator, muttering away to the eggs as he’s taken to doing.
“I kinda wanted to see the babies hatch,” Taehyung admits, a hand up against the glass. Jeongguk moves away from the telescope to hug him from behind.
“Me too,” he mumbles, into the nape of his neck.
“But it’s not right them growing up in a lab.”
And it’s not. There had been a fair amount of struggle when they’d sent out their research project for approval, a lot of moneyed men in positions of power who sought to see what they could get rather than what they could give. They’d both been adamant that their research would remain as bystanders, observing from a distance. No animal captured, not a single one caged.
“Animals aren’t meant to be caged,” Taehyung says softly, Jeongguk nods in agreement.
Tonight, is what they finally agree on, staying awake with bated breath as they watch and wait for the Maiasaura to commit to slumber.
Day 642;
Jeongguk frowns as he’s met with radio silence - literally, from his walkie talkie. He drops the clunky thing on his desk, walks to the door and bellows around the corner. Taehyung is far more likely to be working with his door open (he doesn’t mind noise, Jeongguk’s is shut to keep out Taehyung’s noise).
“Tae!”
Jeongguk’s again met with silence. He groans, rushes back to his desk to double, triple check everything is saved, makes his way down the stairs two at a time.
He calls out Taehyung’s name at varying volumes, a number of nicknames with no results. Taehyung’s door is ajar, as expected, and after he pushes it open a quick scan of the room tells him that he’s not there.
The bathroom’s empty, the kitchen too, Jeongguk even checks the fridge despite it not being able to actually fit a human. But just in case. Their bedroom’s silent, the wardrobe quiet, and the slightly creepy basement is still - vacant and creepy.
Jeongguk runs fingers nervously through his hair and backtracks his steps once, twice, voice growing in panicked volume as he calls out various threats and concerned well-intentioned insults.
On the third trip around the house he notices what’s amiss. Taehyung’s over-sized black puffer jacket is missing from the hook beside the door. Fuck.
Jeongguk debates his options. Or rather the only two he has. 1). Wait for Taehyung, he might be nearly home. 2). Go look for him, he might be halfway down a dinosaur’s throat. He is silently grateful that the majority are herbivores. But then again no one could ever risk Taehyung and he does taste quite-
Fuck.
Jeongguk spits out a string of expletives, pulls on his jacket, laces up his boots, grabs a variety of supplies and throws them in a small army-green backpack. It’s the beginning of Winter, the brown and green of the earth painted in translucent frost. Just a thin coating, but enough to sting the air with a chill that’s absent in other seasons.
Black beanie jammed down tight covering his ears, which he can feel instantly reddening as he opens the door, Jeongguk takes off in pursuit. God damn.
His boots crunch into the thick bed of leaves Autumn’s left in her wake. It’s clear to see the direction Taehyung had gone off in, courtesy of the footprints pressed into the dirt forest floor. The layer of clear frost makes the footsteps even easier to distinguish.
He takes off quickly, going from a jog to a sprint with relative ease, all the while cursing the existence of the number one love of his life, soon to be deceased. If not at the hands of a Carnotaurus, then at the hands of Jeon Jeongguk himself.
As his watch loudly ticks over to five o’clock Jeongguk stops in his tracks, a thick line of sweat breaking out along his brow. He’s been running a good fifteen minutes now, at close to full speed - and still the footprints appear ahead of him with no clear end in sight.
“Fucking fuck,” Jeongguk swears under his breath, angrily jabbing the toe of his boot into a pile of leaves. “Taehyung?” he calls out again louder, the nearby wall of rock aiding his attempts with an echo that startles the shit out of him.
It’s eerie the sound of his own voice reverberating into the quiet air.
“Hello?”
Jeongguk startles, as Taehyung’s familiar voice mingles with his own echo. He strongly regrets watching Jurassic Park the night prior. Taehyung had insisted it would be funny.
Jeongguk walks quickly, in the direction of Taehyung’s voice, it getting clearer and more excited. Increasing in volume.
“Jeonggukie!” Taehyung calls out, as he comes out into a small clearing in the bush, the other sprinting full speed toward him, slipping in the process.
Jeongguk winces as Taehyung hits the floor with a thud, but he’s up in less than a second, closing the distance and crashing into him. Jeongguk sways and then steadies them both, an arm wrapping instinctively around Taehyung.
“Come look,” Taehyung implores, eyes wide with excitement, cheeks pink and nose cherry red with the cold. He steps back and holds out a gloved hand to Jeongguk, reaches forward and begins tugging him. “You’ll never guess what I found Jeongguk-ah, I think that I-”
Taehyung trails off as he stops mid-step, turns to face Jeongguk.
“Wait why are you here?”
Jeongguk retrieves his hand. He’s glad, so fucking glad of course. That some big ol’ carnivorous Carnotaurus hasn’t eaten his dearly beloved soulmate for supper. But now that he’s fine, more than fine, Jeongguk is a little bit pissed.
“You left,” Jeongguk says thickly, his voice wavering a little at all the pent-up stress and worry of losing Taehyung. And not like at home losing him that time at the carnival, or even the supermarket, but in the middle of a fucking jungle with roaming dinosaurs. Jungle. Dinosaurs.
“You didn’t tell me where you were going? I thought that you could have- I thought you might of-” Jeongguk’s voice drops to an inaudible whisper as he allows his thoughts to catch up. To truly contemplate the devil that is what if.
Taehyung worries his bottom lip through upper teeth, face scrunching up and eyes widening in that puppy dog way of his. Jeongguk averts eye contact.
“I’m serious Tae,” Jeongguk says, reaching back out to hold his hand in assurance. An I’m not mad, mainly worried sort of reassurance. “I just- you should say something okay? Let me know and we can go together? Don’t just go off like that please.”
Taehyung looks at him lip trembling and Jeongguk takes another step closer toward him. “I’m not an idiot,” he says softly. “You go running alone all the time.”
“I know I just-”
“I’m not stupid Jeongguk,” Taehyung says a little louder, and the slight trace of anger in his tone is very apparent. It’s not there often. Jeongguk takes a step backward. “You’re not stupid Tae,” Jeongguk says softly. And he’s not - far from it, but growing up people hadn’t always known how intelligent he really was. It was still an occasional sore spot for him.
“I just care about you a lot and-”
“I’m not weak.”
“No, I’m not saying that, look you’re being a bit? I tell you when I’m going for a run? Don’t be angry.”
It’s silent for a beat and Jeongguk can hear his heartbeat thudding uncomfortably loud in his chest.
But silence is never long between them. Especially angry silence.
“Sorry I,” Taehyung begins, eyes softening toward Jeongguk slightly, he takes his hand. “Let’s just go home yeah?”
“Didn’t you want to show me something?”
Taehyung shakes his head and Jeongguk nods, as they turn in the direction of home.
The tension hums in the air between them, but even when they’re angry or annoyed, there is still some gesture between them to acknowledge that the love is still there. Despite the fact that Jeongguk can almost feel the steam rising off Taehyung’s shoulders (unprovoked steam, he thinks quietly), Taehyung’s tight grip on his hand reassures him that everything will be okay.
“I’m not weak,” Taehyung repeats firmly, when they’ve been walking a while in silence, and Jeongguk nods in agreement, “I know.”
“I didn’t mean to yell,” Taehyung says next, as with each step the tense air seems to dissipate into nothing.
“I know,” Jeongguk says.
“I didn’t tell you because you seemed busy.”
“I know.”
Taehyung exhales loudly, “It’s annoying when you just say ‘I know.”
Jeongguk grins at that, “I know.”
Taehyung pushes him playfully, dispelling any remaining tension that lingers.
“I’ll write a note next time, or let you know,” he smiles serenely at Jeongguk who just rolls his eyes.
“I’d appreciate it babe.”
And that’s that, the matter resolved. The remaining ten minutes consists of Jeongguk being asked (coerced) into piggybacking Taehyung the remainder of the journey, while he chatters away on his back telling Jeongguk what he missed out on seeing.
As they cross over the threshold of their house, Taehyung slides off his back much like a monkey off a tree trunk. “I’m sorry,” he says again, despite the conversation having since moved to other things.
“I-,”
“You know,” Taehyung interrupts, fingers pressing against Jeongguk’s lips.
“I know you think I’m smart and strong and fucking awesome,”
Jeongguk smiles. “Mostly.”
“I know you were just worried.”
“I’m sorry too pretty,” Jeongguk says, sealing their sorries with a kiss as always.
Sorries are always most effective with a kiss.
Day 681;
“Jeonggukie, come to my lab,” Taehyung sing-songs through the walkie-talkie. Jeongguk’s forehead crinkles as he presses ctrl + s several times out of habit, yells back a “Coming pretty,” and makes his way down to Taehyung’s lab.
It’s only when he reaches the door that he realizes Taehyung never calls him to come, especially not while in the middle of working. He’s far more inclined to just arrive unannounced at Jeongguk’s lab when he’d come to some sort of conclusion or breakthrough, whisking him away before - to his horror - Jeongguk could even save his workings.
“Hi,” Taehyung smiles, when Jeongguk enters the lab cautiously, eyebrow raised with a degree of suspicion. He’s wearing his new lab coat, and as Jeongguk’s eyes trail down his figure he immediately notices that he’s bare-legged, bare-foot, again.
“Where are your shoes,” Jeongguk sighs, striding the few paces across from the door to Taehyung’s chair, leaning down to press a kiss to his forehead.
“It’s dangerous witho-”
“I know,” Taehyung interrupts, rolling his eyes. Reaches out his arms apparently unsatisfied with the forehead kiss. Jeongguk leans in to indulge him, and it’s at that moment with the particular press of lips that he realizes.
The lazy edge that characterizes their playful day-time kisses, their ‘just popping in to say hi’, is absent. And when Jeongguk makes to pull away, Taehyung’s hand immediately comes to splay across his chest, long, slender fingers gripping his shirt and tugging him back.
That’s the precise moment any further confusion is eliminated.
“Tae,” Jeongguk whispers as his laughter is stifled against Taehyung’s lips, who grumbles in annoyance at his lack of shared enthusiasm.
So Taehyung simply kisses him harder, pink tongue slipping inside Jeongguk’s unsuspecting mouth. His hand sneaks up to card through Jeongguk’s tousled black locks, coming to sit firmly at the nape of his neck. The laughter bubbling within Jeongguk’s chest dissolves to a pleasing hum. The twinkle of amusement in his eyes fades as they squeeze tightly shut.
“Switch,” Taehyung not so much says but demands, standing up somewhat unsteadily and pushing Jeongguk into his former place on the chair. Jeongguk obliges, half surprised at the change of direction, but half not. No matter how many minutes, hours, days, years, he spends with Taehyung, he still finds himself surprised at least 1-3 times a day.
Surprise is the spice of life baby! Taehyung loved to say.
Boring isn’t really an adjective in their relationship, or in Taehyung’s vocabulary at all.
Taehyung clambers onto his lap eagerly, legs either side of Jeongguk’s thighs and it’s then, as he pops the first button on the jacket that Jeongguk fully realizes.
“You shit,” Jeongguk laughs, as the next button goes and the next. More and more tanned golden skin is revealed, glowing in contrast with the stark white of the jacket, that’s still surprisingly untainted.
“I’m naked,” Taehyung reveals with an overly obnoxious wink, when he reaches the button near his navel, although Jeongguk’s now well aware of the fact. He’d planned it of course. Right back when he’d requested the lab coat for his birthday.
And as Jeongguk helps him slide it off his shoulders, he momentarily wonders just why he thought Taehyung would be so insistent on an item that screamed ‘safety regulations.’ How could he have not seen his true intentions.
“We should go to the bedroom,” Jeongguk whispers half-heartedly, his cock hardening against the seam of his pants, resolve dropping lower by the second.
“It’s not very-”
“Safe,” Taehyung supplies, with a roll of his pretty eyes as he presses his very naked chest onto Jeongguk, latches his lips just beneath his ear.
And later, when Taehyung sinks onto his lap, chest glistening with sweat, eyes fluttering shut, and mouth emitting the most delicious sounds, Jeongguk realizes perhaps safety regulations are overrated.
Or something.
Day 714;
“Holy shit,” Taehyung mutters under his breath, hand extending out to instinctively grasp Jeongguk’s own. They stop simultaneously in their tracks, tread softly to one side, out of view. Tucked in snugly behind a thick set of bushes.
Jeongguk presses in tight next to Taehyung, as they both lean forward curiously, but still well hidden from view.
“Ankylosaurus?”
“Shh,” Taehyung berates him, despite his admonishment being ten times louder than Jeongguk’s whispered question. “And yes he is.”
It’s an impressive looking dinosaur, frightful really. And if they didn’t hold the knowledge they did there would’ve been a lot less watching and a lot more running in the opposite direction. Not to say that their knowledge would ensure their safety.
Eight times out of ten Jeongguk had to remind Taehyung not to just run up and approach them as an old friend. Especially this one.
Jeongguk shivers as the dinosaur walks close by them, pausing momentarily in its tracks as if it can sense an oddity in its midst. He hears Taehyung inhale sharply and then faintly realizes he is also holding his breath.
Taehyung grips his hand tighter as the dinosaur turns to leave in the opposite direction, it’s formidable club-like tail swishing behind it. Often compared to a tank - and for good reason, the clubbed tail of an Ankylosaurus holds enough weight to crush Tyrannosaur’s bones. Jeongguk fingers trail up Taehyung’s hand to circle his thin wrist absent-mindedly. He’d be crushed in the blink of an eye. The ‘safety-gear’ they’re wearing is a joke at this point.
They stand in silence as the body of the 9-metre long beast eventually disappears into the woods. Its footsteps are audible long after its departed, the ground left behind still shuddering from the heavy impact.
“Y’know Godzilla?” Taehyung muses, as they eventually get within visible distance of their home. His voice is a barely audible whisper at which Jeongguk is thankful for. Taehyung nudges him to speak.
“Yeah?”
“Anguirus, the monster? It was loosely based on an Ankylosaurus.”
“Makes sense,” Jeongguk shudders, still in mild disbelief that they’d encountered one so close and left alive.
“Let’s watch it tonight.”
Jeongguk frowns, as they make their way inside, closing the door behind them with a sigh of relief. It’s half exhilarating half fucking scary, although Taehyung often skips the being scared part. Contrary to popular opinion.
“Scared you’ll have nightmares again?” Taehyung teases lightly.
“Shut up.”
Jeongguk doesn’t see why they have to always watch sci-fi films about fictional monsters - when they live in a jungle full of them. But they’re not fictional, they’re real. It’s all well and good for the average person to indulge in those sorts of films and then go to sleep blissfully unaware of the truth.
“Fine we’ll watch Land Before Time,” Taehyung laughs, and Jeongguk pushes him softly in mock dissent but smiles from behind. It’s one of his favourites.
“I know you love it too Tae.”
Day 722;
“C’mere,” Taehyung calls out with a giggle, one hand outstretched toward Jeongguk, the other wrapped firmly around the body of a bottle of wine with approximately half a glass sloshing around in the bottom.
Jeongguk complies readily, accepting his hand and carefully removing his grip from the bottle, places it on the counter. “Warm,” Taehyung whispers, as he interlaces their fingers, takes a step closer so his head is buried in Jeongguk’s neck. “Y'smell nice,” he mumbles, the edges of his words blurred from the alcohol, the vibration of his lips an odd but pleasing sensation in Jeongguk’s skin.
Jeongguk hums in response, letting go of Taehyung’s hands in favour of looping them around his waist, pulling him so they’re chest to chest.
It’s been a pleasant evening and a casual glass of wine had turned into a bottle and a half. With the sun setting in view courtesy of the floor to ceiling lounge window it’s bordering on movie-level romantic. Or more.
“What-cha doing,” Taehyung whispers, as Jeongguk sways him gently from side to side. He doesn’t move from his position, simply burying his head further and nuzzling Jeongguk’s neck. “Are we dancing?”
“Guess so,” Jeongguk whispers back, tilting his head so he can drop a kiss on Taehyung’s earlobe.
“Kay,” Taehyung says softly, arms tightening around his waist, as they move in one fluid motion bodies entwined. The song flicks over to Pretty Young Thing, and Jeongguk sings along under his breath, Taehyung joining in with the interjections.
I want to love you (P-Y-T)
Pretty young thing
You need some lovin' (T-L-C)
Tender lovin' care
When the song comes to a close and their dancing has gotten a little more erratic, their singing a lot more noisy and a lot less tuneful. Taehyung collapses into his arms with a laugh that rings out in the room. It brightens despite the sun now completely invisible beneath the heavy night sky.
“Bed time?”
“Nah, let’s dance more.”
“Who should we play next?”
“Gimme’ some soul.”
“Okay pretty.”
Five songs, six, or possibly even seven more, Jeongguk’s loses count, legs a little tired, body almost at a standstill. He realizes absentmindedly that somewhere along the way the music’s turned off.
“Tae?”
“Babe?”
Taehyung’s hushed snores are the only reply Jeongguk receives. He’s fallen asleep on his feet. “Tae,” Jeongguk jostles him slightly, receiving a stream of mumbled garbage in reply. Taehyung falls even further forward, his entire body weight now resting in Jeongguk’s waiting arms.
Jeongguk bends down and scoops him up, easily, Taehyung’s hands instinctively coming around his neck. His head drops immediately and within seconds he’s back in deep slumber. It’s impressive really, the speed at which Taehyung can fall asleep.
Jeongguk stops to appraise him for a moment, steals a kiss and brushes back the hair that’s fallen in his eyes.
After he puts Taehyung in bed, pulls up the covers, he turns to leave, brush his teeth. There’s nothing worse than the taste of left-over wine in a dry mouth in the morning. Although there’s not really much point because it’s highly likely Taehyung will wake him with morning kisses. Stale wine breath and all. Delightful.
Jeongguk squeezes toothpaste onto his toothbrush, looks back when he sees Taehyung stirring in his sleep. When he stops, Jeongguk turns back. As he stares at himself in the mirror, mouthful of foam, darkening circles under his eyes he realizes. Realizes that this is the happiest point of his life thus far.
And when he crawls back into bed, Taehyung’s unconscious body wraps itself around him without needing to be prompted. Then it’s confirmed even further.
“Good night pretty,” Jeongguk whispers, into the nape of his neck. And although Taehyung’s dead to the world at this point, he doesn’t have to hear it audibly to know it’s reciprocated.
Always.
Day 1;
It’s cliche the way they get closer really, paired together for a lab project in College, forced to spend hours working together. Working in close proximity, the subtle brush of accidental skin that feels hotter than it should’ve. Bad jokes at 4AM as they slave over projects running on pure coffee and overtired energy.
It’s when Taehyung’s exhausted, half bent over his work, head tilted to look up at Jeongguk with a smile. Hair a mess and circles under his eyes. That's when he first thinks about it.
It’s not until three months later that he or rather (Taehyung), does anything about what they both know has been simmering under the surface.
Taehyung shifts on the couch a little closer until their shoulders are brushing. The television hums forgotten in the background, their experiment laid out abandoned on the table. The air is tense and Jeongguk feels his temperature rising at a level that’s at odds with the cool air in the room.
“You should probably kiss me now.”
Jeongguk’s eyes widen, and the words take a little while to process. It’s one of the first surprises of many.
When he speaks his throat feels dry and coarse.
“I should?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung says, eyes dropping to his lips.
It’s slow, the way Jeongguk reaches out, hand curling around the back of Taehyung’s neck. It’s gentle the way he tugs him, to his chest, lips to his lips. It’s with a breezy giggle, that Taehyung falls, falls into him. A smiling kiss pressed to Jeongguk’s lips, long eyelashes fluttering shut.
Taehyung’s limbs are long, body toned but softer than Jeongguk’s, melding perfectly into his own. Jeongguk’s arms are strong, muscular, as they wrap around Taehyung’s slender waist.
Kissing Taehyung is sweet. The dull taste of late-night coffee fading into something a little more pleasant, fruity. Plush pink lips that part for Jeongguk with the slightest of sighs that instantly turns his brain fuzzy.
Taehyung pulls away from him carefully, eyes bright, expression fond.
“Jeongguk?”
“Mm?”
"That was nice.”
Jeongguk smiles at that, reaches out to cup Taehyung’s face tenderly, his tanned cheeks flushing a rosy pink. He’s so pretty.
He leans in and presses a spontaneous chaste kiss to his lips.
Taehyung grins, reaches out and pulls Jeongguk’s hand onto his lap, interlaces their fingers. "Date me?”
Jeongguk eyes him curiously.
“Just like that?”
“Uh huh.”
“Okay.”