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A scenic drive.
Good company. Delicious food. Cold winter air.
Small bits of happy moments piled up all at once that his heart felt so full it threatened to overflow.
Taehyung gripped the steering wheel tighter, listening to his friends’ chatter.
“We’re already on the way back but… I still can’t believe we actually went on this trip. Is it just me?” Hyungsik asks, mouth full of steamed bun.
A full round of ‘me neither’ echoes through the car.
Wooshik laughs, “Do you think we’ll do this again?”
“Yeah! Why not?” Peakboy joins in the laughter. “We can go anytime we want.”
“You can but Tae can’t, he’s a worldwide star,” Hyungsik tells him.
“Aish, don’t say that,” Taehyung pouts.
“But are people going to be interested in watching us? I mean… they’ll watch Taehyungie but the rest of us are kinda extras?” Seojoon raises his eyebrow.
Taehyung tsks, “Of course, there’s so many people who love you, hyung. At the restaurant, the owners were practically fawning over you. When we went fishing too. Wah so handsome, you’d make a good son-in-law. You’re so tall! If my daughter is single I’d surely introduce her to you,” he imitates the noodle restaurant owner’s accent. "I was invisible to her!"
"Yah!"
His friends poke and laugh at Seojoon in jest. He could see Peakboy leaning forward in excitement.
"This man is prime son-in-law material. Taehyung-ah you're too commercial."
"Taehyung-ah you're worldwide, remember? The auntie probably wouldn't be watching this show if they didn't air it on TV. No one's going to subscribe to Disney overseas if they're not seeing your face."
He grins at their non stop teasing, "That's nonsense. There are so many overseas drama fans. Wooshik is worldwide too."
"Wooshik is just an idiot," Seojoon slaps his knee with mirth. “An adorable idiot.”
"Don't call me adorable!" Wooshik makes a funny face. "But I am an idiot. I am a worldwide idiot."
"With an Oscar on his belt," Hyungsik adds.
Thankfully the roads are clear and traffic is scarce, so he allows himself to relax and soak in the joy along with his buddies. Their mini trip has come to an end, an ending that leads to the start of another adventure for him.
"The rest area is coming up."
"Taehyung-ah, don't cry," Seojoon teases.
"Can't you see he's been grinning non stop?"
"He's about to honeymoon with his boyfriend, why would he cry?"
"What? You're going on another trip right now?" Peakboy looks at him in astonishment. "You're not tired at all?"
He can't help the blush creeping up his cheeks. "It’s just another short trip,” he mumbles.
“With Seokjinnie,” Wooshik gives him a shit-eating grin. “He should have come with us on this trip.”
“He’s too shy.”
“Next time when we all have our own partners we can bring our plus ones.”
“Have all of you met him?”
Seojoon turns back to Peakboy in surprise, “You mean you haven’t?”
“I think we all met him already, but separately. Except for Peakboy. Right, Tae?” Hyungsik asks.
“Mmm. We haven’t gotten together in a group yet.”
“Why do you discriminate against me, Taehyung-ah?” Peakboy complains.
“I didn’t! The timing just wasn’t right.”
"Where will you be going?"
"There's a little strawberry farm nearby whose owners run a guesthouse up north and it's quite secluded so we'll be staying there for another 3 nights."
Peakboy’s mouth falls open.
“Enjoy your trip, Taehyung-ah.”
“Stay safe, alright?”
“Use protection, Taehyung-ah!” Wooshik enthusiastically nods.
Peakboy chokes on his saliva, Hyungsik collapses with laughter while Seojoon knocks Wooshik's head and Taehyung nearly loses control of the steering wheel.
“Anyway, he’s right. But really, be careful and have fun. And if Seokjinnie makes you cry, you can tell me. I’ll teach him a lesson,” Seojoon jokes.
“Jin-hyung is super good to me,” Taehyung giggles. “Don’t worry.”
Wooshik can’t help himself, seeing the opportunity to tease him further, “I think he makes Seokjinnie cry more.”
“Yah! Since when?”
“I’m just saying, it could be the case.”
He laughs gleefully watching Hyungsik swat at Wooshik through the rear view mirror. Tired, they grow silent, focused on their phone screens all the way to the parking lot. He's pulling the handbrake up when Wooshik speaks up, sheepishly rubbing the side of his neck.
“This is incredibly thick skinned of me but since we’re sorta in the middle of nowhere and my manager is gonna be late, does your boyfriend mind if I stick around for a bit?”
-
“I should have been home right now but I’m glad I’m not?” Wooshik twirls as he stuffs another strawberry into his mouth.
Seokjin looks at him in amusement. “Have you ever been to a strawberry farm before?”
“Nope?”
“He’s got an Oscar hyung, he’s got no time for strawberry farms.”
"Hmph!" Wooshik does his best imitation of Taehyung’s tata-mic face and walks away to another section of the farm, leaving the couple behind to laugh at his antics.
“He’s got your expressions down to a T, Taehyung-ah. Amazing.”
“I think I’ve third-wheeled enough! I should probably go home first,” Wooshik sniffs.
“But you’re free for another hour,” Taehyung points out. “Hang out with us till your manager is here!”
Before Wooshik can refuse, Seokjin jogs to him and loops their arms. “There’s a cafe that’s kinda nearby. Let’s get some coffee first?”
When he loops his arm through Wooshik’s other side, his friend grimaces, “I don’t do threesomes, okay?”
“Not even gonna consider?” Seokjin jokes.
“Yah, Jin-ah. You look so innocent, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Hyung-nim, birds of a feather tend to flock together,” Seokjin winks.
Taehyung tugs at their arms, “Sorry to interrupt your flirting but shouldn’t we go get some strawberries as souvenirs?”
“Great idea.”
“Then we can go get desserts, I’m craving for something sweet.”
-
They might have gotten carried away with how comfortable they were with Wooshik, forgetting to put their masks back on, chattering and laughing loudly as lunch hour passes.
Thankfully there was no one else besides another old couple heavily engaged in conversation. From the corner of his eye, cafe staff were waiting to pounce the moment they attempted to leave. He puts his cap on and signals to Seokjin.
As expected, a lady staff advances with a large drawing paper and a marker in her arms while her colleagues gawp nervously.
Seokjin’s transition is quick, activating his BTS Jin mask and greets the cafe owner politely. She’s breathless when she tries to speak, just holding the paper out as her words fail her. She glances at him and Wooshik, her eyes widened impossibly more that she looked borderline scary, face red. There was no way Taehyung could say no to any of this, letting Seokjin take charge in accepting the request for an autograph. Then he works his magic.
“Thank you very much for your support,” he bows at the flustered lady, “The coffee and cakes we had were delicious. Since we are here as friends on an unofficial schedule, only one of us can give you our signature. We seek your kind understanding,” he bows again, smiling sugary sweet.
She bows back deeply, nodding and barely managing an, “Of course!”
“Do you have any preference on who you’d like to have this signed?”
She shakes her head, mindlessly handing it to Seokjin who was speaking to her the most.
They make a move, waving goodbye to the cafe staff with eye-smiles on their way out. Seokjin drops his last magic touch, holding on to the lady owner's dainty, pale hands after their handshake, “We had a great time here and would love to return for delicious coffee. We deeply appreciate it if you could keep this meeting just to yourself. Thank you so much.”
Soon, they bid Wooshik goodbye, seeing him get into his manager’s car safely from afar, keeping their masks on and baseball caps low.
Not wanting to make a habit out of holding hands when they were out in public areas, Seokjin keeps a pinky tucked discreetly into his jacket pocket.
-
“Baby, you can sleep first. I’ll wake you up when we reach home.”
Three nights of solitude, surrounded by nature refreshed them as much as it made it hard for them to leave. Not being able to treat his other half as his other half publicly was a special kind of struggle that constantly left him wondering which of them would snap and call it quits first.
His heart squeezes painfully at the thought.
Taehyung tosses and turns as best as he can in the passenger seat. But sleep doesn’t come peacefully for him. Seokjin glances at him a couple of times, stroking his messy hair.
“What’s wrong?”
“M’ bu’ -rts,” he mumbles a half-truth.
“What?”
“My butt hurts.”
“Oh,” Seokjin giggles. “Sorry baby, it's been a long time so I sorta lost control of myself."
"It's okay. I like it when you lose control."
"Mmm. I'll take care of you. I'll massage your back and your butt till you fall asleep."
"I love you."
"I love you more."
The silence is comfortable, tunes from his playlist accompanying the car ride back home.
"Tae baby, I think I'll go deliver the strawberry souvenirs while it's fresh. But there's a couple of homes I need to visit. Would you be okay with that or do you want me to drop you home first?"
"Go ahead, Jin. I don't mind. Home is wherever you are."
He can see Seokjin's rosy cheeks turn a few shades darker, smiling brilliantly. And when they stop at a red light, Seokjin keeps one hand on the steering wheel and grabs his collar with the other and kisses him. It's chaste and rough, but it gets his heart pounding and butterflies in his stomach fluttering even after all these years. Seokjin knew all the ways to make his worries feel minute and insignificant.
Throughout the rest of their journey home, Taehyung casts away all his bothersome thoughts, puts Jamais Vu on and sings you are my remedy.