Chapter Text
“Taehyunie, I’m really desperate.”
Soobin takes a deep sigh and rests his head on his hand. His other hand is busy drawing invisible circles on the table; after finishing about ten circles he starts irregularly tapping on the light wood.
Taehyun is doing something on his phone, apparently working, but he just looks bored, as if whatever he was doing wasn’t as important as he claimed it to be. He’s sitting in a comfortable position on a couch, not far away from Soobin, and wonders why his hyung prefers sitting on an ugly uncomfortable wooden chair matching the table.
He throws a short glance at Soobin, and before the latter manages to look back at him, his eyes fall back at his phone, he opens his mouth to respond.
“Your ideas aren’t all that bad. Honestly I think hyung will like whatever, he’s not really the type of person to be disappointed when he gets something he doesn’t need.”
Soobin’s pout visibly deepens. He thinks about what Taehyun just told him. He’s right, it’s not like Yeonjun will be mad whether Soobin gives him something expensive or something cheap. But that’s not the point, money isn’t the problem here.
The boy has been struggling to come up with a good idea for a birthday present for Yeonjun for quite some time. The closer the day gets, the more nervous he becomes, and the more he dislikes whatever he comes up with. Although there’s still a lot of time left. The problem is occupying Soobin’s mind maybe a bit too much for mid-august.
“I know, you’re right. But I can’t just give him another hoodie just because I know he wouldn’t mind getting one, you know?”
He tilts his head to the other side and gives Taehyun a curious look. “What are you getting him?”
Taehyun answers without looking at the older one. “I wanted to give him a custom CD with his Song Cry. I’ll ask the BigHit staff if they can do something about it, I haven’t gotten to it yet though.”
Soobin raises his eyebrows and straightens his back, his hand no longer supporting his head. He whines as a response.
“What?? Wow, that’s such a cool gift. See, that’s exactly something i was looking for, it’s so personal and nice.. Shame I didn’t come up with it first.”
Taehyun laughs quietly and finally puts down his phone, giving Soobin his full attention.
“If you want it to be something special, maybe you could bake him a cake or cook a meal or something. It doesn’t have to taste good, it’s the thought that matters.”
He especially emphasizes the taste part, both of them know exactly why.
“Hmm.. I don’t know. I want to make his birthday better, not ruin it.”
He scratches his head at the thought of himself cooking something. He clears his head of this image quickly, he ain’t submitting himself to this catastrophe. “What are Beomgyu and Hueningkai giving him?”
Taehyun shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know, probably something simple.”
The room grows quiet for a second. Soobin, deep in thought, and Taehyun, looking directly at his hyung, anticipating a response.
“Hm.” Soobin scratches his chin before completely giving up and laying his torso on the table. “Maybe I should just give him something expensive to overcompensate for the fact that I can’t come up with anything nice or interesting.”
A fond smile grows on Taehyun’s face. He stands up and on his way to leave the room he stops by Soobin to give him a friendly pat on his back. “I’m sure you’ll think of something. You still have a month left.” He stops rubbing his back and in an inviting tone his voice grows a bit higher. “I’m gonna get some snacks, do you want some too?”
Soobin hums no and shakes his head still rested on his elbow face down. Taehyun nods, not that it was of any use of Soobin seeing it, and gives him the last pat before leaving the room.
The BigHit building corridors aren’t all that long if you’re lost in thoughts walking through them.
God, when will I stop forgetting things?
Soobin is taking long steps. He’s not in a rush, he’s just annoyed at himself and wants to get this over with.
Soobin, you fool. Start taking better care of your earphones or you’ll lose them one day for good.
When he arrives at the door of the common room, he doesn't bother to stop and knock although he hears someone’s muffled voice from the inside. Upon storming in he notices a person and a tripod holding an iphone right in front of him, broadcasting every move the two of them make to god knows how many people.
It’s nothing unusual for people to randomly run into each other in the building, neither is it unusual for someone to do a live in one of the rooms. This should be common knowledge to anyone blessed to be able to walk the corridors of the holy temple The Bang PD Himself created.
It is common knowledge to Soobin. He knows this well. He is a smart man.
But sometimes he does less than smart decisions.
The person turns around and gives Soobin a surprised look, though his facial expression is nothing compared to the shock and regret in Soobin’s face. Without any control he turns red and starts apologetically waving his hands.
“AHH I’M SO SORRY, I DIDN’T MEAN TO INTRUDE-”
“Heh.” Jimin laughs and turns back to face the camera. “Everyone, we have a visitor,” he cheerfully announces, “our TXT’s Soobin.” He looks back at him, but this time only turns his head, not his entire body. “Do you want to come say hi to ARMY?”
Soobin, visibly embarrassed, doesn’t know how to respond. His inability to form a single coherent sentence makes Jimin giggle again.
“You don’t have to be so shy.” He softly smiles at him. His hands wave in the air signifying an invitation to join him. “Come, you’re already here, so why not? Oh, or were you in a hurry to go somewhere?”
Soobin loosens up -just a bit- and starts slowly walking towards Jimin. The floor is plain- not even a dead spider to make it more interesting, but it feels like he’s walking through a minefield.
Not that he’s not used to having an audience- it’s just this one he isn’t used to.
Honestly it’s hard to tell if it’s the idol from his trainee days or the millions of his fans that is more nerve-wrecking.
“No, I wasn’t.. I just forgot something here and came to take it.”
“Ah, I see. It happens to me all the time.” He slides to the right to make room for Soobin. The younger shyly sits and smiles at the camera.
“Hello, I’m Soobin. Nice to meet you.”
The comments warm his heart when he sees everyone welcoming him. A lot of people seem to know him, some don’t acknowledge his presence at all and just keep spamming- but it wouldn’t be a proper live without that.
Soobin so cute
BTS TXT BTS TXT
Omg Jimin and Soobin i love you both 💜💜
and they keep coming and coming. Soobin relaxes a bit and he isn’t as nervous to talk to Jimin as a few moments ago.
“How is work going? Are you working on some songs now?” Jimin’s question is genuine, not just for the show or to keep the conversation going.
“Ah, yes. We just finished for today.”
“Is that so? I worked on our album today as well. I wanted to wrap it all up and go eat somewhere out but decided to talk to ARMY for a bit first.”
Soobin hums in response and scratches behind his ear. His shy smile triggers a handful of comments about how cute his dimples are.
“Have you eaten yet?”
Soobin looks at Jimin and shakes his head. “No, I was about to get something to eat as well after taking what I forgot here.”
His responses are short and direct, his neck awkwardly hiding between shoulders indicates that while he may be not totally uncomfortable, he is aware of who he’s talking to.
Jimin’s eyes light up and he smiles ear to ear. “Don’t you want to come with me then? I’m meeting Jungkook after the live, we agreed to go together. It’d be great if you came along.”
The younger boy is surprised by the sudden question. He presses his lips together and forms another smile paired with a grateful nod of his head. He doesn’t really know what he’s saying.
“I’d be very happy to! Thank you for the invitation.”
The two of them have never really spent any time together. Actually, none of TXT ever went out with BTS, as long as Soobin knows. There have been some shared activities, like playing games together, but never properly socializing outside. Both groups are usually busy and there just hasn’t been an opportunity. This may very well be the first time of a proper suggestion to go somewhere together. It made Soobin nervous.
They talked about work and several other things before Soobin declared he still needed to go somewhere quickly. He excuses himself and bows before leaving the room, as well as thanks Jimin for the warm atmosphere. Jimin gives him a fond smile.
“I’ll stay here to talk to ARMY for a bit and then we can go, we can meet up in twenty minutes, okay?”
He says that as if he had already turned off his live. Well, a good portion of the international viewers has no idea what he just said anyway.
Soobin returns the smile, bows and thanks again and says goodbye.
He didn’t actually need to go anywhere quickly . He stops after leaving the room and leans on the wall, sliding past it and ending in a crouch.
Well, now what.
He didn’t really know why he left, the only excuse he found was to ‘mentally prepare himself’. After realizing that he now has to wait here for almost half an hour silently and pretend he’s not there, he sighs.
Maybe I should text someone to come along, he thinks to himself. And act like they also wanted to get something to eat.
As a godsent saviour, Taehyun’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts.
“What are you doing here? You look like you got locked out of your own room.”
Soobin’s heart fills with happiness as he looks up at him with hope in his eyes. Taehyun is smirking to himself. He actually looks quite tall, with his good posture paired with how he’s looking down at Soobin like he was some kind of peasant.
He jumps up and takes both of Taehyun’s hands, pulling them to his chest. The younger looks confused and taken aback with how beaming Soobin looks. His face honestly has never lit up this much after seeing his friend.
Hopefully he will not refuse to help his desperate friend in need. Taehyun is the kind of person that would jump into a volcano for you, but won’t take a sip of your hot tea to see if it’s drinkable yet.
“Please, Taehyun, you must save me. I’m going out with Jimin and Jungkook sunbaenims. I need you to come along.”
Taehyun’s eyebrows furrow. “What? Out where? And why are you speaking so quietly?”
Soobin vigorously shakes his head and hand gestures Taehyun to keep it down as well. The action makes his hair fall over his eyes, which makes Taehyun giggle. “Okay, okay, I get it,” he adds, this time so that only Soobin can hear it.
The tall boy found his hair a pain in the ass more often than not, but at least it made Taehyun laugh. Now only to get him to agree to his second request.
He fixes his bangs and throws a quick glance at Taehyun before going back to his crouching position leaning against the wall. Taehyun watches him for a short while and proceeds to do the same, crouching right next to him.
Soobin’s gaze switches from the wall opposite him, the ceiling and Taehyun as he tries his damn best to explain everything without sounding like a complete clown. “Jimin sunbaenim invited me to go get some food with him and I agreed. It’s not like I don’t want to go at all, it’s just that.. I’m worried that it might be a bit awkward.. So I need you to go with me.”
Taehyun is looking at him intensely as he absorbs every piece of information his hyung is giving him. He probably wonders how that invitation even came about and he still doesn’t have the answer about why they have to keep quiet, but he doesn’t ask further.
“Okay, sure. I can go with you.”
Feels like the skies cleared suddenly. I knew I could count on you, Soobin thinks, as if he wasn’t doubting him literally five seconds ago.
His face lits up again, a sight that makes Taehyun smile on the inside.
“Really?” He looks right at him. “Thank you, I owe it to you.”
Taehyun responds with a nod.
A few quiet moments pass. Their legs start to hurt from the uncomfortable crouching.
Soobin tries out a method of making the time fly faster by singing one of their songs in his head;
not only does it not work, but he can’t even finish the song properly, because he forgot the lyrics.
“So.. why are we just sitting here?” Right. Everything about this situation must seem odd to Taehyun. But Soobin will not tell him about how he panicked and flew out of the room. No way he will.
“We just wait,” he responds. It gives Taehyun no valuable info but he decides to let it go.
The rest of the wait is spent in silence. Both of the boys jerk with the sudden noise of Jimin opening the door after what felt like eternity. He smiles at them as soon as he notices them.
“Oh, you’re already here? Sorry for the wait. I always find it hard to end the live.” He looks at Taehyun, his long earrings dangle in the sharp movement of his head.
They give him a stylish look perfectly complimenting his fashion sense.
Taehyun gives him a polite smile. He says hello in the perfect volume, like he was trained for it, and bows.
“It’s okay, we just came. I ran into Taehyun and found out that he, too, was about to get something to eat, so I thought we could all go together, if that would be okay?” Soobin is looking directly at Jimin. Taehyun gives a half-nod, stopping himself when his head tilts up. He is looking intensely at the back of Soobin’s head, the older bandmate avoiding eye contact with him. He ends up not saying anything, just keeping the polite smile.
“Of course! I’m happy to hear that you’re coming along, Taehyun.” Jimin doesn’t seem to notice any tension between the two TXT members, or that Soobin is just blatantly lying to save his ass from embarrassment. “I’ll give Jungkook a call, he should be already done with work.”
Soobin and Taehyun both nod and finally exchange a glance.
On their way out of the building they don’t meet any other members, so it’ll just be the four of them.
Jimin is walking a step ahead, his phone by his ear, as he’s explaining to Jungkook that they will have another company. Soobin focuses on Jungkook’s voice coming out of Jimin’s phone, and keeps his head facing forward, dodging the glances Taehyun gives him from time to time.
He also can’t help but feel like he’s forgetting something.
Well, whatever, that’s the problem of the Future Soobin.
They arrive at the entrance door where Jungkook is already waiting. He smiles when he notices the three and waves his hand. “Hello,” both Taehyun and Soobin say in unison as they bow almost 90°.
Jungkook has his phone in his hand, the other hand is in the pocket of his black cargo pants matching his plain black T-shirt. Soobin can’t help but admire how cool he looks- he has makeup on, his long hair is styled and his piercings and tattoos are well on show. On top of that he smiles charmingly as he looks each of the three guys into their eyes.
“I heard that you’re coming with us. I’m happy to hear that, it’s not every day that we get to have a company dinner.”
Jimin gently hits his shoulder. “It’s not a company dinner. We’re going like a group of four friends.”
Jungkook laughs and nods. “You’re right, you’re right.”
Soobin keeps switching from looking at the two of them having the short casual conversation. He thinks about how it feels really familial, maybe he was worried the entire time for nothing. Him and Taehyun don’t really say anything, just follow Jungkook and Jimin out and into Jungkook’s car.
He suddenly realizes what he forgot- he left his headphones in the damn room again.
The restaurant they’re having dinner in is unfamiliar to Soobin. The same cannot be said about Taehyun, apparently he’s been there once or twice before, as he told him when they got out of the car.
They walk into a private part of the restaurant. There are four seats available and the plate on the table says ‘reserved’- probably a work of Jungkook at some point before they met up.
They take a seat and the waiter brings the menu. Soobin grabs one and inspects it out of curiosity.
The book looks almost as fancy as the interior of the restaurant itself. It’s designed in dark brown, it somehow looks both modern and traditional.
He looks around at all the decorations surrounding him- framed paintings, little statuettes placed next to the many plants in every direction. Soobin wonders how they can last here- the restaurant is pretty dark.
The food they order gets delivered relatively fast. The plates are overflowing with all kinds of colours, the vegetables and meat emit a strong scent that indicates that it will taste as good as it looks, if not better.
Taehyun and Soobin exchange a smirk when they realize how little they ordered compared to the older two, especially Jungkook. It’s difficult to imagine how that much food will fit in his stomach, but he looks confident. All of them jump right into their meals and come to find that it indeed tastes just as good as they expected.
The conversation between the four of them flows well, although it’s mostly Jimin and Jungkook talking. They try to make room for Soobin and Taehyun to speak as much as they can, but it doesn’t feel forced, instead Soobin finds himself more and more comfortable with each sentence.
So does Taehyun apparently, as he has no problem complaining to the two seniors when the talk naturally falls into the topic.
“Soobin hyung has been annoying recently. All he does is worry about unnecessary things that can be easily dealt with,” he says with a sarcastic half smile on his face.
“What?” Soobin blurts out in surprise. He notices Jimin and Jungkook giving each other a quick look before looking back at him.
“What is it, Soobin? Is there something wrong?” Jimin asks with a tint of worry in his voice. Soobin finishes chewing to respond about how he has no idea what Taehyun is talking about, but the youngest beats him in speed and responds before Soobin manages to open his mouth.
“It’s still over three weeks until Yeonjun hyung’s birthday, but Soobin hyung keeps worrying about not knowing what to give him as a gift. That is not the problem though, the problem is that he already told me many of his ideas, and they’re all good, but he’s just not content with any of them.” He picks up a cup in front of him but doesn’t drink from it yet. “I keep telling him that all of his ideas are good, but he just won’t listen.”
He looks at Soobin and finally takes a sip of his tea.
Soobin gives him a bewildered look and continues with checking Jimin and Jungkook’s expressions. The looks in their faces seem to slowly change from worry to amusement.
“Ah, so that’s the case,” Jimin says with a kind tone. “I get it, sometimes I’m like that too.”
He takes a bit of rice with his chopsticks and holds it in front of himself. “I’m sure something will come to mind eventually. What ideas have you had so far?”
He puts the rice in his mouth without breaking eye contact with Soobin.
“Well,” Soobin starts with a pouty tone, “I thought of some clothes, then maybe a watch, or a different kind of accessory, like a necklace or something..” He looks at Jungkook and notices that his gaze keeps switching from his food to Soobin. “But I don’t know, neither of those feels good enough.”
Jimin nods and downs another mouthful of rice. “If you want it to be something original, maybe you could do some DIYing?”
“I thought of that too, but, I’m not very crafty,” he says and his head fills with disappointment with himself. He starts losing himself in thoughts when suddenly he’s thrown out of it by Jungkook’s enthusiastic hum.
He chews fast, like he has a limited time of saying what just came to his mind, and nudges Jimin.
After swallowing, he speaks to Soobin, but he’s looking at Jimin with raised eyebrows.
“What about taking him on a trip?”
Soobin doesn’t really know how to react, instead he’s just observing Jimin’s reaction. It took him a few seconds, but he now seems to know exactly what Jungkook is referring to. The boy in question looks at Taehyun, who looks as confused as Soobin feels.
“Ohh, you’re right!” Jimin says as enthusiastically as Jungkook. He moves his gaze from his bandmate to Soobin. “Wouldn’t you like to go on a trip with him?”
Soobin responds slowly, carefully taking in each piece of information given to him. “A trip with Yeonjun hyung?”
“Well,” Jimin smiled, “with Yeonjun and the two of us.”
Soobin didn’t know how to respond to that at all. He looked at Taehyun with hopes that he would help him; his expression was, however, blank.
“Let me explain,” Jimin started, without letting Soobin respond to the offer just yet. “Me and Jungkook are going on a trip in September. Originally, Taehyungie and Hobi hyung were supposed to come along, but something got in their way.” Soobin could hear the sadness in his voice when he said that.
“But, the tickets were already bought.”
That made Soobin even more surprised and confused than he already was. Just how far are they going?
“Tickets?” he asked in a high pitched voice. “Tickets to where?”
Jimin snickered and drank a bit of his soda before answering.
“Europe.”
Soobin’s eyebrows shooted even higher and he immediately looked at Taehyun. To his surprise, rather than looking shocked, he seemed.. okay. Like it wasn’t a big deal.
He then examined Jimin and Jungkook’s expressions. He found it hard to believe how every person behind the table just looked casual about it, like Europe wasn’t at the other side of the earth.
“The timing is perfect. Well, so I assume, from how much time Taehyun said you have left.” It wasn’t surprising or insulting that Jimin didn’t know when Yeonjun’s birthday was. He had no reason to know. “You can give him the ticket as a present. Only if you want, though, I don’t want you to pressure yourself into buying it if you don’t want to. It won’t go to waste, we’ll just have to find someone else to give the tickets to.”
The atmosphere felt heavy suddenly, not from pressure or anything like that, just from the amount of thinking Soobin had to do. He’s looking into his plate; the food looks inviting but suddenly he doesn’t feel like eating anymore.
Truth is, it’s an amazing idea. Too good to be true actually. But it’s not like he can just pack his things and go to god knows where on a completely different continent. He has a lot of work to do, and he probably won’t be allowed by the company in the first place. On top of that, the idea of going that far with just four people made him feel a bit nervous.
His chain of thoughts gets interrupted by Taehyun’s voice. “I don’t see why not.”
Soobin looks at him in shock.
He expected him to be as reasonable as he usually is, but he just shrugs and his expression is calm and collected.
What do you mean ‘why not’, i just thought of plenty of reasons why this wouldn’t work.
“You and Yeonjun hyung both have been working hard lately, you deserve some rest. Me and the members can work things out for that short amount of time without the two of you.” He’s serious with what he’s saying and he speaks like he had it all prepared in his head already. “Also, if Jimin and Jungkook sunbaenims are allowed to go, I don’t see why you wouldn’t. After all, we haven’t had any holiday from the company lately.”
Soobin switches from looking at Taehyun to the two older ones opposite him. Jungkook has been quiet ever since he proposed the idea, but his nods he did while Jimin was speaking showed that he was saying exactly what was on his own mind.
He looks back into his plate and rests his hands in his lap. “I.. will have to think about it. Can I let you know sometime later? It might take a few days, though..”
Jimin looks at Jungkook and back at Soobin. He shows his understanding in both his eyes and smile. “Of course. Take as much time as you need.”
“Thank you.” Soobin smiles back but his expression quickly changes to a nervous face of worry of being misunderstood. “B-but I really appreciate the suggestion! It’s not like I’m taking the offer for granted or anything,” he explains clearly. Yet again, he’s met with nothing but fond smiles from both Jimin and Jungkook.
He exchanges the last glance with Taehyun before the topic is changed and not brought up that day again.
“I won.”
Yeonjun’s proud voice fills up the room the five boys decided to spend their Sunday afternoon in.
It’s sunny outside, but the wind is strong and none of them feel like having to struggle with keeping their hair in place, so videogames inside it is.
“No, no, it’s not fair, my controller stopped working!”
Beomgyu’s desperate attempts to save himself make Yeonjun let out an exaggerated evil laugh.
“I mean it! Right before the finish line! You saw it too, right? Soobin hyung?”
Soobin is pulled out of his thoughts after hearing his name come from someone’s mouth.
“Huh? Saw what?”
Yeonjun’s grin grows even bigger.
“No, you must have seen it! How it just went side to side out of nowhere!”
His cry for help develops into laughter, the kind where he’s not even making any noise, his mouth just hangs open. He throws himself back to Taehyun, who was not at all pleased with having to cooperate with Beomgyu on what him and Yeonjun agreed on.
-We need snacks.
-Someone ate the last bag. There’s none left
-Then somebody will have to go buy some
-Alright but not me
-Hey, you can’t just say that
-Okay then, let’s compete and the loser has to go to the grocery store
And thus, it was decided that if Beomgyu loses in the racing game they were playing on their console, him and Taehyun will get the snacks, and if he wins, Yeonjun and Hueningkai will be the ones having to deal with it. While Kai was content with the agreement, Taehyun wondered how he got pulled into this nonsense of a pact in the first place.
He pushes Beomgyu away while keeping the reluctant look on his face. “I never agreed to this.”
Yeonjun and Hueningkai high five each other and smugly look at the two other boys sitting on the left side, Taehyun comfortably on the couch and Beomgyu on the floor in front of him.
“Please, Taehyunie, I’ll fix it and win the next time, just convince them to give me another chance!”
Taehyun sighs and rolls his eyes. “You fool, I have to deal with everything for you.” He looks at Yeonjun and Kai and gives them a soft begging look, one that is as rare as Beomgyu winning against Yeonjun in a racing game.
“Give him the chance, look at how he’s struggling. Poor guy will have to go to the grocery store alone if he loses.”
Beomgyu gives him a look of surprise. “What do you mean alone? No, that’s not-”
but he stops himself mid-sentence when Taehyun switches his gaze from Yeonjun to him, still keeping his smiley begging face that is however, above all, overflowing with sarcasm.
Kai is at first unwilling to give in, but ends up shrugging. “I’m confident in Yeonjun hyung. He’ll win this time too,” he declares. Yeonjun is flattered with the statement and as a result accepts the challenge.
“Well, there’s nothing for me in it, but let’s say I believe that your controller indeed stopped working.” It’s not like he didn’t believe him, it was just that teasing him felt like so much fun. “Thank Taehyun for that.”
Beomgyu felt a second wind and confidently straightened his back, eyes looking intensely at the screen.
Only to end up losing again, making Taehyun internally facepalm. He laughs in defeat and sprawls all over Taehyun’s lap again, slowly sinking to the floor.
“Taehyunie.. we lost.”
Taehyun raises his eyebrows. “What do you mean we lost? I have nothing to do with this.”
Another round of smug faces on Yeonjun and Hueningkai. This time Soobin joins with a quiet giggle.
Yeonjun looks at Soobin, surprised at how quiet he’s been keeping this entire time. The raven haired boy watches him turn around and they keep a short eye contact, until Yeonjun snorts and looks back at the loser of the race.
“Well then, we have a mission to fulfil,” Beomgyu utters while standing up. Taehyun furrows his eyebrows in response. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Come on, the sooner we go the sooner we’ll be done with it.” He gently pulls on his sweater, trying to make him stand up.
The rest of the boys watch in amusement. Neither of them want to intervene, seeing the two of them bicker is too much entertainment for them.
Beomgyu manages to convince Taehyun to accompany him on his journey to the convenience store. They promise to take less than thirty minutes to come back and leave, making the room suddenly fall quiet.
Yeonjun breaks the silence when he turns around again to face Soobin.
“I want to race against you, Soobinie. Up for a round?”
“Huh? Me?” Soobin blinks in surprise. He wants to refuse, but he catches himself already moving towards the direction of the controller Beomgyu left on the floor.
“Yeah. I haven’t played with you in a long while.”
Soobin sits in a comfortable position taking Beomgyu’s place on the floor and looks at the screen, then at Yeonjun. The older’s face is challenging. On the contrary, the face behind him, belonging to Kai, looks lost in thought. That doesn’t last long though, as he scoots himself to Soobin’s side and backhugs him.
“I’m with Soobin hyung in this one.”
Soobin feels as surprised as Yeonjun looks.
“What? You traitor, wait until I win you back.” The competitive side of him suddenly seems doubled.
The race feels twice as thrilling as the previous ones. Maybe because Soobin is probably trying way too much. His efforts meet a result, the defeated look on Yeonjun’s face and Hueningkai’s high pitched scream followed by an offer for a high five.
He thinks about all the instances he has lost to Yeonjun- like that one time when he challenged him right after the older woke up, knowing he could barely tell which side of the TV screen was his, but he still won. And how annoying and cocky he got every time, but how Soobin didn’t actually mind at all.
The winner’s face looks smug as hell, especially after hearing Yeonjun’s fake cry when he throws himself at his younger friend and starts shaking him front to back.
“NnnooooooOO! Rigged, everything about this game.”
This feels great.
Soobin can’t help but feel great about himself.
“You shouldn’t play with fire, hyung. You might end up hurt.”
Yeonjun keeps shaking his head and making crying noises. He stops after hearing Soobin snicker.
Damn, maybe he should’ve just stayed humble.
He pulls his head away from Soobin’s chest and looks at him from below. When their eyes meet, he smirks. “Wait until I beat you in another game. I’ll have my ways.”
Whatever the heck that means, it doesn't sound good. Soobin can already picture what Yeonjun had in mind but actually let’s not think about that.
His voice is suddenly playful and confident. Before he moves away from Soobin completely, he tickles his chin with his index finger, making the dark haired boy automatically turn his head to the side, avoiding any kind of attack that might occur next. One can never know with Yeonjun.
Hueningkai watches all of this from behind Soobin. The leader doesn’t even realize this, until Kai loudly stands up.
The boy never fails to disappoint with his antics. “No fun while I’m gone, guys. I don’t wanna miss anything, but I gotta pee.” The hyungs look at him in a ‘ dude, TMI ’ style, but mentally shrug it off, it’s nothing they weren’t used to.
They wordlessly watch Kai leave the room, and after he closes the door behind himself, they look at each other.
Well, I guess we just wait, is what they can read from each other’s expressions.
Yeonjun slides to his initial position and starts going through a stack of CDs next to him that he left there earlier that day. Soobin watches his every move, he observes how his hand delicately brushes against all the CDs as he’s selecting which one he’d want to use next, he observes how the sole ring he has on his left hand shines and reflects light differently every time Yeonjun’s hand moves a bit.
But his mind ends up wandering to a completely different place.
Maybe now would be a good time to ask, he thinks. It shouldn’t be a grand announcement, I’d just rather have it casual.
His mouth is slightly open, like he’s absolutely fascinated by an art piece, not looking at his hyung choosing a videogame to play.
Lost in his thoughts, he doesn’t even realise the intense look he was giving him when Yeonjun stood up from the floor and went to the other side of the room to take his switch.
Yeonjun notices and he can’t help but tease him for it.
“Am I that captivating?”
Well, to be fair, he is kinda good looking.
Yeonjun’s voice pulls Soobin out of his thoughs with about as same intensity as a slap in his face would. The older seems to find this comical, his smirk showing how proud he is of how he just flattered himself. Not letting Soobin respond, he continues talking, but in a more friendly tone this time. “I progressed in decorating my place in Animal Crossing, wanna see?”
Soobin takes about two seconds to come back to reality. He doesn’t nod or respond, he just stands up and comes closer to Yeonjun. He sits behind him on a couch and comes closer to the screen once Yeonjun turns it on.
The boy starts enthusiastically explaining the changes he made, seemingly not minding the close proximity between them. Soobin is pretty sure Yeonjun could feel his hot breath somewhere, by his neck or his ear- or at least hear it. His face was right above Yeonjun’s shoulder.
He listens for a bit, but gets lost in his dilemma again.
If I asked now, how high is the chance that he’d not take me seriously? Honestly, probably pretty high. Maybe he’ll think I’m making fun of him just to see his reaction. Well, it’s not like I can’t clarify that I’m serious about it. But how the hell do i even ask.. hey Yeonjun, fancy a walk in the streets of London..? But that sounds like I just bought a ticket for the two of us and that would-
“Ha!”
He bumps into Yeonjun under the pressure of Hueningkai’s body landing on his back. “What are you two looking at? I wanna see~”
The two hyungs look equally shocked by the sudden appearance of Kai, he sneaked in so well neither of them noticed he was in the room.
Yeonjun turns his head to look at him and then turns back to his switch. “Just a filler activity, as you requested.”
“Ahh, good good.” Soobin expects him to get off the two of them, but he instead links his hands around his hyungs’ shoulders. It’s an uncomfortable position, likely for all of them, but no one seems to audibly protest.
They stay like that for way too long, just watching Yeonjun play Animal Crossing.
Soobin can eventually pull away from Yeonjun once Kai finally stands up to stretch.
He moves to the stack of CDs next to Yeonjun and starts sorting through them. It takes him a while, but he ends up choosing one and putting it inside the console.
He challenges Soobin to a combat, the two of them leave Yeonjun in his own world of Animal Crossing. Neither of them move from their spot until Taehyun and Beomgyu come back twenty minutes later with a plastic bag full of all kinds of snacks.
Losing the track of time, they spend the day together until nine in the evening. Hueningkai yawns dramatically, making Beomgyu look at him with one raised eyebrow.
“What are you yawning for..? You never go to sleep this early,” he questions. Soobin asks himself the same thing.
“I’m not tired,” he says, and doesn’t give any further clarification. Taehyun enters the dialogue. “Well, I think we should pack it up for today anyway.”
Beomgyu, now completely spread on the couch, stretches and grunts. He unintentionally kicks Taehyun, who is sitting on one side of the couch, thighs under Beomgyu’s feet. Soobin and Hueningkai are somehow sharing what feels like a centimeter square of one armchair.
Kai stands up and looks around at all the mess they made during the day- a bowl of unpopped popcorn kernels, empty bags of chips and half full bottles everywhere. He stays still for a few seconds, until a sly smile flashes on his face.
“Actually, I am tired.”
Without a single drop of remorse he turns on his feet and starts running out of the room. Immediately followed by Beomgyu, the remaining three members are left in the room to exchange a look that simply exhaustedly says kids.
Even Taehyun, ignoring the fact that he’s younger than Beomgyu.
He sighs and stands up, ready to clean up the mess, but Soobin gestures to him to stop.
“It’s okay, Taehyunie. Feel free to leave, we’ll take care of it.”
He glances at Yeonjun, then at Soobin, and looks like he wants to protest, but in the end just nods and thanks them before he leaves.
The two oldest members spend a few moments not moving an inch. The room suddenly feels empty, but at the same time tranquil; the calming sounds of their inhales and exhales are only interrupted by the periodic ticking of the clock.
Yeonjun is the first one to stand up, already taking a plastic bottle by his feet and putting it into an empty bowl. Soobin follows shortly, grabbing each empty bag he lays his eyes on.
He notices a few crumbs and popcorn kernels on the floor and crouches down, carefully picking up each one by one. While working, he focuses on Yeonjun’s soft humming in the tone of an unknown song, but slowly, for the third time that day, his mind wanders off to a specific problem.
“Hyung, I have to ask you something.”
He expects Yeonjun to stop humming and give him his attention, but he doesn’t. Instead, he picks up the last bottle and grabs the bowl temporarily used as a trashcan.
“Give me a sec, I’ll just throw this out.”
He exits the room and leaves Soobin alone, unknowingly giving him space to overthink everything that comes to his mind.
He comes back after a moment that felt much longer than it should have. The lighting must have felt too strong for him, as he turned the light off and instead turned on a small lamp in the corner. He notices Soobin picking up all the CDs lying on the floor, and after realizing that there was nothing left to tidy up, he sits down- in front of the couch, again.
Soobin wonders if there was a specific reason he preferred sitting on the floor.
The black haired boy put all of the CDs into their cases and placed them in their respective spots in the cabinet next to the TV. He turns around and lays on the couch behind Yeonjun.
The two of them spend another few moments not saying anything. Without turning around and looking at Soobin, the silence is eventually broken by the older. “You wanted to ask something?”
Soobin suddenly felt like there were scribbles being drawn in his brain.
He moves from laying on his back to his side, but decides it's the most suitable to just sit like a well-mannered person.
“Yeonjun hyung,” he starts, but doesn’t know how to continue. A few seconds pass, but he doesn’t say a word- a sign to Yeonjun that maybe this is a bit more serious than he initially thought. He turns around and looks Soobin in the eyes.
“Yes?”
Soobin can’t stand the eye contact and looks at the floor.
The sudden feeling of intimacy between them is something new. The silence, the clock ticking, the dimly lit room- the only light sources being the small lamp Yeonjun turned on and the home screen of the console.
Soobin decides not to stretch this weird atmosphere for an amount of time that would be unnecessarily long and just spits everything out.
“I..” he starts, still unsure how to progress in this conversation.
Soobin, just ask. Plain as a day.
“Would you like to go on a trip?”
Yeonjun raises his eyebrows and smiles. “A trip? Sure, where?”
The younger straightens his back and runs his hand through his hair. He finally looks Yeonjun into his eyes.
“To Europe.”
..
“Huh?”
Yeonjun’s expression is filled with confusion. The face he just made is absolute comedy gold to Soobin, but he’s nervous enough to be able to keep the laughter to himself.
“Europe? What do you mean?”
“I mean, a few-days-long trip to England and Scotland. Would you like to go?”
Yeonjun’s eyebrows still up as high as they can possibly be show Soobin just how completely taken aback his hyung is. It’s the better reaction, he thinks, the other alternative was Yeonjun not taking him seriously and closing the conversation before it could even properly start.
“How.. what?” he asks. “A few days in England and Scotland.. And you came up with it ‘cause you were bored..?”
“Of course not,” Soobin responds with pouty lips. “I’m dead serious about everything I’m saying. I’m asking you if you’d like to go on a trip with me.. and also Jimin and Jungkook sunbaenims.”
It is physically impossible for Yeonjun’s eyebrows to shoot even higher, but it feels like they just did. He processes everything Soobin said and shakes his head. “Soobinie, I will need you to explain everything properly to me. I’m really lost.”
Soobin looks at the spot next to him and pats it twice. Yeonjun gets the gesture and takes a seat next to him, not breaking their eye contact.
“I don’t want to burden you with the details,” he starts, “but basically, your birthday is approaching.. and this just feels like a nice gift.” He’s examining Yeonjun’s expression as he’s explaining. “I’d be lying if I said it was my idea. In short, Jimin and Jungkook sunbaenims suggested it, and now I’m suggesting it to you.”
He scratches behind his ear.
Yeonjun was the one who started the eye contact and he’s the one to break it. His eyes fall down as he’s carefully thinking about each word he just heard and each word he will let out.
A pout appears this time on his face, as if he was about to ask more questions he still has no answers to, but it disappears as fast as it came.
Instead of asking further, he just smiles and pulls himself closer to Soobin for a hug.
Soobin is surprised by the sudden action, but doesn’t take long to reciprocate. Though confused and unsure, he slowly puts his arms around Yeonjun’s back as well.
He can’t see, but he’s pretty sure Yeonjun’s eyes are closed.
“I’d love to go.”
“You’re going WHERE?”
Only a few days pass, but most of the trip has already been arranged. Allowed by the company, Soobin finally felt like he could talk about it to the other boys and not jinx it. It’s not like he wanted to tell the company before his friends- he did tell them about what he got Yeonjun as a birthday present, just not where they’re going and how long for.
Beomgyu’s voice was filled with a bit of jealousy. Not the kind where you’re not happy for the other person though- he made sure to show Soobin that he’s excited with him.
He just likes to create a bit of drama just for the hell of it.
A big part of Soobin’s initial worry about hurting his friends was still kicking him to the back of his head, even when he noticed that Beomgyu wasn’t really serious about how he acted. He kept reminding himself that it was all just teasing, but the empathetic side of him couldn’t help but feel guilty.
He places his fist on Beomgyu’s knee and taps it a few times. “You want to come too?”
Beomgyu’s open mouth forms a wide smile. “Of course? What kind of dumb question is that?”
He turns to look at Hueningkai, who was equally as shocked to hear about the news as Beomgyu was, but he’s not showing nearly as much emotion- barely forming a surprised and supportive smile.
Kai leans on the mirror and shrugs.
They’re sitting in the practice room; Yeonjun and Taehyun are somewhere working on other things and the rest of the group is taking a short break.
Beomgyu takes a look at Soobin’s hand still rested on his knee.
“What cities are you even visiting?”
Soobin hums and looks at an unidentified spot on the ceiling. “Well, I think London, Edinburgh,.. probably some places near them as well..”
Beomgyu can’t help but snort at Soobin’s response. “Dude you don’t even know where you’re going.” Hueningkai lets out a quiet giggle.
“You act like you’d know what I’m talking about if I had a proper answer,” he defends himself and shoots him a facial expression of furrowed brows, though Beomgyu finds it more comical than intimidating.
“Well, for starters, I’d at least look things up about it.” That’s a valid point, Soobin thinks to himself. “It’s a terrible loss that you won’t have me there.”
The entire time ever since they sat down and the topic was brought up, Hueningkai hasn’t said a word, which is unusual for him. Beomgyu seems to realize it, as he turns to him again and directly asks him about it.
“Kai why aren’t you saying anything?”
The youngest seems taken by surprise by the sudden attention pointing to him. He inspects both of his friends’ faces looking directly at him.
He responds in a calm tone. “I think that it’s good that it’s just the two of them going. After all, it’s Soobin hyung’s gift to Yeonjunie hyung. They should spend and enjoy the time together.”
Soobin’s heart flutters after hearing the sincere words of their maknae. It was a heartwarming moment while it lasted, that is, until Beomgyu made a gagging sound.
“Okay, well, you have to take me with you the next time you decide to leave this building during working hours,” he declares.
Soobin smiles fondly and lets his thoughts wander.
He looks at the floor and starts tapping it with his fingers. “Spain, maybe?”
Beomgyu apparently already stopped listening, based on his reaction.
“Huh?”
Not the what do you mean kind, the sorry, I didn’t hear ‘cause I wasn’t paying attention.
“Let’s go to Spain sometimes, okay? The five of us.”
Beomgyu’s playful mood suddenly switched, he seems.. touched. He doesn’t give any response, or move.
Unlike Hyuka, who smiles wide and releases his well known and well adored scream while throwing hands in the air.
“Let’s go!” he shouts enthusiastically. “Next summer, how about that?”
The room gets twice as loud and thrice as cheerful as it was before.
“Definitely,” the leader responds. Suddenly, the season feels so far away. If only it was already summertime.
But there’s something closer, something just as exciting.
Something he still can’t believe is happening.
Soobin and Yeonjun are going on a vacation.