CAUGHT IN AN ACT ♂ tk.

- 35 Goodnight Angel

The waiter comes back and pours them their wine before leaving. Jeongguk and Taehyung clink glasses with no toast and they sit in silence for a moment.

“Why an exclusive restaurant, though?” Taehyung asks suddenly and Jeongguk’s eyes widen, a light panic in them.

“Shit, did you not want to come here? We can still leave if you–” He begins and then stops when Taehyung chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s fine, Guk,” he said, “I’m just a bit surprised. Didn’t expect of you to be a ‘fancy dinner’ type guy.”

Jeongguk flushes a little and rubs the back of his neck nervously. “W-Well, I wanted to try to impress you? Namjoon-hyung recommended me this place and I didn’t really want to miss an opportunity. I thought that maybe you don’t like those spontaneous dates and that this… might be up more to your standard,” he says.

Even if Taehyung wanted to make a remark to that, he didn’t because the waiter comes over to serve them their food, with Jeongguk paying the bill beforehand. They don’t say that much and just ate silently.

“So,” Taehyung speaks first, “How’re the promotions going?”

Jeongguk accidentally chokes on his wine and Taehyung cocks an eyebrow in amusement as he watches the younger male grab a napkin and cough into it. Jeongguk brushes his lips and his face is still flushed – he’s quite the opposite to the mature Jeongguk Taehyung talked to yesterday. This version reminds him more of what Jeongguk used to be when they first met.

“G-Good,” Jeongguk responds, coughing again to clear his voice, “The album sold out pretty well and um, we’ve gotten lots of praises. We amounted around… nine wins, I think? I’m not sure, Jimin keeps more track of that than I do.”

“That’s pretty impressive, Guk,” Taehyung says as he takes a bite of his dish, “You two are doing really well.”

“Yeah…” Jeongguk muttered, as if distracted. He was just digging a fork into his food, not really eating it. “How’s your, um, job going?” He asks, cringing at how badly he phrased that.

“Good, it’s okay,” Taehyung answers calmly, “My career ahead seems bright.”

At the mention, at the reminder of that, the two of them go silent once again.

Suddenly, the whole restaurant goes silent and there are some hushed whispers. The two young males, in confusion, turn into the direction they saw people gesturing to. They spot a man down on one knee and holding up a small box in his hands, reciting words as the lady sitting in front of him held hands over her mouth in shock and tears streaked her eyes. After she choked out a “yes” in answer, the restaurant claps and cheers for what appears to be a now engaged couple.

Taehyung and Jeongguk watch the scene and clap along, the air of the entire room suddenly shifting and turning into something more serious. More mature. And Jeongguk couldn’t take it as he sighs heavily and rubs his hands on his face, groaning. Taehyung raises an eyebrow at him, noticing Jeongguk looks apprehensive.

“This is not us,” he said, sighing, “I wanted to show you how serious I am about this, so I took you to a restaurant with a menu full of dishes I can’t dream of pronouncing and I’m trying to make a business-like conversation. I’m just failing miserably.”

Taehyung stares at him for a moment and he thinks, until there is a twinkle of amusement in his eyes. He set the silverware down and looks at the younger. “Let’s ditch this place, then,” he said, no joking tone to his voice.

Jeongguk removes his hands from his face, that contours into one of confusion. “What?” He said.

“I know this really good place down the street. They sell killer fries,” Taehyung says, grinning cheekily, “Well, unless you mind wasting this reservation and paying for food we didn’t eat much of–”

“Let’s do it,” Jeongguk replies with no hesitation and he quickly raises from his chair.

Taehyung grins wider and he sits up after him, drinking his wine down in one go and sighing in relief. His hand is grabbed by Jeongguk and he’s being dragged out of the restaurant. If there weren’t a grin on his face, people would’ve thought he was being dragged away by force, but Taehyung was happy. He followed Jeongguk with a grip to his hand. They abandon Jeongguk’s car and Taehyung leads the way downtown.

When they enter the fast food place, the employee is confused as to why two good looking men, dressed in suits, walked in a place like this and ordered fries. Regardless, he serves them what they asked for and this time, Taehyung paid for the food. They stumble out of the place and then take a walk in the nearby park.

The two of them sat on a bench and after assaulting each other with fries for a few minutes, they just sit and eat, enjoying the moonlight and stars shining on them. “Fuck, this is so much better,” Jeongguk commented and Taehyung laughs. One of those angelic laughs that take Jeongguk’s breath away each time.

“We may be adults in age, Jeonggukkie, but we’re still kids in spirit,” Taehyung hums and then leans back into the bench, head tilting back and looking up at the night sky. The air is cold, but refreshing.

“Back then, we used to do this a lot too,” Jeongguk says, “Sneak out of practice and just go eat together in the middle of the night.”

“Yeah, it was pretty fun,” Taehyung smiles, for the first time not bothered by the bringing up of the past. “I feel kinda sorry that we ditched Jimin so many times. Although, it was always a good excuse for him to hang out with Yoongi-hyung.”

Jeongguk laughs at that and nods in agreement. “Oh yeah, I know he actually didn’t mind at all. But he really didn’t want to admit it,” he agrees.

Taehyung looks at the stars with a smile and wonders. “Hey… ever wondered how it would’ve been if we met in different circumstances?” He asks suddenly.

Jeongguk turns his head to look at him, a curious expression on his face. “What’d you mean?” He asks, munching on his fries.

“Well, like,” Taehyung tries to think, humming, “For example, what if I was a florist and owned a flower shop. You opened a tattoo parlor across the street and we somehow met. I would be intimidated by all your tattoos, but then I’d find out you’re just a cutie-pie. One that I would like to fuck me.”

At the last added sentence, Jeongguk chokes on his fry and Taehyung looks amused by this. “Sounds like a story a fan would write, Tae,” he says, but there is a smile on his face and he’s just happy to be able to listen to Taehyung like this, “You have a rather imaginative mind, hyung.”

“Yeah, I tend to wonder how things could’ve been,” Taehyung muttered, but he doesn’t make it sound bitter. He doesn’t want to ruin the night like that. “But it’s cool, I think. Those other versions of us that exist out there. Creative minds that explode because of something they are passionate about. It must be cool to be a writer. Maybe, in another universe, I am a writer and I write about–”

Jeongguk stares at him and listens and only thinks one thing.

Under any other circumstance, I would still fall in love with you.

 

They don’t kiss that night, but they do hold hands as they walk back to the car. On the way, Jeongguk buys a small bouquet of flowers from an old lady selling them, giving her extra money and not noticing Taehyung smiling at his kindness. Taehyung held Jeongguk’s hand in one hand, in the other the bouquet he bought him, his head rest on Jeongguk’s shoulder as they walked and Jeongguk’s heart was worn on the sleeve of his shirt.

Jeongguk drives him back to the apartment building and kisses his hand as goodbye, saying something along the lines of “goodnight, angel,” and he doesn’t drive off until he’s sure Taehyung entered his building safely. Giddy, Taehyung immediately puts the flowers in a vase and goes to sleep with a smile.

He tries to forget that they only have six days left.