down where it's wetter | KOOKV

out in the sun

Taehyung woke up to the smell of pancakes and caramel, aka heaven. When he woke up to the unfamiliar room, he panicked for a moment before sinking back into the soft duvets after he smelt Jeongguk's cooking and heard him humming a tune. The bed was still dipped next to him, and Taehyung could feel the ghost warmth of Jeongguk lingering on the pillow next to his.

When he padded into the kitchen groggily, Jeongguk shot him a lazy smile that sent Taehyung's heart into overdrive. It's too early to have a heart attack.

"You're awake. Did you sleep well?"Jeongguk continued flipping pancakes like a pro, the delicious golden brown making Taehyung drool on spot.

"Yeah, I had a nightmare but I fell asleep quickly afterwards." Taehyung peeked at the almost finished pancakes from Jeongguk's back, their position weirdly intimate and domestic.

"Well, we will be leaving Seoul at once after we finish breakfast, so you will get a pretty long car ride and you can rest if you are tired," Jeongguk explained patiently while placing the pancakes on the plate carefully, before spreading some whipped cream on it. He then put some sliced bananas on top of it. "Viola! If I quit my job at Joon hyung's lab one day, I'll go and be a patissier. Or a professional pancake maker."

"I'm sure people will love your pancakes. You must be the God of Pancakes in your last life Ggukkie," Taehyung placed the plates on the small island in the middle of the kitchen. "But we don't have to leave Seoul yet, we just got here last night! I can stay here, and maybe you can go do whatever you planned on doing here."

Jeongguk washed his hands and joined Taehyung. "I'm not going anywhere myself, mister. I suggested we go to Seoul because I want to show you around the city. I've been to Seoul a million times. We'll go back to Busan. I'll drive us around along the coast of Busan. We can think of something to do then."

The two of them finished breakfast in comfortable silence, Taehyung looking out the window to take a last glimpse of Seoul before he leaves the city and possibly never to see it again. Taehyung dozed off several times during the car ride before Jeongguk announced they reached home. It was a weird sensation for Taehyung to hear the word home, because he knows that the Jeon's residence is not his technical home; but deep down he could feel his heartbeat quicken when Jeongguk mentions it because God knows how much he wishes he could stay here and be with Jeongguk, his real home, his real shelter from all the storms.

Jeongguk's mom was the one answering the door, and she looked quite shocked to see the two young men back so soon from the capital city. "Huh? Jeongguk-ah? Aren't you supposed to be in Seoul with Taehyung-ah?"

"Taehyung is not comfortable with the city smell, it made him very sick. We had to cut our trip short," said Jeongguk, shrugging off his backpack. He hung his coat on the hanger and dropped his full weight on his mother, crushing the shorter woman. "Did you miss me, mom? Did you miss me while I was away last night? Aww, you must have missed your Jeonggukkie so much you weren't able to sleep last night!" Jeongguk then squished his mom's cheeks and planted a loud kiss on his mom's cheek.

Mrs Jeon swatted her son away and pushed Jeongguk off of her. "Why would I miss you rascal? Though I did stay up last night, thinking of Taehyung-ah. It's going to be one month since Taehyung's arrival very soon, oh honey, I am going to miss you so much," Mrs Jeon took Taehyung's hand into her own, her expression a sad and devastated one.

Taehyung's smile faded away slowly. He looked at the woman in front of her and saw his own mother in Mrs Jeon. Although in her late forties, she is usually very youthful with her chatty personality and smiley face, but now it was as if she aged overnight: her eyes look distant and sorrowful, her brows furrowed, a hint of worry and sadness in them.