Jeongguk never expected to have any sort of graduation party or any sort of commemoration over the end of the curse at all.
It's was a curse that lasted only one year, it was simply a post-graduation curse - not even that if you look at technicalities because this curse could be of use for those already graduated in design or art but also for those who wanted to graduate on those.
So really the boy was expecting a weak congrats from the secretary lady once she handed his diploma from the curse – as it had happened once he graduated from his actual graduation curse. He had mentally organized a celebration for himself, which basically consisted of asking Taehyung to pop some confetti for him once he got his diploma and him doing the same for his boyfriend.
It was a shock to hear the student council - Jeongguk didn't even know there was such a thing at this college - tell his class that they were planning a celebration that would consist of a grade collation and a small party.
Jeongguk was quick to deny himself from such a thing because those celebrations are always expensive as fuck. There is a reason why his only form of celebration from his previous graduation was Jimin excitingly jumping around him as he congratulated them both of finishing that hell.
He couldn't afford paying for the celebration nor could Jimin, so they just skipped such a thing and then Jimin saw the pictures from their classmates who attended the party on Facebook and showed them to the younger. Not that Jeongguk even gave a shit about that but Jimin insisted on it.
So when Taehyung told him that it was okay if he wanted to skip the party but that they needed to go to the collation because even if it was deadly boring Taehyung just wanted to wear the gown and that little stupid hat again, because that alone made him feel like he had actually finished the curse and achieved something, Jeongguk just frowned at him and reasoned that he possibly couldn't afford such a thing.
To his surprise Taehyung told him that they just needed to pay for the tickets, as if it was a normal college party. Sure the tickets were always expensive, but that didn't even came close to how much it usually is to pay for a graduation ceremony and celebration.
When he voiced his doubts and concerns about that he was utterly surprised to hear that as they paid a lot for the curse itself and as this celebration was going to be a joined thing with the music and dance majors - because apparently the design students refused to do with anyone else - the price would be split greatly and that would cause it to not be so damn expensive.
Maybe it was the thrill of not having to sell a kidney to be able to pay for it, or maybe it was because Jeongguk never really felt like he had graduated due to never celebrating it, but the boy was quick to accept the whole deal of it. He wanted a full experience this time and he really, really wanted that stupid fucking hat as well.
So that's why he was sitting in that uncomfortable chair in this big saloon, wearing a black graduation gown and the black cap he always wanted to have.
After putting it on he had regretted it and claimed he looked stupid, but Taehyung had told him over and over that he was adorable in it and perhaps after the seventeenth time the older told him that, he began to believe in it.
The place was crowded and as the seats were arranged according to their last names, Taehyung was unfortunately not by his side. He was sitting next to two other Jeon and his whole line of seats were filled with those whose last name started with a J.
His boyfriend was in the line behind him but far more to the right, so he couldn't even glance back to be able to see or talk to him. It was a shame, really, because there were so many tedious speeches from both the professors and the students and Jeongguk was close to dozing off any moment now.
After what could possibly be the tenth professor to talk about the future and how they have to try making the world a better place and other cheesy shit, the speeches finally were over and done with and Jeongguk was sure that now they would began delivering the diplomas, but no.
That's when the music and dance majors decided that it would a great idea to show off their talents.
Some guy by the name of Kwon Soonyoung and a dude that looked absurdly like Yoongi – Jeongguk had to look over the M line of seats to check that his hyung was still sitting there looking like he was about to kill everyone around for making him wait so long to graduate – but was called Lee Jihoon, entered the stage and Jeongguk was ready to groan over how shitty and annoying the presentation would turn out to be.
The only thing that slipped his mind was that his class was graduating along the dancers and music majors, so he should've known better than underestimating the both of them.
Jihoon sat at the piano and began to play one of the most beautiful and sweetest piano pieces Jeongguk ever heard. He was suddenly not feeling like he wanted to disappear from there and he smiled as he listened to the guy play.
After a few seconds, the other started to dance to the music and Jeongguk was left speechless at his talent.
Soonyoung moved like music was made just so he could dance to it. There was no way Jeongguk could even describe such talent and after the presentation was done, he was one of the firsts to begin applauding loudly.
It was such a nice change of presentations at graduations.
Once Jeongguk graduated from both elementary and high school the presentations only featured untalented kids who thought they could sing and dance and watching them perform was pure torture.
So watching those two give a performance that good made Jeongguk want to stand up and cheer for them, but as nobody did that – apart from some people from the audience far back where family and friends were – the younger restrained himself from doing it.
After them there was a dude called Lee Seokmin who sang so beautifully Jeongguk almost cried and then two other performances that were just as good as the rest.
And finally, oh finally, they began to call the names for the students to receive their diplomas. The saloon was filled with cheers, claps and some loud obnoxious screams.
When it was Jeongguk's turn, he rose from his seat with shaken legs and before stepping on stage he managed to make eye contact with his gorgeous boyfriend and receive a breathtaking smile and a thumbs up from him.
He could hear his family and friends screaming loudly ever since his name was called, but once he actually got the diploma it was like they lost their chill. He could clearly point out where his parents, Jimin, Yugyeom, Namjoon, Seokjin and even Hoseok were.
But even if they were loud enough, no other voice was stronger and louder than Taehyung's. Maybe it was just for Jeongguk or maybe it was because his boyfriend was closer to the stage than the others, but he could swear Taehyung screamed and cheered for him as if his life depended on it.
At least that made the younger smile for real once he took the picture holding his diploma. At least this one time his smile for it wasn't a fake one.
When he was walking back to his seat he held eye contact with his boyfriend again and that almost made him fall down. If it wasn't for the fact his chair was right by his side, he would've fallen face down. Thankfully he was just kind of forced into taking a seat faster and more abruptly than he would've liked.
Once Taehyung's turn came he gave himself the mission of shouting louder than anyone there and apparently he succeeded given the fact that as soon as he let his loud scream out, Taehyung almost tripped on the stage and turned to smile at him, shaking his head slightly.
It also made him proud how the people in front of him jumped on their seats and one of them turned back to give him an angry look.
When Yoongi's turn came Jeongguk wasn't surprised to be able to hear Jimin's shout fill the place. He kept screaming "Min Yoongi!" as loud as he could and Jeongguk didn't missed how Yoongi flipped his boyfriend off – scandalizing some parents nearby who had small children – once he was walking back to his seat. But he did that with a fond smile so Jeongguk was sure Jimin was just beaming stupidly right back at him.
The party was being held right after the collation happened, in another saloon that was a ten minutes car ride from there and even if his father joked about a thousands of times that he would be joining him and his friends at the party, neither his parents nor his sister were actually going, so as soon as the collation ended, Jeongguk quickly walked towards his family and friends.
His mother was the first to hug him and say cheesy things to him, his father the second. Once his sister approached him, Jeongguk made an overdramatic sad face.
"I don't think I heard you cheering for me."
She rolled her eyes. "As if I would ever, plus I think Taehyung shouted enough for all of us."
That made Jeongguk blush a little and he was just so glad that his parents are incredibly oblivious, because neither his sister's words nor his reaction made them even ponder about the kind of relationship Jeongguk really had with the other.
Yugyeom then approached him, asked if he could hug him and that made Jeongguk pretty much pull and squish the hell out of his friend.
"If I knew you could give this kind of strong hugs before, I would've started asking if it was okay ages ago." He joked.
"As you should've Gyeom." Jeongguk told him with a serious face.
"I know." His friend replied with a smile and Jeongguk was just really glad that they managed to really work things out between them.
"I can't believe this child has already graduated twice." Seokjin cried out. "Joonie I'm going to cry."
"You're already crying Jin." Namjoon replied with amusement.
The three of them had a group hug that Jimin jumped in – after he finally finished kissing Yoongi and ran back to where Jeongguk's family was.
"Yoongi, Jeongguk and Taehyung graduating altogether is too much for my poor heart." Jimin told them, sniffling and making the younger laugh.
"Why are you two even crying? I need a new best friend and a new boyfriend." Namjoon complained, receiving a hit from both Seokjin and Jimin.
Taehyung arrived along with Hoseok, his parents and his siblings to Jeongguk's little congratulations session. Yoongi trailing behind with his own family.
Jeongguk felt betrayed once Jimin jumped into Taehyung's arms before he could even think of how the hell he was going to congratulate his boyfriend in front of his parents.
Hoseok then noticed he was free and went over to congratulate him, Yoongi doing it right after Hoseok left and Jeongguk taking the time to congratulate him back.
After that Taehyung approached him and Jeongguk had to fight against the will of kissing him right there in front of all those people, who had no clue they were together for months now, because even if he hated PDA, at that moment, he just really wanted to kiss his boyfriend.
The older came close to him and whispered if it was okay for them to hug.
"Everybody here hugged me so we might as well just do it." Jeongguk whispered back, throwing himself into the other's arms.
Their hug lasted just a little more and was just a bit tighter than the rest, but everything was a mess around them, so no one took notice of it.
Jeongguk ended up getting coerced to hold a cup of champagne at some point after that. He had no idea where the bottle or the cup came from but soon enough everyone there had a cup of it on their hands and even if the younger doesn't drink, he found himself holding one as well.
Them all yelled "cheers" as loud as their lungs allowed and once everyone took a sip of it Jeongguk – and his sister who also despise the drink – just stood there feeling lost.
Taehyung then beamed at him and took a sip of his cup for him, making Jeongguk smile at him.
Once they were all gathered outside, waiting for their families to go home so they could go to the party, his sister had approached him and told him that she had no idea how their parents weren't aware that he was dating Taehyung because she was getting sick just by watching them look at each other fondly.
He had hit her for that and shushed her up, what only made her laugh.
After that, once all the students were finally out of the saloon, some excited dude – who Jeongguk could guess that was the Soonyoung guy who performed earlier – screamed for everyone to throw their caps on the air, what made a whole mess and Jeongguk was glad that his ability to catch things was great because he simply got his back once it was close to hit the ground.
Right after everyone was able to find their caps back – or as Taehyung did just pick a random one and be done with it – everyone began to disperse and Jeongguk was glad he could finally take the gown off. He gave his parents both his cap and his gown so they could take back home.
To his fucking surprise before his parents could go to their car, Jimin appeared from the parking lot holding a black package on his hand and gave it to him, screaming to Jeongguk's parents to wait a little.
"Why are you giving this to me? Shouldn't you be gifting Yoongi instead?"
Jimin smirked at him. "Trust me, he'll get his present later."
Jeongguk wasn't going to be fooled twice by his friend's smirk. "I don't know if I should, but I'm grossed out by that."
"Yeah you should." Jimin replied laughing.
"Ugh, you're gross." Jeongguk complained, making Jimin hit him and rush him to just open the damn thing already.
If Jeongguk was just a little more emotional than he is – if he was either Jimin or Seokjin for example – he would have cried at the moment he opened the package.
"I swear I thought you were just joking about it." He exclaimed, ripping the wrapping paper more aggressively.
"Was not." Jimin replied with a huge smile.
It was a space lamp, the one that Jimin had told him he was going to make for him months ago. He couldn't believe his friend was serious about that, and again, Jeongguk truly doesn't deserve him as a friend.
"I never did one like this and I'm not sure if it turned out okay but-" Jimin was saying but the younger interrupted him.
"I love it. I absolutely love it, thank you Jiminie."
"You haven't even seen it lighted up yet." His friend replied with his voice a bit shaken, he was definitely going to cry again.
"Don't need to, I'm sure it'll look awesome." He replied, making Jimin start to actually cry.
Jeongguk was lucky that Taehyung was near him, because he just gave the lamp to his boyfriend and pulled his friend into a hug, allowing Jimin to be a sap and fill his nice suit with tears.
After Jimin managed to stop crying, Jeongguk had given the lamp to his parents to take home and once all the parents and siblings were gone, them all went to their cars to drive to the party.
Jimin going with Yoongi and Hoseok, Seokjin and Namjoon going together and taking Yugyeom along with them because they "bonded" since Hoseok's party or some shit and finally Jeongguk going alone with Taehyung.
It was such a blessing that this happened because fucking finally he would have a moment alone with his boyfriend.
"Can you believe that a whole year passed already?" Taehyung asked him once they were driving to the other saloon.
"It's insane right?" He exclaimed. "And we know each other since longer than that remember?"
Taehyung smiled. "I do. I remember that I met you at the secretary a little while before classes actually started, you looked so lost. It was cute."
"You thought I was cute since then?" The younger asked, glad the older wasn't able to see his blush to the necessity of him to keep his eyes on the street.
"I thought you were cute the minute I laid my eyes on you." The older replied and Jeongguk could only blush harder.
"You cheesy fucker." Jeongguk complained making Taehyung laugh out loud.
"You already know I am," He said once he calmed down. "But hey do you mean to say that you didn't found me cute ever since you saw me then?"
Jeongguk had to think a little before replying. "I was still a bit confused back then, but even that didn't stop me from finding you beautiful. I remember how you would randomly appear in my mind after we met."
"Really?" The older asked, glancing at Jeongguk.
"Yeah, really." He replied beaming.
"If I wasn't driving I'd kiss you right now." Taehyung mentioned, a bit frustrated.
Jeongguk chuckled. "You can do that once we stop the car and enjoy it because it isn't happening again after we arrive at the party."
The older knew how much he hated PDA so he nodded. "I know... I'll be sure to enjoy it before we leave the car."
"Can you believe we managed to not make our parents notice we are together?" The younger was still in awe that they actually managed that, especially after what his sister told him.
"Shit I know right? My siblings didn't know because we don't see each other much and when we do my parents are always there on our neck so I couldn't really tell them and they are too young to have cellphones, but they totally got us." Taehyung told him, surprising the younger that had no clue his boyfriend's younger siblings took notice of it.
"No way!"
The older nodded. "They came really close to me before they left and whispered that they could tell I was- that I was dating you."
Jeongguk frowned when Taehyung kind of stuttered over his words, but the older kept talking before he could even think about questioning it.
"I heard your sister telling you she was sick by us being fond to each other, but she knows, so I figured she noticed because of that, but once they talked to me I was just really glad that our parents are indeed oblivious as hell."
"You and me both. Really didn't want them finding out we are together and that I'm not straight right after my graduation." The younger commented as Taehyung parked his car.
Once the car was turned off, the older turned to his side to be able to face Jeongguk.
"You know... the craziest thing about us knowing each other for about a year now is that it feels so much longer." Taehyung told him with a fond smile. "I feel like I've known you since forever."
"This is so incredibly cheesy, but so true at the same time." Jeongguk replied, turning to his side too in order to lean closer to the older.
"Can I get that kiss now?" The older asked.
Instead of replying, the younger closed the distance between them and gave his boyfriend the kiss he was holding back since the graduation ceremony ended.
It was annoying how he couldn't really be embraced by Taehyung given the fact they were inside a car and the stupid gear was right there between them, but they made it work as well as they could.
Jeongguk sighed into the kiss and felt warm and fuzzy inside once he felt his boyfriend smiling between their kisses. That made him bring the older closer to him by the grip he had on his boyfriend's neck.
That made Taehyung's perfume hit him right in the face and Jeongguk felt almost dizzy, holding onto the older just a little tighter.
Taehyung did the same in return and soon enough they were out of breath. The younger was the first to back off and he held in a giggle once he noticed how after they parted Taehyung leaned his mouth closer, eyes still closed, wanting to keep going.
Jeongguk smiled fondly at him and touched their foreheads together, making Taehyung open his eyes and lean a little to peck his nose.
"Maybe we should just skip the party and go to my loft so I can cuddle you until the next century." The older commented and it honestly wasn't a bad idea.
"I would be the first to agree, but if I do that after promising Jimin that this time I wouldn't bail on him, he might actually kill me." Jeongguk joked.
"I promised Yoongi I wouldn't bail on him too." Taehyung complained.
"We will get out early though." The younger said. "There's no way I'll spend more than two hours at this place, I can only take a while before my will to explode everything kicks in."
The older laughed. "Same, especially if all I want to do right now is hug you close to me."
Jeongguk beamed and nuzzled their noses together, making the older giggle adorably. "Yeah me too. I can't believe I'm going to a fucking party instead of cuddling you."
Taehyung leaned back to give him a look. "We can still go to my loft, you know."
The younger was almost throwing a big fuck it to the money he spent on the ticket for the party - and just a small fuck it to his friends, because he loves them – and agreeing with his boyfriend, but just when he was about to say something, someone knocked on the front window, making them both jump.
"Hey lovebirds, let's go. Get out of this car." Yoongi screamed at them from outside.
Jimin placed his face on Yoongi's shoulder and screamed too. "Why are you two even doing there still? Quit being sappy and let's go."
Taehyung had just opened his mouth to shout something back, once Hoseok appeared, pulling the other two away from the car. "Leave them alone you assholes."
Jimin started to complain at Hoseok, but the later just ignored him and shouted at the couple inside the car. "We'll meet each other by the entrance; I think the others are there already. We just aren't there because these two fuckers wouldn't stop kissing after some crazy sexual tension happened on the drive over here."
He gave Jeongguk a look the younger could sympathize with. "It was awful and I still don't get what the fuck happened for the sexual tension to appear but anyways, don't let them get to you. We'll wait."
"Thanks Hobi you're the best." Taehyung screamed at his friend, who smiled at them and dragged a whining Jimin and an unfazed Yoongi away from there.
"You know sometimes I think an angel has sent me Jimin to be my friend because he truly is an amazing friend, but then shit like this happen and then those thoughts just vanish." Jeongguk commented as he watched his friend being dragged towards the saloon.
His boyfriend snorted at that. "Yeah I'm sure Yoongi was sent to Earth just to annoy the fuck out of me."
Jeongguk laughed. "I guess we should go now."
"Seems like our plan of bailing just went down the hill." Taehyung whined.
The younger nodded and was about to step out of the car once Taehyung held his arm and leaned closer to peck his lip.
"Just one last time." The older said and began to back off, but Jeongguk pulled him in for a proper kiss.
"Yeah... just one last time." He beamed and opened the car's door.
As soon as Jeongguk stepped foot inside the saloon he felt like he was inside some teen movie in which the high school students go to prom.
The place gave that exact vibe and Jeongguk could only chuckle as he watched his classmates taking pictures in front of decorations here and there.
He never attended the actual graduation party from his school – or any party really - only ever going to the collation ceremony because his parents insisted on it, and the dinner because of food, but never the party so now he just felt like a stupid high school student who attended prom for the first time ever.
At least in this case he really wasn't going to prom, they weren't teenagers anymore and the best part of all, there wasn't that kind of pressure of who was going with who and even if there was, Jeongguk had Taehyung so he had nothing to worry about.
The place was crowded, full of lights everywhere, curtains hanging from the high ceiling, a path of a wood structured covered by lights in which Seokjin forced Namjoon to take a picture with him, a wide space cleared up to be the dance floor, a DJ set in which some dude must have been playing his best elevator songs playlist and...
"Oh tables and chairs!" He said happy, dragging Taehyung by their joined hands, the only form of PDA he was absolutely okay with, to the tables placed in the corner of the place.
He was glad to see the tables weren't tagged or reserved and he choose the one in the furthest corner from the dance floor.
"Never seen someone get this happy over tables and chairs." Taehyung chuckled as they took a seat.
"You should've seen him in my graduation dinner last year," Yugyeom commented, taking a seat at the table too. "He only got up from the table because there was food."
The others boys all laughed and Jeongguk glared at them all.
"I want to see you assholes thanking me in a few hours once your feet and bodies hurt from dancing and you want to take a seat, then you'll be glad I got us a table." He grumbled.
"I'm already glad for that, baby." Taehyung whispered in his ear, making Jeongguk hit his chest for the use of the pet name. Taehyung hadn't said that until now and it was all going smoothly, he wasn't about to allow his boyfriend to call him that in front of his friends.
"If I didn't know Kook's ace as fuck, I'd guess Tae just said something dirty, but as he is I just feel lost." Jimin commented.
"Isn't it wrong to say the term ace as fuck?" Yugyeom suddenly asked, making Namjoon face him with a serious expression.
"I have never thought about that, you made such a good observation." He said.
"Joonie, darling, don't start." Seokjin tried to prevent the following somewhat deep and confusing speech that was about to leave his boyfriend's mouth.
"No but babe think just think about it..." And that was how Namjoon's twenty minutes speech began.
Honestly after he said that "as fuck" was really just used as an augmentative these days and had no real correlation to fuck, fucking and therefore sex itself, Jeongguk stopped listening.
He did thought it was funny how that was the subject on their table but he just couldn't be bothered to pay attention to it.
After a while the place got properly crowded and the dance floor officially opened, making a bunch of people go over and start dancing awfully while singing together.
It was awful and it made Jeongguk question if they were indeed having the party along with music and dance majors because honestly, what the fuck? Where were they now? They refused to show knowing the others around would just make them cringe or their talent was just turned off for one night?
At least one good thing came out of the opening of the dance floor. Yugyeom got excited and dragged Seokjin, Namjoon and Hoseok there, making their previous conversation die.
Jeongguk kept watching them from afar but then something caught his attention, or better saying someone.
He wasn't sure for the first few minutes but then the person turned around, facing Jeongguk's direction and oh shit that was him, no one other than Wen Junhui at the middle of the dance floor.
Junhui had dyed his hair once again, to a light brown color now, and he looked as stunning as ever and yeah there really was no way Jeongguk hadn't a crush on the guy back in the days. It was odd fully accepting that and then coming almost face to face to his repressed crush from college. It was really weird.
He was about to tell Jimin about that once another guy he knew appeared in his line of vision. The guy smiled to Junhui and fucking kissed him right on the lips what the hell?
Before he could contain himself he let out a loud. "Wait a goddamn minute is that Xu Minghao with Junhui?"
Jimin, the only one who could possibly know what the younger was talking about, turned around and saw the scene himself, looking just a tiny bit surprised that Junhui and Minghao were at the party, but not at all surprised that apparently they were a thing.
He turned back to face Jeongguk and gave the younger a confused look. "Yeah they are dating since we were at college.... why are you so surprised?"
What the fuck now? He thought but let out an eloquent "shit really?" instead. So much for trying to not sound stupid. Way to go.
"Yeah..." Jimin told him.
Yoongi then looked behind him in order to try making sense of their conversation and shoot his eyebrows up once he noticed who they were talking about. "Oh yeah I know them. Jun is friends with a classmate of mine, guess that's why they're here tonight."
"Holy fuck..." This was too much for Jeongguk to digest in one night. "I knew they knew each other of course, Minghao was our classmate and Junhui had classes with us because he failed some but I never knew they were a thing."
"They never showed off much." Jimin commented. "Also I never mentioned it to you because I knew, even if you denied it so hard, that you crushed on Jun big time so I just-"
"Wait you had a crush on that dude?" Taehyung finally joined their conversation. "I mean I can't blame you he's stunning but-"
"He really is stunning right?" Jeongguk let out accidentally, his brain was probably facing glitches now because of all the new information and was having problems with his filter. He received a hard shove from his boyfriend right after he said that and- "Wait a minute... are you jealous?"
Taehyung scoffed. "Of course not you're my boyfriend not his... it's just surprising to hear it."
Before Jeongguk could tease him about it, Jimin said:
"I want to talk to them, let's go."
Jeongguk frowned deeply. "Uh... why would I want to do such a thing? I chatted with Minghao sometimes but I wasn't close to him at all and my situation with Junhui was more of a stare from afar thing and I really don't want to-"
And before he could blab until the end of times, Jimin interrupted him. "I like Hao, let's go talk to them."
"No!" Jeongguk whisper shouted, in order to not draw attention to them but still get Jimin's attention on him. "He laughed at me for never kissing anyone with that Mingyu friend of his first week at college. Don't want to talk to them."
The younger was pretty much pouting now, Jimin only rolled his eyes at him.
"Dude I can guarantee you he matured since then. I chat with him online sometimes and he's super nice. Stop holding grudges over the boy, just because he did a shitty thing once years ago it doesn't mean he's a bad person."
Jeongguk hated that Jimin had a point.
"Fine." He whined.
And that's how he ended up walking towards fucking Wen Junhui, his college crush and Xu Minghao, apparently his college crush's boyfriend.