"I miss her already," Taehyung sniffles sadly from his position curled up on the chaise lounge couch in his brother's study, using Namjoon's closest thigh as a pillow to rest his head on.
"You came back from dropping her back off in the human world less than five minutes ago," Seokjin deadpans from his spot on a nearby loveseat, scanning through several official documents to help Namjoon out with his enormous workload. His glossy ears twitch irritably atop his head of fluffy black hair, tail swishing around behind him in impatience. Seokjin hates paperwork.
But he likes Namjoon just a little bit more than he hates paperwork, so this is his own fault, he supposes.
"Do you think she's missing me too, hyung?" Taehyung asks hopefully, perking up at just the thought as he stares up at his older brother with sad puppy eyes and completely ignores Seokjin's snarky commentary in the background. Namjoon appears to be quite taken aback, looking over to Seokjin for assistance in the matter,
Help, he mouths to his husband.
He's your brother, Seokjin mouths back. You're on your own.
"Uh," Namjoon internally panics at the sudden question. He had never been too good with comforting people. "Statistically speaking- ow!"
He jerks his head back in surprise as Seokjin launches a crumpled up document paper at his head. That wasn't important information about the new policies they were proposing anyways. Probably.
"Yes," Namjoon finally says blandly to his brother to try and please his husband, sounding not in the least bit convincing.
The lack of expression in his voice doesn't seem to affect Taehyung, who smiles widely to himself at his brother's answer and nuzzles his face happily into Namjoon's thigh. "I knew it. She's so cute."
So are you, Namjoon can't help but think to himself as he grins fondly and ruffles his brother's hair lightly with his free hand. He still remembers back when they were just a couple of fox spirit pups, Taehyung always clinging needily to him no matter what they did around the castle grounds. You shouldn't get too close to your brother, several of the king's advisors had warned him. He could try and fight you for the throne, they said.
Namjoon made sure they were removed from their official positions the moment he was declared crown prince and heir to the throne. There was no need for advisors that needlessly pitted brothers against one another in the peaceful era they lived in.
"You should head to bed, Taehyung-ah. It's getting late." Seokjin says as he pads over to squeeze onto the couch with them, clearly having given up on doing work for the night and finding it much more productive and enjoyable to cuddle his brother in law.
"Don't wanna," Taehyung pouts.
"The sooner you go to bed, the sooner you can wake up and go see sister-in-law, isn't that right?" Seokjin cards a hand through Taehyung's hair lovingly, smiling warmly at the sound of a little happy trill emitting from the younger boy's mouth at his actions. Taehyung has been like that since the moment Seokjin met Namjoon and his friends, so easy to spoil and love. Sometimes just a little too easy. It's proven to be incredibly hard to say no to anything that Taehyung set his heart on. Perhaps that's why Wheein is such a good fit for him. Despite her constant blushing state around his spoiled brother-in-law, she's quite possibly one of the only people in this world that can truly deny Taehyung of something he wants.
"That's true..." Taehyung seems to mull over his options, before remembering something that sets his lips back in a bratty pout. "But she has work. She said we can only be together and snuggle at home after her shift's over. But she's always tired after work and if she's tired then she's going to say no when I propose to her again!"
Seokjin pauses. "... Taehyung-ah?"
"Hmm?"
"Exactly... how many times have you proposed to Wheeinie?"
"How many times? One, two, three, four..." Taehyung purses his lips for a couple of seconds to think, before his face brightens. "I lost count!"
"What?!" Seokjin all but screeches. "Well no wonder she hasn't said yes yet!"
"You know why?" Taehyung perks up and clings to one of Seokjin's sleeves in excitement. "Tell me! That way next time I ask her she'll say yes!"
Seokjin shakes his head. "You should have paid better attention in your human studies instead of daydreaming about Wheein. Human society is different from the fox spirit kingdom, bub. Humans have very particular outlooks and traditions when it comes to marriage. They're constantly filled with questions of their identities and concerns for their future, especially at Wheein's current age. Something about discovering themselves and all that. Marriage oftentimes doesn't even come until a little bit later in their life, when they finally figure their lives out a little better and meet someone that they wish to dedicate themselves to for the rest of their lives, until death do they part."
"That's me!" Taehyung points at himself in a very self-assured manner.
"Yes, yes, of course," Seokjin agrees absentmindedly, before continuing his rant on the topic of the human psyche and customs. "To them, marriage is a binding social contract. Although historically it wasn't until the Enlightenment period that people actually married for love- nevermind, I'm getting off topic."
"I love it when you rant about human society," Namjoon mutters under his breath as he continues doing his work and reading through official documents, listening in on the other two's conversation every now and then. "So fucking sexy."
"Do you think Wheeinie will think I'm sexy if I tell her about human customs too?" Taehyung asks with wide eyes, clearly far too eager to learn anything from the other two that will help him win over the woman of his dreams.
"No, Taehyung," Seokjin sighs, sending a quick glare in Namjoon's direction. "Don't listen to your brother, he has the EQ of a mango. Problems of the heart like this? Only your Seokjinnie hyung can help you, alright?"
"My IQ is 148!" Namjoon protests lightly, but soon finds himself ignored.
"What I'm trying to get at," Seokjin continues. "Is that what will really impress Wheein isn't your constant proposals, that will only make it feel less special the one time she finally decides to say yes! You have to prove to her that you love her with or without something as arbitrary as marriage, that you'll be by her side regardless of the fact. That's what women want. Damn, I should become a couples' therapist, I'm good."
"Also, you don't even have a ring," Namjoon snorts to himself, mumbling the fact to himself more than anyone else. "It's not a real proposal without a ring."
"That's it!" Taehyung sits up so fast that if it weren't for Seokjin's supernatural reflexes, the two would have most certainly slammed their heads into one another and given each other concussions. His expression is filled with renewed vigor, a fire in his eyes. "How could I have forgotten?! The ring!"
"What?! Did you not hear anything I've been saying for the past-" The rest of Seokjin's sentence dies on his lips as Taehyung is suddenly scrambling off the couch with lightning speed, hurtling towards the exit.
"I know what I did wrong! You're a genius, Joon hyung!" Taehyung rambles excitedly. "I need to go to bed so I can get up early tomorrow morning and get Wheein the perfect ring! Goodnight!"
"Goodnight, Tae!" Namjoon calls back, eyes still trained on his work and completely unaware of his fuming husband next to him. "Well, I'm glad he was able to finally figure out the- OW! What was that for?"
Hyejin is returning home from a trip to the grocery store when she notices a tall and familiar figure sitting on the steps of her front porch.
"Taehyung!" She cheerfully greets the other with a wave as she nears her house and confirms their visitor's identity up close. "What are you doing out here? Wheein's at work at the cafe right now."
"I know," Taehyung fidgets nervously, standing up to let Hyein step past him to set down her grocery bags to unlock the door. He knows Hyejin is friendly, and she's honestly the only one out of Wheein's three housemates that he's held a conversation with for longer than a minute, but he can't help but feel slightly nervous and out of his comfort zone. Every time they had interacted before this was always when Wheein was by his side. But he had to do this without her. For them. "I came to ask you for some help."
"Trouble in paradise?" Hyejin asks with a raised eyebrow, fitting her key into the lock and turning.
Taehyung's eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. "What? No! Did- Did Wheein say we were having trouble?!"
"I was teasing, Taehyung, relax." Hyejin giggles, stepping inside the house and looking back at the other. "What are you doing still standing out there for? Come on in."
"Can I?" Taehyung asks, head slightly tilted in what almost seems like confusion.
"You're Wheein's boyfriend, of course you can come in," Hyejin states matter-of-factly. "Stop by whenever, even if Wheein's not here. Our unnies have been dying to meet you but they're always coming and going in a hurry whenever you're over. They've both got a lot on their plate right now. Would you mind bringing the groceries in with you?"
"Wh- Wheein called me her boyfriend?" Taehyung stutters, so giddy with joy that he nearly steps on a carton of eggs, quickly stopping himself and picking it up along with the other two bags. It wouldn't do to anger Wheein's best friend of all things. He could get demoted to 'guy friend' at any second if he wasn't careful.
"I mean, that's what the three of us call you when we bring you up in conversation," Hyejin says as she toes her shoes off in the foyer and helps close the front door behind Taehyung, guiding him to the kitchen so he can set down the grocery bags. "And even though Wheein blushes and whines at us about it, she never denies it. From all my years of knowing her, that's basically her putting a label on your relationship."
Taehyung can't help but grin widely at her words. "She's so cute when she's shy."
"I know," Hyejin laughs, reaching down to pick up napa cabbage to put it in the fridge. "So what did you stop by again to ask me for help with?"
"Oh yes," Taehyung blinks and clears his throat. He had nearly forgotten his original purpose of coming here. "I came to ask you to help me pick out an engagement ring for when I propose to Wheein."
Hyejin's jaw drops in disbelief.
"What?!"
author's note;
cute wheein gif since i wasn't able to include her in a scene this chapter 😊
also hi lol, it's kinda been forever but here we are! sry for the irregularity of this story's updates, this story didn't really have a fleshed out plot and was mostly created bc i thought the idea was very cute but now i sort of have an idea of how i want it to end?? nothing intense or anything this story is supposed to be mostly fluff anyways (although it lowkey feels kind of cracky sometimes when i'm writing it haha) but hopefully we'll see more updates now that i have an idea of where i want the story to go? no promises? i'm also still finishing up diamond dust and working on thick as thieves atm so i've really just gone and dicked future me over lol
thank you to everyone still reading this story and for all the love and support people have shown it despite my once in a blue moon updates! hope you all are still enjoying and also shoutout to vulpexin and her soft jirose fic that made me feel things and want to write soft wheetae again c: if you're looking for some good fics to read during quarantine or like blacktan/jungri content, def go check out her stories they're so cute!!! also the jirose fic has some *chefs kiss* amazing wheetae crumbs 10/10
shit this is getting long lol anyways please stay safe and healthy and happy wednesday!
Less than three,
PalmerPie
p.s. give oh my girl's new comeback 'nonstop' a listen! also get ready for taeyeon's 'happy' single and the iu x suga collab 'eight' coming in early may! kpop really went and said we starting this summer off with some QUEEN HITS 😤