a place that’s familiar to all of them—would’ve been better. “So, um, what was living in Japan like, boss?” “Nice,” Taehyung replies simply. Jeongguk nudges him under the table with his foot. Taehyung had asked him earlier—

he’d been a bigger nervous wreck about this than Jeongguk expected—for advice on how he can make this /easier/, since he’s never spoken to either Mingyu or Seokjin about things other than work.

Jeongguk told him that not giving one-worded answers would be a good start, as he’s observed is something Taehyung likes to do with people who are obviously only talking to him as courtesy.

Taehyung clears his throat, understanding the hint. “I liked it there. Tokyo’s not all that different from Seoul. Well, besides the language.” “Cool.” Mingyu nods. “Hey, didn’t you do an exchange in Tokyo a million years ago, Jin-hyung?”

“It was 17 years ago, you little—” “So a million?” Seokjin sighs, defeated by Mingyu’s shit-eating grin. “Yes. I was there for a semester during my undergraduate degree.”

“Which—which university?” Taehyung asks. It surprises both Jeongguk and Seokjin. “Meiji Gakuin.” “Oh. Nice. That’s a great school.” /Progress/, Jeongguk thinks. He can’t help but be overfilled with joy even over this one small thing.

“While a million years is an exaggeration—” Seokjin throws a venomous glare towards Mingyu’s way, “I do agree it has been a long time. The only highlight of my time there that I remember is my classmate taking me on a golf course with Mount Fuji as the view.”

A spark of recognition flashes in Taehyung’s eyes. “Fuji Classic?” “Yeah. How’d you know?” “No kidding. I used to golf there all the time during my Master’s. It’s my favorite course.”

There’s excitement in his tone that Jeongguk easily identifies. Golf is perhaps the only valid hobby he had before he started picking up jazz as well. He doesn’t do it as often as he’d like to (too busy, he said), which is why he never considered it as an actual hobby,

but Jeongguk’s been encouraging him to take more trips to the driving range as of late. (Jeongguk doesn’t understand golf himself, but anything to keep Taehyung’s mind at peace.) “Do you golf a lot?” Two genuine questions in under a minute? Taehyung is on /fire/.

“I did, in my twenties. Stopped for a while but I’m trying to pick it back up again now. I started keeping up with the tournaments again,” Seokjin explains. “Ah, so you must’ve seen the one on Friday.” “Oh, don’t get me started—”

Just like that, the two launch into a very heated conversation about what a shitshow the last golf tournament was as if this is something they did all the time. Jeongguk can only sit there, chopsticks frozen midair, perplexed at the interaction unfolding right before his eyes.

Granted, this is what he had always wanted. For Seokjin and Taehyung to somehow get along and become friends. He just didn’t think that it’d be this /odd/ seeing it finally happen. Mingyu’s clearly just as shocked as Jeongguk is, throwing a slightly amused look across the table.

Jeongguk just shakes his head, shrugs, and shoves more rice into his mouth. “That was fun. We should do it again sometime,” Taehyung tells him almost two hours later, after they have left the restaurant and are now waiting in front of a GS25 while Mingyu and Seokjin get some

beers and ice cream. Aside from golf, Seokjin and Taehyung had bonded over shared movie tastes (mystery-thrillers) and traded college stories from their “glory days” (which only put into perspective his and Taehyung’s age gap).

This was also how Jeongguk learned Taehyung used to smoke in his early to mid-twenties, a fact that he was both surprised and stirred by. “I know you’re excited about making a new friend, but you might want to slow down before you scare him off,” Jeongguk teases.

Taehyung’s beaming like he has never before. It’s cute. “Have some faith in me.” “You know it’s only fair that I meet your friends too, right?” “You’ve met Wooshik.”

Jeongguk doesn’t know how many times he has to tell him that his co-worker who also happens to be his cousin doesn’t count. “What about your golf friends?” “You mean my business partners? Most of which are fifty-year-old men?”

Jeongguk groans. “God, if you weren’t a filthy rich CEO you’d be the biggest loser.” The hottest loser to ever exist, probably. It’s like god made him somewhat socially awkward to balance Taehyung only laughs at that.

He pulls Jeongguk closer by the waist and plants a chaste kiss on his cheek, and then again on his lips. Jeongguk smiles. He leans in again for a deeper, slower kiss, but Seokjin chooses that exact moment to walk out of the store,

interrupting their little moment with his fed-up groan. He always has impeccable timing. “Oh, great. And here I thought nothing could ruin my night. Should I go back in there and get some bleach for my eyes?”

“Get used to it,” Taehyung says, but in a surprisingly joking and unserious way, before Jeongguk can think of a snarky reply. “Yeah, hyung,” Mingyu says, coming up behind Seokjin. “They’re cute.”

Seokjin groans again, grumbles something about despising couples before he walks away first, carrying the plastic bag full of beer cans and ice cream with him. Mingyu says something about finding some place where they could loiter and drink.

“I haven’t been this happy in a long time. Maybe ever,” Taehyung says, entwining their fingers together as they walk. Jeongguk feels touched by it. He knows that this isn’t Taehyung’s typical night.

If he wanted to drink, he would’ve probably gone to an ambient bar with nice music and decor instead of buying convenience store beer. “Hey.” Jeongguk stops walking and tugs Taehyung’s hand, forcing him to stop too.

“Remember what you almost said to me during our fight during the company retreat? I just want you to know that I feel the same way.” Heat rushes to his cheeks despite him not saying the word just yet. He doesn’t know why he’s choosing to bring this up now,

but some impulsive part of his brain is pushing him to tell Taehyung now. He doesn’t want to keep it in. “What I /almost/ said to you? How would I know what that is if I didn’t say it?” “You /know/,” Jeongguk insists. There’s no way he doesn’t.

It hasn’t been that long and it was their first real fight. Jeongguk surely hasn’t forgotten. “Do I? I think you have to spell it out for me.”

He can’t tell if Taehyung’s teasing. Being able to read Taehyung like an open book is something Jeongguk prides in—something that other people at the office know him for, too—but it’s rare times like these that his chronic poker face is hard to crack.

Jeongguk swallows a nervous gulp, trying not to falter under Taehyung’s unwavering gaze. Does he really need to do this now? In the middle of the street? He takes a deep breath and releases it in a long, slow exhale, and says, “I love you.”

And once it’s out, he can’t imagine never having said it. He loves Taehyung—has probably loved Taeyung longer than he’s realized. He spent so long on the fence about the job in Busan because he loves Taehyung and couldn’t bear the thought of leaving and being away from him.

He just wasn’t brave enough to admit it then. It feels freeing, letting that out, like a heavy weight has been lifted off his chest, and he wants to bask in this moment of being in love when the realization dawns on him. Taehyung hasn’t said anything back.

He stands in front of Jeongguk frozen, mouth hanging open, and wide-eyed as if Jeongguk had just said something so crazy. Naturally, Jeongguk’s brain short-circuits, starts to think ‘fuck, fuck, fuck!’ as he scrambles for something to say.

Something to save himself from what might be the most embarrassing moment in all of his romantic life, but he can’t exactly take his words back, can he? So what he ends up with is a very stuttered, “W-what?”

“Nothing. Sorry. I just—I was mostly teasing. I wasn’t expecting you to actually say it now—” “Oh god. I should’ve picked a better moment, shouldn’t I? We’re literally on the street and my friends are only a few meters away—!”

“Jeongguk. Darling. Any moment is the right moment if you mean it and I know you do. So I love you too. But you probably already knew that. I /did/ almost say it, after all.” Taehyung gives him a gentle squeeze on the shoulders, rubs his hands up and down Jeongguk’s forearms.

Jeongguk relaxes under his grasp, wanting nothing more to sag and melt under his touch. He wishes they were back at his apartment.

“You’ve loved me since then?” “Even before,” Taehyung says softly then kisses his forehead, sending flutters down Jeongguk’s chest. They leave it at that, though Jeongguk knows there’s room for them to talk about it some more later.

He’ll start with grilling Taehyung about the exact moment he realized he’d fallen for his secretary and how much it made him lose his mind.

For now, they catch up to Mingyu and Seokjin, who have both kept walking further down the street unbeknownst to everything unfolding behind them.