[bts: v/jimin] ignite the stars in your heart
title: ignite the stars in your heart
fandom: bts
pairing: v/jimin
word count: 10,041
a/n: i've always wanted a vmin roadtrip fic so this is a very self indulgent vmin roadtrip fic u___u (ao3 link)
ignite the stars in your heart
Like most things Kim Taehyung does, his suggestion for a road trip is completely spontaneous.
“A road trip?” Jimin repeats as he picks at the dirt on his sole of sneaker. They’re the only ones in the practice room, leaning against the mirror as they take a small break from dance practice.
“Yeah, a road trip,” Taehyung patiently tells him, again, as he fans himself. It’s the fourth time he’s done so. “We should go on one.”
“With everyone else?” he questions, ignoring how hot and sticky it is with the two of them seated so close to one another.
“I want it to be with you only,” Taehyung clarifies, “just the two of us.” The warmth that’s rising to Jimin’s face right now isn’t just because of intense dance choreography they were practicing earlier. They’ve been on break long enough that their sweat has dried and left that gross, sticky feeling.
Jimin stops scratching his sneaker and tilts to head to the side, pretending to think for a moment. He’s almost always gone along with Taehyung’s ideas. “But why now?” he asks anyway.
“Well I mean,” Taehyung says, “Promotions are almost over and Bang PD said he’d finally give us a few weeks off. Besides, I’ve always kind of wanted to go on a roadtrip.”
“Okay,” Jimin assents, not like he was really going to disagree in the first place. “I’ll go on a road trip with you.”
Surprisingly, management actually ends up agreeing to their request. The entire group is given two weeks off after promotions wrap up, and while mostly everyone else are spending the time with family, Jimin and Taehyung aren't.
"I want to go on a road trip too," Jungkook mutters darkly from Taehyung’s bed, rolling over on his stomach.
Taehyung sticks out his tongue. "Well too bad."
Jungkook lets out a small, unsatisfied groan. "Can't I come with you guys, hyung?" He looks at Taehyung expectantly.
"No you can't," Jimin answers for Taehyung as he scrolls through his iPad. Taehyung is sprawled all over his bed and Jimin uses his foot to kick Taehyung, pushing him until he finally falls off the bed with a small thunk.
"Ow, that was my face you hit," Taehyung complains as he rubs his cheek. "Your feet stink," he sniffs and Jungkook rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, well your entire body stinks," Jimin retorts. "Go take a shower." He pinches the bridge of his nose in mock disgust.
"Why can't I come though?" Jungkook asks again. This time his lips are drawn into a small pout and Jimin isn’t sure whether he's doing it consciously or not.
"Because," Taehyung says as he sits up then climbs onto Jimin's bed once more, draping himself over his lap, "I want to go with Jimin alone."
"Aw," Jimin coos as he places his iPad to the side, shoving Taehyung off his lap, "I'm so glad you love me too."
Taehyung crosses his arm and huffs as he moves next to Jimin instead. "That's not a proper answer, hyung," Jungkook whines.
"It's because I said so," Taehyung says as he sticks out his tongue once more, bumping shoulders with Jimin. Jimin shoves him back and Taehyung lets out a small oomf. “Sorry Jungkook,” he adds afterwards, voice completely genuine, “It’s just going to be the two of us. Maybe next time.”
Jungkook is still busy scowling at Taehyung's pillow. "Shouldn't you go back to your room now?” Jimin teases as he tries to shove Taehyung off the bed once more. “Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Haha," the younger boy says dryly, "Very funny, Jimin." Jungkook still rolls over and off Taehyung’s bed just as Jimin successfully manages to kick Taehyung off.
"So do you guys have your trip planned out yet?" Hoseok asks them in the dorm the very next day.
Jimin looks at Taehyung and Taehyung just looks back at him.
"I'll take that as a no," he sighs exasperatedly as he places a hand on his hip. Underneath the table, Jimin casually kicks Taehyung's shin. "Well then have you guys at least looked at places to rent an RV?"
They both give each other another glance. Taehyung’s eyes are slightly watery.
"...Right?" Hoseok asks tentatively after a few moments of silence.
This time, Taehyung has the decency to look sheepish as he shrugs his shoulder.
"I told you it was a good idea to check up on them," Yoongi says as he slurps up the noodles that Seokjin had left in the refrigerator.
Hoseok sighs again, "Namjoon knows someone, I'll get him to talk to them."
The day Jimin and Taehyung leave for their road trip, everyone is crowded around the RV in the parking lot. Seokjin is inside, busy putting containers of food into their refrigerator. Jungkook quietly sulks behind him as he wordlessly hands him more containers from the shopping bag.
"This should be enough food to last you guys two weeks," Seokjin says proudly as he dusts his hands and looks at the refrigerator.
Jimin steps up on his tiptoes to hook his chin over Taehyung's shoulder and look at the refrigerator. It's almost completely filled with containers, with practically no free space. He reaches for Taehyung's hand and squeezes.
"The bowls and other stuff are down in those cabinets," Seokjin gestures as he folds up the old shopping bag. "Make sure you guys actually wash the dishes every other day."
"Yes, hyung," they answer in unison and Taehyung flashes Jimin a small grin. Jimin grins back. He tries to ignore how his heart rate speeds up a bit.
"And don't eat at weird places, not when I spent so much time making all this food for you guys," Seokjin reprimands as he fixes them with a firm glare. "You guys better finish all this food by the time you get back and that does not mean eating it all in the first three days, Taehyung."
"He's still going to do it though," Jungkook mumbles underneath his breath.
"I gave you guys a map just in case your cellphones can't get signal as well," Seokjin continues, "you guys can call or text us at any time if you're lost or anything."
"Yes, hyung," they both echo and Jimin lets go of Taehyung's hand to wrap his arms around his waist.
"You guys both have cash on you too so that should be it," Seokjin mutters to himself as he looks around the RV once more.
"They're going to be fine hyung," Namjoon says fondly as he reaches for Seokjin's hand, tugging him out of the RV, "Now stop fretting over them."
"Stay safe and have fun," Seokjin shouts as Namjoon pulls him out of the RV, "and make sure to message us in the group chat."
"Yeah so we know that you two are actually alive," Yoongi adds, "and don't forget to get me a souvenir too, not one of the cheap ones from a souvenir shop but something actually nice."
"We'll get you something too," Jimin tells Jungkook, "better than what we get Yoongi."
"It better be," Jungkook mumbles as he lingers in the doorway. "Have fun you guys," he tells them before shutting the door behind him.
Taehyung gently removes Jimin's arms from his waist as he scrambles to shotgun. Jimin follows after him, buckling up then turning the keys as the engine roars to life. He glances over at Taehyung whose eyes are glinting and he grins at him.
"Don't forget to take pictures too," Seokjin yells over the engine.
Jimin nods before he pulls out of the parking lot. Taehyung has his head stuck out of the window,waving his arm until the rest of the group is out of sight.
The first thing Taehyung does once they've left their dorm far behind them (it was really only a couple of blocks and a few unplanned left turns or two) is turn on music. He connects his cellphone to the car, eyes crinkling at Jimin as he plugs in the cord.
The music blares from the speaker and Jimin can feel the vibrations pounding against his chest. He sends a glare at Taehyung and tries to not to think about the way his ears are going to hurt later tonight.
"Can you, I don't know, maybe turn down the music?" Jimin says as he presses the gas pedal.
Taehyung pouts at him, "You’re no fun," he whines petulantly but turns down the music anyway. The volume is now at a level where Jimin doesn't feel like his eardrums are going to burst (but for some reason his heart is still pounding irregularly)
"And really? Our cypher?" he snorts.
"I like it," Taehyung defends as he begins to rap along to Hoseok's verse.
"You're rapping is still atrocious though," Jimin tells him. He approaches an intersection, and on the same whim that’s been guiding him so far, takes a right. He still has no idea where they're going, and Taehyung hasn't said anything yet.
"It's a nice song," he mutters as the song changes. It's Nicki Minaj.
"Please tell me you put on some Big Bang, for me at least?" Jimin asks as he taps the steering wheel.
"Of course I did," Taehyung exclaims, "Just for you too." Jimin hums happily in response to that.
"Is there anywhere you want to go?" he asks a little while later, once they've been driving for half an hour to absolutely nowhere.
"I want to go to Namsan Tower at night," Taehyung responds immediately, bringing his head up from his forearm from where it was resting earlier.
"At night?" he asks.
"At night," the younger boy repeats. "Water?" he offers.
Jimin takes a sip of water before giving it back to Taehyung. "Thanks. But if you want to go at night then that means we'll have to go somewhere else for the day then."
"How about," Taehyung looks down at his lap and appears to think in deep thought, "Insadong? or maybe Samcheongdong? Or Lotte World, it doesn't matter as long as we go to namsan tower tonight."
"Samcheongdong sounds good," he replies. "Can you look up the directions?"
It ends up taking them over an hour to get to Samcheongdong, mainly because it takes Taehyung ten minutes to successfully look up the directions. When they finally get there, Jimin parks in a small alley.
"Okay, now what?" he asks as he pulls the keys out. Taehyung already has his seatbelt unbuckled and is beginning to open the door.
"We're going to walk," Taehyung tells him, as though Jimin should already know. "And buy lots of things too." He slides out of the car, closing the door behind him.
"But what about the car?" Jimin asks, jogging to catch up to Taehyung. "If we're walking aren't we going to have to walk back?"
"Right," Taehyung says slowly, "but if we drive then it's no fun." He reaches for Jimin's hand and Jimin begins to swing their hands back and forth as they walk.
"Okay, so we'll walk then," he says and Taehyung nods in agreement.
"Besides, even if my feet do get tired I have you to carry me back," Taehyung tells him and Jimin's heart skips a beat.
"Like I would actually carry you all the way back to the car," he scoffs, untangling his hand from Taehyung to punch his shoulder lightly before reaching for his hand once more.
"I think we should get couple hats," Taehyung says nonchalantly as they walk down a small street, hands swinging back and forth.
"Couple hats," Jimin repeats before snorting. He looks longingly at the stand selling tteokbokki they pass. His stomach growls and he ignores the way the hunger claws at him.
"Yeah, something as a memory and so everyone else can be jealous of us," Taehyung tells him, halting abruptly. "Wait a minute, I'm going to buy something."
Jimin nods, letting go of Taehyung's hand as he reaches for his cellphone in his back pocket. He quickly sends a message through the group chat, and takes a selfie and sends it as well.
By the time he's done, Taehyung comes back with two plates filled with tteokbokki and a couple of of steam steam buns. The food smells good, and Jimin swallows as a wave of nausea rolls over him.
"Say ahhhh," Taehyung says as he brings one of the steam buns to Jimin's mouth.
"Mrghfrghgh," Jimin says, stubbornly keeping his lips pursed for a moment before finally relenting and opening them. He takes a small bite of the bun, eyes widening as he tastes red bean paste in his mouth and he tries not to gag at the rich flavor. It takes him a minute before he's finally able to swallow.
"This is for you too," Taehyung tells him, handing him a plate of tteokbokki. Jimin nods wordlessly, and takes the bun from Taehyung as well, ripping it in half and keeping the smaller bit for himself.
"It's good," he mumbles quietly as he takes another bite from the steam bun, the sweet flavor filling his mouth once more as he takes slow, methodical bites.
"Here I'll take a little bit of your tteokbokki, I want some more," his best friend says around a mouthful of food as he grabs a few pieces from Jimin's plate. The tension from Jimin's shoulder lessens and he begins to relax a bit more.
Bumping shoulders with Taehyung he teases, "You're disgusting." Taehyung only nods in response, mouth too full of red bean paste to answer.
They continue walking down the street like that, with Jimin slowly chewing his food as he walks next to Taehyung eating ravenously, bumping shoulders and elbows every so often.
Sometime when Taehyung is halfway through his plate of tteokbokki and Jimin's only started on his, he makes a muffled sound around a mouthful of tteokbokki, pointing to a stand with his plate.
With his free hand, Taehyung drags him to the stand and chews rapidly and swallows before finally saying, "Let's get hats here."
"How do you think this one looks?" Jimin asks as he picks up a hat closest to him. It's a straw hat, with a pale green ribbon tied around it and he poses.
Taehyung has another piece of tteokbokki raised halfway to his mouth and he drops it as he bursts out in laughter. "Wait a second, I need a picture of this," he cackles as he licks his fingers before reaching for his phone. Jimin obliges, keeping the pose until he hears the telltale click of the camera.
"I think you'd look great in this one," Jimin snickers as he puts the hat back down, picking up a sun hat. "It matches your eyes." The hat is red and brown, the colors clash terribly and it’s absolutely hideous.
"Doesn't it?" Taehyung laughs, "It looks cute on me. I'm going to buy it."
Jimin squints at him. "I wasn't being serious you know. It's makes you look ridiculous." It's only somewhat of a lie, Taehyung pulls of the hat better than Jimin would ever admit but his point still stands, the hat is plain ugly.
"What about this one?" Taehyung asks as he grabs a neon orange rain hat with bright green and yellow polka dots splattered onto it and flings it to Jimin.
Jimin places it on his head. "So does it look good?" he asks, smiling at Taehyung as he makes a face.
"It does, we should totally bring this hat to our next photoshoot it'd be great," Taehyung grins, before breaking into laughter, wheezing as he takes another picture of Jimin.
"So what's the concept of this photoshoot then?" he asks. Taehyung bends down to wipe the tears that have just formed at the corner of his eyes before standing back up again.
"Orange," Taehyung grins cheekily, holding up the plate of tteokbokki next to him and Jimin snickers.
They settle on getting matching purple baseball caps and a beanie for Yoongi. Jimin can't keep the smile off his face as they leave the stand, and when he looks at Taehyung he's still smiling too.
"Look at those," Taehyung gestures to small shop on his left. Jimin pauses, causing Taehyung to bump into him. "Are those socks?"
"I think so, yeah," Jimin says and leans over to grab Taehyung's wrist and pull him inside of the store. Taehyung almost chokes on the spoon in his mouth, cup of gelato threatening to fall from his hand.
"Watch it," Taehyung tells him with no real menace in his voice. He shoves a spoonful of gelato into Jimin's mouth. Jimin purses his lips but Taehyung doesn't relent until he's successfully made Jimin open his lips.
"These are cute," Jimin notes as he picks up a pair of socks, holding them up for Taehyung to see. "Do you want to get matching socks too?" he asks, teasing, but his heart still picks up a little bit of speed.
"Yeah we should," Taehyung assents as he gently tugs his wrist out of Jimin's grasp and walks over to another basket to inspect the socks in those. He lets out a noise and Jimin jerks his head up to see him holding a pair of Mario socks.
"Wow, those are perfect for Seokjin," he says as he turns them over. "Should we get him a pair of pink socks too?" Jimin asks as he picks up a pair of socks with white dogs on them.
Taehyung nods, eating another spoonful of his gelato. "Hey doesn't your mom like small brooches like these?" he asks, holding up a small, pink giraffe. "You should get her some."
"Oh yeah she does," Jimin takes the giraffe from Taehyung and his fingertips brush against his palm. something sparks, causing him to shiver despite the hot summer heat. "Thanks," he says and luckily his voice doesn't crack but his throat suddenly feels dry.
Seemingly unaffected, Taehyung continues to browse the store. He takes another look at the socks with dogs on them, and then more he looks the dogs look like Taehyung's dog. He grabs them impulsively before joining Taehyung once more.
Halfway through their walk back to the car, Taehyung begins to complain of how sore his feet are and he jumps onto Jimin's back abruptly, causing Jimin to teeter.
"Ouch," Jimin grunts, reaching for Taehyung's legs to get him seated more comfortably on his back. "That hurt," he whines as he walks forth.
"Well my feet hurt," Taehyung retorts as he brings his arms around Jimin's neck. His bag bumps against Jimin's stomach and the straw from his bubble tea pokes his chest painfully.
"What exactly did you buy?" he grumbles as the plastic bag continues to thump against his stomach.
Taehyung says nothing in response, instead he takes off Jimin's cap to comb his fingers through his hair, before placing his cap back on.
"Are your fingers sticky?" Jimin asks as he continues to walk forward. It's uncomfortable, with how close Taehyung is pressed against his back along with the way the atmosphere settles on top of him, like a thick layer.
"No," Taehyung answers automatically as he hooks his chin on top of Jimin's shoulder. Jimin snorts as he opens his mouth to breath in the hot, heavy air. "Maybe," he corrects.
"Gross," Jimin complains as turns a right, unable to keep the grin off his face.
"No that's you, you reek of sweat," the younger boy says into his ear and it's all Jimin can do from jumping.
"And who's fault is that," he mutters underneath his breath as he continues to trudge forth. "Drink please," he tells Taehyung and Taehyung obliges, almost sticking the straw up his left nostril as he Jimin starts up a small hill.
"But my feet are tired," Taehyung whines petulantly and Jimin rolls his eyes at that as his smile stretches even wider. His cheeks are sore and if this keeps up they're going to get stuck.
When they finally reach the car, Taehyung untangles his arms from Jimin's neck and slides off his back. "Thanks, Jiminie," he says, "Since you carried me all the way back I'll drive to Namsan Tower."
(Jimin knows he wouldn't have refused in the first place, it's always been hard to refuse Taehyung.). "Blerggh," comes his strangled moan as he lies down on the asphalt. Jimin yelps as he jumps back up, rubbing at his cheek. "Ouch that's hot," he complains.
"Dumbass," Taehyung snickers from behind him, but still presses his cup of bubble tea against Jimin's cheek. Jimin close his eyes at the small comfort it brings, though by now the ice has almost all melted.
(Twenty minutes later, with the air conditioner on full blast, Jimin's heart is beating erratically and he still finds himself a little short of breath with a pleasant warmth underneath his cheeks).
Jimin wakes up to someone poking his left cheek. "Hey, we're there," Taehyung practically shouts into his ear, still poking his cheek incessantly. Jimin's eyelids flutter open and he's face to face with Taehyung. If he were taller, he would have hit his head on the car roof.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he grumbles as he presses the heel of his palms to his eyes. "You can get off me now," he tells Taehyung.
"Oh yeah, sorry," Taehyung flashes him a grin as he moves backwards, bumping his head on the roof of the car. "Ow," he groans as he rubs the back of his head.
Jimin snorts as he opens the car door. "Yeah, be careful," he chides as he joins Taehyung outside the car, reaching for his hand.
The sky is now a blended orange and purple, the sun having already set sometime when Jimin fell asleep in the car ride. Jimin sneaks a look over his shoulder to see Taehyung, who has a bright grin on his face. He takes a breath, the night air somewhat cooler but still sticky, and feels a wave of calmness wash over him.
By the time they've bought their tickets at the tower, the last traces of orange and purple are completely gone from the sky.
"This is exciting," Taehyung grins at him as they shuffle into the elevator.
"I don't know, it seems kind of scary," Jimin says somewhat weakly as he looks down at the floor below him. "How far do you think that is?" he asks cautiously as he looks back up at Taehyung, trying to ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach.
"Not sure," is Taehyung's reply as he bends down to peer more closely through the elevator's floor. The people give them strange looks before turning back around. "Wait, we have to take a picture Jimin, say cheese," he whips his phone out from his back pocket and Jimin is momentarily stunned by the flash.
"Ow," he says as he rubs at his eyes and ignores the flickering dots next to Taehyung's body. "We aren't even at the top yet, why'd you have to take a picture?"
"I'm sending it to Jungkook and the group chat," Taehyung informs him in his duh voice. Before Jimin can come up with a reply, the elevator lurches upwards.
He immediately reaches for the closest thing next to him, which ends up being Taehyung's arm. Taehyung smiles at him, looking rather pale as he gently pries off Jimin's hand to intertwine their fingers.
"Okay, this is a lot scarier than I imagined it to be," Taehyung says weakly, looking up from the floor. "I think I feel kind of queasy right now," he tells Jimin, grip tightening on Jimin's hand. Taehyung wipes his free hand on his shorts and his grip is gross and sweaty.
"Kim Taehyung, you better not throw up on me," he hisses as he clutches onto the metal railing beside them. Jimin steadfastly ignores the way his stomach feels like it's been left behind.
"I also feel kind of dizzy," Taehyung adds unhelpfully.
Jimin scowls, "You were the one who wanted come here. just...don't look outside." Taehyung doesn't listen though, he continues staring at the city in awe with a faraway look in his eyes. Jimin doesn't really want that look to disappear either.
When they reach the observatory Jimin lets out a small whistle. "It looks incredible," Taehyung whispers in awe as he rushes to the terrace. Jimin is pulled forth, and he rolls his eyes affectionately as he allows himself to be dragged forth one again.
Taehyung lets go of his hand as he grips the railing, and Jimin misses the comforting warmth of Taehyung’s hand in his. Leaning over the edge, Taehyung lets out a small exhale.
Jimin mimics him, peering over the edge as well. From here he can see the city sprawling out beneath them. He watches as the cars crawl like ants on the road, and if he tries hard enough he can also make people walking on the streets.
He turns to his right to look at Taehyung, who's utterly enchanted. His lips are turned upwards and despite the darkness, Jimin can see the bright sparks in his eyes.
"Do you think we can see our dorms from here?" Taehyung inquires, continuing to look at the city below them.
His breath catches in his throat and Jimin forgets how to breath for a moment. Shrugging, he replies, "I don't know, I'm not even sure which direction it's in."
Taehyung doesn't say anything, instead he continues to peer over the railing. There's a comfortable silence between them, and Jimin turns back around to look at the city as well. He moves closer to Taehyung so their shoulders are pressed against one another.
"It's beautiful," Taehyung whispers softly a little while later.
Jimin looks up at him and mutters, "Yeah it is." his stomach feels like it's dropping once more, despite the fact he isn't moving and the floor isn't going anywhere this time. He's not sure how Taehyung can't hear his heartbeat, with how loudly it's beating.
"Wait, I can't forget," Taehyung interrupts the silence a second time. He reaches into one of his pockets.
"Forget what?" he raises an eyebrow, watching as Taehyung pats his pants before pulling something out of his pocket. "A lock?" he asks.
"Yeah," the younger boy answers as he continues to search his pockets before procuring a sharpie. Jimin has to roll his eyes, wondering where Taehyung even got the lock and sharpie from. Taehyung uncaps the sharpie, biting his lower lips as he writes something on the lock.
"Is that Hobi-hyung's gym bag lock?" Jimin asks, squinting his eyes as he tries to make out the design in the dim light.
"Maybe," comes Taehyung's vague reply before he hands the sharpie and lock to Jimin. "You have to write something on this side and sign your name, you can't look at what I wrote on the other side."
"Okay," Jimin agrees as he squints at the lock once more in his hand. It's definitely Hoseok's. When he finishes it, he hands both the sharpie and lock back to Taehyung.
Taehyung bends down wordlessly, clipping the lock shut on one of the many other locks. Something clicks inside Jimin's head and there’s a surge of warmth flooding inside of his chest.
"There we go," he says proudly as he stands back up. "We should get something at the teddy bear museum before we go all the way to the top."
"Sure," he grins, reaching for Taehyung's hand.
By the time they've come out of Namsan Tower and reached their car, the moon has risen well into the night sky and Taehyung looks as though he could fall asleep on the sidewalk.
“I thought we’d be able to see the stars better from higher up,” Taehyung mumbles into Jimin’s shoulder as he opens the door to the RV.
Somehow Jimin manages to drag Taehyung into the RV and dumps him onto one of the beds. "I'll drive until the nearest rest stop and then we'll rest for the night," he pats Taehyung's cheek as he pulls the covers up to his chin.
Taehyung mumbles incoherently in response, something that could either be interpreted as but I want to stay in the front with you until we get to the rest stop or did you also see that ufo when we were walking back to the car?
"Make sure you change into your pajamas," Jimin tells Taehyung as he closes the door and Taehyung makes another noise.
When Jimin wakes up in the morning it's to Taehyung's face right in front of his, and one of Taehyung's legs stuck between his. He rubs his eyes blearily, trying to blink away his sleepiness as he struggles to clear his mind.
"Wake up," he groans as he pushes Taehyung's shoulder, "I can't get up," he groans weakly, flopping back onto his pillow.
Taehyung's eyes flutter open and he bolts up abruptly, nearly colliding his elbow with Jimin's face. "Oh, good morning Jiminie," he yawns.
"You're in my bed," Jimin states dryly, positioning himself so he's sitting up as well. Underneath the blanket their legs are still tangled with one another, and Jimin doesn't exactly want to move his because it's comfortable (everything with Taehyung is comfortable and being around him feels easy and is just right).
Shrugging, Taehyung swings his legs off the bed. "Oops, do you want food?"
"Yes," Jimin answers automatically as he continues to sit, feeling extremely lethargic. "You went on my bed all dirty again," he accuses as Taehyung walks over to the back of the RV, rummaging in the refrigerator.
"Well it wasn't like you were clean too," Taehyung sniffs as he pulls out a container of something Seokjin had prepared for them. it looks like rice soup. Taehyung pours it into a pan and turns on the stove.
Jimin says nothing, instead he throws off his covers and makes his way to the small table. he sits down, picking at the ugly floral seat cover. scratching his head he checks the group chat.
yoongi (11:32): did you guys not even leave seoul yet??
namjoon (11:32): ...knowing them probably not
jungkook (11:35): truly amazing
seokjin (11:36): you better not have eaten all the food already kim taehyung!!
hoseok (11:40): let's face it, he probably did
jungkook (6:02): you guys are probably still in seoul...
jimin (8:39): actually we're right outside of the city u___u
jimin (8:40): and we have been since last night
yoongi (8:41): called it
seokjin (8:43): why were you up that early??
He looks up when Taehyung pushes one of the bowls towards him. Grinning, he asks, "So where are we going next?"
"Um," Taehyung says around a mouthful of food. He swallows before dashing to the front of the RV, coming back with one of the maps Seokjin gave them yesterday. He unfolds it on the table and Jimin moves his bowl so he's cradling it between two hands.
Closing his eyes, Taehyung puts a finger on the map and points to a small dot off right next to Jeonju. "Let's go here," he says, before he resumes eating.
Jimin bites down on his lower lip as he sets aside his bowl and takes the map from Taehyung. "Directly there?" he inquires as he pretends to inspect the map. There are too many dots and Jimin's head is spinning from the different colored lines.
"I kind of want to go to some of the beaches along the way," Taehyung answers, "Though I kind of wanted to go via Daegu since i haven't seen my family for awhile," he says wistfully.
He says nothing in response, only watches the sunlight filter through the window and shine on Taehyung's face. For some odd reason, the smile on Taehyung’s face and the crinkle of his eyes seem so much sadder.
hoseok (5:29): so where are you guys now
hoseok (5:31): yoongi is making me ask for him
jimin (5:31): we're on the highway
yoongi (5:33): traitor
seokjin (5:40): stop being a smartass
For the most part, they don't talk while driving. Taehyung usually sings along to the radio, or the songs on his phone when he's bored. Sometimes he takes naps, mouth open as he snores and drools on the seat.
It's extremely unattractive really, yet Jimin finds himself snapping a picture of Taehyung anyway. He doesn't send it to the group chat, instead he quietly moves it to the folder of other Taehyung pictures he has. Jimin ends up grinning to himself at all the drool Taehyung has on his shoulder and the car seat. (He starts driving in the wrong lane, but luckily there isn't enough people on the highway to actually notice).
Other times Jimin will just sit in shotgun, sometimes observing the trees that pass by, or more usually, just looking at Taehyung. (It's embarrassing how much time he spends secretly looking at Taehyung, Hoseok has caught him more than once and he's just glad Taehyung hasn't yet).
A few days after non stop driving, when they've already passed by Anyang (Jimin thinks, at least. He’s not too sure where they are really.,. Taehyung doesn't know either) Taehyung wakes him up in the middle of the night.
"Jimin," Taehyung hisses and Jimin groans.
"What time is it?" he mumbles drowsily, rolling over on his side so he's facing the wall of the rv.
"Uh," Taehyung says and Jimin can sense the small light coming from Taehyung's phone behind him. "Two...fourteen in the morning, possibly?"
"Oh my god," Jimin moans, "It's too early I'm going back to sleep,"
"But Jimin," Taehyung whines and something is sitting on Jimin's lower stomach. He doesn't bother struggling, instead he only pulls his blanket over his head. "The sky is perfect right now," he says as if that makes any more sense as to why he woke Jimin up in the middle of the night.
"For what?" he asks, syllables becoming drawled out because for some odd reason it's terribly difficult to form words right now. "How did you wake up at two anyway?" he mumbles into his pillow.
"I may not have gone to sleep," Taehyung admits as he shifts, so his knee is now digging into Jimin's lower back. Jimin wonders how he ever became friends with someone as ridiculous as Kim Taehyung. "And to look at the stars, dumbass."
"But it's two in the morning and I want to sleep," he whines petulantly, kicking his legs in effort to shake Taehyung off. it doesn't work.
For a moment, Taehyung is still, then Jimin feels his blanket slowly being peeled back. he whines, it's too much of an effort to try to pull them back down and his limbs feel rather heavy at the moment. his back now feels uncomfortably cold.
Jimin is then lulled back to sleep, until he feels cold fingers on his stomach, he shrieks, bolting up and nearly hitting heads with Taehyung.
"What the fuck, Kim Taehyung?" he hisses.
"I'm waking you up," Taehyung says innocently, blinking at him in the darkness and Jimin's not sure when putting ice cold hands on someone's stomach means waking them up. The atmosphere feels hot all of a sudden, and Jimin feels like he's burning despite not wearing a shirt .
Jimin flops back down, but before he can pull his blanket back over his head Taehyung starts tickling him.
"Stop it," Jimin wheezes as he attempts to push Taehyung's arms away, "Taehyung, stop it."
"Not until you get up," Taehyung says and even in the darkness Jimin knows that he's grinning from ear to ear, "Properly."
"Okay, okay," he props himself up so he's sitting. "I'm up now," he takes a breath as Taehyung's cold fingers continue to tickle him, "Now can you stop?"
"No," Taehyung chirps happily as he continues to tickle Jimin. Jimin does his best to send Taehyung a glare, even though it's dark and there's no way he can see it.
"Please?" he tries again, batting away one of Taehyung's hands. Taehyung's arm doesn't budge and Jimin's sent into another fit of laughter.
"Fine," Taehyung relents and he removes his hands from Jimin's stomach rather reluctantly. He leans back, sitting on Jimin's thighs and Jimin can feel Taehyung’s stare on him. "Just because you said please."
It's slightly chilly outside at night, despite how hot it was earlier in day ("I am going to die," Taehyung moans dramatically as he tosses back his hand puts his hand to his forehead when the air conditioning had broken down).
Jimin follows Taehyung, who scrambled up the ladder as soon as Jimin had thrown on a shirt. He sniffs cautiously as he climbs behind Taehyung, and the shirt is definitely old because it reeks of sweat.
When he gets up, Taehyung is seated with his legs crossed and his blanket wrapped around him. Jimin joins him quietly and Taehyung wordlessly unwraps the blanket from around him and hands the open end to Jimin.
"Look," Taehyung says almost reverently, pointing up to the sky. It's scattered with stars, as if someone sprinkled gold and white glitter onto a black piece of paper. Some are smaller than others, while some are brighter than the others.
"Where?" Jimin asks, unsure of which star Taehyung is referring to.
"Just look," Taehyung half-whispers and Jimin turns back around to look at the sky (It's incredibly difficult to peel his gaze off of Taehyung and the way his eyes shine as brightly as the stars surrounding him, maybe even brighter).
Jimin looks, allowing himself just to watch. It's soothing, the deep bluish-black is calming and the small night breeze is comforting. He looks at the different stars, trying to remember which constellations are which.
The soft moonlight illuminates a small section of the sky as well, and Jimin can see how the sky turns purple around it. If he squints he can make out a few clouds underneath the moon as well.
"It's pretty," Jimin breathes and Taehyung nods, moving so his head is resting against Jimin's shoulder.
"That's Altair," Taehyung says as he points to a brighter star. Moving his finger up a bit he points to another star, "And that one is Deneb and the one a bit below it is Vega. You can use these three stars to find constellations in the summer."
"Where's the Big Dipper?" Jimin asks as he pulls the blanket in closer around them. When he breathes in, the air is crisp.
Taehyung tilts his head to the side for a moment, before pointing to the sky once more. "Right there, see?" he grabs Jimin's wrist and to trace the shape of the constellation.
They fall into silence after that, with Taehyung's head resting on Jimin's shoulder. It's comfortable. Taehyung's hair feels soft and the blanket around them is warm. Jimin watches both the stars shift slowly across the sky and the bright glint in Taehyung's eyes, rivaling their glow, and the tranquil expression on his face.
Park Jimin is in love with a boy who's in love with the stars.
They finally manage to arrive at the beach four or five days the road trip has begun. Jimin sends a quick text to the group chat as he sits on warm sand, waiting for Taehyung to find the "most perfect spot to feed seagulls."
jungkook (8:03): about time you guys went somewhere interesting
jungkook (8:04): though im not that a beach no one's heard of before counts
taehyung (8:06): youre just jealous we're having fun and youre not
jimin (8:07): uwu
seokjin (8:11): well you guys are missing out too
seokjin (8:12): look at all this food i made
yoongi (8:14): can i have some??
namjoon (8:14): why would you....
jimin (8:17): that's a low blow!!
hoseok (8:18): i agree not cool
taehyung (8:20): yeah...
taehyung (8:21): we have some food you made too
taehyung (8:21): look
seokjin (8:22): sucks for you guys
seokjin (8:23): maybe if you guys visited me youd get the food like hyosang is
namjoon (8:24): he did not
namjoon (8:27): i can't believe this
hoseok (8:29): D:
seokjin (8:31): :D
It takes Taehyung twenty-one minutes exactly to find a good spot before he lays down his towel, and in those twenty-one minutes Jimin can already feel the skin on his back peeling. He throws down his towel next to Taehyung, putting down the plastic bag filled with Seokjin's food in between them.
"I think I'm already sunburnt," he whines as he sits down on top of Taehyung, taking off his sun hat and flinging it to the side.
It's still rather early in the day, so not many people have arrived at the beach yet. The sun is only halfway up in the sky, but there aren't any clouds so Jimin has to squint as he looks up at the dizzily bright blue.
"Sucks for you," Taehyung squirms underneath him, checking something on his phone. "I think we brought sunscreen, I found a bottle in my pocket this morning."
Jimin lets out a resigned sigh as he bends over awkwardly to feel which of Taehyung's pocket has the sunscreen. He finds the bottle in Taehyung's left pocket, a small pink bottle with Kim Seokjin scribbled onto the cap.
"It's Seokjin's," he scoffs as he uncaps the bottle, squirting a generous amount onto his palm.
"Huh," Taehyung says as he takes a picture, "Good thing he put it in my swimming trunks then, otherwise we'd both be sunburned for the rest of the trip."
"Yeah it's a good thing, now get up so you can put on sunscreen on too," Jimin tells Taehyung, rolling over so he's no longer seated on top of his back.
Taehyung rolls over onto his back and holds out a hand. Jimin squirts more sunscreen into his palm, before reaching for Taehyung's hand to pull him up into an upright position. The shock on Taehyung's face sends Jimin into a small bout of laughter.
"Park Jimin," he says, hand still dripping with sunscreen as he drops his phone on his towel.
"Whoops," Jimin shrugs innocently, unable to hide his laughter behind his hand anymore. "Sorry," he grins at Taehyung, not feeling even the smallest bit of remorse.
The look on Taehyung's face darkens, and Jimin realizes too late what exactly he's unleashed when Taehyung dives for the sunscreen. Taehyung squeezes out a handful of sunscreen, and Jimin's eyes only widen as he throws it at Jimin, the sunscreen landing squarely on his chest, right in the middle of his shirt.
"Sorry," Taehyung says cheekily, mouth curling back to showcase his teeth. He's body is shaking, and he bites down his lips in effort to hold back his laugh.
"Oh it's on," Jimin mutters to himself and this time it's his turn to dive for the bottle of sunscreen. Taehyung moves back immediately, flinging a handful of sand at Jimin's face, Jimin spits out the sand, thankful that he decided to put his sunglasses back on.
Taehyung's hair ends up becoming streaked with sunscreen and sand, with a well-aimed throw from Jimin and a little bit of wrestling for the sunscreen bottle in the sand. Jimin's hat and sunglasses fall off sometime during their sunscreen fight turned wrestling match, and it's incredible how his sunglasses don't end up breaking.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Taehyung wheezes as he tries to bat away Jimin's hand, but the strength behind it is weak.
"No it's not," Jimin defends as he continues to tickle Taehyung. "This is revenge for last time," he tells him and more laughter erupts from Taehyung. Jimin dodges a kick aimed towards his stomach as he smears more sunscreen onto the front of Taehyung's shirt.
Their fight ends up with them lying next to each other, breathless. Jimin grins at Taehyung as he pants, and he can see Taehyung's chest rapidly rising and falling as well. They're both streaked with sunscreen and sand, a complete and utter mess and Jimin thinks he has sunscreen down the back of shirt from when Taehyung squeezed over half the bottle down when he was on his back.
Jimin shifts slightly, and there's definitely sunscreen down his shirt. He turns to look at Taehyung, reaching for his hand. Taehyung grins back at him, eyes turning into small crescents andJimin's breath catches.
The sun shines directly on them, and Jimin continues to hold onto Taehyung's hand as he listens to the roar of the ocean in front of them. It's gross and sticky from the sunscreen, with bits of sand rubbing uncomfortably against Jimin's palm but he continues to hold on anyway. Most of the sunscreen ended up on their shirts and towels, with clumps of sand stuck to them like glitter sticking to dried glue.
"We need to buy more sunscreen, don't we?" Taehyung says once their breathing has evened out.
Jimin laughs, "Yeah, we do."
The two of them come back from the beach with slightly burned and pinkish skin. The skin on Jimin's nose is still peeling three days later, and his back aches whenever he leans against the car seat.
The smell of salt still lingers in their RV four days later, and Jimin has found a suspicious pile of sand on his bed more than once. The food in their refrigerator has dwindled down significantly, mainly because Taehyung had decided to bring a quarter of it to feed to the birds. Jimin is fairly certain that it isn't healthy for seagulls to eat japchae, but he isn't exactly a seagull expert.
The one thing they've gained from the visit to the beach was the sunscreen. They now have four bottles of sunscreen, each half-used in a possibly second sunscreen fight. So now the RV reeks of sunscreen as well, though it's not too entirely unpleasant.
It's nighttime, and they're in the parking lot of a mall somewhere Daejeon. Jimin finds himself staring at Taehyung in the darkness. The only sound Jimin can hear is the quiet hum of the lights outside and the rustling of sheets.
"I think there's sand in my pillow," Taehyung says, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, well I think there's still sand in my butt," Jimin retorts as he shifts as well. His legs scratch against something coarse and grainy and he sighs as he sits up, attempting to brush the sand off his bed with only the small bit of light from the lampposts outside to help him.
"Do you want to come outside with me tonight?" Taehyung asks, propping his head up with his elbow as he observes Jimin.
"We need a proper shower," he mutters underneath his breath as he finishes brushing away the sand grains. He's probably going to end up finding more sand tomorrow. "Yeah, sure.”
Taehyung bounces up out of his bed, wrapping his blanket around Jimin like a cape. Even in the mostly dark RV Jimin can tell how ridiculous he looks with the blanket pooling on the floor around his feet. He throws on a shirt,the closest one to his is the one from the beach, completely streaked with sunscreen, before following Taehyung outside onto the roof of the RV.
From the rooftop he can see most of the stars, but the effect is rather ruined by the fluorescent lights surrounding them. Taehyung opens up his blanket, offering room to Jimin and Jimin sits down next to him and pulls part of the blanket over their head.
He leans against Taehyung, looking at the stars with the small buzz of the lights in the background. He can still smell the salt and sunscreen underneath a week's worth of sweat on Taehyung's skin, as well as the kimchi he ate for dinner.
"It's kind of cloudy today," Taehyung observes as he leans back against his hands. Jimin feels something wet land on his leg and he looks up as well, squinting.
The moon is completely obscured by clouds, only a faint glow giving any indication that it's actually there. He can't find Altair or Vega, or any of the stars Taehyung told him about the other day.
"What was the forecast supposed to be today?" Jimin asks, not moving his head from Taehyung's shoulder.
Another drop lands on his leg, then another on his forehead, followed by one on his wrist. A second later, droplets of water bounce against the roof of the RV, splattering back up to hit Jimin once more.
Within the next five second, their blanket is absolutely soaked and Jimin feels ridiculous wet and soggy. He moves to look at Taehyung, who looks like a wet dog with his bangs matted to his forehead, and grins at him.
"I guess we know now," Taehyung says as he shakes his head, the droplets splattering.
The two of them scramble to the ladder, Taehyung holding the soggy blanket over their heads as Jimin tries not to slip on the roof. He edges towards the ladder, somehow managing to place a foot on the first rung.
Above him, Taehyung is grinning as he holds up the blanket. "Perfect weather for stargazing," he says with a smile as the rain continues to pour.
They manage to make it inside, both tumbling into the RV breathless and Jimin shuts the door with a laugh. Taehyung drops his soggy blanket onto his bed, moving to lie in Jimin's instead.
Jimin joins him, and he can't help the grin on his face. He's completely soaked and his clothes are sticking uncomfortably to his body, the excess sand they haven’t managed to get rid of is probably going to be plastered over him tomorrow, he might get pneumonia as well. But when he turns to look at Taehyung his chest feels like it's soaring and nothing matters anymore.
If Park Jimin were asked to list down everything he liked about Kim Taehyung, the list would probably take too long to make. There are many things Jimin likes about Taehyung, from the way his eyes always crinkle up first whenever he finds something funny, to his eccentric rectangle smile, to the way he even raps about pigeons.
He likes how sincere and genuine Taehyung is, towards him, the other members, and the fans at well. Sometimes he worries Taehyung's heart is going to grow so big it'll burst. ("That's because you like him, hyung," Jungkook tells him in an exasperated voice one day, setting down the game console beside him. "It's so obvious," he complains as a slow smile slides onto his face when the words winner flash on his side of the screen).
There are too many things Jimin likes about Taehyung, and the more he thinks about them the more things appear. (Yoongi rolls his eyes at him and calls him a complete sap and Hoseok just pats his shoulder. Namjoon hardly blinks and Seokjin nods at him).
One of the many things Jimin can almost immediately that he likes about Taehyung is his voice.
Taehyung spends most of his free time singing, a soft sort of humming that Jimin has to strain his ears to hear whenever he's in another room. He usually stops as soon as another member walks in, though not always.
"You have a really nice voice, you know," Jimin mumbles one afternoon while looking out the window. His head snaps up as soon as Taehyung's voice cuts off, and his face heats up. Jimin doesn't usually have a nonexistent filter like this.
"Thanks," Taehyung grins as he looks at Jimin, before turning his attention back to the road.
Jimin can feel himself flush, and he's not sure when his mouth switched to autopilot. "I really like your voice," he mutters once more.
"I really like your voice too, Jiminie," Taehyung replies chirpily, not missing a beat.
"I mean-," Jimin struggles for the right words and finds his mind at a blank. He reaches for Taehyung's free hand, the one that's lying on top of the armrest, and places his hand around his.
"I know what you mean," Taehyung says, voice sincere and he turns around briefly to make eye contact with Jimin once more.
When they're two days away from Seoul and it's nighttime, it's Jimin's turn to drive again. The sun has already set and Taehyung is snoring softly in the seat next to him. It's quiet and tranquil and Jimin opens one of the windows halfway.
If he tries hard enough, he can make out the pale light coming from the stars. He doesn't get the same feeling from them like when he watches the stars with Taehyung although that might just because of the occasional lights they pass.
"Hey," Jimin says, bringing the car to a stop on the side of the highway. He glances outside quickly, it's only really been them for the last ten miles or so. "Wake up," he gently nudges Taehyung's head, gingerly wiping the excess drool on Taehyung's shoulder.
"Huh?" Taehyung asks, eyelids fluttering as he rubs his eyes. He lets out a loud yawn as he stretches his arms, before bending down to reach his feet. "What is it?"
"We should stop for the night, it's getting kind of late," he explains as he unbuckles his seatbelt and heads for the back of the RV.
Taehyung nods sleepily in confirmation, moving mechanically as he changes into his pajamas. He climbs into bed with Jimin, despite how small the bed is, and ignoring the fact that’s the reason they have another bed.
Jimin doesn't say a word, he only allows himself to be pulled in closer to Taehyung's chest and wraps his arms around his best friend's waist accordingly. He's long since given up trying to get Taehyung to stay on his own bed, it's only ever been halfheartedly since their dorm change.
He can only hear the steady beating of Taehyung's heart, and the soft snores coming from him as well. Jimin breathes in slowly, chest feeling unnaturally warm for some odd reason. His closes his eyes, allowing Taehyung's breathing to lull him to sleep.
This time, Jimin isn't woken up by Taehyung but by the loud noises outside.
He jolts up immediately, and Taehyung blinks drowsily as he moves to sit up as well. His elbow awkwardly juts into Jimin's stomach.
"Are those..." Taehyung says and Jimin can see him squinting from the flashes of light filtering through the curtain, "...Fireworks?" he asks, still confused from just having woken up.
"I think so?" Jimin answers as he yawns and rubs his head. Taehyung's hair is sticking up all over the place and there's a small wet spot on his shirt. It's how he usually looks whenever Seokjin wakes them up for an early schedule, and he looks just as adorable then as he does now.
"Let's go watch them," Taehyung suggests, all sense of drowsiness is gone from him, a small spark replacing them in his eyes.
"But we don't even know if we can see them from here," Jimin complains, still allowing Taehyung to pull him outside anyway.
They both climb up to the roof of the RV and Jimin stiffles a yawn as there's a burst of color in front of them. He almost jumps at the small bang that follows, the sound of fireworks much louder outside than he anticipated.
"I wonder what they're for," he muses as his eyes follow one of the small sparks steadily climbing upwards. There's a small hiss, followed by an explosion of red and blue, before smoke replaces the bright color.
"Who knows," Taehyung says as he watches the fireworks in awe. "Too bad we can't watch them up closer."
Jimin says nothing in response, instead sneaking a glance at Taehyung. Taehyung watches the fireworks in awe, eyes following the trail each spark emblazons on the inky sky. Jimin's chest feels tight, reverberating from fireworks despite their distance and he blames that for what he does next.
"I like you," he blurts out and Taehyung's head is no longer craned towards the sky, instead it's facing him directly. Jimin suddenly feels hot, and his heart his hammering as loudly as the fireworks are exploding.
It's as lame as abrupt, unplanned confessions go and Jimin wants nothing more than to disappear immediately. The lack of distance between him and Taehyung suddenly feels too much, and his head is pounding from the fireworks around them.
"I like you too," Taehyung tells him as he reaches for his hand, intertwining his fingers. "Can I kiss you?" he asks and Jimin nods.
There's another hiss, followed behind a flash of light and then Taehyung's lips are on his. They're extremely dry and chapped, and Jimin closes his eyes. By the time the next firework explodes, Taehyung has pulled back.
"I never pegged you for being this romantic, Jiminie" Taehyung says as they look at one another.
"You were the one who kissed me under fireworks," he points out, and he can't help but snorting at how this all played out. Taehyung starts laughing, and Jimin soon follows, a fit of giggles overtaking both of them.
He’s heard countless of times of the giddy feeling people get when people accept their confession, but it feels nothing like that now. It feels incredibly just right, normal even. It's ridiculous, how easy it is with Taehyung.
"Good point," Taehyung wheezes, once he isn't clutching his stomach. There are tears at the corner of his eyes and when they look at each other again, Jimin can't help but start laughing once more.
The night they come back to the dorms, they're both seated outside on the small balcony, shoulder to shoulder. They have practice tomorrow and they probably shouldn't be out this late, but Jimin ignores that and the way the too small plastic chair digs into his butt, and instead focuses on the night sky in front of him. .
"Is this what you guys have been doing the entire road trip?" Jungkook asks, resting on his hands behind him. "Because if this is it then I'm glad that I didn't go."
"You're only saying that because you're jealous," Taehyung pokes out his tongue and kicks Jungkook's leg.
"Jealous of not having consistent wifi?" Jungkook wrinkles his nose and looks at them both incredulously. "As if."
"He's jealous," Jimin says to Taehyung and gives him a knowing look. Taehyung smiles back and him and Jungkook pretends to gag right in front of them.
"If this is how you guys were on the entire trip, I am so glad I didn't go," he tells them as he gets up, pretending to dust off his shorts even though he's been sitting on Jimin's blanket the entire time.
Jimin grins and presses a small kiss to Taehyung's cheek, just because he can. Jungkook rolls his eyes at them.
"I think I liked it better when you guys were both were oblivious," he mutters under his breath, just loudly enough so that they can hear, before leaving them.
"Okay, so that one is Arcturus, right?" Jimin asks Taehyung, pointing to where he thinks it is.
"No, it's that one," Taehyung laughs, as he points to another star instead.
Jimin scrunches up his face and bumps his shoulder against Taehyung's. "Fine, then. Okay, if that's the Big Dipper then where's Orion?"
"You can only see Orion in the winter," Taehyung says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"So show me more constellations since you're the expert," he tells Taehyung as he moves to rest his head on Taehyung's shoulder. It's warm and comfortable and the air outside is crisp as well.
Taehyung pauses for a moment, his fingers finally land on another star. "That constellation right there is Hercules, and underneath it is Scorpius," he explains as he traces them out in the sky.
He grins as Taehyung continues to point out more stars and constellations. Some of the stories he tells Jimin are completely made up and utterly ridiculous, but Jimin finds himself smiling the whole time, cheeks aching. He likes it like this, how easy and naturally everything comes whenever he’s with Taehyung.
Sometime later, he reaches for Taehyung's hand and like this, with the sky and the stars spread out before them, everything feels just right.
a/n: this fic was somehow written in two-ish weeks mainly bc its summer vacation and thank you reet for helping me beta this >___<
fandom: bts
pairing: v/jimin
word count: 10,041
a/n: i've always wanted a vmin roadtrip fic so this is a very self indulgent vmin roadtrip fic u___u (ao3 link)
ignite the stars in your heart
Like most things Kim Taehyung does, his suggestion for a road trip is completely spontaneous.
“A road trip?” Jimin repeats as he picks at the dirt on his sole of sneaker. They’re the only ones in the practice room, leaning against the mirror as they take a small break from dance practice.
“Yeah, a road trip,” Taehyung patiently tells him, again, as he fans himself. It’s the fourth time he’s done so. “We should go on one.”
“With everyone else?” he questions, ignoring how hot and sticky it is with the two of them seated so close to one another.
“I want it to be with you only,” Taehyung clarifies, “just the two of us.” The warmth that’s rising to Jimin’s face right now isn’t just because of intense dance choreography they were practicing earlier. They’ve been on break long enough that their sweat has dried and left that gross, sticky feeling.
Jimin stops scratching his sneaker and tilts to head to the side, pretending to think for a moment. He’s almost always gone along with Taehyung’s ideas. “But why now?” he asks anyway.
“Well I mean,” Taehyung says, “Promotions are almost over and Bang PD said he’d finally give us a few weeks off. Besides, I’ve always kind of wanted to go on a roadtrip.”
“Okay,” Jimin assents, not like he was really going to disagree in the first place. “I’ll go on a road trip with you.”
Surprisingly, management actually ends up agreeing to their request. The entire group is given two weeks off after promotions wrap up, and while mostly everyone else are spending the time with family, Jimin and Taehyung aren't.
"I want to go on a road trip too," Jungkook mutters darkly from Taehyung’s bed, rolling over on his stomach.
Taehyung sticks out his tongue. "Well too bad."
Jungkook lets out a small, unsatisfied groan. "Can't I come with you guys, hyung?" He looks at Taehyung expectantly.
"No you can't," Jimin answers for Taehyung as he scrolls through his iPad. Taehyung is sprawled all over his bed and Jimin uses his foot to kick Taehyung, pushing him until he finally falls off the bed with a small thunk.
"Ow, that was my face you hit," Taehyung complains as he rubs his cheek. "Your feet stink," he sniffs and Jungkook rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, well your entire body stinks," Jimin retorts. "Go take a shower." He pinches the bridge of his nose in mock disgust.
"Why can't I come though?" Jungkook asks again. This time his lips are drawn into a small pout and Jimin isn’t sure whether he's doing it consciously or not.
"Because," Taehyung says as he sits up then climbs onto Jimin's bed once more, draping himself over his lap, "I want to go with Jimin alone."
"Aw," Jimin coos as he places his iPad to the side, shoving Taehyung off his lap, "I'm so glad you love me too."
Taehyung crosses his arm and huffs as he moves next to Jimin instead. "That's not a proper answer, hyung," Jungkook whines.
"It's because I said so," Taehyung says as he sticks out his tongue once more, bumping shoulders with Jimin. Jimin shoves him back and Taehyung lets out a small oomf. “Sorry Jungkook,” he adds afterwards, voice completely genuine, “It’s just going to be the two of us. Maybe next time.”
Jungkook is still busy scowling at Taehyung's pillow. "Shouldn't you go back to your room now?” Jimin teases as he tries to shove Taehyung off the bed once more. “Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Haha," the younger boy says dryly, "Very funny, Jimin." Jungkook still rolls over and off Taehyung’s bed just as Jimin successfully manages to kick Taehyung off.
"So do you guys have your trip planned out yet?" Hoseok asks them in the dorm the very next day.
Jimin looks at Taehyung and Taehyung just looks back at him.
"I'll take that as a no," he sighs exasperatedly as he places a hand on his hip. Underneath the table, Jimin casually kicks Taehyung's shin. "Well then have you guys at least looked at places to rent an RV?"
They both give each other another glance. Taehyung’s eyes are slightly watery.
"...Right?" Hoseok asks tentatively after a few moments of silence.
This time, Taehyung has the decency to look sheepish as he shrugs his shoulder.
"I told you it was a good idea to check up on them," Yoongi says as he slurps up the noodles that Seokjin had left in the refrigerator.
Hoseok sighs again, "Namjoon knows someone, I'll get him to talk to them."
The day Jimin and Taehyung leave for their road trip, everyone is crowded around the RV in the parking lot. Seokjin is inside, busy putting containers of food into their refrigerator. Jungkook quietly sulks behind him as he wordlessly hands him more containers from the shopping bag.
"This should be enough food to last you guys two weeks," Seokjin says proudly as he dusts his hands and looks at the refrigerator.
Jimin steps up on his tiptoes to hook his chin over Taehyung's shoulder and look at the refrigerator. It's almost completely filled with containers, with practically no free space. He reaches for Taehyung's hand and squeezes.
"The bowls and other stuff are down in those cabinets," Seokjin gestures as he folds up the old shopping bag. "Make sure you guys actually wash the dishes every other day."
"Yes, hyung," they answer in unison and Taehyung flashes Jimin a small grin. Jimin grins back. He tries to ignore how his heart rate speeds up a bit.
"And don't eat at weird places, not when I spent so much time making all this food for you guys," Seokjin reprimands as he fixes them with a firm glare. "You guys better finish all this food by the time you get back and that does not mean eating it all in the first three days, Taehyung."
"He's still going to do it though," Jungkook mumbles underneath his breath.
"I gave you guys a map just in case your cellphones can't get signal as well," Seokjin continues, "you guys can call or text us at any time if you're lost or anything."
"Yes, hyung," they both echo and Jimin lets go of Taehyung's hand to wrap his arms around his waist.
"You guys both have cash on you too so that should be it," Seokjin mutters to himself as he looks around the RV once more.
"They're going to be fine hyung," Namjoon says fondly as he reaches for Seokjin's hand, tugging him out of the RV, "Now stop fretting over them."
"Stay safe and have fun," Seokjin shouts as Namjoon pulls him out of the RV, "and make sure to message us in the group chat."
"Yeah so we know that you two are actually alive," Yoongi adds, "and don't forget to get me a souvenir too, not one of the cheap ones from a souvenir shop but something actually nice."
"We'll get you something too," Jimin tells Jungkook, "better than what we get Yoongi."
"It better be," Jungkook mumbles as he lingers in the doorway. "Have fun you guys," he tells them before shutting the door behind him.
Taehyung gently removes Jimin's arms from his waist as he scrambles to shotgun. Jimin follows after him, buckling up then turning the keys as the engine roars to life. He glances over at Taehyung whose eyes are glinting and he grins at him.
"Don't forget to take pictures too," Seokjin yells over the engine.
Jimin nods before he pulls out of the parking lot. Taehyung has his head stuck out of the window,waving his arm until the rest of the group is out of sight.
The first thing Taehyung does once they've left their dorm far behind them (it was really only a couple of blocks and a few unplanned left turns or two) is turn on music. He connects his cellphone to the car, eyes crinkling at Jimin as he plugs in the cord.
The music blares from the speaker and Jimin can feel the vibrations pounding against his chest. He sends a glare at Taehyung and tries to not to think about the way his ears are going to hurt later tonight.
"Can you, I don't know, maybe turn down the music?" Jimin says as he presses the gas pedal.
Taehyung pouts at him, "You’re no fun," he whines petulantly but turns down the music anyway. The volume is now at a level where Jimin doesn't feel like his eardrums are going to burst (but for some reason his heart is still pounding irregularly)
"And really? Our cypher?" he snorts.
"I like it," Taehyung defends as he begins to rap along to Hoseok's verse.
"You're rapping is still atrocious though," Jimin tells him. He approaches an intersection, and on the same whim that’s been guiding him so far, takes a right. He still has no idea where they're going, and Taehyung hasn't said anything yet.
"It's a nice song," he mutters as the song changes. It's Nicki Minaj.
"Please tell me you put on some Big Bang, for me at least?" Jimin asks as he taps the steering wheel.
"Of course I did," Taehyung exclaims, "Just for you too." Jimin hums happily in response to that.
"Is there anywhere you want to go?" he asks a little while later, once they've been driving for half an hour to absolutely nowhere.
"I want to go to Namsan Tower at night," Taehyung responds immediately, bringing his head up from his forearm from where it was resting earlier.
"At night?" he asks.
"At night," the younger boy repeats. "Water?" he offers.
Jimin takes a sip of water before giving it back to Taehyung. "Thanks. But if you want to go at night then that means we'll have to go somewhere else for the day then."
"How about," Taehyung looks down at his lap and appears to think in deep thought, "Insadong? or maybe Samcheongdong? Or Lotte World, it doesn't matter as long as we go to namsan tower tonight."
"Samcheongdong sounds good," he replies. "Can you look up the directions?"
It ends up taking them over an hour to get to Samcheongdong, mainly because it takes Taehyung ten minutes to successfully look up the directions. When they finally get there, Jimin parks in a small alley.
"Okay, now what?" he asks as he pulls the keys out. Taehyung already has his seatbelt unbuckled and is beginning to open the door.
"We're going to walk," Taehyung tells him, as though Jimin should already know. "And buy lots of things too." He slides out of the car, closing the door behind him.
"But what about the car?" Jimin asks, jogging to catch up to Taehyung. "If we're walking aren't we going to have to walk back?"
"Right," Taehyung says slowly, "but if we drive then it's no fun." He reaches for Jimin's hand and Jimin begins to swing their hands back and forth as they walk.
"Okay, so we'll walk then," he says and Taehyung nods in agreement.
"Besides, even if my feet do get tired I have you to carry me back," Taehyung tells him and Jimin's heart skips a beat.
"Like I would actually carry you all the way back to the car," he scoffs, untangling his hand from Taehyung to punch his shoulder lightly before reaching for his hand once more.
"I think we should get couple hats," Taehyung says nonchalantly as they walk down a small street, hands swinging back and forth.
"Couple hats," Jimin repeats before snorting. He looks longingly at the stand selling tteokbokki they pass. His stomach growls and he ignores the way the hunger claws at him.
"Yeah, something as a memory and so everyone else can be jealous of us," Taehyung tells him, halting abruptly. "Wait a minute, I'm going to buy something."
Jimin nods, letting go of Taehyung's hand as he reaches for his cellphone in his back pocket. He quickly sends a message through the group chat, and takes a selfie and sends it as well.
By the time he's done, Taehyung comes back with two plates filled with tteokbokki and a couple of of steam steam buns. The food smells good, and Jimin swallows as a wave of nausea rolls over him.
"Say ahhhh," Taehyung says as he brings one of the steam buns to Jimin's mouth.
"Mrghfrghgh," Jimin says, stubbornly keeping his lips pursed for a moment before finally relenting and opening them. He takes a small bite of the bun, eyes widening as he tastes red bean paste in his mouth and he tries not to gag at the rich flavor. It takes him a minute before he's finally able to swallow.
"This is for you too," Taehyung tells him, handing him a plate of tteokbokki. Jimin nods wordlessly, and takes the bun from Taehyung as well, ripping it in half and keeping the smaller bit for himself.
"It's good," he mumbles quietly as he takes another bite from the steam bun, the sweet flavor filling his mouth once more as he takes slow, methodical bites.
"Here I'll take a little bit of your tteokbokki, I want some more," his best friend says around a mouthful of food as he grabs a few pieces from Jimin's plate. The tension from Jimin's shoulder lessens and he begins to relax a bit more.
Bumping shoulders with Taehyung he teases, "You're disgusting." Taehyung only nods in response, mouth too full of red bean paste to answer.
They continue walking down the street like that, with Jimin slowly chewing his food as he walks next to Taehyung eating ravenously, bumping shoulders and elbows every so often.
Sometime when Taehyung is halfway through his plate of tteokbokki and Jimin's only started on his, he makes a muffled sound around a mouthful of tteokbokki, pointing to a stand with his plate.
With his free hand, Taehyung drags him to the stand and chews rapidly and swallows before finally saying, "Let's get hats here."
"How do you think this one looks?" Jimin asks as he picks up a hat closest to him. It's a straw hat, with a pale green ribbon tied around it and he poses.
Taehyung has another piece of tteokbokki raised halfway to his mouth and he drops it as he bursts out in laughter. "Wait a second, I need a picture of this," he cackles as he licks his fingers before reaching for his phone. Jimin obliges, keeping the pose until he hears the telltale click of the camera.
"I think you'd look great in this one," Jimin snickers as he puts the hat back down, picking up a sun hat. "It matches your eyes." The hat is red and brown, the colors clash terribly and it’s absolutely hideous.
"Doesn't it?" Taehyung laughs, "It looks cute on me. I'm going to buy it."
Jimin squints at him. "I wasn't being serious you know. It's makes you look ridiculous." It's only somewhat of a lie, Taehyung pulls of the hat better than Jimin would ever admit but his point still stands, the hat is plain ugly.
"What about this one?" Taehyung asks as he grabs a neon orange rain hat with bright green and yellow polka dots splattered onto it and flings it to Jimin.
Jimin places it on his head. "So does it look good?" he asks, smiling at Taehyung as he makes a face.
"It does, we should totally bring this hat to our next photoshoot it'd be great," Taehyung grins, before breaking into laughter, wheezing as he takes another picture of Jimin.
"So what's the concept of this photoshoot then?" he asks. Taehyung bends down to wipe the tears that have just formed at the corner of his eyes before standing back up again.
"Orange," Taehyung grins cheekily, holding up the plate of tteokbokki next to him and Jimin snickers.
They settle on getting matching purple baseball caps and a beanie for Yoongi. Jimin can't keep the smile off his face as they leave the stand, and when he looks at Taehyung he's still smiling too.
"Look at those," Taehyung gestures to small shop on his left. Jimin pauses, causing Taehyung to bump into him. "Are those socks?"
"I think so, yeah," Jimin says and leans over to grab Taehyung's wrist and pull him inside of the store. Taehyung almost chokes on the spoon in his mouth, cup of gelato threatening to fall from his hand.
"Watch it," Taehyung tells him with no real menace in his voice. He shoves a spoonful of gelato into Jimin's mouth. Jimin purses his lips but Taehyung doesn't relent until he's successfully made Jimin open his lips.
"These are cute," Jimin notes as he picks up a pair of socks, holding them up for Taehyung to see. "Do you want to get matching socks too?" he asks, teasing, but his heart still picks up a little bit of speed.
"Yeah we should," Taehyung assents as he gently tugs his wrist out of Jimin's grasp and walks over to another basket to inspect the socks in those. He lets out a noise and Jimin jerks his head up to see him holding a pair of Mario socks.
"Wow, those are perfect for Seokjin," he says as he turns them over. "Should we get him a pair of pink socks too?" Jimin asks as he picks up a pair of socks with white dogs on them.
Taehyung nods, eating another spoonful of his gelato. "Hey doesn't your mom like small brooches like these?" he asks, holding up a small, pink giraffe. "You should get her some."
"Oh yeah she does," Jimin takes the giraffe from Taehyung and his fingertips brush against his palm. something sparks, causing him to shiver despite the hot summer heat. "Thanks," he says and luckily his voice doesn't crack but his throat suddenly feels dry.
Seemingly unaffected, Taehyung continues to browse the store. He takes another look at the socks with dogs on them, and then more he looks the dogs look like Taehyung's dog. He grabs them impulsively before joining Taehyung once more.
Halfway through their walk back to the car, Taehyung begins to complain of how sore his feet are and he jumps onto Jimin's back abruptly, causing Jimin to teeter.
"Ouch," Jimin grunts, reaching for Taehyung's legs to get him seated more comfortably on his back. "That hurt," he whines as he walks forth.
"Well my feet hurt," Taehyung retorts as he brings his arms around Jimin's neck. His bag bumps against Jimin's stomach and the straw from his bubble tea pokes his chest painfully.
"What exactly did you buy?" he grumbles as the plastic bag continues to thump against his stomach.
Taehyung says nothing in response, instead he takes off Jimin's cap to comb his fingers through his hair, before placing his cap back on.
"Are your fingers sticky?" Jimin asks as he continues to walk forward. It's uncomfortable, with how close Taehyung is pressed against his back along with the way the atmosphere settles on top of him, like a thick layer.
"No," Taehyung answers automatically as he hooks his chin on top of Jimin's shoulder. Jimin snorts as he opens his mouth to breath in the hot, heavy air. "Maybe," he corrects.
"Gross," Jimin complains as turns a right, unable to keep the grin off his face.
"No that's you, you reek of sweat," the younger boy says into his ear and it's all Jimin can do from jumping.
"And who's fault is that," he mutters underneath his breath as he continues to trudge forth. "Drink please," he tells Taehyung and Taehyung obliges, almost sticking the straw up his left nostril as he Jimin starts up a small hill.
"But my feet are tired," Taehyung whines petulantly and Jimin rolls his eyes at that as his smile stretches even wider. His cheeks are sore and if this keeps up they're going to get stuck.
When they finally reach the car, Taehyung untangles his arms from Jimin's neck and slides off his back. "Thanks, Jiminie," he says, "Since you carried me all the way back I'll drive to Namsan Tower."
(Jimin knows he wouldn't have refused in the first place, it's always been hard to refuse Taehyung.). "Blerggh," comes his strangled moan as he lies down on the asphalt. Jimin yelps as he jumps back up, rubbing at his cheek. "Ouch that's hot," he complains.
"Dumbass," Taehyung snickers from behind him, but still presses his cup of bubble tea against Jimin's cheek. Jimin close his eyes at the small comfort it brings, though by now the ice has almost all melted.
(Twenty minutes later, with the air conditioner on full blast, Jimin's heart is beating erratically and he still finds himself a little short of breath with a pleasant warmth underneath his cheeks).
Jimin wakes up to someone poking his left cheek. "Hey, we're there," Taehyung practically shouts into his ear, still poking his cheek incessantly. Jimin's eyelids flutter open and he's face to face with Taehyung. If he were taller, he would have hit his head on the car roof.
"I'm awake, I'm awake," he grumbles as he presses the heel of his palms to his eyes. "You can get off me now," he tells Taehyung.
"Oh yeah, sorry," Taehyung flashes him a grin as he moves backwards, bumping his head on the roof of the car. "Ow," he groans as he rubs the back of his head.
Jimin snorts as he opens the car door. "Yeah, be careful," he chides as he joins Taehyung outside the car, reaching for his hand.
The sky is now a blended orange and purple, the sun having already set sometime when Jimin fell asleep in the car ride. Jimin sneaks a look over his shoulder to see Taehyung, who has a bright grin on his face. He takes a breath, the night air somewhat cooler but still sticky, and feels a wave of calmness wash over him.
By the time they've bought their tickets at the tower, the last traces of orange and purple are completely gone from the sky.
"This is exciting," Taehyung grins at him as they shuffle into the elevator.
"I don't know, it seems kind of scary," Jimin says somewhat weakly as he looks down at the floor below him. "How far do you think that is?" he asks cautiously as he looks back up at Taehyung, trying to ignore the queasy feeling in his stomach.
"Not sure," is Taehyung's reply as he bends down to peer more closely through the elevator's floor. The people give them strange looks before turning back around. "Wait, we have to take a picture Jimin, say cheese," he whips his phone out from his back pocket and Jimin is momentarily stunned by the flash.
"Ow," he says as he rubs at his eyes and ignores the flickering dots next to Taehyung's body. "We aren't even at the top yet, why'd you have to take a picture?"
"I'm sending it to Jungkook and the group chat," Taehyung informs him in his duh voice. Before Jimin can come up with a reply, the elevator lurches upwards.
He immediately reaches for the closest thing next to him, which ends up being Taehyung's arm. Taehyung smiles at him, looking rather pale as he gently pries off Jimin's hand to intertwine their fingers.
"Okay, this is a lot scarier than I imagined it to be," Taehyung says weakly, looking up from the floor. "I think I feel kind of queasy right now," he tells Jimin, grip tightening on Jimin's hand. Taehyung wipes his free hand on his shorts and his grip is gross and sweaty.
"Kim Taehyung, you better not throw up on me," he hisses as he clutches onto the metal railing beside them. Jimin steadfastly ignores the way his stomach feels like it's been left behind.
"I also feel kind of dizzy," Taehyung adds unhelpfully.
Jimin scowls, "You were the one who wanted come here. just...don't look outside." Taehyung doesn't listen though, he continues staring at the city in awe with a faraway look in his eyes. Jimin doesn't really want that look to disappear either.
When they reach the observatory Jimin lets out a small whistle. "It looks incredible," Taehyung whispers in awe as he rushes to the terrace. Jimin is pulled forth, and he rolls his eyes affectionately as he allows himself to be dragged forth one again.
Taehyung lets go of his hand as he grips the railing, and Jimin misses the comforting warmth of Taehyung’s hand in his. Leaning over the edge, Taehyung lets out a small exhale.
Jimin mimics him, peering over the edge as well. From here he can see the city sprawling out beneath them. He watches as the cars crawl like ants on the road, and if he tries hard enough he can also make people walking on the streets.
He turns to his right to look at Taehyung, who's utterly enchanted. His lips are turned upwards and despite the darkness, Jimin can see the bright sparks in his eyes.
"Do you think we can see our dorms from here?" Taehyung inquires, continuing to look at the city below them.
His breath catches in his throat and Jimin forgets how to breath for a moment. Shrugging, he replies, "I don't know, I'm not even sure which direction it's in."
Taehyung doesn't say anything, instead he continues to peer over the railing. There's a comfortable silence between them, and Jimin turns back around to look at the city as well. He moves closer to Taehyung so their shoulders are pressed against one another.
"It's beautiful," Taehyung whispers softly a little while later.
Jimin looks up at him and mutters, "Yeah it is." his stomach feels like it's dropping once more, despite the fact he isn't moving and the floor isn't going anywhere this time. He's not sure how Taehyung can't hear his heartbeat, with how loudly it's beating.
"Wait, I can't forget," Taehyung interrupts the silence a second time. He reaches into one of his pockets.
"Forget what?" he raises an eyebrow, watching as Taehyung pats his pants before pulling something out of his pocket. "A lock?" he asks.
"Yeah," the younger boy answers as he continues to search his pockets before procuring a sharpie. Jimin has to roll his eyes, wondering where Taehyung even got the lock and sharpie from. Taehyung uncaps the sharpie, biting his lower lips as he writes something on the lock.
"Is that Hobi-hyung's gym bag lock?" Jimin asks, squinting his eyes as he tries to make out the design in the dim light.
"Maybe," comes Taehyung's vague reply before he hands the sharpie and lock to Jimin. "You have to write something on this side and sign your name, you can't look at what I wrote on the other side."
"Okay," Jimin agrees as he squints at the lock once more in his hand. It's definitely Hoseok's. When he finishes it, he hands both the sharpie and lock back to Taehyung.
Taehyung bends down wordlessly, clipping the lock shut on one of the many other locks. Something clicks inside Jimin's head and there’s a surge of warmth flooding inside of his chest.
"There we go," he says proudly as he stands back up. "We should get something at the teddy bear museum before we go all the way to the top."
"Sure," he grins, reaching for Taehyung's hand.
By the time they've come out of Namsan Tower and reached their car, the moon has risen well into the night sky and Taehyung looks as though he could fall asleep on the sidewalk.
“I thought we’d be able to see the stars better from higher up,” Taehyung mumbles into Jimin’s shoulder as he opens the door to the RV.
Somehow Jimin manages to drag Taehyung into the RV and dumps him onto one of the beds. "I'll drive until the nearest rest stop and then we'll rest for the night," he pats Taehyung's cheek as he pulls the covers up to his chin.
Taehyung mumbles incoherently in response, something that could either be interpreted as but I want to stay in the front with you until we get to the rest stop or did you also see that ufo when we were walking back to the car?
"Make sure you change into your pajamas," Jimin tells Taehyung as he closes the door and Taehyung makes another noise.
When Jimin wakes up in the morning it's to Taehyung's face right in front of his, and one of Taehyung's legs stuck between his. He rubs his eyes blearily, trying to blink away his sleepiness as he struggles to clear his mind.
"Wake up," he groans as he pushes Taehyung's shoulder, "I can't get up," he groans weakly, flopping back onto his pillow.
Taehyung's eyes flutter open and he bolts up abruptly, nearly colliding his elbow with Jimin's face. "Oh, good morning Jiminie," he yawns.
"You're in my bed," Jimin states dryly, positioning himself so he's sitting up as well. Underneath the blanket their legs are still tangled with one another, and Jimin doesn't exactly want to move his because it's comfortable (everything with Taehyung is comfortable and being around him feels easy and is just right).
Shrugging, Taehyung swings his legs off the bed. "Oops, do you want food?"
"Yes," Jimin answers automatically as he continues to sit, feeling extremely lethargic. "You went on my bed all dirty again," he accuses as Taehyung walks over to the back of the RV, rummaging in the refrigerator.
"Well it wasn't like you were clean too," Taehyung sniffs as he pulls out a container of something Seokjin had prepared for them. it looks like rice soup. Taehyung pours it into a pan and turns on the stove.
Jimin says nothing, instead he throws off his covers and makes his way to the small table. he sits down, picking at the ugly floral seat cover. scratching his head he checks the group chat.
yoongi (11:32): did you guys not even leave seoul yet??
namjoon (11:32): ...knowing them probably not
jungkook (11:35): truly amazing
seokjin (11:36): you better not have eaten all the food already kim taehyung!!
hoseok (11:40): let's face it, he probably did
jungkook (6:02): you guys are probably still in seoul...
jimin (8:39): actually we're right outside of the city u___u
jimin (8:40): and we have been since last night
yoongi (8:41): called it
seokjin (8:43): why were you up that early??
He looks up when Taehyung pushes one of the bowls towards him. Grinning, he asks, "So where are we going next?"
"Um," Taehyung says around a mouthful of food. He swallows before dashing to the front of the RV, coming back with one of the maps Seokjin gave them yesterday. He unfolds it on the table and Jimin moves his bowl so he's cradling it between two hands.
Closing his eyes, Taehyung puts a finger on the map and points to a small dot off right next to Jeonju. "Let's go here," he says, before he resumes eating.
Jimin bites down on his lower lip as he sets aside his bowl and takes the map from Taehyung. "Directly there?" he inquires as he pretends to inspect the map. There are too many dots and Jimin's head is spinning from the different colored lines.
"I kind of want to go to some of the beaches along the way," Taehyung answers, "Though I kind of wanted to go via Daegu since i haven't seen my family for awhile," he says wistfully.
He says nothing in response, only watches the sunlight filter through the window and shine on Taehyung's face. For some odd reason, the smile on Taehyung’s face and the crinkle of his eyes seem so much sadder.
hoseok (5:29): so where are you guys now
hoseok (5:31): yoongi is making me ask for him
jimin (5:31): we're on the highway
yoongi (5:33): traitor
seokjin (5:40): stop being a smartass
For the most part, they don't talk while driving. Taehyung usually sings along to the radio, or the songs on his phone when he's bored. Sometimes he takes naps, mouth open as he snores and drools on the seat.
It's extremely unattractive really, yet Jimin finds himself snapping a picture of Taehyung anyway. He doesn't send it to the group chat, instead he quietly moves it to the folder of other Taehyung pictures he has. Jimin ends up grinning to himself at all the drool Taehyung has on his shoulder and the car seat. (He starts driving in the wrong lane, but luckily there isn't enough people on the highway to actually notice).
Other times Jimin will just sit in shotgun, sometimes observing the trees that pass by, or more usually, just looking at Taehyung. (It's embarrassing how much time he spends secretly looking at Taehyung, Hoseok has caught him more than once and he's just glad Taehyung hasn't yet).
A few days after non stop driving, when they've already passed by Anyang (Jimin thinks, at least. He’s not too sure where they are really.,. Taehyung doesn't know either) Taehyung wakes him up in the middle of the night.
"Jimin," Taehyung hisses and Jimin groans.
"What time is it?" he mumbles drowsily, rolling over on his side so he's facing the wall of the rv.
"Uh," Taehyung says and Jimin can sense the small light coming from Taehyung's phone behind him. "Two...fourteen in the morning, possibly?"
"Oh my god," Jimin moans, "It's too early I'm going back to sleep,"
"But Jimin," Taehyung whines and something is sitting on Jimin's lower stomach. He doesn't bother struggling, instead he only pulls his blanket over his head. "The sky is perfect right now," he says as if that makes any more sense as to why he woke Jimin up in the middle of the night.
"For what?" he asks, syllables becoming drawled out because for some odd reason it's terribly difficult to form words right now. "How did you wake up at two anyway?" he mumbles into his pillow.
"I may not have gone to sleep," Taehyung admits as he shifts, so his knee is now digging into Jimin's lower back. Jimin wonders how he ever became friends with someone as ridiculous as Kim Taehyung. "And to look at the stars, dumbass."
"But it's two in the morning and I want to sleep," he whines petulantly, kicking his legs in effort to shake Taehyung off. it doesn't work.
For a moment, Taehyung is still, then Jimin feels his blanket slowly being peeled back. he whines, it's too much of an effort to try to pull them back down and his limbs feel rather heavy at the moment. his back now feels uncomfortably cold.
Jimin is then lulled back to sleep, until he feels cold fingers on his stomach, he shrieks, bolting up and nearly hitting heads with Taehyung.
"What the fuck, Kim Taehyung?" he hisses.
"I'm waking you up," Taehyung says innocently, blinking at him in the darkness and Jimin's not sure when putting ice cold hands on someone's stomach means waking them up. The atmosphere feels hot all of a sudden, and Jimin feels like he's burning despite not wearing a shirt .
Jimin flops back down, but before he can pull his blanket back over his head Taehyung starts tickling him.
"Stop it," Jimin wheezes as he attempts to push Taehyung's arms away, "Taehyung, stop it."
"Not until you get up," Taehyung says and even in the darkness Jimin knows that he's grinning from ear to ear, "Properly."
"Okay, okay," he props himself up so he's sitting. "I'm up now," he takes a breath as Taehyung's cold fingers continue to tickle him, "Now can you stop?"
"No," Taehyung chirps happily as he continues to tickle Jimin. Jimin does his best to send Taehyung a glare, even though it's dark and there's no way he can see it.
"Please?" he tries again, batting away one of Taehyung's hands. Taehyung's arm doesn't budge and Jimin's sent into another fit of laughter.
"Fine," Taehyung relents and he removes his hands from Jimin's stomach rather reluctantly. He leans back, sitting on Jimin's thighs and Jimin can feel Taehyung’s stare on him. "Just because you said please."
It's slightly chilly outside at night, despite how hot it was earlier in day ("I am going to die," Taehyung moans dramatically as he tosses back his hand puts his hand to his forehead when the air conditioning had broken down).
Jimin follows Taehyung, who scrambled up the ladder as soon as Jimin had thrown on a shirt. He sniffs cautiously as he climbs behind Taehyung, and the shirt is definitely old because it reeks of sweat.
When he gets up, Taehyung is seated with his legs crossed and his blanket wrapped around him. Jimin joins him quietly and Taehyung wordlessly unwraps the blanket from around him and hands the open end to Jimin.
"Look," Taehyung says almost reverently, pointing up to the sky. It's scattered with stars, as if someone sprinkled gold and white glitter onto a black piece of paper. Some are smaller than others, while some are brighter than the others.
"Where?" Jimin asks, unsure of which star Taehyung is referring to.
"Just look," Taehyung half-whispers and Jimin turns back around to look at the sky (It's incredibly difficult to peel his gaze off of Taehyung and the way his eyes shine as brightly as the stars surrounding him, maybe even brighter).
Jimin looks, allowing himself just to watch. It's soothing, the deep bluish-black is calming and the small night breeze is comforting. He looks at the different stars, trying to remember which constellations are which.
The soft moonlight illuminates a small section of the sky as well, and Jimin can see how the sky turns purple around it. If he squints he can make out a few clouds underneath the moon as well.
"It's pretty," Jimin breathes and Taehyung nods, moving so his head is resting against Jimin's shoulder.
"That's Altair," Taehyung says as he points to a brighter star. Moving his finger up a bit he points to another star, "And that one is Deneb and the one a bit below it is Vega. You can use these three stars to find constellations in the summer."
"Where's the Big Dipper?" Jimin asks as he pulls the blanket in closer around them. When he breathes in, the air is crisp.
Taehyung tilts his head to the side for a moment, before pointing to the sky once more. "Right there, see?" he grabs Jimin's wrist and to trace the shape of the constellation.
They fall into silence after that, with Taehyung's head resting on Jimin's shoulder. It's comfortable. Taehyung's hair feels soft and the blanket around them is warm. Jimin watches both the stars shift slowly across the sky and the bright glint in Taehyung's eyes, rivaling their glow, and the tranquil expression on his face.
Park Jimin is in love with a boy who's in love with the stars.
They finally manage to arrive at the beach four or five days the road trip has begun. Jimin sends a quick text to the group chat as he sits on warm sand, waiting for Taehyung to find the "most perfect spot to feed seagulls."
jungkook (8:03): about time you guys went somewhere interesting
jungkook (8:04): though im not that a beach no one's heard of before counts
taehyung (8:06): youre just jealous we're having fun and youre not
jimin (8:07): uwu
seokjin (8:11): well you guys are missing out too
seokjin (8:12): look at all this food i made
yoongi (8:14): can i have some??
namjoon (8:14): why would you....
jimin (8:17): that's a low blow!!
hoseok (8:18): i agree not cool
taehyung (8:20): yeah...
taehyung (8:21): we have some food you made too
taehyung (8:21): look
seokjin (8:22): sucks for you guys
seokjin (8:23): maybe if you guys visited me youd get the food like hyosang is
namjoon (8:24): he did not
namjoon (8:27): i can't believe this
hoseok (8:29): D:
seokjin (8:31): :D
It takes Taehyung twenty-one minutes exactly to find a good spot before he lays down his towel, and in those twenty-one minutes Jimin can already feel the skin on his back peeling. He throws down his towel next to Taehyung, putting down the plastic bag filled with Seokjin's food in between them.
"I think I'm already sunburnt," he whines as he sits down on top of Taehyung, taking off his sun hat and flinging it to the side.
It's still rather early in the day, so not many people have arrived at the beach yet. The sun is only halfway up in the sky, but there aren't any clouds so Jimin has to squint as he looks up at the dizzily bright blue.
"Sucks for you," Taehyung squirms underneath him, checking something on his phone. "I think we brought sunscreen, I found a bottle in my pocket this morning."
Jimin lets out a resigned sigh as he bends over awkwardly to feel which of Taehyung's pocket has the sunscreen. He finds the bottle in Taehyung's left pocket, a small pink bottle with Kim Seokjin scribbled onto the cap.
"It's Seokjin's," he scoffs as he uncaps the bottle, squirting a generous amount onto his palm.
"Huh," Taehyung says as he takes a picture, "Good thing he put it in my swimming trunks then, otherwise we'd both be sunburned for the rest of the trip."
"Yeah it's a good thing, now get up so you can put on sunscreen on too," Jimin tells Taehyung, rolling over so he's no longer seated on top of his back.
Taehyung rolls over onto his back and holds out a hand. Jimin squirts more sunscreen into his palm, before reaching for Taehyung's hand to pull him up into an upright position. The shock on Taehyung's face sends Jimin into a small bout of laughter.
"Park Jimin," he says, hand still dripping with sunscreen as he drops his phone on his towel.
"Whoops," Jimin shrugs innocently, unable to hide his laughter behind his hand anymore. "Sorry," he grins at Taehyung, not feeling even the smallest bit of remorse.
The look on Taehyung's face darkens, and Jimin realizes too late what exactly he's unleashed when Taehyung dives for the sunscreen. Taehyung squeezes out a handful of sunscreen, and Jimin's eyes only widen as he throws it at Jimin, the sunscreen landing squarely on his chest, right in the middle of his shirt.
"Sorry," Taehyung says cheekily, mouth curling back to showcase his teeth. He's body is shaking, and he bites down his lips in effort to hold back his laugh.
"Oh it's on," Jimin mutters to himself and this time it's his turn to dive for the bottle of sunscreen. Taehyung moves back immediately, flinging a handful of sand at Jimin's face, Jimin spits out the sand, thankful that he decided to put his sunglasses back on.
Taehyung's hair ends up becoming streaked with sunscreen and sand, with a well-aimed throw from Jimin and a little bit of wrestling for the sunscreen bottle in the sand. Jimin's hat and sunglasses fall off sometime during their sunscreen fight turned wrestling match, and it's incredible how his sunglasses don't end up breaking.
"Hey, that's cheating!" Taehyung wheezes as he tries to bat away Jimin's hand, but the strength behind it is weak.
"No it's not," Jimin defends as he continues to tickle Taehyung. "This is revenge for last time," he tells him and more laughter erupts from Taehyung. Jimin dodges a kick aimed towards his stomach as he smears more sunscreen onto the front of Taehyung's shirt.
Their fight ends up with them lying next to each other, breathless. Jimin grins at Taehyung as he pants, and he can see Taehyung's chest rapidly rising and falling as well. They're both streaked with sunscreen and sand, a complete and utter mess and Jimin thinks he has sunscreen down the back of shirt from when Taehyung squeezed over half the bottle down when he was on his back.
Jimin shifts slightly, and there's definitely sunscreen down his shirt. He turns to look at Taehyung, reaching for his hand. Taehyung grins back at him, eyes turning into small crescents andJimin's breath catches.
The sun shines directly on them, and Jimin continues to hold onto Taehyung's hand as he listens to the roar of the ocean in front of them. It's gross and sticky from the sunscreen, with bits of sand rubbing uncomfortably against Jimin's palm but he continues to hold on anyway. Most of the sunscreen ended up on their shirts and towels, with clumps of sand stuck to them like glitter sticking to dried glue.
"We need to buy more sunscreen, don't we?" Taehyung says once their breathing has evened out.
Jimin laughs, "Yeah, we do."
The two of them come back from the beach with slightly burned and pinkish skin. The skin on Jimin's nose is still peeling three days later, and his back aches whenever he leans against the car seat.
The smell of salt still lingers in their RV four days later, and Jimin has found a suspicious pile of sand on his bed more than once. The food in their refrigerator has dwindled down significantly, mainly because Taehyung had decided to bring a quarter of it to feed to the birds. Jimin is fairly certain that it isn't healthy for seagulls to eat japchae, but he isn't exactly a seagull expert.
The one thing they've gained from the visit to the beach was the sunscreen. They now have four bottles of sunscreen, each half-used in a possibly second sunscreen fight. So now the RV reeks of sunscreen as well, though it's not too entirely unpleasant.
It's nighttime, and they're in the parking lot of a mall somewhere Daejeon. Jimin finds himself staring at Taehyung in the darkness. The only sound Jimin can hear is the quiet hum of the lights outside and the rustling of sheets.
"I think there's sand in my pillow," Taehyung says, breaking the silence.
"Yeah, well I think there's still sand in my butt," Jimin retorts as he shifts as well. His legs scratch against something coarse and grainy and he sighs as he sits up, attempting to brush the sand off his bed with only the small bit of light from the lampposts outside to help him.
"Do you want to come outside with me tonight?" Taehyung asks, propping his head up with his elbow as he observes Jimin.
"We need a proper shower," he mutters underneath his breath as he finishes brushing away the sand grains. He's probably going to end up finding more sand tomorrow. "Yeah, sure.”
Taehyung bounces up out of his bed, wrapping his blanket around Jimin like a cape. Even in the mostly dark RV Jimin can tell how ridiculous he looks with the blanket pooling on the floor around his feet. He throws on a shirt,the closest one to his is the one from the beach, completely streaked with sunscreen, before following Taehyung outside onto the roof of the RV.
From the rooftop he can see most of the stars, but the effect is rather ruined by the fluorescent lights surrounding them. Taehyung opens up his blanket, offering room to Jimin and Jimin sits down next to him and pulls part of the blanket over their head.
He leans against Taehyung, looking at the stars with the small buzz of the lights in the background. He can still smell the salt and sunscreen underneath a week's worth of sweat on Taehyung's skin, as well as the kimchi he ate for dinner.
"It's kind of cloudy today," Taehyung observes as he leans back against his hands. Jimin feels something wet land on his leg and he looks up as well, squinting.
The moon is completely obscured by clouds, only a faint glow giving any indication that it's actually there. He can't find Altair or Vega, or any of the stars Taehyung told him about the other day.
"What was the forecast supposed to be today?" Jimin asks, not moving his head from Taehyung's shoulder.
Another drop lands on his leg, then another on his forehead, followed by one on his wrist. A second later, droplets of water bounce against the roof of the RV, splattering back up to hit Jimin once more.
Within the next five second, their blanket is absolutely soaked and Jimin feels ridiculous wet and soggy. He moves to look at Taehyung, who looks like a wet dog with his bangs matted to his forehead, and grins at him.
"I guess we know now," Taehyung says as he shakes his head, the droplets splattering.
The two of them scramble to the ladder, Taehyung holding the soggy blanket over their heads as Jimin tries not to slip on the roof. He edges towards the ladder, somehow managing to place a foot on the first rung.
Above him, Taehyung is grinning as he holds up the blanket. "Perfect weather for stargazing," he says with a smile as the rain continues to pour.
They manage to make it inside, both tumbling into the RV breathless and Jimin shuts the door with a laugh. Taehyung drops his soggy blanket onto his bed, moving to lie in Jimin's instead.
Jimin joins him, and he can't help the grin on his face. He's completely soaked and his clothes are sticking uncomfortably to his body, the excess sand they haven’t managed to get rid of is probably going to be plastered over him tomorrow, he might get pneumonia as well. But when he turns to look at Taehyung his chest feels like it's soaring and nothing matters anymore.
If Park Jimin were asked to list down everything he liked about Kim Taehyung, the list would probably take too long to make. There are many things Jimin likes about Taehyung, from the way his eyes always crinkle up first whenever he finds something funny, to his eccentric rectangle smile, to the way he even raps about pigeons.
He likes how sincere and genuine Taehyung is, towards him, the other members, and the fans at well. Sometimes he worries Taehyung's heart is going to grow so big it'll burst. ("That's because you like him, hyung," Jungkook tells him in an exasperated voice one day, setting down the game console beside him. "It's so obvious," he complains as a slow smile slides onto his face when the words winner flash on his side of the screen).
There are too many things Jimin likes about Taehyung, and the more he thinks about them the more things appear. (Yoongi rolls his eyes at him and calls him a complete sap and Hoseok just pats his shoulder. Namjoon hardly blinks and Seokjin nods at him).
One of the many things Jimin can almost immediately that he likes about Taehyung is his voice.
Taehyung spends most of his free time singing, a soft sort of humming that Jimin has to strain his ears to hear whenever he's in another room. He usually stops as soon as another member walks in, though not always.
"You have a really nice voice, you know," Jimin mumbles one afternoon while looking out the window. His head snaps up as soon as Taehyung's voice cuts off, and his face heats up. Jimin doesn't usually have a nonexistent filter like this.
"Thanks," Taehyung grins as he looks at Jimin, before turning his attention back to the road.
Jimin can feel himself flush, and he's not sure when his mouth switched to autopilot. "I really like your voice," he mutters once more.
"I really like your voice too, Jiminie," Taehyung replies chirpily, not missing a beat.
"I mean-," Jimin struggles for the right words and finds his mind at a blank. He reaches for Taehyung's free hand, the one that's lying on top of the armrest, and places his hand around his.
"I know what you mean," Taehyung says, voice sincere and he turns around briefly to make eye contact with Jimin once more.
When they're two days away from Seoul and it's nighttime, it's Jimin's turn to drive again. The sun has already set and Taehyung is snoring softly in the seat next to him. It's quiet and tranquil and Jimin opens one of the windows halfway.
If he tries hard enough, he can make out the pale light coming from the stars. He doesn't get the same feeling from them like when he watches the stars with Taehyung although that might just because of the occasional lights they pass.
"Hey," Jimin says, bringing the car to a stop on the side of the highway. He glances outside quickly, it's only really been them for the last ten miles or so. "Wake up," he gently nudges Taehyung's head, gingerly wiping the excess drool on Taehyung's shoulder.
"Huh?" Taehyung asks, eyelids fluttering as he rubs his eyes. He lets out a loud yawn as he stretches his arms, before bending down to reach his feet. "What is it?"
"We should stop for the night, it's getting kind of late," he explains as he unbuckles his seatbelt and heads for the back of the RV.
Taehyung nods sleepily in confirmation, moving mechanically as he changes into his pajamas. He climbs into bed with Jimin, despite how small the bed is, and ignoring the fact that’s the reason they have another bed.
Jimin doesn't say a word, he only allows himself to be pulled in closer to Taehyung's chest and wraps his arms around his best friend's waist accordingly. He's long since given up trying to get Taehyung to stay on his own bed, it's only ever been halfheartedly since their dorm change.
He can only hear the steady beating of Taehyung's heart, and the soft snores coming from him as well. Jimin breathes in slowly, chest feeling unnaturally warm for some odd reason. His closes his eyes, allowing Taehyung's breathing to lull him to sleep.
This time, Jimin isn't woken up by Taehyung but by the loud noises outside.
He jolts up immediately, and Taehyung blinks drowsily as he moves to sit up as well. His elbow awkwardly juts into Jimin's stomach.
"Are those..." Taehyung says and Jimin can see him squinting from the flashes of light filtering through the curtain, "...Fireworks?" he asks, still confused from just having woken up.
"I think so?" Jimin answers as he yawns and rubs his head. Taehyung's hair is sticking up all over the place and there's a small wet spot on his shirt. It's how he usually looks whenever Seokjin wakes them up for an early schedule, and he looks just as adorable then as he does now.
"Let's go watch them," Taehyung suggests, all sense of drowsiness is gone from him, a small spark replacing them in his eyes.
"But we don't even know if we can see them from here," Jimin complains, still allowing Taehyung to pull him outside anyway.
They both climb up to the roof of the RV and Jimin stiffles a yawn as there's a burst of color in front of them. He almost jumps at the small bang that follows, the sound of fireworks much louder outside than he anticipated.
"I wonder what they're for," he muses as his eyes follow one of the small sparks steadily climbing upwards. There's a small hiss, followed by an explosion of red and blue, before smoke replaces the bright color.
"Who knows," Taehyung says as he watches the fireworks in awe. "Too bad we can't watch them up closer."
Jimin says nothing in response, instead sneaking a glance at Taehyung. Taehyung watches the fireworks in awe, eyes following the trail each spark emblazons on the inky sky. Jimin's chest feels tight, reverberating from fireworks despite their distance and he blames that for what he does next.
"I like you," he blurts out and Taehyung's head is no longer craned towards the sky, instead it's facing him directly. Jimin suddenly feels hot, and his heart his hammering as loudly as the fireworks are exploding.
It's as lame as abrupt, unplanned confessions go and Jimin wants nothing more than to disappear immediately. The lack of distance between him and Taehyung suddenly feels too much, and his head is pounding from the fireworks around them.
"I like you too," Taehyung tells him as he reaches for his hand, intertwining his fingers. "Can I kiss you?" he asks and Jimin nods.
There's another hiss, followed behind a flash of light and then Taehyung's lips are on his. They're extremely dry and chapped, and Jimin closes his eyes. By the time the next firework explodes, Taehyung has pulled back.
"I never pegged you for being this romantic, Jiminie" Taehyung says as they look at one another.
"You were the one who kissed me under fireworks," he points out, and he can't help but snorting at how this all played out. Taehyung starts laughing, and Jimin soon follows, a fit of giggles overtaking both of them.
He’s heard countless of times of the giddy feeling people get when people accept their confession, but it feels nothing like that now. It feels incredibly just right, normal even. It's ridiculous, how easy it is with Taehyung.
"Good point," Taehyung wheezes, once he isn't clutching his stomach. There are tears at the corner of his eyes and when they look at each other again, Jimin can't help but start laughing once more.
The night they come back to the dorms, they're both seated outside on the small balcony, shoulder to shoulder. They have practice tomorrow and they probably shouldn't be out this late, but Jimin ignores that and the way the too small plastic chair digs into his butt, and instead focuses on the night sky in front of him. .
"Is this what you guys have been doing the entire road trip?" Jungkook asks, resting on his hands behind him. "Because if this is it then I'm glad that I didn't go."
"You're only saying that because you're jealous," Taehyung pokes out his tongue and kicks Jungkook's leg.
"Jealous of not having consistent wifi?" Jungkook wrinkles his nose and looks at them both incredulously. "As if."
"He's jealous," Jimin says to Taehyung and gives him a knowing look. Taehyung smiles back and him and Jungkook pretends to gag right in front of them.
"If this is how you guys were on the entire trip, I am so glad I didn't go," he tells them as he gets up, pretending to dust off his shorts even though he's been sitting on Jimin's blanket the entire time.
Jimin grins and presses a small kiss to Taehyung's cheek, just because he can. Jungkook rolls his eyes at them.
"I think I liked it better when you guys were both were oblivious," he mutters under his breath, just loudly enough so that they can hear, before leaving them.
"Okay, so that one is Arcturus, right?" Jimin asks Taehyung, pointing to where he thinks it is.
"No, it's that one," Taehyung laughs, as he points to another star instead.
Jimin scrunches up his face and bumps his shoulder against Taehyung's. "Fine, then. Okay, if that's the Big Dipper then where's Orion?"
"You can only see Orion in the winter," Taehyung says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"So show me more constellations since you're the expert," he tells Taehyung as he moves to rest his head on Taehyung's shoulder. It's warm and comfortable and the air outside is crisp as well.
Taehyung pauses for a moment, his fingers finally land on another star. "That constellation right there is Hercules, and underneath it is Scorpius," he explains as he traces them out in the sky.
He grins as Taehyung continues to point out more stars and constellations. Some of the stories he tells Jimin are completely made up and utterly ridiculous, but Jimin finds himself smiling the whole time, cheeks aching. He likes it like this, how easy and naturally everything comes whenever he’s with Taehyung.
Sometime later, he reaches for Taehyung's hand and like this, with the sky and the stars spread out before them, everything feels just right.
a/n: this fic was somehow written in two-ish weeks mainly bc its summer vacation and thank you reet for helping me beta this >___<