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btshogwartsauheadcanons · 7 years ago

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The Chaos Next Door (pt. 3)

Fucking finally the FULL VERSION. I know this is a change in gif but honestly this is what started it all for this fic.

Pairings: Gamer!Taehyung x Pianist!Yoongi

Summary:

What happens when a famous Gamer/Youtuber moves into the apartment in front of a nationally-renowned genius pianist?

A. Lots of bickering and name-calling

B. Self-discovery (the kind that only happens in fanfictions)

C. The two fall in love

D. All of the above

Whatever it is, it’s pure, utter, chaos.

Ratings: Fluff, slight Angst, Slow Burn

Featuring: Hoseok but with Alexa’s voice, Date Master Kim Seokjin, Kim Namjoon’s spirit, Ga(y)me Master Jeon Jungkook, and Jimin’s Thing for rollercoaster kisses

Word Count: 11.7k

A/N: Finally here’s the third chapter after so long. Thank you guys so much for reading this. This kind of just started with me fangirling over some cute taegi gifs and now it’s a full-blown (completed) work. I hope you guys stay tuned for more taegi because man do I still have more ideas ;).

Part 3 of 3.

“Min Yoongi, you are a grown man! I can’t believe you would do something so stupid,” Alexa spoke. Taehyung couldn’t help but pause while cooking, or rather, attempting to cook, to watch Yoongi react to the text messages Alexa was reading out. At the moment, he was at an in-between regarding whether he should feel afraid at the ferocity of Hoseok’s text messages or laugh because Alexa’s voice made it sound so deadpan. Yoongi, however, looked quite calm sitting in front of Alexa with his knees pulled up and the faintest trace of a pout on his lips.

“If it wasn’t for Seokjin-hyung coming to visit you and me monitoring my students’ dance rehearsal, you would be dead meat,” Alexa continued. “And I hope this time to take a break will force you to think about how to take better care of yourself.” There was a short pause and Taehyung waited to hear more until Alexa finished with “Message ended. Compose reply?”

“Alexa, compose reply,” Yoongi spoke. ��I’m sorry for worrying you. I…I won’t do it again.” Taehyung watched him pause and glance slightly at his still-bandaged fingers before asking Alexa to send the message.

“Well, I guess Seokjin-hyung is coming over later,” Yoongi said, standing up and walking over to sit down at the kitchen counter.

“That’s good news,” Taehyung nodded and stirred the stew he was cooking on a small pot on the stove. Apart from checking in on what Yoongi was doing from time to time, Taehyung could hardly let himself look away from anything he was cooking. “You won’t have to put up with my cooking anymore,” he chuckled.

“Your cooking is pretty good,” Yoongi said.

“I triggered the smoke alarm a couple of times and somehow managed to evaporate an entire pot of water.”

“You’re… improving,” Yoongi corrected himself. With that, he picked up a spoon, dipped it into the stew Taehyung was cooking, and tasted it. Taehyung saw Yoongi wince slightly before faking a smile and nodding. “See? It’s good.”

“It needs more salt, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, way more salt,” Yoongi nodded. Taehyung sprinkled three more pinches of salt into the stew. Ever since that night after Yoongi broke his fingers, Taehyung took it upon himself to take care of him. His neighbor, of course, denied his help and tried to do things by himself. But, after a few days of arguing, threatening, and an incident involving Yoongi burning himself after trying to eat ramyeon with his left hand, he finally gave in and let Taehyung take care of things.

Of course, Taehyung himself wasn’t that good at everything. Triggering a few smoke alarms wasn’t an exaggeration and if it wasn’t for the fact that Yoongi pretty much wore only black and white, half his laundry would have been stained. But, after a bit of practice, he eventually learned his way around things.

He was surprised though that Yoongi wasn’t fed up with him yet. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m the only one readily available,’ he thought sadly as he tasted his stew again to make sure it was actually palatable.

“I’ll start setting the table,” Yoongi offered, tiptoeing to reach the plates in the cupboard. Taehyung’s hand immediately shot out to take a couple of plates instead.

“I can take care of it, go sit down already,” he said, nodding his head at the table.

“Taehyung, I’m not completely helpless you know,” Yoongi said, raising his left hand and twiddling his fingers in the air. “Besides, you’ve been a lot of help here lately. I can still do my part.”

“Even with one hand, you can probably do things better than me,” Taehyung felt himself pout slightly.

“I… I didn’t mean that,” Yoongi frowned slightly, pouting his lips again. “I must have worded it wrong again… I-I meant that you’ve been really nice to me by helping out. I guess, nicer than I really thought you could be. And you’re already pretty nice in the first place.”

Taehyung paused what he was doing as realization set in. Yoongi did tend to say things in such a way that sounded a bit blunt and bordering on harsh at times. But when he explained himself again, like right now, Taehyung finally understood the care and consideration that Yoongi really meant.

“I… I see,” he nodded. With a small smile to himself, Taehyung remembered something that his grandmother always reminded him: “Sometimes people would rather hear ‘You’re welcome’ rather than dodging the compliment.” With that, Taehyung turned to Yoongi and said “You’re welcome. I’m happy to do it for you.”

Another one of Yoongi’s small, embarassed smiles appeared on his face and Taehyung immediately gave himself a mental high-five for saying the right thing that produced the right reaction. He turned away and started ladling the stew in a bigger bowl so that he could hide his own embarassed, giddy smile.

“I-I’ll serve this soon so sit at the table already,” he said.

“I’m going to set the table too,” Yoongi said adamantly and pulled a couple of bowls from the shelf. This time, Taehyung let him be.

…

Yoongi never thought that receiving help would be so hard.

Physically, of course, it was less draining having someone with two capable hands helping around the house compared to constantly spilling things himself and using twice as much energy. But, there was something mentally draining with having to admit to needing help after Yoongi had lived so independently before. He knew how to take care of things himself. Whenever he had a high fever or a cold, he’d just heat some soup, drink some medicine, and sleep it off. So having to sit back and watch someone else do things for him made him feel quite unsettled.

Another variable that factored into his feeling of slight discomfort was the fact that that someone who was now doing things for him over the past two weeks was Kim Taehyung. Actually, discomfort wouldn’t exactly be the term. No, the feeling of having Taehyung constantly around him was restlessness. If Taehyung was in one room of the house, Yoongi felt caught in a limbo of whether or not he wanted to be in that room or out of it. And as much as he hated to admit it, seeing Taehyung eating across him at the dining table made his previously lonely apartment seem much more… cosy. As if somehow, it was meant to be that way.

“Yoongi! Earth and stars and the planet Mars to Yoongi!”

Yoongi blinked in surprise as he was snapped out of his thoughts to find Taehyung calling him to attention. “S-sorry, what were you saying?” he asked.

“Do you need help eating again?” Taehyung repeated his question. “You were holding your spoon weirdly and not eating anything.”

“It’s nothing, I was just thinking about stuff,” Yoongi mumbled and went back to eating, spooning up his stew using is left hand. It took quite a bit of practice doing that but before he learned how, Taehyung had to help him eat at one point. He didn’t do a bad job of it but Yoongi felt a hundred times more restless when it happened.

“Alright then,” Taehyung shrugged and returned to eating his stew. Whenever he ate, Yoongi noticed how he would always fill up his mouth with food, making his cheeks look extra puffy when he did so. Yoongig couldn’t help but find it quite endearing, even if Taehyung did tend to have sauce or bits of rice stuck near his lips.

“Maybe you’re the one who needs help eating,” Yoongi snickered as he looked over at him.

“What?” Taehyung glanced up. Yoongi licked his thumb and reached over to wipe a trace of sauce at the very corner of Taehyung’s lips. His eyes widened slightly with surprise at the suddenness of what he did and Yoongi himself instantly felt a rush of embarassment. But not before having a short, two-second thought about what it would feel like to really run his thumb across Taehyung’s lips.

God, what was happening to him?

“M-maybe you should eat with some paper napkins and stuff on hand,” Yoongi stammered and folded his hands on the table in front of him to prevent them from doing anything he’d regret later. “You usually have sauce around your mouth and everything…”

“R-right, thanks for telling me,” Taehyung nodded. The two of them fell silent for a while when suddenly Yoongi heard someone knocking on his door outside.

“MIN YOONGI YOU BETTER NOT BE DEAD,” he heard Seokjin’s voice echo through the door. Normally, Yoongi would be annoyed by the interruption but right now, he eagerly headed to the door to answer it.

“Thank god, you’re still alive,” Seokjin sighed with relief as soon as Yoongi opened the door. Without even waiting for Yoongi to let him in or greet him, Seokjin pushed past and placed a large shopping bag on the table. From there, he proceeded to remove different kinds of containers full of food from the bag.

“Sure, Seokjin-hyung, you can come right in,” Yoongi said belatedly before following him to the dining area again.

“Don’t get all sassy with me, I’m your food angel, remember?” Seokjin raised an eyebrow at him before smiling at Taehyung and patting him on the head. “But I see you have another guardian here too.”

“I’m not much of one,” Taehyung smiled sheepishly.

“Anyone who takes care of Min Yoongi here is a great guardian,” Seokjin reasoned. “But seriously, thanks a lot for helping him, Taehyung.”

“It’s not a problem,” he smiled kindly and shook his head. “My grandmother told me it’s always good to help a neighbor out.”

“I bet I owe you a million favors right now,” Yoongi said.

“Don’t think of it as that,” Taehyung waved him off.

“Alright, I can’t stay quite long. I just brought a bit of food with me for Yoongi to eat,” Seokjin said, folding the empty shopping bag and placing it under his arm.

“A bit?” Yoongi raised an eyebrow at the mountain of food containers on his table.

“Share it with Taehyung then if it’s too much.”

“Wow, did you cook all of this?” Taehyung grinned as he opened a container full of gimbap. “I’ll definitely be having some of this.”

“Oh yeah, while I’m here…” Seokjin smiled sneakily and edged closer to Taehyung. “Any updates on our bet?”

“Bet?” Yoongi frowned. Taehyung, however, grinned smugly and crossed his arms.

“Still no news,” he said. “ And your two weeks are almost up. Face it, Seokjin. You’re going to lose.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Seokjin returned the smug smile and raised up his phone. “Jimin just asked me about advice on how to dress well for a ‘friendly hangout.’ The last time he did was when he went out with someone.” Taehyung’s face fell.

“Th-that doesn’t mean anything!” he stammered.

“What are you two talking about?” Yoongi finally asked when the confusion was too much to handle.

“We made a bet with Hoseok at the party about when Jungkook and Jimin were going to start going out,” Seokjin answered. “And I bet that they would get together in two weeks.”

“I guess it’s too late to tell you this now but, don’t ever make a bet with Seokjin-hyung,” Yoongi warned Taehyung. “I once had to take a selfie while sipping a milkshake and have it posted on his food blog.”

“It was a cute selfie,” Seokjin pointed out. “But he’s right, never make a bet with me.” Taehyung pouted and Yoongi couldn’t help but chuckle at his expression. Just then, Taehyung’s phone started ringing. Seokjin took one look at it and started cackling. Meanwhile, a look of worry came upon Taehyung’s face when he saw the caller ID as he picked up the phone.

“It’s Jungkook…”

“Put him on speakerphone why don’t you?” Seokjin grinned. Taehyung pouted again and did as he was told.

“Yeah, Jungkook?” he answered the phone hesitantly.

“Dude, you gotta help me,” Jungkook immediately said.

“W-what happened?” Taehyung asked, casting a nervous glance at Seokjin.

“I… kind of asked Jimin out on a date,” Jungkook said slowly. At the sound of this, Seokjin began jumping around cheerfully and waving his arms in the air. Yoongi grinned and shook his head at his hyung’s antics.

“I told you to ask him a month from now,” Taehyung groaned.

“I couldn’t help it!” Jungkook protested. “I was just chatting with him and showing him memes and before I knew I just typed ‘Wanna go out to a theme park?’ and he said ‘Sure!’ and now I don’t what to do because I haven’t said it was a date and I kind of want it to be a date but I don’t know if he wants it to be a date so you have to help me here.”

“Well, why are you asking me? I’ve never been on a date before,” Taehyung said. Yoongi couldn’t help but suddenly look up Taehyung who, for some reason, also turned to look at him as soon as he said so. Quickly, Yoongi looked away and pretended to study something on the ground. But what Taehyung said did remain in his head.

“I think I could be of assistance here,” Seokjin said, holding his hand out to Taehyung for the phone.

“Wait, is that Seokjin-hyung? Are you on speakerphone?!” Jungkook spluttered.

“…Sorry,” Taehyung grinned sheepishly. “Yoongi’s here too, by the way.”

“Oh wow Yoongi-hyung is there too. Are you so whipped tha—”

“Okay here’s Seokjin-hyung with stellar dating advice,” Taehyung cut him off and handed the phone over to Seokjin.

“Pro-dating advice coming right up!” Seokjin exclaimed, thrusting a hand in the air as he walked into Yoongi’s bedroom.

“Sure, you can use my room too if you want,” Yoongi said belatedly again.

“Is Jungkook in good hands?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“Very,” Yoongi nodded. “Seokjin-hyung is quite the expert with both girls and guys.”

“I see,” Taehyung nodded. “And… what about you?”

“Me?” Yoongi blinked in surprise at the suddenness of the question.

“I-If you’re comfortable talking about it, that is,” Taehyung said hurriedly.

“It’s fine,” Yoongi shrugged. “And to answer your question, I’ve never gone on a date.”

“No one’s ever asked you?”

“Yeah, and I never asked anyone. I do get pretty busy studying for piano competitions,” Yoongi added. “But I guess I kind of do have time now.”

Ever since the night of his accident, Yoongi found himself in that same position he was in before wherein he stopped playing the piano completely. And it wasn’t just because of his injured hand. It’s not like he hated the piano and wanted to smash it to pieces. Yoongi could never hate music. But right now, he just needed some time to breathe and think things through.

Of course, with Taehyung around causing that overall restless feeling, it was harder than he thought.

“Well, you can make a Tinder account with one hand,” Taehyung shrugged.

“Hmmm,” Yoongi smiled and played along. “’Min Yoongi. 25. Genius pianist.’ That sounds like a pretty good profile.”

“More like ‘Min Yoongi. Annoying old turtle. Black and white aesthetic,’” Taehyung teased.

“Well that’s much better than ‘Kim Taehyung. Full-time furry. I love foxes.’”

“Well, for your information I don’t need Tinder. I’ve got a ton of subscribers who would totally go on a date with me,” Taehyung bragged.

“How come you haven’t gone on one then?” Yoongi challenged.

“Well, if I do want to go on a date, I want it to be with the right person,” Taehyung said almost quietly. “I’m not really the type who’d go on blind dates or mixers or stuff like that. I’d rather get to know the person first and ask them out if I see a possibility of getting together.”

“I see,” Yoongi nodded. “Well, we’re kind of the same then. I don’t see the point in spending time with someone if I’m not quite sure I want to spend even more time with them.”

“Yeah?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, I bet I’m still a bit more different from you.”

“How so?” Yoongi snorted.

“Because…” Taehyung paused and Yoongi saw him bite the corner of his lip a bit. “I kind of… like guys?”

And for a second there, the Earth seemed to stop revolving. Yoongi questioned every statistics report he looked up regarding the gay population in Korea. According to them, only one out of twenty males were homosexual but there was literally a gay, Korean man standing right next to Yoongi in his very own kitchen. ‘Accurate statistics, my ass,’ he thought.

“Why are you quiet?” Taehyung’s voice broke Yoongi out of his reverie.

“Uh, nothing. I totally respect and acknowledge that,” he replied. “It’s just…”

“Not what you expected?” Taehyung guessed.

“No,” Yoongi shook his head. “I mean, it is a bit of a surprise. But I was just thinking about how statistics often show that not a lot of men in Korea are gay when literally all of my friends are. Except for Hoseok, that is.”

“Ahhh, the designated straight,” Taehyung nodded sagely.

“Every group needs one,” Yoongi grinned.

“Well, I kind of figured you would be cool with it so… thanks for actually being cool with it,” Taehyung said and turned his attention to the large stack of food containers on the table. “I’ll go ahead and start putting this in the refridgerator now,” he offered. Yoongi, having learned of Taehyung’s tenacity to take care of things himself, decided to let him be and instead busied himself with packing away the used dishes. Seokjin was still in Yoongi’s room giving what seemed like a ton of stellar dating advice so it was just him and Taehyung alone in the rest of the apartment. Taehyung started washing the dishes after putting away Seokjin’s food and Yoongi, after being caught in that same limbo of stay-or-go and choosing to stay, leaned beside him on the counter.

“You know, I really think I should repay you for helping me out here,” Yoongi mumbled as he played with the bandage on his fingers.

“And I told you, I really don’t think you need to,” Taehyung said exasperatedly but with a bit of a smile on his face.

“What if I treat you to a meal or two instead?” Yoongi offered. “Or to coffee or something?” Taehyung paused for a minute and seemed to consider it.

“That would work,” he nodded and Yoongi stood up even straighter. “I don’t really drink coffee though…”

“How about hot chocolate?” Yoongi asked. “I know a place that serves great hot chocolate.” At the mention of the words ‘hot chocolate’, Taehyung’s eyes practically lit up.

“Bingo!” he grinned. ��Café it is then.”

“Great,” Yoongi smiled. “When is it okay for you to go out?"

“Maybe… Wednesday? I recorded a video in advance for that day so I just need to do a bit of editing,” Taehyung said.

“Alright,” Yoongi nodded. “Wednesday it is. My treat, okay?”

“Okay,” Taehyung grinned.

“So,” Seokjin suddenly spoke up, making both of them turn around in surprise. He stood behind the kitchen counter with a smug grin on his face, holding Taehyung’s phone in his hand. “Should I be giving more dating advice to anyone?”

“I-It’s just a café hang out, geez!” Taehyung stammered.

“I’m being a good neighbor!” Yoongi protested at the same time.

“Alright, alright,” Seokjin nodded, placing Taehyung’s phone back on the counter. “No need to reason yourself out of this.” He picked up his shopping bag and headed to the door. “I got to get back to work now. See you guys!” he waved.

“Whatever,” Yoongi grumbled.

“Oh, and remember to use condoms!” Seokjin added.

“GET OUT!”

…

“So, how did your date go with Jimin?” Taehyung asked, flopping down on his bed with his phone pressed against his ear. Even though he knew he’d have to do Seokjin’s request because he lost the bet, Taehyung still felt really happy for Jungkook. He was always a bit uncomfortable around girls, since they constantly wanted to ask him out, and guys, because he was afraid of social rejection due to his sexuality. But now, it looked like Jungkook did have serious feelings towards Jimin who, based on impressions from the party, seemed to be a pretty sweet guy.

“I almost don’t want to talk right now because I’m afraid you’ll make fun of how I sound,” Jungkook answered. Even through the phone, Taehyung could detect the giddiness and joy in Jungkook’s voice.

“Fine, fine. I won’t make fun of you for it,” Taehyung chuckled. “I swear on my beloved collection of ‘Undertale’ merch.”

“Alright, I trust you,” Jungkook gave in. Taehyung heard him take in a deep breath before finally continuing. “God, there’s so much to say. The date itself was already really fun and Jimin was really adventurous when it came to the rides. He’s definitely my type.”

“That’s good news,” Taehyung grinned. “Go on! I want to hear more,” he pressed.

“I know, I know. I’m getting there,” Jungkook rushed. “Jimin is… he feels like more than just my type.”

“Like he’s your soulmate or something?”

“I don’t like how cheesy that sounds but yes, kind of. It’s hard to explain,” Jungkook paused for a while and Taehyung waited silently for him to continue. “There was just, this moment when we were riding the spinning teacups. Jimin was right in front of me laughing his head off and I was just watching him and somehow, it felt as if it was meant to be. It felt as if I was meant to be near him and seeing or making him laugh.”

Taehyung felt himself staring wide-eyed at the ceiling while listening to Jungkook talk about this feeling he’d been having for quite a while. The feeling of being with someone and someplace where he thought he belonged.

“Hello? Taehyung?” Jungkook spoke.

“O-oh, sorry. I spaced out a bit,” Taehyung stammered. “That’s great news though. Really, I can imagine how cute you two are going to be.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you forever alone,” Jungkook joked.

“Actually…” Taehyung bit his lip. “I… I think I like someone too.”

“Hmmm… could that ‘someone’ be that genius pianist Min Yoongi that I noticed you’ve been pining for all this time?”

“Yeah, yeah. I admit it,” Taehyung smiled slightly and covered his face with is arm. “I think I’m in love with Min Yoongi.”

“You’re really challenging the boundaries of my sarcasm right here,” Jungkook replied.

“Can’t you just say ‘Congratulations’?”

“Congratulations!!!”

“That didn’t sound at all sarcastic,” Taehyung said sarcastically.

“Well, what are you going to do about it now?” Jungkook asked.

“Yoongi invited me to go to a café with him with good hot chocolate,” Taehyung explained. “Should I… confess then?”

“Confess when you feel like confessing,” Jungkook said.

“When did you confess to Jimin?” Taehyung asked.

“Like, when we were riding the biggest rollercoaster in the park, right when it started.”

“Great timing.”

“Hey, I felt that it was the right moment,” Jungkook protested. “And Jimin kissed me right when we were on the loop-de-loop. Rollercoaster kisses are quite thrilling.”

“Aish, you two are too cute,” Taehyung chuckled. He himself couldn’t quite imagine kissing Yoongi on a rollercoaster.

“You’ll know when it’s the right time,” Jungkook said.

“I guess…” Taehyung nodded.

“Oh, hold on. I think Jimin’s calling me too.”

“Don’t keep your man waiting!” Taehyung giggled. “See you, Jungkook.”

“Good luck with Yoongi!” Jungkook added before hanging up. Taehyung smiled again, imagining the excitement on his best friend’s face, before putting down the phone. It felt good finally saying what had been pent up in his chest for so long. But that still didn’t quite undo the tangle of worries in his head about Yoongi. Even though Taehyung pretty much realized his feelings for him already, he knew Yoongi must still be in a lot of mental turmoil because of his accident. He may not appear so depressed now, but Taehyung could still tell he was a boat marooned far away from the shore.

Maybe confessing soon wasn’t the right time. Taehyung didn’t want to further complicate things in Yoongi’s head. But for some reason, Taehyung didn’t feel quite restless about not being able to tell Yoongi about how he felt. The two of them were neighbors after all, and right now, Taehyung still enjoyed those moments with Yoongi in his apartment doing chores that he normally hated doing.

Yeah, it still felt like he had all the time in the world.

…

Dressing up with only one hand was hard. But now, Yoongi realized that dressing up nicely to go out using only one hand was even harder.

“Damn it,” Yoongi cursed out loud when he found out he unbuttoned his shirt wrong again. With one hand, he angrily undid all his buttons and went back to the closet to see if he had something else that was good to wear that didn’t have so many damn buttons. All the other nice things he had to wear were the suits he put on for his competitions. He couldn’t exactly wear that to a simple café outing. But then again, Kim Taehyung probably would.

Finally, his eyes landed on a dark green, turtleneck sweater he received from Seokjin for his birthday. Judging by the tag that was still on the clothes, Yoongi hadn’t worn it yet. ‘Well, there’s a first time for everything,’ he thought, taking off his button-down shirt and pulling the sweater over his head. He looked at himself in the mirror.

Seokjin must have really thought this present through because Yoongi found himself liking the sweater. The color wasn’t any of his usual black or white, basically Seokjin’s way of adding any other color to Yoongi’s wardrobe, but the dark green was something that he liked. Not too bright or loud. The sweater seemed to be the right size too since it didn’t completely swallow him up either and it went well with the black, skinny jeans he was wearing.

Satisfied with how his clothes look, Yoongi ran a comb through his hair to fix it a bit before finally putting on some earrings. Having about three piercings in each ear was one of his little ways of rebelling against his parents. Finally, he deemed himself ready and stayed in the living room to wait for Taehyung.

It didn’t take long before Yoongi heard a knock on the door which caused him to stand up a bit too eagerly to answer it.

“Hey, did you have to wait long?” Taehyung greeted with a slightly anxious smile on his face. He was wearing blue, denim jeans and a teal shirt with a white jacket on top that had really cool paint splatter designs. He also had on a dark blue beret hat. Again, not something Yoongi saw himself wearing personally but Taehyung really did manage to pull it off.

“No, I just finished changing too,” Yoongi shook his head and stepped out of the apartment before locking the door behind him. “So, shall we go then?”

“Sure!” Taehyung grinned enthusiastically and the two of them started walking. “Oh, almost forgot.” He paused and pulled out a pair of shades. “As much as I love of my fans, they do kind of get into your personal space.”

“That’s understandable,” Yoongi nodded. “You can borrow this too if you want,” he said, handing him a face mask that he kept in his pocket.

“Sad that I’ll have to cover up my handsome face,” Taehyung sighed, taking the mask from Yoongi and putting it on.

“You don’t have to completely cover your face,” Yoongi muttered. Taehyung smirked at him.

“Why? Want to see more of it?” he teased. Yoongi felt himself blush and quickly walked ahead.

“Do whatever you want! I’ll start catching a bus.” Behind him, Taehyung laughed and walked quickly to catch up.

The two of them managed to quickly board a bus and, since there weren’t that many people around, Taehyung didn’t have to wear the mask Yoongi lent him. Not that Yoongi completely minded since he himself couldn’t imagine being that famous to the point where he had to hide in pubic to avoid being approached so often.

Talking to Taehyung was never tiring either. Even though they haven’t known each other for so long, Yoongi found his more talkative side being drawn out as he chatted with Taehyung. He was quite a good listener too. Even though Taehyung often had a blank look on his face while listening to Yoongi, he didn’t drift away from the conversation at all. After worrying for practically the whole night about how awkward things might be with Taehyung when they went out, Yoongi found himself relaxing instead at how easy things were going.

“Not a lot of people come over to this café so you can leave your mask off too,” Yoongi suggested as soon as they stepped out of the bus, directly in front of the café.

“’Cityscape,’” Taehyung looked up and read aloud the title. “Ahh! I get it. ‘City’ and ‘escape’, right?” he grinned proudly.

“Congratulations, you have proven that you do indeed have ten brain cells,” Yoongi clapped slowly and walked ahead into the café.

“Come on, don’t be mean like that,” Taehyung chuckled and chased after him.

Inside, the café itself had a simple, minimalistic, black-and-white aesthetic with some pops of gray, yellow, and dark red. Kind of like a city, considering the name of the café of course. What Yoongi liked the best were the watercolor paintings of cityscapes, the skyline of Seoul sketched onto the white walls, and the elegant, black piano that rested against the wall at the far end of the café.

Yoongi smiled at the employees behind the counter, Mr. Sangmin and Ms. Sonyeo, who both knew him as a regular visitor, and went ahead to sit at his usual spot near the piano. Meanwhile, Taehyung followed slowly behind him, admiring the aesthetic of the café. His eyes lingered over the art pieces and he ran his fingers over some of the wall sketches before finally sitting down at the table beside Yoongi. Even so, Yoongi noticed that Taehyung’s eyes never quite stopped roaming the interiors of the café and he smiled to himself, glad to see that he was right in thinking that Taehyung would enjoy the place.

“Are you two ready to order?” Mr. Sangmin asked, approaching their table.

“Just the usual for me,” Yoongi said.

“One americano and one vegetable sandwich,” Mr. Sangmin nodded.

“Any recommendations?” Taehyung asked, looking up at Yoongi.

“The cinnamon-spiced hot chocolate here is really good. I tried it once,” Yoongi said.

“I’ll have that one then,” Taehyung told Mr. Sangmin. “And the berries cheesecake.”

“Hey, it’s lunchtime. Eat proper food too,” Yoongi nagged.

“Fine, I’ll have the same sandwich as his then,” Taehyung added.

“Alright, please wait a few minutes for your order to be completed,” Mr. Sangmin bowed once before leaving Yoongi and Taehyung alone.

“I can kind of see why you like this place,” Taehyung said, looking around the place again. “There aren’t too many people inside and the designs and art are nice to look at when you some time to think. Not to mention the fact that this probably looks like the inside of your wardrobe,” he added, grinning.

“Hey, I did a wardrobe change today,” Yoongi said, gesturing at his sweater.

“I noticed,” Taehyung chuckled. “It looks good on you. But you know, I bet you could pull off pastel colors too.”

“That will be the day when you decide to wear a plain t-shirt and jeans outside,” Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“I’m willing to make a trade,” Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“In your dreams, Kim Taehyung.”

“Your drinks,” Mr. Sangmin said, appearing with his tray. “One americano and one cinnamon-spiced hot chocolate.” He laid down two steaming mugs in front of them. “The sandwiches will be ready in a few minutes,” he added before leaving.

“Wow, this smells amazing,” Taehyung said, leaning over to sniff his hot chocolate.

“It tastes amazing too,” Yoongi added, blowing on his coffee before taking a sip. “I tried it once for a bit of a sugar rush and it really hit the spot.”

“Hey! We should take a picture together,” Taehyung exclaimed, pulling out his phone. “And we’re against the pretty art against the wall too so it’s perfect!”

“I’m not much of a social media person,” Yoongi backed away slightly. “And you probably have a million followers on Instagram or Twitter or whatever so…”

“I’m not posting this,” Taehyung shook his head. “I just want to keep it for myself and look back on it.” Yoongi paused for a while, considering this, before taking out his phone as well.

“In that case, I want a picture too,” he said. Taehyung grinned and held out his phone with the camera ready. Yoongi leaned in slightly towards Taehyung and smiled as he took the picture.

“Want me to do yours?” Taehyung offered. Yoongi nodded and handed him his phone before they took a picture again. This time, Taehyung made a funny face so Yoongi decided to join in and flash his signature gummy smile.

“Aww, I kind of want this picture more,” Taehyung pouted as he looked at the image on Yoongi’s phone.

“No problem, I’ll send it to you later,” Yoongi said and resumed drinking his coffee.

“Really?” Taehyung grinned excitedly.

“Sure,” Yoongi nodded, looking at the picture again on his phone. He never really took selfies but maybe he wouldn’t mind so much if it was with him and Taehyung.

…

Their sandwiches arrived a few minutes later, along with the berries cheesecake that Taehyung more than willingly shared with Yoongi. A few people came and went in the café but none that seemed to recognize who he or Gamer V was. Taehyung was thankful for that, he didn’t quite want anyone interrupting them.

“So, one more week until you get to remove the bandages,” Taehyung said. Both of their drinks, and the refills they ordered to pass the time, were long gone. It was mid-afternoon and only two middle school students were in the café.

“Yeah,” Yoongi nodded, running a finger lightly over the bandaged portion of his hand. “I think I’ve forgotten how to eat and dress up with both hands now,” he joked.

“I’ll kind of miss being able to just come and go in your apartment,” Taehyung sighed. “It’s nice seeing a place that is a lot less messy than mine.” Yoongi smiled at the joke and Taehyung felt as if the floor was falling beneath them again. ‘And I’ll miss spending more time with you,’ he thought. He would miss those times when Yoongi chose not to leave the kitchen or the laundry room when Taehyung was busy taking care of things and the meaningless, casual conversations they shared together.

“You can still drop by of course,” Yoongi said, looking up at him. “After everything you’ve done for me, you’re more than welcome to come over. If you’re not busy of course.” He paused and his gaze turned down at the table. “I know I won’t be busy any time soon.”

“You still don’t feel like playing the piano?” Taehyung asked. For a second, Yoongi glanced at the black piano against the wall right beside them.

“Not exactly,” Yoongi shook his head. “It feels like I’m waiting for it to call for me.” He looked up at Taehyung and blushed slightly. “Sorry, that sounded like a dumb way to say it.”

“I say dumber things all the time,” Taehyung waved it off. “But I guess, take all the time you need. I mean, you do need a break after all those years of attending competitions.”

“These breaks make me feel restless though,” Yoongi bit his lip. He glanced up at Taehyung before standing up. “Excuse me, I just need to use the restroom.”

“Sure,” Taehyung nodded, moving aside to let Yoongi pass through. While waiting, Taehyung played with the empty sugar packets that Yoongi used for his americano, slowly ripping them into smaller pieces and sprinkling them on the table. Suddenly, he heard the sound of piano playing and looked up to find the two middle-school girls sitting on the piano bench. One of them, a girl with long hair in a ponytail, seemed to be trying to remember a piece by playing it a bit slowly. Taehyung smiled when he heard it, especially now that he knew the name of the piece: ‘Nuvole Bianche’, the first piece he heard Min Yoongi play.

“Man, I can’t figure out what this next part is,” one of the students sighed, taking her hands off the piano.

“I’ve heard this piece before,” Taehyung said helpfully. The two students turned around and he smiled to show he was friendly. “It goes like this…” He hummed the next few parts of the melody.

“Oh, that makes sense,” said the girl playing as her fingers found the right keys to press.

“Do you like classical music too?” her friend, a girl with long pigtails, asked.

“Not exactly, but I have a friend who’s amazing at piano,” Taehyung grinned. “He plays classical piano and he’s a genius at it! He can pretty much play that entire piece perfectly,” he boasted just as Yoongi left the bathroom. “Oh! There he is!” Taehyung pointed at him and waved.

“What’s going on?” Yoongi frowned in confusion.

“I was telling these two girls here about how good you are at piano,” Taehyung explained.

“Oh,” Yoongi rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly. “I’m pretty good… I guess.”

“What happened to your hand, mister?” the girl with pigtails asked, pointing at Yoongi’s bandaged hand.

“Oh, this?” Yoongi held it up. “It’s just an accident.”

“Can you play something for us?” the ponytailed girl asked, looking up at him with a smile on her face.

“Maybe next time,” Taehyung said hurriedly, coming in to Yoongi’s rescue. “He can’t exactly play with his right hand yet.” But, to his surprise, Yoongi gave a small nod of his head.

“I can use my left…” he said, almost silently. The two girls left the piano bench to let Yoongi sit down. Carefully, he stretched out the fingers of his left hand before resting them lightly on the keys. There was a strange look on Yoongi’s face: a mixture of hesitation and willingness, as if he was daring himself to jump off a cliff. Taehyung chose to step back and watch what he was going to do next.

Gently, Yoongi played the starting notes of a simple melody. Even after not playing for two weeks, he didn’t sound rusty or out of practice.

“That doesn’t sound like ‘Nuvole Bianche,’” the ponytailed girl said. Yoongi didn’t mind her and kept on playing.

“It isn’t,” Taehyung shook his head. Yoongi only had his left hand to play, but the music that came out of the piano sounded beautiful and whole and complete. And, since he dared to think about it, Taehyung felt that he liked how he played now compared to the countless times he’s heard him practice before. And he knew why: because now, he could feel Yoongi’s emotion running through the music.

After Yoongi finished playing, Taehyung saw the two employees behind the café counter smile and clap their hands. Even the two middle-school girls they were with clapped. Yoongi smiled and bowed at all of them before finally turning around to face Taehyung. A beat of silence passed between the two of them and Taehyung felt as if the floor was falling underneath them again. Yoongi played for barely a minute or two but it felt as if everything he felt about music was condensed into a simple piece, and Taehyung couldn’t be any prouder. In front of him, he saw Yoongi’s left fingers tapping against his leg, as if playing some invisible piano.

“I know it’s a bit early…” Taehyung started to speak. “But do you want to head home already?” A small smile appeared on Yoongi’s face at Taehyung’s suggestion.

“I do have some work to do.”

…

A week later, Yoongi’s fingers were finally healed and the bandages removed. Taehyung practically held his breath the entire time in anticipation when he watched the doctor double-check the state of Yoongi’s fingers. When he was finally deemed okay, Taehyung felt as if he was the more excited one between the two of them.

Since then, the piano playing heard from Yoongi’s apartment barely stopped. Of course, Yoongi still followed their designated schedule and stopped playing whenever it was Taehyung’s time to record. But now, Taehyung didn’t actually mind the music coming from the apartment across him. Instead of hearing the same piece being played again and again, now he heard a number of different ones played every day. Some, based on the sound of Yoongi playing the same phrases again and again, sounded like compositions in progress. And even though Taehyung knew Yoongi was well enough now to do cook food and everything else for himself, he couldn’t help but stop by once in a while to make sure Yoongi still ate something in between his bursts of distracted creativity.

Amidst all that, Taehyung realized he was only falling harder for Min Yoongi, the man who was growing to be one of the most hardworking, and passionate people he’s ever met.

“Why don’t you just ask him out already?” Jungkook asked, not looking up as he moved his game piece further along the board. It was a Friday night, and therefore, Board Game Night for the two of them, plus Park Jimin of course.

“You really think so?” Taehyung sighed, his eyes not quite leaving the sight of Jimin and Jungkook’s intertwined hands. He wasn’t jealous, just hopeful that maybe he would get to do that Yoongi. The genius pianist did have very beautiful hands.

“Based on what you’ve been saying, I really do think that Yoongi-hyung likes you,” Jimin said. He wasn’t as invested in the board game as Jungkook was and seemed very set on helping Taehyung gain the confidence to somehow ask Yoongi out. “He’s never invited anyone to that ‘Cityscape’ café before. Inviting you to a place dear to him, a place he hasn’t even shown his friends, sure sounds like a sign. Don’t you think so, Jungkook?”

“And now I’m twenty-five points ahead!” Jungkook grinned enthusiastically, taking a bunch of energy tokens and adding it to his stash. Taehyung and Jimin both rolled their eyes at his ‘helpfulness.’

“Well, if you put it that way… it does kind of sound like a sign,” Taehyung muttered thoughtfully. “But what if he just did it to show me to a good place and everything?”

“Yoongi-hyung usually doesn’t have surface-level motives for things,” Jimin explained. “He didn’t invite you just for that. He probably thought you would really like the place, thus meaning that he thought a lot about whether you would like it or not.”

“And after all you’ve done for him, I think he’s bound to have some feelings for you,” Jungkook added.

“So you have been listening to the discussion,” Taehyung said.

“If I were you, I’ll just ask him out,” Jungkook shrugged. “I mean, it worked for me.”

“It worked out very well,” Jimin smiled, resting his chin on Jungkook’s shoulder.

“Aish, you guys are so sweet,” Taehyung giggled at the two of them.

“Great, it should motivate you to ask Yoongi-hyung out,” Jimin nodded. Taehyung smiled and sighed.

“You know, it kind of is.”

…

‘Maybe he’s not coming tonight,’ Yoongi thought with a sigh as he looked up at the wall clock for what was probably the fifteenth time that evening. He glanced down at the piece of sheet music with the new composition he was working on and then up at the door and then back at his work. Finally, he groaned and mussed up his hair with frustration. This was driving him beyond crazy.

Even after Yoongi got his bandages removed, Taehyung would still come to check on him to make sure he ate. Yoongi did tell him he didn’t mind that his coming over and would sometimes even cook dinner in advance just so Taehyung had less to do and worry about. Working on new compositions did preoccupy most of Yoongi’s thinking time but whenever Taehyung was around, he didn’t quite want him to leave so soon.

But it was kind of funny when Yoongi stopped to think about it. He used to get so into his playing that the whole world kind of melted around him. Of course, that was before he had to force himself onto piano competitions instead of playing for himself. Now, Yoongi did have the chance to play for himself, but why did he still feel so rooted in reality? Or more specifically, why couldn’t he keep his mind from thinking about the person living in front of his apartment?

“Stop worrying so much, he has a life of his own too, remember?” Yoongi reminded himself out loud and stretched his fingers over the keyboard to resume playing again.

Still, it wasn’t as much of an inconvenience as he thought it was. Sure, Yoongi did stop playing from time to time to wonder about what Taehyung was up to, but now, it felt easier for him to pull melodies out of thin air. The music sheet in front of him still filled up with notes and his own scribbled annotations here and there.

‘It’s just like that time in the cafe…’ he thought, remembering that sensation of hearing music from nowhere and somehow managing to play it exactly how he heard it. And even though Yoongi had his back to him, he could feel how closely Taehyung watched him.

…

‘I knew it, he is busy,’ Taehyung thought, backing away from the door as soon as he heard Yoongi playing again. Jungkook and Jimin had already gone home but their advice did quite stick in Taehyung’s head, enough for him to pluck up the courage to finally ask Yoongi out himself. But it was quite late and Yoongi seemed to be busy working on his music and…

“No!” Taehyung said aloud in the empty hallway. “You’re just making excuses for yourself,” he muttered. Even so, Yoongi did have a weird pattern today of playing, then stopping for a good while, before playing again. ‘That must be some composition,’ he thought.

Eventually, the cycle of silence and piano playing made Taehyung restless and antsy enough to finally knock on the door when he heard Yoongi stop. And, to his surprise, the door open only a few seconds later.

“Taehyung,” Yoongi greeted simply. He opened his mouth, seemingly considering what else to say, before finally ending up with “Want to come inside?”

“Uh, no thanks. I just ate dinner actually,” Taehyung hurriedly shook his head. Yoongi’s face looked slightly disappointed thus causing Taehyung to hurry with what he was going to say next. “I-I wanted to ask you out, actually,” he finally stammered.

“Out?” Yoongi repeated. The expression of disappointment on his face was replaced with a look of surprise which Taehyung took as a sign to continue.

But of course, all his nervous wreck of a mind could come up with was “Date?”

Now, confusion replaced the look of surprise on Yoongi’s face. “You want me to give a date for when we’ll go out?” he clarified. Taehyung bit his lip.

“No… I want to ask you out… on a date…” he said slowly, feeling his consciousness walking a few steps towards the point of no return. He couldn’t even focus on the expression on Yoongi’s face until finally, after what seemed like centuries, he finally heard him speak.

“Sure.”

“…Sure?” Taehyung repeated. He could tell that his mouth was open and his eyes were wide and he was making that stupid, surprised expression on his face again but damn, he just couldn’t make himself do anything else except stare at the shy smile on Yoongi’s face.

“You said ‘date’, right?” Yoongi clarified.

“Yeah,” Taehyung nodded, trying to calm the stupid storm of expressions on his face.

“I guess this is going to be my first then,” Yoongi said, nodding slowly. Unlike before, Taehyung could hardly tell what he was thinking.

“I’ll pick you up at six on Monday. Is that okay?” he asked.

“I’ll be there,” Yoongi nodded again.

“Great,” Taehyung breathed out a sigh of relief. “Th-that’s all. Please go back to what you were doing.”

“Well, good night then,” Yoongi said. Taehyung backed away and waited for Yoongi to close the door before dancing alone in the hallway, punching the air, and grinning like the stupid, whipped idiot he was before finally going back into his apartment. Maybe it was only him who felt really excited about this date but at the moment, Taehyung didn’t quite care. He was going on a date with Min Yoongi, and he was going to do everything he could to win him over.

Little did he know, the genius pianist Min Yoongi had sunk down to the floor right after closing the door, with his hands covering his heated, blushing face and the stupid, excited grin on his lips.

…

Yoongi thought he couldn’t get more excited than how he felt quickly after Kim Taehyung asked him out. The first time he said ‘date’, Yoongi thought it was way too good to be true. But after all that was clarified soon after, Yoongi could barely keep it together, let alone control his expressions. And above all that, he felt overwhelmed at everything that was going on and everything that he could only predict what would happen soon. It felt as if a thousand symphonies were playing all at once when Yoongi was struggling to just listen to one.

All of this was just so new. Amazing, but also strange and foreign. Yoongi didn’t quite know what to feel.

“First things first,” he told himself, breathing out slowly. He was still sitting down on the floor with his back leaning against the front door. “You can do this step-by-step, like starting a piece.” Right now, he’ll try to let things go smoothly and at the end of it, Yoongi trusted himself to have figured out everything he needed to figure out.

Since he was going on an actual, official date, his first date as a matter of fact, Yoongi finally decided to go out and buy something to wear. At first, it felt strange seeing himself in the mirror wearing a minty, light-blue sweater and beige pants. But after a while, Yoongi realized that he didn’t look that bad in lighter colors. Of course, he still didn’t quite feel complete until he put on a black coat over it.

Taehyung didn’t quite say where they were going to go, meaning he was probably going to surprise Yoongi with it. That meant all he could do was wait for him to arrive.

Sweat beaded on his palms while Yoongi waited in his living room for Taehyung to come. He felt more nervous now than he did before his turn during piano competitions. A mixture of different emotions and imaginings stirred inside his stomach. Yoongi expected the chaos inside him to reach a breaking point very, very soon. But somehow, when he finally heard a knock on the door, everything calmed down.

Yoongi felt a smile stretch across his face. It was Taehyung, after all.

…

“Hey,” Taehyung greeted as soon as Yoongi opened the door. Then, he couldn’t help but let a grin stretch through his face. Yoongi, after all, wasn’t wearing his usual black-and-white but instead a pastel, pale blue sweater with beige pants. There was still a black coat on him but it did tie the look quite well.

For a minute, all of Taehyung’s words stayed caught up in his throat. But then, he reminded himself that this was a date, and the end goal was to somehow confess to Yoongi or at least learn how he feels about him. With that in mind, he allowed himself to say “You look great.”

“Y-You think so?” Yoongi stammered. “You look, surprisingly normal…” he said, eyeing Taehyung’s current outfit which consisted of a long-sleeved, white, button-up shirt, simple blue jeans, and a dark gray blazer on top.

“Thanks, I thought about taking it easy a bit for today,” Taehyung lied. In actuality, he was too nervous and excited to even plan an outfit for their date that he just grabbed a couple of things that went together.

“Speaking of which, where are we going anyway?” Yoongi cocked his head.

“Actually,” Taehyung felt an embarrassed grin spread on his face. “I kind of selfishly chose my dream date place: the theme park. But if you’d rather go somewhere else I’m okay with it too.” Just in case, Taehyung knew a few restaurants that he thought Yoongi would like.

To his surprise, Yoongi shook his head.

“I’m okay with a theme park,” he said. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been to one before.”

“Never? In your entire life?” Taehyung looked at him incredulously.

“No,” Yoongi smiled and shook his head. “So you better show me the time of my life.”

“Alright, I promise you will have the time of your life,” Taehyung grinned, holding out his pinky. Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

“Really? Pinky swear?”

“It’s the most unwavering promise you can make,” Taehyung said with mock-seriousness. Still shaking his head, but smiling all the while, Yoongi raised his pinky and intertwined it with Taehyung’s. The image of their intertwined pinkies made Taehyung struggle to suppress a squeal.

“Satisfied?” Yoongi said, taking his hand back. ‘Not even close,’ Taehyung thought.

“Let’s make this date happen.”

One bus ride later, Taehyung and Yoongi found themselves in the nearest theme park within the city. It wasn’t that huge, nor was it very populated, something both Yoongi and Taehyung benefitted from, but it did have all the necessities of a theme park. Rides, unhealthy junk food, and best of all, game booths. Taehyung knew right away which places he wanted to check out but he waited and walked with Yoongi patiently while he took everything in.

“So, any place you want to check out?” Taehyung ventured. Yoongi looked around until he pointed at a stall with a grin on his face.

“That one.”

Taehyung turned around to find a game booth where a ball game was being played. The players were given three baseballs which they had to throw at a stack of cans to topple the structure over. Prizes like animal plushies, dolls, and other toys hung from the ceiling of the stall.

“You just read my mind,” Taehyung grinned at Yoongi who smiled back excitedly. The two of them rushed over to the stall and paid the fee to play.

“Do your basketball aiming skills still work?” Taehyung raised an eyebrow and tossed a baseball in his hand.

“Don’t underestimate a former shooting guard,” Yoongi challenged back before throwing his baseball and completely missing the stack of cans. Taehyung burst out laughing.

“Clearly I shouldn’t,” he nodded, wiping a tear from his eye. Yoongi pouted.

“I doubt you can do any better.”

Taehyung smirked, tossed the ball a few times in the air, before throwing it and hitting the stack of cans right at the bottom. The structure toppled instantly. He looked up to find Yoongi’s mouth hanging open.

“Don’t underestimate the best friend of a high school baseball champion,” Taehyung quipped.

“If that’s the case, how about winning me something?” Yoongi smirked back and crossed his arms. Taehyung didn’t know why, but the sound of Yoongi demanding something from him was kind of… hot.

“How much for that one?” Taehyung pointed at the largest plushie , a panda bear one, and asked the man in charge of the stall.

“You have to knock over at least twelve stacks of cans,” he answered.

“That sounds a bit much,” Yoongi sighed. “I wonder if our Gamer V can handle it.”

“You’re really pushing my buttons here,” Taehyung muttered, pulling out some money and placing it on the counter. “Enough for twelve, please.” The employee nodded, sneaking Taehyung a knowing glance and maybe even a hidden thumbs-up for good luck, before placing nine more balls in front of him. Taehyung took one, and, making sure that Yoongi was watching, hit the next stack of cans perfectly. And the next. And the next. Until finally, he handed the huge panda plushie over to Yoongi with a grin on his face.

“Anything else to add?” Taehyung said smugly. “I think this goes well with your closet already.” Yoongi laughed but took the plushie anyway.

“Chivalry isn’t dead after all,” he nodded.

“It was, as a matter of fact, absorbed by gay gaming Youtubers,” Taehyung pointed out. Yoongi smiled down at the panda plushie and hugged it to his chest.

“What about gay genius pianists?” Yoongi raised an eyebrow and turned around. “Come on, I’ll win you something too,” he said and began walking ahead.

Taehyung felt his last remaining brain cells processing what Yoongi just said for what seemed like an eternity before he finally got his legs to work and walk after him.

…

��A claw machine?” Taehyung looked at the machine with an incredulous look on his face. “They have these things here?”

“These things immediately caught my eye once we entered,” Yoongi grinned, pressing his free hand against the glass.

“So, you’re going to spend thousands of coins to get me one prize?” Taehyung frowned, tapping at the glass. There were a few claw machines situated by the food booths which had different kinds of prizes. And since Taehyung got him a pretty big plushie, Yoongi chose the one that had different kinds of beanbag pillows.

“Not a thousand,” Yoongi reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin. “One.”

“I see,” Taehyung nodded. “Your turn to prove your skills?”

“Exactly,” Yoongi grinned and put the coin into the machine. Eyeing the fox-shaped beanbag pillow by the corner, Yoongi manipulated the joystick to move the claw until it was right over the target before moving it a little to the left. It was a trick he learned whenever he was in the mall to kill time before a competition. Once, out of boredom, he emptied an entire machine of plushies. He didn’t really know what to do with them so he gave them all over to Hoseok to give away to his high school students.

“No way,” Taehyung gazed with his mouth open at the claw once it picked up the plushie and carried it over to the chute. Yoongi grinned and took the fox beanbag before presenting it to Taehyung with a grand gesture. The look on his face was priceless, especially after Yoongi spent the entire past half hour watching with awe as Taehyung hit twelve stacks of cans. Yoongi was definite Taehyung was showing off, but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy watching the spectacle.

“Now you have a furry friend,” Yoongi grinned.

“Very funny,” Taehyung rolled his eyes. “How did you do that though?”

“Mad skills,” Yoongi smirked. “So, I guess we’re even now.”

“Don’t think of it as that,” Taehyung hugged the beanbag pillow to his chest. “We’re on a date, remember? People do things like this.”

“Right, of course,” Yoongi felt his face flush as he clutched his new panda plushie even tighter. He could sense that his dam of messed-up emotions of feelings was close to breaking. Yoongi didn’t think he was even close to figuring out how he was feeling.

But there was one thing he knew: he never thought he’d find himself on a date, in a theme park of all places. Normally, he’d feel a bit uncomfortable being around quite a number of strangers. Strangely, he felt as if it was only him and Taehyung around.

And a tangled ball of feelings he was slowly starting to unravel.

…

“Man, I think the rice cakes I just ate flipped over three times on that ride,” Taehyung groaned once he and Yoongi got off the rollercoaster.

“Make it five times,” Yoongi added, stepping out of the ride. He felt himself stumble slightly before Taehyung wrapped an arm around his shoulder to steady him. “Th-thanks,” he stammered and righted himself.

“So, what do you want to get on next?” Taehyung asked.

“Maybe something that involves less spinning and moving and being jumbled around,” Yoongi said, patting his messy hair down a bit. He and Taehyung both agreed to go on as many rides as they could before the night ended. Of course, that pretty much led to them screaming their heads off for the entire night.

“Hey, how about that?” Taehyung pointed in the direction of the Ferris wheel. “It does involve spinning but it looks pretty slow.”

“Sounds good,” Yoongi agreed.

“It’s a good way to end tonight too,” Taehyung added, smiling at Yoongi.

“Right,” he nodded slowly. Now that he mentioned it, Yoongi found himself checking his watch. It was almost ten o’ clock. Hours had passed by since they entered the theme park but it felt as if the whole night was rushing in to end already. And Yoongi definitely wanted to pause for a while.

But before he knew it, Taehyung was already pulling him in the direction of the Ferris wheel. Yoongi found himself unable to speak or pay attention to anything at all except for the warmth of Taehyung’s hand in his and the sound of his voice. He was talking about something, a childhood memory maybe. Although, even his voice sounded distant and muffled.

Yoongi felt his thoughts and feelings unravelling even faster as the night drew to a close. The flow of events he was stuck in resembled a symphony which was now in its climax. He could practically hear the instruments playing at top performance level. The outro was approaching, but Yoongi still had no idea what the melody was.

And then, Taehyung led him inside one of the carriages in the Ferris wheel and Yoongi was pulled back to reality. Taehyung sat in front of him with his fox beanbag pillow on his lap.

“So, this must be your first time on a Ferris wheel too,” he said. Yoongi leaned back, trying to make himself a bit comfortable as the Ferris wheel began to spin.

“It is,” he nodded. Taehyung looked out the window.

“I really love the view outside of Ferris wheels like this,” he grinned, leaning his head against the window. “It’s nice seeing all the city lights and the stars too. In rollercoasters you never really get to appreciate the view.”

Yoongi forced himself to relax and looked out the window as well. Taehyung was right, the view from the top was amazing. Slowly, he felt himself unwind just a bit more.

“You know what this reminds me of?” Yoongi looked at Taehyung.

“That café?” Taehyung asked.

“The maintenance closet,” Yoongi grinned at the memory.

“Why the maintenance closet of all places?” Taehyung laughed.

“I guess since we’re together in an enclosed space,” Yoongi shrugged. “But I guess we’re beyond the ‘annoying neighbors’ level by now.”

“We can still go back to that, if you want,” Taehyung raised an eyebrow.

“No thanks,” Yoongi smiled and shook his head. “I… I like where we are now.”

“You know, you are one of the few people I’ve met personally who hasn’t disrespected me for being what I am,” Taehyung smiled. Yoongi felt his breath catch in his throat. “I know it sounds stupid but it means a lot.”

“You’ve got to stop thinking that the things you say sound stupid,” Yoongi shook his head. “But, you’re welcome. You’ve done quite a lot for me too."

“It’s just a couple of chores,” Taehyung waved him off. “I need to learn those things anyway.”

Yoongi shook his head. “It was more than that.”

Maybe riding all those theme park rides jiggled Yoongi’s brain in the right way because somehow, he started seeing things. The enclosed space around him and Taehyung melted away and reformed itself into how his apartment looked. There was Yoongi on the piano, trying to play with a broken hand and a broken dream, and there was Taehyung right in front of him, trying his best to mend the broken pieces together.

And when Yoongi did the very thing he did least, asking for help, Taehyung didn’t hesitate and took him into his arms. Yoongi remember being so afraid before of the pressure and the expectations and the possibility of never loving music like he would again. But instead of forcing him into things like his family did, Taehyung reminded him it was okay to feel that way. Yoongi was only human after all.

Only a knot remained in his tangled ball of feelings, and now Yoongi was tugging it loose. The outro to the entire symphony of their night was right on the bottom of his fingertips.

“What do you mean?” Taehyung asked. Yoongi looked up at him, wondering how everything, from his childhood to the terrible night of the gala to his lost love for the piano, somehow led to Taehyung causing him to hear music again.

And eventually, for him to finally say:

“I’m in love with you, Kim Taehyung.”

…

Taehyung could care less if the Ferris wheel detached from its stand on the ground and started rolling across the theme park. Yoongi was looking him dead in the eye with the most earnest expression on his face and a slight flush on his face which Taehyung now realized was probably from something other than the cold.

He had practiced what to say when he confessed to Yoongi for days but somehow, all of that disappeared.

And somehow, he found himself bursting into tears.

“W-wait, why are you crying?” Yoongi stammered in surprise. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Taehyung sniffed and wiped his eyes before managing a smile. “I just… really thought it was going to be a one-sided thing.”

“Does that mean..?” Now it was Yoongi’s turn to look shocked. “You—”

“I’m very, very in love with you, you stupid annoying old turtle,” Taehyung nodded his head, laughing as he wiped a few more tears from his eyes. God, he probably looked like a mess right now.

“You’re lucky I love you enough to let you use that stupid nickname,” Yoongi laughed.

“How did we even get here?” Taehyung shook his head. “Weeks ago, we were practically each other’s chaos next-door.”

“I guess now you’re my chaos next-door,” Yoongi grinned. Taehyung flushed as he stared at his lips.

“Can you please kiss me?” he asked, or rather, begged. “I don’t think I can handle another minute of this.”

Yoongi’s adorable, shy, embarrassed smile appeared again making Taehyung inch forward to be closer to him. “I better not keep you waiting then,” Yoongi said softly, reaching a hand out and running his thumb across Taehyung’s lower lip.

“God, you really have to be such a tease about this,” Taehyung rolled his eyes. Yoongi let out a breathy laugh, making Taehyung finally give in and kiss him first.

And it’s unlike anything he’s ever imagined. There was that sudden spike of adrenaline Taehyung normally felt whenever he played a really good horror game. And then the feeling of Yoongi’s lips on his cut through all of that, bringing a sense of comfort and human warmth. Yoongi’s fingers were resting on his forearm, playing his invisible piano again. Taehyung felt himself smile slightly as he kissed Yoongi, imagining what kind of melody he was playing in his head.

Jungkook said his rollercoaster kiss with Jimin was quite thrilling, but with the lights of the city spread out below them and the stars above them, Taehyung could easily see that Ferris wheel kisses were just as great.

…

“Tan tan tan tan tan… TA! Tan tan tan tan tan… TA!” Taehyung sang loudly as he strolled into the bedroom. Yoongi groaned at the sound and pulled his blankets way over his head. Sleeping over at Taehyung’s apartments did have its perks, mainly getting to cuddle with his very affectionate boyfriend or making sure he got appropriate hours of sleep in between making videos. A downside to that though was happening at the moment.

“Yoongi! Wake up!!” Taehyung yelled, lying down on his bed next to Yoongi. Then, Taehyung proceeded to remove his blanket and plant kisses all over his face while saying “Wake up!” in between. Yoongi couldn’t help but bury his face in Taehyung’s shirt. Okay, maybe this wasn’t such a downside after all.

“Alright, I’m awake,” he grumbled.

“Are you really?” Taehyung chuckled, wrapping one of his very long legs around him.

“Well, it is kind of hard to sleep in this situation,” Yoongi gazed up at Taehyung.

“You’re way too sassy this morning,” Taehyung smiled down at him. Yoongi could tell that he slept well since there weren’t any dark circles under his eyes and his voice wasn’t hoarse either. Not that Yoongi entirely hated the sound of his slightly hoarse and sleepy voice in the morning.

“Those face masks really worked, huh?” he said, stroking the side of Taehyung’s very smooth cheek.

“Yeah, they really are good,” Taehyung said. “Even if they did look kind of stupid.”

“I never thought someone would even think of making an elephant-shaped face mask,” Yoongi muttered. Taehyung bought some yesterday from the store because he said it looked funny. When they tried it on last night, Taehyung had to sit facing away from him since he kept on laughing when he saw the face mask on Yoongi. That didn’t stop them from taking a few selfies though.

“Come on, you better get up,” Taehyung nudged him. “Jimin and Jungkook are already here for the video.”

“Right, the video,” Yoongi nodded and finally sat up. He yawned and rubbed his eyes a bit first before following Taehyung out the door.

“Oh good, they’re wearing clothes,” Jungkook sighed out of relief. He and Jimin were in the kitchen busy making pancakes. Yoongi could easily tell from the stack of perfect-looking pancakes to the stack of semi perfect-looking pancakes to the stack of amoeba-shaped pancakes which ones were made by Jungkook, Jimin, and Taehyung. Smiling to himself, Yoongi grabbed a plate and placed two amoeba pancakes on it.

“Shut up, we’ve only been together for a week,” Taehyung blushed and sat down by the counter.

“Yeah, don’t be so perverted,” Jimin nudged Jungkook.

“You’re the one who mentioned it!” he protested.

“So, you have everything we need for the video?” Yoongi asked Taehyung.

“Yup!” he nodded. “Bleaching kit, gloves, hair dye, brushes, combs, the works.”

“And you’re sure Jungkook and Jimin know what they’re doing,” Yoongi added.

“Very,” Taehyung smiled reassuringly. “I can’t wait to see how your hair will look later,” he gushed.

“I must really love you a lot,” Yoongi shook his head, smiling nonetheless before eating a forkful of amoeba pancake. It didn’t taste too bad.

Two hours later, he was sitting in the middle of Taehyung’s living room wearing one of his old, black t-shirts. Jungkook and Jimin busied themselves with putting on their gloves and preparing the bleach while Taehyung was fiddling with his video camera.

“Are you doing the intro already?” Yoongi asked.

“Yeah,” Taehyung nodded, stepping away from the camera. “Just stay there and be your usual adorable self,” he grinned at Yoongi who rolled his eyes but did a flower cup pose anyway.

“Perfect!” Taehyung exclaimed. He switched on the video camera. “Recording in 3… 2…1! Hello everyone! My name is Gamer V and welcome to another video wherein today, me and my boyfriend are going to have our hair dyed.”

Yoongi felt his face flush slightly at the sound of the word ‘boyfriend’ but waved hello anyway at the camera while Taehyung did his intro. After they got together, Taehyung said that he really wanted his subscribers and fans to know about is relationship. Yoongi understood. In a way, Taehyung’s subscribers were like his family as well since they got him to where he was now. Yoongi did feel a bit scared that Taehyung would receive too much backlash for having a boyfriend but so far, with the exception of some haters, his subscribers were happy about how open he was.

Yoongi found himself loving the Gamer V fan community as well, especially after all the cute fanart they did of him and Taehyung. When Taehyung posted a short video of Yoongi playing the piano on Instagram, his followers loved it. Yoongi almost cried because of all the nice comments. Right now, he was still trying to establish himself in the music world with his compositions after a life of only joining competitions. But Yoongi wasn’t in a rush, he knew he was going to get there somehow.

“Now, what color did you choose for your hair, Yoongi?” Taehyung asked, pointing the video camera at him.

“Mint green,” Yoongi answered. “It goes with my fresh personality,” he added with a slight smirk in Taehyung’s direction.

“Yeah right,” Taehyung rolled his eyes. “Well, let’s hope that Yoongi isn’t bald by the end of the video.”

“I do love my hair,” Yoongi said.

“And… cut!” Taehyung turned off the camera and repositioned it so that it was near Yoongi. Now that he had a closer look at the process of making videos, Yoongi couldn’t help but be amazed at how meticulous and technical Taehyung was with some of his camera work. Taehyung was biting his lip, concentrating deeply on getting the right angle, and Yoongi patiently waited for him to finish.

“Okay, we have the bleaching stuff mixed and ready,” Jimin said.

“It’s now or never,” Yoongi exhaled. He was personally quite excited to get his hair dyed. It used to be something he had on his bucket list but thought he’d never get to do. Seokjin and Hoseok would probably flip if they saw it.

“Thanks again for doing this,” Taehyung smiled at him.

“Are you kidding? I haven’t had this much fun in forever,” Yoongi chuckled.

“When we’re done, let’s go to ‘Cityscape’ again. My treat,” Taehyung winked.

“I’ll have your word on that,” Yoongi smiled.

What happens when a famous Gamer/Youtuber moves into the apartment in front of a nationally-renowned genius pianist?

Well, a lot of bickering and name-calling in the beginning. A bit of self-discovery towards the middle. And maybe, if the circumstances fell into place the right way, the two would fall in love.

Yoongi smiled as he watched Taehyung fuss over the positioning of the camera and where Jimin and Jungkook were supposed to be situated. He could already imagine how his own minty green hair and Taehyung’s peach-colored hair would look later. Of course, Yoongi had the freedom to imagine their future beyond what was happening in the present. But with Taehyung, he could never really be sure. And Yoongi loved it.

Even after all the bickering and name-calling, the self-discovery, and the falling in love, Yoongi knew there was still going to be chaos.

Pure, utter, beautiful, chaos.

#the chaos next door #the chaos next door pt. 3 full #TCND #taegi #bts #bts fanfiction #taegi fanfiction #neighbors au #here it is in its full glory

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