The moment we've been waiting for...has arrived. Well, at least I was waiting for this chapter😈. Enjoy!.....at your own risk.

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Jungkook had it all planned out- both in his head and in his Notes app.

He had finally brought out the cute half-lavender-half-baby yellow picnic blanket that he had bought on a whim some months ago. He had pleaded with his mother to teach him his grandma's secret  hot chocolate recipe again just for that occasion. He had woken up at the crack of dawn, tiptoed to the kitchen and silently brewed the hot chocolate and prepared other delicacies for their anniversary picnic before hiding them somewhere Jimin wouldn't find.

He had carefully timed Jimin's clocking out hour at the salon with the end of his shift at the café. He had meticulously calculated the time it would take to pick Jimin and drive him to the park before enjoying some quality time by sketching each other and watching the sunset, and if they got lucky, the first snow of winter. 

And everything was perfect. He had surprised Jimin with a customised bouquet of purple hyacinths and white roses, showered each other with a million kisses throughout the ride to their date destination and pretended to escort Jimin into a fancy restaurant. Jungkook should have known that luck was never too gracious on anyone because just when Jimin pounced on Jungkook to give him the most needy kiss he has had in a while, a way too familiar voice shattered their tranquility.

"Oh- Jimin-ah?" 

"Auntie!"/"Ma'am!" The couple launched away from each other.

"Oh!" Mrs. Kim looked flustered. "I'm sorry for interupting-"

"It's alright!"/"It's fine!"

The three of them took a few seconds to overcome the redness in their face.

"Um..." Mrs. Kim said after composing herself. "Taehyung is late?"

"Oh-" Jimin and Jungkook exchanged a discreet glance. "Yes, his team is understaffed at this moment so he's working a few extra hours."

Jungkook signalled "Good job, babe" with his eyes.

"Oh, but- I saw Taehyung napping on the sofa when I left the house," Mrs. Kim replied in a perplexed tone. 

"How could he forget our date?!" Jungkook cried out in instinct, a little too dramatically.

"Right? Call him right now!" Jimin played along. 

"Right, right..." Jungkook fumbled with his phone before dialling Taehyung's number while screaming a million profanities in his head.

"Auntie, please join us," Jimin offered cheerfully and Jungkook yelled "NO" in his mind.

"Here, Jungkook made this," Jimin said as he poured some hot chocolate out of the thermos into a plastic cup once Mrs. Kim settled down in front of them.

"Oh, this is quite good," Mrs. Kim sounded pleasantly surprised. 

"Right? His grandma..."

"Why isn't this bitch picking up..." Jungkook muttered under his breath.

"Hel-"

"Hyung, did you sleep in?! You said you were taking an early leave to get ready! How could you sleep in!" Jungkook faked being hurt.

"Wha-"

"Jimin and I have been waiting for you for like- an hour! Gaeul Park is literally ten minutes away from your place! Get ready-"

"WAIT! What are you even-"

"Ma'am- I mean, Auntie is also waiting with us!"

"Shit." Taehyung cut the line and tumbled off the sofa, landing painfully on his side.

He scurried to his room, bumping into an ill-tenpered Oksun who threw an obscenity at him. Taehyung, who absolutely hated going out without feeling like a runway model, wiggled into some unironed, unwashed-for-days clothes which were horribly colour coded (ashy lavender and orange) just for the sake of saving his best friends' fifth anniversary plans.

Taehyung knew his mother would chew him out if he arrived at their "date" without any gifts, so he made sure to stop at a chocolate shop and grab the first heart shaped box he found. Once he arrived at the park, he suddenly became very religious so God would make his mom quickly bored by their company and Taehyung could return home to complete the dream (which Jungkook had wonderfully interupted) with Seokjin on his- anyways.

It was easy to find them because his mom's obnoxious yellow scarf stood out from miles away. He called out to them and his mom turned around to greet him with a displeased face as Jungkook mouthed, "Fuck you." and Jimin held out his middle finger behind Mrs. Kim.

"What are you wearing?!" Mrs. Kim sounded like Taehyung drowned her cat. 

"I brought chocolates," Taehyung greeted his boyfriends as he sat down next to his mother who whispered sharply, "Why is there only one box?!"

"We're gonna share!" Taehyung whispered back, even though their conversation wasn't rreally discreet.

Taehyung opened the box and Jungkook immediately said, "Hyung, peanut-"

Shit, Jungkook is allergic to nuts.

"Peanuts!" Jungkook readjusted his tone. "Hyung, you brought my favourites!"

Trying to keep his act, Jungkook reached for one of the rose shaped chocolates when Jimin quickly swatted his hand away.

"Your diet!" Jimin and Taehyung yelled out as their brains synced, thanks to their red string of fate.

"Oh- yes! My diet!" Jungkook tried to follow up. 

"Taehyung, you should have been more thoughtful," Mrs. Kim said with a disappointed sigh.

"Hyung, have some-" Jungkook only got a drop of hot chocolate out of his flask.

"Auntie, how is Oksun doing? I heard she went through a break up," Jimin quickly swerved Mrs. Kim's attention.

"Oh, my poor baby- you have no idea..." 

As Mrs. Kim ranted about Oksun's emo phase, Taehyung yawned quietly and rubbed the gunk out of his eyes. The cold weather was perfect for a long nap but of course his mother had to stroll through the park where Jimin and Jungkook were probably eating their faces out. He looked at the sky and realized sunset was just a stone's throw away and he should shoo his mother away before they ruined the date even further.

Taehyung decided to make his mother uncomfortable. Trying to look natural, Taehyung latched himself to Jimin's arm and made a pouty face at him. For a split second, Jimin looked heavily disgusted before he disguised it with an adoring smile. Jimin caressed his hair while listening to Mrs. Kim's slightly slowed down rant but Taehyung had worse plans because he went for a kiss on Jimin's cheek. His mother's marathon of words didn't budge.

Taehyung steeled his nerves and swooped down to place a quick kiss in the corner of Jimin's lips; Jungkook choked on his spit in the background.

"Aw, is my Jungkook-ie jealous?" Taehyung drawled, side-eyeing his mother whose words flowed somewhat rigidly now before flinging himself on Jungkook, who closed his eyes tight and smacked his lips against the air before Taehyung could kiss him. 

His mother's stream of rants had stopped for sure but he needed to give one final push.

"Eommoni, don't you have a meeting today?" Taehyung asked, interrupting his mother's tale about Oksun's endlesss misery.

"No, that was yesterday."

"Um- what about those kitchen renovations you were talking about just this morning?"

"Taehyung, that was last week."

Think, Taehyung, think!

"Oksun!" Taehyung cried out as a lightbulb popped in his head.

"Oksun- she said she was hungry," Taehyung informed falsely.

"Hungry?! And you didn't order her anything?!" Mrs. Kim's eyes were threatening to bulge out as her voice got thinner and thinner with concern.

"She said she didn't feel like eating takeout," Taehyung painted another white lie.

"Oh, I totally get her!" Jungkook jumped into action. 

"Right? What's better than your mom's food to cheer you up?" Jimin joined in.

"Oh dear... it's nearly sunset," Mrs. Kim mumbled as she scurried to her feet. 

"The view is beautiful from this hill but I'm afraid I should leave, sons," Mrs. Kim said sweetly which made all three of them heavily guilty but they stood up to say their goodbyes.

That's when Taehyung's eyes strayed down the hill, and his mind and vision tunneled.

"Hyung!" Taehyung suddenly jumped in the air, both of his arms flailing in an attempt to catch the person's attention.

It felt like the world had dimmed down around him, the only source of illumination being Seokjin's dazzling smile as he noticed Taehyung and immediately began to jog up the hill towards him. Taehyung did not realize how fatal his tunnel vision was until he noticed the questioing look from his mother.

Uh, oh.

Then he realized that he had his arms opened wide as if waiting to catch Seokjin in his embrace, so he let his arms fall to his sides. 

"Tae!" Seokjin was slightly out of breath from his little jog.

"Auntie-" Seokjin bowed an entire ninety degrees before waving at Jimin and Jungkook.

"Seokjin-ah, handsome as always," Mrs. Kim said as she patted his cheek. 

"Picnic?" Seokjin asked as his eyes scanned the set up.

The hair on Taehyung's back stood up as he fearfully looked at his mother, hoping desperately that she won't bring up the word "date".

"Eommoni, do you need the car?" Taehyung quickly asked, shoving the keys in her hands.

"No, I like to walk back home. Good Heavens, I should hurry up." And after another round of bowing and saying goodbye, Mrs. Kim had finally departed.

Jungkook heaved an obvious sigh of relief as he plopped down on the picnic blanket. 

"Oh, this is so..." Jimin murmured in awe as he gazed at the horizon before sitting beside Jungkook.

"Seokjin hyung, join us," Jungkook offered before quickly winking at a surprised Taehyung.

"Yeah- um, chocolates?" Taehyung held up the box to Seokji who was still standing with the colours of the sunset billowing behind him. In that moment, Seokjin looked like a god of the seven heavens and Taehyung just wanted to kneel in front of him.

"Thank you," Seokjin said cutely as he sat down and plucked a star shaped chocolate.

Bits of the chocolate were smeared against Seokjin's cushiony lips and Taehyung couldn't hold himself back. He reached out swiftly and swipped his thumb across Seokjin's bottom lip before sucking on the residue, staring right into his eyes all the while. But his confidence depleted instantly because he started to stammer.

"Uh, um- you can have the whole box- because uh, Jungkook is allergic to nuts and um, I'm on a diet." Taehyung wanted to roll down the hill and disappear out of sight.

"Then we'll share," Seokjin beamed at Jimin who reciprocated the smile effortlessly.

"Taehyung is such a dumbass, don't mind him," Jimin said.

"Explain his dumbassness."

"Jimin-ah, don't-"

"Well, one time he was on a blind date with this girl and he gave the flowers to some cute waiter," Jungkook's spewed out before Taehyung could stop him.

Seokjin raised his eyebrows at the story, the gears in his brain spinning fast.

"And another time he brought flowers for a certain someone and then gave it to the wrong person, again," Jimin piped in, emphasising on the certain someone as he smiled curiously at Seokjin.

"Lots of flower mishaps," Seokjin commented, glacning at Taehyung, wide-eyed and red, every now and then.

"Hyung, how was your day?" Taehyung changed the subject.

"Um... I didn't have work today so I was hanging out with Hoseok- oh! Yoongi's dog got lost, so I actually had to call off work and help Hobi find Holly and..."

As Seokjin talked about his day, the four of them kind of seperated in the sense that Jimin and Jungkook fell into their own bubble, whispering and giggling to themselves, while Taehyung's world again dimmed down aorund Seokjin. The sun had kissed the sky goodnight and the park lamps were starting to glow into life one after the other. The air was slowly descending into a gentle breeze of winter, so Taehyung shimmied off his coat and draped it over Seokjin's shoulders; the older averted his eyes and casted a shy smile, making Taehyung's heart leap for the nth time that day. 

"Hyung, do you really have to go?" Taehyung's voice fell into a whisper. "Why can't you just stay here, Jin-ah?"

Seokjin looked at him wistfully, lips parted with a silent answer. He sighed, long and deep, and just gazed at Taehyung with an emotion that was hard to decipher. 

"All these years, I wasn't sure if I wanted to return home...knowing my parents would be keeping me under their watch...and Hyejin resenting me again. I would've returned much earlier only if... only if Hyejin didn't... didn't direct her anger towards me. It's just so... so unfair, you know?"

Taehyung placed his hand discreetly over Seokjin's and said, "You've always been there for her but she always saw you as her rival, isn't it?" 

"Mhm... I don't even know when it started. It's not like we would fight all the time but there was always this... underlying tension. I don't want to sound like a horrible person but I really... really blame my parents." Seokjin sighed and looked at the ground.

"Did you ever talk to her about this? Like- did you tell her that you also... I mean, you're also against your parents?" Taehyung scooted a little closer to Seokjin.

Seokjin thought for a second, before answering, "No, not really. You know how it is- talking about things like this with your sibling. But now that you say it... I guess it won't hurt to try?"

"Yeah..." Taehyung smiled at him reassuringly. "So, like, what about now? Do you want to stay here now?"

"Well, I don't really know how long it'll take to sort out things with my family but... yeah, I suppose..."

"Hmm?"

"I guess I do have a reason to stay here now," Seokjin uttered carefully, as if the words were made of glass.

"And...um... what's the reason?" Taehyung asked, his heart beginning to race uncontrollably.

"Snow!" Jungkook cried out, jolting the two out of their little world. 

"Tae, look!" Seokjin's eyes gleamed, forgotten about their conversation, as he held out his hands to catch the fragile snowflakes.

"Did you know-" Jimin spoke up suddnely. "If you watch the first snowfall with someone... you're bound to fall in love with them?"

"Yeah," Seokjin mumbled as the snow and mellow light from the lamps relfected in his glossy eyes.

"I wonder who's falling in love with whom," Jungkook said. "I mean- there's like four people here."

"Don't fall for me, Taehyung-ie hyung," Jungkook added dramatically, to which Taehyung snorted but replied, "But I already have, my sweet Kookie."

Jungkook gagged and Jimin broke into giggles, but Seokjin remained quiet.

"Do you want me to drive you home?" Taehyung asked, softly touching Seokjin's shoulder to pull him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Um, will you?" Seokjin sounded blue.

"Of course, hyung."

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Seokjin was still lost in his seemingly gloomy thoughts when they were on the road, clutching onto Taehyung's coat with both hands which made him look small. Taehyung tried to think of things to talk about but his head was absolutely empty. He tried to put some music but they kept playing one miserable song after another. 

"Taehyung," Seokjin uttered suddenly.

"Yeah?" Taehyung couldn't avert his eyes from the road.

"I don't wanna go home," Seokjin mumbled and the words pierced through Taehyung's heart, making him feel this uncontrollable urge to wrap his arms around Seokjin and tell him everything's going to be okay.

And he did exactly that after parking his car by the road. He reached out for Seokjin and before he could hold him, Seokjin made himself at home in Taehyung's awkward but safe embrace. 

"I lied, Tae. I didn't go over to Hoseok's place to find Holly. I- I mean, Hyejin... she- she told our parents. She brought Sarang over and... I stood up for her but- God... I don't wanna go home, Tae..." 

With every word Seokjin breathed, Taehyung held him closer and closer until their position got really uncomfortable, thanks to the gear between them.

"You don't have to explain anything, hyung. I..." The words got stuck in his throat. "I'm always here for you."

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"Eommoni, we're home!" Taehyung announced as he escorted Seokjin through the door.

"We?! Kim Taehyung don't tell me you brought another cat-" Mrs. Kim, with a black face pack and rollers in her hair, halted around the corner. "Son! Come inside! Come inside!"

"Eommoni, he's already inside."

"Shush! Look at you, your face looks so thin! Didn't you eat all day?" Mrs. Kim asked as she hurried them into the kitchen. 

Seokjin laughed awkwardly, "Ah, Auntie..."

"You didn't?!" Mrs. Kim and her son harmonised.

"Hyung, why didn't you tell me?!" Taehyung interrogated Seokjin as he pushed the older into a chair.

"Why didn't you ask him?" Oksun materialized behind them; Taehyung nearly smacked her accidentally.

"Why do you keep doing this?!"

"Do what?"

"Appearing out of nowhere!"

"You're just old."

"Oksun-ah," Mrs. Kim called in a reproaching tone, discreetly motioning at Seokjin.

"He is old though," Oksun concluded as she plopped opposite to Seokjin.

"Twenty-nine? Old, don't you think?"

"Oppa," Taehyung muttered as he kicked Oksun's chair when he passed by.

"Oppa."

"I don't think so," Seokjin replied in his sweet voice. "I'm thirty-two but I still feel young."

"Yeah, but like- you're handsome, unlike that oaf-"

"Oksun!" Mother and son harmonised again.

"Your brother is handsome too," Seokjin said airily.

"You're just being nice, oppa. With that face, he'll never get a girlfriend-"

"Oksun-ah, we had discussed this," Mrs. Kim said as she turned the stove on.

"Oh yeah, gay. He'll never get a boyfriend."

Taehyung wanted to shut Oksun up but he noticed the look she was giving Seokjin, almost as if she was expecting some sort of reaction from him...

But before Seokjin could reply, his mother spoke out. 

And Taehyung wished she never did.

"Don't speak of your brother like that, Oksun-ah. He has a boyfriend- I mean, friends. Don't you remember Jimin and Jungkook coming over a few days ago?"

Oksun didn't speak. Taehyung held his breath. Seokjin's eyes dropped to his lap.

The silence was haunting.

Taehyung stood up, unable to bear it. He opened his mouth but his mind broke into a dilemma. 

"I- I'll be, uh- hyung, I- I'll be right back." With that, Taehyung flew out of the kitchen and barged into his room, pacing around, trying to control his breathing. 

No, no why was he panicking?

Calm down, it's alright... it's alright, Taehyung.

His door opened. It was Seokjin and he was smiling. 

"Tae..." Seokjin closed the door behind him.

"Tae, did you think I was going to judge you?"

"Hyung- that's- I, uh..." Taehyung couldn't even process the situation.

"Tae, it's really normal to be in a polymary relationship these days... I'm so proud that your mom knows about it and... I...yeah." Seokjin stopped abruptly. 

"Yoongi... He's closeby. I- I really need to go." Seokjin's smile did not falter, not even once.

"But hyung- you wanted to stay here and-" Taehyung hoped he wasn't tearing up because he could feel his eyes prick with emotion.

"No, no, listen, it's not about the news. I just- I just really miss my friends." How could he sound so confident when Taehyung just knew he was lying?

"Hyung, I'm your friend." Taehyung realized the harsh tone he used and became meek immediately.

"Hyung, I'm sorry- I, um- uh-"

"Taehyung, it's alright!" You're lying!

"Oh, Tae," Seokjin chuckled before he brought Taehyung into a hug but it felt so, so distant... so much different from the hug they shared in Taehyung's car so many times... so different from the vulnerable, warm, sweet embrace Taehyung was used to.

"I'm very proud of you, okay?" Seokjin said with his eyes curved into crescent moons. You're lying!

Seokjin's phone rang.

"Oh, Yoongi's here," Seokjin declared after he checked his phone.

"I'm rooting for you, okay?" You're lying!

Aren't you...?

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I cried after watching The Astronaut. I haven't cried like this in a long time. This really felt like a (temporary, InshAllah) goodbye song. That little girl is definitely us. Seokjin teaching us how to ride the bike and then giving his helmet to us before going off to military...guys I can't take this. 

God, I love his lower register so much. I really wanted to listen more of it after his line in My universe and Chris really made it happen😭. Chris gets us like nobody else, like I too would gift my beloved guitar and a wholeass song for Kim Seokjin.

Seokjin is so, SO special to me. The second bts song I listened to was Awake and back then I remember battling with low esteem. I felt like someone finally understood me after all these years. He's been my bias for 5 years now and my love for him has never faltered even once. He made songs that I needed the most. They're like words that I really needed to hear on my worst days.

I just love everything about him, you guys. From his quiet, collected nature to him trying to mask his shyness with confidence but falling back to bashfulness anyways, from his tendency to find the weirdest posts on Weverse and still writing Moon for us to giving US gifts on HIS birthday. Yet again, he has given us another gift before departing.

I love Seokjin in ways I can't even explain. It's not the "I want to marry him" (I'll save that Yoongi, thanks Tani apu) but the "I want him to have every good thing in the world and bubblewrap him so nothing scathes him in the slightest degree and adore him with every last bit of my soul" because he's one of the most precious beings in my whole life.

In conclusion, STREAM THE ASTRONAUT :