Long distance is hard for Taekook  :(
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●

To his surprise, Taehyung comes home from the library to see Jeongguk sitting outside his dorm room.

He’s sat upright against the wall to his room, sweaty black hair covered by the grey beanie he’d used to hide it. His shirt is bright blue with silver sponsors scattered obviously across the chest of his jersy. Even without the name JEON spread obnoxiously across the back, Taehyung is sure that the tattoos and general aura surrounding Jeongguk would’ve given his celebrity identity away.

Sighing at the thought of being bombarded with questions by his neighbours the next morning, Tae walks towards him and kicks Guk’s bag with his shoe to get his attention away from his phone. Startled, Jeongguk looks up and grins when he realises it’s Tae, standing there with a scowl on his face. Before he can speak, Tae interjects.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming instead of sitting out here for ages like some sort of dipshit?” He frowns. “You’re causing a scene.”

Jeongguk looks around the empty hallway, where most of the lights aren’t even on, and nobody else is around.

He blinks blankly and laughs in Tae’s face, standing up to face him properly.

“That’s a funny way of saying you missed me.” Guk teases, pulling him in by the waist and kissing his cheek.

“I did not.” Tae hisses, looking around in case someone sees him express real human emotions. “You smell like sweat.” He grimaces.

“S’what happens when you win games as a pro player, baby. That's the smell of success.” Jeongguk laughs and clings to him tighter as Tae fumbles for his keycard to unlock the door. (A/N: I'm a keycard im a keycard imma imma)

“I know. I watched the game live on my phone in the library.” Tae admits, ignoring how Jeongguk’s chest practically swells with pride like a tropical bird.

“You did, huh baby?” He grins, kissing him on the cheek again. “You miss me that much?” Tae opens the door and pushes Jeongguk inside quickly, shutting it behind them.

“I watch all of your games that I don’t attend.” Tae explains. “Doesn’t make you any less annoying though.”

Guk shrugs.

“I like knowing you think about me when I'm not around.”

“I think about you all the time.” He answers honestly.

“Oh.” Jeongguk says, face and ears burning bright red as he bites his lip to contain a bashful smile. “Thanks.”

“Whatever.” Tae rolls his eyes, pretending not to smile. “How much time do you have here?”

“I’m supposed to be asleep in the hotel room. So I guess I just have to be back by 7am beforesomeone realises I was gone.”

“Why are you even here then? Your teammates could be looking for you, you know.”

“I wanted to see you.” Jeongguk shrugs casually like that doesn’t make Taehyung’s heart threaten to jump out of its cage. “They can’t leave without me anyway.”

“That’s silly.” Tae says, stepping closer towards him and linking their fingers together.

And romantic.

“And stupid.” He continues.

And sentimental.

“I just wanted to hold your hand, to be honest.” Guk admits, bringing their bodies closer together and pressing a sweet kiss upon Taehyung’s plush lips, feeling himself smile into it, content finally. “I missed you.” He says as they pull apart, cupping Taehyung’s cheek and committing every detail of the feeling to memory.

They kiss and kiss for ages, unaware and uncaring about the time they spend in each other's embrace. They pull away when Jeongguk’s tummy rumbles and Tae can’t stop laughing long enough to restore the mood. He giggles uncontrollably as Jeongguk pretends not to be embarrassed, and only manages to pull himself together when Guk threatens to kick him in the balls.

“I’ll make you something good to eat, okay?” Tae says as they walk over to his shitty little kitchen unit and ponder what to cook.

They end up settling on some instant tteokbokki and some leftover yaki udon they found in the fridge, and while they were both heating up on the stove, they rested in amicable silence; Tae bustling around preparing the food, with Jeongguk sat on a barstool in the corner, basking in the domesticity of the scene. He sits with his head down and his eyes closed, listening to the sounds around him, and he doesn’t open his eyes when he calls out and asks:

“Marry me?”

“No.” Tae responds immediately, and Jeongguk deflates like a balloon in a needle factory.

“Why?” He whines “You always say no.”

“That’s because we’re only 20 years old, Guk. We don’t have the money for a wedding, nor the time, or maturity. I keep telling you this.”

“I have the money for a wedding.” Guk points out.

“I know you do, which is why I got you to invest some of it, remember? – you need to be responsible and curb this impulsivity of yours.”

“I’ve wanted to marry you for two years now. That's hardly impulsive.”

“It is very impulsive. We were only 18.” Tae says.

“Love knows no bounds.” Guk retorts.

“We don’t own any suits.”

“There’s always rentals.”

“You don’t own a car.”

“We can take a bus to the venue."

“We wouldn’t have any wedding guests.”

“Our love only concerns us.”

“My parents would kill me.”

“We could just elope?”

“You don’t even have a ring.”

“I can get one off amazon right now.”

“No.” Tae says with finality.

Jeongguk pouts.

“You’re annoying.”

“And you’re annoying-er. This is like the 5th time you’ve asked me.” Tae sighs.

“Sixth, actually.” Guk corrects. “Let’s go for luck number seven, shall we?” He grins, not taking it to heart. “You know I only keep asking because you’re like...it for me.”

“I’ve never even thought about anyone else; you know. I've never wanted anyone else.” Tae gently says too. “But we can’t just get married on a whim when we’re so young and hardly get to see each other already. What good would that do? Especially considering your career.”

“When I talk about you to the team, ‘boyfriend’ just doesn’t do it for me, you know? I need something that says: ‘I want to merge our essences together and shoot them off into the galaxy for them to live amongst the stars for eternity.’”

Taehyung laughs heartily and turns back to the food.

“Now you’re just being dramatic.” he chuckles.

But Jeongguk knows deep inside it doesn’t even begin to describe how he feels, so he just looks down at his hands and smiles.

“Yeah, you’re right.” He says, swallowing a lump and tries not to think about what colour their souls would create together.

●

They eat slowly, catching each other up on new developments in their lives. Jeongguk talks about how effective and intense his training is, while Tae prattles on about his midterms and extra credit projects. The difference in their lives is blaringly obvious, and sometimes Jeongguk wonders what it would’ve been like had he quit basketball to go to school with Taehyung and live a normal life.

He imagines walking through the corridor holding hands, maybe stealing kisses in a cafe between classes, and cuddling up together in the same bed, every night.

“I wish I could take you dancing.” he says, watching as Tae watches him over the rim of his wine glass. They’ve both had a fair amount to drink, since Jeongguk doesn’t have a game tomorrow.

“You can one day.” Tae shrugs.

“But I don’t want ‘one day’. I want right now. I want to take you to the nearest shitty club and show you off and dance with you until they kick us out. Like a normal couple.” Guk stares at his glass.

“We’re not a normal couple.” Tae says plainly. “And I don’t mind.”

“I-”

“We’re not a normal couple because you’re not a normal person and neither am I. And I’m okay with that Gukkie. So you should be too.”

Guk’s heart thumps in his chest.

Guilt?

Adoration?

Respect?

“Come.” Tae says, downing the rest of his red wine and swaying slightly as he goes to set up his speaker and phone. “You can take me dancing right now.”

“H-Here?”

“Here.” Tae affirms, linking their hands together and smiling brightly. “It’ll be just as good as the real thing.”

They’re really bad at dancing, as one should expect of two six-foot-something grown men. Guk barely manages to stay on beat, and Taehyung moves like he’s fighting a ghost.

The smooth R&B music plays from the speaker, and they slide around the little living room together, swaying to the beat as best they can. They step on each other’s feet, and neither of them really knows how to grind, but they have fun nonetheless and Taehyung feels so at ease in this moment with Jeongguk looking into his eyes like he holds the key to the whole universe.

“I’ll marry you one day, you know.” Tae mutters into the air. “You don’t have to worry about me doing a runner.”

Jeongguk smiles.

“I know, baby. I'm not worried about that.”

“Then?”

“I’m just...worried. That this long-distance thing isn’t what you deserve.”

“You breaking up with me?” Tae snorts.

“Never.”

“Then shut your trap.” Tae scoffs. “I don’t deserve nothin.”

“I can’t give you everything a regular boyfriend could. At least not right now.”

“A regular boyfriend wouldn’t be paying off my student loans.” Tae giggles and Jeongguk smiles half-heartedly.

“I’m serious, baby.” He sighs, gently poking Tae’s ribs. “Doesn’t that make me a bad boyfriend if I never take you on dates outside?”

“So?”

“So don’t you wish things were different? That we were different?"

There’s a pause.

“Sometimes I wish I never went pro.” Jeongguk whispers into the air. They’re still swaying slightly but the music stopped a while ago. “I wish I could just be here with you all the time.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’d never forgive myself for letting you abandon your dreams just for me. It wouldn’t be right.”

“I love basketball more than most things in life Tae. For most of my life I loved it more than anything. And then you came along and it kind of took second place and that scared me big time. And I watch you live your quaint little life working towards your solid goals and being so independent without me and I worry. I worry I made a mistake. That I’m missing out. It...it sucks.”

“Missing out on what?”

“I don’t know. I know it’s not school. And I know it’s not uni life. Maybe it’s just you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.” Jeongguk croaks, “I’m missing out on everything about you. Everything about your life. I mean, no one you know even knows we’re dating besides your family, and that’s because they knew me before I went pro. It's basically a glorified parasocial relationship. I-I miss out on your birthdays and-”

“You send me gifts and video chat me every year.”

“But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m not there. I’m never there.”

“That’s not your fault Jeo-”

“Doesn’t it get lonely?”

Tae looks away and doesn’t respond.

“See?” Guk says, “You hate it too.”

“It’s certainly not as good as having you here, but it shows that you care about me and remember me and aren’t living up to the fuckboy basketballer stereotype.” Tae smiles softly, still swaying together. “I know you’re doing the best you can.”

“Should I quit? And get a job closer to you?” Guk asks nervously.

“No offence but basketball is the only thing you’re actually good at.” Tae giggles, and it pulls a real laugh from Jeongguk finally. “I love you, you know. And that means encouraging you to do things that are good for you even when you feel like it’s hard. I don’t love you because of, or in spite of your career. I love you and that includes your career. And when you’ve shot your last hoop and bow out of the game, you’ll still have me too.” Tae smiles, “I’ll always be here, so just come back to me whenever you can. Like today.”

“I wish I chose you over basketball and not the other way around.”

“You didn’t choose anything over anyone, you know. You can have both. You do have both.”

Jeongguk looks at him. He smiles.

“I do have both, don’t I.”

“Always.”

●●●

Long time no see huh 🕺🏽

Long story short I moved country for uni recently and there were a bunch of problems and it took forever and I still need to properly unpack lol. 🙈

Requests are still open btw!! I'll write about anything apart from minors, animals, poop and incest lol. Just DM it to me on Wattpad!

I just finished s1 of Jujutsu Kaisen and Nanami speaks to me. I literally need him in my guts. Those tiktok headcannons w the "thuggish ruggish bone" audio are amazing 😭. If anyone has any Nanami x reader recs on ao3 drop em right neeeooowww 👉🏽

I will start a Nanami book one day. Alongside a SakuAtsu book too so stay tuned for that.

Byeeeee 👋🏽

- bb 💚