When Kim Taehyung's fictional romance with his costar Jeon Jeongguk starts to feel more genuine than anything he accomplished in his entire acting career, he believes it shouldn't be a problem: after all, it's just acting.
But isn't it wrong to be...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
In the end, they managed to go to the pumpkin patch.
It took some time for Taehyung to pull himself together, and eventually he felt fine enough to go with him. He supposed it wouldn't hurt to be out for a few hours. Jeongguk and his dogs waited for him patiently outside as Taehyung double-checked that everything was in place, and with that, they loaded into Jeongguk's car and were off.
"What do you do at a pumpkin patch?" Taehyung asked, watching as they passed dozens of towering pines, forever frozen in green.
That was probably one of the features of Seattle he admired most: how natural and vibrant everything was in comparison to Seoul. The air smelled clean, thick with syrupy pines and the pungent stench of rain against the pavement. The wind whipped through the back of their hair, gentle and icey, from the back windows where Jagal and Jogae were sticking their heads out the window.
"You get pumpkins," Jeongguk said, eyes fixed on the road, both of his hands clutching the wheel. He noticed that Jeongguk would occasionally peer over at his dogs through the rearview mirror. "And you take them home and carve them."
"Really?" Taehyung's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Is there anything else?"
Jeongguk drummed his fingers over the steering wheel before saying, "Well, yeah. There's hot cider, caramel apples, cinnamon donuts, and a petting zoo. But I don't like the zoo. It smells really, really bad." At that, his nose crinkled, like he was sent right back to that place.
Taehyung suppressed a grin, hiding his lips behind his knuckles.
"Did you ever go here with anyone else?" It was a lighthearted question, one that slipped past his lips without much thought.
That was another thing he discovered about himself with Jeongguk. When the stress wore off, he found himself speaking freely, openly without restrictions, and he supposed he liked that feeling. That openness was certainly something he was adjusting to.
"Nope," Jeongguk shook his head.
"Really?" He decided to tease him further. "You didn't bring any of your past lovers here?"
"No," Jeongguk repeated curtly, indifferent. "I don't see why I would. They can bring themselves."
"But you're bringing me?" Taehyung murmured, his teeth grazing against the back of his knuckles, thhe strain around his lips difficult to fight.
"Well, yeah," Jeongguk said, the skin between his brows creasing a little. "I want to go here with you. Plus you don't have a car. Is there a problem?"
"Not at all," Taehyung said, leaning back into his seat, his hands falling to his lap. He snuck a glance over at Jeongguk, unable to hide the smile crawling onto his lips.
Taehyung tried to focus on Jeongguk and nothing else. It wasn't too hard. Jeongguk looked great with his hair unstyled, left to fall over his forehead where he occasionally ruffled it. His side-profile was just as pretty as the rest of him, from the smooth slope of his nose to the strong curve of his jawline. He was unreal, so unreal that Taehyung feared if he were to look away, he would disappear.
