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...
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Taehyung's pumpkin was rotten.
When they got back to Jeongguk's house, they got things together to carve the pumpkins after having dinner. They were sitting on the deck in Jeongguk's backyard, and right as he cut into his pumpkin, a putrid smell filled his nose and it didn't take too long to realize the one he chose was completey soiled.
Jeongguk didn't react the way Taehyung expected he would. All he did was frown, cover his nose, and gestured at Taehyung to throw it away in the garbage bin outside, to which he begrudgingly did with a sag in his shoulders. Luckily, they also bought other pumpkins, and Jeongguk gave Taehyung one of the many imperfect pumpkins he chose to carve.
He guessed he had no other choice, so together, sitting by the heater Jeongguk turned on while the dogs were lying down by their owner, they continued on.
"I can't believe it was rotten," Taehyung grumbled, scooping out the pumpkin pulp with his bare hand, nose crinkling at how slimy it felt.
"I told you to choose carefully," Jeongguk said, his gaze never leaving the pumpkin he was focused on. He asked Jeongguk what he was carving a bit ago, but he supposed he was so focused, he forgot to answer. Taehyung, though, was trying to carve a funky smiley face on his based off pictures he saw.
"And I did!" Taehyung wiped his hands off with one of the rags Jeongguk provided. "I chose something that I thought was nice."
"And then it wasn't nice," Jeongguk hummed.
"You knew it was bad, didn't you?" He sighed, setting the rag down and went back to emptying his pumpkin. Jeongguk shook his head.
"I'm not a pumpkin expert," He said curtly. "I wouldn't know."
"Of course you wouldn't." Taehyung was a little disappointed. Not in Jeongguk but in his goddamn pumpkin. It made no sense; it looked so beautiful on the outside but the inside was ugly.
"Well, now you know not to pick perfect pumpkins," Jeongguk continued, busy carving away at his. He worked faster than Taehyung. "It's not your fault though."
"Well, gee, thanks," Taehyung mumbled. "I appreciate the reassurance."
"No problem." Jeongguk went silent, too focused on his pumpkin to pick up the conversation.
Eventually, Taehyung managed to empty his pumpkin and he started on cutting out the outline. Part of him was grateful that Jeongguk remained silent so he could focus on making sure this looked nice. But it proved a lot harder than he thought once again.
Hell, the steady frustration in Taehyung began to pile up as he struggled to carve out the thick pieces.
Occasionally, Jeongguk would look up. It didn't take too long to notice the concern swirling in them, but Taehyung would wave him off. Instead, he pushed his sweater sleeves further up his arms and put more power into carving this goddamn pumpkin. He swore this stupid, malformed, wannabe orange hated him.
