tis the damn season (i'll be yours for the weekend) | taegi au

o3.

***

"What do you mean you don't know what a fucking Dijon is?" Yoongi glares at Taehyung who looks like he's going to cry or punch him, but he still hasn't decided yet. It's kinda justified though, because Yoongi feels the same - his eyes are narrowed, the pillow next to him ready to be grabbed and thrown in Tae's direction.

They're losing and they're losing big and it's all Taehyung's fault, who has no idea what's going on and what Yoongi's saying to him. They're playing Taboo, which is nothing complicated but somehow they don't understand each other at all, screaming and getting angry, because nothing that any of them do works. Jimin is giggling at them, glued to Jungkook like a cute koala bear, clearly amused by their miscommunications and his best friend's pout. It's easy for him to laugh - he and Jungkook proved once again that they're each other's soulmates, guessing every word faster than anyone else, at the end of every round doing this stupid thing when they're connecting their pointing fingers in endearing gesture. You are me, I am you.

There's an obvious abyss between them and Yoongi's team, which till now got only one answer right. They're fucking clueless - physically sitting together on the couch, but mentally drifting a few universes away from each other. Yoongi can't help but think about how it's not only in a we're-shit-at-this-game-because-you-don't-know-the-name-of-a-fancy-mustard-way, but also something-is-not-right-between-us-way.

I-want-to-touch-you-but-I-can't-way.

I-loved-you-once-but-not-anymore-way.

Sangmi sighs heavily - pulling Yoongi out of his racing mind – and looks at Taehyung with a mix of amusement and resignation.

"Not ketchup but...?"

Tae's eyes light up suddenly.

"Mustard!" he snaps his fingers with a huge smile on his face, excited to get the clue right, which makes Yoongi stop dead in his tracks. The smile is bright, sweet, warm, and surprising and it's been too fucking long since Yoongi saw it last. Obviously he never forgot it. How could he? Back in the days this smile - honest and raw and spontaneous and so so beautiful - was one of the few things that were keeping him sane. Right now he can't look at it, but he also can't look away, so he does what he always does in situations like this - he tries to be a dick himself, because it's easier than thinking about how he would love to suck on Taehyung's. He won't go there. He won't.

"I forgot I'm dealing with uncultured swine here" he deadpans, which earns him some laughs from Hobi and Jungkook, but also some weird non-specific offended sounds from Taehyung.

"Excuse me?"

"I need to get myself a drink, you need to get a grip. I don't want to lose this thing, you know? I'll be right back."

He grabs his glass and goes to the kitchen, annoyed to his limits for being stupid and weak. Character development? Who's that? Yoongi clearly doesn't know him. He pours himself a whisky and drinks it at one go, quickly replacing the drink with another one.

Why is it so hard? It shouldn't be. It was his decision and he knew what he was doing. If he could go back in time, he would do exactly the same, because staying in his hometown would kill him for sure.

But then.

Then there's Taehyung. Hobi. His friends and his childhood and all the places and memories that made him who he is. His homeland. All of the things that - when he sat in a plane all those years ago - didn't get their closure, because he didn't care enough for them to do that.

It's the first time he thinks that maybe he didn't get his closure also.

And maybe – just maybe – it wasn't about not caring enough but caring a little bit too much.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

It's Taehyung who comes looking for him. He looks kinda guilty and flustered, with a smile that gives a hint that the boy wants to say something yet he doesn't know if it's a good idea.

"I'm sorry we're losing. I know you don't like it. Hell, I don't like it either. Especially I hate losing against Jimin. He's so smug about it, even though it's Jungkook that does everything and he-"

"It's fine, Taehyung-ah", the caressing term slips out of his mouth involuntarily. "We hadn't seen each other in a long time. I guess it's nothing out of the ordinary that we don't stand a chance against two relationship-goals-couples."

"We used to." Tae shrugs, but doesn't look at the elder. "We could easily win against all of them. Remember when Sangmi hit you with a Monopoly board in 8th grade when we turned her into a bankrupt?"

"We could easily cheat against all of them," they laugh. "But yeah. We were a good team."

"Not from the beginning though." Taehyung smiles warmly, his fingers drawing shapes on the kitchen countertop. "We had our fair share of quarrels back then too."

"Well, you used to be a pain in my ass, so obviously" Yoongi snorts.

"I was, wasn't I?" Taehyung clearly remembers all those times he used to follow the elder around, sticking to him like a piece of gum to a shoe, not giving up on him and then the both of them.

(He never did, while Yoongi always does.)

"But then, we figured out our special solution. Remember? Though I have no idea how it worked."

Theoretically he didn't also (it was really stupid), but practically he still remembers the day that Taehyung came up with a suggestion. Yoongi felt annoyed and frustrated that once again got paired with the younger, whose brain worked completely different than any other person he knew (yet ever since that day it is Yoongi's favorite thing about him). But then Taehyung sent him his signature boxy smile and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers and suddenly everything changed – Yoongi's mind got clearer, heart started to race, stomach turned into an enclosure for wild butterflies. It wasn't just hand-holding but also the beginning of the end. For the first time Yoongi made an effort to try to understand Taehyung and somehow it was everything they needed.

But like many other things, he won't tell Taehyung that one either.

"If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid." he shrugs instead.

"Maybe we should try it tonight?" Yoongi almost chokes himself on a drink he's sipping, not expecting the proposition at all. He looks at Taehyung who smiles at him, clearly a little bit unsure, almost like he expects a rejection and well, Yoongi actually wants to reject him. Doing the very first thing that made him fall in love with the younger in the state that he is right now seems like a fucking bad idea and he hears screams inside his head telling him so.

But he can't do this. Not when Tae looks at him that way. Not again.

"Oh, yeah, I guess-, I mean–, If you want–, Sure, sure I- Yeah, okay" the last words are whispered but still audible in the quietness of the kitchen. Taehyung's cheeks are even redder than they were before when he nods.

"Right. Okay"

"Okay."

"Okay."

It's weird and awkward but also endearing and Yoongi can't help but smile. He pours himself another glass and then - suddenly feeling courageous - holds out his hand to Taehyung.

"Let's win this thing."

***