Lifetime

Vortex

While Seokjin's treatment the following afternoon was standard, the coming days were not. Since we'd be leaving town again, starting on the road for our first bout of adventures, we worked our way through the perishable food in the house. This resulted in days of scavenging through the refrigerator for whatever we had leftover and needed to be eaten, concoctions of random ingredients for meals that varied from delicious hits to hard misses.

I had no idea how much to or what to pack for road tripping across multiple states, so many planned activities that I was overthinking outfit choices.

My bag of toiletries was already tucked away by the entrance to the garage, next to the bags Seokjin finished packing in the hour that he woke before me. He left me to sift through my side of the closet, the sound effects of Super Mario and his elated reactions drifting through the house from where he played.

I was zipping my largest suitcase when the game paused, listening to him get closer as he hummed the theme song, stopping to use the bathroom on his way through our bedroom to the closet.

"Can I ask why you're packing so much?" His tone was cautious, though I caught the way his cheeks raised as if he wanted to smile.

Still, he lifted the suitcase to sit upright, ready to place it with our other luggage. "You do realize we'll be gone for two months. We've got like a million things planned and who knows if we'll end up being more spontaneous along the way." I glanced over my shoulder to the untouched shelves lined with my shoes. I'd need another bag.

"And you'll probably do a lot of shopping too." He nodded. "Pack light. We'll buy whatever else you need." I barely felt his lips press into the top of my head through the coiled locks piled on top.

"You could have told me that earlier." I huffed, words stretched a pinch to match my pout. "I wouldn't have wasted the whole morning."

He leaned into the open doorway, casually admiring the view of me on all fours as I started to unstuff the nearest suitcase. "Leave it for now. Just find something pretty to wear. I want to go out." He posed.

Over the next hour and a half we brushed back and forth past one another, shifting between the bedroom and bathroom to get ready. He jumped in the shower while I selected something casual. It was still light out, and based on the outfit set out for him on the bed, it'd be a relaxing afternoon.

I was completely clueless, naive to his antics while I showered, my favorite playlist covering any conversations or noise that could have tracked through the house. By the time I finished washing, the house was eerily silent. Seokjin bit into his bottom lip from where he sat on the bedroom sofa, eyeing me more than usual while I dressed.

He chuckled at the silly way I shook my hips at him as I pulled my panties on, but his patience thinned during my short makeup routine. Too many times of tapping his foot left me chastising him, ignorant to the true excitement behind the rushing that I negged him for.

It wasn't until we stepped into the space that I gleaned two vehicles parked just outside the house. I peered around Seokjin's car to the Mercedes Benz's lined parallel, the latest E-Class, a newer model of the one I'd admired with Yoongi.

The other was a larger SUV, a G-Class in midnight blue. I approached it first, eyes wide at the way they shined.

"Do you like them?" Seokjin came nearer, his expression close to matching mine despite carrying different emotions. "We can get another color if you want, customize them however you like." I gaped at his reference to me in second person.

"They're both for me?" I wondered, wanting to reach out to feel the smooth exterior but afraid of leaving a single fingerprint as a blemish to the surface.