But Beautiful

part 61 (M)

One of the first things Jungkook remembered when they boarded the plane was how Taehyung had said the flight was ‘hella long’, and the memory made him smile.

The flight was long, of course, but Taehyung spent a good portion of it sleeping due to his anxiety medication, which helped him relax enough to sit through his first ever airplane trip. Jungkook had a lot of time to himself due to his lover sleeping beside him, so he thought it might be nice to do a little bit of reading. Not only was his boyfriend working at a library, he was more experienced in literature than he was. Jungkook always had his nose in medical books, never in the more artistic texts the world had to offer. Considering it, he found there was no better place to start than The Winter’s Tale.

Although the language was confusing, Jungkook was able to feel the heart in the story, and the fact that it was one of Taehyung’s favorites made it that much more important to read. There were many lines that stood out to him, many of which were said by the main characters. ‘When you speak, sweet, I’d have you do it ever,’ was part of a speech by Florizel to Perdita, and it resonated so brilliantly inside of Jungkook. It was exactly how he felt the first time Taehyung spoke, when he was beneath Jungkook in that pile of fallen leaves, the sound of Jungkookie on his lips, the first thing he’d heard him say. His body broke out in goosebumps, heart fluttering at the memory. He wondered, now that he’d read the story, why Taehyung decided to name his stuffed bear Florizel. He was told it was a secret, and after reading the story, he truly wanted to know what the reason could be.

Taehyung woke up right as they were about to land, only being awake a few hours of the whole time in random bouts. Jungkook smiled brightly at him, squeezing his hand. “We’re here, Tae.”

“Already?” he asked through a yawn, making Jungkook burst into giggles.

“Yes, my love. You slept a lot,” Jungkook replied, leading Taehyung off the plane and through the airport to collect their luggage. “I’m glad you were able to.”

“I was scared,” Taehyung said, “but sleeping through it made it a lot quicker.”

“I can imagine.”

The two of them collected their bags and took a shuttle to the ryokan. There were a few others on the shuttle, foreigners as well, who excitedly talked among themselves. Somehow, despite reading about the accommodations towards non-natives and their hospitality towards them, he still felt better knowing that they weren’t going to be alone. He didn’t know much Japanese at all, only limited to greetings and very few phrases, ones he wouldn’t even understand the response to. Taehyung didn’t know any, either, besides the couple that he’d heard Jungkook say. Taehyung didn’t speak anything other than English, and it was actually really cute to Jungkook that he wanted to learn Korean to connect with that part of him. He didn’t get a chance to be raised by his parents, which made the notion of connecting to his roots more inviting.

What Jungkook read about the onsen was true – the staff was friendly and warm, very hospitable as they checked them in happily, took them to their room, and offered a pamphlet outlining in-house mealtimes and services. The two of them unpacked their light luggage, Taehyung sitting cross-legged on the floor, bouncing excitedly.

“What do you wanna do first, Jungkookie?” he asked.

Jungkook laughed, shaking his head as he replied, “I’m actually not sure. I’d like to go to to the main pond early, so we can see it at sunrise,” he continued, sitting beside Taehyung on the tatami. “Maybe we can stay in tonight, since it’s a little late, and hike there in the morning? Then we can take the trail around the ponds and look at the scenery. In the meantime, want to take a soak in the famous hot spring?”