brightest stars | vsoo

close the distance.

april in new york was cold this year, it's not as cold as seoul but taehyung still hadn't expected the weather to be gloomy. the bad weather only made him want to sleep through the numerous rehearsals and interviews they had scheduled for the next three days before flying back to korea for promotions. just the thought of all the things they had to do made him want to doze off and wake up until all of it was over.

if it weren't for jungkook nudging him nonstop, he would've done just that.

"you can sleep the whole day tomorrow, taehyung." his manager said gruffly, looking pointedly down at the said bts member.

taehyung sits up straighter and tries to keep his eyes open for more than two seconds. "doubt it."

"he was just telling us we had a free day tomorrow," beside him, namjoon pats his back. "finally catch up on some rest."

"but we have more snl rehearsals tomo–"

yoongi scoffs, interrupting him. "if you had listened, you would know that the studio is being used by another show and snl let us off because we already pre-recorded everything perfectly."

taehyung just blinks. "oh, alright."

their manager shakes his head at him. "rest up tonight and tomorrow, you'll all need it."

when he left, some of the boys proceeded back to their hotel rooms while namjoon and jin hit up the hotel restaurant and jimin wanted to go to the rooftop. he asked taehyung if he wanted to go with him, but the latter opted to retreat with the others back to their rooms.

his phone buzzes from his jean pocket as he closes the door behind him.

he smiles from ear to ear when he reads her name flashing on his screen. "jisoo," he says with his smile growing bigger as he picks up his girlfriend's call.

"hey, you." she laughs, or at least tries to. there's something about those two simple words that seemed really off. for one, she didn't sound happy and upbeat at all and that wasn't like his jisoo.

taehyung's smile turns to a frown. "what's wrong?"

he is met with silence. and then she's sniffling, he can clearly make out the sound of her trying to hold tears back. jisoo didn't need to speak further for taehyung to understand what was going on, but when she did it almost broke his heart hearing her sound so torn.

"i just really want to see you right now."

the earliest flight to palm springs was boarding in ten minutes.

taehyung had his ticket clutched in his hand and prayed nobody would make a scene if ever he got recognized. he was huddled in the corner, typing a message to his manager and leader. he would be fine if they kicked him out of the group as long as jimin wouldn't sing his parts in their songs because it would bring him shame.

he told jimin about his abrupt flight to the other isde of america only because he bumped into him in the elevator when he was stepping out.

"where are you going?"

"i'll be back tomorrow."

"that doesn't answer my-"

as the elevator doors began to close, he had grinned sheepishly at the other member. "i'm going to coachella!" the look on jimin's face made him laugh non-stop all the way to the airport.

"that tattle tale," taehyung muttered, fully knowing jimin was the one who told their manager and the other members of his whereabouts. "it's not like i didn't cover for him all these years."

after sending three paragraphs of texts to their manager and to namjoon, taehyung calls jisoo.

she picks up almost immediately. "please don't come anymore."

"too late, already bought a ticket." taehyung hears the announcement for their boarding and hurriedly walks towards the boarding gate. "i am expecting you to pick me up at the airport since you won't tell me the name or address of your hotel."

"we'll be in so much trouble, taehyung, we can just see each other in-"

taehyung falls in line and keeps his head down. "what? a week? a month? two months? you want to see me, and i want to see you. i'm already boarding, jisoo."

"i-" her voice cracks. he hears her sigh at the other line. "i'll see you in six hours. better expect a sucker punch."

he smiles. "i think a kiss or two would suffice."

"only if you get here fast enough."