TAEKOOK | HOPE

• 43 [epilogue]

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As fall ebbs into winter, the days become shorter and the temperature descends from comfortably crisp into downright cold. Now Taehyung's nose is adorably pink when he arrives at Jeongguk's door, his neck concealed by an array of colorful scarves and his hands mittened when Jeongguk takes them in his own. Jeongguk has never been a big fan of winter, but he's smitten enough that with Taehyung around it's not so bad.

His days are packed with preparations for the tour and preliminary talks about the band coming off of hiatus sometime next year. He can't be as involved at this point as he would like, but he knows Namjoon and Yoongi have been back in the studio together, and Taehyung comes home some days bursting with excitement and song ideas. He's been writing more on his own, occasionally allowing Jeongguk to cajole him into sharing some of it, and Jeongguk loves seeing him so enthusiastic and eager.

They spend the holidays together, sharing Christmas with Jeongguk's family and Taehyung's birthday and New Year's with his family. It feels a little bit surreal, to look to his left at the family Christmas dinner and see Taehyung laughing with his mom, or to wake up on Christmas morning in his childhood bed and find Taehyung already awake and grinning brightly at him. On Taehyung's birthday, he wakes him up with a blow job in his childhood bed, which logistically is challenging given the cramped space but is totally worth it for the way Taehyung can't stop touching him for the rest of the day.

"My fifteen year-old self is high-fiving me right now," Taehyung murmurs into his ear afterwards, shoving one hand down the front of Jeongguk's boxers. "Never dreamed I'd get someone as gorgeous as you, though."

"My fifteen year-old self exclusively dreamed about getting head from you," Jeongguk admits, making Taehyung grin so wide his face practically breaks in half.

"Well in that case," he hums, and that's all the warning Jeongguk gets before he's being pressed back flat on the tiny, twin-sized bed and watching his own dick disappear between Taehyung's lips.

True love is when your boyfriend blows you on his birthday, he decides.

They have a last dinner with the members in Seoul before the tour starts, and then Jeongguk's schedule kicks into an ever higher gear than it had been before. The first few dates are in Korea, which at least allows him to ease back into things, and Namjoon and Hoseok make guest appearances that send the fans into a tailspin and spawn a slew of Internet articles declaring that BTS is on the verge of getting back together. Not long after, he's boarding a plane to the US with Taehyung by his side, their face masks and hoods doing little to disguise them against the onslaught of paparazzi. There has been public speculation in the past few months that something is going on between them, but Jeongguk doesn't even need to check his social media mentions to know that these pictures will essentially serve as confirmation. It scares him a little, the thought of everyone having an opinion on their private lives, but it's nothing compared to the security he feels when he looks over and sees Taehyung next to him.

They pass a few weeks in the US, hopping from hotel to hotel, ordering obscene amounts of room service and sneaking out at odd hours to explore the various cities they visit. The US offers them a bit more anonymity, so if they're smart about it they can go out and do a lot without being bothered - like getting a hot dog from a street vendor in New York, which they do at 10 o'clock in the morning on their last day there. In LA, they squeeze in some time to visit with Taehyung's old cast mates, and Jeongguk can't help the possessive arm he slides around Taehyung's waist when Seoyun appears. As it turns out, she's a really lovely girl, and it only takes Taehyung pinching him a few times for Jeongguk to admit that. Still, the sex they have when they get back to the hotel is some of the hottest of Jeongguk's life, and by the next morning Jeongguk can barely even remember Seoyun's name.