Burrito | k.th • j.jk

Burrito

"i can't believe you aren't coming!" he yelled through his phone.  usually, taehyung isn't the kind of guy to step out of his apartment unless it was to stock up on groceries or for class; he'd much rather stay back in his  room trying to cool his mind off of the amount of work he had piled up on his desk.

right now, taehyung had just got off the R train at times square. he'd been living in new york for almost two years now but he still hadn't visited the place for the hype. most of the time he was here, it was because his family had wanted to visit the 'attraction' while he'd be in a bitter mood the entirety of their sightseeing adventures when they dragged him along. 

"i'm sorry tae, i didn't know they'd be surprising me at home. i'll make it up to you tomorrow? breakfast?" the shorter pleaded. jimin knew how hesitant taehyung could be when asked to do something that involved letting go, but he really didn't expect his friends -and boyfriend- to land right outside his room early in the morning. he knew how borderline perfectionist tae's tendencies were.

jimin, the lucky one who had managed to break taehyung out of his shell, was the complete opposite. though both of them studied at the same university, jimin had a more laid-back attitude towards his schooling and taehyung acknowledged that. he just hoped that the older would understand his efforts too.

taehyung exited the platform, "not morning, jimin. how about lunch?" to which he replied in the affirmative. taehyung ended the call and walked up the steps into the rush of the city. october was quite chilly there, and taehyung came prepared. he pulled his brown coat to his chest, contemplating whether to screw his aesthetic to feel warm. he ended up giving up to his body and buttoned his coat half-way.  

it was ten in the morning, but it didn't seem like that. the streets were filled with tourists soaking in the the city's feeling, looking around at the massive billboards and marveling at various other places like outside the huge h&m showroom or the playstation theatre. he finally made it to the famed spot. the shops that lined the streets were way too costly, but he decided to go to the starbucks to have a sandwich. he had left his dorm without eating.

he collected his order and walked out, the throng of people engulfing him. anyone could mistake him for a tourist, he thought. he looked at a billboard advertising a broadway production 'kinky boots' and made a mental note to let jimin know about it. jimin always spoke about it because a singer was part of it. brandon, was it? he never paid attention. 

he knew there was a 'line' shop there, so off he went, spending the rest of his morning making a small dent in his pocket there. while browsing, he decided to ironically spend the day just like a tourist as a means to spite jimin. 'the one day you didn't come jimmy boy, i did all the fun touristy things that you've begged me to do since we met'. he smiled, his eyes almost disappearing. it would be worth it.

he searched around for nearby places where tourists went, and the first to pop up was rockefeller centre but (unsurprisingly) he wasn't in the mood to see the area where the annual christmas tree usually resides. he searched a little bit more, for something that would be in every person's checklist. lady liberty came up, but she was too far for him and he knew that long distance relationships suck, so she was rejected. next up - the empire state building. was it super expensive to go on top? yes. but was it worth getting a shot with it to tingle jimin's buds up? absolutely.

he threw the wrapper of his sandwich in the nearest garbage can and opened the camera app on his phone to take a selfie with the statue of the man called george m. cohan. while leaving the area, one thought consumed him -the quote written on the pedestal of ol' cohan's statue- 'mary's a grand old name'. he smiled to himself and descended to the subway platform, catching the 7 and changing to the 6 at grand central station to reach koreatown.