bikers & beaches | tk ✓

❧epilogue one

❧ Letters and Butterfly Effects ❧

The last minute plan came about after a video call with Jeongguk on a quiet Saturday night.

Taehyung hadn't been able to speak to Jeongguk properly in the past few of weeks. Not when Perfectly Real had been requested to be featured in his home city's art museum— after his professor had put in an impressed word or two to his colleague curators at the place.

His name was in the local newspaper, a success in the visual arts realm, growing in popularity. Jimin had sat him down when he'd gotten overwhelmed and helped him control his flooding email and physical mail, with commissions and visiting curators wanting to showcase the piece at their museums in neighboring cities as well.

Jimin helped him set up a temporary website to regulate messages and he didn't know what he'd be doing without his best friend's help so that he could actually find a commission to accept and begin some work on— rather than focusing on the technicalities behind the entire transaction.

The past three weeks had been both unbelievable and all the more exhausting.

It was strange to him, painting for work instead of learning or for fun. He'd always wanted to get somewhere professional with it, but it was never easy.

It put respect on his name, though— respect that drew his parents in, beginning to like how their son's name was in the news with praise and appreciation.

And, so, while he planned out the sketch for his next class project (because he still had his school work to do), Taehyung dialed up his favorite biker and let the few rings echo in the studio as the facetime call awaited to be answered.

Eventually, Jeongguk's face appeared and Taehyung was smiling fondly, shoulders sinking with the tension disappearing in seconds. The craziness of the last three weeks disappeared into nothing but longing as he waved at the younger with graphite smeared hands.

"Hello, busy man." Jeongguk was chuckling, earbuds in as his chin rested on his flattened hands, sandwiched with the table. He recognized the setting of Jeongguk's room, familiar from their calls before. The younger was living at home with community college at hand, driving to classes for the day and then hanging out with his friends in the spare time.

They greeted each other, Taehyung talking about more specific details of the past three weeks that hadn't fit into the occasional messages he managed to slip into the biker's chat.

"It's really good to see you smiling, Saltine."

"Why?" He snorted. "So you can wipe it off my face?"

"Wouldn't that be nice, huh. Just kiss you until your lips are so numb they can't even smile anymore."

He laughed, sliding the notebook off the table and onto his crossed over knees, hand moving as he gave his visual attention to his project and audial to Jeongguk. "Of course that's your plan."

It went on for a few minutes— the teasing and banter, the comfortable energy that made Taehyung feel more and more at home even though they were so far away from one another.

"I opened your letters the other day."

His hand stilled, the end of the pencil tapping onto the paper as he glanced up at Jeongguk. "Oh?" And to be annoying, he added: "Already?"

Jeongguk's face was hidden as he threw up his hood. Taehyung hid his grin, knowing the younger was clearly experiencing a find amount of fluster to be embarrassed. "A couple days ago. We'd only been messaging for a few weeks and I missed your voice, so... yeah, I read them."