Dear Sputnik

XXXIII

- BEOMGYU-

Beomgyu had snuck out dozens of times before, but this time, his adrenaline was even much higher. The risk of getting caught was high. If his parents knew that he had left the house in the middle of the night to see Taehyun, then he would be grounded for the rest of his life.

It was now the weekend, three days since Taehyun had officially became his boyfriend. It was past eleven now, late enough that he was able to sneak out with ease without raising his parents' suspicion. Surprisingly enough, his father hadn't questioned him on Taehyun, even though it was obvious that Beomgyu had seen his testimony at the courthouse. Maybe he had assumed that Beomgyu had stopped being his friend. Whatever the case was, his father hadn't brung it up and that was a good thing. It was easier for Beomgyu to get away with things like this. If his father would start questioning him, then that's when he would break. Beomgyu sometimes cursed himself for having a father that was a lawyer. He was able to sniff out lies and knew exactly when something was suspicious. As long as Beomgyu didn't raise his suspicions, then he should have been fine. If he found out, then he found out and that wouldn't stop him from dating Taehyun, no matter how difficult it would be.

Beomgyu rounded the corner of his street and noticed a hooded figure standing under a street light. His heart pounded faster in his chest, despite already getting through the hardest part of this evening. The figure turned his head to face him and Taehyun's face emerged, shining from the street light. Beomgyu couldn't help but smile widely. Taehyun had a way of making him feel giddy.

"Hey," Beomgyu breathed out once he approached him, "I hope I didn't make you stand here long."

"Hey," Taehyun responded with a smile, "I haven't been here long, I promise. Did everything go okay with sneaking out?"

Beomgyu smiled and nodded, "Everything went fine, I just hope sneaking back in won't be a challenge."

Taehyun nodded and reached out to hold his hand. Despite how cold it was on this January night, his hand was warm and comforting. Nights like these were what memories that Beomgyu wanted to hold onto forever. There were so many things that Beomgyu wanted to accomplish with Taehyun right by his side. Beomgyu hoped that memories like these wouldn't stop.

As they began to walk together towards Taehyun's apartment, Beomgyu contemplated on telling Taehyun about their trip to Los Angeles. Nothing was even close to being set in stone, but at this point, Beomgyu felt confident that he would go. He'd probably be able to convince his mother, but his father, not so much. Whatever the odds ending up being, Beomgyu didn't really care. He wanted desperately to get out of Korea for the first time and experience the United States. Yeonjun's constant admiration and stories about his cousins who lived there were enough to convince him to go.

"Can I ask you something?" Beomgyu asked.

Taehyun glanced over curiously at him before nodding, "Of course."

"What would you say if I asked you to go to the United States with me?"

Taehyun glanced over at him, shocked expression on his face as he squeezed his hand tighter. In his defense, Beomgyu did kind of drop a bomb on him.

"I'd say yes, is that what you're considering?" Taehyun asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, Yeonjun actually is the trip organizer," Beomgyu explained while walking, "He wants to go to Los Angeles so badly. His cousins live over in California, but he hasn't able to take an actual trip to LA that has been memorable. He was asking the three of us if we would want to go with him."