Dear Sputnik

XLVIII

- TAEHYUN -

After a day of sightseeing and trying delicious foods, the guys set off on their separate ways. Soobin and Huening Kai wanted to visit the arcade that he and Beomgyu had went to. Beomgyu also decided that he wanted to go to the arcade again, so it was just him and Yeonjun. They decided to go shopping at some of the nicer and more expensive stores in Los Angeles. Yeonjun was a fashionista, something that Taehyun couldn't relate to at all. He had a closet full of expensive and luxury clothing from back when his parents were rich, but he didn't really understand fashion like Yeonjun. Yeonjun would probably make more use of his closet than he would.

"Now this, this is a fashion statement," Yeonjun murmured as he held up a pink Balenciaga crop top sweater for Taehyun to inspect.

Taehyun stared at the crop top and chuckled some, saying, "I think Soobin would like to see you in that."

"Soobin would like to see me in anything," Yeonjun laughed before checking the price tag, "Over $800 dollars, super affordable, right?"

"Definitely, that's what I make in a day," Taehyun played along, "Why don't you try it on, I'll take a picture of you and we can act like you're gonna buy it."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Yeonjun nodded.

The two of them walked over to the fitting rooms and Taehyun waited outside while Yeonjun disappeared inside. He looked at his phone, noticing that Huening Kai had sent a picture to their group chat. Taehyun opened the notification, glancing at the picture and smiling as he seen Soobin, Beomgyu, and Huening Kai posing for a picture in the arcade. He focused on Beomgyu and smiled as he stared at him.

The fitting room door opened, distracting Taehyun from the picture. He glanced up, noticing Yeonjun had changed into the pink crop top sweater. It fit him well; Taehyun was shocked to admit that. He had his doubts on whether or not he would look good in a crop top, but he managed to pull it off extremely nicely. Yeonjun peered in the mirror beside him and lifted up his arms slightly, flashing his abs. Taehyun chuckled a bit as he watched Yeonjun strike a couple of poses. He was definitely passionate about fashion, that was for sure.

"Let me take your picture, I'll be your photographer," Taehyun said with a chuckle as he held up his phone.

Yeonjun struck a few more poses and Taehyun quickly snapped a bunch of pictures. After the picture spree was finished, he handed Yeonjun his phone to inspect the photos he took of him. Yeonjun's face lit up and he smiled widely as he swiped through the pictures. After a moment, he returned his phone to Taehyun.

"I sent some to the groupchat," Yeonjun chuckled.

"Now Soobin is going to be thirsting over you in the groupchat," Taehyun teased.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing," Yeonjun laughed.

-

After finishing up window shopping, the two of them found a smoothie cafe that was open during the evening hours. They sat outside, sipping their smoothies as they watched the sunset with the breeze flowing through their hair.

He sat back in his chair and began to reminisce. Taehyun found it hard to wrap his mind around sitting here in Los Angeles right now in this moment. It was a hard two months of being without Beomgyu and the others. He had finished the rest of his school year out strong, ranking at the top of his class, just like his father wanted. He visited his father quite frequently when they were first allowed to go see him. They didn't discuss the trial and there was no exchange about Taehyun's sexuality. That was fine by him; Taehyun already felt guilty enough for everything that went down that last day of the trial.