Second Chance (Taekook)

CHAPTER - 39

The Garden Route: Mossel Bay

Taehyung and Jeongguk were enjoying the motorbike ride, with their bodies pressed against each other and beautiful smile on their faces.

"How much time it would take us to reach our first destination?" Taehyung questioned out of sudden.

"Three more hours."

"What? You will get tired by the time we reach there." Taehyung asked, voice filled with worry for Jeongguk.

"I will not get tired baby." Jeongguk assured him.

"And till how long we will stay there?"

"We will stay there till next morning." Jeongguk replied calmly.

"Okay, then next day we will travel by car too." Taehyung said as he raised his head from Jeongguk's shoulder.

"Why? Are you not enjoying the ride?"

"I am enjoying the ride but if you keep driving motorbike you will get tired and I also want to spend some time with your family."

"Oh so you don't want to spend time with me." Jeongguk replied with a fake sad tone.

"What? When did I said that?"

"You just said you want to spend time with my family not me." Jeongguk continued.

"I literally never said those last two words." Taehyung whined making Jeongguk laugh.

When realising that Jeongguk was joking taehyung whined more and embarrassedly smacked Jeongguk's back.

"I will not talk to you." Taehyung grumbled but still nuzzled his face in Jeongguk's back and kissed the area where he earlier smacked him, who smiled feeling the cute gesture as they continued the journey.

For both, Taehyung and Jeongguk, this ride was a tangible essence of freedom. An addictive, hedonistic experience where they felt that their senses were assaulted and brought to life. The journey was joy filled juxtaposition of both terror and peace , a thrill of adrenaline fueled excitement coupled perfectly with the blessed serenity of a cleared mind.

As they kept traveling on a motorcycle, they felt like their surroundings did not just simply hurtle past without meaning. Instead, they felt a sense of belonging as if they are somehow actively engaged as part of a living landscape. They felt a part of lifes tapestry again, instead of being on the outside looking out as the world passes them. They felt like they were no longer just a spectator.

In a car it is like always in a compartment, and because you are so used to it you dont realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You are a passive observer and it is all moving by you, boringly in a frame.

But on motorbike that frame is gone. You are completely in contact with it all. You are in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming. That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing, the same stuff you walk on, its right there, so blurred you can't focus on it, yet you can put your foot down and touch it anytime.

And the whole thing, the whole experience, is never removed from immediate consciousness and that's why Taehyung loves motorbike rides.

Throughout the whole experiencing of mind bending acceleration and wind forces, and even with a tempest of violent noise roaring from the exhaust, and the vibration singing from the engine as revs sore higher and higher, they remained calm, just enjoying the nature and their journey.

For them this motorcycle ride was a combination of exhilaration, fear, relaxation, pleasure and love that changed them forever. It was a physical journey filled with emotional pleasure, with a layer of anxiety and adrenaline. A ride that somehow brought them more closer to each other in an emotional sense. A ride that they will remember throughout their life as this ride was witness of their blossoming love.