❛THE SIXTH IDEA | APPLYFIC❜

❝ SECOND ❞

☜♡☞
STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM.
True love will triumph in the end—which may or may not be a lie, but if it is a lie, it's the most beautiful lie we have.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Taejin liked to tend to the garden at the back of the JYP building, and spent a lot of time with his fingers tarnished in soil and singing whimsical tunes, sometimes in the company of Jinsu. Jinsu mainly liked it because he could eat chives straight off the plant and talk about EXO, rather than actually touching the soil.

"The only difference between soil and the soul is you and I," Taejin would say, which effectively ruined everything.

Taejin chose to spend their day off going strawberry picking, as if they were an elderly couple who ate shortbread and collected tins. There's something eternally cute about even the mere act of someone asking to go strawberry picking with you that it doesn't even matter if you don't like strawberry picking.

Unless you're speaking to a sleep-deprived Jinsu.

"I have to study for the Literature exam," Jinsu whined. "Lyosha's leading the class right now. I need to overtake him."

Taejin tilted his head in a mix of nostalgia and confusion. "You're a trainee, they're not gonna expect you to get a hundred percent." He thought about this for a while, remembering how many sleepless nights he'd spend reading over the complex English words using the glow from his phone as a light source as to not get caught. He chose not to mention it.

"How long is this whole strawberry ordeal gonna take?" asked Jinsu, denoting the very act of strawberry picking to a size tinier than it should be held at. "I don't mean to sound salty, but —"

" — like a half hour. I promise you can do all the reading you want when you get back."

Jinsu narrowed his eyes. It seemed too good to be true. "Lyosha says Jimin hasn't done anything for his assessment. He's higher than me in terms of grades."

Taejin raised his eyebrows, already standing up from the dewy grass they were sitting on and dusting off his non-dirty overalls. "How do you know that?"

"Group chat," he replied casually.

"Group chat?" Taejin looked almost sad. He bit his lip. "Why are you in a group chat?"

"Don't sweat it, Tae, you're not in it because you're too positive. It's a place of complaining."

"Go tell 'em you're going strawberry picking, then," he said, as he climbed over the fence and down the steps, thinking about all the overgrown weeds that weren't going to be cut today. He shuddered.

Jinsu just sort of stood in the garden and wondered whether he'd be able to eat the strawberries without washing them, before awkwardly trying to catch up with Taejin as he strolled down the path.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Taejin stood outside of the JYP building wearing a Helsinki scarf and River Island overcoat, that he hoped no-one noticed was from the women's section. He waited for Jinsu to arrive, so they could catch the tram to a nearby farm and go pick the fuck out of a strawberry patch.

Like an old couple. The greatest level two people can reach.

That's when he saw Jinsu waltz through the crowd with a pair of Foster Grants, looking like he just stepped out of a Tom Cruise film. Taejin shrank back into the sliding doors, wondering whether his wear something stylish text was a good idea.