"don't say you love me like that; like you're saying goodbye."
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in which yoongi and taehyung are ex-lovers who meet once again in tokyo, spending one last night together, learning how to both love and let go.
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a taegi short story; @springbts...
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Inside, they slow to a casual walk, exploring each stall side-by-side.
There's a dizzying array of food, cuisines from different countries smelling sweet and spicy and somewhere in between wafting into the air. Stalls are packed with household items, others with clothing and souvenirs, and yet there are still more stretching into the distance, rows and rows of books and toys and other various things laid out to be sold. Hawkers dress in traditional kimonos, and their shouts echo in the air.
Taehyung wanders around like a little puppy, excited at everything, constantly pointing out different things being sold.
It spreads to Yoongi as well, and his mood considerably lightens, body filled with a sugary sweet rush like candy-cane in his blood. He shows Taehyung a stall full of novels, and they come up with increasingly inappropriate titles until they're both clutching at their stomach in uncontrollable laughter. Yoongi's eyes further blur with tears as the stall owner looks at them weird, not understanding their Korean. They scurry off to a nearby stall still giggling, where funky sunglasses are sold in different shapes and colours, and Taehyung picks out two matching cat-eye glasses in hot pink. They put it on, look into the mirror, and promptly burst out into more laughter.
This continues on for a while, each tugging at the other's sleeve, dragging one another to show a particularly fluffy plush toy (oh, look, hyung, this panda looks just like you, cause you have eyebags too ha-ha please don't kill me) or a ridiculously cheap pair of running shoes (I don't run ever but oh my God these are so cheap should I just buy them anyways).
Yoongi's flush with laughter and his cheeks hurt from laughing so much, and he takes pictures as they go along the market, selfies of him and Taehyung in matching rainbow beanies; of Taehyung in his absurd cat-eye sunglasses; of Taehyung's back facing the camera when they're walking, one Yoongi secretly took because of how Taehyung had looked, all bathed in mellow hues and lilting lights, strands of his brown hair lifted by the winter winds.
It feels a little like he's stealing little bits and pieces of tonight to keep in his pocket, mementos he'd string together into a full picture for nights to come when he might miss Taehyung a little too much again.
Yoongi thinks maybe he will.
(Miss Taehyung again, that is.)
Because by now it's getting a bit hard for him to ignore this unfurling, this tightening in his chest. It feels more than just lust, he thinks, but more of an awareness.
