out of time |t.k|

nine

Jeongguk steps out of the shower in his hotel room later that night just in time to hear his phone vibrate. He picks it up to see a message from Jihoon. He rolls his eyes before opening it.

'Gguk check out this blog. If what this guy said is true, you have some major consequences waiting for you when you get back to LA.'

He follows the link to a well-designed blog and begins to read.

'A last-minute change in lineup, that I was honestly quite surprised by, had me standing nearly front row for a Jeongguk concert. 

The highly successful pop star, with fans across America, China, Korea and many other countries, is known to put on a good show. This, unfortunately, was not the case tonight.

Only a few lines into his first song he suddenly froze in place on the stage. He seemed terrified, perhaps stage fright has finally caught up to the fresh-faced young boy.

For around 30 seconds he stood still on the spot, music slipping by as his mouth just hung open.

But no fear, Jeongguk's still got it. He quickly picked the song and choreography back up and finished the rest of his show with a flawless finesse.'

The rest of the post just went on to talk about the songs he performed and how excited the crowd was for the show. At the very bottom, he paused at a very large, very HD picture of himself on stage. Eyes wide, mouth slung open, he truly looked terrified. He realized at once that was the exact moment he set eyes on Taehyung in the crowd.

He scrolls back to the top and almost chokes on air when he sees a small picture of Taehyung at the top corner, his name typed neatly underneath.

"Oh my god, it's his blog.", he whispers to himself.

It becomes a routine after that. Each night Jeongguk would spot Taehyung in the crowd who, in turn, would snap a single picture of him and walk away.

When he returns to his hotel room he takes a shower and checks Taehyung's bookmarked blog to see his review. Each night the review got more and more interesting, and more personal. Taehyung would write about things no normal fan would know about him, making Jeongguk blush when he calls him pretty at the end of one review.

The last night of the festival Jeongguk steps out of the shower, barely drying off and wrapping his towel around his hips. He hurriedly jumps onto his bed and pulls his phone out to read the latest review on Taehyung's blog. Excited to see how he would end his review of the festival. His eyes grew wide as he read.

'Taehyung, you remember me right? I remember you, how could I forget? It's been a while since we were in the same city huh? 

It's kind of funny when you think about it, how close we were the past five nights but I still felt so far away from you. Up, on that stage, you look so untouchable. You look so comfortable up there, did you know? You really were born to be a singer, you weren't wrong about that when we were kids. 

Do you remember the first song we wrote, 'Out of Time'? I still listen to it sometimes. The first time I saw you on TV you looked so happy and I was so proud of you, I wanted to cry. I know this isn't a review but I have so many things I've wanted to tell you for the past three years and this is my only hope of you ever hearing it. So, here it goes.

Jeongguk, I never thanked you properly for all the times you let me cry on your shoulder through the years. So, thank you. You don't know how much it meant to me then.

I never thanked you for letting me practically live at your house the summer after 10th grade after my grandma died and my parents were unbearable to live with. So, thank you.

And Jeongguk, I never thanked you for being my best friend for all those years. You stuck with me through everything, you kept my secrets, you were my reason for waking up most days. I don't know what I would have done without you. So, thank you.

I'm sorry we fell apart. I'm sorry we stopped talking to each other. I'm sorry I didn't come with you three years ago.

If, by some miracle, you happen to read this, just know I never stopped being your friend. I never stopped being there for you. I never stopped caring.

Ggukie, you're doing well right? You're eating and sleeping well I hope. If not, you would tell me, right? I miss you a lot.

Sincerely, your best friend TaeTae.'

Jeongguk nearly starts sobbing as he opens his Facebook app on his phone. He had to talk to Taehyung and it had to be now, while they were still in the same city. He taps his message to Taehyung that still sat ignored. He typed a message and smiled at his phone waiting.