accidental encore | taegyu

the clock on beomgyu's nightstand blinks 1:42 a.m., but sleep is nowhere in sight. instead, his best friend, soobin's lying upside down on his bed, legs kicked up against the wall, phone clutched in both hands like it holds the secrets of the universe.

"look at this," soobin screeches, shoving the screen toward beomgyu's face. "yeonjun's fingers? immaculate. perfect. god-tier."

beomgyu groans, rolling onto his stomach to bury his face in a pillow. "soobin, i swear to god, if you show me one more picture of that man's hands, i'm kicking you out of my room."

"you're just jealous because no one would ever write fanfiction about your hands."

"i don't want anyone to write fanfiction about my hands," beomgyu says, voice muffled. "i want to sleep. or at least have one single thought tonight that doesn't involve your weird little rockstar obsession."

soobin gasps, scandalized. "they're not just rockstars, okay? they're artists. visionaries."

beomgyu lifts his head just enough to give soobin the most judgmental stare humanly possible. "bro. they're a band."

"a band that changed music history."

"you mean they changed your spotify wrapped."

soobin flips him off, but there's no real heat to it. they've had this argument a hundred times — beomgyu, self-proclaimed hater of mainstream music, and soobin, number one fanboy of some band whose name beomgyu can never remember (the band's name is 'the killa'). it's a tradition at this point.

they end up scrolling through soobin's endless folder of saved band memes, a chaotic mix of thirst posts, concert clips, and deep-dive conspiracy theories about song lyrics. somewhere between the fifth and sixth time soobin starts explaining why yeonjun's stare at the camera during their last tour means something, beomgyu snaps.

"if you love them so much," beomgyu says, "why don't we just dm them?"

soobin freezes. "...what?"

"their band account on insta," beomgyu shrugs. "send them a message. tell yeonjun you wanna lick his fingers or whatever."

"first of all, gross. second of all..." soobin's eyes start sparkling with the kind of unhinged excitement beomgyu immediately regrets inspiring. "wait. we should actually do it."

"i was joking."

"too late!" soobin's already opening instagram, thumbs flying across the screen.

"oh my god." beomgyu flops back down, knowing full well this is gonna spiral into something ridiculous.

and he was right.

soobin's fingers fly across the screen, giggling like a kid who just got his first phone.

"okay, okay, what do we say?" soobin asks, eyes wide with adrenaline like they're about to commit a federal crime instead of just embarrassing themselves online.

beomgyu leans over, reading soobin's half-typed message out loud. "hi i'm soobin i'm your biggest fan and my best friend beomgyu thinks you guys suck but he's stupid so ignore him anyway yeonjun if you see this can you do a finger reveal? thanks."

"delete that right now," beomgyu says, grabbing for the phone. soobin twists away, shrieking. "what do you mean finger reveal? you sound insane."

"it's a fandom thing!" soobin yells, cackling.

"you need help," beomgyu groans, but he's laughing too. "give me the phone. let me write something."

soobin hesitates, but curiosity wins out and he hands over the phone. beomgyu squints at the screen, thinking for a second, then types:

soobin:
hey. big fan here (soobin, not me). anyway, if you ever want someone to roast your music taste in real time, hit me up. also yeonjun's hands are mid. - beomgyu (proud hater)

"why would you say his hands are mid??" soobin shrieks.

"because they are," beomgyu says, hitting send before soobin can stop him. "now we wait."

"they're never gonna see it," soobin pouts, flopping dramatically back onto the bed.

"good," beomgyu says. "that was the point."

but the universe, as always, loves to make beomgyu suffer. because not even five minutes later, the little typing bubble pops up in the dm.

"oh my god." soobin grabs beomgyu's arm in a death grip. "oh my god oh my god oh my god they're replying."

beomgyu feels his soul leave his body. "if it's yeonjun i'm moving out of this city."

the reply comes through. short, simple, and immediately infuriating:

the killa:
taehyun here. bold words from someone with private playlists. send me a song rec, proud hater.

"who the hell is taehyun," beomgyu asks.

soobin gasps like beomgyu just spit on the flag. "the lead singer. you're done. you're so done."

and just like that, beomgyu's life takes a turn he absolutely did not ask for.

———