accidental encore | taegyu

it's been a few days since the chaotic sleepover and somehow, against all logic and reason, taehyun and beomgyu have not stopped talking.

they text all day.
they voice call at night.
and at some point, video calls became a thing too.

it started innocently enough — taehyun had been trying to show off his new guitar strap (it had tiny frogs on it because hueningkai dared him to buy it). beomgyu clowned him for it immediately and demanded to see it up close, which led to them flipping the camera around, showing each other their rooms, and somehow staying on video call for three hours.

now it's just... a thing.

"why are you always in bed," taehyun says when beomgyu picks up today's call, horizontal, blanket cocooned, hair an absolute tragedy.

"why are you always dressed like a 2015 fashion youtuber," beomgyu fires back, squinting at taehyun's ripped jeans and suspiciously trendy oversized shirt.

"it's called style."

"it's called tumblr's corpse."

taehyun flips him off through the screen. beomgyu blows him a kiss.

their dynamic is insufferable to anyone who would witness it — pure flirt-roast hybrid with a sprinkle of unhinged gremlin energy. soobin already calls them "divorced parents who are both bad at custody weekends" and beomgyu can't even argue.

"what are you even doing right now," beomgyu asks, kicking his legs like a schoolgirl.

taehyun tilts the phone down — his electric guitar sits in his lap, fingers loosely drumming against the strings. "supposed to be working on a demo. but you distracted me, you menace."

"my powers," beomgyu grins. "wanna play something for me?"

taehyun rolls his eyes, but his smile softens. "you'll just make fun of me."

"duh. but i'll also secretly think it's hot."

taehyun chokes on air.

"oh my god," he mutters, rubbing his face. "you're gonna be the death of me."

"flattered," beomgyu sing-songs.

but then taehyun actually starts playing — something soft, stripped down, a song beomgyu doesn't recognize but kinda wishes he did.

he doesn't tease. he doesn't interrupt. he just listens.

and when taehyun looks up after the last chord, beomgyu only says, "that was nice. play it again?"

and taehyun does.

they stay on call until beomgyu's phone hits 2% and the screen goes black mid-sentence, leaving taehyun staring at his reflection until he sighs, sets his guitar down, and texts beomgyu:

tyun:
charge your damn phone idiot

gyu:
ur fault for being too interesting

tyun:
shut up
but thanks

—

it's around 5pm the next day when beomgyu realizes taehyun hasn't replied to him all day.

that's... weird.

normally, there's at least one message — a stupid meme, a blurry picture of hueningkai doing something questionable, or some roast disguised as a compliment. but today?

nothing.

beomgyu stares at their last messages from last night — taehyun had said "goodnight gremlin" (rude) and beomgyu replied with "sweet dreams chicken nugget <3" (objectively worse). after that, radio silence.