accidental encore | taegyu

chapter thirteen

"found them," taehyun says, smug as hell.

"you planned this," beomgyu accuses, pointing at soobin like he just betrayed the entire nation.

"i literally didn't," soobin replies, but the way he's grinning gives him away.

"caught in 4k," yeonjun singsongs.

beomgyu mentally evaporates on the spot.

"i can't do this," he whispers to soobin. "i'm gonna pee myself."

"don't you dare," soobin hisses.

"c'mon gyu," taehyun calls out, gesturing for him to follow. "aren't you excited to see me?"

"no."

"liar."

soobin physically shoves beomgyu forward, and beomgyu stumbles straight into taehyun's personal space, face-to-face for the first time in real life.

beomgyu forgets how to breathe.

"you're taller than i thought," taehyun says casually, like he didn't just detonate beomgyu's entire brain.

"you're... real," beomgyu blurts out.

"last time i checked."

"unfortunate."

taehyun laughs, loud and sharp, and it hits beomgyu directly in the heart like a nerf gun.

"you're funnier in person," taehyun says.

"you're uglier in person," beomgyu shoots back instinctively.

taehyun raises a brow. "oh?"

"wait no i didn't mean that i swear you're hot i mean—"

"too late," taehyun grins. "you're in for it now."

"kill me."

soobin watches this disaster unfold with pure joy.

"this is better than netflix," yeonjun whispers to him.

"i know," soobin whispers back.

and so, the cursed meetup begins.

with beomgyu physically stuck between taehyun's relentless attention and soobin's betrayal, the group starts heading down the sidewalk toward the restaurant.

taehyun, of course, falls into step right beside beomgyu, matching his pace too perfectly, hands in his pockets like he's casually not causing beomgyu a full mental collapse.

"so," taehyun starts, voice low enough that only beomgyu can hear. "you really called me ugly the first time we met?"

beomgyu chokes on air. "i— listen, you took me by surprise."

"how so?" taehyun tilts his head, all innocent curiosity and evil smirk at once.

"you're... you know. you look like that."

"like what?"

"like—" beomgyu waves his hands vaguely at all of taehyun. "like the problem you are."

"aww," taehyun croons. "you think i'm a problem?"

"in the worst way possible."

"that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."

beomgyu wants to dive into traffic.

meanwhile, hueningkai — walking just a few steps behind them — is eating this entire interaction up like free entertainment.

"do they flirt like this every day?" hueningkai whispers to soobin.

"every single day," soobin replies, like a man who's seen too much.