accidental encore | taegyu

chapter twenty five

taehyun was back.

—

the five of them strolled through the quiet airport, the early morning lull making everything feel softer, sleepier. their laughter echoed through the mostly empty halls as they searched for a place to eat.

taehyun had his arm slung over beomgyu's shoulders, occasionally ruffling his hair, much to beomgyu's irritation.

"yah, stop," beomgyu whined, attempting to dodge, but taehyun just grinned and did it again.

"can't help it," taehyun said, voice light. "you're too easy to mess with."

"i swear—"

"you swear what? that you'll let me keep doing it?"

beomgyu groaned, but he didn't push him away. he wouldn't admit it, but he kind of liked the way taehyun was holding onto him, keeping him close like he'd missed him just as much.

on the other side, yeonjun had taken it upon himself to grab soobin's hands, swinging them back and forth dramatically as they walked.

"this is embarrassing," soobin deadpanned, watching as yeonjun hummed and continued to swing their hands like they were little kids.

"shh, enjoy the moment," yeonjun replied.

hueningkai, not wanting to be left out, clung onto soobin's other arm, hugging it like a koala.

"hyung, i'm so tired," hueningkai mumbled, resting his head against soobin's shoulder. "carry me."

"absolutely not," soobin said.

"pleaseee," hueningkai drawled, tightening his grip.

soobin sighed, clearly defeated but not actually making any effort to shake him off.

"i can't believe you're just letting them do this," beomgyu commented, watching as soobin got manhandled from both sides.

"i pick my battles," soobin muttered.

beomgyu snickered.

they finally spotted a small 24-hour diner tucked away in a quieter part of the airport, and as soon as they stepped inside, the smell of coffee and fresh pancakes filled the air.

"god, food," yeonjun said dramatically, pulling out a chair and collapsing into it.

"i still don't know how you have this much energy when we literally just got off a long-haul flight," taehyun muttered, sitting next to him.

"i thrive in chaos," yeonjun replied.

"yeah, we know," soobin said as he gently peeled hueningkai off his arm and sat down. beomgyu dropped into the seat beside taehyun, stretching his arms over his head.

taehyun, still feeling playful, leaned over and poked beomgyu's cheek. "you look like you need sleep more than food."

"i do," beomgyu admitted, rubbing his eyes. "but i also need waffles, so here i am."

"good priorities," taehyun mused, before casually fixing the hood of beomgyu's oversized hoodie for him.

beomgyu didn't say anything, just stared at him for a second before looking away, suddenly very focused on the menu in front of him.

yeonjun, of course, noticed. "oh, are we getting shy now?"

"shut up," beomgyu grumbled, but his ears were pink.

taehyun just smirked as he went back to scanning the menu, pretending like he hadn't done anything at all.

as they dug into their breakfast, the table was filled with quiet chatter and the clinking of utensils against plates. despite the exhaustion clinging to their bones, everyone seemed content—soobin and hueningkai happily sharing their food, beomgyu trying to steal a bite of taehyun's pancakes, and yeonjun pretending not to notice as he scrolled through his phone between bites.