tropes drabbles: jonghyun/taeyeon
i found this... thing. a trope thing; just some cute type prompts for drabbles or fics and rather than applying random pairings to each of the trope's, i was like: "hey, why don't i challenge myself?" this was when my idea came to give out some drabble gifs to friends of mine, kind of like a start of summer time celebratory thing. i actually cut down the tropes from fourteen/fifteen to ten because, by the time i got to the fifth or six one here, i was starting to run dry. i already decided that i'm doing another one of these tomorrow or the next day (krystal/sulli, probably with some different trope's) and then another (d.o/yoonjo, possibly, another good crackship) and then maybe another which i'll actually use mixed pairings for. there's no warning's or anything? just some light cursing and a light illusion to depression in one of the drabbles but i'll mark which one that is. hopefully they're enjoyable~.
pretending to be married, g, 506w
"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?"
Jonghyun puckered his lips together as he led Taeyeon into a small chain diner, one arm wrapped promptly around his shoulders while the other opened up the door in front of them.
"I'm not ridiculous, I just heard that people are super easy in places like these." It was nice getting a little bit of time off from their schedules, especially at the same time. Rare, but nice. The company had given them an ultimatum: stick around the city and put in a little extra practice for their mutual upcoming comebacks or take advantage of the free time and go on vacation. Of course, the both of them knew their answers to the question before it'd even been finished.
They'd chosen a remote location, somewhere in California. The flight had been long as hell, a select few Californians from the company joining them before they all parted ways at the airport. Taeyeon had figured it'd make most sense to pick a small but interesting town that they'd been most unlikely to be noticed in.
She couldn't remember the name of the city they were in, but it had dozens of these little diners. She'd suggested stopping at one with a simple craving for pancakes - Jonghyun had said he had a same craving, but obviously that was partially a guise for his other plan.
"So, what's the plan? Taeyeon questioned, unwrapping the silverware that had been set down in front of her by their server as they waited for her to come back and take their order drinks.
"Okay, so," Jonghyun paused, mimicking her action, before turning back up to look at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "As soon as she comes back, you're going to start crying…"
"Crying? I can't cry on cue."
"No, you don't actually have to cry. Just grab your napkin and act like you're sobbing into it," he shrugged. "And then say mumble something about being engaged and, yeah."
"It won't work."
"Maybe, but would it kill to try? We might get a free sundae out of it or something if it works."
Taeyeon sighed, giving a nod of her head to indicate that she was down for the plan just as the waitress became visible in the horizon. "Shit, she's coming." Hand shooting down to grab her unwrapped napkin, she brought it up to cover her entire face, beginning to sob into it prematurely.
She could hear Jonghyun holding back a laugh at the sight - of course, if anyone ruined it, it'd be him.
"Is this a bad time?"
"No, my gi-…"
"HE PROPOSED TO ME."
Taeyeon could hear Jonghyun jolt back somewhat in his seat at the booming of her voice, the area around them going quiet albeit a small gasp from their waitress. "Oh, congratulations! I'll get you something complimentary to celebrate."
"Thank you, thank you so much," Taeyeon continued to "sob" into her napkin until she heard the waitress scuffle away, slowly dragging the napkin down her face to look at Jonghyun. He laughed.
"Wow, just… wow. You're a natural."
"Thank you."
----
mistletoe kiss, g, 441w
"This is too much pressure," Jonghyun grumbled to Jinki, back pressed up against his stove front as his friend crunched on a bag of chips next to him.
"Pressure?" Jinki questioned, mouth full of the snack food before swallowing the contents whole.
"Pressure." Jonghyun's eyes shifted from one end of the kitchen to the other before traveling to the next room where a small group of their close girl friends were huddled together, laughing and chatting over who fucking knew what. He gulped at the sight. "I don't trust that one friend of hers, she's going to throw me under the bus."
"By "that one friend", you know mean my girlfriend, right?" Jonghyun rolled his eyes at Jinki's correction before taking a step away from the stove.
"Whatever, either way, you know exactly what she's going to do."
Jinki laughed. "You're just being paranoid, go talk to her. I don't know why you're so afraid to."
"I'm not afraid."
(Maybe he was a little but no one had to knew that.)
"You could've fooled me."
It was in that second that something inside Jonghyun snapped - his friend, his best friend, was mocking him and that wasn't a fair at all. He never mocked him for his shortcomings and look what that had got him: nothing.
Giving a firm shake of his head, Jonghyun took another step forward before picking up a quick stride, making his way toward the group of girls.
Throwing on smile as he moved in closer, "Hi," he paused. "Hyoyeon, Yoona…, Tiffany," he nodded at each of the girls in greeting. "Noona, hi. Can I talk to you over… uh, somewhere over here for a second?"
"Who says you can't just talk to her here?!" Tiffany let out, perking up at her last word as her hand flew to the side, pressing against Jonghyun's back for a second before pushing him forward in the direction of Taeyeon.
Jonghyun let out a strained noise as he stumbled forward, narrowly missing taking out Taeyeon before his hands latched onto either side of her hips. "Shit."
"Hi." Taeyeon tipped back to get a better look at him, a barely there smile crossing her lips.
"Hi."
"What did you need to tal-…"
"Hey. Guys. Look up." Tiffany's voice struck the both of them like it was coming out of a loudspeaker and Jonghyun sighed, knowing what was coming.
As the two of them looked upward, Taeyeon's sighed matched with his prolonged. "Of course," they mumbled together as Tiffany let out a squeal of delight.
"Kiss!"
Jonghyun tuned out the giggling of Taeyeon's best friend, and laughing of his own in the distance, as he moved forward to press his lips against Taeyeon's.
It could've been worse, he guessed.
----
snowed in, g, 268w
"It's not supposed to be snowing like this." Hands pressed against the front window of SHINee's dorm, Taeyeon craned her neck to get a better look Jonghyun, who was seated comfortably on a nearby couch.
"It's not supposed to be snowing at all," he answered back, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. "It's May."
"I know it's May, I just…," she trailed off as she removed her hands from the windows, crouching as she turned in the opposite direction to grab her new puppy. "I have no idea if I'll be able to get back to my dorm now."
"You can stay here, you know."
Taeyeon raised an eyebrow as she begun to take slow but steady steps toward the couch, stopping in front of Jonghyun as he outstretched his arms, hands moving in a mad "give me that" motion. "You think the others would care?"
Releasing Ginger into Jonghyun's hands, he shrugged as she dropped down onto the free space next to him. "They're all asleep by now - they wouldn't question it anyway. They know we're friends."
"Of course we're friends."
Jonghyun smiled over at Taeyeon as he scratched idly behind Ginger's ears. "Good friends, yeah," he replied, using his free arm to slide around Taeyeon's shoulders.
"Well, if I'm staying…," she trailed off. "Have any food that your good friend could eat?" Scooting closer to Jonghyun, she curled up into his side, hand moving forward to scratch behind Ginger's other ear.
"Food, electronics, blankets, pillows…, me. You're the guest."
"Riiiight." Taeyeon chuckled. "VIP access to everything, gotcha."
Her chuckle extended as Jonghyun leaned to the side, pecking her cheek. "Yeah, babe, of course."
----
day at the beach, g, 100w
"When did your chest get that big." Taeyeon sat herself up from her lounging, pushing her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose to get a better look at her company.
"What?"
"Your chest, it's massive." Taeyeon continued to examine Jonghyun as he let out a laugh, shaking his head against his beach towel. "Like, Christ, have you ever gotten measured for a bra before? You could probably fill up a 'B' cup, no problem."
"Thank you."
"No, seriously, I'm impressed."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You can touch them if you want to."
Taeyeon rolled her eyes before dropping back onto her towel. "Thanks but no thanks."
----
celebratory kiss, g, 459w
Every comeback was a big deal, not just to the other girls and herself but to the company as a whole. The importance of it may not have reflected onto other groups because they had their own promotions to deal with, but there were a few rare exceptions to that. Those friends that were there for you no matter how busy they were.
Taeyeon had smiled as Minho and Jonghyun had hauled a celebratory cake into the SBS building the night of their Inkigayo comeback. All of SHINee had always been considerate of them, but they were usually the first two who went and jumped at the chance of congratulating or thanking the girls for something - or simply just existing, in some cases.
Jonghyun had leaned against her almost bashfully in a group photo they took together, giving her a small wave as they were led off to do their first stage. It went by nearly without a hitch and Taeyeon felt exhilarated as she made her way backstage to change into her outfit for their next stage.
As she squeezed her way through a crowd of KBS crew, she bowed to them, narrowly missing running into a small rack of their stage outfits just as a voice called out to her from the side. Turning to catch a glimpse of who had said her name, she felt something flutter in her chest when registering who it was.
Jonghyun looked goofy but cute in his hoodie and baseball cap set backwards as he took her hand, gently leading her to a more secluded area of the backstage.
"You were great out there," he complimented her as he reached over to grab her other hand, lacing their fingers together. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest, she swore to God, it was going to either burst out of her chest cavity or she was going to vomit from the pressure.
"Thank you," she smiled. "I thought you had to get back to the studio, you didn't have to stick around."
"I wanted to. I have time for all of that stuff anyway."
"Are you sure? I'd hate it if I delayed you or something." Her breath hitched in her chest as she noticed him moving in closer to her.
"Delay? No way." Jonghyun grinned at her as he bumped his nose against her own, settling himself for a few seconds before pressing their lips together.
It didn't last long - she frowned deeply as he pulled back from her but the smile that he gave her was enough to wipe the negativity right back off her face.
"Congratulations on the comeback," he unlaced their fingers, backstopping away from her before turning on his hell. "Call me after you're done and maybe we can finish that up."
----
sharing a bed, g, 415w
"This is awkward."
Taeyeon's eyes shifted to the other end of the bed where Jonghyun laid, blanket tucked tightly around his chest, his leg creeping over the corner of a pillow he'd placed between the two of them.
"No." Taeyeon shook her head against her pillow, turning full onto her side to get a better look at Jonghyun. "You're not making it awkward. I'm making it awkward."
"I'm the one who put the pillow between us, though."
"Why'd you do that, anyway? I would've been fine with you la-…"
"I spoon with people without really realizing it, I didn't think it'd be comfortable for you if you woke up and I was clinging to you like a koala," Jonghyun shrugged as he leaned up further against the headboard of their shared bed, blanket slipping down his tank clad chest to his waist.
Taeyeon's lips formed into a circular shape at his admission, moving up to a seated position herself. "That's whatever, I do worse things in my sleep."
"Yeah?"
"Like talking… and singing… and turntabling. I used to play DJ Hero a lot before bed after it came out, it stuck."
"I sleep with my eyes open."
"I…," Taeyeon trailed off. "I'm glad you told me that now. I probably would've cried if I woke up to it."
"It's not that bad, they're only half open."
"Still."
Jonghyun shrugged. "I can just stay awake if you're so worried about it."
Raising her eyebrow, "No, I didn't mean it like that," she started, hand moving to grab the pillow that separated them. Chucking it to the floor in front of the bed, she smiled at Jonghyun. "I trust you, okay? If I wake up and you're spooning me, it's cool."
"It's cool?" Taeyeon watched as the corners of Jonghyun's lips quirked upward into a small grin.
"Truth be told, I've always been into cuddling anyway." Slipping back down onto her back, Taeyeon gave Jonghyun a fuller smile before turning onto her side.
All was silent for thirty, maybe sixty seconds (she lost count after the first ten) before the sound of a clicking tongue filled the area surrounding her.
"Taeyeon?"
Opting out to listen to Jonghyun, rather than reply right back, she felt an arm slink around her waist, still for a moment before a light ticking at the nape of her neck triggered her tickle reflect. "Are you tickling me?"
"No…" A warm puff of breath trailing down her nape was enough to give away what he was doing. "Is this okay?"
Taeyeon pondered for a moment. "Yeah," she paused. "No funny business though, okay?"
"Never."
----
road trip, pg, 379w
tw: illusions to depression
Jonghyun wanted to see the world. He wanted to see the ocean from another point of view, to watch the sun set on a country border. It was nothing short of cheesy, but knew he wasn't the only one who wanted it.
She had told him she was suffocating. You could only live under a mask for so long before the heat got to you, and it was hard to breathe. He'd frowned at her text messages to him. They painted the perfect picture of someone trapped and it hurt knowing that.
He knew it was reckless, idiotic even, but it felt like the only plausible thing to do as he'd parked outside her dorm early that morning with his bags packed and two pickets to Europe. She'd been shocked, if anything, but eased into the idea faster than it'd been presented to her, packing her bags and jumping into his car with him.
The flight had been turbulent but Taeyeon hadn't cared. He hadn't seen her smile as much as she had during those few hours since their trainee days.
She'd been told at the car rental service that it wasn't a great idea to go driving on their own; travelers easily got lost in the backwoods and country. Taeyeon had grinned even brighter at the thought.
Two days into their driving, Jonghyun had gotten a message from Minho. "Where are you? We're all worried about you?" He'd ignored the text for two more days before responding with a simple: "I'll be back soon."
The two found themselves getting lost in a mixture of bad pop songs from their youth, junk food that they rarely got a chance to eat on their own time and each other. On the sixth day, she sobbed into his chest as they draped themselves out on the hood of their rental.
"I don't want to go back, everything's so simple here. I haven't been this happy in years. Why can't we just stay here?"
He'd kissed every inch of her face - eyes, nose, forehead, lips -, taking in the salt of her tears as he soothed her. "We can come back someday, just us, we'll start new here, okay?"
She smiled. It was far off in the future, but at least it was something they could hold on to.
pretending to be married, g, 506w
"You're ridiculous, you know that, right?"
Jonghyun puckered his lips together as he led Taeyeon into a small chain diner, one arm wrapped promptly around his shoulders while the other opened up the door in front of them.
"I'm not ridiculous, I just heard that people are super easy in places like these." It was nice getting a little bit of time off from their schedules, especially at the same time. Rare, but nice. The company had given them an ultimatum: stick around the city and put in a little extra practice for their mutual upcoming comebacks or take advantage of the free time and go on vacation. Of course, the both of them knew their answers to the question before it'd even been finished.
They'd chosen a remote location, somewhere in California. The flight had been long as hell, a select few Californians from the company joining them before they all parted ways at the airport. Taeyeon had figured it'd make most sense to pick a small but interesting town that they'd been most unlikely to be noticed in.
She couldn't remember the name of the city they were in, but it had dozens of these little diners. She'd suggested stopping at one with a simple craving for pancakes - Jonghyun had said he had a same craving, but obviously that was partially a guise for his other plan.
"So, what's the plan? Taeyeon questioned, unwrapping the silverware that had been set down in front of her by their server as they waited for her to come back and take their order drinks.
"Okay, so," Jonghyun paused, mimicking her action, before turning back up to look at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "As soon as she comes back, you're going to start crying…"
"Crying? I can't cry on cue."
"No, you don't actually have to cry. Just grab your napkin and act like you're sobbing into it," he shrugged. "And then say mumble something about being engaged and, yeah."
"It won't work."
"Maybe, but would it kill to try? We might get a free sundae out of it or something if it works."
Taeyeon sighed, giving a nod of her head to indicate that she was down for the plan just as the waitress became visible in the horizon. "Shit, she's coming." Hand shooting down to grab her unwrapped napkin, she brought it up to cover her entire face, beginning to sob into it prematurely.
She could hear Jonghyun holding back a laugh at the sight - of course, if anyone ruined it, it'd be him.
"Is this a bad time?"
"No, my gi-…"
"HE PROPOSED TO ME."
Taeyeon could hear Jonghyun jolt back somewhat in his seat at the booming of her voice, the area around them going quiet albeit a small gasp from their waitress. "Oh, congratulations! I'll get you something complimentary to celebrate."
"Thank you, thank you so much," Taeyeon continued to "sob" into her napkin until she heard the waitress scuffle away, slowly dragging the napkin down her face to look at Jonghyun. He laughed.
"Wow, just… wow. You're a natural."
"Thank you."
----
mistletoe kiss, g, 441w
"This is too much pressure," Jonghyun grumbled to Jinki, back pressed up against his stove front as his friend crunched on a bag of chips next to him.
"Pressure?" Jinki questioned, mouth full of the snack food before swallowing the contents whole.
"Pressure." Jonghyun's eyes shifted from one end of the kitchen to the other before traveling to the next room where a small group of their close girl friends were huddled together, laughing and chatting over who fucking knew what. He gulped at the sight. "I don't trust that one friend of hers, she's going to throw me under the bus."
"By "that one friend", you know mean my girlfriend, right?" Jonghyun rolled his eyes at Jinki's correction before taking a step away from the stove.
"Whatever, either way, you know exactly what she's going to do."
Jinki laughed. "You're just being paranoid, go talk to her. I don't know why you're so afraid to."
"I'm not afraid."
(Maybe he was a little but no one had to knew that.)
"You could've fooled me."
It was in that second that something inside Jonghyun snapped - his friend, his best friend, was mocking him and that wasn't a fair at all. He never mocked him for his shortcomings and look what that had got him: nothing.
Giving a firm shake of his head, Jonghyun took another step forward before picking up a quick stride, making his way toward the group of girls.
Throwing on smile as he moved in closer, "Hi," he paused. "Hyoyeon, Yoona…, Tiffany," he nodded at each of the girls in greeting. "Noona, hi. Can I talk to you over… uh, somewhere over here for a second?"
"Who says you can't just talk to her here?!" Tiffany let out, perking up at her last word as her hand flew to the side, pressing against Jonghyun's back for a second before pushing him forward in the direction of Taeyeon.
Jonghyun let out a strained noise as he stumbled forward, narrowly missing taking out Taeyeon before his hands latched onto either side of her hips. "Shit."
"Hi." Taeyeon tipped back to get a better look at him, a barely there smile crossing her lips.
"Hi."
"What did you need to tal-…"
"Hey. Guys. Look up." Tiffany's voice struck the both of them like it was coming out of a loudspeaker and Jonghyun sighed, knowing what was coming.
As the two of them looked upward, Taeyeon's sighed matched with his prolonged. "Of course," they mumbled together as Tiffany let out a squeal of delight.
"Kiss!"
Jonghyun tuned out the giggling of Taeyeon's best friend, and laughing of his own in the distance, as he moved forward to press his lips against Taeyeon's.
It could've been worse, he guessed.
----
snowed in, g, 268w
"It's not supposed to be snowing like this." Hands pressed against the front window of SHINee's dorm, Taeyeon craned her neck to get a better look Jonghyun, who was seated comfortably on a nearby couch.
"It's not supposed to be snowing at all," he answered back, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. "It's May."
"I know it's May, I just…," she trailed off as she removed her hands from the windows, crouching as she turned in the opposite direction to grab her new puppy. "I have no idea if I'll be able to get back to my dorm now."
"You can stay here, you know."
Taeyeon raised an eyebrow as she begun to take slow but steady steps toward the couch, stopping in front of Jonghyun as he outstretched his arms, hands moving in a mad "give me that" motion. "You think the others would care?"
Releasing Ginger into Jonghyun's hands, he shrugged as she dropped down onto the free space next to him. "They're all asleep by now - they wouldn't question it anyway. They know we're friends."
"Of course we're friends."
Jonghyun smiled over at Taeyeon as he scratched idly behind Ginger's ears. "Good friends, yeah," he replied, using his free arm to slide around Taeyeon's shoulders.
"Well, if I'm staying…," she trailed off. "Have any food that your good friend could eat?" Scooting closer to Jonghyun, she curled up into his side, hand moving forward to scratch behind Ginger's other ear.
"Food, electronics, blankets, pillows…, me. You're the guest."
"Riiiight." Taeyeon chuckled. "VIP access to everything, gotcha."
Her chuckle extended as Jonghyun leaned to the side, pecking her cheek. "Yeah, babe, of course."
----
day at the beach, g, 100w
"When did your chest get that big." Taeyeon sat herself up from her lounging, pushing her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose to get a better look at her company.
"What?"
"Your chest, it's massive." Taeyeon continued to examine Jonghyun as he let out a laugh, shaking his head against his beach towel. "Like, Christ, have you ever gotten measured for a bra before? You could probably fill up a 'B' cup, no problem."
"Thank you."
"No, seriously, I'm impressed."
"Really?"
"Really."
"You can touch them if you want to."
Taeyeon rolled her eyes before dropping back onto her towel. "Thanks but no thanks."
----
celebratory kiss, g, 459w
Every comeback was a big deal, not just to the other girls and herself but to the company as a whole. The importance of it may not have reflected onto other groups because they had their own promotions to deal with, but there were a few rare exceptions to that. Those friends that were there for you no matter how busy they were.
Taeyeon had smiled as Minho and Jonghyun had hauled a celebratory cake into the SBS building the night of their Inkigayo comeback. All of SHINee had always been considerate of them, but they were usually the first two who went and jumped at the chance of congratulating or thanking the girls for something - or simply just existing, in some cases.
Jonghyun had leaned against her almost bashfully in a group photo they took together, giving her a small wave as they were led off to do their first stage. It went by nearly without a hitch and Taeyeon felt exhilarated as she made her way backstage to change into her outfit for their next stage.
As she squeezed her way through a crowd of KBS crew, she bowed to them, narrowly missing running into a small rack of their stage outfits just as a voice called out to her from the side. Turning to catch a glimpse of who had said her name, she felt something flutter in her chest when registering who it was.
Jonghyun looked goofy but cute in his hoodie and baseball cap set backwards as he took her hand, gently leading her to a more secluded area of the backstage.
"You were great out there," he complimented her as he reached over to grab her other hand, lacing their fingers together. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest, she swore to God, it was going to either burst out of her chest cavity or she was going to vomit from the pressure.
"Thank you," she smiled. "I thought you had to get back to the studio, you didn't have to stick around."
"I wanted to. I have time for all of that stuff anyway."
"Are you sure? I'd hate it if I delayed you or something." Her breath hitched in her chest as she noticed him moving in closer to her.
"Delay? No way." Jonghyun grinned at her as he bumped his nose against her own, settling himself for a few seconds before pressing their lips together.
It didn't last long - she frowned deeply as he pulled back from her but the smile that he gave her was enough to wipe the negativity right back off her face.
"Congratulations on the comeback," he unlaced their fingers, backstopping away from her before turning on his hell. "Call me after you're done and maybe we can finish that up."
----
sharing a bed, g, 415w
"This is awkward."
Taeyeon's eyes shifted to the other end of the bed where Jonghyun laid, blanket tucked tightly around his chest, his leg creeping over the corner of a pillow he'd placed between the two of them.
"No." Taeyeon shook her head against her pillow, turning full onto her side to get a better look at Jonghyun. "You're not making it awkward. I'm making it awkward."
"I'm the one who put the pillow between us, though."
"Why'd you do that, anyway? I would've been fine with you la-…"
"I spoon with people without really realizing it, I didn't think it'd be comfortable for you if you woke up and I was clinging to you like a koala," Jonghyun shrugged as he leaned up further against the headboard of their shared bed, blanket slipping down his tank clad chest to his waist.
Taeyeon's lips formed into a circular shape at his admission, moving up to a seated position herself. "That's whatever, I do worse things in my sleep."
"Yeah?"
"Like talking… and singing… and turntabling. I used to play DJ Hero a lot before bed after it came out, it stuck."
"I sleep with my eyes open."
"I…," Taeyeon trailed off. "I'm glad you told me that now. I probably would've cried if I woke up to it."
"It's not that bad, they're only half open."
"Still."
Jonghyun shrugged. "I can just stay awake if you're so worried about it."
Raising her eyebrow, "No, I didn't mean it like that," she started, hand moving to grab the pillow that separated them. Chucking it to the floor in front of the bed, she smiled at Jonghyun. "I trust you, okay? If I wake up and you're spooning me, it's cool."
"It's cool?" Taeyeon watched as the corners of Jonghyun's lips quirked upward into a small grin.
"Truth be told, I've always been into cuddling anyway." Slipping back down onto her back, Taeyeon gave Jonghyun a fuller smile before turning onto her side.
All was silent for thirty, maybe sixty seconds (she lost count after the first ten) before the sound of a clicking tongue filled the area surrounding her.
"Taeyeon?"
Opting out to listen to Jonghyun, rather than reply right back, she felt an arm slink around her waist, still for a moment before a light ticking at the nape of her neck triggered her tickle reflect. "Are you tickling me?"
"No…" A warm puff of breath trailing down her nape was enough to give away what he was doing. "Is this okay?"
Taeyeon pondered for a moment. "Yeah," she paused. "No funny business though, okay?"
"Never."
----
road trip, pg, 379w
tw: illusions to depression
Jonghyun wanted to see the world. He wanted to see the ocean from another point of view, to watch the sun set on a country border. It was nothing short of cheesy, but knew he wasn't the only one who wanted it.
She had told him she was suffocating. You could only live under a mask for so long before the heat got to you, and it was hard to breathe. He'd frowned at her text messages to him. They painted the perfect picture of someone trapped and it hurt knowing that.
He knew it was reckless, idiotic even, but it felt like the only plausible thing to do as he'd parked outside her dorm early that morning with his bags packed and two pickets to Europe. She'd been shocked, if anything, but eased into the idea faster than it'd been presented to her, packing her bags and jumping into his car with him.
The flight had been turbulent but Taeyeon hadn't cared. He hadn't seen her smile as much as she had during those few hours since their trainee days.
She'd been told at the car rental service that it wasn't a great idea to go driving on their own; travelers easily got lost in the backwoods and country. Taeyeon had grinned even brighter at the thought.
Two days into their driving, Jonghyun had gotten a message from Minho. "Where are you? We're all worried about you?" He'd ignored the text for two more days before responding with a simple: "I'll be back soon."
The two found themselves getting lost in a mixture of bad pop songs from their youth, junk food that they rarely got a chance to eat on their own time and each other. On the sixth day, she sobbed into his chest as they draped themselves out on the hood of their rental.
"I don't want to go back, everything's so simple here. I haven't been this happy in years. Why can't we just stay here?"
He'd kissed every inch of her face - eyes, nose, forehead, lips -, taking in the salt of her tears as he soothed her. "We can come back someday, just us, we'll start new here, okay?"
She smiled. It was far off in the future, but at least it was something they could hold on to.