They’d been stuck in traffic for the last half an hour and no one seemed to be all that bothered. They weren’t going anywhere important, just back to the dorm so their manager wasn’t overly concerned by the fact that they were going nowhere fast. Jaebum and Youngjae had fallen asleep as soon as the van had started moving so when they’d hit traffic they hadn’t even noticed. Mark was flicking through his social media pages on his phone, Jackson with his chin on his shoulder. Jackson would occasionally pass comment on whatever Mark was looking at but he was being otherwise quiet. He was obviously tired too but both of them seemed quite happy. And Yugyeom and Jinyoung weren’t complaining either, they were in deep conversation, discussing Big Bang’s latest comeback from what BamBam could gather. He wasn’t entirely sure. They were sitting either side of him it was true but he was finding it hard to concentrate on what they were saying, all he’d really picked up were the words G-Dragon and shoes.

All he could think about was the way Jinyoung smelled, that was why he was so distracted. There was some citrus there, definitely. There was sandalwood too and musk. And cinnamon, he was picking up on cinnamon now. He closed his eyes and tried not to breathe in too deeply. He tried to concentrate on something else. He focussed on Yugyeom’s voice. He’d moved on from Big Bang and was talking about some variety show they were scheduled to appear on soon.

He couldn’t keep it up. The scent of cinnamon and sandalwood and musk was soon infiltrating his nostrils again, a note of citrus following and he found himself grimacing. Jinyoung didn’t smell bad, not as such, he’d just gone overboard on whatever scent he was wearing that was all. It was overwhelming. So overwhelming in fact that it was starting to make him feel queasy.    

“Hey.” Jinyoung said, his voice sounding much closer and BamBam’s eyes shot open in surprise. “You okay?” Jinyoung continued now he had his boyfriend’s attention. “You’ve been really quiet.”

“I’m fine.” BamBam assured him, trying to sound convincing. Jinyoung was leaning over him now, looking concerned. He needed him to sit back. Having him so close was only making him feel worse.

“Are you sure?” Yugyeom asked and it was his turn to lean closer. “You’ve been acting a bit weird today. You’re not coming down with something are you?”

Yugyeom smelled of the bubblegum he’d been chewing before he got in the van and the tuna kimbap he’d eaten back at the broadcasting station. BamBam’s face paled. “I’m just tired.” He managed to say. Yes, he felt sick but BamBam was fairly sure it wasn’t a stomach bug that was to blame. Blurting out the real reason he probaly felt so ill while stuck in traffic in the van probably wasn’t the best way to go though, especially since he hadn’t had a chance to confirm his suspicions. The best thing he could do would be to keep quiet about it and pretend he was fine.

Jinyoung didn’t look convinced, he still looked worried but he didn’t argue. He just nodded and sat back in his seat much to BamBam’s relief. “Get some sleep then.” He suggested. “I’ll wake you up when we make it back to the dorm.”

“Okay.” BamBam agreed. Maybe he should try to sleep. He wouldn’t feel like throwing up anymore if he wasn’t awake. And closing his eyes seemed to help this time. He could still smell Jinyoung’s cologne and a faint hint of tuna but the as his breathing evened out and sleep approached the queasy feeling lessened.

Then he heard someone ping something behind him followed by a rustle as someone pulled what sounded like a bag of snacks from a bag. This was followed by the sound of someone ripping the bag open and suddenly the whole van smelled like cheese.

BamBam felt his stomach somersault. He kept his eyes closed and tried to ignore it but it was no good, he was wide awake now and the smell was too much to ignore. He opened his eyes and turned to Jinyoung. He shoved his shoulder to get his attention. “Open the window.” He told him.

Jinyoung automatically went to do as he was told but then he stopped, finger hovering over the button. “But it’s freezing outside.” He said.

“Just open the window.” BamBam snapped. He needed air and he didn’t have time to explain why.

But Jinyoung apparently didn’t appreciate being snapped at because he pulled his hand back from the window and frowned. “You could try asking a little more nicely.” He suggested.

He guessed he could. And he was about to but then Jackson leant across the back of his seat and shoved the bag of cheesy snacks under his nose. “Want one?” he asked cheerfully.

BamBam shook his head, opened his mouth to say no and was hit with the smell. He gagged. He shoved Jackson’s arm away.

“Hey!” Jackson exclaimed then he noticed the way BamBam had paled, his knuckles white as he clutched the headrest of his chair as he tried to keep himself from gagging again. “Are you okay?” he asked.

He shook his head.

“I’ll open the window.” Jinyoung offered.

BamBam opened his mouth to say thank you and threw up on his boyfriend’s shoes.

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~

“It’s not a big deal.” Jinyoung told him for the twentieth time. They were back at the dorm now, sitting side by side on the couch and BamBam was trying his best to apologise. Jinyoung though was refusing to hear it.

“I threw up on your shoes.” BamBam reminded him. He thought that kind of was a big deal. They’d been new and now they were ruined. Why wasn’t he angry about that? His boyfriend was entirely too nice for his own good.

“It’s not like you did it on purpose.” Jinyoung reasoned proving BamBam’s point.

“I’ll buy you some more.” BamBam offered. It was the least he could do. Whatever Jinyoung said there was no way he hadn’t traumatised him for life. If someone had thrown up on him in a confined space he knew he would be.

Jinyoung just slung an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his side. “Don’t be stupid.” He told him, giving him a squeeze. “They were just shoes. It’s not like I don’t have enough pairs of shoes.”

Jinyoung did have quite an impressive shoe collection but BamBam didn’t think that was really the point. He knew it was no good arguing with his boyfriend though. He’d tried to apologise countless times since they’d gotten home and Jinyoung had brushed each and every apology off. If he hadn’t given in yet then he wasn’t going to. So BamBam gave up on trying to make it up to him and tucked himself more snuggly under his arm instead, resting his head on his chest. 

“You’ll feel better soon.” Jinyoung assured him, running a hand through his hair.

BamBam felt his chest tighten at the words. He didn’t think he would feel better soon. If he was right then feeling queasy around strong smells was something that would be bothering him for a while. If he wa