Taehyung

This is the end. I said goodbye to the best thing that's ever happened to me...

Taehyung dragged his suitcase behind him, turning the thought over and over in his mind. Every step took him farther away from Ewon. Every second was another one separating the time they'd spent together from the rest of Taehyung's life.

Taehyung had been in relationships with women before. He knew how they worked. The rules were easy. The man, usually, was the aggressor and the instigator. Taehyung was used to taking the initiative and being the one to lead. But with a man as his love interest? The rules weren't so hard and fast. He thought that Ewon may have tried to express interest in something more, but they kept dancing around one another, afraid to make the first move.

At least, Taehyung assumed that Ewon was afraid to make the first move. The sorrow in his eyes, and the reluctance in his kiss, led Taehyung to believe that he was hurting. Why would he hurt if he didn't want more?

Why was Taehyung leaving him behind? 

Because you live on opposite sides of the country from each other. It's not like you can drive across the city and go see him, or take a weekend trip to the next city...you're in Seoul, and he's in ing Busan. The only way I could be farther away is if I flew to Jeju and from there to Busan.

Taehyung arrived at the check-in kiosks for his airline. No one was at the machines. He approached on and tapped the screen, but it didn't respond. He moved to the next and tried again to the same result. All of the self-check-in machines were broken, and the line to see a representative was long. Taehyung winced and got into line, wishing he could just get this over with. He wasn't in any danger of missing his flight, but he didn't like biding his time like this. He wanted it to be over with. If he was on the other side of security, his baggage checked, waiting at his gate, he thought it would be easier to dissociate from what was going on. He'd clue in to the fact that he had to go back to his normal life, and work his normal job, and pursue other relationships like a normal person would. He couldn't keep living in his cruise ship fantasy forever. 

But why can't I? Why am I telling myself no?

Taehyung stiffened his shoulders. The line moved forward, and he followed it, dragging his bag behind. There were still ten people ahead of him, all of them looking various degrees of stressed. He wondered if any of them were dealing with the same emotional turmoil that he was, and how they were managing if so.

Probably not, because most people don't invest their hearts in temporary relationships...

The thought stung. Ewon was anything but temporary. What Taehyung had felt for him was real. He wouldn't let his rational mind tell him otherwise. Sure, he'd known he'd only be on the cruise for seven days, but he'd been expecting to find someone he could appreciate, but who he wouldn't mind leaving - a friend with benefits, maybe. What he'd found instead had been so much more.

Ewon was so much more.

The line advanced. Taehyung followed it. He glanced down the terminal, looking past the other airlines and their lines, trying to make out Ewon through the crowd. He was too far away to spot. What would he have done if he saw him, anyway? Continue to feel bad about his situation? Wave like a moron, even though Ewon wasn't watching?

Taehyung sighed softly and rolled his shoulders back. He needed to get Ewon out of his head and move on. It was like he was caught in a nightmare, and no matter how hard or fast he tried to run, he couldn't move his feet. Ewon was inescapable. Seven short days was all it took. Taehyung knew that his heart had made up its mind.

He wouldn't be able to get Ewon out of his mind, and he definitely wouldn't be able to get him out of his heart. There was only one way forward.

He knew what he needed to do.

The line Ewon was waiting in was moving quicker than the one Taehyung had been in. He picked up the pace, his luggage clacking along behind him. Every now and then, its wheels snagged the side of the tile on the floor and knocked it askew, but even as it jerked at Taehyung's wrist and knocked against his shin, he didn't let it slow him down. By the time he'd arrived at the line, Ewon was just a few people from the start. His face was sullen, and from the distant look on his face, Taehyung didn't think he saw him approaching.

He dropped his suitcase in front of the rope sectioning off the serpentine line and ducked under it. As he came back up, Ewon turned to face him. His eyes were wide, and he opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. The other people waiting in line were giving Taehyung the side eye, but he didn't care what they thought. He'd never see those people again. But Ewon?

He wanted to see Ewon over and over. He never wanted what they'd found together to end. 

"Come with me." Taehyung urged Ewon. He took his hand and guided him out of the line, then ducked under the rope. Ewon looked nervously back at the line, then followed him under the rope, too. They stood off to the side while those they'd bothered in the line continued to shoot annoyed glances their way.

"Taehyung." Ewon said. His voice was strained "I can't go with you. I've got a plane to catch, and a job to get back to...I can't drop everything to go. I just can't. Not now."

"I know. I know that." Taehyung realized tears were beading in his eyes. He thought he'd never get to touch Ewon again, but here he was, holding his hand "Just...I needed you out of the line. I needed you to hear me. I love you, Ewon. It was stupid of me not to say it before. I couldn't let you go before you knew."

Tears streamed down Ewon's cheeks. Taehyung brushed them away with his thumb "Taehyung..."

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way. I don't need to hear it back. I just...I couldn't let you go like that. It was too sad. My heart wants you, and I needed to let you know it. I want to find a way to make this work, even though it feels impossible. We can do this. It's not going to be easy, but...but if you want it, we can fight for it. We can fight for each other."

The tears kept falling. Ewon lifted his hand and brushed at his cheeks "You want me?" 

"Are you kidding?" Taehyung asked with a laugh "Of course I want you. I've wanted you since you slammed that door into my face."

Ewon laughed. The sound wobbled, like he was going to start crying in earnest "I didn't mean to."

"I know. I don't think we meant to do any of this." Taehyung said "But...it happened, and now we have to deal with it, right? Will you give me a chance to prove I can make the distance work? I want to give it a shot. The worst that can happen is we decide that it isn't for us and give up on it...but I want to try. I want to be with you."

"I want that, too." Ewon closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, there was hope in his eyes "I think we can make it work."

"Then...make sure that you really do call me when you get home, okay?" Taehyung said "And I'll do the same, and we'll...we'll take it from there. We'll make it work. This won't be the last time I see you. This won't be the last time we get to touch each other, or kiss, or...or share the same little slice of existence. I promise. This isn't the end."

Ewon smiled, and Taehyung did the only thing he could think to do to prove his heart was true - he took Ewon into his arms and kissed him like he meant it. It wasn't a sad, wilted goodbye of a kiss. It was a meant to be remembered and to be cherished. It was a goodbye to the fear and confusion that had been, and a hello to a brilliant new future. A future he would share with Ewon. 

"Now get back in line and get your home safe." Taehyung whispered against Ewon's lips when the kiss broke "I'll be waiting for your text."

"And I'll be waiting for yours." Ewon smiled. He stepped back, then looked over his shoulder. The line had gone down, and he was able to duck back under the rope and take up a position at the end of the line "I'll see you again before you know it."

"Before you know it." Taehyung promised. He took a few steps back, smiling. The pain in his heart had turned into over-b love.

It was the start of something new. Something exciting. Something he thought might just last forever.

He'd found love, and he was never going to let it go again.