"Taemin."

"Mhm."

"Taemin wake up."

"Don't wanna," he whines and burrows himself deeper into the blankets.

Kibum huffs. "If you wake up now then we can checkout, do some sightseeing, and then reach Pohang at a reasonable time."

Taemin peeks his head from under the covers and looks at the older man still in last night's clothes. After their talk Taemin had taken it upon himself to buy them dessert as a gesture of good faith, but the oreo ice cream turned out to be so sickeningly sweet they gave up on eating and simply chose to get some sleep, which happened to be in Taemin's room thanks to it being closer to the elevator and Kibum being far too exhausted to walk to his own. Which is funny, Taemin thinks in hindsight, because his suite was only at the end of the corridor. Still, the bed was king sized and they passed out the instant their head hit the pillows so it was not like it was an issue. The only problem Taemin can perceive is how good Kibum looked in his loosely ed shirt almost falling off his shoulder, with a mop of messy bed hair on his head and a frown on his face. Taemin has never seen a man look this great disgruntled, and it only made him want to act out more.

"Kibum, you have a lot of money right?" his voice comes out muffled as he snuggles inside again.

He rolls his eyes and tugs at Taemin's blanket. "Ugh what does that have to do with it being ten a.m and you still not being out of bed."

Taemin starts chuckling at his attempts to drag him outside the bed.

"Let's stay in. Pay the room for another night so we don't have to check out till the evening."

Kibum pauses in his movements.

"You don't want to sightsee?"

He yawns. "Not today. No use being on a vacation if you can't even relax."

Taemin knows he's victorious when he feels the other side of the bed dip.

"You're right." Kibum sighs. "I'm kind of tired. Let's order room service and besides," he scrunches his nose and looks around the room littered with Taemin's various articles of clothing. "You'll need time to pack."

Taemin throws the blanket halfway and turns to face him, smiling sheepishly. The kind of smile that says I'm sorry I'm such a brat but I'm also kind of cute. It usually works like a charm.

Kibum glances at him and snorts. As he looks, his expression shifts from playful disbelief to something softer, and Taemin finds himself facing away again to calm the sudden churning in his gut.

"I'll-" Taemin’s voice falters. "I'll take a shower now then. Let's eat after it? I think the tv has Netflix so we can watch something." He moves away to stand up, hissing when the waistband digs into his skin- he really regrets spending the night in his clubbing outfit.

"Yeah." Kibum agrees, his tone gentler than before. "I'll do that too. You should come to my room after you’re done, yours is kind of a mess."

Taemin nods, choosing to ignore the quip and all but running away to the bathroom- only taking a breath when he hears rustling and the click of the door being shut. He sighs and grabs himself a towel, the bathroom so polished he doesn’t even feel bad about stripping his clothes onto the floor. The act of scrubbing the traces of clunky unremoved makeup on his face keeps him occupied enough to not think of anything else, only cursing himself for being too lazy to at least wash his face last night- the last thing he needs is a breakout in the middle of a holiday.

It's only after he has slipped on a comfortable t-shirt that the awkwardness of the whole moment comes back to him and he internally cringes at how he fled because of a simple interaction. It's obvious that something has shifted in their dynamic after last night, which is what Taemin had wanted from the start- a little more familiarity so that it felt like he was on vacation with a friend at least, but now that he has the beginnings of what he would consider closeness, he isn’t sure how to act. He texts Kibum to let him know that he is done, finger hovering over the edit contact button. Key is Kibum now, and Taemin is still contemplating which one he prefers more.

-

“What I don’t understand is-”

Taemin slurps on his ramen, eyes glued to the screen as Kibum talks.

“Why does Sophie’s hair still remain grey even after she’s back being young?”

He shrugs. “Dunno man, but she still looks cute so who am I to question it.”

Kibum stares at him. “Didn’t you just say Howl’s Moving Castle is your favourite movie?”

“Yeah but-” he puts down his now empty bowl next to Kibum’s. “It's just a comfort movie. Besides I read something about it being because of her own perception of self but I didn’t understand any of it to be honest.”

Kibum hums. “I still like Spirited Away better.”

Arguing over Ghibli movies is so sickeningly domestic it has Taemin smiling in amusement.

“Of course you do, that’s so typical.”

“Are you going to analyse me through movie choices now?”

Taemin nods. “It goes to show you’re a romantic at heart- fate, destiny and all that. Actually, you’d make a great Chihiro.”

Kibum rolls his eyes, albeit playfully. “Then what does liking Howl say about you?”

“Eh..probably me being a dude with a saviour complex? Besides I did dress up as Howl for Halloween last year so I already know I’d make a good one.”

“Halloween? That’s a thing in colleges now?”

“It’s a matter of pride for the Art Department, and we put up a dance performance too-” he pauses to look for his phone. “Wait I still have some pictures I think”

Taemin gets a bit flustered when Kibum leans into his space with interest, finally managing to retrieve his phone between the cushions of the sofa they are sitting on- only to realise it's dead.

He frowns. “Guess I forgot to charge it since last night.”

“Oh well.” Kibum replies with disappointment. “You can show me another time”

He nods, patting his pockets for the battery pack he knows he remembered to bring with him from his room, smiling when he finds it in his back pocket and plugs it in. “Not too long I hope. This one charges pretty fast.”

“Did you decorate that yourself? It’s cute.”

Taemin snorts. “As if I could. A friend gave it to me,” he says, aware of how his voice is filled with pride over it.

Kibum raises an eyebrow. “Just a friend?”

“Yeah. Why?”, he sure hoped he didn’t sound as defensive as he felt.

“Nothing.” Kibum shakes his head, looking past him to the TV again.

Taemin huffs, slightly disgruntled. He imitates Kibum and looks back to the screen where the ending credits were rolling, making it three hours since he walked into Kibum’s room- one of which they had spent only bantering. It had taken half an hour in deciding what to eat, going back and forth until arriving on a safe combination of sushi and ramen, much to Taemin’s delight because he hasn’t had proper, good sushi in such a long time, and then spending another thirty minutes arguing about movies till Taemin just played whatever Ghibli movie he saw first. He had been surprised to learn Kibum was a romcom advocate, but at the same time somehow it doesn’t surprise him at all.

Kibum yawns and stretches his arms outward.

“That was a nice lunch. What do you say we leave in two hours? I think I can squeeze a nap in between.”

Taemin hesitates. He is kind of bored, and being alone in his room does not sound appealing, but the finality in his sentence has him getting up and brushing off his pants.

“Sure, I’ll see you in two hours.”

Being pretty much kicked out of Kibum’s presence puts Taemin in a sour mood, and he packs his bags sullenly for the next and final leg of the trip. Their three days in Pohang was what he is really looking forward to- of all the places they were visiting, this one is the most vacation-like, especially since it's the seaside. The expensive resort had not been a complete lie- it was true that Kibum had explicitly mentioned that they would be staying at the best place there, where every room faced the sea.

It was a dull few hours till Kibum finally knocks on his door to let him know he is up, in between which Taemin had successfully stalked all his friend’s lives on instagram, which is admittedly not much considering they were all working and he is the only one vacationing. He wanted to upload pictures of his own, but remembers he didn’t have any that weren’t selfies, and he’ll probably have to pry them out of Kibum later. He heaves a sigh as he drags his luggage to the door, noticing that the older looks somehow refreshed from sleep, but tired at the same time.

“You okay?” Taemin knits his eyebrows. “I can drive till Pohang. It's only three hours.”

Kibum shrugs in return. “I’ll be fine, it's only an hour of driving. Besides, you can be in charge of the music to keep me energised.”

Taemin is like a child, he thinks, because there is no way he should be this happy about being allowed to play his own music- tuning out the voice in his head wanting to ask Kibum why he looked so worn down despite being fine just a while ago.

He grins. “Sure. I didn’t know you liked my playlist last time- you didn’t even say anything.”

Kibum shoots him a small weary smile. “It was good. Our music tastes match.”

This is odd, really odd. Kibum either always has a quip on his sleeve, or ignores him altogether- he is never forthcoming with his words, with the exception of last night, which Taemin considers is probably a once in a lifetime moment. He follows him silently, watching as Kibum disinterestedly pays their bill, not even flinching at the high amount they had racked up in just a day.

Taemin is thankful that the drive to Pohang is a short one because he soon figures out something is bothering Kibum, and it's not as simple as him being exhausted. The music barely helps to diffuse the tense atmosphere and he contemplates whether to breach the topic or not. He had made a deal after all- he would ask less questions, but it remains to be seen if Kibum would hold up to his end of the bargain.

“Taemin,” Kibum speaks after almost forty minutes, and he sits up almost instantaneously, relief in finally being addressed.

“Yeah?”

“I will have to leave a day early. You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you want to, I will personally see to it that you get a flight ticket back home.”

Taemin looks at him quizzically. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“I got a call from Seoul after you left my room. Just some work I have to tend to.”

“And this is urgent?” Taemin would be lying if he said he isn’t miffed.

“No idea. I don’t have much of a choice.” He shrugs.

Taemin huffs and sits back, crossing his arms. It is only a day early, and Taemin doesn’t even have to leave with him, but he is annoyed. He is also aware he is acting like a brat, but at this point he is comfortable enough with Kibum to not have to be composed all the time.

“I’m sorry, I know I promised you-”

“You know, you don’t have to keep saying that. When I picked you up from the wreck I wasn’t thinking of cashing in for a favour. If your obligation is truly the only reason you are driving me around then don’t. I can take care of myself, I was doing fine before you came and I will be leading pretty much the same life after this too.”

Kibum’s lips form into a thin line. “I didn’t mean that.”

Taemin turns to face him, eyes wandering over Kibum’s profile. The setting sun provides him almost a golden glow, and he is mad at himself for even thinking of that while they are tethering on the edge of an argument.

“Look, if you’re forcing yourself for this, I’d rather you not accompany me. I know it is a favour you are completing, but after the conversation we had last night.” Taemin hesitates slightly, this is the first time he is breaching the topic, “I thought that we had a rapport going on.”

Kibum shakes his head. “Taemin it’s not that. I gave you my word and I feel bad that I will not be able to see it through.”

They pass by a sign announcing they were already in Pohang. Taemin isn’t that excited anymore.

“Nothing more than that?” He asks, disappointment lacing his tone. The question is only meant to inquire his intentions, but Taemin can’t help but feel they are addressing something he hasn’t quite figured out yet.

Kibum falters for a moment.

“Nothing more than that.”