hotel_omelas | 123018. everyone.

WINTER.
December 30, 2018.

WHO everyone
WHAT taehyung's birthday

WHERE han river
TIMELINE cycle 1

TAEHYUNG Truth is, the past few days have been far from perfect. Holidays in the Kim household aren’t exactly the stuff of Christmas specials, and since Taehyung had conveniently been absent from home longer than his father appreciated, this one was a particular shade of unpleasant. Because of this, he’s been looking forward to his birthday even more, than usual; it’s not just a step closer to getting out from under his father’s eye, but it’s time with people he actually loves.

He has bruises that he refuses to let affect the casual swing of his shoulders,how he laughs, or how he raises his arm to greet Jimin when he meets him by a favored spot on the river. It’s easy for Taehyung to forget about his aches and bruised ego when he sees Jimin approaching, a bright spot of orange hair against the grey of Seoul and the Han, and he beams accordingly.

Their morning is good, and a couple hours of Jimin make Taehyung feel warm from his very core outward. They’re sitting on the edge of of some disused concrete barrier, looking out over the water, with Taehyung still playing with his cocoa cup, kicking his feet and babbling fondly at Jimin about… something.

“And I just really thought that the style was so much.. it was really comickish, you know? Comicky. Comic.. you know. Like a comic.” He grins, giving up on figuring out which word is right.

He has more to say, but he lets himself reset with a long sigh, happy as he looks at the water, then back at Jimin. “Thanks for breakfast.”

NAMJOON Namjoon was one of the first to arrive at the location Jimin had pinned, the Han being an easy and natural place for him to get to. The spot the two of them were sitting was a little too open for him to hide nearby, and he doesn't want to risk being clumsy and exposing that he's there. He leans against a tree some distance behind them, instead, and waits for the others.

He sends a picture to the group (minus Taehyung) of the meetup spot he's made, and a stealthy photo of the of the two he was spying on; Jimin and Taehyung, casually chatting by the water. He keeps himself tucked back, facing away from them as much as possible, until people start to arrive.

"How do we want to do this?" He doesn't need to speak in a hushed tone, they're far enough away and the ambient noise is loud enough that they wouldn't be able to hear them as long as they didn't yell, but he does anyways.

JUNGKOOK Jungkook is pretty sure that he's forgotten how to walk naturally by the time he pulls up to the spot Namjoon indicated. Somehow, just carrying the box with the cake makes him feel like there's a target on his back, that Taehyung will look over any second and the surprise will be ruined. It seems likely that Taehyung is at least expecting some kind of gesture from the other boys today - they aren't exactly subtle over text - but Jungkook hopes that the location, at least, is unexpected.

"I think I'll need people to stand upwind of me so that the candles don't go out?" Jungkook muses in an undertone. "I got the sparkling kind that are hard to blow out, but something tells me they aren't made to withstand the Han's breezes. Ah - I should probably stick them into the cake all weird, too. Jiminie hyung would have wanted that."

Carefully, Jungkook crouches by the tree and opens the box, examining the cake inside, one loaded with strawberries. Sneaking some candles out of their bag, Jungkook tries his best to bend them without breaking, all the while assessing where best to stick them in.

JIMIN The sound of Taehyung's voice is always pleasing, more so when he's talking about something he either really enjoys or really hates, and Jimin can't keep the smile off his face as he listens, giggling as Taehyung struggles to find the right word.

His phone is heavy in his pocket, fingers pressed against it to feel the buzz, indication that their friends are still talking, likely discussing the best way of finding them, but Jimin's attention is fully on Taehyung right now, his smile fond as Taehyung smiles at him.

"It's just the start," he promises, pulling his hand out of his pocket to take Taehyung's. "Was the hot chocolate good?"

TAEHYUNG "It was perfect. We have to go to that cafe sometime, hm? Listen to the music. Have more chocolate," Taehyung holds up his empty cup, giving Jimin a silly, but contented smile. He takes a deep breath and lets it out as a relieved sigh, bumping his shoulder to Jimin's before slinging his free arm over his shoulder.

A gust of wind blows by, stronger than the last couple, and he tugs Jimin in closer, happy for the excuse. This is perfect, too, and Taehyung thinks he could stay here like this for hours if Jimin would let him. He stays quiet for a minute, looking upriver and then following what he imagines is one particular wave vanish in the direction of the sea.

Realizing his mind had been miles away, he looks back at Jimin, not even looking around before he kisses Jimin high on his cheekbone - once, then again, louder and purposely wet. "Ah! I love you. You're the best present."

NAMJOON Namjoon grins at Jungkook, on the ground, fretting over the cake and the placement of the candles. Jimin would demand that they're placed in some sort of interesting formation, and Jungkook does his best to recreate what he would want. Namjoon puts both hands into his pockets, sure that he's more helpful to Jungkook by not helping and idly playing with his lighter instead. "Let me know when you're done and I'll light them."

He chances a peek back towards Taehyung and Jimin. The two of them are sitting happy and close and Namjoon's amused grin slides down into a fainter smile. He's struck by how comfortable and carefree they look -- not the angry kind of carefree, either -- and wonders for a moment if him wandering up to them and ruining their pleasant space was a good idea. Maybe he'd be happier if Namjoon left him alone.

He puts his back to the tree again and looks back down at the cake, which was still getting a lot of attention, feeling a wider smile return. It was Taehyung's birthday, after all. Like it or not, birthdays should be spent with all of them.

"Do we just... Go? We probably shouldn't run with the cake but we should be fast."

JUNGKOOK Once Jungkook has inserted all of the candles, a few of them simply set ajar, and a couple of others carefully molded with a careful press or two, he slowly gets to his feet with the box of cake laid out on top of his palms. The concentration it takes is enough that his expression looks a little clumsy, lips ajar, eyes wide as he looks around to the rest of his hyungs for direction. Only many seconds later does Namjoon's advice finally sink in, and Jungkook blinks a couple of times before casting his gaze in Taehyung's direction.

He looks peaceful, Jungkook thinks to himself. They both do. It's enough to relax Jungkook into a small smile. He might normally feel bad for interrupting the moment, but something tells him that Taehyung and Jimin will have a little more time still today, once the chaos has died down and the rest of them have splintered off.

It's a nice thought.

"Ah - yeah, we shouldn't run, running will make the wind blow out the candles. We do light those first, right? Namjoon hyung, you're tallest so maybe you should be the one standing upwind of me. And you've got the lighter, so if any of them go out, you can relight them. Yoongi, Jin hyung, Hoseok hyung - they can, uh, pepper Tae with birthday slaps if we need cake cover for whatever reason." He pauses, struck with a thought. "And if Taehyung spots us before we can surprise him, we can just start singing the song, I think it'll be enough of a surprise even if the cake isn't right under his nose."

SEOKJIN "If Namjoon and I both stand in front of it, we'll really block it," Jin offers with a grin. He really means it, thinking it'll be a perfectly subtle way to disguise it. By now, though he and Namjoon haven't gathered everyone in the classroom to announce it, their newfound closeness is pretty well known. It'll make sense if they stroll up, shoulder to shoulder, and he ought to put those shoulders of his to good use.

"Do we have a countdown?" he asks, checking the map pin again. They can only get so close before it's make or break.

CODE BY TESSISAMESS