Dormitory

Seokjin opened the door to his dorm room and was immediately greeted by Taehyung's grin big enough to make him wonder if this was a surprise or a full-on invasion.

"And here I thought I could catch a break..." Seokjin thought and sigh.

"Am I interrupting your 'me time'?" Taehyung teased, stepping inside like he owned the place.

Seokjin raised an eyebrow, shifting his bag off the chair. "You could've at least texted, I'm not a hotel lobby."

Taehyung shrugged, dropping his backpack with a loud thud. "Where's the fun in that? Spontaneity is key."

Seokjin shook his head, amused despite himself. "Fine, make yourself comfortable, just don't mess up my notes."

Taehyung flopped onto Seokjin's bed with an exaggerated sigh. "You're lucky I'm here to keep you sane."

Seokjin sat down at his desk, pulling out textbooks and scribbling notes. As he worked, he felt Taehyung's presence shift closer then a sudden light touch on his hand.

Seokjin glanced sideways. Taehyung's fingers gently intertwined with his own.

"Taehyung, I am studying." Seokjin said softly, while making direct eye contact, and pulling his hand back.

"Nope," Taehyung said with a cheeky grin. "It's more comfortable this way."

Seokjin tried to focus on the textbook in front of him, but Taehyung leaned in, resting his head lightly on Seokjin's shoulder.

"Seriously," Seokjin whispered, trying not to sound flustered. "Personal space."

Taehyung yawned, stretching out beside him. "This is our study session, not a lecture on boundaries."

Seokjin let out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. "You're impossible."

"But adorable," Taehyung added, eyes sparkling.

Seokjin met his gaze for a moment longer than necessary, heart skipping.

1 hour later

Seokjin tried to re-center his focus on the stack of notes in front of him, but Taehyung's head was still there, solid and warm on his shoulder, like a weight he hadn't realized he could grow used to.

"You're distracting me," he muttered.

"Am I?" Taehyung looked up at him with mock innocence. "I'm just absorbing knowledge by osmosis, through you."

"Like I said, that's not how osmosis works."

"You sure?" Taehyung tapped a finger against Seokjin's collarbone. "You're so full of facts, it's leaking out of you." Taehyung whispered something, but Seokjin who was clearly annoyed, ignored him completely.

"It's time to listen, Mr. Kim," Seokjin said in a low, threatening tone. "Or would you prefer to repeat the whole semester?"

Taehyung gasped dramatically.
"You are diabolical."

Seokjin didn't even flinch. "And you're distracting."

Taehyung pouted, slumping slightly in his seat. "Fine, fine. I'll behave. For now."

Seokjin shot him a quick side-eye, lips twitching into a small, reluctant smile.

They picked up where they left off from yesterday, Seokjin explaining the properties of light and how it interacts with different surfaces, scribbling quick diagrams of rays and angles into Taehyung's sketchpad.

"So... light bends when it enters a different medium," Taehyung murmured, lying on his stomach, feet swinging behind him as he watched Seokjin's hand move. "Refraction."

"Exactly. And the angle of incidence matters. It's why you get lens flares or those halos when light hits the camera a certain way."

Taehyung squinted at the page. "So the lens isn't just... capturing. It's sculpting the light?"

Seokjin paused, then nodded. "That's a good way to put it."

"Damn," Taehyung whispered, letting his cheek rest on the pillow as he stared at Seokjin. "You make it sound poetic."

"It's physics."

"Physics can be poetic."

Seokjin sighed, turning the page. "Okay, romantic. Let's go over aperture and depth of field again. You said you kept messing that up in your quiz."

"Only so you'd explain it to me again," Taehyung said, grinning as he reached over and poked Seokjin's cheek. "You get this tiny crease on your forehead when you're trying to simplify something."

Seokjin blinked down at him. "You notice that?"

"I notice a lot of things."

Seokjin quickly looked away, flipping back to the diagram. "Okay, focus. Small aperture, large depth of field. Big aperture—"

"—blurry background. Bokeh." Taehyung sang the last word, drawing out the 'h' as he rolled onto his back and lazily threw a pen into the air. "Pretty backgrounds. Like when I photographed you outside the lecture hall."

"You what?"

Taehyung smiled without looking at him. "Nothing,"

Seokjin blinked. "No, no. You said you took a photo of me?"

"I say a lot of things," Taehyung replied, tone maddeningly nonchalant, eyes fixed on the ceiling as he caught the pen again. "Could've been a dream. Could've been the light messing with my head. Who knows." Taehyung said now making eye-contact with Seokjin.

Seokjin narrowed his eyes, lowering the textbook slightly. "Taehyung."

"Hm?"

"You're being weird."

"I'm always weird."

"Fine, but this is... extra."

Taehyung grinned and folded his arms behind his head. "Guess I was just appreciating the light. The subject. The moment."

Seokjin's heart skipped a beat. He didn't know whether to feel alarmed or worse flattered.

"You're seriously not going to explain?"

"Nope."

"You're unbelievable."

"I've been told." Taehyung replied back, Seokjin sighed. As much as he always seemed to win their arguments, he couldn't figure out why he could never truly get past Taehyung.

Flustered, Seokjin turned back to the textbook, ears tinged pink. He tried to focus on the next diagram, on explaining lens focal lengths, but the image of Taehyung secretly taking a picture of him, just standing there, unaware—kept popping into his mind. His voice caught in his throat as he imagined how he must've looked. Why didn't Taehyung just delete it? Why keep it?

Taehyung yawned and stretched, brushing his foot lightly against Seokjin's leg under the table like it was nothing.

Seokjin shoved the textbook into his lap. "Okay, we're done reviewing for now."

Taehyung propped himself up on his elbows, pouting. "Aw, already?"

"You're too distracting."

"Is that a compliment?"

"No."

"Liar."

Seokjin smirked as he stood up, opened his clear folder, and pulled out a stack of ten practice test papers. Taehyung's confidence wavered the moment he saw the glint in Seokjin's eyes, a mix of challenge and mischief that made his stomach drop.

"Time to prove I didn't waste my time on you," Seokjin said, his voice calm but deadly serious. He slammed the papers down on the table playfully, but with enough force to make Taehyung flinch and slid one in front of him.

Taehyung gulped, eyes wide. "Uh... is this real?"

Seokjin chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Of course it's real. I made those test papers myself. You won't find them anywhere on the internet," he said proudly, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"Ten papers, ten questions each, it should take you about two hours if you stay focused."

Taehyung stared at the stack like it might grow teeth and bite him. "You're actually serious about this..."

Seokjin leaned in, eyes gleaming. "Dead serious."

Taehyung gave a long, theatrical sigh, letting his head fall back onto the couch dramatically. "This feels like betrayal. I thought we had something special."

"We do, It's called academic responsibility," Seokjin replied, deadpan, pushing the first test paper toward him.

Taehyung picked it up with exaggerated reluctance, like it might crumble to dust in his hands. "You didn't even let me emotionally prepare for this." Taehyung sniffled.

"You had all night," Seokjin said, settling beside him and opening a notebook. "Now, go. First question."

Taehyung squinted at the paper, grumbling under his breath. "'Identify three key principles of composition when photographing in natural light.'" He looked up. "Can I have a hint?"

"No hints."

"Not even a lifeline?"

"This isn't Who Wants to Be a Photographer, Taehyung."

Taehyung made a face, then scribbled something on the paper. "You're a merciless tutor, has anyone ever told you that?" Taehyung said while pouting, it made Seokjin smile

"Frequently. Usually after I help them pass," Seokjin said, flipping another page in the binder. "You're a lot luckier, normally, I ask for a price."

Taehyung glanced sideways, lips quirking. "You know, you could be a little nicer. Smile at me. Encourage me and maybe even gently brush my hair back while I struggle."

Seokjin didn't even look up. "Get to question two before I double the questions."

"You're cruel," Taehyung muttered, writing again, and Seokjin giggled. "If you weren't so damn adorable, I'd have flipped this table and roasted you into next week," Seokjin thought, glancing at his own test paper, complete with answer keys and the smug satisfaction of being fully prepared.

They worked through the test slowly. Every few minutes, Taehyung tried to distract him like tapping his pencil against the table, playing with the hem of Seokjin's sleeve, tossing around dramatically, puppy-eyed looks. But Seokjin held his ground, only cracking once when Taehyung dramatically fell off the couch after misreading a question and proclaimed, "This is how I die. Buried in shame and poorly composed shots."

When Taehyung finally reached the last question on the final paper, he set his pencil down with a soft, tired groan and dropped his head on Seokjin's shoulder. "I deserve snacks and cuddles, preferably in that order.

Seokjin blinked, startled by the closeness but didn't push him away. "You deserve a passing grade. I'll give you that much."

"Cold," Taehyung mumbled into his sleeve. "I gave you my soul. You gave me essay questions." Taehyung added and snuggled his head on Seokjin's broad shoulders.

"You'll thank me when you ace your exam."

Taehyung turned his face just enough to peek up at Seokjin. "Would you kiss me if I got a perfect score?"

Seokjin went still, shocked on what he just heard.

Taehyung grinned lazily, watching the subtle way Seokjin's ears turned pink. "Kidding," he added, though his voice was quiet.

Seokjin didn't answer. Instead, he reached over, picked up the papers, and flipped through them like he was suddenly very interested in grading.

But Taehyung could still see the way his lips curved slightly, just enough to make his own chest feel warm.

"Damn, I think I really am in love with this guy..." Taehyung thought and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

After all that review, Taehyung somehow survived and celebrated with a silly victory dance. He grinned and blew Seokjin a flying kiss as he prepared to leave.

Seokjin pretended to catch it, then immediately tossed it into an imaginary trash can.
Taehyung gasped dramatically, clutching his chest.

"You just threw away my love!"

Seokjin raised an eyebrow, expression icy. "I don't accept trash," he said flatly.

Without another word, he turned around and held the door..

Just as Taehyung followed with a dramatic, "How dare you—", the door swung shut and smacked him right in the face.

Thud.

He stumbled back, groaning, while a group of students nearby snickered.

"I see how it is," Taehyung muttered, rubbing his nose and with a huge grin. "Love hurts! but getting slammed in the face by a door hurts more...ow my nose..."

Seokjin leaned his head against the door, a quiet giggle slipping past his lips when he heard Taehyung's muffled voice from the other side.

Seokjin shook his head, smiling to himself. "He's always joking about love and stuff, he thought. Flirting like it's nothing. Like he doesn't even mean it."

But still, Seokjin could feel his cheeks warm. As much as he tried to brush it off, there was something about the way Taehyung said those things so bold, and so ridiculous it left his heart skipping a beat, every time.

He sighed and pushed away from the door, mumbling under his breath, "Idiot."

But the smile never left his face.

Seokjin let out a breathy laugh, still leaning against the door. "If there was an award for being the most persistent idiot in the world..." he thought, "Taehyung would win by a landslide."

"Maybe I should give him a prize," Seokjin thought, striking a thinking pose ". A hug would be a good start. Just to shut him up for once."

He made his way to the living room and flopped onto the couch, grabbing the remote. The TV blinked on, and just as he was about to change the channel, a travel commercial flashed across the screen, bright blue waters, white sand, and the unmistakable beauty of Jeju Island.

Seokjin stared at the screen for a second, then smirked.

"Well," he muttered, grabbing his phone. "Let's see if he's brave enough for a trip."

Without another thought, he booked two tickets.