☘ restaurant

@ˢᵒˡᵒᶤˢᵗ z. zhennan "ᴠɪɴ" ( thank you dear, same goes to you! )

maybe if taehyung was a little more clear-minded he could muster up the rights words to tell zhennan that he was wrong. that in fact, he was sure there were many people in there who came because they genuinely admired him and his work— like himself for example. it was just his sour mood that made it seem like he didn’t want to be there and he couldn’t help but feel a bit bad about it. he doesn’t react when zhennan looks at him with a wide grin because there was no doubt that he looked utterly pathetic in that moment.

as to zhennan’s question the only explanation taehyung can muster is, “got dumped.” there was a lot more to it than that but he doesn’t see the point in explaining and he’d rather not bore zhennan with his life story. the last thing he wanted to do was ruin someone else’s night over his own problems. “though i don’t really get it… she said that i wasn’t capable of loving anything other than work. but who is she to tell me what i feel?” just thinking about it riled up something in taehyung. “you know what? her and her ing snotty little…” he grits his teeth and tosses his unfinished cigarette onto the floor, stepping out the light with his shoes.

@ᵐᵛ ᵈᶤʳᵉᶜᵗᵒʳ k. taehyung [] aightey, i'll cut it down a little! i like your reply tho uwu

Oh, so he was right about his assumption. The mention of "how futile life is and drinking to make it a little more worthwhile" caused his already kind of numb expression to drop a little lower, now sliding his hand into the pocket of his jacket. "Sounds ty", he muttered after taking a drag from his cigarette which had been lit by the other. "What happened, huh? You sound like a kicked puppy when you talk like that." A wide, -eating grin now stretched over Zhennan's lips as he gave the other a quick once-over. Sure, maybe it wasn't the most empathetic approach, but Zhennan really wasn't a bad person, he simply was more of a laid back person. He wasn't a fan of angsty talks, but if needed, he'd adjust to whatever Taehyung needed in that moment.

Life was angsty enough already, anyway. No need for Zhennan to add to that.
To the following question, Zhennan only responded with a shake of his head and an amused grunt. "Look, I don't know if you've noticed by now, but I'm not a people person. Just being outside, having a smoke and chilling with you a little's just what I need. Besides, all those people are here for the free food, not because of me." He laughed, then he shrugged carelessly. "Can't blame them, though, I'd do the same if the company paid for it."

@ᶠᵃᶰ h. minghao "₀₄₁₂_wɢᴏᴅ" Zhengting could only chortle. “Wanna bet?” He shook his head with a hum. “Nah- I haven’t even debuted yet!” He chuckled. “I’m just feeling generous. And you’re here so I thought a little money spending wouldn’t hurt.” He smiled sincerely at the other’s gratitude, only to jokingly shudder later as he mused, “Don’t be like that, you’re scary when you’re acting nice!”
He called the waiter over quickly and placed in their orders. Once the server took off, he turned back to Justin to ask, “So! How was the flight here? What are your plans afterwards?”

@ˢᵒˡᵒᶤˢᵗ z. zhennan "ᴠɪɴ" ( sorry i got a bit carried away fleshing out the backstory. don't feel pressured to match this we can prob start cutting down lmao ;; )

@ˢᵒˡᵒᶤˢᵗ z. zhennan "ᴠɪɴ" “here, drink this.” jinhyuk hands taehyung a bottle of water he’d gotten from the restaurant. he shakes his head kindly in rejection when taehyung offers him a cigarette, instead choosing to stand quietly besides him as he smoked. they weren’t that close. he had only worked as a gaffer for a few of taehyung’s projects but he admired him a lot, not just as an artist but as a person. even though taehyung hadn’t told anyone outside of his immediate circle of friends, which was pretty small, word got around about his breakup. it was easy to see the toll it had taken on taehyung. he hadn’t the littlest bit of motivation lately and had rejected any project that came his way. jinhyuk tried to offer a few words of encouragement here and there but it didn’t seem like anything could drag taehyung out of the hole he had dug for himself. “um… well i’ll be inside if you need anything,” he said softly, giving taehyung one last look of sympathy before walking back into the restaurant.

so here taehyung was, standing like some loser outside of a bbq joint on his ’would’ve been, could’ve been’ two year anniversary. he takes a sip of the water bottle jinhyuk had gotten him to clear his head. he wonders if he should’ve just stayed at home but then again, it would have all been the same. he could either be drunk and depressed alone or drunk and depressed with a ton of faced partygoers— neither scenarios were appealing. before taehyung can continue to wallow at how sad his life was, he’s brought back to his senses by a soft punch to his arm. “oh…” is all he can manage to say when he first sees zhennan standing there before him. what a shame that he had to see taehyung in this state. their interactions so far were limited to the times they worked together and when taehyung would bump into him working late into the night. that’s part of the reason why he admired the kid so much; he had a natural talent coupled with a strong work ethic.

taehyung takes the cigarette and sticks it in between his lips. he had just finished one but he could go for another. “thanks,” he mumbles before pulling out a lighter from his pocket. he lights up zhennan’s cigarette for him before lighting his own. so much for quitting. “i didn’t think i’d be here either but alas… nothing much, just thinking about how futile life is and drinking to make it a little more worthwhile.” taehyung takes a drag of his cigarette and drunkenly turns to look at zhennan. “shouldn’t you be celebrating inside with everyone else? it’s your party, after all.”

@ᵗʳᵃᶤᶰᵉᵉ z. zhengting "ᴛʜᴇᴏ" The younger made sure to return the hug, giving him a brief squish - well, there wasn't much time to truly give him a sincere hug as they usually would, but it was whatever. Nothing important. Nothing too important.
"I bet I missed you way more", he mused out in amusement, then he sat down and took the menu, however, he kept looking at him. "I'll take the usual, as always. Mh, does the company pay you that much, hm?", he teased a little, shrugging his remarks off with a bubbly chuckle. "Thank you, thank you for always taking care of me."

@ᵐᵛ ᵈᶤʳᵉᶜᵗᵒʳ k. taehyung Zhennan totally wasn't a fan of these huge, huge celebrations - he was a small artist, yet the company had decided to treat him for the efforts he'd given, for the newcomer award he'd managed to win at this show. His company may have pushed him to his limits a lot in his past, however, they always made sure to get back to him for his hard work - one thing he liked about it so dearly. Just a few nice words from the CEOs would've been enough as well, though. At least there was free food, though - and alcohol. Lots of it.
Zhennan felt pretty free to get wasted that night, not wasted to the point when he'd throw up, but definitely drunk enough to have a fun time, to escape from the seriousness of his life - to give this evening a little bit of colour, unlike every other night he'd spend in his studio, staring at the screen of his computer to work on his and the other groups' and artists' music.

It took him a while to get to the point of being comfortable with approaching people, however, when it happened, Zhennan had decided to mingle and chat a little, until he spotted Taehyung, a director he'd met before, who was now on his way out with some other dude, probably to have a smoke or something. He didn't expect him to be there, however, he enjoyed his presence, he was kind of cool - or, at least, he seemed like it. And since he was positively surprised about his presence, he was quick to join the others in on their smoking break. Judging from the way Taehyung seemed to be unable to walk properly, however, Zhennan got a little concerned. "'Sup, hyung?", he muttered, gently bumping his fist against his arm, a small chuckle following, "Didn't think you'd be here, how's it goin', huh?", he asked once they were outside, since his company seemed to have left again. Zhennan pulled out a pack of cigarettes, sticking one inbetween his lips before offering one to the other as well.

@ᶠᵃᶰ h. minghao "₀₄₁₂_wɢᴏᴅ" Zhengting read the message and chuckled, though didn’t respond to it and just continued reading on his social media. He soon perked up after noticing someone in his peripheral vision and heard the greeting, lifting his head and grinning upon seeing Justin, turning off his phone. He stood up quickly to give the younger a quick but tight hug.
“So glad to see you! I missed you so much!” He pulled away before gesturing for Justin to sit, taking his seat once more before handing the menu to the younger. “Here! Order whatever and however you want! I’ll pay for all of them.”

@ᵗʳᵃᶤᶰᵉᵉ z. zhengting "ᴛʜᴇᴏ" Excitement bubbled up within Justin's body when Theo's message popped up on the screen of his phone, and he responded with a quick "What a coincidence, I'm in the city right now", then he made his way right back down to the subway ㅡ he had actually just gotten off and was about to find some pretty spots to take some pictures at, but now that he was meeting his friend, they could do that together later as well, maybe.
Around 20 minutes later, Justin finally entered the restaurant. Of course, Theo had sat down at their usual spot, and immediately, he made his way over to him. "Hi!", he greeted him, flashing a wide grin.

@ᶠᵃᶰ h. minghao "₀₄₁₂_wɢᴏᴅ" « To: Baby Justin »
※ I have a day off!! Meet me at our usual restaurant. It’ll be my treat! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

~*~*~

The spot Zhengting had chosen was neither secluded nor eye-catching. Near to the windows of the restaurant and just in view for the servers, Zhengting sat waiting for his friend. He wore a simple outfit and a cap on his head, checking notifications on his phone with the menu opened by his side, already done choosing his order. He hadn’t called a server over yet, wanting to wait until Justin arrived before placing in their orders together. It was almost noon then and there were some customers in the restaurant already, most probably having their lunch break.

@ˢᵒˡᵒᶤˢᵗ z. zhennan "ᴠɪɴ" when taehyung first stepped into the korean bbq joint and saw the horde of str employees gathered around a row of tables, he already felt like going home. truth be told, he wasn’t in the best state of mind lately. his girlfriend of almost two years had dumped him a week before their anniversary which coincidentally would’ve been today. ‘you don’t know what love is,’ she declared with tears in her eyes and a pitiful expression that he wanted so desperately to wipe right off her face. if this wasn’t a celebration made for zhennan, taehyung would have turned around and left right then and there.

several shots later, taehyung is flat out drunk. he doesn’t drink often but according to his friends he could get a bit ‘volatile’ under the influence, whatever that meant. it didn’t help that he didn’t eat much before or at the party; he hasn’t had much of an appetite lately. taehyung slowly shakes his head in refusal when another one of the smashed partygoers challenges him to another shot. instead, he turns to the person next to him and grabs his arm. “heyyyyy, wanna go for a smoke break?” taehyung slurs through hooded-eyes and a big smile that contrasted his usual poker face. he places his hands on the table and pushes himself up, his steps a little wobbly.