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taegi | 1.5k words | strangers to lovers, just some silly shenanigans

Taehyung sighs with relief as he signs off, shutting his laptop and stretching before standing to leave his home office. Thankfully, it was a relatively easy Monday back at work, but he’s still glad to be done with the day.

Heading into the kitchen, he pulls out some leftovers to heat up while swiping through his phone to catch up on what he’s missed. As he’s swiping through one of his socials, he’s reminded of a new movie he was looking forward to. The post states that it’s being released later in the week, so he immediately switches out to a new window. Bouncing with excitement as he pulls up the website of the movie theater he frequents, he selects his usual time on Saturday.

“What the fuck?” he whispers when the screen reveals the available seats.

Taehyung has a routine. He likes to see his movies in the later part of the mornings, on Saturdays, in the same seat. When he first started this little self-care tradition over a year ago, it didn’t really matter where he sat. But he found himself coming back to the same seat every time he went, and it soon became a conscious decision that never changed.

Until tonight.

For the first time ever, the seat that Taehyung usually gets is taken.

Taehyung blinks rapidly, sets his chopsticks down and refreshes the page. His lips turn down, his face scrunching into a deeper frown as he refreshes the page again, and again, but no matter how many times he refreshes the page, the seat is taken. The rest of the theater is completely empty, but his seat is the one that’s taken.

Taehyung chews on his bottom lip as his excitement gives way to annoyance.

Well.

If this person wants to take his seat, he’ll have to show them just who’s seat they’re sitting in.

He clicks the seat right next to the one that’s supposed to be his, going through the next few screens to successfully secure it. He locks his phone with a huff once he’s done, pouting before picking up his chopsticks to finish the rest of his meal. The pout remains on his face as he goes through the rest of his evening, and eventually settles in bed.

Come Saturday, whoever took his seat is will know never to take it again.

The rest of the week goes both agonizingly slowly and quickly, and the fact that his seat is taken stays in the back of his mind the entire time. He mentally rehearses how he’ll deal with it, and it’s probably the one thing that keeps him going through his work tasks.

By the time Saturday rolls around, he’s buzzing with a new kind of energy and determinedly leaves his apartment to head down his usual route. Five minutes of walking to the nearest subway station, down the steps to ride the train for fifteen minutes, then up the steps to walk another ten to his destination.

The streets are relatively quiet, some families and other people walking or getting early meals, while the train car is mostly empty. He eventually strides through the sliding doors of the movie theater, nodding his head at the worker who scans his ticket. There’s twenty minutes before the show starts, so Taehyung pulls out his phone to reload the movie theater’s website.

When he checked the night before, the theater was still empty except for his and the thief’s seats. It’s still the case as he reloads the website now, so Taehyung aimlessly scrolls through his socials for another few minutes before stepping into the room. Music plays in the background, as it usually does for a few minutes before trailers start. Taehyung slowly heads up the stairs to his row, pausing at the end of it to see another figure already seated.