During the next three sets of twenty-four hours, the days were boring, strange, and irritating. The nights, however, were some of the happiest he'd ever had. Taehyung had taken to counting down the days until graduation, which was nerve-wrackingly close, considering he had no clue what he was doing afterward. The date of each day suddenly became quite a lot more apparent. The current day was June 8th.

   Every time he wrote the date in his notes at school; every time he looked up at the chalkboard; every time he looked at the calendar in his room it was a reminder that the days were dwindling- days of his last year in school; his last moments of childhood; maybe even his last moments with Jeongguk. Sorah, too. That was the scariest thing, despite him having other issues that, logically, he should have been more concerned with. The comments his teachers made, that were meant to be encouraging and exciting, didn't help either.

    "Congratulations, guys, you've finished your last ever study guide," his chemistry teacher announced.

    His grammar teacher passed out practice sheets for the final exam. He made sure to look down at his lap as that happened. Mr. Hwang had been scaring him lately.

    His art teacher solemly stated that they would be beginning their very last project.

    "Only one more week 'til you lazy butts can kick back and quit running laps," his P.E. teacher chuckled.

   And when he returned home again he laid down and sighed as he tried not to look at his calendar. It was getting very stressful. Looking back, Taehyung preferred to remember the nights instead of dwelling on the memories of nervous, unpleasant days.

    JUNE 8TH - SEVEN DAYS TO GRADUATION

   The night was cool and Taehyung had left his window open despite the noisy crickets. He lay in a pool of nervous, but mostly meaningless thought, alone in his bedroom. Until he wasn't alone.

    "Psst!"

    Taehyung's head immediately went toward the window, where a boy once again sat outside in the tree. He waved with a happy little smile plastered on his face that Taehyung reciprocated.

    "You could text to let me know you're coming, yknow," Taehyung chuckled.

    "But that would ruin the surprise." Jeongguk pouted. Taehyung just shook his nose and tried to keep himself from laughing any louder. So darn cute.

    "Where to tonight?"

    "My house?"

   "Okay. Lemme just get my backpack ready for school."

     Jeongguk nodded and watched as Taehyung gathered up his textbooks, loose papers, and writing utensils, dispersed them into a few different pockets, then zipped them all and leaned the bag against his bed and slid his phone into his pocket. He walked to the window then, but Jeongguk stopped him before he climbed out.

    "Shouldn't you turn off the light?"

    "Shoot- I forgot! Thanks, Gguk." Taehyung darted toward the door to flip the light switch, then made his way back to the window.

    Jeongguk helped pull Taehyung out of the window again and shimmied back on the branch.  It felt so good to be with him, every time. He couldn't stop smiling, and he still hadn't gotten used to that.

   Once they both dropped from the tree and ran, grinning and laughing, away from the house, as if Taehyung's parents might've been able to catch a glimpse of them if they weren't quick enough, they slowed to a stroll, out of breath.

   Jeongguk was full of energy that night. He was so smiley and excited.

   When they were in front of Jeongguk's house, only one light, in the kitchen was on. "Are your parents sleeping?" Taehyung asked.

    The boy shook his head. "Neither of them are home. They're both working."

    "Oh."

    "Which means we can be as loud as we want."

    "Nice~"

   When they were inside, the only question was of what they wanted to do. Taehyung just followed Jeongguk around. Jeongguk sat on the living room carpet, so Taehyung sat down near him.

    "So," Jeongguk started."how was your day?"

    "Not great. How was yours?"

    "Also not great."

   Somehow, their conversation dissolved from a discussion about school and unfairness and homework and tests into a giggly debate about the love life of a class pet mouse. They began to dissolve into just puddles of humans as well. By now, they were laying on their sides, clutching their stomachs as they laughed, and tried to keep from smiling because their cheeks hurt.

    "Okay but if you were rich- like really rich- what would you buy first?" Taehyung asked, out of the blue.

   "Mmmm..." Jeongguk paused. "Pretzel sticks..."

    "What?" Taehyung laughed.

    "There's a brand of really good pretzel sticks that we used to buy sometimes for special occasions but they're super expensive since they're homemade. So probably a lifetime supply of those." Jeongguk patted his stomach as he reminisced.

    "Hm." Jeongguk looked at Taehyung. "I got a question for you. Do you talk in your sleep?"

    "How should I know?"

    "Fair point."

    "Do you?"

     "...Yeah I can see how that was a dumb question."

    About fourteen strange and seemingly random questions later, they'd figured out that Jeongguk's two favorite hobbies were skateboarding and gardening, though working out almost beat out skateboarding; Taehyung preferred green grapes over red ones and hated black ones; Jeongguk washed each half of his body separately when he showered; Taehyung once cut himself on a blade of grass.

  "Jimin's mom thought I was lactose intolerant for like half a year because when we'd go out for ice cream I'd always choose popsicles or sorbet. And I didn't like the taste of milk back then so I stayed away from it." They both giggled. Everything was funny at this point, as they laid sprawled out on the floor, staring at each other. It just felt so good to be alone with him, uninterrupted and comfortable.

    "Yknow, now that you mention it..." Jeongguk started. "I really want some ice cream." He sat up quite quickly and jumped to his feet to run to the freezer. Taehyung smiled, hearing the boy hum as he searched the freezer. "Aha!"

   Taehyung got up, too, and arrived in the kitchen a little slower. Jeongguk was holding a pint of chocolate ice cream to his body while searching out a spoon. As he tugged out a drawer of silverware, he turned his head to speak to Taehyung. "This ice cream is really good; you might like it. Wanna try it?"

    "Sure."

    Jeongguk scooped out a small spoonful of ice cream and held it to Taehyung's lips. With no hesitation, Taehyung opened his mouth and felt the cold cream melt on his tongue while Jeongguk waited expectantly, studying his reaction. It was pretty good. Maybe he did like ice cream, after all. "Mmm."

    "Good?"

    "Yeah, I like it."

    That answer seemed to satisfy Jeongguk, who began smiling as he shoveled a large spoonful of chocolate into his mouth, continuing to hum that tune from earlier. Taehyung knew the song. Jeongguk was surprised when he heard it begin playing out of Taehyung's phone speakers, but immediately started vocalizing through a mouthful of ice cream, which made Taehyung laugh once again.  While bobbing his head to the beat, Jeongguk grabbed another spoon and put it in Taehyung's hand.

     "You've got some chocolate on your face," Taehyung chuckled.

     "Where?"

     "I'll get it for you." With some sort of strange confidence that must have induced by the immense comfort he'd been feeling around Jeongguk the whole night, he came close and wiped off the chocolate smear with him thumb, which he then swiped over the tip of his tongue, all while wondering what it might be like to taste the ice cream on Jeongguk's lips and tongue.

    "...Thanks." Jeongguk was surprised enough to stop moving his body for a moment. But only a moment. The next moment he was grabbing Taehyung's hand, following the lyrics as he sang, "It doesn't matter when I'm with you." He then went on to demonstrate the "fighting bleeding losing" part.

    "Did you have coffee today?"

    "Maybe."

    However, as the chorus came they were both belting out the words.

     And that was the time that the front door opened. Both of them closed their mouths, glanced toward the door, then at each other. Jeongguk's father stepped into the kitchen. Taehyung paused the music. "Hey there. What's happening in here?"

    "Just hanging out with a friend."

    "Good to see you.... Taehyung?"

    Taehyung nodded. "You, too."

    The man made his way around the counter to where Jeongguk was standing and borrowed his spoon to steal a bite of ice cream. "Well, I don't mean to crash your party but I'm going to bed. I'd say you two can keep hanging out as long as you keep it down, but it is getting late and you both have school tomorrow."

     Jeongguk looked at the clock on the microwave. It was later than either of them realized. "Okay, Dad. Goodnight."

    "Night."

    They were each quiet after that, but smiling.

    "I like your dad."

    Jeongguk nodded. "He's nice." He removed his spoon from the melting ice cream. Taehyung let him take the spoon he was holding, but he immediately stuck it back in and fed him one last spoonful before he put them in the sink.

   Once the ice cream was in the freezer again, Jeongguk set off to find his shoes, mentioning that he could walk home with Taehyung as soon as he found them.

    "You don't have to-"

   "Ah! Found them." He slipped them on and was holding the door open for Taehyung before he could finish protesting.

   If Taehyung thought up a collection of his favorite days, this one would have surely made the list. From the moment Jeongguk came to his window to when Taehyung snuck back in and waved to him, it was perfect.