I LOVE THIS SCENE THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING IT. Writing nicotine tk is so much about writing this constant push and pull in order for these two hard-headed individuals to actually understand one another. I love JK coming to Tae here. He’s not really aware of what he’s doing, but he’s hurt by Tae’s comment even (and esp) bc Tae really didn’t realize what he said. And Tae’s just like trying to catch up to what’s happening, tense as fuck bc he thinks JK’s about to end their arrangement but also he clearly sees JK’s upset and he’s not about to dismiss that like he once would have. He doesn’t wanna acknowledge why he feels like that mind you lmaooo BUT WE ALL KNOW WHY.

Awww see, this one’s very much written out for you in the story itself since it is Tae’s pov. What I’ll say is that I really feel that bit any time I reread—that visceral disbelieving relief from both Tae and JK at finally being able to be together for the first time in years. I can’t even imagine what that must feel like, or how much you not only have to love someone, but also implicitly trust that love, for you to wait almost 3 years… and ok ALSO this section was also a little boon for the BTS enlistment era having just begun. You can see it as a mirror to what we all experienced last month when we finally saw them all together for the first time in years

Omg ok WHAT A SCENE TO CHOOSE. This moment is when the boys took over and just wrote the whole story by themselves skfjdhs. Sometimes writing is like seeing vague snapshots of locations on a moodboard where you can see your characters at, and that was v much this initial section of Hey Stud. I thought about ice rinks and winter house parties in my old icy Canadian suburb, and I could just see the boys there… But when it was time to actually put them there, Tae hiding out where he thinks no one will notice him, and JK immediately noticing him and beelining for him, the two of them tucked away on the landing, almost like they’re in their own bubble? That was all them. JK bringing up their NYE kiss felt like such a confrontation on the one hand, and yet he can’t actually say the words? All the dialogue of that fic is just these two edging around their feelings until it finally isn’t, and I think that almost bled into the ambiance somehow. There was something so private about their love story that’s so specifically attached to those uni winter breaks in suburbia, where it’s like this lawless set of days where time barely exists so you can pull off more of what isn’t the norm? And that’s how this love story felt to me. It’s something they never expected to happen, and it doesn’t make sense inside their lives but the urgency (and also the SHYNESS god they were so FRAGILE) is there and they have all this extra time on their side, so suddenly it all comes together… just magical hahaha

Oh my GOD I’m obsessed w this choice!! Firstly thank you for sending it to me. Now for the DVD commentary:

When I was writing ABW, all I could think about was internal pressure and how it can lead to shifts within us? But also how sometimes life asks you to wait for certain results. And the problem with that is that when you leave someone alone like that, odds are they won’t just wait around without changing likely due to internal pressures haha. OR anyway that became the basis of Tae’s character. And what was interesting to write was JK being his foil because he’s been waiting in his own way, but really he’s determining the flow of things. It’s his discharge that enables them to finally reconnect. We’re working on HIS timeline, and he’s really happy about that haha. Tae also knows that but it’s a struggle for him when he feels all this pressure to finally just be himself, but he STILL has to wait for Jk. SO ALL THIS TO SAY when I got this part, it was the tipping point, the moment things change because JK finally realizes things might not be as easy as he expects. Tae’s not answering. Is he not home? Where is he? (Something he knows he would’ve known if he’d stayed with him, and not Jimin, after all). As for what’s going on in that moment in time: Jk is probably a panicked mess at Jimin’s place, wide awake and trying to stay calm while Jimin sleeps. Gets up and rushes off to Tae’s, meanwhile Tae’s living it UP at the club with Hurricane Hoseok, only for his own reality to crash into him when he gets home and he sees the love of his life utterly distraught and looking at him like he thinks he’s done something else to betray him.