Chapter Text
Jimin sat alone in his room, curtains drawn, legs crossed and eyes glued to the floor. His mind was reeling, questions and regrets racing through his head.
Sure, he may have taken a long time, but maybe there was a reason. Maybe I should have-
He shook such thoughts from his head. They were now useless since he had pushed Taehyung away, and nothing could change that. Perhaps if he was given another chance-
No.
His eyes drifted up to the closed blinds, parting them to see the pale light of the sun begin to brighten on the horizon. His eyes stung, his head was ringing, and he wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and rest, but his thoughts would not let him.
I really messed up, huh?
He curled into himself and let out a long sigh. A sleepless night meant that he’d likely have to take naps during classes, which he could not afford to do with his current grades. Even though he could always miss the first few classes once he managed to sleep, he doubted it would even be possible now. His sleeping schedule was bad enough as it was.
Knock, knock, knock…
It took Jimin only moments to leap up and begin to scramble towards the door, forgetting that he wasn’t meant to be hoping it was the very person he was mad at. And, ignoring all the whispers in his head that reminded him of this, he reached the door. Once he caught sight of the silvery wisps of hair through the window, the voices went silent.
He’s actually here.
His fingers brushed against the cool metal of the door handle as he hesitated, breath caught in his throat, threatening to suffocate him if he didn’t open it.
So he did.
When he met Taehyung’s eyes, he immediately felt a rush of mixed emotions, but he forced his face to turn stony as they stood there. After all, he was still angry, even if that wasn’t the whole story.
“What are you doing here?” He tightened his grip on the doorframe, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to look intimidating.
“I-” His confidence from earlier was gone, replaced with a sheepishness that didn’t suit him. “I have nowhere to go.”
Jimin scowled. “Why don’t you just go back where you came from?”
“I can’t.”
Jimin paused, head tilted slightly. “What do you-”
Taehyung’s face fell. “It’s complicated, ok? I-” His hand flew up to his earlobe, and he started squeezing it as if it would calm him down. “I can’t go back. Not yet. Not for a while.”
Jimin looked sceptical, but he felt his hand loosen ever so slightly, his knuckles thanking him for the release. “Well-” He paused again, thoughts drifting to his parents. They were out that night, but that didn’t guarantee they wouldn’t catch him anytime afterwards. “You can stick around tonight, but my parents can’t see you until later.”
Taehyung’s head lifted immediately, his smile like a thousand suns. “Really?”
“Don’t make me change my mind.”
That didn’t stop him from bouncing slightly in victory, grin still plastered on his face. “What about later?”
“I’ll make something up.” Jimin waved his hand dismissively. “We can figure this out later.”
“Ok, you’re the boss.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Ok.”
Jimin backed back into his house, looking over his shoulder every now and again to check the boy was still following. He seemed quite distracted by the photographs and artwork on the walls, but he kept up with him well enough.
Opening the door to his room, Jimin suddenly felt a little nervous, heartbeat going erratic for several moments before he even noticed it was happening.
Swallowing it down, he spoke, his voice showing no sign of his previous fears. “You can stay here tonight, but you’ll probably move out after that.”
As he turned, Taehyung nodded, taking this opportunity to examine his surroundings in detail while Jimin moved to the wardrobe, getting out a futon, blanket and some pillows rather precariously, almost falling before Taehyung offered to help. He grabbed the pillows and blanket, waiting for Jimin to finish laying down his temporary bed before he began helping out.
An awkward silence hung in the air, but Jimin could not bring himself to break it. Taehyung seemed as if he couldn’t tell, gently humming something under his breath as he moved the last pillow into position.
Jimin then moved over to his own bed, eyes suddenly heavy the moment he lay down. As per usual, he was sleep-deprived and exhausted, but he had never found it this easy to pass into slumber.
Meanwhile, Taehyung was curled up comfortably, pillows were strewn around him in an orderly chaos, and his eyes were drawn to the moon. His thoughts wandered someplace no one could possibly find them, past memories curling their tendrils around his mind like smoke, but he could never quite find the source of the fire.
His existence was not without consequence, such was spending an immortal life alone. His memories lingered, lifetimes of loneliness spent in the sky and nearly as much spent with those who could never remain by his side, no matter how much he hoped they would.
His eyes were drawn to the boy beside him, pale gold tufts of hair gently quivering with his resting figure. The window behind him allowed the pale glow of the moon to coat him in silver as if he were a part of it himself and Taehyung couldn’t help but allow his eyes to linger there for longer than he had intended.
He recognised the blanket Jimin was clutching to his chest, gradually loosening until it fell in waves to the floor.
He reached across, draping it over Jimin once again, this time tucking it underneath his body to keep it in place indefinitely. His hands fell to his sides slowly, as he withdrew back to his own makeshift bed and, for once, he felt a drowsiness trickle into his body, limbs gradually loosening one by one.
It was a strange feeling, and one he hadn’t felt in a long time, but it was certainly welcome, and so he found himself drifting off into something like a slumber, but not quite the same.
It wasn’t until after dawn that Jimin awoke again, his body not fully refreshed due to a lack of sleep, but unable to remain so despite needing it so much. As he shifted, he found his movements restricted slightly before the blanket tucked beneath his limbs began to gradually come loose.
Did he…?
Jimin’s eyes fell upon the resting form of Taehyung, arms wrapped around himself almost protectively, brows furrowed whilst also somehow looking peaceful as he slept. He looked as if he would wake at any given moment, but he did not stir, and Jimin did not dare to move. The light from dawn reflected off Taehyung’s hair, the silver strands set aflame by the glowing orange embers of the rising sun.
His skin glowed ever so slightly, unusually pale against the vivid saffron of the sky, yet a golden brown hue was clearly visible. At night it was hard to tell, but Jimin could clearly see that his skin resembled the moonrock itself rather than the light reflected by it. In fact, he was nowhere near as pale as Jimin had previously thought, the light of day revealing Taehyung’s true colours, quite literally.
Jimin thought it was rather beautiful, but he would be caught dead before admitting that to himself.
At any rate, he would have to wake up soon enough, especially since he wouldn’t be able to rest any longer due to the rogue thoughts plaguing his mind in the early hours of the morning regarding everything that had happened or was going to.
The crisp morning air made his whole body shudder, arms wrapped protectively around himself as his bare feet padded against the hardwood floor. He had plenty of time, which wasn’t unusual, and he felt strangely refreshed despite staying up into the dying hours of the night, so he took his sweet time getting ready for his classes. After washing up and changing into something light to combat the humidity, he noticed the makeshift bed for Taehyung was empty and he felt his heart stutter until he caught sight of the layer of what looked like glitter on his bed, then-
“Jimin-ah.”
He turned, his heart resuming its steady pace as he recognised the deep baritone of Taehyung’s voice. His eyes were wide as they took in the impressive bedhead the other boy sported, slightly amused by the strands that stuck out in an organised mess.
“I was wondering where you had gone.” Taehyung rubbed his eyes, a slight pout on his lips that almost made him look like someone entirely ordinary; as if he hadn’t fallen from the moon only the night before.
His eyes were locked on on the rebellious strands as Taehyung approached, eyes still drooping slightly from sleep, and Jimin wanted nothing more than to smooth them down, but he stilled his hand before it moved of its own accord and before he made a fool of himself.
“What are you looking at?”
He shook his head, eyes falling to Taehyung’s face. “Nothing. When did you wake up?”
“Just now,” He ran his fingers through his hair, only creating a bigger mess. “Are you going out soon?”
“Not for a while.”
Taehyung nodded, eyes dropping to the ground. “Once you leave, I’ll start looking for somewhere to stay.”
Jimin scoffed. “You won’t find any hotels around here,” then, pushing past the nerves that had held him in place, he reached forward, simultaneously ruffling and flattening his hair. At least now there was a little more order to it. “Just stay here for now, I know where you can stay.”
Taehyung visibly relaxed, eyes crinkling ever so slightly at the sides as his small smile grew. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, and,” Jimin narrowed his eyes, pushing Taehyung’s head down a little roughly. “Wash up, you look like you just got dragged through a hedge backwards.”
Taehyung’s grin did not falter. Instead, he let out another laugh that caught Jimin by surprise before hopping off to the bathroom.
His hand began to tingle slightly, and as he glanced down, he was once again taken by surprise by the glittery substance that lingered on his hand. He glanced back at the bed on which Taehyung had slept and laughed to himself quietly.
Moondust.