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It's night, but it's still bright in the room. The snow from outside reflects the moonlight into your room, not to mention that on last count, Taehyung had lit a bajillion candles. You watch the heat waves rise just above the flame of a candle, the thread of smoke thinning out into invisibility, and feel as at home as you've ever felt.
Taehyung comes back into the room after brushing his teeth. He leans down and you think he's about to kiss you until he blows right into your face.
“Minty fresh,” he says as he pulls back, an exaggerated smile on his face to show off his pearly whites.
You grab a pillow from the bed and throw it at him.
“God,” you say as you throw an arm over your face. “If I didn't love you...”
He scoffs and falls onto the bed beside you like a log being felled. You feel yourself lose contact with the mattress for a brief moment in his wake.
Taehyung throws an arm over your waist and mumbles “there's no way you couldn't love me” into your chest.
“Oh yeah?” you say as you brush his hair back. “Why not?”
He grumbles something indistinct and then lifts his head up. His face is so close like this that his eyes practically the only thing you see.
“Because there's no me without you,” he says, with this.. this... fucking serious face, before he rolls away and pulls the covers over his head. Is he really giggling in there?
“Oh my God,” you say, staring up at the ceiling while your heart positively melts. “Why are you like this?”
He whines something before he emerges from his cocoon, slinking back up your body so his head is just below your chin.
“But you do love me...” he says, and drops a kiss in the space right between your clavicles. He lifts his head to stare straight at you. “Right?”
He's challenging you, you know, but you've also known him for five years. You lift yourself up and kiss him, as gentle and fleeting as the snow outside. He smiles cutely then rests his head back on your chest. He's so spoiled, you think. Like a puppy trying to get your attention. But you're equally as hopeless; you give into him every time.
You feel him drop another kiss on your chest, in the same spot. You look down, uncaring of the double chin you know it's giving you.
“You really like kissing me there, huh. Is that your favorite spot or something?”
“I don't know.” He hums as he thinks, wiggling his body around the bed. “Maybe...” He's on his back next to you again and he turns his head. You can hear the rustle of his hair against the sheets. His eyes follow your fingers which have slid into the dip of your skin, feeling the smoothness.
He speaks softly and you remember how quiet the room is when no one is speaking. “I think sometimes I can see your pulse there.” He snuggles up closer. You can see him watching your fingers and he reaches up again and joins them. “It reminds me of how fragile you are, how fragile we all are, and that makes me think of how lucky I am to have found you in this life.”
He tilts his head up to meet your gaze and you have the overwhelming urge to boop his nose. So you do.
He wrinkles his nose, but otherwise don't move. “What about you?” he asks. “Do you have a favorite part of me?”
“Hmmm.....” You turn on your side to face him, head cushioned on your right arm. He mirrors you. You scan him head to... sheet.
The thing is, you love all of Taehyung. There's not one thing you could point to and say 'That's my favorite.' Because what about his ears? Or his eyes when they're all sleep-crusted in the morning? Or the sparse hair on his chest that he's unreasonably proud of? And that's just the physical stuff.
So you take your time. “My favorite part of you....” you say again. His eyes widen. “Is..........” You really drag this one out.
But at one point, you think he might actually be holding his breath from the suspense, so you decide to cut him some slack.
“Your toes.”
“My toes,” he gasps, and then turns his head into his pillow and shriek-laughs.
“Yeah,” you say, getting into it. “They're all cute and I just wanna squish them and play 'this little piggy went to market' with them all the time.”
“Ew!” he giggles.
“Ew?!” You lean forward and start tickling him. “Don't body shame us!”
He thrashes around until he manages to get his feet on your legs--his cold, sweaty feet—and somehow manages to pinch you with his toes.
“Taehyung!”
You push his feet away and pull the blanket up to your nose, pouting.
“Nevermind. I don't like your toes anymore.”
“Aw, baby,” Taehyung coos, wrapping you up in his arms. “I take it back. Please love my toes. My toes need all your loving.”
You knock your head against his. “Stop, you're ruining the moment.”
It's quiet and peaceful and perfect like this. Until you start whispering the 'this little piggy goes to market' rhyme to Taehyung. The two of you break out into giggles again like little schoolchildren.
We're so dumb, you think in the middle of it. It's the best.
But finally, in the wee hours of the morning, the two of you begin to tire. It'll be Christmas when you wake up, so there's still plenty to look forward to. It's just that sometimes, you kind of never want to stop looking at him, or talking to him. You're pretty sure he feels the same way.
The candles are now nearly all wax, but someone still has to blow them out. You slip out of bed and speed around the room extinguishing them, hopping from foot to foot to minimize contact with the cold floor.
There's only the candle left by your bedside now. It casts its warm glow on Taehyung's face. The shadows flicker over his face; one moment his eyes are open. The next, they're closed.
“You're so weird,” he says, sleepily nuzzling his pillow. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” you say, blowing the last candle out. “I really do.”