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Taehyung likes to think. To close his eyes and just live inside of his mind for a few seconds, minutes, hours — however long it’d take before he’s dragged into the real world again. Sometimes he’d just float away in the middle of a conversation. Leaning back into his mind and falling, falling, falling.
Taehyung’s doing it right now, you could say. The power lines above him is a stark contrast against the soft blue sky. The color is pale, as if covered by a blanket of clouds. It looks almost light grey. But behind the fir trees and pines surrounding the valley of electricity towers the color changed drastically. A bright orange closest to the tree tops fading to red and eventually dark grey clouds against the pale background.
It looks like a forest fire. As if the sky was set aflame.
Sunsets were one of Taehyung’s favorite things to take pictures of. Many would think that it’s obvious, because of course sunsets are beautiful . But it’s not the sun he wants to capture. No, Taehyung doesn’t care for the sun. He wants to see the clouds. The sky. The trees and the power lines.
Taehyung wants people to feel warmth in the pictures despite the cold weather of April. He wants them to see a bonfire celebrating the beginning of spring.
It’s the beauty of destruction, in a way. Because fire destroys. Fire swallows and devours and turns life to ashes. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that fire is also a life. Taehyung just wants to mediate these feelings and philosophies. Make others understand.
“Hyung, look at these!”
A voice suddenly interrupts the quietness of the nature around him, dragging Taehyung back out of his thoughtful mind. He turns his head away from the celestial view and locks eyes with the younger boy he came here with. The one he wanted to show this sky to.
Jeongguk’s smile is big as he looks through whatever pictures he’d just taken, eyes proud and glittering despite the tiredness usually marking his features. The wind plays with his light brown hair and colors his cheeks a pinkish shade of red, the blood underneath his skin trying to provide warmth where the wind bites.
Taehyung hums before taking a few steps closer in order to peek at the camera’s display. It’s almost the same model as his own.
“Let me see,” he says with a small smile on his lips.
The pictures are pretty. Taehyung notices that Jeongguk doesn’t have the same style as himself, but that’s okay. Of course. Jeongguk’s pictures focus more on the sky while Taehyung likes to play with objects in the foreground. Trying to show some contrast with branches, power lines or tree tops.
Jeongguk goes through his pictures slowly, pausing at some and glancing at Taehyung to see his reaction. Taehyung always smiles at the younger. (A habit perhaps, or maybe he’s just trying to show his love for the younger’s photography.)
Then Jeongguk comes across a picture where the focus lies on Taehyung. He can recognize himself staring at the sky covered in what looks like smoke and flames, but it’s just the sun’s colors painting the clouds.
“What’s this?” Taehyung laughs, putting a hand over the one Jeongguk has on his camera to stop him from scrolling past. It’s cold.
Jeongguk laughs quietly too, a small one bubbling in his chest but dying in his mouth.
“It’s you, duh.” He smiles as he says it, shoving his elbow into Taehyung’s ribs softly. Always a tease.
“Why’d you take a picture of me? I’m not pretty.”
“I think you are.”
Taehyung shakes his head slowly, backing away from Jeongguk to lift his own camera up to his eyes, quickly adjusting the focus before snapping a photo of the surprised boy.
“Now we’re even,” he says cheekily.
Jeongguk seems to contemplate if he should attack Taehyung to make him delete the picture. But instead, with a heavy sigh of course (very dramatic), Jeongguk turns around and walks towards the electrical tower they’ve been standing by to take the photos.
Taehyung himself turns around to look at the flaming sky again, lifting his camera to snap a few pictures. (None of them turns out as good as the one of Jeongguk. But how could they? The younger’s pink cheeks, slightly parted pink lips and deep eyes opened wide is a sight for sore eyes.)
Slowly Taehyung falls back into his mind. It’s strange for him to be outside like this. It was Jeongguk who convinced him to go on a walk. Get some fresh air. Honestly, the only reason he agreed was because they could bring their cameras and maybe that he knew this place existed.
It’s so far away from civilization that you can’t hear any cars, people or... anything. The only sounds are the wind and the birds.
It’s cold outside. The air fills his lungs and it’s so full of oxygen. Such a difference from the air inside of his room, the place he’s been spending most of his time. It’s cold but at the same time it’s not. Because it’s finally spring. April. The last snow melted away weeks ago and now all that’s left is the cold air. But the sun provides more warmth than it used to and flowers are starting too bloom.
It’s beautiful. Spring, that is. The sight of new life. Blooming, growing, floundering. Absolutely beautiful.
Taehyung takes a deep breath of the fresh air before deciding to follow Jeongguk to the electrical tower. Perhaps a few close-ups of the metal against the pale blue would look good. But when he turns around he sees Jeongguk standing with one foot on the ground and the other on the metal structure, completely ignoring the yellow warning sign, and his camera up to his face.
“Jeongguk?”
The aforementioned lowers the camera and turns his head towards Taehyung.
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing? Isn’t that... I dunno, dangerous? ”
Jeongguk laughs the same quiet laugh as before, showing a big bunny smile instead. (For some reason it looks strange.) Instead of answering he continues his climb, letting his camera hang around his neck while gripping the metal tight with red fingers and white knuckles. There’s a little less than a meter between each bracing. Jeongguk heaves himself up with his shaking hands until he’s far from the ground.
Something in Taehyung wants to stop him. There’s a something in his chest that says hey, this doesn’t feel right . And that something is probably right. But the numbing feeling of freedom overpowers his mind and Taehyung just— he just goes with it.
Taehyung walks towards the other leg of the electrical tower and stands on the lowest bracing just a few centimeters of the ground. From here he can read what the yellow warning signs says.
WARNING: STAY AWAY DURING RAIN/THUNDERSTORMS.
“It doesn’t say anything about climbing it if it’s not raining or thunderstorming,” Jeongguk says from where he’s standing on the other leg of the electrical tower, grasping the metal bracing. He’s three meters above the ground by now. “It’s probably fine. Besides, I’m getting some killer shots from up here.”
And Taehyung trusts him. Sure, Jeongguk’s a bit young and dumb sometimes. But somehow, it doesn’t matter right now. At this moment nothing matters but the sky on fire and the cold air full of oxygen.
“You’re gonna get yourself killed,” he whispers. Grumbling to himself, but Jeongguk seems to hear it anyway.
And Jeongguk laughs. This time it’s louder, a bit more plastic. Taehyung glances at the younger and sees how his eyes light up with something he can’t quite put his finger on. (Irony, perhaps.)
“We’re all gonna die anyway, why not die in a fun way?” Jeongguk says and it doesn’t sound like a joke. It’s sounds too real to be a joke.
Taehyung doesn’t answer.
Instead, the two of them take photos of the sky and the power lines and the trees (and sometimes each other) for a long time. Soon the orange begins to darken and the clouds become light purple. The sky no longer looks like a forest fire and the air isn’t as comfortable anymore. The sun floats further away behind the trees and soon there’s no warmth at all.
That’s when Taehyung decides to climb down from where he’d been standing, just a half meter above the ground, and look up at Jeongguk. Jeongguk’s sitting down on one of the bracings, putting his feet on the bracing opposite him to steady himself. He’s climbed up higher, it seems. Maybe four meters.
He’s not even taking pictures anymore. He’s just sitting there, enjoying the view. Or maybe he likes the air. Taehyung’s gotten tired of both of them after the hours they’ve spent here.
“Hey, Guk, shouldn’t we go home now?” he says with boredom in his tone. It’s cold and if they hurry they could buy some ramen before going to their shared apartment.
Jeongguk looks down. Smiles.
“I’m already home, hyung.”