Chapter Text
JUNE 9, 2018
Namjoon walked into his studio with an iced americano and sat down on his worn out chair. It wasn’t as comfy as it used to be but he really didn’t care anymore. He pulled up the track out of his files and let out a shaky breath.
This was how he was coping, it was the only way he could discern and navigate the feelings in his heart. Everything was heavy but creating these songs-- no playlist, and putting all his love into them helped. This was how he was going to show his love for someone who lived in his memory and mind.
9 months passed so quickly. New humans were born into this world today and conceived 9 months ago, and yet? He lost his favorite person. Everyone comes and goes but that wasn’t right.
He wasn’t supposed to come and go so soon.
Namjoon picked up the frame that made its home next to his computer. In it was a picture of Taehyung and him sitting on a couch after a concert. His blue hair had faded into a green but he still looked beautiful. Although he was wearing a black shirt and jeans, he had looked amazing compared to the thousands of faces in the stadium. Namjoon himself wore all black and a beret. They had their limbs tangled together and after taking the picture they would upload for fans later, took a photo of just themselves with Taehyung kissing Namjoon’s cheek. It was Namjoon’s favorite photo.
I didn’t look as amazing as he did but he always called me the handsomest. I should have told him to look into the mirror more often. Namjoon let out a wet laugh, and set the frame down.
He put his headphones on and pressed play to see what he could add to it. Taehyung had always loved the moon, so he decided to name this track moonchild.
How could he add to the track and keep it in his theme?
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Taehyung walked into the astronomy exhibit as Namjoon grabbed a pamphlet that was outside the door. There were various models of the planets and the moon was in the center of the left side of the room.
Namjoon walked to the model that was illuminated by projectors and stood next to Taehyung who was reading the facts printed around the casing.
“Joonie, did you know that the moon has a different vibration compared to ours? Look how it sounds,” he clicked the button that emitted the moon’s vibration.
It was a recording from a NASA mission. It sounded empty and loud. As if no one lived on the moon, and yet it resonated throughout Namjoon’s entire being. He could feel the lonely vibration of the moon and her sad song. He looked over to Taehyung who had his eyes half lidded, long eyelashes fanned out, staring up into the bright lights of the projectors.
“It’s so quiet and peaceful. This is what people mean when they talk about a glass being half-full. I love it,” Taehyung looked and smiled at Namjoon as if he was his moon revolving around a planet.
Namjoon grabbed Taehyung’s face and pressed a kiss to the mole on the bridge of his nose, “I love it too Tae. I’m going to make a song for you with the moon in the background, and only you’ll know what it is.”
“It’ll be our little secret,” Taehyung pressed his index finger to Namjoon’s dimple.
“What if I call it moonchild, since you 'aren’t from Earth' even though you were born in Daegu at 6:13 in the morning a-” Namjoon was cut off by a hand on his mouth.
“Shhh, it’s our little secret. Plus what if the aliens hear us and they steal your idea?”
“Then I’ll start making the song for you when we get home and beat them to it.”
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Namjoon searched up sounds of the moon on his computer and found one almost identical to the one Taehyung had shown him so long ago at the museum. He sent an email asking permission to use the sound as a background in his song, and extracted it from the video. (The company would figure it out later.)
He lowered the pitch and layered it in with the track; this made the song feel complete.
Namjoon put his headphones on correctly and turned the volume as high as possible without blowing his eardrum out.
As the song continued, Namjoon felt happy. Something he hadn’t felt in a long time.
When the song was about to wrap up, the part where the moon sound was most noticeable came up and Namjoon made a silent wish to see and talk to Taehyung again.
It ended and everything was quiet, just like the moon, when he heard static coming through his headphones.
Shit, did he save the track? If it was corrupted, he was going to quit music and move to Daegu and grow strawberries forever.
The static grew louder and Namjoon was about to remove his headphones when a deep, velvety voice came through.
“Hello?”
Namjoon knew that voice. He had listened to it millions of times in different ways. But it wasn’t possible. He was hearing things.
“Can anyone hear me?”
Namjoon swallowed hard and with a shaking voice answered, “Y-yes, I can hear you, who is this?”
“This is so weird,” the person let out a familiar laugh, “I was sleeping and I heard weird buzzing sounds from my computer, so I went to fix it and connected to an empty radio station and you were breathing hard dude, are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“I ignored your question and answered something completely different didn’t I? I do that a lot according to my friends… anyways, I’m Taehyung. Who are you?”
Namjoon spilled his barely sipped iced coffee all over the floor.
“What did you say your name was?” Namjoon’s eyes were glazing over and his hands were shaking again.
“I’m Kim Taehyung, what’s your name?”
Kim Taehyung.
Taehyung.
My Taehyung?
Not my Taehyung?
He rubbed his runny nose with his sweater’s sleeve, “I’m Namjoon. Kim Namjoon. D-do you know who I am?”
“No, but I can get to know who you are!”
Namjoon’s heart fell to the bottom of his stomach.
“Wait- you’re a Kim too? That means we’re supposed to be friends!”
Namjoon let out a laugh that sounded more like a sob, “Yeah, guess we are.”
His
Taehyung had said that same line when they first met.