Work Text:
Perhaps the reason this night looks so beautiful
Is not because of these stars or lights, but us
The streets were empty, except for a red convertible cutting through asphalt. Slowly, like a comet visible to the naked eye. The night breeze played with the driver’s hair, whispered promises of happiness in his ear. Seokjin smiled amidst the silence, threw his head back for a moment, wished upon a star for the umpteenth time.
Out of his twenty-two lived years, his wish had been the same for the past four. Only one name. There was nothing in this world, this galaxy, this universe, he wanted more. No one.
Traffic lights turned red ahead, and Seokjin obediently hit the brakes, though there were no pedestrians waiting to cross the street. Taehyung always scolded him when Seokjin gave him a ride. Watch the yellow lights, hyung! Careful not to get a speeding ticket driving your father’s car! Keep your hands on the steering wheel!
Seokjin did stuff like that on purpose, just to get a reaction from him. Taehyung elbowed him, slapped his shoulder, swatted his hand away when he tried to squish his cheeks.
He laughed to himself under the starry sky, despite the queasy feeling in his stomach, a constant companion since he’d made up his mind about that night. The hand he kept on the wheel (no one around to tease by letting go) began to sweat. The lights turned green and he drove on.
With thoughts floating in a state of suspended giddiness, muscle memory led him to his destination. Seokjin walked out of the car and tiptoed his way around the house until he was standing under one of the top floor windows. After gathering some pebbles from the yard, he raised one of them up and closed one eye to calculate the angle and force needed for it to reach the desired spot.
As if he hadn’t done that countless times before. But tonight was different.
The pebble hit the target. He waited a few seconds and threw another. The window opened and a fluffy cloud of caramel hair peeked out. Taehyung was already grinning when his face came into view. Seokjin’s heart raced.
He watched as Taehyung threw his legs out the window, then reached for the familiar tree branches he always clung to when sneaking out for their night strolls. Practice had given him agility; in half a minute, his feet hit the grass.
“You’re late,” Taehyung hissed as they rushed back to the car.
“Sorry, my dad decided to watch TV until late tonight.”
Taehyung shook his head, and his hair bounced along. “It’s fine, as long as we’re back before he wakes up.”
They buckled up to begin the short trip, sporting childish, thrilled grins.
“So tell me again, what are we observing?”
Truth be told, Seokjin remembered. It wasn’t rocket science. But he knew Taehyung enjoyed explaining things, sometimes so much that his tongue tripped on all the words he wanted to say at the same time. Seokjin still understood him.
“A comet that only visits the Earth every 95 years.” Taehyung searched his backpack to pick up a notebook and check his notes. “Optimal time for observation is 4:12 a.m., according to the weather forecast.”
“We’ll be there,” Seokjin vowed, both hands on the wheel. Taehyung nodded, sharing his determination.
The elevated point they aimed to reach was a few miles out of town, secluded among trees to allow better visibility and less interference from city lights. They’d never been there, but Seokjin trusted Taehyung’s diligence to guide them. As he unfolded the large map, Seokjin noticed red, green and yellow sharpie lines traced along the path they were supposed to follow. Noticing his pointed looks, Taehyung explained, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“I studied the three best routes, just in case.”
Seokjin smirked, eyes back on the road, regardless of the black hole of affection consuming his heart.
The drive went smoothly, with Taehyung’s bare feet on the dashboard wiggling to the songs playing on the radio and their voices filling the night with unexperienced, yet sweet harmonization, often interrupted by laughter when one of them messed up the lyrics. They arrived with plenty of time to spare and set everything up for the big moment. Seokjin had brought the thick Lion King blankets Taehyung liked, whereas Taehyung had stuffed his bag with gummy bears (Seokjin’s favorites), water bottles and a spyglass. Crickets chirped around them and leaves rustled over their heads, the ideal scenario for stargazing.
Now that they were higher up, the air was too chilly for their thin clothes. Seokjin didn’t think twice before wrapping a blanket around Taehyung’s shoulders, an excuse to sling an arm around them and let it fall around his waist inconspicuously.
“Thanks, hyung,” he mumbled, mouth already full of gummy bears, focused on confirming they were at the right spot to catch a glimpse of the comet.
“Relax,” Seokjin murmured, with a light squeeze to Taehyung’s side. “I’m sure we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
Taehyung sighed, then turned his head in Seokjin’s direction with slumped shoulders.
“I hope so. We won’t get another chance.”
Seokjin bit the inside of his cheek to suppress the stupid promise he wanted to make, replacing it with an encouraging smile. Their eyes went up to the cloudless sky, thoughts wandering in comfortable silence.
“How’s Konkuk?”
Seokjin shrugged. “Same as always. It'll be more fun when you join me.”
“I can’t wait to go to Seoul too,” Taehyung replied in his pouty voice.
“You’ll love it there. I’ll take you to all the cool places.”
I’ll take you anywhere.
He gulped down that part.
“It’ll be so much fun!” Taehyung turned to face Seokjin, eyes sparkling with excitement, a hand on Seokjin’s knee. “And way less scary than if I had to go alone.”
“Don’t worry, hyung will help you.”
They exchanged an affectionate glance, until Seokjin’s ears started to burn and he was forced to change the subject, lest the blush began to creep up his neck and face.
“Now, which direction is the comet coming from?”
That was enough to keep Taehyung distracted. The question turned into a cheerful talk about constellations, both the old ones and the brand new shapes they came up with by randomly connecting the stars. Taehyung laughed at every silly image Seokjin’s crooked finger traced before their eyes, head on Seokjin’s shoulder, hair tickling Seokjin’s jaw.
Eventually, their vigil took its toll on them. Seokjin worked hard to suppress his yawns, whereas Taehyung rubbed his eyes every five minutes, leaning more and more on Seokjin until soft snores escaped his lips. Seokjin checked his watch: 4 a.m. He smiled groggily and decided Taehyung could use a quick nap. Seokjin certainly wouldn’t mind it either; he’d never turn down such a rare opportunity to nuzzle Taehyung’s hair and inhale the sweet smell of his shampoo.
His eyes fluttered shut as his lungs expanded to store more of Taehyung within them, begrudgingly exhaling when he couldn’t hold it in anymore. The warmth of Seokjin’s breath against his scalp made Taehyung hum and squirm a little, chin going up until his face found the crook of Seokjin’s neck. As if Seokjin weren’t suffering enough already, Taehyung let out a contented sigh.
Even the air around them stilled. The universe froze; the stars were now watching them instead of being watched, countless eyes blinking up above, waiting for the next move. Seokjin’s breaths became ragged despite his efforts to remain calm. Taehyung’s limp hand was on his thigh, beautiful fingers begging to intertwine with his. It wouldn’t be their first time holding hands, why should he be nervous about it now?
He gulped, and in that delicate cosmos they were in, it was loud enough to awaken Taehyung. He felt Taehyung’s body tense up against his, yet he didn’t flinch or push Seokjin away. His heart thrummed embarrassingly loud in his chest, pulse racing near Taehyung’s lips. Seokjin didn’t know what to do; he considered pretending not to have noticed how intimate the moment was and behaving as nonchalantly as his developing acting skills allowed, but he knew Taehyung would see right through him. There was only one course of action now.
As he reached out to hold Taehyung’s hand, his eyes noticed the numbers on his wristwatch: 4:12 a.m. He looked up in the direction Taehyung had pointed out, and spotted the comet right away. Breathtaking, magical, unlike anything Seokjin had ever seen. He squeezed Taehyung’s fingers with his own.
“Taehyung-ah, look…”
Seokjin felt Taehyung move, but not the way he’d expected. Instead of looking up as well, his free hand ran up Seokjin’s chest to his face, cupped his cheek, fingertips mingling with the hair behind his ear. The air shifted around them, charged with anticipation. Hyperaware of the growing heat between their bodies, Seokjin let his head be turned towards Taehyung’s, let his gaze free fall into the dark, enticing abyss of Taehyung’s half-lidded eyes, chills taking over him as Taehyung’s thumb ran back and forth over his cheek. Their noses rubbed against one another, an unmistakable sign of what would come next.
“Beautiful,” Taehyung smiled, a drunken blush on his cheeks that struck Seokjin like a bolt of lightning. He pulled Taehyung in by the waist, tentatively. Taehyung offered no resistance, arched into him instead. Their lips met halfway, and a supernova ripped him apart from inside out. All the love he’d spent years harboring threatened to turn his flesh and bones to stardust. They weren’t just two boys kissing under the night sky; it was the end of life as they’d known it thus far, it was the beginning of something far greater, all-encompassing, all-consuming.
Taehyung smiled against his lips when they finally let go, lighter and happier than Seokjin had ever seen him. He figured he looked just as dazed, because Taehyung went on giggling, blushing under his stare.
“You missed the comet,” Seokjin murmured as soon as he regained the ability to speak, unable to look away from Taehyung’s swollen lips.
“You’re more important than any celestial body,” Taehyung shrugged.
Seokjin let out a genuine chuckle. “How romantic.”
“And I won’t have to wait 95 years for you,” Taehyung added, fingers running through Seokjin’s hair. His smile sobered up as he whispered his next words. “I would, though.”
“That’s an awful lot of time. I’d never make you wait this long.” When Taehyung narrowed his eyes at him, Seokjin widened his. “I was going to tell you how I feel tonight, after the comet, but you beat me to it!”
“I thought we’d waited long enough,” he said in a small voice, head lowered out of shyness. Seokjin let go of his hand to lift his chin up and regain eye contact.
“It’s okay, you didn’t ruin any surprise.” Taehyung hesitated before looking at him, convinced by the soft tone in which he spoke. “It was perfect.”
“Really?”
Seokjin booped the mole on his nose and Taehyung smiled again.
“Really. Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
He leaned in to kiss Taehyung again, now that there were no more doubts or fears in the horizon. They watched the sunrise with arms wrapped around each other, hearts beating in sync, mapping out their future together against the increasingly bright orange sky. They drove back home singing love songs, louder than ever, at last unafraid of looking into each other’s eyes during the most romantic verses and meaning every word.
Taehyung didn’t complain when Seokjin let go of the steering wheel to hold his hand. He held it close to his chest, kissed Seokjin’s knuckles.
The sun was already shining brightly when Seokjin dropped Taehyung off at his place, but it didn’t stand a chance against the light in their hearts.