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It had all started when Beomgyu had seemingly asked an innocent question one evening as they were all eating dinner, and Taehyun hadn’t really thought much of it at the time. Unfortunately, this had been a mistake. A huge mistake.
“Taehyun-ah? What are you scared of?”
Taehyun looked up from his tteokbokki, slightly confused at the question Beomgyu had given him.
“Death.” he replied, deadpan, before continuing eating, thinking that it was simply Beomgyu being Beomgyu, but a second later, the older boy asked, waving his chopsticks around:
“Apart from that? What are you scared of apart from death?”
He seemed a little too eager to hear Taehyun’s answer. Taehyun gave Beomgyu a slight frown across the table, chopsticks hovering over his food as he paused. He narrowed his eyes slightly as Beomgyu looked at him with a forced innocent expression, trying not to smile, but there was no mistaking the small twitch at the corner of his mouth.
What else was Taehyun afraid of? To be fair, he had more than enough fears, just like any other person, but it wasn’t as though he were about to spill his heart out right then and there.
“I told you, death. I’ll just stick with death.” he said, hoping that his tone would convey that the conversation was closed.
“Ok.” Beomgyu said, simply shrugging casually, and continued as though nothing else had happened. Meanwhile, the other members were simply choosing to ignore their conversation after the first few minutes, thinking nothing of it. Instead, they were talking about the perilla leaf debate rather heatedly.
And that had been that. Nothing out of the ordinary. It had just been another random question, strange, but ultimately nothing of importance. At least, that was what Taehyun had thought.
❤❤❤
But that had all changed the following morning, when Taehyun had woken up to the rather unusual sight of Beomgyu, kneeling at the side of his bed, peering at him with those puppy dog eyes of his rather expectantly, as though he were waiting for something exciting to happen, but what that was, Taehyun certainly didn’t know.
Taehyun frowned, peering blearily through his eyes as he tried to focus, still half asleep as he peered up at Beomgyu.
“Hello? What are you doing in my room?” he asked, confused, while the older boy only clapped his hands gleefully, a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.
“You’ll see! Just sit up. Slowly.” he said, and Taehyun couldn’t miss the excitement on Beomgyu’s face, as though this was what he’d been waiting for for quite some time.
“How long have you been in here?” Taehyun asked, clutching at his blanket, not sure whether he should be a little freaked out or not.
“Long enough.” Beomgyu replied chirpily, gesturing for Taheyun to sit up which he then did so, blinking slightly as he looked for what on earth Beomgyu was so excited about. And then saw:
Scattered all over his bed were spiders. Big black hairy spiders positioned so that they appeared to be crawling up the sides and along the covers, and as he now sat up fully, he watched as a few of them fell down off of his chest and into his lap. They were obviously fake, because none of them were moving and he could see they were clearly plastic with fake fur, but it was obvious that someone had gone to a lot of effort in positioning them all over his bed quite deliberately. There were at least fifty fake spiders.
“Are you scared?” Beomgyu asked, a little too expectantly, and Taehyun turned round to peer at Beomgyu, who was still kneeling on the floor next to his bed, looking up at him expectantly.
“No. More….confused. Did you think I would be?” he asked, wondering what on earth had possessed Beomgyu to do such a thing.
“Maybe. “ Beomgyu said, shrugging innocently, although he was grinning all the same.
Taheyun shook his head, unsure of how to respond to that. Then a thought occurred to him-
“Wait. You’re the one who’s afraid of spiders. But how did you….?” he asked, looking round at all the spiders, still strewn across the bed. Beomgyu was afraid of most insects, especially spiders of this sort, even if they are fake. How had he managed to pick up and arrange all of these without fear?
“Well….who’s to say I did this? Maybe I had an accomplice?” Beomgyu said, eyes darting to the side nervously, as he made to get up, backing away from the bed as though he knew what was coming.
Meanwhile, Taheyun narrowed his eyes at the older boy. He was going to pay for this, and his accomplice, who ever it was, was also a dead man.
“Who was it? Yeonjun hyung? Soobin hyung? What did you bribe them with to get them to do this?” Taehyun asked, but Beomgyu had now gotten to his feet, backing away and not looking where he was going, so that he accidentally bumped into Kai's bed.
And then Taehyun got it. Kai, who usually got up around the same time as he did, was mysteriously absent from the room, and what was more, his bed had been made, plushies neatly arranged by the pillows. It couldn’t have been….?
“Kai? Really?” Taehyun asked, not sure whether to be annoyed, outraged or simply amused. Maybe all three at this point as Beomgyu rubbed the back of his neck now, refusing to make eye contact.
“Well, it was kind of easy. I just offered to buy him a plushie. Every week. For the next year.” Beomgyu said sheepishly, but Taehyun couldn’t miss the slight note of pride in that confession. But he still couldn’t quite believe it. Kai. his best friend. This was betrayal.
“Are you sure you’re not scared? At least just a little bit?”
At this, Taehyun scowled, and then watched suspiciously as he saw Beomgyu shuffling, slowly, slowly, towards the bedroom door. He was making his escape.
“No. And I’m not the one that should be scared.” Taehyun said, and with that, he shot out of bed, grabbing the biggest toy spider that he could before launching himself at Beomgyu, who’s expression dropped into one of horror as he turned and attempted to flee the room. And though Taehyun was just a fraction of an inch shorter, he was faster, and stronger, and when Beomgyu had almost reached the door, Taehyun grabbed his from behind and tackled him to the ground, ignoring the high pitched yelp that escaped the older boy’s lips.
“Hah!” he yelled as he pinned Beomgyu down on the floor by his shoulders, on his back, straddled the older boy across his hips, making sure that he couldn’t escape, just the way he did when they wrestled together, and Taehyun always won at wrestling.
Beomgyu gasped still attempted to push Taehyun off with his hands, scrambling and out of breath now as Taehyun grabbed his hands and they both tussled with each other, Taehyun half laughing now as he watched Beomgyu’s expression while he managed to pin down both of Beomgyu’s arms to his side.
They both stayed there for a few seconds, breathing hard, and then Beomgyu, grinned as he said, a little dramatically between breaths:
“Ok. Ok, you win. You win. I won’t do this again.” but was still grinning, eyes shining as he looked up at Taehyun who also couldn’t help the small twitch at the side of his mouth.
“Why exactly though? What was the point?” Taehyun asked. Had it simply been a one off prank? Something Beomgyu had watched on Youtube and had attempted to recreate himself?
“No. I just wanted to figure out what scares you.” the older boy replied, and Taehyun raised an eyebrow, remembering their conversation the previous night.
“I told you, Death. Death scares me.” he said, now taking one hand off of Beomgyu’s arm and attempting to tickle him under the chin, making the older dark haired boy giggle attempting to shove him off.
“Stop! Stop! Ok, I said I won’t do it again!” he yelped between laughter, so Taehyun stopped, and now grabbing Beomgyu by the shoulders, and looking into his eyes, very seriously, because he wanted to get this point across. Beomgy quickly turned his face into a mock serious expression, brown eyes wide, mouth turned to a pout. Taehyun rolled his eyes, knowing that it was the best he could get at this point.
“Good, because all of this-” he said, now looking back at the pile of spiders on his bed and then back at Beomgyu- “is completely pointless. You’re not going to find out that scares me. And I’m not going to tell you. Also, you need to promise to take back that deal you made with Kai. actually, don’t. You’ll break his heart if you deprive him of plushies. But never again, ok? Got it?” he said, and Beomgyu gave a tiny solemn nod.
Taehyun then relaxed his hold and he felt Beomgyu breathing out a sigh of relief. But Taehyun wasn’t done yet.
“You know what? I forgive you. So here’s a present for you.” Taehyun said, now smirking as he grabbed the toy spider that he’d dropped next to him just as he’d tackled Beomgyu to the ground, and in one movement, he slammed it down, straight onto Beomgyu’s chest, right where the older boy could see it.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
❤❤❤
After that rather eventful morning, Taehyun had thought that it was over. But again, he couldn’t have been more wrong. A few days later, he’d opened up his gym bag to find a plastic snake coiled up tightly in the corner, although this time, he’d found it quite amusing. After all, he already had a pet snake, so why would Beomgyu think that he’d be afraid of a plastic one?
The next day, they’d been performing at a music show, and at some point, Beomgyu had mysteriously disappeared from their dressing room. The staff and members alike had been slightly panicked, but they’d all laughed as Taehyun had walked past a wardrobe set off to the side filled with outfits for the shoot, and of course Beomgyu had jumped out, attempting to scare him once more, hands raised as though he were pretending to be some sort of scary monster, but instead just looking rather cute. His scare tactics clearly hadn’t worked, and Taehyun simply stood there with a deadpan expression on his face, shaking his head and giving Beomgyu a pitying look as the older boy sighed dramatically and lowered his raised hands. He’d have to try harder than that.
Another time, only a few days after that incident, Beomgyu had dragged him into the lockers (which were basically like tiny cramped store cupboards really) shutting both of them inside for what felt like a good five minutes. Taehyun had thought that they were hiding from their dance instructor, Malibu, so he hadn’t been suspicious until Beomgyu had asked, almost too innocently:
“Are you scared yet?”
“ No. Why would this scare me? I’m not afraid of the dark, you know that, dummy.” Taehyun said feeling both amused and slightly irritated.
“Are you sure?” Beomgyu whispered quietly, and even though it was dark, Taehyun could just about make out Beomgyu’s expression from the tiny crack of light coming in through the door. He looked rather disappointed, as though he’d failed at something.
“Yes! Now stop this, you’re being ridiculous! I’m going to go back out there, and if Malibu asks, I’m going to tell him that trying to escape dance practice was your idea!” Taehyun hissed. This was typical Beomgyu. When he had some sort of idea in his head, he’d never let it go, no matter how annoying it got.
Taehyun whipped round, fully intending to push the door open and walk out, but just then he felt Beomgyu’s fingers wrap around his wrist, tugging him gently back. Taehyun sighed, but he stopped and turned back around.
“What do you want, Gyu?” Taehyun said huffily, but he could see the other boy’s smile now, his eyes sparkling in triumph. Sure, Beomgyu hadn't won the war, but he’s surely won this mini battle.
Beomgyu’s hand found Taehyun’s in the darkness, intertwining their fingers together in the darkness, faces barely inches apart. Taehyun could almost hear his own heartbeat thudding in his ears just that little bit too fast. Maybe he was afraid of the dark after all.
“Why do you care so much about this? What do you want?” Taehyun asked softly.
“You. I want you.” Beomgyu breathed, and Taehyun’s breath hitched, just slightly, as he felt the flush creeping into his cheeks, so hot he was practically burning. He looked down at the floor, barely able to make eye contact, mind gone blank, too stunned to speak. He felt a sort of strange feeling of euphoria, like the unique sort of incredible rush of fear and nervousness and excitement of the sort only a theme park ride could give, except far more scary. He realised that he was holding onto Beomgyu’s hand a little too tightly.
Taehyun screwed up his eyes for a moment, hardly daring to believe what he’d just heard, but then he opened them once more and looked up.
And then he saw that Beomgyu had turned his face away so that Taehyun couldn’t see his expression, almost as though he had just realized what he’d said, and was now seriously regretting it. And now Taehyun’s heart was sinking, that unique combination of fear and euphoria evaporating as quickly as it had come.
“You were joking right?” Taehyun said, barely able to get the words out as he tugged on Beomgyu’s hand, desperate to see his face, to hear that he was wrong, that Beomgyu had meant it.
“Y- yeah, sure I was…” Beomgyu said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned back to Taehyun, not quite meeting his eyes. His voice was a little shaky, but Taehyun couldn't think why.
Taehyun swallowed, but he forced a weak smile.
“If that's the case, you’d better try harder next time.” He said, forcing his voice to sound upbeat.
“What?” Beomgyu asked, genuinely confused now.
“Well, if you’re thinking that fake confession would scare me, then you’re wrong.Tut tut, hyung, I expected better.” Taehyun teased, making his voice light and giving Beomgyu a gentle nudge before pushing open the door, letting the light in as he let go of Beomgyu’s hand. He stepped out into the corridor, rushing off towards the practise room at the end of the corridor and attempting to blink away his tears before Beomgyu could stop him again.
❤❤❤
Taehyun had come to expect random attempts at scaring him at least five times per week, and after a while, he’d gotten used to it. Nothing that Beomgyu did was really that scary, and for a time, Taehyun thought that maybe the older boy was simply trying to look for a reaction, or using this weird sort of project as some form of entertainment. For the most part, it wasn’t actually that bad. Taehyun just brushed it off and moved on. That was the easy part. He could deal with the fake jump scares, he could laugh it off, but all the while, his mind kept going back to what Beomgyu had said when they’d both hidden in the locker room, huddled in the darkness, when Beomgyu and whispered those three scary words that had made Taehyun’s heart leap: ‘I want you’. That, on the other hand, had been so much harder to brush off, because it hurt more to know that they weren’t true. But Taehyun tried, and for the most part, he was succeeding. He didn’t bring it up again, and Beomgyu had made no reference to the incident. By all accounts, things were just the way they always were. And that meant still having to deal with Beomgyu’s antics.
It was a few days later, and Taehyun was simply doing a VLive one evening, in one of the empty studio rooms, playing the balance game with fans, and he’d nearly all but forgotten about Beomgyu trying to consistently scare him, until a question from a fan popped up in the comments section:
“What would you prefer? Five adult Beomgyu or one baby Beomgyu?”
Taehyun could help but smile slightly at this question.
“Well… I’ll suffer regardless of which option I pick. But if I had to choose, I guess I’d go with one baby Beomgyu. I think five adult Beomgyu’s would be too much don’t you think?” he asked as he scrolled through the comments, hoping for another question when he heard a soft but insistent knocking on the door, and immediately Taehyun knew exactly who it was.
“Speak of the devil.” Taehyun muttered, and then added, raising his voice so he could be heard from outside the room, “Come in!”
He turned round to watch as the door opened and Beomgyu came into the room, waving at the camera as he knelt down and leaned his arms on the table next to Taehyun’s chair.
“Hi MOA!” Beomgyu said happily, waving cutely in the camera’s direction, making Taehyun smile. It had always been like this: Beomgyu was a natural in front of MOAm even if it was from behind a screen.
And then Beomgyu blurted out-
“You know those spinning teacups you get at funfairs? Do you like those, or are you afraid because they go too fast?” Beomgyu asked, chirpily.
Taehyun instantly felt like crying inside. God no. Not in front of the fans.
“Really? All of a sudden? Why that question?” Taehyun asked apprehensively, but attempting to keep up a smile for the camera, while Beomgyu’s smile only grew wider.
“It was a question for MOA.” Beomgyu said, nonchalantly, now peering at the screen and looking for the fans’ replies.
“‘I don’t like them.’ ‘They’re fun.’ ‘They’re scary.’ ‘The faster the better.’ ‘My little brother cried when going on one.’” Beomgyu read off the comments now coming in quickly to answer his question, while Taehyun put his elbow up on the table, chin resting in his hand. He attempted to act normal, because maybe Beomgyu really was just asking an innocent question after all. But he should have known.
“Hmmm. It seems like a lot of fans don’t like them, but some say they're fun, because the faster you go, the more exciting it is. Personally, I like them. How about you Taehyun-ah?” Beomgyu asked, now peering up at Taehyun who felt as though his stomach had dropped.
“Err...I’m not sure…” Taehyun began, slightly nervously, as he attempted to communicate with Beomgyu with his eyes, shaking his head the slightest bit to tell him that no, this was certainly not the right place or time for this. Infact, this was possibly the worst timing ever.
But Beomgyu feigned stupidity, pretending that he had no idea what he meant, as Taehyun knew he would.
“Why don’t we find out?”
“We don’t have any funfair rides here. How are you going to test this out?” Taehyun asked, trying to keep his expression neutral.
“Like this.”
Beomgyu said, now letting his face split into a mischievous grin as he suddenly stood up almost too quickly, and reached forwards, grabbing Taehyun and lifting him by the waist up off of his chair, so fast that Taehyun gave a slight yelp, unable to stop the older boy as he was lifted up off the ground, Beomgyu holding him gently but firmly, and he no choice but to hold on around Beomgyu’s neck for dear life, looking down at the older boy in disbelief as they spun round.
“Is this ok? Or do you want to go faster?” Beomgyu asked, eyes shining as he peered up at Taehyun, who gripped onto the older boy a little too tightly, not really enjoying the sensation of being spun round all that much.
“MOA help me!” Taehyun yelled, before looking back down at Beomgyu, who was struggling not to laugh.
“Slow down!” he said, to which Beomgyu did as he was told, gently coming to a stop, and Taehyun couldn’t help giggling a bit as he held onto Beomgyu, who only stuck his tongue out at him teasingly.
“Hey, you spoiled my fun!”
“Spinning round at high speed is not my idea of fun.” Taehyun said, pouting, but not before Beomgyu reached out and bopped him on the nose, making Taehyun yelp and laugh at the same time, but in the back of his mind, he was wondering whether they should really be doing this on camera.
“Ok,ok, put me down now.” he said breathlessly, but Beomgyu shook his head.
“How about heights? Are you afraid of heights MOA?” he asked, turning towards the camera, but Taehyun shook his head at Beomgyu, trying to arrange his flustered expression into one of seriousness and failing.
“Put me down!” Taehyun demanded once more, and this time, Beomgyu did as he was told, carrying Taehyun back over to the chair that he’d been previously sitting in and putting him back down.
Once he was seated, Taehyun put his forehead onto the table, closing his eyes and sighing in relief. He heard Beomgyu giggling beside him, kneeling down once more to poke Taehyun in the shoulder.
“Oops. You’re ok right?” Beomgyu asked, and because Taehyun heard the slight note of genuine worry in the older boy’s voice, he lifted his head up off of the table to confirm that yes, he was in fact still alive despite being spun round at top speed.
“Yes. I’m fine.” he said, then added for MOAs sake: “Please don’t attempt this at home. It’s a safety risk.” he added, addressing the camera as Beomgyu sniggered, covering his mouth with his hands, and making Taehyun turn sharply towards him, an eyebrow raised.
Beomgyu covered his mouth slightly with his hand so that the fans couldn’t quite see and mouthed, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively:
“What? You enjoyed it!”
Taehyun practically glared daggers at Beomgyu, who puffed out his cheeks sighed, lowering his hand away from his mouth.
“Taehyunnie is mad at me.” Beomgyu announced now looking directly at the camera and making Taehyun want to bury his head in his hands, but he then allowed Beomgyu to get up and come round behind the back of his chair, wrapping his arms around Taehyun and resting his chin on the top of Taehyun’s head.
“I’m sorry.” Beomgyu mumbled, pouting at the camera, not just for the fans, but also so that Taehyun could see his mournful expression, clearly saying ‘please forgive me’. Taehyun couldn’t help his smile as he gripped one of Beomgyu’s arms, still wrapped around his chest and gently patted it.
“I’m not mad. But you and I will be having a word later.” he said, relishing the thought as Beomgyu suddenly let go of him, coming forward and bending down slightly so that he could be in the camera frame. Taehyun could see from the screen that he now looked slightly panicked, at the thought of Taehyun ‘having a word’ with him later, but he smiled as he said abruptly:
“Ok. Well, enjoy the rest of your VLive! Bye MOA!” Beomgyu babbled, and after waving a few finger hearts at the camera, he quickly dashed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
❤❤❤
That same evening after his Vlive had ended, Taehyun had casually brought up the fact that maybe Beomgyu really shouldn’t be attempting to scare Taehyun during a Vlive, and despite at times encouraging Beomgyu’s antics, maybe it was about time he stopped. He’d brought it up over dinner, one, so that Beomgyu couldn’t wriggle his way out of it this time, and also so that Taehyun could have back up, because it was no secret amongst the other members what Beomgyu was doing. They all witnessed Beomgyu jumping out at Taehyun during the music show after all. Sure enough, Soobin had kindly but firmly told Beomgyu that maybe it was time to call it quits. And so, the evening had passed relatively peacefully, until Taehyun had gone back to the dorm room which he shared with Hueningkai, and was lying on his bed, scrolling through Weverse while Kai had already snuggled up, fast asleep.
It had taken less than ten minutes of Taehyun scrolling through his phone when he heard a soft knocking on his door, and he sat up to see Beomgyu, peering round the doorway hugging his laptop to his chest and for once looking rather nervous.
“Hi” the older boy said softly, making sure not to wake the sleeping Kai, as he edged his way into the room, while Taehyun put his phone down, wondering what this was about.
Taehyun didn't say anything, but gave Beomgyu a questioning look, raising an eyebrow.
“I’ve been abandoned.” Beomgyu explained, pouting and resting his chin on top of his laptop, which he was still hugging to his chest as though it were a teddy bear. Taehyun couldn’t help but smile a little at this- Beomgyu’s pouting had that effect on him- not that he’d let the older boy know this of course.
“So what do you want me to do about it?” Taehyun replied, refusing to take the bait, crossing his arms over his chest, feigning indifference at the fact that the hyungs of course were spending time together alone and Kai was obviously asleep in his and Taehyun's room.
“Come watch a movie with me?” Beomgyu asked, and how could Taehyun refuse? Sure, he’d been annoyed, but he wasn’t one to hold a grudge, not when it came to Beomgyu at least.
They both ended up watching Frozen in Beomgyu’s room, snuggled up in Beomgyu's bed under the covers, laptop balanced on their knees and sharing earphones.
All the way through the movie, Taehyun had the strongest suspicion that Beomgyu had done all of this as a way of apologizing, but Taehyun didn’t say anything about it. Instead he allowed the older boy to wrap and arm around his shoulders, leaning in comfortably into Beomgyu’s chest as the movie went on.
When the movie ended, it was nearly midnight, and Beomgyu closed the laptop carefully before setting it on his bedside table.
Taehyun supposed that this was his cue to go back to his own room, but was surprised when Beomgyu tugged him down gently by his sleeve so that they both ended up lying properly in the bed, facing each other in the darkness, only the moonlight from the far window giving off any light. From this position, all Taehyun could really see clearly were Beomgyu’s eyes, dark and shining in the moonlight light.
They were silent for a few moments, and then Beomgyu broke the quiet by saying, ever so softly:
“I’m afraid of spiders.”
“What?” Taehyun asked, confused. Where had that come from?
Beomgyu smiled a little, now finding Taehyun’s free hand under the duvet and taking it in his own, gently tracing the outline of Taehyun’s knuckles with his thumb.
“Just hear me out.” he said.
“Ok….”
Beomgyu seemed to be preparing himself for what he was about to say, and now Taehyun could almost see where this was going, but he wasn’t quite certain enough to voice his suspicions as Beomgyu continued:
“I’m afraid of spiders. I’m afraid of the dark. I’m afraid of closed tight spaces, where you can’t get out easily. Sometimes, I’m scared of failing and making mistakes, and screwing up, even though I’m trying not to be. And I’m afraid of feeling like I don’t deserve the success that I’m getting. I’m afraid that I don’t deserve that happiness, that I haven’t worked hard enough for it. I think that’s my biggest fear.”
This confession came out in a whisper, and all the while Beomgyu had looked Taehyun straight in the eyes, the sincerity of his confession strong enough for Taehyun to really feel it, and it shocked him. Not all of it, but certainly the part about feeling as though he didn’t deserve success.
“That’s not true.” Taehyun began, as the older boy had started playing with Taehyun’s hair, now gently brushing a few stray strands back from his forehead as Taehyun spoke. “That’s not true at all. Each of the members works so hard, and I believe that hard work pays off at the end. And especially you. You work harder than anyone I know. You deserve the happiness you've got now, you've earnt it, don't ever think otherwise." Taehyun said, giving Beomgyu’s hand a reassuring squeeze. At this, Beomgyu smiled softly, still continuing to play with Taehyun’s hair, and now Taehyun was sure he knew exactly where this was going, exactly what question the older boy would ask him, but this time, he found that he didn’t exactly mind.
“What scares you, Taehyun-ah?”
Taehyun looked into Beomgyu’s eyes, those soft, gentle eyes that held no hint of judgment, just warmth, acceptance. And Taheyun knew that no matter what happened, his secret would be safe so finally, he was ready. Ready to tell the truth.
“I love you Gyu, but I’m afraid that you don’t love me back. I’m afraid that my love will cause me to lose you, and I never want to lose you. I think that’s my greatest fear.”
There, he’d said it, but now Taehyun felt the sharp prickling of tears in his eyes, a horrible contracting feeling in his throat. He shouldn’t have said it, but just as Taehyun attempted to pull away, to get up and rush to his room before the tears threatened to fall, Beomgyu tugged him back, holding his hand tight.
“Hey, don’t cry. You’re not going to lose me.” Beomgyu whispered, giving Taehyun a soft smile, even as Taehyun felt a tear fall down his cheek.
“I w-won’t?”
Beomgyu shook his head, gently wiping away Taehyun’s tears with his thumb.
“What if I said that it was a lie? What I said before, I wasn’t joking, I meant it. I want you, Tyun. It’s always been you.” Beomgyu said softly.
And there was no doubt, no hint of uncertainty, no double meaning or joke about it. Beomgyu meant it, and Taehyun allowed himself to smile, cheeks burning as Beomgyu pulled him closer, so that when their lips met, it was sweet despite the tears. But they were tears of joy, of that unique sort of euphoria that was both thrilling and terrifying at the same time, but it was worth it.
When they broke apart, all Taehyun could feel was the beating of his own heart, slightly breathless, cheeks burning, eyes gazing over Beomgyu’s flushed face, hair slightly messy, his bright eyes, his sweet angel smile that would never fail to take his breath away.
“Why did you say it was a joke before? That you liked me?” Taehyun asked. He wasn’t upset about it, not now, he was simply curious to know the answer.
Beomgyu averted his gaze slightly, looking a little awkward, but then his smile returned.
“I guess confessing scared me too. I wasn’t ready, but I am now, and I promise you, you’ll never lose me. I’m yours, that’s never going to change, so you don’t need to be afraid, not anymore.” Beomgyu said, lifting up their intertwined hands and placing a light kiss on Taehyun’s knuckles, making him smile shyly, a warm glow of happiness spreading through his chest. He wanted to stay like this forever with Beomgyu, in this little piece of heaven. It was all he’d ever wanted.
“I’m not afraid.” Taehyun said softly, “I’m never afraid when I’m with you.”