Chapter Text
Taehyung was startled by the feeling of cold, slim fingers curling around his wrist. He looked at the fingers inch slowly down his palm before twining with his own. Yoongi’s eyes darted away, determinedly avoiding Taehyung’s curious gaze.
“Hyung?” Taehyung asked, unable to stop the slightest hint of a smile.
“What?” Yoongi was staring adamantly at the city lights below, one arm still propped on the balcony railing while the other was bent to grasp at Taehyung’s hand. He fidgeted slightly, letting his free hand dance through his mint green fringe. Taehyung leaned closer, trying to ignore the way the lights seemed to dance on Yoongi’s pale skin, and whispered into the other boy’s ear.
“You’re holding my hand,” Taehyung said. He laughed then and the cold clouded his breath so that it skimmed over Yoongi’s skin in little puffs of white.
“Shut up,” Yoongi mumbled. Yoongi stood up straighter with a shiver, looking as if he wanted to break his hold on Taehyung’s hand, but Taehyung felt his grip tighten instead. Yoongi shifted closer, his small form almost leaning into Taehyung. “Fuck, it’s cold out.”
“We can go inside, hyung,” Taehyung said. He felt Yoongi’s shoulders shaking slightly and wrapped his free arm loosely around his waist.
“Not yet,” Yoongi tutted. “Look, we can see the stars.” Taehyung looked up and nodded, taking in the few stars stubbornly shining through the pollution of city lights. Yoongi held Taehyung’s hand tighter still and spoke again, his whispering voice almost getting lost in the breeze. “You’re leaving tomorrow, I just want to look at some dumb stars with you for a bit.”
Taehyung ignored the drop in his stomach, letting his arm tighten around Yoongi. “Ah, right,” he said.
“Don’t get sad,” Yoongi said.
“I’m not sad,” Taehyung mumbled. He leaned forward, nuzzling his face into Yoongi’s hair.
“I can feel you pouting into my head,” Yoongi scoffed. He breathed in deeply, his thumb running in circles over Taehyung’s hand. “I didn’t bring you out here to get sad.” Taehyung groaned as Yoongi extricated himself from him, somehow still holding onto his hand. “Look, I wanted to show you something.”
“What is it?” Taehyung asked, his head perking up in interest.
“It’s that.” Yoongi pointed his free hand towards two stars, each of them shining brighter than their neighbors. The stars were parallel to each other, almost touching. “Look how close together they are.”
“They are indeed very close together, hyung,” Taehyung said, hearing the confusion in his own voice.
“Those are my favorite stars,” Yoongi continued. “They’re always just bright enough to see. No matter which city you’re in, no matter how many people are there with their cars and their cellphones and their spotlights and God knows what else trying to block them out, they’re right there next to each other still shining. But do you want to know a secret?”
“Sure.” Yoongi was still staring at the stars as he spoke. Taehyung inched closer to him, wanting to feel Yoongi’s weight against him again as he spoke, wanting to be close to the strange, low burning energy in Yoongi’s speech.
“Those stars aren’t near each other at all,” Yoongi said.
“Aren’t they?” Taehyung looked closer, suddenly curious.
“They’re double stars,” Yoongi said, turning his head back to look at Taehyung.
“Double stars,” Taehyung repeated, nodding slowly. “Right, of course, how did I not notice that.” Yoongi stared at him, his lips twitching up into a cat-like smile. “What are double stars?”
“Double stars are pairs of stars that look like they’re close together in the sky. Sometimes they’re true binary stars, stars that are actually really close to each other. Other times they’re just optical doubles. They’re far apart but they align just right.” Yoongi paused, looking at him expectantly.
“That’s really cool, hyung,” Taehyung said unsurely. He was, in fact, curious about the stars, but Yoongi’s bright gaze made him think perhaps he was missing something. The older boy sighed, reaching up to tap his fingers along the back of Taehyung’s neck.
“When you’re in Seoul without me,” Yoongi began. “You look at those stars.”
“Ah, hyung,” Taehyung shook his head. Yoongi swatted at Taehyung’s hair and impatiently set his bangs back in place. “I don’t know if I can see those stars there,” Taehyung mumbled, catching Yoongi’s hand from its place in his hair.
“I told you, you can see them anywhere,” Yoongi snapped. “And I’ve seen them in Seoul before.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Taehyung laughed. Yoongi frowned, tipping Taehyung’s chin back towards the two stars.
“Just listen. When you’re in Seoul, you can look at those stars, and we won’t feel so far apart then. When you miss me, just look at them. Or… if, I guess,” Yoongi finished, the high points of his cheeks coloring sweetly pink as he ruffled his own hair.
“I will miss you,” Taehyung whispered. “Thank you. For the stars.” Yoongi’s cool fingers reached back towards Taehyung’s.
“It’s two months, though,” he said. “And then I’ll be up in Seoul too. And Jimin will be there to keep you company.”
“Still,” Taehyung said, reaching his hand up into Yoongi’s green tresses, feeling where the feather softness of them twisted into rough peaks. “Still, I’ll miss you.” Two pale pink lips twisted up in a kitten-like smile and Yoongi was turning his face further into the mess of night shadows and neon. Taehyung stared with a grin of his own, wanting to marvel in the familiar glow for one last night before he left for his next semester in Seoul. Yoongi tilted his head back, teeth peeking out of his grin now and eyes flashing back upwards.
“Stop staring, Taehyung-ah,” he scolded, but his voice was to soft to be truly chiding. “I brought you all the way out here and you’re not even looking at my stars.”
“Sorry, hyung,” Taehyung laughed. He turned his head back towards the stars but his eyes still peeked at Yoongi as he spoke. “They’re really pretty.” His hand met with Yoongi’s once more and his eyes turned back to the twin stars.