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Taeyang stared wistfully at the moon which was peeking out from behind the skyline of Seoul.
Preferably, he would have been staring at the stars but they were barely visible in the capital city. The light pollution was so strong that Taeyang could only make out one or two of the brightest stars.
Taeyang was finally on his way home from the company following the end of his rather packed day. If you only count from late night, he and Keeho had done a late night broadcast as Special DJ's for a radio show, and that was then followed by Taeyang deciding to do a Weverse Live at the company.
Normally this would be fine. Sure, Taeyang would be dead on his feet but that feeling gave him a sense of fulfilment, a sign of his hard work from that day. Even if he would regret it the next morning.
Tonight however, Taeyang felt unusually shy and it was making him a little angsty.
The thought of being perceived brought goosebumps and an unpleasant prickling to his skin, and unfortunately for Taeyang — he could easily pinpoint why he was feeling this way.
P1Harmony were once again preparing for their comeback. Despite UNIQUE only being released not that long ago, and Taeyang has felt as though he has lived several lives since them.
Comeback preparation often came with new looks for each member to symbolise the start of a new era. From a complete wardrobe overhaul by their stylists to changes in makeup styles and aesthetics, a group comeback had a lot of work put into it so that the album concept could seamlessly be pulled off.
This time around, Taeyang had a change of hair again. This was nothing new to Taeyang, he was one of the members which frequently changed hair colour, especially back when they debuted.
However, this time Taeyang wasn’t so sure that he particularly liked his new haircut.
Of course, his hair now definitely has nothing on how much he disliked his Doom Du Doom era hair. But Taeyang still wasn't so sure about the direction that was being followed for his hair this time.
His hair wasn't anything crazy, in fact it was a popular look amongst many different idols.
It just didn't scream Choi Taeyang.
This time around, Taeyang's hair was dyed black which he had no problem with. Taeyang easily suits black, brown and blonde.
Taeyang's problem was with how short his hair was now.
Taeyang prides himself in his long hair, P1ece adore it and Taeyang really likes it himself. A win-win situation.
In fact, Taeyang thinks he looks his best when his hair is long, which he thinks many would agree with.
From the front, his hair didn’t look drastically different — especially if you didn't pay much attention to Taeyang's hair. The hairstylist had kept his bangs relatively long, keeping them sitting around their usual length.
Unfortunately, his bangs were the only thing which remained familiar. The entire back length of his hair had been almost completely cut off.
Okay, maybe Taeyang was being a bit dramatic.
His hair length still went down past his ears at the back, and some would maybe even argue that he still had a bit of a mullet — but Taeyang's hair no longer touched the top of his shoulders, or rests gently against the back of his neck.
It was a weird feeling.
Taeyang's hair had been rather long for a quite a while now, he was used to feeling his hair brush against his neck and shoulders when he moved his head. That familiar feeling now being gone was strange.
Of course, Taeyang would get used to it. He always did.
The in-between stage this time would maybe just be a little harder before he could love his hair again.
Taeyang sighed as he stared at the moon. Maybe sleeping on it would help, a helpful voice in the back of Taeyang's head echoes quietly. Taeyang can't help but agree.
He'll be used to it by tomorrow. Taeyang wasn't the type to often get caught up on things like this, or at least he liked to think so.
As the company car pulled into the parking garage of his dorm, Taeyang shook his thoughts from his head. Taeyang quickly thanked their manager and wished him a good night before turning and trudging his way into the apartment building.
Taeyang mindlessly hummed a song under his breath as he waited for the elevator to take him to his floor.
Once at the dorm entrance, Taeyang quietly punched their door pin into the pad and slipped inside. Taeyang gently shut the door behind him, unsure if Jongseob and Jiung were asleep. Better safe than sorry though, Taeyang thinks, Jiung can get a little cranky when his sleep is disturbed.
Taeyang slips out of his shoes and quietly pads down the hall to his room. As Taeyang pushes his room door open, he is met with a surprise.
Keeho lies on Taeyang's bed, mindlessly scrolling on his phone.
Taeyang pays Keeho no mind as he quickly gets ready for bed. Taeyang was used to his boyfriend just randomly materialising in his room when he wants to by now.
As Taeyang walks back into his room after returning from the bathroom, Keeho finally looks up from his phone.
"Hi Taeyangie." Keeho says softly, as Taeyang approaches the bed. Keeho opens his arms for Taeyang to fall into, which Taeyang is more than happy to oblige with. Keeho's arms slowly come around to encase Taeyang in a hug, as they lay there quietly Keeho gently rocks them both back and forth.
"What are you doing here?" Taeyang mumbles into Keeho's chest, despite already knowing the answer.
"I just wanted to see you." Keeho responds, his face nuzzled into Taeyang's hair. Taeyang can feel Keeho sniff his hair and has to suppress an eye roll, although he means it affectionately.
As they lay there in their own bubble, Keeho's hand finds its way into Taeyang's hair.
Keeho loves to run his hands through Taeyang's hair, and does so at any chance he gets. This time however, Taeyang stiffens slightly — an unintentional reminder of his new haircut.
Keeho notices, his hand stilling and resting on top of Taeyang's head.
"What's wrong baby?" Keeho asks softly into Taeyang's hair.
Taeyang stays silent for a moment, debating how to explain how he feels.
Keeho must take Taeyang's silence as a bad sign though, after a couple of seconds he moves them both to sit up. As they sit across from each other on Taeyang's bed, a small frown begins to form on Keeho's face as he looks at Taeyang, studying him.
Taeyang's heart sinks at the reaction from his boyfriend.
Keeho was 100% lying to him earlier when he said he liked his haircut just to save Taeyang the embarrassment.
Taeyang doesn't know what is worse. Keeho not liking his hair, or Keeho lying about liking it.
"You actually hate it. Don't you?" Taeyang blurts out, before turning away from Keeho. Taeyang buries his face into his hands, a mixture of embarrassed and mortified.
Oh god, he really should have pushed back against the company.
From his reaction, Taeyang can hear Keeho's words audibly get stuck in his throat.
Oh my god, he really was lying, a voice in the back of his head tells Taeyang. Keeho clears his throat before responding.
"Taeyang, baby. What are you on about?" Keeho prods at him gently, moving to tenderly tear Taeyang's hands away from his face.
Taeyang's eyes snap up to meet Keeho's.
"My hair!" Taeyang burst out, throwing his hands up to gesture at his head.
Keeho just blankly stares at him in response.
They stare at each other silently before Keeho bursts out laughing. Taeyang feels so stupid, of course he didn't like it.
Taeyang didn't notice he had got stuck in his head until he feels Keeho's thumb swipe at his cheek.
"Taeyang, you look beautiful." Keeho says firmly as he cups Taeyang's cheeks.
The buzz in Taeyang's mind comes to a halt at Keeho's words. Okay, maybe he was overreacting.
Taeyang opens his mouth to retort anyways but is stopped by Keeho pressing a finger to his lips.
"I hope you know that I don't care what your hair looks like for me to find you beautiful, Taeyangie. I wasn't lying earlier." Keeho says, before frowning slightly. "You don't like it though?"
Taeyang sighs, gently removing Keeho's hands from his face. Taeyang holds Keeho's hands in lap, intertwining their fingers before responding.
"I mean, it's not that I don't like it. It is nice..." Taeyang starts before trailing off.
"You're just not used to it?" Keeho finishes his thought.
"Yeah. I just think I looked better with my longer hair." Taeyang pouts slightly.
Keeho squeezes Taeyang's hand before letting go.
"I think you look perfect with any length of hair." Keeho earnestly responds before leaning in to peck Taeyang's cheek.
Taeyang now feels a little stupid that he doubted his boyfriend so easily because of his insecurities. Taeyang mentally shakes his head to try rid himself of those thoughts.
Instead, Taeyang actually swats Keeho's arm and pretends to be annoyed.
"Yah, Yoon Keeho. You said I look better with longer hair a few weeks ago." Taeyang chastises him playfully.
Keeho at least has the guts to look a bit sheepish, and rubs his neck lightly in embarrassment.
"Did I?" Keeho giggles before adding, "Whoops."
Taeyang just rolls his eyes in response.
As Taeyang's eyes fall back on Keeho, he finds Keeho gently reaching up to his hair. Taeyang just lets Keeho sit there, combing his hands through his hair. Taeyang finds it cute how much Keeho likes fixing and playing with his hair.
To say Taeyang is relieved that Keeho actually loves his hair would be a little bit of an understatement. Albeit how silly his worry was.
Of course, Keeho loved it! a voice shouted at him in the back of his mind. He knew it was stupid realistically, Keeho loves him.
Taeyang decides to just enjoy the silence that has fell over them. His eyes slipping shut and his mind finally quieting too.
Keeho changes his focus to running his fingers through the ends of Taeyang's hair.
"It's weird. I just feel like I should have more hair." Taeyang mutters softly, opening his eyes again and breaking the silence. "I keep going to run my fingers through it before realising it's gone."
Keeho hums in acknowledgement instead of responding, before gently massaging the bottom of Taeyang's neck. Taeyang can feel his body letting out the tension of his day under Keeho's touch, Taeyang hums back appreciatively in response.
As Keeho goes back to running his hands through Taeyang's hair as normal, seemingly mindlessly. Taeyang gets slightly surprised when Keeho's eyes suddenly snap down to meet his. A quick change from where they were previously focused on Taeyang's hair. Perhaps Keeho wasn't doing it so mindlessly after all.
As they stare at each other, Keeho's eyes sharpen slightly.
"Seriously though." Keeho mutters, leaning in closer to Taeyang as his hand falls to rest at the crook of Taeyang's neck. Taeyang can feel his neck and face already heating up as Keeho continues to lean in closer.
As the space between them becomes almost non-existent, Keeho's gaze drops from Taeyang's eyes to slowly trail down to his lips.
"You look absolutely breathtaking no matter how your hair looks to me." Keeho says, his voice rough and his focus remaining locked onto Taeyang's lips.
"Shut up." Taeyang softly huff out a laugh into the small space between them. Taeyang can feel Keeho's breath lightly fanning onto his face. Taeyang admires for a second how absolutely gone his boyfriend is for him, and decides to finally close the gap between their lips.
The kiss itself really was nothing new, something they had done hundreds of time before. Keeho gently cupping Taeyang's face as their lips softly moved against each other.
This time around Taeyang couldn't help but appreciate his boyfriend a little more.
The kiss between them was slow and careful. Keeho kissed Taeyang as though he had all of the time in the world. All of Keeho's adoration for Taeyang pouring through into the kiss.
Taeyang felt loved, and Keeho knew he had succeeded in cheering Taeyang up. As Keeho nibbled gently on Taeyang's lower lip, Taeyang couldn't help but giggle into the kiss, successfully breaking it.
As he pulled away Taeyang's eyes were drawn to Keeho's now swollen lips. Taeyang's heart still fluttered at the sight no matter how many times he had seen Keeho like this. Taeyang leaned in once more and gently pecked Keeho on the lips.
"Thank you." Taeyang says softly as he pulls away.
"What for?" Keeho asked confused, tilting his head to the side slightly.
"Loving me always." Taeyang said simply, reaching out and squeezing Keeho's hand. Keeho squeezing his hand back in response.
"Of course I love you." Keeho responded automatically, though now seemingly even more confused.
"I know." Taeyang giggles, patting Keeho's cheek lightly. "I love you too."
Keeho's confused look didn't fade, but Taeyang had expected that.
Keeho has always loved Taeyang unconditionally. For that, Taeyang will be forever grateful.
Taeyang knows that Keeho will always be there for him, whether that be as their leader, his best friend or as his partner.
It's times like now when Taeyang feels a little embarrassed after a sudden unexpected outburst of emotions on his part, whether that be from his insecurities or otherwise, that is a prime example of moments where Taeyang always feels a little more thankful to have Keeho in his life. Keeho never judges him when Taeyang gets stuck in his head, and Taeyang knows Keeho never will. Keeho is his safe space, the person who always wordlessly knows what to do to comfort him.
So, Taeyang makes sure to thank Keeho. Unfortunately, Keeho hasn't really caught on what to what he is really being thanked for yet. He hasn't quite figured out the depth of it yet.
But Taeyang thinks saying that out loud can be saved for their wedding. Maybe their anniversary if he's feeling nice.
He doesn’t want to give Keeho too much of an ego boost after all.
Instead, Taeyang just silently wraps an arm around Keeho's waist and manoeuvres them to lie down again. Taeyang gently rests his head on Keeho's chest and listens to his heartbeat. As they lie there Taeyang feels Keeho's fingers start to thread through his hair again.
This time Taeyang lies there happily, a small smile on his face — Taeyang is sure he will get used to his new hair soon enough.