eight || the stars dancing around us
this is a longer chapter btw :,)
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"I don't wanna go!"

"You agreed to it so you're gonna go!"

"No! Hyung please tell him I'm not home or I tripped and fell from the bathtub and died!" Taehyun begged his brother, who just gave him a dull unamused look.

The day was now Saturday and that meant that Taehyun had to hang out with Beomgyu for the whole day today since he agreed. But he didn't want to agree! He was sick and tired of the male just sitting there looking homeless on his doorstep and he was afraid someone would call the cops so he agreed just to make him leave!

"That's so rude of you Taehyun you can't just ghost Beomgyu!" Soobin groaned and peeled Taehyun's tight grip on his shirt off. "No! When am I never not rude to him? Please hyung, let me stay here! What- what if he wants me to look super good and then bring me to a big open crowded area and- and embarrass me! Like he always does!" Taehyun started to ramble on and on about how Beomgyu is the reincarnation of the devil and his evil plans schemed.

"You're overthinking this, now hurry up and get ready!" Soobin said and started pushing Taehyun out of his room. "I have enough time, hyung!" The redhead said and tried to push back but unfortunately, somehow Soobin was stronger than him.

"What do you mean you have enough time? You've spent all morning yelling and begging me to save you from a dude who got stuck in a basketball hoop during his sophomore year!" Soobin groaned. Taehyun looked at the clock and his eyes widened so much they could've popped out of his head.

A little backstory behind this was when Taehyun was still in freshman year and Beomgyu was in his sophomore year. The two had gym together and one of Beomgyu's friends dared the ravenette to dunk a hoop from the balconies while jumping off to impress Taehyun and who was Beomgyu to not say no to that? So after sneaking up to the school balcony he jumped off while screaming Taehyun's name and somehow got stuck in the basketball hoop. But of course, Taehyun doesn't know that. He just thought that the elder was trying to embarrass him.

But anyway!

The clock had just hit 2:30 and there were only 30 minutes left until Beomgyu arrived.

Taehyun quickly got out of Soobin's hold and ran to his room. He suddenly trashed through his closet, he picked out multiple outfits and pouted from not knowing what to wear. "Look who's the one desperate to go now! I swear you never make your mind up!" Soobin scoffed and walked inside the youngers room.

"I-I'm not desperate to go, I just—" Taehyun mumbled trying to think of an excuse, "It's free food hyung! I can't say no to free food!"

Or you can't say no to Beomgyu. Soobin scoffed and helped his brother choose a decently good outfit. "You never make sense, Taehyun." Soobin sighed and helped pick out a decently good outfit for Taehyun. "Wear this." He said and left the room.

Taehyun hesitantly put the outfit on and stared at himself in the mirror. Soobin had chosen a white shirt and a pair of black shorts. Pursing his lips Taehyun went to his closet and grabbed a light blue button-up shirt, putting it over his shirt he left it unbuttoned and tucked the white shirt into the black shorts.

He stared at himself in the mirror for a bit until he was satisfied with what he wore. Looking at the clock he saw he only had ten minutes until the elder arrived. Quickly going to the bathroom he looked at himself and started styling his hair a bit (more like just brushing it out)

And just on time...

"Taehyun! He's here!" He heard Soobin call for him from downstairs. Taehyun's breath hitched as he slowly walked out of the bathroom. He could hear the faint voices of Soobin and Beomgyu talking which made his heart thump even louder.

This was a huge mistake.

What am I doing?

Why do I feel so awkward? I'm scared.

He's going to embarrass me!

"Darling!~"

Before realizing it, Taehyun was met face to face with the elder who had a wide smile set on his face. When the fuck did I get here I was just on the stairs?!

Taehyun nervously glanced at Soobin who just gave the younger a thumbs up before bolting upstairs back to his room. Taehyun felt betrayed by Soobin abandoning him as he was forced to look at Beomgyu again.

"You look amazing, darling." He heard Beomgyu say in the softest voice ever. Taehyun's heart clenched hard as he scoffed and pushed the elder aside. "St-Stop! You fucking shit head. I can't believe I'm wasting my day being with you!" Taehyun spat out and quickly walked over to Beomgyu's car.

The elder just smiled and stared at Taehyun with adoration in his eyes, closing the male's door he quickly followed after the redhead who refused to look at him.

Unlocking the car the male walked over to the driver's side and went in, taking a few minutes of just choosing a song he looked at Taehyun who had the faint sunlight shining down on his face.

"Taehyun how are you so cute?"

"Shut up!" Taehyun said a little bit too loudly, his ears were bright red right now and he didn't know if it was because of how angry the compliments from the elder made him or if it was because of the heat from the sun.

Beomgyu laughed softly and started driving down the road, the two stayed silent. Taehyun wouldn't lie, Beomgyu's music choices were quite good. It gave a sense of calmness while being in the car. "S-So...When will I be able to go home?" Taehyun asked. He didn't know why he would always stutter around the elder, it was like his mouth and brain wouldn't cooperate at the same time making him spurt out nonsense. He probably sounds so dumb right now!

"Don't tell me you're already bored, Taehyunie. We just got in the car!" Beomgyu sulked as his shoulders slouched slightly. Taehyun bit his lip and sighed, he doesn't know how Beomgyu was older than him by a year, sometimes he felt like he was the older one here and that Beomgyu still had the mindset of a two-year-old.

"Tell me about yourself more Taehyun! Tell hyung when you started working at that little bakery."

"Hell no." Taehyun dryly replied, his face was slightly red though. Some students knew he worked there but he was grateful that none of them said anything. But just thinking about that one day where he smashed Beomgyu's face into that tiramisu cake, made him giggle. Oh, the thoughts of just wanting to do that to the elder again but ten more times sent a chill of excitement down Taehyun's veins.

Beomgyu stared at Taehyun giggling in slight concern, he was a bit scared about why the younger just started giggling all of a sudden but just brushed it off. "Come on, open up to me~ You know we don't have long until I graduate!"

"The day you graduate is the day I'm truly happy."

Beomgyu's heart pinged slightly with pain. Usually, the cold remarks from Taehyun wouldn't bother him as much but for some reason what Taehyun had said made his heart pain. His smile faltered a little as he went silent.

The redhead took notice of the sudden change in the elder, the small wave of guilt flooded his mind, biting his lip Taehyun looked around frantically as it seemed like his throat was closing up. Seeing the smile fall from the elder's face made him feel ashamed for some reason.

"I-I mean because you s-succeeded high school," Taehyun cleared his throat and spoke softly. "I started working in the bakery right before school started. It was like a summer job and it helps p-pays bills." Taehyun explained. He was right when he thought of the elder as a two-year-old. The elders face instantly lit up when Taehyun talked to him.

For the rest of the ride, Beomgyu was a whole chatterbox, Taehyun gave replies but some of the things he said were short and dry or awkwardly short. But that didn't matter, Taehyun felt a sense of small joy inside of his heart when talking with the elder.

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"After you, my darling~" Beomgyu held the door open watching Taehyun walk inside. Taehyun had asked the elder what he had planned but he got no answer saying it was a surprise. That made Taehyun extremely nervous because he didn't know what he had planned.

Walking inside the building the smell of coffee immediately made its way into Taehyun's sense as he scrunched his nose slightly. The elder had brought him to another café. Seriously, if he knew that they were going to a café he wouldn't have gotten so—

"HOLY SHIT!" Taehyun jumped and stepped back, bumping into Beomgyu's chest who was startled by the sudden action. Taehyun had freaked out after feeling something weird rub against his legs.

The soft meow of a cat startled Taehyun as he looked down, his heart instantly exploding as he saw bundles of cats walking towards the duo, turning around his eyes widened with sparkles. "Y-You brought me to a c-cat café?!"

Beomgyu smiled widely and nodded, "I noticed that when we're out whenever a cat passes by you stare at it like it's a diamond." He explained. Usually, Taehyun would hit the older for staring at him so much but he didn't care. The redhead had also noticed there weren't many people inside, in fact, he and Beomgyu were the only ones inside the café which made him feel a lot calmer.

He slowly walked towards one of the cats, crouching slightly he extended his hands out as it rubbed against his fingers. "Oh my god you're so cute!~" Taehyun cooed as more cats surrounded him.

Beomgyu smiled softly as Taehyun picked up a cat and petted another one, "He's so adorable." He sighed softly and walked over to the cashier, he didn't want to bother Taehyun's little time with the cats.

"Hello! What can I get you?" The cashier greeted the elder who was staring at the menu. "Do you have any strawberry-flavored things?" He asked. Beomgyu hummed softly and looked at the name tag she wore.

"We do have strawberry bingsu! Would you like that?" The worker whose name was Tsuki asked, Beomgyu thought about it for a second and nodded. "Can I also get peach iced tea?" Tsuki nodded and inserted the order in the little pad and smiled, "Your total is $15.62"

Beomgyu nodded and fetched his wallet out handing her the money. "By the way, you and your boyfriend are adorable. It seems the cats like him a lot!" She said which made Beomgyu instantly blush. "O-Oh no, y-you got it wrong we're just...friends." He said, the word 'friends' feeling like venom on his tongue. It didn't feel right calling Taehyun that.

"Ah, I apologize, your order will be out in a few minutes," Tsuki said and smiled at Beomgyu, the male watched her go to the back and prepare their stuff with her coworker.

A soft sigh left Beomgyu's lips as he walked back over to Taehyun who was surrounded by cats. Trying to walk closer a cat suddenly approached the male and sat down in front of him.

Maybe I'm going crazy...Or that cat is giving me the death glare. Beomgyu nervously smiled at the cat and crouched down. "Hey there!~" He extended his hand out to pet it only for it to hiss at him loudly.

Beomgyu quickly stood up and backed away from the cat. "Hey! That's not nice." He grumbled and tried to walk around the cat to get to Taehyun, only to be stopped by the cat following his every movement. After a bit of observation of the odd behavior of the cat, a small smirk made its way onto Beomgyu's face.

"Oh, I see. You're jealous~ I see we both fell for Taehyun huh." He whispered and crouched down in front of the cat as if it was a real person.

"Meow"

"Well, you're out of luck, cat. I already won my way toward Taehyunie's heart so you won't win. I've liked him since 5th grade so my chances of getting him to be mine are way above yours—"

"Meow."

"Don't glare at me because you have no chance," Beomgyu whispered and glared at the cat as well.

"Uh...What are you doing..."

Beomgyu instantly stood up and backed up seeing Taehyun standing behind the cat with a puzzled look. "I-I was just having a staring contest with this cat! It's so cute right darling?"

Taehyun just slowly nodded with a confused frown and bent down to pick up the cat who started purring a little too loudly. "Ayy~ you are cute!" Taehyun squealed. The cat gave Beomgyu a quick look as the male had a bitter expression.

"Darling, I think our order will be out soon. Why don't we sit down?" Beomgyu offered looking at the male. Taehyun sighed softly and carefully put the cat down and nodded. Following the elder they sat at a seat near the window, Beomgyu knew how much Taehyun enjoyed staring out the window whenever they would go out. The natural scenery was wonderful.

I feel like I have competition... Beomgyu thought and groaned softly seeing a bunch of cats follow them to their table. "What did you get?" He heard Taehyun ask.

"Strawberry bingsu and a peach iced tea, for you," Beomgyu said and smiled, leaning on his hand as he stared at how beautiful Taehyun was today. Don't get him wrong, Taehyun's beautiful every day but something about how the sun shined down on the male's face highlights his features more. It made Beomgyu's heart race.

"You didn't get anything?" Taehyun asked and tilted his head, he felt a little bit guilty that the elder was mostly spoiling him today. "I mean, I did ask you to come to hang out so why not spoil you, darling." Beomgyu smiled.

"Stop calling me that!" Taehyun groaned and looked away from Beomgyu, softly petting the cat that was falling asleep next to him.

It didn't take long for Tsuki to come out and carefully place everything down on the table. "Enjoy!" She said and left two spoons on the table for them. Beomgyu waited for Taehyun to have the first bite,
watching the younger pick the spoon up and scoop up a small pile he saw Taehyun's expression light up brightly after tasting it.

"I-It's good." Taehyun stuttered, after getting approval Beomgyu started eating the dessert as well. But he took smaller bits as he wanted Taehyun to have more. I'm getting full just by watching him eat. He thought and stared at Taehyun, love sparkling in his gaze as the redhead didn't notice.

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"Where are we going now?" Taehyun asked curiously. It had been two hours since their little visit at the cat café, originally Beomgyu planned to leave after an hour but the younger refused to leave the cats. So they stayed there for an hour more.

"Han River," Beomgyu replied keeping his gaze on the road, Taehyun looked to the side and felt his face slowly heat up. He never realized how well Beomgyu's side profile looked. The jawline the elder had was a sight to look at. What the fuck are you thinking Taehyun? Get a hold of yourself! He groaned loudly, making Beomgyu hum in confusion.

After twenty minutes of driving the duo had finally reached Han River. The two quickly got out of the car as Taehyun stood there astonished by the beautiful view. "Are you ready?" He heard Beomgyu ask, looking to the side he saw the elder carrying a blanket and a picnic basket.

"I was thinking that having a picnic is way better than another café. I hope that's not a problem." Beomgyu said and smiled, Taehyun kept silent and just nodded as he followed the elder to whatever spot they were going to eat.

He noticed that the spot Beomgyu had chosen was a bit far away from people, there were a few passersby but overall it was a secluded area yet the view was stunning. 

He watched Beomgyu lay the blanket out and held the corners down with little rocks nearby. Sitting down testing it he nodded and patted the area next to him for Taehyun to sit down.

"Here," Beomgyu said opening the picnic basket up, he handed Taehyun a couple of packets of tonkatsu sandwiches making the younger's face redden up. "My darling, you thought I would only take you out for bingsu? Of course, I have to feed my Taehyunie!"

"Th-Thank you, Beomgyu."

"Hyung." Taehyun slowly looked at Beomgyu with widened eyes from what he just said, "Call me hyung." The older said staring the redhead dead in the eye.

"Thank you...hyung," Taehyun said softly, a wide smile was set on the male's face as he started unwrapping his food as well. The butterflies that swirled around in Beomgyu's stomach were uncontrollable.

Taehyun looked beautiful during golden hour, he just wanted to grab his face and kiss him all over and spurt out all of the confessions he wanted to say.

But he knew it was too early.

"Taehyun, will you be at the lantern festival in a few weeks?" Beomgyu asked. Hope was filling his mind as he wished that Taehyun would be there to see him perform.

"I-I don't know," Taehyun replied, Beomgyu's hope shattered just a little but he brushed it off. "Hey, why don't you tell me more about yourself? In return, I'll tell you things about me!"

"What's there to know, hyung? You already know a bunch of things." Taehyun said taking a bite out of the sandwich. "I meant, your future. Taehyun what do you imagine your future to be like?"

That question caught the younger off guard, he never had a chance to think about what he wanted to do in the future. "I...I don't know." He said softly, feeling ashamed of not knowing what he wanted to do.

"It's okay Taehyun. Not everyone knows right away what they want to be when they're older, some people say they want to be a doctor, and boom they're working as something else!"

Taehyun slowly looked up at Beomgyu who stared at him with an expression he couldn't distinguish. "What about you hyung?"

"Me? Hmmm," Beomgyu hummed and took a sip of the apple juice he held. "You know...It's been my dream since middle school to become a professional dancer, but now that I think about it. I feel like I would rather create music. Alone of course."

"How sad," Taehyun said sarcastically, the mention of the elder creating music sparked a question in his head.

"You can sing?"

"Of course, I can sing Taehyun! Would you like to hear me sing?" Beomgyu said with the most confident tone ever. Taehyun couldn't help but smile a little from how confident he was.

"No, no. You probably sound like a dying roach."

"Well, I'm a handsome dying roach then!" Beomgyu said, the two stared at each other before a fit of giggles between them broke out, Taehyun couldn't help but just smile at the elder's dumbness.

"Next time, hyung. Next time."

Beomgyu couldn't help but smile even wider, his cheeks hurt from smiling so much but being around Taehyun made his heart so happy. Picking up a napkin he slowly leaned toward the younger, carefully putting his thumb under Taehyun's chin he patted his lips to get the crumbs off.

Taehyun couldn't help but freeze at the sudden closeness, his heart shaking everywhere as he felt the older wipe away the crumbs. "You're a messy eater, Taehyun-ah."

Crumbling the napkin up in his hands he stood up and walked away to go throw away the trash in some nearby trash can. Taehyun sat there and stared at the elder, his face heating up more and more as his hands trembled slightly.

No- No why do I feel weird? Am I sick? Did he poison my sandwich?! Taehyun thought and held his chest where his heart was placed, taking deep breaths to try and calm down. I-I feel so weird around Beomgyu hyung. I feel like I want to punch him and drown him in the sea but then...I—

"Hey, are you okay? You're breathing is heavy." Beomgyu said and quickly grabbed the picnic basket, feeling around his hand landed on the bottle of water. Pulling it out he opened the top and held it out towards Taehyun who gladly accepted it.

After heavy gulps, the younger wiped his mouth and hesitantly nodded. "I-I just...Sandwich...Wrong pipe." He said trying to get the proper words out. Beomgyu nodded and returned to his original position and started talking about how birds are secret cameras.

All Taehyun could do was listen as his mind was filled with complicated feelings.

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"There's one last place I want to show you before I bring you home," Beomgyu said softly, the two were back in the elder's car and the sun had just set. The shining blue sky turned into a dull shade as the moon arose from its slumber, coloring the city in a dull calming hue.

Taehyun nodded softly and leaned his head against the window, checking the time on his phone he saw that it was about 11:35 PM. He was shocked that he had managed to survive this long with the elder, it seemed like their hangouts from earlier were only minutes.

"We're here," Beomgyu said, Taehyun looked around in front of him, squinting his eyes to try and see anything. "Hyung why are we in a forest?"

"You-You're not going to kill me right?" Taehyun eyed the elder suspiciously who just laughed loudly. "No idiot! Come on." Beomgyu said and got out of the car.

Taehyun slowly followed and walked towards the forest before bumping hard into Beomgyu's chest. "Before we go..." The elder said softly and slowly intertwined their hands together, their fingers fitting perfectly together.

"Hold onto me, I don't want to lose you. Stick with me okay? I'll protect you and if you're scared you can pinch me." Beomgyu spoke. The tone he used sent chills down Taehyun's spine as his stomach started getting that one fuzzy feeling. It was hard to see the elder's face but he could tell from the slight tint in his eyes, that he was genuine.

"Are you okay?" The elder asked as they started walking through the woods, the faint sounds of their footsteps crunching on leaves and sticks echoed out as the faint chirping of crickets and birds mixed in. Taehyun had to admit, it was a bit terrifying, the dull light from the elder's phone wasn't calming enough as he was quite scared.

He heard Taehyun's breathing become a bit shakier, pulling the younger closer he wrapped an arm around Taehyun's waist and pulled him closer for comfort. "It's okay, just focus on me." He whispered.

Taehyun nervously looked up meeting Beomgyu's gaze. His heart exploded once he saw how handsome the elder look under the faint glow of the moonlight. The fondness and comfort expressed in his eyes were enough to make him calm down.

It didn't take long until the two were finally out of the forest, the sound of waves crashing against the rocks made Taehyun confused. "Be careful." He heard Beomgyu say as he slowly realized they were at the edge of a cliff.

Taehyun was thankful that the moon was bright enough to shadow out everything, his eyes adjusted slightly and stared at the ocean in front of them, it was twinkling slightly from the glow of the moon making him gasp in awe.

"If you think that's amazing," Beomgyu said pulling Taehyun down to sit down. The younger yelped slightly and stared at the older who had a cheeky smile. "Look up."

Taehyun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and slowly looked up, and that's when all the air in his lungs immediately cut off.

He gasped in awe again as his eyes laid upon the star-filled sky. The beautiful twinkling orbs filled the dark sky as if they were dancing with each other. The moon shined brightly down upon the two as the sight he saw was just...Amazing. The stars painted the sky with an ombré of slight purple and white, dazzling Taehyun even more.

"Stargazing, Taehyun," Beomgyu spoke softly while looking up. The lack of replies from the younger made Beomgyu a little concerned, looking at the younger his eyes widened and his heart shook at the beautiful scene he saw.

The soft wind swaying Taehyun's red locks to the side, the male's wide doe eyes staring up into the sky as his eyes sparkled with awe. His mouth was agape as it seemed he was in a trance from the beautiful scenery.

Taehyun looked absolutely beautiful under the moonlight. The moon kissed his face ever so great as it seemed like the younger had his stars in his eyes by the way they twinkled.

Beomgyu smiled softly and slowly intertwined their fingers again, staring back up at the sky.

"I know one day, my dreams will become my reality." Beomgyu thought to himself before looking at Taehyun once again.

"So please promise me, when the time comes. You'll be mine." He thought as Taehyun slowly looked down and stared back at the elder. "Because when I told you about my future, I lied."

"I want to spend my future and eternity with you."

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a/n: sheesh, this was a long chapter indeed, I apologize if it was too long though!

thank you guys so much for reading!! <3