:)
___________

;;

every passing second
that he spent with jeongguk
felt like eternity in a heartbeat.

time faded away with him
at his side.

his troubles, his thoughts,
his worries— they disappeared into
plain nothingness. bleak, empty
space. it was funny how his slender
fingers held so much power, the
power of his smile, his blossoming rose
cheeks, his button nose, the twinkle
in his eyes that held a million clusters of
galaxies, swimming about in the
depth of his ebony iris.

taehyung wanted to hold him.
he wanted to hold him and tell
him how dear he was to him, how
much he meant, how much he
helped. how much he'd been there
for him despite him not knowing
so in the slightest,
beyond thought.

no matter how hard he tired
to force it back, nothing
worked.

he'd never wanted anyone
more in his life.

________

"the brooding soldier," taehyung
spoke quietly, bringing up his
camera to take a picture of the
large stone memorial that stood
as a vast giant above their heads.
it remained tall and stately before
them, eleven metres high, silent,
sullen, powerful and true; depicted
terrors that it's comrades endured
like no other memorial in the town;
could be seen from a
mile away.

"i want to sketch it." jeongguk
replied softly, he kept his voice low out
of respect. "i'll never forget this."

"commemorates the canadian
first division's participation in
the second battle of ypres."

"they had to defend themselves
against the first poison
gas attacks along the western front,
didn't they?" "it certainly is thought evoking."
the small boy whispered.

"sixty nine thousand allied troops,
fifty nine thousand of which
were british and ten thousand french, against thirty five thousand german,"
the older male added
solemnly.

"jesus." jeongguk breathed.

"the deaths were inevitable. the
sheer difference in numbers
is explained by the little defence they
had against the chlorine gas."

jeongguk didn't reply.

he only
stared up at the stone statue.

watching.

________________

"i never really felt the importance
of knowing about all of this until
i actually physically experienced
being here." jeongguk spoke.
"on the battle field."

"it's moving, isn't it." taehyung
hummed beside jeongguk, hands
deep in his pockets as the pair walked
through a vague footpath
by the statue later
that day.

he'd patiently waited for
jeongguk to finish his
magnificent sketch of the
sullen soldier, in a trance from the
way his pencil moved so fluidly
across his paper, the
concentration in his eyes,
his dark, furrowed brows
and thin lips tilted
into a soft frown
as he focused on his piece.
and solely his piece.
it reminded him of himself
when he was younger. the same
eagerness, the same exhilaration he
felt when his pigment would glide
and he'd transfer his photographs
and transform them to a vision
of what his eyes truly saw. the
rawness and untainted perfection
of his countless sketches.

"can we sit down for a bit?"
the teen asked tentatively,
pulling at the straps of his backpack.

taehyung looked around.

there wasn't anywhere to sit.

they were in the middle of a plain,
sloping grass field, scattered with daisies
and buttercups that peppered the
green canvas beneath their feet.
it seemed to stretch for miles beneath
the sweet summer's sun.

"wanna lie down."
jeongguk took off his backpack and collapsed onto the lush grass
like a starfish, gazing
up at him with his glimmering eyes.

the man figured it wouldn't hurt
to rest their legs for a while. it was
still an hour or so before the bus
arrived to take then back to the
town centre for lunch, they had
plenty of time to kill and jeongguk
looked like he didn't really want
to move anywhere so it seemed that
he had no other choice.

so... taehyung joined him too.

he braced his hands behind his
head as he tilted his face up to
the sunlight, the thin glades tickling
the sides of his cheeks as his lashes
fluttered shut under the blinding
white that illuminated the
cornflower blue sky. the country
air was refreshing, sweet, mellow.
he could get used to the tranquility
and sheer quiet power it held,
the field felt like it stretched
on forever and he could have sworn
he heard the subtle trickle of a
stray stream a distance off. he payed
little attention. just focused
on the way his hair
shifted, the soft, soothing
hands of the wind combing his
deep, dark locks, the kisses of
the blaring sun's rays down his
exposed neck, warming his cheeks.
the songs of the birds, far off. hazy,
but there.

like his thoughts.

he felt them gently fade away.

when he turned his head to
look at jeongguk, he forgot
to breathe.

christ, he was an angel.

he'd never met someone
so ethereal. it was incredible.

he was incredible.

sunlight spilled like glistening
sweet saccharine honey across the
gentle dips and curves of his face,
his high accentuated cheekbones,
his rose dusted nose, his golden
neck. every inch of his skin glowed
like a gentle halo around him,
lifting his form in a hypnotic
illusion, perfection that was surreal
in this world.

even as he
buried his crimson cheeks into
the fresh spring grass to hide his
his soft blush, he was gorgeous.
taehyung gazed at
his soft hair that fluttered about
across his forehead in the
in the singing breeze.
his hand ached to reach out and
move it away, to tuck it behind
his ear and cup his cheek and kiss
him, to kiss him hard and pour every
inch of his heart and soul into
that very kiss. to have him beneath
him and for him to kiss him back,
that's all taehyung ever wanted
now.
it was useless pushing away
his frightening thoughts.

but jeongguk... god,
jeongguk... he couldn't have
him.

"wanna show you." the
small boy mumbled into
the grass shyly, bringing
out his sketchbook from
his backpack and placing it
on taehyung's chest before
tilting his head to meet the
older's gaze.

"it was my grandfather's."
the boy smiled weakly,
sitting up slightly.

taehyung did the same,
handling the book with
extra care.

he ran a finger down the
leather spine and the stitching
that bound it together,
wondering what beauty it
held inside.

jeongguk reached a
small hand over and
flipped open the first
page.

they were... small sketches.

subtle things.

none of which told stories
individually, some in pen,
some in pencil, some in
stunning watercolor.
a beauty to stare at, he
could look at it forever.
when put together, taehyung
was taken on a journey.
a journey through the
younger's beautiful mind.

they weren't perfect, they
weren't divine. they were
jeongguk's.

something beyond
perfection that the man could
no longer explain, somewhere
between existing and living,
that's what his sketches showed.
emotion captured in gentle
strokes of his brush.
the emotion that a teenage
boy saw.

he drew mostly body parts.
faces, hands, eyes, lips. they
were spun so accurate, taehyung
could tell who it was right away.

jimin's jaw, his mother's eyes,
jisoo's lips and chin
and neck.

no drawing was complete, they
all lay, scattered across his pages,
half filled, half empty. his style
was beyond anything that taehyung
wanted to comprehend.

"they're unfinished." taehyung
breathed, looking at the boy
with a certain, hazy curiousity.

"feels like a part of me is
unfinished." jeongguk smiled.
"so my art is. it always seems that
way, anyway."

"you see things so vividly,
ggukie." taehyung shook his
head with disbelief as he flicked
though the pages, admiring each
peace they held.

"i try." he whispered.
"nothing i've painted has been
satisfactory, lately. well... up
until a while ago."

"what changed, sweetheart?"
the man ran a hand down the
crisp pages.

as the pages passed, they
became more full, the light
returned to them, they weren't
bland and lacking, they were
flourishing and thriving.

the further he went, the
more he saw the way his
mind worked, the more change
he saw, the more colour he
took in, the more depth and
detail shone through from the
pages. the more opaque they
were, nearly popping out of
the pages. they were growing
and being shaped and they were
beautiful.

the further he went, the more
drawings they were.

and as he neared the end,
they were complete.

taehyung stared at the set
of lips on the final page.

his heart stopped.

"you." jeongguk said.

he took the book from his
grasp and placed it in his
own lap, tracing the cover
shyly.

taehyung turned to him,
the blood in his head roared
louder than ever before.

"me."

jeongguk nodded.

"you inspire me."

lord, what was he even saying.

"you help me. and for that
i'm so greatful." his whisper
was barely audible.

taehyung just stared at him.

"say something." jeongguk
chuckled softly, tugging at his
sweater paws.

"i'm glad." he replied.

he was.

he couldn't think straight.

the din of his heart pounding
against his chest was distracting
enough but the wetness of jeongguk's
lips were even more so. he was so
close. so dangerously close.

jeongguk smiled and put his
book back in his bag, collapsing
back onto the soft grass with a sigh.

they lay still next to eachother
for a while. the silence between
them was comforting.

jeongguk spoke then.

he really started speaking to
taehyung.

he talked about his
grandfather and the memories
he shared and the pain he fought
every day of his life.

he told him
all the happy moments and the
ones filled with sorrow and the
days he'd mourn him and cry and
the days he was so happy he
felt alive.

he told taehyung things
he probably shouldn't be telling
him but taehyung listened
because there was nothing else
that he could do than listen to the
small boy talk and talk and talk
and he wished he wouldn't
stop.

he wished he could hear
his laughter like the summer's
breeze, he wished he could watch
him smile up at the heavens for
an eternity, he wished he could
hold him and tell him that things
would be alright because this
boy— this boy was the boy of
his fucking dreams. he wanted
to tell him. to tell him so badly.

an hour passed.

taehyung payed no heed to time.
not when he had jeongguk at arms
reach. he was so untouchable. so
close yet so far away.

"what are you doing?" taehyung
chuckled softly, watching the small
boy from the corner of his eye.
he was poking his nails into the
stems of some poor, unsuspecting
daisies he'd picked.

"daisy chains."

"daisy chains?"

"yes. have you never made them?"
the teen gave a sweet smile, flashing
his cute bunny teeth.

taehyung shook his head.
what on earth?

"like this." the boy ever so
carefully placed his 'chain' on
top of his hair. ah, a flower
crown, that made more sense.
"cute, right? i'm nearly
done with yours" he giggled.

taehyung furrowed his brows
as he looked up at the small
little flowers, scattered haphazardly
across the boy's head. it was a
bit messy but he didn't tell him
that, it just added to the authenticity.

a minute or so later, jeongguk
leaned forward and placed a
buttercup chain onto taehyung's
own head. he probably looked
ridiculous but he didn't care for
the slightest.

dear god, he was
closer than ever now—
taehyung felt the
brush and warmth of his skin,
the wafting of his pretty perfumed
scent, his breath on his ear.

"see?" the boy beamed.
"perfect."

taehyung simply smiled.

everything was perfect.

jeongguk
was perfect.

their intimacy was
perfect.

their presence, their warmth,
the summer's sun and the tender breeze
of the air. everything was so, so good.
taehyung stared at the flower crown
on jeongguk's head, mind spinning.

it was jeongguk.

it had always been jeongguk.

and it always would be jeongguk.

the world stopped when
he uttered his next words.

he should have thought before
he said them really. he shouldn't
have done it in the first place.

but jeongguk was just there,
so beautiful and gorgeous and-

"my little prince."

taehyung didn't have
time to comprehend it.

he didn't have time to sit up and
think about what he'd said.

he didn't have time to
speak, it seemed.

the wind halted. the birds
stopped singing.

jeongguk's eyes flickered.

before taehyung could blink,
before he could even breathe...

jeon jeongguk had lunged forward
and crashed his lips onto his own.

_________

:) yoinks