Work Text:
It’s 2:37 a.m., and Seokjin knows he should be sleeping, but he’s playing Dragon Nest instead. As much as he cares for his skin, his thirst for reaching the game’s level cap far exceeds that.
So, he’s stuck grinding his Crusader in dungeon raids until the game opens up a new map for grinding exploitation.
He’s on the boss fight on his seventh run in the Riverwort Village Ruins’ dungeons with his guildmates (he doesn’t keep track of the names of the dungeons he’s entered, since they’re too long to actually memorize easily) when his phone rings.
Half of his mind wonders who could possibly call him at this hour, and the other half’s too preoccupied with dropping relics on the boss and its minions in the game.
He wants to just ignore the phone call. However, his conscience won’t let him live if the person who’s calling him at this hour needs help, so he decides to pick it up. He hesitantly swipes the answer button, and slowly places his phone beside his ear.
(Of course, he forgot to check his screen for the caller’s name. If he did read his screen, he wouldn’t be as surprised when he finally answers the call.)
“Hyung!”
Taehyung’s deep voice floods his ears.
Seokjin’s surprised that the younger male called him at this ungodly hour, since they’ve barely become friends (in his opinion). It’s been like, 3 weeks since he transferred in their current high school, and Taehyung’s one of the few people he’s been comfortable to talk to and eat lunch with.
(He’s sort of shy, but not in the way that he wouldn’t be able to talk to strangers. In fact, he can carry conversations with them quite well.
It’s just that Seokjin finds it hard to initiate conversations, especially in this environment, where everyone’s practically known each other since, probably elementary school.)
“Oh, hey, Taehyung. Why’d you call me?” Seokjin casually asks the younger male, as he finishes off the boss with a well-aimed holy relic.
His guildmates keyboard smash their elation at finally finishing the grind with capslocked gibberish in the chat, and he sends out his goodbyes and thank yous to them (not before he collects his portion of their loot) as he logs out of the game to talk to Taehyung properly.
Taehyung seems to be half-asleep, since it takes him a while to respond.
“Hyung, can I ask you a favor?” he asks, his voice going uncharacteristically small.
Seokjin wonders if Taehyung’s okay. He feels worry for the younger boy.
He then decides that he’s going to do whatever Taehyung asks of him.
“Okay, sure, shoot. Tell me what it is,” Seokjin answers, as he taps his fingers against the table.
(Oh yes, Seokjin, so eloquent, his unhelpful mind supplies. Seokjin mentally berates his self.)
“Can we go stargazing tonight?”
“Huh?”
“Stargazing. Like, look at the stars and the skies and the moon. And pick out constellations, too. While we’re at it, let’s see if we can spot a shooting star tonight.”
“Yeah, I know that, but why? Why me?”
“The skies look pretty tonight,” Taehyung mumbles, and Seokjin hears him moving around in wherever he is, probably in his bedroom, beside the window. He hears the soft breeze blow through on the line.
“Also, Jiminie’s already asleep, and Jungkook wouldn’t go with me since he’s trying to finish playing this game he’s obsessed with lately.”
Seokjin thinks this over. Taehyung sounds like he’s been sad, and he probably needs someone he can talk to.
He decides that he can’t possibly do anything wrong with this hangout, or that he can’t possibly make a fool out of himself in front of Taehyung.
(God, Seokjin’s kinda getting whipped for Taehyung, and he hasn’t even sorted out his feelings for him yet.)
“Okay, sure. Meet me at the park in 10 minutes. Bring a blanket, I’ll bring something for us to nibble on,” Seokjin answers, as he prepares to grab his keys, his phone, and some snacks. Taehyung seems excited about this.
“You’re seriously the best, Seokjinnie-hyung! I’ll see you there.”
(Seokjin knows it’s sort of stupid, but he’s kind of developing a crush on Taehyung. Who wouldn’t, with Taehyung’s adorable smiles, his wonderful insights, his thoughtfulness, and his charisma?
Only a fool would be able to resist Taehyung’s charms. He’s observed most of the school’s population is in awe of Taehyung, and that they’re friends with him.
However, he notices that even though Taehyung has lots of friends, he only has a handful of people who’s really close to him, like Park Jimin, Taehyung’s proclaimed “soulmate”, and Jeon Jungkook, who’s with Taehyung in art club.
Seokjin also notices that Taehyung doesn’t really approach people first, which makes him wonder what made Taehyung talk to him on his first day in the school.)
Seokjin grabs some sandwiches from the kitchen fridge when his mother comes out from the master bedroom.
“Seokjinnie?” his mom softly queries, and Seokjin hears her footsteps getting closer to him.
“Yeah, mom? Do you want a glass of water?” he asks, as he places the sandwiches on the basket lying on the table, and grabs a pitcher of water for his mom.
He sees his mom get a glass, and he then pours water on it. She smiles at him with such warmth and affection, and thanks him.
“Are you going somewhere, dear?” his mom asks him, as she notices the picnic basket on the table.
Seokjin hesitantly nods, and says, “A friend feels lonely, mom. I want to at least cheer them up, even though it’s this late.”
Seokjin looks away from his mom and stares at the floor. He’s afraid his mom might not let him go, since it’s almost 3 a.m., and she could be overly protective over him and his brother.
He hopes she’d let him go out at this time. It’s not always that he asks something like this from her, or from his dad. He hopes she’d understand, or at least, not pry too much.
He takes one glance at his mom, and sees a giddy smile on her face. Seokjin looks up at his mom, and she softly laughs.
His mom coos at him, and gushes on how cute her Seokjinnie is. Seokjin feels flustered, but he feels grateful that his mom seems like she’ll let him go.
“Okay, you can go out. I’ll tell your dad, just come back for breakfast, okay? And you can sleep in, it’s the weekend, after all,” she says, as she softly pats Seokjin’s head.
She’s having trouble reaching his head, since he’s shot up a few inches taller than her over the summer break. Nevertheless, he leans in, and kisses her cheek. Seokjin will always be her baby boy. So, she pinches his cheeks, and pulls him into a squeezing hug.
“I trust that you won’t be doing bad stuff, okay? No drugs or alcohol or sex, I presume?” she asks, as she peers at his face.
“God, mom, no. I won’t even dare to do those.” Not now, no.
(His mom’s just happy that Seokjin’s managed to befriend someone, since she knows how he has a hard time making friends, especially in this new place they’re living in.
She’s also relieved that Seokjin’s being treated normally here, compared to their old home.)
“You’re really the best, mom. I love you!”
“I love you too my sweet baby boy. Now go cheer up your sad friend,” she urges him, and she pushes to him the basket. Seokjin grabs the basket, and quietly goes out of the house. He’s thankful that his mom’s being really understanding lately.
Seokjin sees Taehyung sitting at the bench, seemingly lost in the stars. He pauses to admire Taehyung’s profile.
Taehyung looks like he’d been just out of bed, since he’s wearing an oversized pair of pajamas (with openings that Seokjin suspects are his “attempts” to “spruce” his wardrobe. Everyone knows this since Taehyung wears clothes to school with rips similar to his current attire.
All their teachers are frustrated with this particular habit of Taehyung’s, and not even Jimin was able to convince him to stop attacking his poor clothes.)
Taehyung’s all defined cheekbones and nose, but his eyes seem like they’re sparkling, especially in the dim light of the stars. He looks ethereal, and Seokjin can’t help but feel amazed at him.
He looks like an angel seeking to go back to the heavens, and Seokjin feels a pang of sadness seep through him.
Seokjin thinks that he wouldn’t have a shot at having a relationship with Taehyung, if he does end up developing romantic feelings for him.
Someone as beautiful and as wonderful as Taehyung wouldn’t love Seokjin the way he is.
As Seokjin gets closer to Taehyung, he sees the younger male looking somber. Taehyung’s eyes look clouded, like he’s watching something sad that Seokjin can’t see.
Seokjin thinks, Ah, why is it that I want to keep him from making such a sad face? He then decides to call Taehyung’s attention.
“Delivery for one Kim Taehyung!” Seokjin announces, and Taehyung rapidly whips his head to look at him. Seokjin inwardly snickers, but keeps a straight face as he approaches him.
Taehyung smiles widely, and Seokjin can’t help but feel charmed with his rectangular grin.
“Hyung, you came,” Taehyung squeals, and Seokjin feels his chest fill with a strange warmth.
“Of course, I did promise you snacks. Plus, I also kind of wanted to try stargazing. I’ve never tried it.”
Taehyung mock-gasps and tries his best to look offended, but he still ends up smiling. “How come you’ve never even tried stargazing? That is sacrilegious! Preposterous! Inconceivable! This is unacceptable, and I’m going to rectify that mistake!” Taehyung dramatically exclaims, as he keeps that goofy smile on his face.
Seokjin can’t keep his calm composure, and breaks into a fit of giggles.
“Sometimes I’m wondering why you’re not in drama club, Taehyung. You can definitely pull off being extra and dramatic,” he comments, wiping away tears from eyes. He’s laughing too much at this. Seokjin thinks it’s probably because he’s feeling the effects of sleep deprivation, and Taehyung’s facial expression seemed good.
(It’s not. He’s just whipped for one Kim Taehyung.)
Taehyung grins wider at his fit. Seokjin tries to calm himself down, but ends up letting small giggles escape from his mouth.
At this, Taehyung stands up from the bench, grabs some stuff beside him on the bench, and gets the basket Seokjin was carrying. He then leads Seokjin to a grass field beneath the blooming cherry blossom trees.
Seokjin sees that Taehyung brought a soft, big-looking blanket with him, and proceeds to spread it out on the grass. Taehyung then sets the basket on the ground, and plops his ass on the blanket. Seokjin shakes his head fondly at this Taehyung, and then sits close to him. He grabs some sandwiches from the basket, and offers Taehyung one.
“Ooh, is this one of Kim Seokjin’s famous sandwiches?” Taehyung cheekily asks, and Seokjin snorts at this.
“Of course it is. I’m the Kim Seokjin who made those, you know,” Seokjin haughtily answers, and he exaggerates puffing out his chest. Taehyung snickers at his absurd face, and gets the offered sandwich.
“Thank you, hyungie.” he cutely says, while he gives Seokjin a finger heart.
Seokjin smiles at this, and grabs his own sandwich. He then looks at the starry sky while nibbling on his food.
They eat their sandwiches in comfortable silence, while they bask in the moonlight glow. In the back of his mind, Seokjin thinks that he wants moonlit dates.
Seokjin marvels at the night sky’s beauty, as he tries to find figures and shapes that most people are familiar with. He regrets that he doesn’t know much about constellations. He wants to talk to Taehyung about the stars, how beautiful they are, and the visible constellations on this spring night. He thinks about all the things that they could talk about when suddenly-
“Hyung, do you ever wonder if stars feel lonely?”
Huh. That’s something he didn’t expect from Taehyung.
Seokjin stops nibbling on his sandwich to see Taehyung looking at him with a pensive expression, as he continues to munch on his food. It’s somewhat jarring to see this side of Taehyung, since he’s not entirely sure why would Taehyung want to ask him that.
Nevertheless, he tries to come up with a response to Taehyung’s sad (and quite frankly, it seemed kinda existentialist to Seokjin) query.
“I think so. Even though from here, we’d see that they’re close to each other, they’re actually millions of miles apart from one another,” Seokjin responds, as he slowly goes back to enjoying his food.
Taehyung seems to contemplate on his response, and stares at the skies again. He looks like he’s satisfied with Seokjin’s answer, and Seokjin gives himself a mental pat on his head.
Taehyung just continues to look at the stars, and leaves his sandwich untouched, which is now currently on his lap.
He then asks, “Don’t you think that’s also applicable to us humans, hyung?”
Seokjin ponders on this. Well, it is true, that some relationships would be like that, but we can’t help it, he thinks. So he voices that out to Taehyung.
“It is, actually. But it doesn’t really matter, Taehyung. What matters is your bond with each other. No matter how huge the distance between the two of you would be, you’ll still be friends. You’ll still have each other’s backs.”
“Oh.”
Seokjin looks at Taehyung, who seems like he’s had an epiphany from Seokjin’s words. He feels a smug rush of satisfaction, and tries to tickle Taehyung’s chin. Taehyung jolts from his epiphany-induced silence, and proceeds to lean and nuzzle Seokjin’s hand.
Taehyung looks at him with such fondness in his eyes, while he says, “Thank you, hyung.”
“No problem, but why exactly did you ask that?”
Taehyung only gives him an elusive smile.
After Taehyung asked that question from out of nowhere, they end up talking about the constellations visible from the night sky (“Look hyung, there’s Virgo. There’s also Leo and Cancer. Too bad we can’t see Sagittarius and Capricorn now,” Taehyung gushes to him, as he points and traces shapes out from the twinkling stars in the sky), and Taehyung ends up teaching Seokjin how to find the North Star (“It’s in Ursa Major, hyung. It’ll help you find your way home.”).
They also end up talking about their opinions of the subjects they’re both in (“I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with math, hyung.” “Don’t worry, we can always bully Namjoon to tutor us.”), and how they think of their teachers (“I didn’t think Ms. Park would own a Pomeranian, and now I want one.”).
Seokjin feels comfortable talking to Taehyung like this. It’s fascinating to get small hints about what’s going on in Taehyung’s mind, and he’s grateful that Taehyung’s willing to talk to him like this.
No one’s really made any effort to try to talk to him. Some people would come up and strike a conversation with him, but they seem like they’re uninterested with him when he opens his mouth.
He gets the feeling that he might not be really in love with Taehyung (yet), but this particular moment, with Taehyung talking about everything and nothing at once, illuminated by the moon and the stars, could be the catalyst to him developing feelings for him.
Seokjin hopes that he’s wrong. He also just wants to be friends with Taehyung, and this potential attraction could seriously affect their budding friendship. So, he’s trying his best not to catch feelings for this charming, wonderful classmate of his.
They continue aimlessly talking about things, and they don’t notice the time passing by until the sky slowly brightens.
Seokjin nudges Taehyung. “Look, it’s dawn,” he says, while he admires the sky taking its time changing from black, to a deep purple, then pastel shades of lavender, blue, pink, and orange. The stars slowly fade away from the sky, and Taehyung frowns at this.
“I don’t know why, but I hate it when it’s almost dawn. I can’t see the stars anymore,” Taehyung petulantly says, then sighs.
“You do realize that they’re still there, they’re just hiding in plain sight?”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s just sad that we don’t get to see them just because the sun overpowers their brightness.”
“Well, that’s their beauty too. They serve as the lights that will guide and illuminate our path in the darkness.”
“Ooh, that was pretty deep, hyung. Didn’t expect that from you.”
Seokjin snorts at this, and makes an offended noise. “Hey, I’m a person you can have deep conversations with,” he mock-arrogantly says, as he gives Taehyung a judgmental stare.
Taehyung laughs at this, and says, “I know, I know. That’s why I called you.” Seokjin looks at him, a surprised expression on his face. Taehyung must’ve taken notice of this, as he smiles at him.
“Thank you, hyung. For coming with me on this random stargazing hangout,” Taehyung shyly says, as he smiles at Seokjin with a bashful expression. At this sight, Seokjin feels his heart clench and grow a few sizes bigger.
Shit, it’s pretty hard to stop feeling anything romantic for him when he’s this adorable, Seokjin’s mind unhelpfully supplies.
He tries to soldier on from his heart apparently not cooperating with his agenda, and gives reassuring pats on Taehyung’s shoulders. “I also wanna thank you for inviting me, Taehyung. It’s nice to discover the beauty of stargazing, and I’m also thankful for you taking your time to talk to me,” Seokjin says while he tries to give Taehyung his “thank you” smile.
Taehyung looks elated at his expression. Then, suddenly, he wraps his arms around Seokjin’s waist, and hugs him flush to his chest.
Seokjin is taken aback by this, but immediately leans into his warm embrace.
“Now, we’re done with stargazing, so do you want to eat breakfast at my place? My mom makes mean waffles and omelettes.”
Taehyung looks at Seokjin like he’s won the lottery.
“Who am I to refuse a breakfast offer like that? Let’s go!”