They say that a person's eyes are the windows of their soul, but Jimin would disagree. When it comes to Taehyung, that quote is an understatement. When Jimin looks into the older boy's eyes he sees not just his soul, but the world. He sees possibilities, promises, what is and what if. Looking into those eyes is like diving into ice cold waters, it takes your breath away. Jimin wants to get lost into Taehyung's eyes, swim in every crook and cranny, discover secrets about the boy hidden even to him, bathe and drown in them. Those eyes leave him breathless but Jimin would rather suffocate than look away.

Taehyung is the type of person that stares right at you when he's speaking (even if that conversation is about the silliest, most mundane things, about favourite ice-cream flavours and the number of puppies spotted in one day). He makes is difficult for Jimin (oh so difficult) to pay attention to what he's saying for more than a few minutes before every sound fades to background noise and Jimin becomes fixated to/on his eyes. Taehyung's eyes speak volumes, just as much as his chatterbox of a mouth, if not louder. The boy often gets excited and makes mistakes, stutters and messes up his pronounciation, starts a new sentence in the middle of another. When he catches himself doing that Taehyung gets frustrated with himself and falls silent, chooses instead to look at you, really look, his eyes wide and hopeful, gleaming like stars, silently begging you to understand what he cannot articulate in words.

Jimin gets caught staring dumbly more often than not, amazed by those big, almost identical almond-shaped eyes, the soft slope of the bottom lids and the sharp outer corners. There are specs of gold among the rich, warm brown colour of the irises (Jimin is reminded of coffee or chocolate whenever he indulges in staring at Taehyung's eyes). They're extremely expressive Taehyung's eyes, switch between emotions and expressions so quickly that Jimin fears he may miss one. Jimin often gets caught and laughs awkwardly as an excuse even though there's no need for one. He doesn't need to explain anything to Taehyung. A glance is all it takes and the younger boy has him all figured out. Jimin falls apart little by little (or simply falls, deeper, stronger), bare in front of Taehyung's burning gaze. Every aspect of himself, every worry and joy unlocked by the gentle caress of the boy's deep brown eyes.

Whatever Taehyung sees in him he never complains and never judges. Perhaps it is because the younger receives enough judgment from others as it is - weird, 4D, alien they call him and laugh, brushing over his behaviour as the cute antics of a child on the brim of adulthood. No one dares to pry deeper, to seek a reason for the aloof act. Labeling him as weird is easy, it's safe. Taehyung doesn't believe he has the right to judge anyone, especially not Jimin who has never flinched away from his and his unnerving at times gaze. Jimin steadily keeps eye-contact, ever since the first time they met, and he wonders how can people not see the beauty that is Taehyung. How can they dismiss the way he acts as weirdness and not uniqueness?

The raw innocence with which the younger boy approaches life, the curiosity, the genuine smile, the honest eyes... All of that scares people not used to that kind of openness, people worn down by the fast-paced demanding life in a city that never really sleeps. Jimin concluded one day, a day like any other. They were taking a break from vocal training and had been sent to the closest coffee shop, him and Taehyung, to get coffee for everyone. A young mother and her kid had been waiting in the line before them to order. Taehyung made it his goal to make the kid smile - out of boredom or simply because Taehyung reacts to anything cute – cooing, making silly faces and imitating the toddlers' random noises. The boy had a soft spot for everything cute (babies, kitties, Jungkook). Jimin knew that, the rest of them knew that. But the kid's mother didn't. She had called Taehyung names, even demanding from the shop's manager to call the police. Taehyung reacted to the situation very badly, lost his appetite and his smile for almost a week. His eyes were vacant of that playful twinkle, gleaming instead with unshed tears (he didn't want to disturb the hyungs with something as stupid as that, he admitted to Jimin, and kept it a secret from the rest of the team). Jimin wished he could assure him that everything was alright, he hadn't done anything wrong. But at the same time he wished his friend understood. Jimin didn't want to be the one to force TH to grow up and shed his playful dreaminess.

“The real world is scary,” mutters the younger one night as he lies curled by Jimin's side. His face is red after what had seemed like hours of crying locked inside the bathroom. (Taehyung had insisted that he used a stronger scrub than the usual). The older boy hated to see his friend like that, vulnerable, doubting himself, craving to fit in a mold crafted by other for him, to please people who, at the end of the day, didn't dive a damn about the real Taehyung behind the stage persona of V. The realisation that they were not kids anymore, that every single step they'd take was being constantly monitored and criticised, had been a slower process for Taehyung than the other boys. When it finally came it was violent in its realness.

“I wish I could be more like Yoongi hyung, Jungkookie... mature and reliable, no one questions them, no one thinks they're weird...”

Taehyung seemed lost, the light in his eyes wavering. Jimin could only hold him tighter, try to put his feelings into words.

              (Yoongi hyung and Jungkookie are cool but they don't have your eyes)

“They don't understand you Tae, and for that they don't deserve your tears. No one that steps on you like that is. We know who you are, we appreciate you, I... we love you...”

              (I love you, please don't change)

Taehyung raises his head to look at Jimin. His eyes are puffy and bloodshot, the lashes sticking together with drying tears, but he still is stunning. He stares and stares, Jimin evenly matching his gaze despite the heat of embarrassment rising to his cheeks. His friend's eyes hold questions and are seeking his own for answers, answers that Jimin is still afraid of giving. They would have to wait for the time being. Taehyung flashes one of his cute little smiles and scoots closer to his friend.

“This world is scary but at least I have you.”