Taehyung has always been a dreamer. He always wished upon stars when they were shooting and always made up a wish before blowing out his birthday candles. No one really bothered telling the boy that wishes didn’t come true because he was little. They thought that it was cute how Taehyung believed that if he wishes upon something it will happen.

            The boy’s parents would smile whenever Taehyung asked them about Santa Klaus or the tooth fairy. But as time passed and the boy grew up to be a high scholar his parents started to become a bit worried. They told him that wishes never came true just like that. They told him that Taehyung had to work for whatever he wanted. And it’s not that the boy didn’t, but he still believed in wishing upon stars, blowing dandelions in the wind and in the miracle of the Christmas Eve.

            Taehyung was sixteen when he met Jimin. The slightly older boy was a new classmate that the dreamer had to show around school and whenever Jimin would smile widely Taehyung would forget what he wanted to say and would stutter out words that wouldn’t make sense.

            Taehyung was seventeen when he figured out that whatever he felt for Jimin wasn’t simple friendship. He figured out that friends wouldn’t get jealous when one of them hangs out with someone else. Or when a random girl tells Jimin that his smile is pretty. No, Taehyung shouldn’t be jealous, but he still was.

            The boy looked from sidelines and felt his heart clenching whenever Jimin would blush as a girl he would have a crush on would ask him out. Yes, Jimin was popular with girls. And so was Taehyung, but he boy didn’t notice this because his eyes were too focused on the other male.

            The worst part was that Jimin had become a close friend to Taehyung so the slightly younger male couldn’t simply stop interacting with the tanned boy. He simply smiled whenever Jimin would tell him stories about his previous dates while his heart would sink lower until it reached the pits of his stomach.

            And Taehyung knew that he was too young to really be in love, but what he felt for Jimin was as closest to love he has ever felt. And he was sure that it counted as something.

            He had read somewhere, maybe in an old Japanese book, that if you made a thousand paper cranes and attach them to strings your one wish would be granted. It was written that the cranes should be made in one year and by the person who will be making the wish.

            It didn’t take long for Taehyung to find a shop that would sell Origami paper. He bought more, so that he would be able to also practice how to make the paper cranes.

            Taehyung succeeded to make the first real paper crane after dozens of tries. He had to ask Jin how to make them because he remembered that the high school senior actually knew how to make Origami and enjoyed it.

            After endless hours of making the paper cranes, and absolutely failing in that mission, Jin gave up on teaching Taehyung how to correctly fold them. But the younger boy didn’t give up and succeeded after some more tries.

            Taehyung still remembered the giddy feeling that soared through his body when he succeeded to fold his first paper crane. His smile didn’t vanish as he figured that he had to fold nine hundred ninety nine more cranes. It was alright, as long as the wish comes true, he was fine with folding them.

           The boy folded them every day, at least three for each day because he didn’t want to waste more than a year. If he did, then the wish might not come true.

            The last paper crane was folded while in Taehyung’s math class. The one he shared with Jimin. The slightly younger boy childishly wished for the other male to magically return his feelings, but when the lesson ended Taehyung was awarded with the usual smile Jimin gave him and a see you tomorrow weirdo.

            But Taehyung didn’t lose his hope. Maybe he had to connect all of the paper cranes so that the wish could come true.

            It was a month before Taehyung’s birthday when the male connected all the one thousand paper cranes to twenty five strings, each holding forty cranes and hanged them on the wall in front of his bed in his bedroom. He hopefully counted until one thousand but nothing happened. No call from Jimin, no text, not even a sign that Taehyung’s wish might actually come true.

            The boy woke up and went to sleep with the same wish plaguing his thoughts. The first thing he saw when he woke up and the last thing he saw before falling asleep were the one thousand paper cranes on his wall.

            As the month passed and the day of Taehyung’s birthday arrived, the boy had lost all his hope for the wish to come true. He lazily rolled out from his bed and walked downstairs. It was actually not the 30^th of December, but the 31^st. Taehyung had decided to celebrate his birthday a day later because his best friend, Hoseok had a dance competition on the 30^th and wouldn’t have been able to show up.

            Taehyung had woken up way past his normal time. It was almost one pm right now and the boy made his way into the kitchen after cleaning himself up. He was dressed in his usual worn out jeans, a shirt that was a bit too big for his frame and he was barefoot.

            He heard loud voices in the kitchen but he shrugged his shoulders. Maybe some of his relatives were over to wish him a happy delayed birthday.

            He froze in the middle of the doorway when he was met with the grinning faces of his closest friends. Jin, Hoseok, Jungkook, Suga, Namjoon.Jimin. Oh God, Jimin was here. Taehyung quickly checked if his face was alright and if his hair wasn’t sticking into every direction possible.

            They didn’t even let him eat his second birthday breakfast as they dragged him outside. Taehyung was forced go to random corner shops with his friends. But he didn’t really complain about it because he got to taste a lot of different food and his hyungs, namely Jin and Hoseok babied him throughout all of the day.

            They had made their way back to Taehyung’s house sometime after dinner. They boy’s parents were not home, they were in yet another New Year Eve’s party and they weren’t coming back for at least two more days because the party was all the way in Busan.

            The boys played video games and cracked jokes until three in the morning and then they all decided to crash at Taehyung’s because they were simply too tired to move.

            The birthday boy laid in his bed and stared at the paper cranes in front of him. He probably should take them off. Why did he even believe that they would be able to grant his wish? Taehyung laughed bitterly as he thought about his birthday wish. How could Jimin notice him if the younger boy didn’t say anything about his own feelings?

            For the first time in his life Taehyung felt as if wishing upon magical materials was all a game for children so that they would have what to believe in.

            With every passing second Taehyung could feel his eyes getting moist and didn’t lift his fists to rub at them until he heard his bedroom doors being cracked open.

            ‘Hey, are you still awake?’ Jimin. Why would he come upstairs to Taehyung’s room? The slightly older boy noticed that the birthday boy was rubbing his eyes with his fists and he frowned. What could ever make Taehyung sad?

            ‘Hey, are you alright?’ Taehyung didn’t answer vocally and simply nodded his head. Jimin made his way over to the younger male’s bed and sat down next to him. Taehyung slowly sat up in his bed and turned his eyes to stare at Jimin’s face. The tanned boy was looking at the paper cranes and a soft smile adorned his features. The features Taehyung had grown to love.

            ‘Did you finish the one thousand paper cranes?’

            ‘Yeah, about a month ago.’ A month and a day ago. Taehyung’s voice came out weaker than he wanted it to and Jimin turned his face so that he would be facing the slightly younger male.

            ‘What did you wish for?’ Taehyung averted his eyes and played with his bed sheets.

            ‘I can’t tell you.’

            ‘Did the wish come true?’ Taehyung felt an arm drawing patterns over his as he shook his head.

            The slightly younger boy turned his head a little bit and was met with Jimin’s smiling face. The tanned boy leaned closer so that their foreheads would be resting on each other.

            ‘I didn’t wish you a happy birthday yet.’ With that, Jimin closed the gap between their lips and Taehyung’s eyes widened. Was this actually happening? After the shock wore off, Taehyung closed his eyes and sighed in content as he felt the way his and Jimin’s lips molded into a perfect kiss.

            It seemed like hours passed when the two boys parted and Jimin tugged them down onto the bed so that the two of them would be lying down. The slightly older boy nuzzled into Taehyung’s chest and kissed the part of the flesh that protected his heart.

            Taehyung ran his fingers through Jimin’s dark hair and smiled as he looked at the one thousand paper cranes. His wish did come true.

            For the first time in a year, the last thing Taehyung saw before falling asleep was Jimin’s face.