Link to artwork that inspired this story: http://taeyhngs.tumblr.com/post/138622518959/jimin-really-cant-take-his-eyes-off-of-taehyung. Please do not repost/edit any of her art. All art in this story is owned by Taeyhngs and is her sole property.

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Taehyung

It was all very natural, very normal when it all changed (even though it all stayed the same). They wake up, Jimin first. They have breakfast, waffles with butter and syrup for Taehyung and plain for Jimin. They go to class and meet for lunch, and Jimin goes to practice and Taehyung goes to the library to catch up on what he’d missed in class because he’d been distracted (by thoughts of Jimin). He was lost in his textbook trying to solve a problem he’s sure the professor had done in class.

He jumps, the tap on the shoulder startling him.

“Jimin.” He smiles.

“You ready? Or do you need some more time?”

“Nah, I’m good. We can go. How was practice?”

“It was good, just long and I need a shower, like stat.”

“Yup, you do.” Taehyung laughs when Jimin pretends to be hurt.

And the butterflies are flapping their tiny wings in his stomach and it tickles, and he feels giddy, and there is nothing missing.

Jimin

The walk home is mostly quiet. Jimin has too many thoughts in his head,  and his brain feel like a hamster on a wheel going around in circles, trying to figure out how to voice all the things he wants to say. Things he wants to say to Taehyung, but is afraid to. He steals a glance. Taehyung is beautiful, he’s always been beautiful, his profile reminds Jimin of a photo he’d seen once on a school trip to an art gallery, which makes sense because to him Taehyung is like a rare painting - exquisite and priceless.

Taehyung starts talking about his day, and how boring class was, and Jimin loves the normalness of it all. This is his favorite part of the day -- the walk home, listening to Taehyung talk. Should I like the sound of his voice this much? It doesn’t matter, not really, he loves these moments when it’s just them and everything else disappears. In these brief interludes, he can reflect and enjoy the things he’s often too busy to appreciate. Like the way Taehyung’s hair looks in the light of the setting sun, the rays playing with the strands making some look like spun gold, while giving others a reddish hue.

He smiles.

He’s staring and he knows it, held captive by the way Taehyung’s lips look as they move forming words and sentences, and the melodic sound of the statements as they escape his lips and enter Jimin’s ear. He’s staring and he should stop, but he can’t, he likes the way the corner of Taehyung’s eyes crinkle when he smiles, and the way his eyes sparkle when he’s excited.

Jimin’s staring.

He’s done this before, lots of times stared at Taehyung like there’s nothing else in the world that he’d rather look at, as though Taehyung is the sun and he’s the moon absorbing Taehyung’s beautiful, effervescent light.

Jimin’s staring.

And he’s done this before, lots of times listened as Taehyung speaks drowning in a sea of letters and words and sounds. Where everything Taehyung says is what he wants to hear, and every statement is a miracle coming to life.

He’s staring.

Normally he’s fast enough.

Normally he’s stealthy enough.

Normally he doesn’t get caught.

But this time…

This time, Taehyung moves too swiftly, turning without warning, and when their eyes meet Jimin knows he’s been caught.

And he can feel it the heat pooling, overflowing like too much water in a cup, build and rising from his neck to his cheek. He can feel it burning brightly on