Kim Taehyung hated Valentine's Day.

 

With a passion.

 

See, the whole lovey-dovey aura that came crawling in with the fourteenth day of February caused something unpleasant to stir in his gut. Something that vaguely resembled nausea.

 

Maybe it were the clingy couples, walking around hand in hand, whispering sweet words at each other.

 

Yuck.

 

Maybe it were the typical red and pink heart shaped decorations, literally hanging everywhere his eyes looked.

 

Stupid.

 

Maybe it was the whole sensationalism around that specific festivity. Ovestimated in his humble opinion.

 

Lame.

 

But, if anything, it was definitely not the fact that he was alone.

 

Truth be told, being alone didn't make him feel lonely. As long as he had himself, he was fine. He was a free-spirited, strong and independent young man.

 

He needed no one but himself.

 

And that's that.

 

Therefore, given the chance, he would be the first person to shoot up straight and diss the whole thing, with a long- list of reasons as to why it was a completely useless, ridiculous, overvalued, capitalistic even, of an event.

 

Not that he had anyone to listen to his rants, though.

 

No lover, no friends, no family.

 

It was just him, Tae against the world.

 

And that's okay with him. That's fine. 

 

Really.

 

Because love was overrated.

 

It brought nothing but dependency and disappointment.

 

Love is for the weak.

 

And he was strong.

 

The silver haired boy walked across downtown Seoul, dodging the crowd that seemed to, especially that day, walk in pairs glued by the hip.

 

His left hand clasped the wings of a paper bag, while his right one was busy typing on his phone, Google searching for the closest stationary store.

 

Why couldn't he find some godforsaken tortillons?

 

Life was conspiring against him, that was the only explanation for the fact that he tried four art supply shops already and those damned things were out of stock virtually everywhere.

 

All he wanted to do was snuggle on his cheap, sunken couch, wrapped in his favorite blanket and just sketch the soul out of him for the rest of his much needed day off work.

 

But alas, there he was, still trying to find the last tool he had to have, to actually be able to go and do the shading and smudging on his portraits.

 

Kim Taehyung did not, at all, consider himself a professional artist, but he took pride in the effort he put on his drawings. And for that, he needed his quality material. As he saw it, he either did it proper or didn't do it at all - hence, he refused to go home without the stupid tortillons.

 

Sighing, he walked around the block and into the stationary he knew, upon search, that he would find there.

 

Much to his joy, the place was huge. He'd never been there, but he could already smell the comforting scent of fresh paper sheets, new books and painting supplies. If there was an odor better in life, he was yet to find it.

 

Happy enough that he found this new place to buy his materials from, he could already feel himself ignore what an idiot of a day it was, as he scanned over the shelves.

 

He wanted to take everything home, as always, but he focused on what he went there for.

 

And, praise the skies, there they were.

 

Right next to the seemingly endless brands of markers, the pencil shaped white objects beamed at him.

 

Hastily grabbing two packages of six each, like he'd never see one again in his existence, Taehyung made his way to the cashier, standing in line.

 

He paid for his purchase and then walked out, already feeling a little better about life in general. Actually, Valentine's was now slightly bareable because he could finally just go home and pretend it wasn't even a thing.

 

As he set foot on the sidewalk, his attention was caught by something on the other side of the street.

 

Or rather, by someone.

 

It was a boy.

 

A boy around his age, wearing a white button up shirt and worn out, light blue jeans ripped on the knees. His hair was messy and parted slightly, a dark brown mane that stuck out in every direction.

 

He wouldn't have minded the boy, perhaps, if it wasn't for the fact that he seemed to be making himself comfortable...

 

On the sidewalk.

 

Curious, he watched as the boy patted around, setting a blanket on the cement and pushing a small bucket in front of him. He then reached for an acoustic guitar and played a few chords, as though he was testing it.

 

It hit him quick and easy, just like that - the boy was homeless.

 

And then, as simple as, the song started to form in his fingers and he started singing, his eyes fluttering close.

 

The mesmerizing boy on the other side of the street sung gently, softly and Taehyung swallowed a lump in his throat at an unexpected bubbling in his chest.

 

"Lately I've been thinkin', thinkin' bout what we had... I know it was hard, it was all that we knew, yeah..."

 

His voice was unreal, Taehyung thought.

 

So, so beautiful. 

 

Ethereal.

 

There was no other way to put it - his voice was perfect.

 

Unlike anything he'd ever heard before.

 

The cold winter breeze was nothing against the wa