The first thing Taehyung thinks when he sees Hoseok was that he must be the sun, that if a ray of sunshine took the form of a human, it would be Hoseok, and Taehyung had always been in love with the daylight, so it is not surprise that Taehyung falls in love with Hoseok, it seems as if he had been the whole time with the way he had always stretched his fingers towards the sun, soaking up the heat and trying to preserve it within him, treasuring every sunburn, proof that the sun had lingered on him, had touched him. With Hoseok he has the chance to touch the sun as much as he can, so he wraps his arms around the man's shoulders and holds him close, he knows what comes of being so near the sun, but he doesn't care, he has never cared for the burns the heat leaves on his skin, and he will treasure the marks Hoseok leaves his heart just as much. 

In school, his class has learned of Icarus, the boy with wax wings, who flew too close to the sun and melted the wax that kept the feathers together, falling to the sea below and meeting his watery grave. When the teacher has stopped speaking, Taehyung had raised his hand and said. "I feel like Icarus." 

The class had laughed and for the rest of the year everyone called him Icarus, his friend had slapped him on the back, saying that it was fitting due to his reckless behavior, but that wasn't what Taehyung had meant when he had raised his hand that day, he meant he felt so close to the sun, that he was so in love with it that he wouldn't have minded if it burnt him and let him fall, he would've gladly held his burning, wax covered skin tightly if it meant that even for a second he would've felt the warmth of the sun envelope him. 

Everyone had told him that the story of Icarus wasn't a love story, the boy hadn't been in love with the sun, he just wouldn't listen to his father until it was too late, they told Taehyung it was a cautionary tale to listen to your parents when they tell you to do something. Taehyung refused to believe them, you don't let yourself be consumed by accident. He had seen it happen with this mother, the way she had let herself be consumed with grief when his father left, the way she sobbed at night, how she would try to disguise her red rimmed eyes the next day with smiles, and the lingering glances she would send to the empty chair at the head of the table. Taehyung knew if she had the choice she would've let his father burn her up, and in a way she had. She always his hair when he came home from school and told him to be careful of who he fell in love with, to never fall in love with someone you aren't sure won't be constant, so he feel in love with the sun, a permanent fixture in the sky, he never had to worry if would be back the next day. 

When he fell in love with Hoseok he told himself he wasn't disobeying what his mother had told him, after all, Hoseok was the sun. Taehyung could feel it in the way his hands slid down his sides, leaving warmth in their wake, the way Hoseok's mouth tasted like summer and his embrace felt like heat and comfort and everything Taehyung had ever fell in love with as a boy. Sometimes the embrace is too hot and it burns his skin, but he won't move away, refused to push back, when the heat gets to be too much, Taehyung is reminded of Icarus. The story says he fell to his grave in flames, the wax having caught fire, they say he screamed as he fell, hands grasping for something to hold, to stop his descent. Taehyung believes that it wasn't a scream that left the boys throat, that his hands weren't reaching for something to save him, instead, Taehyung believes that Icaurs laughed, threw his head back and let the happiness express itself, his hands reaching towards the sun, so he could feel the sun for just a minute more, a second more, just a bit longer. When Taehyung thinks of that, he ignores the burning feeling that Hoseok makes him feel sometimes and pushes closer, burying his face in the conjection between Hoseok's neck and shoulder and thinks of broken wings, of falling feathers, of dripping wax, of laughter. Taehyung thinks of Icarus. 

Taehyung knew that sometimes clouds block out the light the sun extends towards earth, he comes to learn that Hoseok is no exception. Some days darkness hides the sunlight in him, shadows cast on his face and his smile is dimmer than on the days when the sky is clear. On those days Taehyung clings to Hoseok, desperate for even a glimpse of light breaking through the clouds. Those days make Taehyung apperciate the clear days even more and the way that when the clouds move on to reveal the brightness of Hoseok's smile, its so bright that he almost wants to look away, but he doesn't, he stares back, the way he did when he was younger and his mother would scold him, saying he would go blind, but he would go back to looking at the sun the second his mother turned away, too in love with the way the small dot in the sky selflessly gave light to the world. Looking at Hoseok smiling after the cloudy day, he feels the same way about him as he did about the sun when he was younger. Taehyung wonders if Icarus ever felt that way, he likes to believe he did. 

Taehyung brings Icarus up to Hoseok one day when they're sitting in the living room, he turns to the dancer and asks if he knows who Icarus was. Hoseok thinks for a moment before nodding. 

"Yeah, he was the one in love with the sun, right?" He says. 

"No." Yoongi cuts in from across the room. "He was a moron who flew too high and died. There is no love involved." 

Taehyung thinks that in a way Yoongi is right. 

Time passes and the cloudy days become more often and the clouds are denser, sometimes staying for weeks before moving on, Taehyung has stopped clinging to Hoseok waiting for a hint of sunlight, even he knows better than to look for something that isn't going to be there. The burning embraces are more frequently than the warmth he use to feel when Hoseok touches him. His skin feels like its on fire when Hoseok touches him now and the older man's mouth tastes like melted wax. The heat Hoseok gives off suffocates Taehyung, but for some reason he finds that he can't move away, he keeps pushing himself closer, lets his skin get charred and the wax in his wings melt, he knows its happening, but he can't bring himself to save what little there is left. Taehyung thinks he understands Icarus now. 

The feathers fall off and the wax catches fire and Taehyung begins his descent the day that Hoseok takes his hands and tells him he can't do this anymore, the sun is too close and he knows that he is making a mistake when he begs Hoseok to kiss him just one more time, Hoseok looks away and Taehyung can see him struggling with himself, he tells Taehyung not to do this, not to make things harder than they already are, not to hurt himself like this, but Taehyung's already falling towards his watery grave so he lightly grips the front of Hoseok's shirt and asks him softly for one last kiss, Hoseok slumps, defeated and although clouds are blocking out the light, Taehyung can still see the ray of sunshine just below the surface and as Hoseok presses his mouth to Taehyung's, it feels like touching the sun and the wax is catching fire and the feathers are burning up and what is left of the makeshift wings he had built out of his love for the sun is gone and he is falling, and he isn't reaching for something to stop his fall, instead he is reaching for Hoseok, who has broken the kiss and turned away, leaving Taehyung alone to drop into the sea. Just like Icarus. 

Taehyung throws his head back and laughs.