♦

     Taehyung is leaning against the street light at the designated meet up spot when you get there. His messy, brown hair moves slightly with the breeze blowing through the neighborhood. His lean chest, arms, and sides are well on display for you to look at thanks to the stretched out and oversized olive green tank top sloppily thrown over his thin figure. His slender legs are crossed and hidden inside a pair of baggy and well-worn black sweatpants that he throws on whenever he has to make a public appearance, and on his feet, a pair of old, tan sandals fit comfortably.

    He doesn't see you right away, his gaze is glued onto the paved road below him, his pinky finger in his mouth as he diligently chews on his nail. You make your way over to him quietly, and pull out his finger from his mouth before he notices your arrival. "I thought you said you were going to stop biting your nails," you don't let go of his hand and look up at his face.

    He's surprised, but it quickly dawns on him that you're there and he pulls you into a tight hug in an instant. Your arms are pressed up against your lungs and it's getting really hard to breathe. "Taehyung?!" you gasp. "I-I can't breathe,"

    "Oh, sorry! I'm sorry," he loosens his grip but doesn't even come close to letting you go. He presses his face against your hair and lets out a deep breath. You've had an uneasy feeling in your stomach since the moment Taehyung had called you at 1:34 in the morning asking you to meet up, but not it was really starting to bother you. Taehyung was acting strangely, more than usual. 

    "Tae, are you okay?" You rub his back, hoping to soothe him. "Did something bad happen?" a shiver runs through his body and it feels so scary to you. "Taehyung," you repeat a bit more forcefully, "tell me what's wrong,"

    He finally pulls away and that's when you realize he's teary eyed. Sadness is etched onto every line in his face and his lips quiver as he holds back the rush of tears. His breath is shaky and he sniffles, hoping to stop his nose from running. "I h-had a nightmare," he begins, his unstable voice flooding you with inexplicable emotions.

    "A nightmare?" he nods silently. "Tae, do you want to go sit down?" he nods again. You slowly pull away from the hug, linking your fingers with his and head down the street to the 24-Hour convenience store. You take a seat on the bench in front of the store. Taehyung lays down, resting his head on your lap. He picks up your hand that is closest to him and starts playing with your fingers, an odd little habit that you had become fond of.

    "I was on an island," Taehyung's voice is steadier now. "It was a really small island and you were with me. I thought it was going to be fun, but then I saw the lion. It was so close to us and I said that we had to be quiet so it wouldn't see ut and then eat us. It saw us anyway and it started chasing us down," he his lips. "We ran so fast and so far until we found a forest we could hide in. But there were tons of animals in the forest and they were all there to catch us. I was so scared. I was so scared that we'd get eaten, that we'd get killed...that I would lose you,"

     You rest your free hand on his head, running your fingers through his hair. "I suddenly had a thought that I had to fly. I had to fly so that I could save us. Out of nowhere, I grew wings and I started to fly, but the trees in the forest were so tall and the higher I flew the harder it was to keep going. I got tired and I realized I wasn't holding you very tightly. You started slipping from my grasp. I couldn't hold onto you much l-longer..." he trails off and frowns. 

    Taehyung sits up and stares straight ahead. "I dropped you," he whispers, unable to look at you. "It felt so real and so horrible. I woke up as soon as I felt your fingers slip out of mine and I hurt so badly. I was so angry at myself for letting you go and I was so sad that you were...gone," he pauses and cries out, a strangled sound of desperation. He hides his face in his palms and bends over, nearly touching his kness with his knuckles. Your eyes widen and your mouth fails to work properly as you try to piece words together.

    "Look at me, please," you cover his hands with your own and tug him closer to you, gently pulling his hands away from his face. "It was just a nightmare. It's not real. You know what's real? This. Us right now. Me holding your hands, that's real." You wrap your arms around his neck and press your cheek against his. "Me hugging you, that's real," You turn your head and press your lips against his cheek. "Me kissing you, that's very real," 

    Taehyung turns to face you. He looks at you for a moment and leans in, his lips lingering above yours before closing the space in between and kissing you. "This is definitely real," he smiles, his forehead against yours. 

♦