-', ❝(013: 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻) ꒱ ↷👽🛸❞

"열셋"

TAEHYUNG HAVE BEEN OFF ever since that day. It's been 4 days so far and he's barely even spoken a word to Aspen all together. He no longer offered Aspen the opportunity to use him as her own personal heater and he never again asked for her to run her fingers through his hair.

He spent his days sitting on the edge of the couch, silently watching the proceedings of Euphoria without so much as breathing. Or he'd be in the garage, working for hours on end, only to later come out, take a shower, and go to sleep.

As the days passed, Aspen grew more and more concerned, though she pretended as if she wasn't. The most Taehyung would say to her now was 'good morning' and 'goodnight'. They simply floated around each other.

Taehyung figured that it was better to distance himself from her, in the long run at least.

On the 5th day, Aspen decided that she would ask him what was wrong.

"Tae."

Taehyung turned to look at her, his eyes dull and lifeless. There were no longer those little stars as if he contained the galaxy within his eyes. He only hummed in response to her calling him. No, "yes, human Aspen?" Nothing of the sort.

"Is everything ok? You've been very quiet lately." Aspen asked him. Taehyung looked away, turning back to look at the screen. "Yes. I am fine." He spoke almost robotically to her. Yes, his words always sounded proper, but proper and polite was something, a personality of sorts. A robot was nothing, meant nothing, felt nothing.

Aspen obviously didn't believe him, not even for a moment. She cared about him, as much as she hated to admit it. He had grown on her. She moved across the couch to him. "Tae tell me what's wrong." She took a seat beside him.

"Nothing. I'm fine." He repeated, this time giving her a tight, dorky smile in hopes that maybe it would convince her before going back to watching TV, his face falling flat once more. It didn't.

She thought of things that he liked. He liked food, cuddling, having her run her fingers through his hair. She figured that she could try one of those, hopefully that would make him open up.

Aspen picked up his arm by the wrist and placed it around herself before wrapping her arms around his torso and resting her head against his chest as she always did. She knew she hadn't been the best to him, the kindest, but she could try.

"Can you please tell me what's wrong?"

Taehyung sighed, sulking a bit into the couch cushions. He was silent for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain what he was feeling when he didn't even understand the half of it. Complex emotions swirled within him. He couldn't even identify them.

"I assume I long for the familiarity of my home." Taehyung told her, though he wasn't entirely sure that's what it was. "Everything is different here and I'm not use to it yet." He wasn't sure if he missed his home or rather, he felt as though he didn't belong here on Earth.

Aspen felt the vibrations of his speech through his chest as they left it. It was understandable that he would feel out of place here.

"You'll get use to it." Aspen told him. "Until you leave. You'll get use to it." She looked across from him, out the window at the rather uncharacteristically clear day. "We should go out today. I haven't taken Yeontan on a walk in a while now."

Taehyung lit up, for the first time in days, his starry eyes sparkled with excitement. He always liked going outside, even if it was standing in the backyard just to get some fresh air. He didn't hesitate to get up and rush upstairs to grab some clothes to wear.

Aspen waited for him to grab his clothes before going into her room to change. She could only expect for it to be rather cold, so she dressed warm, in a thick sweater and a jacket, but Taehyung didn't share the same idea, he didn't need to worry about the cold. So their outfits were drastically different. Taehyung dressed like it was just a warm fall day while Aspen dressed like she was about to step out into a blizzard.

Taehyung shifted his weight between his two feet, ready to go out, even if it was to simply take a walk around the block. He was even more excited than Yeontan who sat beside him, tail wagging, tongue falling out of his mouth. It was more like she was walking two dogs rather than one.

Aspen got Yeontan's collar and leash and slipped it over his little head. "Come on you two." She opened the front door and out rushed the two of them with her in tow. Aspen was sure to lock the door before they began their walk.

Taehyung seized her hand and pulled her along. He was impatient, excited, filled to the brim with energy that he was simply dying to release. Aspen didn't have the heart to tell him to slow down. At least he was happy now, not some lifeless creature silently roaming her house.

He was amazed by the complex simplicity of Earth. Trees and plants he's never seen before, colors he never imagined ever existed. He was intrigued by Earth life, whether it's humans, animals, or plants. The curious science of Earth is something he wanted to further explore before he left.

Taehyung never released her hand as they took their walk. He grasped her tightly, refusing to let go. He was exploring the world with her, however small this piece of the world was.

He thought of the day that he'd leave this small planet for many days and many nights when sleep evaded him. He thought of the day when he'd fix his communication device and someone would come and rescue him from. He'd wave goodbye to Aspen and Yeontan and thank her for everything.

They'd never see each other again, besides in their distant memories.

And as the days passed and Taehyung grew closer to Aspen, more attached to her, he found that it was hard to imagine that day, that he'd...miss her. That was the correct term, right? Miss? When you think about someone and long to be near them, with them when you were separated.

He would miss her.

Yes, Miss.

He would miss laying around with her, watching TV and eating as she stayed near him to keep warm. He'd miss her soft smile whenever he became clueless about generic earthly things. He'd miss her stern voice and her stern expression when she was being serious.

"I will miss you." Taehyung told her, his voice unsure if he should even be saying this. He wanted her to feel the same way. He wanted her to miss him as well. Everything he seems to do makes her uncomfortable and he wished that he could change that, that he couch understand what was wrong to he could fix it.

Aspen smiled lightly, the corners of her lips turning upwards as she heard his words. She didn't know why it made her so happy to hear that he'd miss her when he was gone. Maybe because she's miss him too.

Aspen hated to admit it, but the sucker had grown on her with his weird, but cute smile, his cluelessness, his innocent gaze.  When he left back to wherever he came from, Aspen would be alone again, only Yeontan and occasionally Jin to keep her company, the only thing to pass her time was work.

She didn't want to go back to that. Life was much more interesting with Taehyung here to keep her company.

"I'll miss you too, Tae."

Taehyung smiled as well, his heart racing in his chest. He didn't know why it did this, but it didn't hurt, so he didn't think he was dying or anything. He could hear Aspen's heart race as well.

Their little moment was interrupted when a small bark erupted from Yeontan who had caught sight of another dog in the backyard of another house. Aspen tugged softly at hisnkeash so they could continue along their eaym

They were both happy in that moment, walking hand in hand, through their neighborhood. Though the underlying thought of Taehyung having to leave in the possibly near future with lingered in the back of their minds.

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

I added a section to this chapter so it was a tad bit longer. They didn't go out before but I thought it would be good to add that section in there cuz why not?

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay (´ε｀ )