a/n: the beginning of this chapter's a little too fast, but the ending turned out alright. ;)

taehyung woke up wrapped up in unfamiliar blankets with the scent of strawberries clouding his head.

"yoongi's couch smells like strawberries."

he rolled over onto his side murmuring to himself.

"actually, it's my bed. and i have strawberry scented laundry detergent."

taehyung's eyes shot open and he jolted out of bed, blinking rapidly at the sight of yoongi sitting on the floor beside him.

"where did you sleep?"

"the couch."

"generous bastard. should have given me the couch," taehyung said, rubbing his eyes and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "why are you so nice to me?"

"shut up and get dressed," yoongi said, completely ignoring taehyung's words. at that, taehyung sulked and looked to yoongi with questioning eyes.

"get dressed for what? it's eight in the morning."

"we're going out today."

"where?"

"just get ready, starboy."

* * *

two hours into the drive, taehyung groaned and stretched his legs along the dashboard of yoongi's car.

"why are we going so far?" he whined, earning a nonchalant, uninterested scoff from yoongi. they were in the middle of what taehyung thought of as absolutely nowhere.

the road was void of cars and there was no other sign of life whatsoever other than the dainty, lonely looking trees that lined the road.

"if you're kidnapping me, just kill me quick," taehyung said. "maybe a gun to the head or something. nothing slow, i've had enough of that."

"starboy, i'm not going to kill your pessimistic ass," yoongi retorted. "if anything kills you, it'll be the lack of your will to live."

"fair."

an hour more into the drive was when the ugly trees and lifeless roads started turning into lively city streets.

small stores lined the sidewalks where people walked by with coffees and bagels. trees lay every few feet, decorated at the bottom with colorful flowers and rocks. taehyung leaned forward, taking in the place.

"why are we here?" he asked.

"we're getting lunch. and then we're going somewhere special."

he drove into the parking lot behind a corner convenience store. they stepped out of the car, walking into the streets.

the city was small. it was somewhat quiet and somewhat less busy than the city streets of seoul that yoongi was used to. people were less rushed. they walked slower and spoke with less austerity, and they seemed more friendly than the hostile people yoongi knew back at home.

yoongi and taehyung went to a small diner and took a seat at a booth. the waitress took their orders and smiled brightly at them, no doubt noticing taehyung's particularly ragged appearance but choosing to ignore it.

the waitress left and taehyung played with the sleeves of his hoodie.

"yoongs, this is actually really cute."

yoongi smiled. "what is?"

"this little trip," taehyung replied. his eyes weren't so dull anymore. "my mother will probably go berserk when she finds out i haven't been home, but it's worth it."

"you don't have to go back, taehyung," yoongi said. he spoke gently. "you could stay with me. i can give you decent meals, care for you, i could-"

"it's okay, yoongi," taehyung interrupted. "i'm okay."

"no you're not!" yoongi wanted to scream. taehyung was so obviously not okay. he was so obviously hurt, so clearly in need of help. why didn't he see it?

the words had made their way up his throat when the waitress suddenly came back with their food. yoongi cursed his luck and cursed the timing, quickly hiding his discomfort with a timid smile directed towards the waitress.

she walked away and yoongi pushed the words back down his throat with a sip of water. they could wait. he had time.

"let's eat."

* * *

"yoongi, look at this!" taehyung said, holding an antique mirror out to yoongi. "it looks like the one my grandma had."

after lunch they had walked down the street until they reached an old antique shop. there had been a pretty clock and old globe in the display window, and taehyung had been quick to drag yoongi inside.

yoongi smiled at taehyung's excitement and nodded at the mirror he had found. they walked in and out of the aisles of dusty antiques before leaving and going to a thrift shop where yoongi found dollar bracelets.

they were simple; just silver chains with a charm or two on each.

"look. we could wear these as a symbol of our friendship."

taehyung laughed. "sappy. and a little cringe worthy, but i'll do it since it's with you."

they each clasped on a bracelet: taehyung's had a star and yoongi's had a planet.

"never take it off, okay? once you take it off, our friendship is over."

taehyung laughed. "i'll take it off then."

yoongi scoffed and backhanded him as hard as he could before paying for the bracelets.

after stopping by a few more stores, the sun started to set, and yoongi had to drag taehyung back to the convenience store parking lot and shove him back into the car. he started driving as taehyung whined about not stopping by a shrink's place.

"we could have gone to the fortune teller!" taehyung said. "what if our future is, like, a car accident or something?"

yoongi scoffed, not even looking away from the road as he did so.

"shut up and look out the window."

and so taehyung did, groaning and whining, and his eyes widened.

water.

deep blue water.

he could see sand brushed all the way into the road leaving it grainy and yellow. the beach was somehow vacant, but the emptiness made it look welcoming. and not only could he see golden sand and blue water, but the sun was setting also, sinking and bathing in the colors of the sky. taehyung opened the window, breathing in and smiling at yoongi.

"i can't believe you."

"isn't it nice?"

"it's amazing."

yoongi parked the car by a big tree with spidery limbs that stretched in every direction. he stepped out of the car and his shoes crunched lightly against the light dusting of sand on gravel.

he went to the trunk and pulled out the blanket and food he had packed early in the morning.

once he and taehyung were settled on the blanket by the water, he handed a sandwich to taehyung who took it with a smile before turning to look at the sea again.

"it's so blue," taehyung murmured. "i've never seen water so blue in my life."

and it really was blue, various shades of it all in one painting so real and right in front of their eyes that it seemed made up. the waves were gentle, rushing up onto the sand and drawing back ever so slowly, the soft sounds of running water seeming to echo every time. taehyung reached forwards, crawling closer to the water on his hands and knees. he stuck out his pointer finger and dragged it across the sand drawing a single line. the waves then rushed back up and taehyung jumped back as the water dragged away his drawing.

"it's gone."

"the water takes it."

"it's so sad."

yoongi looked into taehyung's eyes and the innocence he saw nearly broke his heart. he was so pure, so young. his eyes were so big and full of curiousity. he was like a child, but why did he have to be so hurt?

"you can draw it again," yoongi said. "draw something pretty. like a star."

taehyung drew, and then his big eyes watched intrigued as the water took it away again.

"it's like everything else," taehyung said. "it disappears. gets taken away." he blinked. "it dies."

"but you can make a new one."

at that, taehyung nodded, biting his lip and leaning back onto the blanket. he turned to yoongi and smiled, but yoongi could see tears in his eyes.

yoongi hesitated.

"are you alright?"

taehyung forced his smile wider, rubbing at his nose.

"yoongi," he said. "why does everything disappear?"

yoongi couldn't quite find an answer. he gestured for taehyung to sit closer and wrapped an arm around the younger boy's shoulders. he smiled, looking out at the water.

"tae, look at the sky."

in the midst of his tears and sudden emotional anxiety, taehyung hadn't noticed the sky going dark. he blinked away the tears and nearly sobbed again at the stars in the sky.

the polluted city air in seoul had hidden away the stars at night, leaving the sky vacant and dark, bleak and dead, and taehyung hadn't known the beauty of the night sky until he looked up right then.

"they're alive."

"aren't they beautiful?"

taehyung nodded, ears listening to the crashing of soft waves, fingertips tingling to the cool breeze, and eyes gazing up admiringly at the real, living stars.

"they look so bright."

"that's what i see in your eyes."

taehyung felt tears well up again and he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve.

"i would live to see these stars again."

he leaned into yoongi's arms, tears now inevitably falling down his cheeks. "yoongi, i wanted to die so bad," he choked out. "for so long, i've wanted to be put out of my misery and just shot through the head so that i didn't have to face the world anymore. but yoongi," he sobbed once, finally facing yoongi because his crying couldn't be hidden anymore. "if i could see these stars with you again, i'd live. i'm alright staying alive as long as i can see the stars."

yoongi held taehyung tighter, running a trembling hand down the boy's arm to calm his sobs.

"i live to see your stars, starboy."

the night was silent. distant sounds of cars filled it in, and the sounds of the water and air held it all together. everything was in sync, following one heartbeat, and yoongi believed that the heartbeat it followed was taehyung's.

through the dark, taehyung and yoongi looked at each other.

all that lit up their faces was the soft, blue glow of the moon, but yoongi could see the stars in taehyung's eyes so clearly.

it was as if they were breathing again, in sync with everything else in the air. taehyung hicupped, sobs dying down as tears still flowed freely along his cheeks. yoongi smiled and taehyung smiled back, the flowering bruises on his skin and dying cuts on his wrists momentarily feeling painless, as if they had never existed.

yoongi watched taehyung's eyes light up the dark and breathed with his heartbeat.

he wasn't quite sure which was more beautiful; the stars in the sky or the ones in taehyung's eyes.