His feet, that treaded through tall grass; and his breaths, dashing out in misty puffs over the humid atmosphere. The jungle trees that surrounded him stood so high he could barely see the night sky. But even so, Taehyung continued running, running, ignored the exhausted ache pulsing all over his feet.

He's had this dream before. Plenty of times.

When he was younger he'd often dream of running through a dark jungle, usually during those long nights where he'd pass out from blood loss, after having taken a rough beating from his uncle. In this dream he'd run, search for a way out of the endless stream of tall trees and grass and the haunting noises of jungle wildlife that threatened to swallow him whole.

And after an eternity of running, he'd run some more. But this time the trees lower just a little, and he'd spot constellations in the night sky. His eyes would watch their twinkle. He'd trace them, make shapes from them, distract himself from his hefty breaths, and the lungs that nearly gave out on him.

This time it wasn't any different.

Just another rerun of his recurring dream. The one that's haunted him ever since he could remember. And all he could do was wait it out while he lived in it for the nth time.

He skid against the dirt, tripped suddenly over a long tree branch until his face hit the ground. His heart clenched inside his chest. Whenever he'd reach this point in the dream, the jungle trees would sink into the dirt, and his uncle would emerge behind their sinking shadows.

The dream would always end with his uncle approaching him, and Taehyung would spectate his dream self, screaming. For what felt like yet another eternity.

Except this time, when Taehyung lifted his head from the ground, he instead found himself laying over a large area of sand.

He let out a small cough, hauled his body from the ground until he stood in place, scanning the new environment his dream had landed him in.

This looked familiar. Sand at every corner, the ocean in front of him. The night sky, and a full moon.

He'd been here before.

"How many did you find?"

He heard laughter, the sound of padding feet running through grain. With squinted eyes Taehyung began to walk towards the shore, letting the salty breeze push through his hair.

There, at the distance, stood two young boys giggling. They held their palms beside each other, flaunting their collection of seashells.

"Twenty-six! What about you?" One of the boys spoke, and the other's mouth dropped into adorable shock.

"Me too! Twenty-six!"

Taehyung drew closer, somehow understanding that he was a mere spectator in whatever it was the dream was showing him. But upon taking a closer look at the two boys, his lowered breath notified him of the sudden skip of his heartbeat.

The two boys were him and Jeongguk, as children.

He became completely still, watching as the young version of him and Jeongguk began to mix their collected seashells together.

Him and Jeongguk. In their most innocent forms.

And it was then that he knew. Somehow he just understood.

That he won't be dreaming of his uncle anymore. He won't be running endlessly through jungles ever again.

No.

From now on he'll be here, under a full moon. Inside his utopia with Jeon Jeongguk, collecting seashells and giggling at mindless things. A world of just them two.

"I have to go back now, hyung." The young Jeongguk then spoke, his voice pulsing, chiming in a dreamlike echo. "Mom will get worried if I disappear for too long."

And Taehyung watched his younger self smile back at the boy. "Okay, I'll go with you! Let's get you home safely."

The child Jeongguk returned the innocent grin and the two boys locked hands, a warm embrace, before they began to leave their footprints in the sand.

The sound of waves crashing over the shore began to grow loud in his ears. Gradually, building up until suddenly Taehyung's eyes snapped open.

Slowly, he inhaled.

And he found himself back in the realm of reality, over his own couch at home, his gaze lifted to settle up at the walls. Taehyung watched the ceiling. There, in the creases, laid bumps inside the texture. Shapes. He could trace the lines with his eyes, lines that intertwined and formed coherent yet incoherent shapes. Somewhere along the way, it gets hard to trace them all.

The air in the atmosphere was still. And Taehyung no longer had interest in tracing shapes. In keeping himself distracted.

Because, no longer will he have to run through that dark lonely jungle.

Not anymore.

"Oh, did I... wake you up?" He heard a gentle voice, and it was then that he realized a comforting warmth beneath his head. He looked up, caught sight of an innocent face gazing at him sheepishly.

It took him a few seconds, but Taehyung finally grasped the situation he had woken up to. That being, him laying his head over Jeongguk's lap as he must've been taking a nap on the couch. The boy's gentle fingers ran through his hair strands, caressing them lightly.

"You looked like you were having a bad dream, so.. I started stroking your hair.." Jeongguk continued in a quiet voice. "You seemed to calm down after that."

The younger's nimble fingers dipped back into his soft hair, ran them over the wavy strands across his scalp in soothing motions. Taehyung's eyes fell shut, a gentle rhythm coming to his breaths.

"This calms you down, doesn't it?" The boy chuckled softly.

Taehyung cracked a grin. And Jeongguk watched as his eyes then fluttered back open, a glimmer in the windows to his soul.

"Jeongguk.." The older finally spoke, his voice a tad raspy from his recent nap.

The boy blinked down curiously at him.

"Hm?"

"I love you."

A chill down his spine. Bunny teeth grabbed onto the flesh of his bottom lip, and Jeongguk's eyes enlarged, an endearing red hue splashed over the pale canvas that were his supple cheeks.

"A-Asshole.." He muttered quietly, seemingly taken off guard by the sudden gentle tone of the older's raspy deep voice. "You can't just-... s-say that out of nowhere. It's bad for m-my poor heart."

Taehyung's endeared grin only widened further, a glowing glint in his eyes at the sight of his flustered, cute boy.

"If it means I get to see your pretty face all flushed like this, then let me keep being bad for your heart, darling."

✱ ✱ ✱

{ A / N + AO3 announcement }

so, this is a very special chapter 🥺
and if you're curious, some of it is a parallel to tae and yerin's interaction in chapter 14, as well as taegguk at the beach in chapter 69.

if you couldn't already tell i love referencing past chapters in newer ones :3 i just think it ties the story together well and makes it a full circle moment. it also makes it feel like everything was planned since the very beginning, which is true - i've done tons and tons of planning since the moment i started writing this story. i knew about 80% of how i wanted to it to go right from chapter 1.

actually this chapter's events is the beginning of the next (chapter 77) but since it'll become even more meaningful later on, i separated it as its own chapter. plus, chapter 77 may turn out really long cuz i don't want to interrupt the flow of its scenes, so this should shorten it a little :]

! also UHS is on AO3 now !

link is in my profile bio 😌

i asked my followers if i should post the story on there, and you guys were all for it! so there u go, feel free to reread on there or just give the story some love :3

AO3 has a little summary section, so i'll be writing recap notes on there cuz this story's divided into many many chapters. hopefully it makes it easier to remember things! i'll be posting updates there daily until it catches up.

see you guys in the next update 💜