PHONING... Dead Butterflies.

ִֶָPHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ dead butterflies.

Besides the distance between the two of you, nothing could sever the connection you and Taehyun shared so long as you shared the same moon.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 1k ✧ fluff , kang taehyun x reader

A streak of light flashes across the sky, a rare occurrence in the streets of Paris. Thick heavy raindrops pound the uneven pavement, littered with dried leaves and twigs.

Running down the street, huddled together under only his coat, the two of you laughed as the sound filled the streets.

The times that you got to see Taehyun were few and far between these days but the ways in which he would make it up to you were always worth it in the end.

The never ending affection he gave you when he would return, gentle kisses up your wrist as you shyly hid your face from his gaze.

From the first time that he had kissed you so gently, you realized the complete power he had over you.

That first time, on a night similar to this with much quieter patterns of rain where he wrapped his arms around you outside the door of your apartment.

Your grip on the edge of his coat beckoned for him to stay and he let out a sigh.

He didn’t need to say anything, you knew that he couldn’t.

Taehyun wasn’t even gone and yet you already found yourself missing him, a feeling of yearning so intense that you could never have imagined before meeting him.

"Keep me in your heart.”

The sentence was fairly unlike him, you had come to find out. Later on in your relationship you found he tended to shy away from such dramatic phrases, offering a much more pragmatic outlook on things.

Despite this, he had made the exception for you.

Breathing in his scent mixed with the smell of the rain, your heart began to swell.

With the distance that soon followed, you found yourself grateful for the space it provided.

Taehyun never let the distance get the best of you, offering any second that he had free to you.

For once in your life, you believed that distance made the heart grow fonder.

With knowing him, there was a newfound desire that spurred in your heart.

You’d try to think straight but realized you were falling so badly, everything seemed to be jumbled together. Everything except for him.

A feeling so unfamiliar you could never quite place— something that only seemed perfectly depicted by the movies.

You never knew that much at all about love before he came into your life but delicately, you seemed to be learning.

"You were right about the storm!" he yells over the howling wind. "Obviously! I told you we should have headed out sooner." You cried, voice charged with excitement, and he laughed.

“Can you blame me for wanting to stay with you longer?” You stumble over a stray log on the sidewalk as he reaches out to catch you.

Finally reaching the safety of your apartment, the awning above providing shelter from the rain.

The two of you tumble on the dry grass laughing without a care for the mess you’d become.

He tosses aside his drenched coat, wrapping his arms around your waist.

Your bag falls from hands, contents consisting of broken hand mirrors and flavored lip glosses spilling out.

The world froze around you as he kissed you good night.

The moon peeks through the treetops and you are content.

With moments of silence like this, you’d think back to your first conversation at some fashion designer event you can’t recall the name of now.

“I live in a dorm with the others," he said, describing it in such a way that when you finally came to scale those vast, wooden floors, it was like you had seen it a thousand times before.

As if it had always been there, waiting to welcome you. Like the pretty, sunlit corner of his room that remained unfurnished, sitting empty until your visit, now filled with your paints and brushes.

Emptied drawers now occupied by articles of clothing slowly growing larger after every visit you had made, always leaving a trace of you behind as a reminder of what he had waiting for him in Paris.

An 8 hour time difference and ruined sleep schedules never seemed to falter your shared determination.

To each other, you were worth it.

You’d never been so glad to be so tired.

Often times when it was your turn to visit, you would fondly call him your Frankenstein, a man who was a patchwork of all the things you had ever longed for.

He’d grimace at the thought of something so ugly and you’d laugh, poking his dimple only for him to teasingly bite your finger.

As you’d cringe and push him away with a loud ‘eugh’ he would be the one laughing, arm locked around you as he trapped you to pull you in.

The soft kiss he’d place on your forehead was enough to silence you.

Taehyun always gave you such gifts—not the kind that were put in boxes, but the sort that filled you with imagination, breathing indescribable happiness into your life even from a distance.

Notes he had given you in person and letters he had sent overseas, all the words he had wrote seemed to thread together into a ribbon perfectly tied around your heart.

As if he had cast a spell on you with them, each word was forever burned into your mind and with it the memory of each moment you read them.

The love Taehyun had provided was all-consuming, sometimes you found yourself crying as you lost all control.

The heavy realization of how unbelievably in love you were with him, how unbelievably grateful you were.

Cursing at the moon as if it were somehow at fault for the distance between the two of you.

Late into the night when you came to your senses, your hushed apologies were enough as the moon lulled you back to sleep with the reminder that as long as the two of you looked up at the same one, the two of you were always connected.

Despite how far you were from each other due to your occupations, he always made sure to integrate parts of you into his life and you, him.

One particular visit to Paris for work he had come, hands full of heavy bags. Curiously, you tried to peek in only for him to shake his head and follow you into your apartment.

That day, rather than going out for some fancy dinner, the two of you stayed in and spent the hours conversing while painting intricate designs on flower pots.

"So you can create your little monstrous plants," he explained.

Secretly, he had hoped you would gift him one to bring back with him. A small part of you and Paris to bring back home.

And somehow, by some miracle stroke of luck, you handed the pot back to him with a small seed tightly packed inside of it.

“What is this?”

“It’ll be a surprise, just keep nurturing it. Okay?”

Now, the potted plants he had brought back were suddenly littered around his room despite his lack of a green thumb.

And his love for the gesture trumped any sense of doubt that he had in his ability to keep it alive, doing his best to nurture the plants just as you had asked.

With time, it would grow just as you promised.

No matter what it was, he looked forward to it.

Due to the constant presence of social media in your work and personal relationships, the sacred times you spent together in person were spent unplugged.

Finding anything to occupy yourselves, you’d go wherever the cities would take you.

On your first time visiting the HYBE building’s rooftop garden, Taehyun had showed you how to catch the stray butterflies that fluttered from their elusive neighbors.

You told him about the rumors that companies would farm them for cosmetic use.

He listened in morbid fascination as you described how the helpless insects were cruelly dismembered, before their fragile and beautiful wings were crushed and ground into a fine powder.

“Your lips would look beautiful painted with butterly wings," he would tease you, his thumb brushing your lower lip.

A scoff of fake offense would escape your lips as you shoved him away, only to lock hands and pull him closer shortly after.

"Yeah right.”

The two of you had spent much of your days alone, in your peaceful sanctuaries, apart from the peering eyes of the outside world.

When the weather was good, the two of you would venture out of Paris, past the worn jetty and picnic of the city’s little beach.

You, with a small, amused smile on your lips, hair tousled by the sea wind. You were different from anything he had ever known.

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ birthday.

Over the years, you’ve become jaded of your dream to find a love that would provide a home for your heart. One chance encounter is enough to change those days forever.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 2k ✧ fluff , huening kai x reader

As a child, you would drift in and out of libraries filled with dead poets and their musky scent. Pages upon pages filled with musings of love long lost, only immortalized on those pages that began to yellow and fade with time.

Most people found themself drawn to poems about love, searching for the words to describe what they all longed for— true romance.

Unlike them, you often found yourself fixating on the books that held the passage of time. Maybe there was something that the authors knew, something that would make it all make sense.

You held them in your hands and breathed them in wanting so much to be part of their world. To understand and learn from them— to find something to fight for.

The books told you one day your poetry would be whispered on the lips of your lover, that time would slow and all that would remain was your love.

It was within these pages that you found yourself believing that was the only thing time could never take away.

With this came the yearning and soon your birthday wishes were replaced with something of a much heavier weight.

Overtime, you grew to dislike your birthday. It wasn’t always like that, though.

One year you would love it, others you would hate it.

One thing that always remained was the feeling of loneliness, even while surrounded by people smiling and clapping.

Somehow your birthday felt excruciatingly long but never long enough.

The existential dread that would come with facing the fact you were getting older and empty self-made promises.

The ritual of blowing the candles, the cutting of the cake— the mess of cream and sponge in your mouth.

Always your favorite, never changing flavors overtime because who was it for, if not you?

The taste was sweet and familiar, like a newly formed wish, fashioned from all the ones you've made before.

Cake began to be the only thing you looked forward to as you got older, until eventually you stopped eating it altogether.

You don't remember the wishes you made in sequence or the things you ask for.

You only recall the ones you wanted the most, like the f/c scarf you saw in a shop’s display window when you were thirteen.

The admiration for how perfect the mannequin seemed to wear it, partnered with a perfectly coordinated outfit.

How deeply you yearned to wear it as flawlessly as it had, maybe then someone would see you and fall in love just how you did in that moment.

How deeply you felt its’ absence when you sat and stared at the litter of torn wrapping paper, empty new possessions littered around as you waited for the next one— only for it to never come.

And even though it was trivial to everyone else, your heart ached at its’ failing.

You found yourself wondering what the cause of such heartache was.

The books said that the greatest heartache came from loving another soul, beyond any doubt or reason.

It was with realizing this, you called yourself lucky to have never been in love with anyone as much as you’d been in love with that scarf.

As long as your love was directed towards the minuscule things, you would be safe.

Yet deep down, a part of you still yearned for someone to look at you and convince you to take that risk. So you would try over and over again, despite the promise of heartache, to find what you wanted.

To have someone to spend your birthday with.

After all, what was more poetic than one’s birthday?

A day spent celebrating your life and your future, reflecting on the past and wishing for your future.

Or facing the inevitable end, remembering your final destination.

And even though it wasn’t death you feared itself, the idea of facing it alone seemed devastating.

Your wishes always changed.

Like the year you turned fifteen and your best friend's mother got really sick.

Despite all the stories your friend had shared with you about their relationship, when you found her breaking down at the news: you felt that heartache again.

All you wanted was for her to be okay again.

It was that year you learned that shooting stars were either a blessing or a curse, depending on what you wanted to believe.

In your case, for that year, it seemed to be a curse.

On your seventeenth birthday, you found yourself falling in love for the first time. Or at least, you thought so in the moment.

Walking out of your front door anxiously fidgeting with the bottom of your shirt as you made your way to his car, only for him to meet you halfway.

Standing on the sidewalk where he brought you red roses and a promising smile.

“Happy birthday.” He said.

When he broke your heart, you cried for days.

Many birthdays came and went.

One by one, you loved them and just as easily, they were lost to you.

Somewhere amidst the carnations and mistletoe you slowly learned more about love than the books ever told.

Love was messy and almost unattainable. Love was seemingly temporary, but inevitably painful.

Little by little, your heart that was once a bouquet of hope and ecstasy blossomed into one of tenderness and betrayal.

You wondered if you would ever be able to shed that loneliness that came every year, always the same day.

Then you met him.

Your meeting was clumsy and unusual, just like him as he flashed you a friendly smile and uttered a quick apology.

You stood in the doorway with the box of a now crooked birthday cake, dumbfounded.

It wasn’t until he waved his hand in front of your face and asked if you were okay that you had snapped out of it.

“I’m… okay.” Your voice was hesitant, unsure of how to proceed.

Everything in your heart yelled at you to keep the conversation going— to say anything to keep him here, in this moment.

“I’m not so sure about my cake, though.”

Looking down to realize the cake that was once decorated with intricate roses and beautiful cursive lettering was now lopsided and smudged, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“We should fix that then.” And he smiled, signaling for you to follow him back into the bakery the two of you had collided in front of.

The two of you had waited in the line to the register to explain the situation and see if there was any hope for you to get a quick replacement.

A face straight out of a magazine, it was a miracle you hadn’t recognized him. Longing glances and the sound of whispers nearby should have tipped you off but to you, everything besides his voicr was simply white noise.

Holding your breath next to the handsome stranger, you found yourself hoping that the line would never move.

“Huening Kai, by the way.”

“Huh?”

“I said Huening Kai, that’s my name.” His voice was patient and even bubbly.

“Oh.” Was all you could say.

“I really hope your friends’ birthday doesn’t get ruined— I should have been watching where I was going, haha…” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and you found yourself falling further into his boyish charms.

You felt much younger than you were, that feeling of your heart fluttering you only felt once when that boy had given you roses.

How special he must have been to give you that simply by smiling.

“It’s… my birthday, actually.” It took you a moment to admit and he must have noticed with how he nodded.

“Well, I hope I didn’t ruin your birthday then.”

“It’s really no problem, I’m not doing much anyways so… there really isn’t any need for you to get me a replacement.”

Pulling back on the idea, he seemed to pick up on the slight embarrassment you had.

“It was a beautiful cake, but it’s fine. Really.”

“A beautiful cake for a beautiful girl, right?”

The blood rushed to your cheeks and you swore you could have stumbled over from how lightheaded you became. And he simply laughed, quickly apologizing for his teasing.

“Haha I’m sorry, I just don’t know your name.”

In that line you stood, dressed in a messy accumulation of whatever clothes you could find in a rush out of your apartment and your hair tussled about.

You certainly didn’t feel beautiful but you found yourself believing his words, despite it all. Maybe you were the tiniest bit hopeful.

“Huh? Oh, it’s Y/N…”

“Right. Happy birthday, Y/N!”

You weren’t sure if he knew it then but in that moment, all of those wasted birthdays seemed worth it because you had endured them to get to that moment.

The moment he came into your life, the best birthday gift you could ever ask for.

Without even knowing who he was prior, Huening Kai was the first man you fell in love with, completely and beyond reason, beyond any shadow of doubt you knew. You finally understood was the books spoke of.

He brought you dandelions each date.

You asked him why, if he thought they were pretty.

“They’re as pretty as you~” He’d joke.

The real reason, you later found out, was so you would never want for wishes.

Even on birthdays, he began to bring you that weed.

Somehow, you found the weed more romantic than any flowers you’d been given before simply for the meaning behind it.

A secret meaning just for the two of you.

It wasn’t a long time before the two of you had given yourselves to each other completely, jumping in head first.

It was your first birthday with him.

You never explained to him your distaste for your birthday but it didn’t stop him from encouraging the two of you to celebrate together.

Until then, it had always been the same every year. As soon as the first match was struck, the smell of burning takes you backward through your memory.

It stopped you right at that moment on that warm night, after your first heartbreak where you watched the first trickle of melting wax hit the icing and you found yourself crying for the love you thought you had lost.

Now there you were, the wax melting ever so slowly again, pouring down to deface the beautiful cake he had ordered for you. Combing through your memory, you tried to find something to wish for.

Something new or something old, it didn’t matter.

But you couldn't think of a single thing you had wanted— because he was standing there, in the lickering light, asking you to make a wish.

Messy blonde hair in his face as he leaned into his hoodie with that smile, the one you fell in love with had you holding your breath in the candlelight.

You looked deep into his eyes and saw the very best of yourself reflected back, all with love.

And you knew: he loved you, beyond reason, beyond doubt, and with no hope of salvation.

You knew your being happy was an anomaly and no one knew you better than he.

But for once, your resolve was firm and without avoiding his gaze, without crossing your fingers behind your back; or the other things you did when speaking untruthfully—you told him you were happy.

On your birthday, warm in the candlelight where your heart felt as if it were floating away.

The rain doesn’t discriminate between day or night and either will hold its own light and dark, you had learned over the years.

Through years of crying in bedroom closets, office cubicles and club bathrooms: the rain never discriminates.

You smiled nervously, feeling almost guilty for not having a wish. Despite this, you blew out the candles.

But as you went to confess your strange lack of want for anything materialistic or otherwise, he cut you off in that same playful voice.

“I love you, Y/N.”

And it was then you knew in your heart, you would always look back on that time-not without a sense of melancholy— that it was the happiest in your life.

Birthday or not, it didn’t matter anymore as long as you were with him.

After that, he never pressured you to celebrate again.

Some years the two of you had your cake and others, when your anxiety of mortality crept up on you, the two of you would treat it the same as any other day.

Of course it was the same as any other day but not without the extra caresses and gentle ‘I love you’s.

Kai hadn’t completely changed you or somehow healed that broken part of you by gifting you dandelions and pinky promises but that didn’t matter.

And now this was the year you were sure you would spend the rest of your lives together. The two of you had fallen completely in love, for the first and last time with each other.

This year where there weren't any candles— just the two of you walking late at night through the city streets with your heart in each other’s hands.

How thankful you were that you had given yourself to the first stranger who called you beautiful on your birthday.

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ Something.

Dancing with Taehyun on the ice was your favorite past time but recently he’s seeming more and more distracted.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 2k ✧ fluff

As the frosty air enveloped the ice rink, two figure skaters stood side by side, their hearts pounding in unison with the rhythm of the music.

You and Taehyun were a team, bound together by a presumed shared passion for the sport and a bond forged through countless hours of practice and dedication.

Originally partnered through word of mouth between both of your coaches, the two of you initially felt dragged down by the other.

It wasn’t that Taehyun was particularly upset that the two of you had been partnered together: you were both incredibly talented and if there was anyone in your guys’ rink that was suitable to be his partner, it was you.

Neither of you had ever worked with a partner before— that was where the hesitancy had stemmed from at first.

Despite this, both of you had the same goals for future competitions and got together with your coaches for a tryout.

As the music began to play, the two of you glided onto the ice with perfectly fluid movements. Each twist and turn was executed with precision, albeit a bit stiff at the time, your bodies began to move as one in perfect harmony with the music.

The butterflies in your stomach had their wings torn apart, stomped out with the blade of your skates as your mind reminded you what the two of you were working toward.

The last thing you could afford was having a crush on your partner— especially Taehyun with his eyes thats depths seemed to hold the secrets of the universe in them.

Definitely not.

In the fluorescent light of the rink, shimmering with a soft, warm hue, radiating warmth with every glance despite his focused expression.

When they meet yours, they drew you in as if you were falling into a flame.

Putting all of your faith and trust into this total stranger, he threw you into the air with you spinning in the air as your heart felt it could burst out of your chest.

When you landed from the perfectly executed spin, you locked eyes with Taehyun and the two of you reached out to grab each other’s hands.

The two of you were solidified as the perfect match.

In the hushed serenity of the empty ice rink, Taehyun stepped onto the glistening surface with a deep breath, his blades slicing through the smooth ice with a soft whisper.

The air was cool and crisp, carrying the faint scent of freshly resurfaced ice and salt.

He came intending to practice for the event but instead found his thoughts full of you.

Over the years, the two of you had entered an endless amount of competitions and won each time so it was frustrating that suddenly he couldn’t get you off of his mind.

With a deep breath, he began his routine, effortlessly moving across the ice. Each step was deliberate, every gesture filled with intention as he hummed to himself to fill the silence and distract himself from thoughts of you.

You and how effortlessly breathtaking you were.

It would be his luck that you had wandered in, standing just outside the rink watching him practice. A small smile tugged at your lips as you leaned against the protective glass with a knock and a wink.

Noticing you from the corner of his eye, a similar expression finds it onto his face as he can only think of how ridiculous you were to come here so late just as he had.

Maybe that was why you had been the perfect partners. Shared determination aside, there were no others as dedicated as you were.

When the two of you were passionate about something, you put your all into it.

As you watched Taehyun, you lost yourself in the rhythm as he executed jumps and spins with precision, his movements confident as he pushes himself to the limits of his skill.

In the quiet moments between the jumps and spins, you found he looked the most beautiful.

Taehyun didn’t want to be a figure skater. You knew this, it was one of the first things he had ever confided in you about.

You didn’t understand at first— this was all you ever wanted, the idea that someone as good as him wasn’t even interested in it at all was a complete surprise.

When you heard his voice for the first time, though, you understood. Taehyun was born to perform, perhaps not in this particular way, but you were sure that he was.

Despite your encouragement to pursue his love for singing, he hadn’t made anymore comments about it since. You felt disappointed for him, hearing his hums in his day to day throughout practices.

He breathed music.

If Taehyun looked as beautiful as he did now doing something that he wasn’t interested in, you couldn’t imagine how he would look on stage.

Watching him over the years: you had realized just how deep the love you had for him ran. As much as you wanted to deny it, it had always been there.

Watching him perform was like witnessing star after star exploding like fireworks, as you fixed your gaze light-years into the sky.

To him, you were everything on the ice but to you? You were only a pinprick of dust compared to him.

You often found yourself daydreaming about what it would be like if you had admitted these feelings to him outside of the rink, during your casual meet ups at cafes to discuss schedules and practice.

You also wondered if he had someone he returned to once you left. The first time you felt his presence, you began joining the dots in the sky, wondering if your stars could ever align.

As Taehyun skated across the ice, his movements become a reflection of his innermost thoughts and emotions, face a mask of concentration.

It was true that Taehyun wasn’t as passionate in his skating as you had initially believed upon meeting him. His skill was simply due to his consistent training, not any specific desire to succeed inside of him.

Though over the years, he had grown to love skating just as he had grown to love you.

Your passion and love for what you did was infectious and the smile that you would give him when the two of you nailed everything exactly how you wanted— that had become his new motivation.

With each practiced turn and twist, his dedication to get it right fueled his every step. The ice beneath his feet became a canvas of sorts.

As the routine drew to a close, he comes to a graceful stop at the center of the rink, his chest heaving with exertion as he looked over to see if you were still watching. Hoping.

When he saw you waving against the glass with a proud smile, his heart had skipped a beat and he almost swore he could have fallen dead right there.

In that solitary moment of practice he had found not only fulfillment but also you: his sense of purpose that somehow managed to break free from the confines of the rink.

In the hushed backstage area of the ice rink, you and Taehyun stood side by side, hearts racing with anticipation and nerves.

“We’re gonna do good, right?” You asked, voice wavering with a sudden uncertainty.

He smiled as he finished tying the ribbon in your hair neatly. “We’re gonna do great.”

The two of you were a study in contrasts: him tall and statuesque, you much more petite agile, yet together the two of you formed a perfectly formidable team.

“Right. Great. We’re gonna do great!” You said, a nervous laugh at the end of your sentence as you clapped your hands together.

Taehyun took a deep breath as he gently grabbed your shoulders, turning you to look at him. You hated when he did this, suddenly feeling lightheaded under his gaze.

“You’re gonna do great, Y/N. I’m not gonna let you fall.” He smiled, the warmest smile you had ever seen.

When you had first met Taehyun, he seemed so convinced that he was as cold as ice. To you, it was very obvious he wasn’t by his eyes alone and the kindness they held when he looked at you.

No matter how cold he may think he is, his love was the warmest of all.

Confidence growing, you straightened your back and nodded with a determined look.

“We got this.”

As the two of you laced up your skates, your movements were focused and deliberate, each knot tied with care.

Even before getting on the ice, your heart was beating wildly in your ears.

Another exchange of knowing glances were made, eyes reflecting a mixture of excitement and apprehension on your end as you prepared to take the ice.

With final adjustments to both of your costumes, you finally enter into the rink.

Stepping out onto the ice, the chill sent a familiar shiver down your spine. The lights above casted a glow over the ice, illuminating the stage for the upcoming performances.

As the two of you started onto the ice, graceful as ever, your bodies moved in the perfect synchronization everyone expected.

In the flurry of activity, there was a quiet confidence that radiated from the two of you, a belief in each other that gives you courage.

Repeating Taehyun’s words in your voice certainly helped to calm your nerves since you trusted him to follow through on his promise as he had many times before.

From how seamlessly he executed everything, it truly was undeniable that he was meant to be in the spotlight.

Even if he hadn’t been your partner, there was no way you could take your eyes off of him.

As the haunting melody of a violin fills the air, the two of you created a mesmerizing tableau of power on the rink.

The music swelled, your blades carving intricate patterns into the ice with each effortless glide.

Bodies intertwined in a delicate dance that told a story of loss, redemption and anything else that the audience was looking for in their current state. Telling the story they wanted to hear.

To you, it told the story of two kids who had fallen in love with the ice and each other.

Your skill was clear to every pair of peering eyes as you blended elements of classical ballet with the athleticism of figure skating. Your form was perfect, executing every move textbook.

As you soared through the air with each breathtaking leap, Taehyun found himself holding his breath as well.

The moments the two of you skate side by side, eyes meeting in a silent exchange of camaraderie, his heart beats along with the rhythm of the music.

As the music reached its crescendo, you come together in the final, breathtaking lift, Taehyun’s hands lifting you high into the air with effortless strength.

Catching your breath mid air, you scanned the crowd while doing your best to hide your expression.

For a moment, the two of you seemed suspended in time, bodies silhouetted against the backdrop of the ice rink, before you descended gracefully back to the ice in a perfect landing.

As the final notes of the music faded away, the audience erupts into applause, their cheers echoed off the walls of the rink as they rise to their feet in a standing ovation.

It felt as if your heart was going to burst and the stoic expression falls away from your face as you let out the nervous laugh you had been holding in, turning to Taehyun.

Instantly his eyes found yours and he laughed along with you, high off of the cheers and praises being yelled toward the two of you.

Amidst this adulation of the crowd, Taehyun gave you a knowing smile and your heart did a flip once again.

You knew that your bond was stronger than ever in the wake of this specific performance as he pulled you in for a hug, the cheers growing even louder.

Something changed in the way he held you.

Making way for the other couples to perform, you and Taehyun stood at the edge of the ice, waiting for your return to the spotlight.

Your eyes glistened with admiration as you watched the next pair, and then the next. Cheering out words of affirmation and encouragement to any and all competitors, Taehyun laughed.

“You really do love this, don’t you?”

You turned to him. “Did you ever doubt it?”

Standing from the bench he was at, he looked down at you and took a step forward. Unsure of how you would react if he hugged you so spontaneously, he instead grabbed your hands in his.

“I’d never doubt you.”

The moment of solidarity, hands clasped tightly together in a silent vow of support.

“Thank you for sticking around,” you started.

He nodded.

“But I want you to do what makes you happy, Taehyun. Not me.”

He furrowed his eyebrows together for a moment, an unreadable expression making its way onto his face.

“You make me happy. Being here with you, makes me happy.”

In that moment, it was confirmed in your mind that something had shifted. Maybe you had always known that the two of you weren’t just two individuals competing against the world.

It was after the competition, trophy in hand, that the two of you stood outside of the building.

Everything that had felt so scary— so final, was now over. The adrenaline had faded and the crowds had dispersed, any stragglers offering their congratulations as they passed you by.

The moonlight casted a soft glow over the two of you as you hugged the trophy close to you. The trophy that you and Taehyun had won, together.

“Taehyun,” you started.

“When I said that I wanted you to do what makes you happy… I meant it.”

Taehyun chuckled, his hand reaching for yours again. Instead of a grand confession, he expressed his love with gentle touches.

“I meant what I said, too.”

Your heart was overflowing with emotion and you looked at the ground, kicking at the concrete with your sneakers. Somehow you felt exposed outside of the rink dressed down like this, yet, Taehyun had always insisted you looked just as beautiful.

“You make me happy.”

If you were pressed against each other, you would have felt your hearts beat in unison.

As you looked up once more, your eyes met, that fragile bubble of intimacy, that you knew all too well and clung to with a sense of desperation.

“Please, don’t hold back for me. I’m happy.” You whisper, voice barely above a whisper.

Taehyun could feel the gravity of the moment and did his best to soothe you, gently tracing over your knuckles in a comforting motion.

“I know that you want to sing, and you should. So please don’t lie to me. I’m happy, Taehyun. I’m so, so happy because of all the years we’ve spent together. But there’s nothing here to work towards for you and I don’t want you to not pursue your dreams just because of…”

“Of?”

“…Whatever it is that we have.”

For a moment, there was silence, broken only by the soft sound of your breath mingling in the air.

Suddenly, he smirked and you found yourself growing irritated with his inability to take you seriously. “And what is it that we have?”

You scoffed, ripping your hands away from him in annoyance. “Don’t be a jerk!”

He laughed, reaching for your hand again and bringing it up to his mouth, placing a gentle kiss against your knuckles.

“Sorry, sorry. I know what you’re trying to say. I appreciate it, and I think you’re right.”

Your eyes widened in surprise, after so long of him denying himself the chance, he had given in much easier than you expected.

“You’re really gonna try?” The smile that grew on your face was one of pure ecstasy as he nodded.

Carelessly, you had dropped the heavy trophy you were holding, throwing your arms around him with a giggle that managed to bubble out.

The flowers Taehyun had been holding were being crushed between the two of you, yet neither of you seemed to care.

Both of you stood together, his one hand being placed gently on the back of your head as you buried your face closer into him.

“Promise to come see me on stage, then?”

You scoffed, “obviously! I love you, you idiot…”

This time, he rolled his eyes at you playfully. “Geez, really? Your confession could have been a little more gentle.”

“Whatever, says the self-proclaimed ice king.” You pulled away and brought your hand up to cup his cheek.

“I’ll be front row at every show, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

You knew that no matter where your paths would lead you, you would always be bound by the thread of love that connects you, now and forever.

“Me neither.”

Everything about Taehyun shined to you— you loved how his eyes danced happily, and the gentle way he spoke; the way he filled your aimless days when you felt demotivated with bitterness and hope.

You had loved him as you fell to sleep, and each morning as you woke up to his new messages. When he would bring you lunch at the rink, even long after he hung up his skates.

It was never any question that your love was as timeless and enduring as the frozen surface that would always remain beneath your feet, decorated with the carvings you had created together.

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ carnival.

Essentially becoming a shut-in due to your extreme fear of crowds, your friends are determined to take you out and show you how much fun things can be.

path unlocked: [ star song.] replay? ✧

જ⁀➴♡ wc 1k ✧ fluff , humor , comfort

As you inch closer to the front of the line, the rhythmic clinking of the cars ascending and descending fills your ears.

Standing before the entrance, the worker looked at you expectantly before glancing at the boys behind you. You turned to face them and they all gave you an encouraging smile, each one as sweet as the one before.

“So, who’s it gonna be?”

Looking at each of them, it felt almost impossible to pick just one. The feeling that everyone was waiting on you made you even more anxious, the idea of annoying the people around you getting your nerves up even more.

“Hey, Y/N it’s fine. Take your time.” Taehyun commented.

The small smile he gave you was enough to have you letting out a sigh of relief. “I think…”

As they looked at you expectantly, you frowned. There was no way that you could choose just one of them without feeling bad for leaving the others out.

“I think… I-I don’t think I want to go on it anymore.”

Turning to the attendant with an apologetic look, you gave a quick apology before walking away, ushering the boys out of the line.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” Yeonjun asked, looking back with a concerned look toward you.

“If you’re too overwhelmed we can head out,” Soobin started.

Shaking your head as the six of you find a place behind a nearby tent, you shook your head. “I’m fine! I’m having fun!”

Kai tilted his head slightly at your tone. It was fairly obvious you had became overwhelmed, even if you refused to admit it.

Your heart was coming down from the anxiety of holding up the line as you looked back at the ride, seeing the couples and families climb aboard.

In truth, you didn’t want to go on it that badly but the embarrassment from not being able to make such a seemingly simple choice had you flustered.

“Why don’t we get out of here anyways?” Taehyun offered.

You gave him a quizzical look, fiddling with the end of your shirt. “Where would we even go?”

Beomgyu shrugged, “why don’t we just go look at the stars?“

The suggestion was simple but it had caught your attention, looking up. All night the carnival seemed to distract from the natural beauty around you.

A part of you felt ashamed for not taking a moment to appreciate them.

Taehyun nodded. “Soobin still has some blankets in the truck, I think.”

“That I do,” Soobin said with a huff. “My poor napping blanket.”

“Come on, you big baby. I’ll wash it when we get home.” Yeonjun said, nudging the taller boy as he let out a huff.

You laughed, shooting him a grateful look. “Thank you, Soobin.”

As your group of friends began to weave through the carnivals crowd for the final time, the chaos began to fade into the distance.

Taehyun and Kai’s gentle hold on your hands had you sending them grateful looks.

Laughter and the faint echoes of carnival music lingered in the air as you all left behind the colorful lights and bustling rides.

Excitedly, Beomgyu walked backwards as he continued to ramble about a topic you couldn’t follow at all.

Seemingly, him and Soobin were arguing over who was better at the game they both played.

“Quit fighting!” Yeonjun called after them.

Ahead, the wide field was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight.

Even with the music in the distance, it was peaceful. Tall grass swayed gently in the breeze.

There was a rhythmic whisper that accompanied all of your footsteps as you found an area to settle down at.

Yeonjun and Taehyun set out the blankets as you and Kai gently nudged each other, pointing out the stars you could already see much clearer.

Soobin and Beomgyu seemed to continue their previous antics as they stumbled around chasing each other.

The scent of earth and grass filled the air and you took a deep breath in, finally feeling your heart settle for the first time that night.

The faint aroma of the carnival treats were finally left behind and as you sat down, Beomgyu basically crashing down next to you, you laughed.

You had once heard a story once about lovers who kept finding each other, no matter how many times the world came between them.

Even when they were cursed for the rest of eternity, transformed into stardust and placed scattered far apart throughout the galaxy.

Parts of them still found each other in the vastness of space.

In this story, rather than previous lovers, you had seen your friends.

Your bodies were made of stardust, and you were hurtling through space and time, toward the most beautiful collision. Yet each and every time, no matter what— you would find each other.

The night sky stretched endlessly, a canvas adorned with countless stars. Tired conversations ensued until you were all lying down, laughter subsiding into a familiar and comfortable silence.

Nameless stars gracefully stretched across the heavens, a river of light that seemed to flow from one horizon to the other. Endless.

In this moment of awe and wonder, you found yourself hoping that this moment could be endless as well.

Each star seemed to twinkle with its own secret, beckoning you to explore the mysteries of the cosmos.

You, Soobin and Yeonjun began to make up names and stories for the stars as Taehyun stifled Kai’s laughter in attempt to not wake a sleeping Beomgyu.

The air was crisp and clear, carrying with it a sense of tranquility that enveloped you all like a warm embrace.

In this moment, surrounded by the vast expanse of the night sky, you were reminded of the beauty of the universe.

No matter how overwhelming things had gotten, no matter how big and scary the world truly was— you would always find yourself back here in this familiar patch of grass with your friends.

With Soobin’s tired head on your shoulder and Beomgyu fast asleep on your thighs.

The gentle hum from Yeonjun and Taehyun accompanied by the squeeze Kai had given your hand.

The contented chatter of crickets and the slow, rhythmic song of cicadas.

If you could describe happiness, it would be that moment the universe had conjured up for you.

Served to you like some sort of cosmic apology for all that you have been through, and all that you had missed out on.

If you could take from all the possibilities, that moment would be the one you would always choose to bring into fruition.

And yet, you were well aware that the world spun too quickly and it turns too slowly as you waited and waited for the moment to transact into memory.

Eventually, the day would come when you could no longer tell the difference between this memory and a dream.

You found your own eyes growing heavy as your hand stilled in Beomgyu’s hair, coming up to your mouth to stifle a yawn.

Despite the acknowledgment that this, too, would end, you found the timeless connection of the stars omnipresent in your friendship.

As the stars watched over you all, unwillingly drifting to sleep together, a part of you confirmed what you had always known.

The six of you would always find each other, no matter if it was a dream or a memory.

There was nothing to grieve over in this moment. There was just love.

“Do you think there is the possibility of you and I?” The star asked.

“In this lifetime, is that too much to hope for?”

“There is something so delicate about time, so fragile.” The moon had started.

“If nothing ever comes of us, at least I have known this feeling, this wonderful sense of optimism that you have gifted to me.” The sun chimed in.

“You have given me something I can always keep close to me—to draw from in my darkest hour like a ray of unspent sunshine.” The moon commented.

“The love we share, it will be carried on by us through generations. It will be passed on and felt, the pieces of each other that we have borrowed and spent will be remembered.” The sun had finished.

“No matter what happens next, I will always be glad to know there is someone like you in the world.” The star said.

“Thank you for loving me.”

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ Break My Heart Again.

The only thing that could ruin your nights with Taehyun was the harsh reality that peeks in with the sun the morning after.

જ⁀➴♡ wc 2k ✧ angst

The morning sun gently filters through the curtains, casting a soft glow across the room as you sit at the table across from him, sipping on a steaming cup of coffee. The air was filled with a sense of calm and tranquility, the lingering warmth of last night still palpable between you.

The crease by his eyes when he smiled at you before looking down toward his phone almost had your head spinning and if you weren’t seated, you swore you could have fallen over.

There was a quietness to the moment, the only sound being the gentle hum of the coffee maker and the occasional clink of your ceramic mug against the tabletop.

The mug in front of him sat unmoved, half empty as remnants of spilt coffee dried on the rim with the time it remained untouched.

As you took another sip of your coffee, you stole a glance at Taehyun, the same small smile playing at the corners of your lips. Something in the way he leaned into the palm of his hand had you mesmerized. Your best friend, Taehyun, ever the beauty.

Maybe that was what it was that made you head over heels for him: that sense of familiarity in the way you looked at each other, a silent acknowledgment of the connection you shared.

One night, after all of the longing glances shared there had been a moment when the two of you crossed the line of friendship into something more. Not friends anymore but not quite lovers.

Nothing felt like yours anymore after that. Every little thing that defined you; the small sentimental trinkets he had gifted you from his travels, your car keys that had now become lonely with the departure of your apartment key. The pin codes and passwords you memorized like the back of your hand, always knowing he would be there to meet you on the other side.

They all felt like you, at one point in time. Your spare apartment key that had been thrown on his own keychain for when he would come over for sacred friend dates was now used only in the late night. Eventually, the pin codes you had memorized for him during the day faded from your mind as he made sure to meet you at the door, quickly punching it in himself to sneak you in late at night.

And more than anything else, your phone number— the one he boldly asked for that night you met, amidst a sea of your friends, under a sky of talking satellites and glowing stars. You hadn’t missed the look of surprise on their faces, especially Beomgyu’s as his eyes peered up at you from behind his cup.

Across the table, Taehyun looked up from his phone incessantly again and returned your smile. There was a warmth in his gaze, a silent reassurance that despite the fleeting nature of your encounters, the moment was one you both savored. It was in his eyes that you had found that shred of hope you desperately clung to like a kitten stuck up a tree.

As you continued to drink your coffee, you found yourself lost in thought, reflecting on the events of the previous night. Despite the uncertainty of what the future may hold, there's a sense of contentment in knowing that for this brief moment in time, you were exactly where you were meant to be.

The sun casted long shadows across the room as you sat together, lost in your own thoughts.

Taehyun had always felt like home, maybe it was the years you had spent getting to know each other and memorizing his most unnoticeable habits but you could never imagine a day going by without thinking of him.

Though you always knew that was love, it began to feel like a curse.

The peace was broken by the scratch of his chair against the floor, excusing himself from the table as he wordlessly made his way to the sink. The sound of cold coffee being poured down the drain had you swallowing as you watched him place his cup in there.

The air of familiarity he carried with himself in your apartment began to make you feel sick. He was your best friend yet when he was here, this place was almost like his second home.

With a quick ‘see you later’ and a gentle kiss to your forehead, he was off and suddenly you had lost your appetite.

Something that should feel so sweet, saved for the person you wanted to cherish so carefully instead felt like a mark of shame.

You were sure that he pitied you— that must have been it as any kind of affection outside of the bedroom began to feel like pity.

There were times where you had shared moments and everything felt right. Long before this arrangement began and you never spoke out loud of your admirations, his hands felt much more sure of their actions.

A part of you wanted to tell him not to bother coming back if he couldn’t admit that there was something— but that idea of giving up on him was somehow worse than pretending you were fine being just friends.

The first time you had broken up the arrangement, it proved difficult to remain friends. Knowing glances and brushing touches, it was hard to pretend he didn’t know you more intimately than anyone ever had.

The worst thing yet, your number would always belong to him. Buried somewhere deep in his missed calls, collecting dust, you knew that it would always be there. You could never bear to get rid of him.

Even with the amount of rust accumulated between the lines of communication, the memory of all the words exchanged seemed to keep them from ever being completely severed.

Once you had told him to leave you alone completely. Despite knowing that was the last thing you wanted, he decided to respect your wishes with a gentle kiss to your wrist and no goodbye. The worst thing about Taehyun would always be how gentle he was, how he always knew the right thing to do to hurt you so deeply.

Hurting you was never what he wanted, even if you could never understand that. Maybe your mind would try and convince you that it was true but in the end, he would always be a mystery.

Unsurprisingly, it had been you who broke that promise you begged him to keep as you contacted him through one of your friends. It wasn’t your proudest moment but with Kai being more than willing to help you rekindle your ‘friendship’, you couldn’t find it in yourself to refuse, even if it was selfish.

As happy as he was to hear from you, Taehyun felt much more concerned. These swings in your mood had become more and more frequent and he found himself a bit distressed. Despite the rational part of his brain wanting to pry and get you to admit the truth, he decided to let himself remain cautiously optomistic for the two of you.

You weren’t ever aware of Taehyun’s feelings for you, selfishly you were too wrapped up in your own mind and anxieties to ever notice.

The first time you had gotten a glance of how he felt was the first night you had found yourself in his bed since the silence. Lying on your stomach with your feet in the air, your eyes were glued to the tv as his hand found its’ way onto the back of your thigh, stilling your movements.

“You know I would have answered you, right?”

The sincerity in his tone had you furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, a pit growing in your stomach at the idea of another argument. Even while knowing he would never argue with you on purpose, you were unfortunately growing increasingly aware of your own ability to cause arguments.

“…Huh?” Hesitantly you pushed yourself up, turning towards him on your knees. His hand fell to the bed as you looked down at it, still extended toward you despite your skins new absence.

“Those months we stopped talking. You called me.”

The pit in your stomach tightened for a moment as the embarrassment hit you, your face heating up.

“I thought you deleted my number?” You asked, nervously reaching out for his hand. His touch was enough to comfort you.

“No matter how many times I erased you from my phone, I’d still recognize your number.”

A wide smile made its way onto his face and he let out a small laugh, seemingly growing shy. The slight purr behind his laugh had you smiling yourself as you moved closer.

“Yeah?”

“Of course, because it’s an extension of you.”

Even though there was nothing particularly romantic about that sentence, you found yourself unfortunately aware of just how in love with him you were and the growing possibility that maybe, he had felt something for you as well.

The series of twos and ones he grew to memorize like the dips of your waist and the curves of your hips, despite your minds’ constant attempts to remind you there was no feelings behind that memory game he seemed to play, you found yourself clinging to the idea that there was.

To you, memorization was the purest form of love.

Taehyun’s hands pressed into the small of your back was now something you would remember forever, similarly to the scent of the room you’d first met when the world seemed to tilt on its’ access.

Numbers that were reminiscent of two contented cats, curled together like a pair of speech marks.

It was that time of night where the city seemed to quiet down and all you heard were the chirping of bugs outside as you stared down at the table. A porcelain plate, its’ intricate designs only disgraced with a cold slice of half-eaten pie.

Despite wanting to, you couldn’t find it in yourself to eat the rest of it. All you could think about was how much better it had tasted when he was across from you.

The second time you had caught a glimpse of how he felt had also been the second time you had broken off the arrangement.

Your head fell into your hands with choked out sobs, a feeling a shame and disgust at the overwhelming feeling of love. Surely, that was the worst feeling among all.

The guilt was not even close to being able to combat the love you had for him.

Even with the pathetic show of distress you found yourself in, his hands broke you down as he pulled you into him gently.

“If I can never hold you or kiss you again, I can live with that.” He said.

The sentence alone broke your heart but even still, your grip on his shirt tightened as you buried your face into him deeper.

Too caught up in your sobs, you didn’t notice the shaky breath he let out before continuing, “but I can’t stand the idea of us not speaking again…”

You tried your best to calm your breathing, wishing that he would just say what you wanted to hear. After all of this time and distress, if he could just finally say it: everything would be okay.

That was what you convinced yourself, at least— blaming him was better than acknowledging the truth. It was both of your faults: you were both just too afraid.

“Can you at the very least, allow me that one thing? I never want to go back to the time before I met you.”

With that, his hands that seemed to break you down held you like water in his hands. The words felt healing, even knowing that you were slipping through the cracks.

Yet even with how painful you knew it would be— knowing you’ll never truly get over him, when you looked up to see the sadness for the first time in his own eyes, you agreed.

It wasn’t his fault, it could never be his fault because no matter how many times you said the arrangement wasn’t working: you were always the one who ran back to him.

After that night, it wasn’t long before you were calling him with mascara running down your face after crying over how you miss him or showing up outside his dorm with lipstick smudged from some drunk douchebag you couldn’t bother to remember the name of.

And with the hurt and concern in his eyes making you shiver under his gaze, you’d pull him in and his own heart would stop as the realization would hit him all over again of what he had started back then never truly stopped.

You wondered what would go through his mind if one day he had dialed your number to find it had been disconnected.

There were one too many times you’d considered the act, running away to some other city where you couldn’t run back to his arms. That self-destructive dance the two of you seemed to find yourself trapped in because being something was better than nothing.

You wondered if his imagination would race with thoughts of what new city you had run to and who was sharing your bed if not him.

Something that could be fixed with three words seemed so unsolvable to the two of you like a rubiks, refusing to make the next move due to fear of complicating it more.

Taehyun wasn’t one to make reckless decisions but when it came to you, he found himself regretting being too prideful to admit how he felt in the beginning.

When you agreed to be friends with benefits, he silently found himself clinging to the hope that you liked him as much as he had liked you, because regardless of what he had said: all he wanted was you.

Maybe if he had been honest about the relationship he wanted back then rather than trying to find some middle ground, you wouldn’t have grown to feel he was disingenuous.

Similarly to how Taehyun changed what was yours, you had taught him how much of your lives were interchangeable, how little was truly his as well.

Not only someone else’s— your ring tone, his songs, your words, his proposition and your broken heart. Those were the things you inherited by choice or by chance.

And it was never your choice to love the other.

So until one of you gains the courage to break the cycle of yearning in silence or impossibly falls out of love between the sheets, you’ve agreed to drink your coffee in the mornings and allow the other to break your heart once more.

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ

PHONING... 𓂃 ࣪˖ ID: TOMORROW X TOGETHER

genre key : (o) one-shot . fluff (f) . angst (a) . humor (h) . comfort (c) . (s) series . + personal favorites (♡)

CALLER ID: tomorrow x together.

✧ To All The Boys. (f) (a) (♡)

✧ Carnival. (f) (h) (c)

✧ seasons. (f) (c)

✧ the best of the best. (f) (c) (s)

✧ YELLOWJACKETS. (a) (h) (s) (♡)

CALLER ID: choi yeonjun.

✧ wave. (f)

✧ ghost town. (f) (a)

✧ sparks. (f)

✧ songs for you. (f)

✧ Beauty Rental Shop. (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

CALLER ID: choi soobin.

✧ Huge hearts and 52-hertz. (a) (c) (♡)

✧ Café au lait. (f)

✧ LOVE WAR!! (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

✧ Lovers’ Roulette. (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

CALLER ID: choi beomgyu.

✧ Jet lag. (f) (♡)

✧ strangers in the dark. (f) (a)

✧ Pearl. (f)

✧ 8-BIT STAR. (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

✧ LOVE WAR!! (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

✧ Dealer, NO DEALl! (f) (h) (s)

CALLER ID: kang taehyun.

✧ dead butterflies. (f) (♡)

✧ Something. (f)

✧ Break my heart again. (a)

✧ Calicos & Cinnamon. (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

CALLER ID: huening kai.

✧ birthday. (f) (c) (♡)

✧ 7 hours ago. (f)

✧ QUIET, PLEASE! (f) (h) (s) [WIP]

જ⁀➴♡ phone in ᝰ.ᐟ