Hangang In The Autumn | Taekook

8. Shine & Smile

The soft jazz music played from the old vinyl recorder has already reverberated in the room, touching the curtains, flowing through the dreamcatchers and wind chimes, caressing the wounds of Taehyung that were yet to heal, the vivid lyrics reaching to his ears. Music does have the power to heal the traumas that time gifted. But the scars stay there as an adornment of survival, the emblem of a fighter and tattoo of the brave. Each scar has a different story to convey. And not everyone can read through it.

Yet, the music, the lyrics, those words resonated in the room along with the rhythm and the beats of his heart simply healed Taehyung. In that little home of his, with that shuffled playlist, ecstasy has found like serendipity.

"~...It's not a rough world although
I have you
But I think that it's a rough world

But I still have you
I promise and promise again
I promise that I'd be by Your side unchaining

A morning where we open our eyes together
The house I comeback seeing you
You are mine, You are mine Amazing you...~"*

Taehyung was lying on the couch, eyes closed because the stars didn't exhilarate him and his heart thumped rather softly against his ribcage. The skyscrapers away from him looked like the Christmas trees, snow-filled roads that lead to unknown million destinations felt like white fluffy clouds from the sacred heaven. He named the night as serene, as he always wanted.

Winter was strong, yet excruciatingly therapeutic for the mayhem he was going through. A smile illuminated his face when the song changed to his favorite one, for a moment Taehyung forgot everything behind. Everything that was hurting him, everything that he didn't deserve to go through.

He was about to slide into a deep slumber when something rubbed near his leg, something soft like a fur that now started licking him, and Taehyung couldn't help but let out a giggle. That was his happy pill. His shine in the dark nights, his only reason to smile. His superstar.

"Tan-ah... No..."

He whispered out between the giggles when Kim Yeontan started snuggling under his feet, the soft fur tickling him. Taehyung crouched to pick up Yeontan from the floor and snuggled to his fur, while the little fluff ball basked in his warmth. In that loneliness, Taehyung was thankful to his Tannie for keeping him sane.

"Did you miss me, Tannie?"

Whispering in a baby voice, Taehyung leaned in to kiss the dog, hugging him closer to his heart. Of course, they both miss each other. With lots of things going on around them, Taehyung had to drop Tannie at Chanyeol's place and he picked up when returning from Hannam Hill.

Not breaking the silence, with Tannie laying on his chest, and Taehyung ruffling his fur, they both lay on the couch, embracing the only warmth that they can get from each other and breathing calmly. Taehyung's busy fingers carded through Yeontan's fur while humming to the song playing in the background.

"Tan-ah, your eyes... Your eyes remind me of... Someone..."

Someone who has eyes clearer than the ocean, soft yet brave, the same chocolate brown as Yeontan's, having both comfort and sorrows in them, the missing of something precious. More than that, the eyes of Yeontan have the pure innocence Taehyung had ever seen on anyone, except one. The one little soul far away from him, who just flashed in his life out of nowhere and vanished before he could even get used to the warmth. Will anyone miss him as he misses them now? He doesn't know about others, but the sleepy Yeontan on his lap was more than just comfort for him. The fluff ball was his only happy pill. And he was sure, the only one who would feel his absence was his Tannie.