Stigma Love's Algorithm [ A BTS x Reader Poly ]

Chapter 108: Confessions, Cranes & Cosmic Chaos

There's a look on his face I don't see often. Something between longing and wonder.

The kind of expression you only wear when your dreams are too big to keep inside your chest, so you have to spill them out in graphite and stars.

He looks beautiful.
Not runway beautiful.
Not Instagram-beautiful.

Real beautiful.
Soft. Hopeful.

A little lonely.
Lit from within.

I lean against the doorframe, bottle clutched to my chest, and just watch him.

This boy-this soulmate-wrecks me a little more every day.

"You're staring."

His voice startles me out of my reverie.

Tae hyung looks up, blinking like he's surfacing from a deep ocean, and when he sees it's me, his whole face lights up.

That boxy smile that makes you feel like you've just stepped into the best part of the day.

I grin back, ears flushing.

"Couldn't sleep?" I ask, voice low so I don't wake the others.

He shrugs, sheepish. "Brain too loud. Had to let it out somewhere."

"Productive insomnia," I say, stepping inside.

Without hesitation, I plop down next to him, knees bumping his. The floor's warm.

Probably from the space heater tucked behind the shelf.

He doesn't move away.
If anything, he shifts closer.

I peek at the sketch, and I can't help it-I burst into soft laughter.

"Tannie... in space?" I snort.
"You're a genius."

Tae hyung giggles, cheeks pink.

"He deserves to explore galaxies."

I look at the tiny, scribbled star map in the background.

Tannie's helmet is way too big, and the banana rocket has "RKT-7" scrawled on the side in messy block letters.

"You're ridiculous."

"You like it though."

I nudge him with my shoulder.

"Maybe I love it."

He pauses.
Just a second.

Then-quietly-"Yeah?"

I swallow. "Yeah."

There's a beat of silence.

Then he leans into me.
Just a little. Like it's instinct.

Our arms brush. Our legs press together. Neither of us moves away.

"You always smell like lavender and gamer sweat," he mumbles, head tilted toward me.

I laugh, full-bodied, trying to whisper but failing. "What a romantic compliment."

"I'm nothing if not poetic," he smirks, eyes sparkling.

We sit like that for a while.
The floor beneath us.

The stars above in his sketchbook.

His head eventually finds my shoulder, and I let it.

I lean my cheek against his hair and breathe him in-vanilla, pencil shavings, and something uniquely Tae hyung.

And something in my chest settles.

Hyung sketches quietly with one hand, still drawing even with his head against me.