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

Chapter 113: Motion, Emotion, Devotion

"Yah," he mutters, cheeks faintly pink, not meeting my eyes. "You're such a brat."

"I'm your brat," I chirp, spinning on my heel and landing in a graceful split beside his desk just to be obnoxious.

I feel the way his eyes flicker - once to the screen, then quickly back to me.

"You are not," he says under his breath, but I hear the way his voice dips.

The way he lets the word "not" get lost under his tongue like he's not quite sure.

I crawl forward a little on my elbows, resting my chin on his chair arm. "What are you drawing?"

"Don't look yet. It's not done."

"So dramatic." I grin. "Just show me."

Tae rolls his eyes and flips the tablet toward me with a sigh.

"Fine. But you have to tell me what you feel when you see it. Not think - feel."

I sit up and take the screen from his hands, pulling my knees to my chest.

It's one of the landscapes for the VR piece.
But not like any I've seen before.

The colors shift - iridescent like oil on water, but softer, more wistful. The trees glow faintly in tones of dusky lavender and honeyed rose. Fireflies shimmer like pixels.

The ground pulses when you zoom in, like it's breathing in tandem with whoever walks through it.

You can tell he mapped it to a heartbeat. Probably his own.

I stare at it for a long moment.

And then, quietly, I say, "Like falling in love."

He freezes.
His hands still.
His chest still.

Even Yeontan twitches from where he's sleeping, as if something in the air just shifted.

I look up at Tae slowly.
And he's already looking at me.

Our eyes meet.
Hold.
It lasts just a moment too long.

He clears his throat and looks away, fussing with the stylus.

"It's just a color study," he says too quickly.

"Not really a full concept."

"It's a love letter," I reply, still watching him. "You just don't want to admit it."

He doesn't argue.

I stand up and grab one of the headsets, slipping it on with practiced ease. "Wanna test something?"

"What?"

"I choreographed that ambient bridge track from the mock-up you sent a while back- the one you said felt like 'sunlight catching on water' or whatever poetic nonsense you made up."