bright star • oneshots

taerose; moonchild

prompt 4 o'clock, park, where are you; taerose

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Sitting on the bench jacket-less, Taehyung's starting to think this was a bad idea as a gust of wind hits him directly in the face.

Namjoon had told him how he'd go to Hangang whenever he needed inspiration, so that's exactly what Taehyung had planned to do, except he miscalculates how cold it'd be at 3:51am in the park, believing his body heat would be enough to keep him alive.

He does survive despite complaining to himself in his head, but the protection it offers doesn't extend to his brain apparently, because he's too cold to even come up with anything, getting distracted by the shivering of his body every now and then.

It's almost an hour later that he finally manages to tune out his surroundings, on the verge of successfully getting out a line when a voice breaks the painstakingly maintained silence.

"Dalgomie! Where are you?"

He turns his head in the direction of the disturbance, about to go off until his eyes catch sight of this small, white fluffy thing running towards him.

It takes him a second before he realizes it's a pooch, and he's setting down his notepad, dropping to the floor in an excited haze to welcome the furry thing into his arms.

"Hey, what are you doing here all by yourself?"

He asks endearingly, forgetting his anger as the dog playfully licks into his hand, and he feels how cold it is even with its coat, almost wanting to wrap him up in his shirt when he hears footsteps approaching from a distance.

"Dalgomie!"

Taehyung's usually bad at recognizing people, especially without his glasses on, but his brain connects the worried figure to a name he hasn't forgotten quickly, his hearing becoming more reliable than his sight when it comes to her voice.

Blackpink's Rosé looks nothing an inch close to her usual image, dressed only in sweatpants and a long ass jumper that he's sure isn't hers- judging from the loose fit- yet he can't seem to tear his eyes away as she approaches in a face mask, hair slightly messed up from running in the wind.

"Thank you for- oh my God-"

Taehyung's not sure if he's deserving of such a response, since he doesn't look anywhere as good as her without makeup, but he still bows back, albeit feeling a little uncomfortable at how formal she's setting them up to be.

"Please excuse me for not recognizing you earlier, sunbaenim."

He cringes.

"We're not working now, so you don't have to call me that."

She apologizes, then bows her head in embarrassment or discomfort- he's not sure which one but he hopes it's not the latter- as she takes the dog back from him, fastening its leash properly so that it doesn't run off alone again.

Taehyung doesn't know what makes him take the initiative to start a conversation, but he figures it's probably due to the fact that she looked like she was going to leave once she was done, though a deeper part of him knows it's mostly because he wasn't satisfied with just a greeting.

There's a faint glow of red on her cheeks when she tells him softly how she came out for a walk because she couldn't sleep, but he gets the feeling there's something else bothering her that she chooses not to reveal, so he holds his tongue and merely offers a nod.

"What about you, Taehyung-ssi?"

He hopes she can drop the honorifics, but he doesn't want to push her boundaries for now.

Sure he's seen them a few times at award shows and the whole of bangtan- well besides Yoongi who denies he's ever listened to their music even though Taehyung had caught him singing jisoo's part in boombayah in the shower- jams out to them in the car but this doesn't feel like they're meeting as fellow singers in the industry, but mere strangers because Taehyung can't say with confidence he knows how she's like exactly off stage.

Though he can't deny he's interested to find out more.

They talk about their interests, the reason they became singers and for a brief moment he thinks he sees her eyes become wet when she mentions about her home in Australia.

He has the urge to wipe them away and ask her what's wrong, but his fingers stay itching on his knees, just like the words he's prepared to encourage her to spill her troubles freely, locked up in the crevices of his tongue.

Under the blue moonlight, he wonders if she knows how distant yet mysteriously familiar she seems to him.

When they part because she realizes she's stayed out too late, he leaves the offer of walking her back within his mouth, never making it out even as he stares at her disappearing figure.

One day, he promises himself. One day he'd be brave enough to ask her what's her family like, if they wouldn't mind leaving their daughter in the hands of someone like him.

Namjoon's impressed by the work he sends in the next day, and when the question of whether he struggled with creating comes along, Taehyung merely shakes his head and offers a smile that hides more than what he's planned to show.

"No, because I found my muse."