Life seemed to take more than it gave back. It all began a few years ago. At eleven years old, you were starting to make lifelong friendships and settle into your life, your parents took away all of that progress by moving to a new place. It was supposed to be a fresh start, especially for your parents and their crumbling relationship and they had hoped that being closer to family would somehow solve all of their problems, but it didn’t stop the contention found in your home. The phrase “the grass is not greener on the other side” rang true for your family’s big move. The constant fighting didn’t disappear after your family moved and with being forced to make new friends and adjust to a new place, you felt like life was taking the biggest dump on you possible. 

With all of that being said, there was one thing as a result of your family moving that wasn’t terrible and that was your best friend, Kim Taehyung. You had first met him when his family had offered to help your family move into your new home. When you first looked around the neighborhood, it seemed like all of the kids in the neighborhood knew each other very well and it made you feel like an outsider. All of that quickly changed when Taehyung had approached you and asked if you wanted to play with him. Despite being shy, you nodded your head and from there you grew to be the best of friends. 

Taehyung had always been there for you. He was there cheering you on during your horseback riding competitions and he was there to console you when your parents told you that they didn’t have enough money to continue your horseback riding lessons. It was a low blow to have to give up on something that you loved to do and Taehyung was there to comfort by inviting you to hang out at his family’s farm and take care of their horses with him. He was there to encourage you to play the cello, which you had always wanted to play, even though it meant that you couldn’t be in Band class with him. Most recently, he was there through the tears and the deafening moments of silence when your mom walked out, leading to your parents’ divorce. He knew that he couldn’t fix your broken heart, but he did everything in his power to make sure that you remembered that you were not alone. On warm days he would come over and encourage you to go on walks with him to make sure you got fresh air and on cold days, he would open his arms to you and watch whatever movie you wanted to watch, even if it was Twilight. 

You and Taehyung did everything together, from taking the bus to school together, to taking as many classes together as possible -- much to the displeasure of your teachers -- to sharing secrets while playing Mario Kart late at night. He would listen to you gush about your favorite male celebrities and he even came with you at the midnight release of Breaking Dawn. Taehyung was without a doubt the best part of your life. 

“Nick is so handsome,” you sighed as you stood by your locker, admiring your newly acquired Jonas Brothers album. Taehyung stood next to you, looking down at the album and tried to remember which one was Nick. Was he the one with straight hair? 

“I thought Joe was your favorite,” Taehyung said. He didn’t particularly care for the Jonas Brothers, but he didn’t dislike them either. 

“Joe is my favorite, but I can still think that Nick is handsome,” you explained. “Oh! Oh! And Kevin,” you added, because in this house you loved and supported every Jonas Brother. 

Taehyung nodded, not really sure what to say to that. He supposed it made sense, but he also was under the impression that you were primarily into the Jonas Brothers for their music. You felt your phone vibrate in your pocket and you saw that a friend had texted you, asking if you were going to ride the bus back home. 

“We need to go! The bus is going to leave soon!” You exclaimed as you slid open your phone to reveal a full keyboard. You needed to tell your friend to ask the bus driver to wait for you and Taehyung to come. Before you could start the text, Taehyung’s eyes widened and he took your wrist so that you could run along with him.

The Fates seemed to be favoring you today, which got you excited, since the bus was still there by the time you and Taehyung had arrived, with chests heaving and hearts pounding. You had failed to notice that Taehyung was still holding on to your hand as you entered the bus, but oddly enough, it wasn’t weird. It felt kind of nice. You wouldn’t have minded him holding your hand more often. It wasn’t until you both sat down next to each other that Taehyung had noticed that he was still holding your hand. He looked down at your intertwined hands and immediately released your hand, a blush coloring his neck and cheeks. 

“Sorry,” he said. Normally you weren’t a big of prolonged physical contact, but you knew that if it weren’t for Taehyung holding your hand as he ran, there was no way that you would have made it on time to the bus. 

You bumped your shoulder against his, trying to diffuse the tension. “It’s okay. If it weren’t for you dragging me, I would have missed the bus.” You didn’t want to make it awkward by saying that you enjoyed him holding your hand. You would keep that information to yourself.

Although there was still some awkwardness hanging in the air, the rest of the bus ride home was spent listening to music with Taehyung. You each shared an earbud as you both listened to music on your iPod. It was amazing that that thing could hold five hundred songs. You were pretty sure that you’d never be able to use up all of the space for music. 

A few songs later, and you found yourself walking back home with Taehyung. The walk was only six minutes, you had counted, and you were still listening to music together. It was a little hard to share earbuds with Taehyung since he was starting to grow taller, which caused the earbud in your right ear to tug a few times. He asked a few times if you were okay since he saw the minor discomfort, but you didn’t mind it all. 

“Are you still going to come by later?” You asked when you stood in front of your house. 

“Of course! I just need to do some chores and then I’ll be right over,” Taehyung replied, with a smile. 

You clapped your hands and jumped up and down. “Awesome!” Taehyung laughed and started to make his way home. “And don’t forget to bring your phone!”

He turned around and tilted his head to the side. “My phone?” 

“Yeah! We’re gonna need it tonight,” you exclaimed. Taehyung was skeptical towards your request but he shrugged his shoulders in compliance. You never needed to try hard to convince him to do something. Your wish was your command and he would gladly follow. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you really going to do this?” Taehyung asked as he watched you scatter five different phones, four cell phones and your home phone, on your bedroom floor. 

“Yes! I am,” you said as you looked up to see his eyes judging you from where he sat on your bed. You opted to sit on your bedroom floor to allow for more flexibility, although mobility wasn’t necessary for this challenge, you just liked knowing that you could move around. 

“Can’t you just use your laptop to get tickets?” Taehyung suggested. He looked toward your clunky Dell laptop that was sitting on your desk. That laptop was so ancient that it made a whirring noise whenever you used it, but despite its age the laptop worked perfectly fine even if it had to be plugged into a socket to function. 

“No! I can’t,” you replied as you folded your arms across your body. “I don’t have money and there’s no way that Dad will buy tickets for me. The only way that I can see them is to win tickets through this radio show,” you explained in exasperation. It felt like this was the millionth time that you were explaining yourself to Taehyung, but at the same time, you knew that you shouldn’t be too harsh on him. He could have made fun of you for your obsession over the Jonas Brothers, but he didn’t. On top of that, he was even letting you use his cellphone to call in to the radio show. “Can you pass me my radio, please?” 

Taehyung leaned over to your nightstand and grabbed your radio. 

  “Thank you!” You beamed as he handed over the radio to you. Taehyung smiled as he watched you dial the radio to the right station. He couldn’t remember the exact moment that he started crushing on you. Maybe it was when you shared your favorite ice cream with him, even though you hate sharing your favorite foods. Maybe it was when you spent all of the free day that they had in Band class laughing at him messing around on the saxophone. Maybe it was when your soft hand tightly held on to his hand when your school took your grade to the ice skating rink. Regardless of when he started to share his heart with you, Taehyung was resolved to stay by your side, even as you daydreamed of marrying your favorite Jonas Brother. 

Taehyung was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a thud on your bed. You had tossed two of the five phones onto your bed. He gazed at you as the last rays from the Sun for the day streamed into your bedroom, illuminating your figure. He was crushing on you, hard. 

“When the radio host opens up the line, dial the radio station’s phone number,” you explained. Taehyung nodded his head, despite not really understanding what was so great about the Jonas Brothers, but at this point he was sure he would do anything for you. If you asked him to jump, he would say, “How high?” 

“You ready, Tae?” 

“Ready,” he said as he listened carefully to the radio host. Despite the fact that Taehyung was watching your nervous and excited state, he still managed to play his part and he continued to play his unspoken part ten minutes later when he held you in his arms on your bed as you cried. 

“We tried so hard,” you said in between tears as your fingers clutched Taehyung’s shirt as if your life depended on it. He didn’t think that it was accurate to say we since he had just followed along with you not giving anything but you much thought, but he wasn’t going to argue with you on that. 

You felt devastated. You knew that there was a chance that you wouldn’t get the tickets, but before the radio show, you did your best to not entertain those kinds of negative thoughts. It was all or nothing. From an outside perspective it seemed silly to cry over tickets, but you really wanted to see the Jonas Brothers and this was your one chance to do so. 

As the tears continued to fall, Taehyung carefully ran his fingers through your hair. He knew that you weren’t a touchy-feely person, so this prolonged physical contact was new territory for the both of you, but you didn’t complain about the comfort he gave. The only thing he could do was to comfort you to the best of his capacity. Occasionally, he’d rock your bodies back and forth, which would cause you to break out in laughter, even if you still felt heartbroken at the loss of not getting the concert tickets. Eventually, the tears stopped flowing and you looked up to see Taehyung looking down at you. 

“Thanks for helping me, Tae,” you said. “I know you don’t like or really care about the Jonas Brothers, but you still helped me.” 

“I’m always here. Even if that means helping you get tickets to see the Brothers Jonas,” Taehyung said, purposefully getting the band name wrong. You playfully punched him in the arm and rolled your eyes. 

“It’s the Jonas Brothers, Tae. Not the Brothers Jonas,” you corrected.

Taehyung laughed at your correction. You felt the vibrations of his chest, since he was still holding on you in his arms. He laid against the headboard of your bed, taking you down with him. 

“You’re such a dork, Taehyung.” 

“But I’m better than the Jonas Brothers, right?” You felt Taehyung bury his face in your hair and you smiled. 

“You aren’t just better. You’re the best.” 

It's late on a Saturday night. You are almost ready for bed when your phone goes off. Picking it up, you wonder who could be calling at this hour. 

"Jagiya." 

"It's Taehyung!" You almost squeal out loud.

 Your boyfriend has been on tour for a while so there were times when you couldn't talk to him for days. It had been a few days since he was last able to call you because of his schedule but he was able to at least send you pictures of him, the food he was eating or his outfits and maybe a few quick texts.

 "Taehyung!"  You practically yell into the phone.

 "Y/N-ah, can you let me in please?" His deep voice drifts into your ear through the phone speaker. 

"Let you in?"  You're confused. "Are you home? Like in Korea?"  You ask. 

"You'll see. But can you please let me in? It's cold out." You hear him sniff.

You instantly drop your phone and run to your apartment door. Outside the door is the one and only Kim Taehyung in the flesh, who is shivering from the chilly night all wrapped up in a scarf.

 "Tae!"  You throw your arms around him as he does the same to you, pulling you close into him and burying his face into your hair. 

"I've missed you Y/N-ah." He mumbles, now not shivering anymore. 

"I've missed you too Tae." 

 After what seems like forever but also not long enough, you break away and drag him inside to get warm. He sits down on your couch and takes off his coat, hat.  face mask. scarf, and his round glasses which fogged up from the sudden temperature change. 

"I'm happy you're here Tae but it's almost midnight. Aren't you tired?"  You fret like a concerned mother when you realize what time it was. Taehyung just smiles up at you. 

"Of course I am but I couldn't spend one more minute away from you."

He leans up to you, reaching for you. "Do you want to go out with me?" He asks you.

 "Go out where? It's late."  You point out. 

"I know but I want to go have midnight adventures and I know places that are still open from when I was a trainee. And no one will be up so I can have you all to myself without other people being around."

Taehyung loves people and being around them but when it comes to you, he would much rather just have you all to himself. He also doesn't like when fans are around when he's with you because then you have to hide, he's always nervous of what people will say or do. So that means a lot of night dates but you do love your night dates though. Seoul is a completely different place at night. Still awake but a different kind of awake. It was more of a quiet neon awake.

  You slid into Taehyung's lap and his outstretched arms and give him a kiss. "I would love to go have midnight adventures with you. What should I wear?"  You ask him.

 "I don't care as long as you are warm." You nod and being walking to your room. "Oh and your black face mask, it's cold out!" He calls out to you. You quickly get dressed in jeans and a soft pink hoodie before grabbing your black face mask.

 Taehyung got you the face mask not only for when you get sick and when it's cold out but also for when you go to see him in public. You don't really feel like it's hiding but more of waiting until the world is ready. 

 When you walk back into the living room, Taehyung is leaning back, head over the back of your couch, his hair flopping over. His eyes were closed. "Aww poor baby is so tired.." You walk over and kiss his exposed forehead. Eyes open up and look at you. He stands up and puts his coat and everything else on. 

"Ready?" He says in his muffled voice as he holds out his hand to you. "

Always." You smile behind the mask, knowing that even though he can't see your smile, he can see it in your eyes. 

Taking his hand, he squeezes it once. You lock the door behind you and then venture into the night. 

"So Tae Tae what do you have planned?"  You ask him in an equally muffled voice.

 "Jagiya, we're gonna to go to one of my favorite all night cafés and maybe go shopping in Dongdaemun at the night market or go get ice cream. I just want to be with you for as long as I can before my schedule for tomorrow."

 You smile at his confession and are suddenly happy for the mask which is covering your blush. Taehyung sometimes doesn't mean to be romantic, he just says what is on his mind.  But sometimes those things he says are actually quite romantic or just plain soft. You think it's really adorable when he does this.

 Under the street lights, you feel at ease with Taehyung. It's not too cold out and Seoul is so beautiful at night. Soon you feel a tug on your hand and then you're running. Taehyung pulls you along as you both run down the sidewalk, past stores and other night owls.

 "Tae why are you running?"  You try to not sound out of breath as your cheeks get tinted pink by the extra blood flow. Then you suddenly stop and you crash into his chest.

 "To make you breathless." Is all he says before he pulls down both of your masks and kisses you deep and long. You can tell he's missed you. Your head starts to swim and you can hear your heartbeat in your ears before Taehyung pulls away. You touch your cheeks, knowing that they are probably blazing red under the street lights. 

You look up at him. His cheeks are the same way and he's breathing heavy. 

"I've waited so long to be able to do that again." He looks down at you with kiss-swollen lips. 

You cling onto him and push your face into his coat. "I've missed you so much Tae."  He holds you too and squeezes you tightly. "I've missed you too Y/N." You stand there, holding each other, for a while, soaking into each other's warmth and presence. 

After a little while, Tae loosens his arms and grabs your hand again. "Do you want to go to the café?" You nod and smile up at him before pulling your mask back up. Taehyung leads you into the night to the all-night café.

 It's a cute, little quiet café, all lit up. "Do they know you Tae?"  You asked quietly. Fans sometimes have a tendency to get a little... extreme around their favorite idols. 

"Don't worry, Y/N. Lots of idols and trainees come here so they are used to it. They sort of take care of us." He smiles to reassure you. You nod and let him lead you into the café. He finds a table and sits down. A waitress comes over and takes your drink orders. Taehyung orders a coffee while you order a hot chocolate.

 "How was your recent tour Tae?"  You ask him over the table. "I tried to keep up with it as best as I could but then school got in the way." 

"It was fun but tiring. I'm happy to be home though." He grins big at you, his adorable iconic rectangle smile. You giggle softly. 

"That's good. I'm happy you're home too."  You grin back at him.

 "How are your studies jagiya?" Tae asks. "Is my genius girlfriend becoming even smarter?"

 You laugh at his comment. "My studies are going well. Finals are soon, so it's crunch time." 

Taehyung smiles. "That's good. I'm so proud of you Y/N. I don't know how you do it." 

You smile back. "Aww Thank you Tae~." 

The waitress comes back with your drinks, ending the conversation. You slowly sip your hot chocolate while Tae drinks his coffee. 

"What is your schedule like tomorrow?"  You ask in between sips of your hot chocolate.

" We have photo shoots tomorrow along with dance practice," He looks at you over his mug, "But I hope I will be able to sneak out to see you."

You kick him from under the table. "No, you could get yelled at!"

Taehyung captures your foot in between his legs and laughs at your struggling to get it out. "I'll be find Y/N. Don't worry about it." You huff and quit fighting him. 

He lets go of your foot and leans forward to put one of his hand out on the table, palm up. You slip your hand into his and he softly rubs his thumb against yours.

After finishing your drinks, you go back out into the Seoul night air.

 "Hmm... I want ice cream. Do you want some Y/N-ah?" He asks you. 

"Sure, ice cream sounds good."  He leans down and gives you a quick peck before pulling his mask back up. 

Since no ice cream shops were open you end up going to a convenience store and buy ice cream there. You take your ice cream to a park to sit down and eat it. The park is softly lit up with a few couples milling around. You and Taehyung find a bench to sit down on to eat your ice cream.

He puts his arm around you and you lean into his warm chest. You can hear his heartbeat through his coat and you feel warm inside and out. 

 Right now nothing could be better.

 Taehyung lightly shakes your shoulder when he notices you nodding off. "Y/N-ah, you fell asleep. We should get you home." 

You gently rub your eyes and yawn quietly. "Alright." 

He smiles and bends down, knees are touching the ground. "Jagiya, climb on my back. I want to give you a piggy back ride home." 

"What?"  You stand behind him slightly shocked. 

"Just climb on." You laugh at how extra your boyfriend can be. But you still climb onto his back. He lifts you up effortlessly and heads back to your house with you draped across his back. 

"I love you Tae."   You say into the night sky.