time diplomat | kim taehyung ✔

| My Heart Beats For You |

It's been over a day and Taehyung had never felt so alive until now.

Astra didn't know where Taehyung was taking her to but, after a nice slumber and warm shower at his home, she felt refreshed and recharged. His beautiful ringed hands were on the steering wheel, turning it left and right through the small, narrow alleys.

He turned on the indicator light towards the right and paused his vehicle right by a bridge. Stepping out, he didn't bother waiting for her and walked over the flowing water body, stuffing his hands into his warm pockets.

Noticing this, Astra followed him out, closing the door with a thud. City sounds along with a few neon lights in the far made them feel as if they were far away from where they belonged—they indeed were. Her fluffy, long jacket covered her palms as she still tried to rub them together and blow between them. The sky smiled down on them as it was now relieved after a harsh downpour. 

Taehyung grabbed the steel railing, hissing later onwards on how freezing it was. The river currents did their thing along with the rising sun's reflection. "Tae, how does this feel?"

He sighed, "Like—Like my happiness is all fake and—and not real. This entire day is a joke and that any moment, from some van my mom, dad, and Sarah would surprise me—and Matt too and—and you'd scream 'It's a prank!'. I wouldn't even be mad. I'd just hug all of you."

She chuckled, "That's cute, but—" She walked closer and placed her hand over his shoulder. "—Stop doing this to yourself. You don't have to suffer through this, Tae. Look back to your younger self. Look at how happy he was. You only deserve all the good things in this world."

"Or maybe I could've done something to prevent all of this. Maybe I could've stopped my members from splitting up and maybe I could've still been out there—singing my emotions out with at least one person listening." 

"I—"

"But, maybe I could've not met you. That's the only drawback."

"This was never your fault, man. And . . . I'll be that one person who'll listen to you sing your emotions out. I'm all ears." She patted his back and nodded. "I'll give you a minute. Find me waiting in the car."

To Taehyung, one minute was more than enough. He broke down, crying harder than he thought, and hit the railing with the bottom of his fist. He kept going and going—thinking about everything he'd lost. 

Hitting 'cause he and his friends were not together. 

Hitting 'cause his best friend is alone out there and there was nothing he could do. 

Hitting 'cause his girlfriend was gone. 

Hitting 'cause he felt like a nuisance to Astra.

He stopped and took in a deep breath as if he just finished a tiring choreography along with a high note. He turned around, keeping his poker face on as he saw Astra mindlessly fiddling with the steering wheel. She continues until the wheel couldn't turn to the right anymore. So she lets it move back to its original position and do the same thing again towards the left.

"Hey, I'm hungry. Wanna have something?"

_ _ _ _ _

"Have you ever had a date with someone?"

"You've already asked it before."

"Nah. I'm serious right now."

"No. I've only had crushes." Astra sighed, compressing a burst of guilty laughter, missing Yeonjun already. She really wished Taehyun got to him before something might put him into more danger. "Was Sarah your first girlfriend?"

"Yeah. I did find so many other beautiful people there but, my heart always ended up with her." He placed his chopsticks down, cleaned his mouth, and picked up the glass of warm water. There was nobody other than the two in the restaurant (they said it was too early for them to open) along with the waiter who looked as if he wanted them both out as soon as possible.

Astra looked up from her plate. His eyes. She really liked them. They were brown and tired.

She turned on her phone, looking at the time that was ticking faster than she thought. 

30 DECEMBER 2026
7:20 AM

How many hours does he still have? 

This time, before Astra could make a move, Taehyung pushed his money out on the counter. She glared and scoffed at him. "I'm the one who asked to join you. I'm the one who's supposed to pay."

"No. You've already done so many wonders to my life. I can't pay you back for that but, let me at least do this." He smiled down at her and the waiter sighed, not even looking at the amount in front of him. He just pushed it in his drawer and waved them out.

"Since when were you and Sarah dating? You both must've been in some real bad shit."

Before Taehyung could reply, glasses on the cars' windows in the parking lot shattered as the two were suddenly thrown back, and fire reached out to the screaming people around them. That's it. Astra was slammed against the driver's side of a car, her shoulder banging into the rearview mirror. Her vision started blurring and darkness ascended among the bright fire. She moved her sight to her left—Taehyung had his beautiful brown eyes closed. 

She didn't want Taehyung to die yet—at least not in this chaos. She wanted to tell him the truth about herself and say a proper, peaceful goodbye.

Astra shook her head and got on her knees, trying to crawl to him. Her hands were tense as she dragged him aside from the mess. His heartbeat seemed too loud to her as it wished not to stop beating just like her heart did. His breathing was disturbed and erratic. Astra desperately looked to the unfolding scene around her as Taehyung struggled to open his eyes—people were screaming and crying, except a few who were on the ground with a puddle of blood around their heads.