Lovely | BTS ✓

8

Morning comes too soon, Taehyung feeling the effects of his restlessness the night before. Eyelids are heavy as he stands and stretches, making his way to the small bathroom just next to his bedroom to take a shower and get dressed for the day.

He would much rather crawl back into his bed and sleep the day away, but he has a lot he would like to get done today. After cleaning the staircase and hallway, he plans to pull some of the weeds around the walkway leading up to the house before it gets too cold to want to go outside. After that, Taehyung is going to fix the shutters on the windows, hoping he can save them before they fall off completely and splinter in half from the impact of hitting the hard-packed dirt beneath them.

August is standing in the kitchen, humming as he busies himself at the stove.

The floor creaks beneath Taehyung's feet, and August turns to give his guest a warm smile.

"It looks incredible in here," he says, eyes sparkling. "This place is beginning to look like my home again. I can't believe it. When did you do all this?"

"I couldn't sleep last night," Taehyung admits, leaning his elbows on the counter next to the kitchen door.

"New surroundings and all," August says. "Once you get used to the place, it'll feel like a haven instead of a burden. This place is beautiful underneath all the sadness."

Taehyung smiles at him. "I know. I planned on finishing up the cleaning with the staircase and hallway and then doing some work outside."

"Sounds wonderful," August says, his attention back on the stove as he cooks their breakfast. "I have faith in you to bring this place back into working order. I won't be around much today as I have a few errands to run in town. Is there anything you need?"

Taehyung shakes his head, making sure he was more than prepared with personal items and toiletries so he wouldn't have to rely on August and his money to keep him comfortable here. "I'm okay."

"Let's eat up and then we can start our day," August says, spooning the eggs onto two plates.

•••

After August leaves for the day, Taehyung gets to work, scrubbing the banister and sweeping the stairs until he's sneezing. After the stairs are gleaming as brightly as the painting's frame, he finds himself stopping at the top of the stairs, mindlessly sweeping the floor in front of it though there isn't a speck of dust or dirt to be found there.

He can still smell the scent of the flowers, and he wonders how a painting can smell as beautiful as it looks. Her gaze, ever unchanging, seems so real - like the pink in her cheeks is the rushing of the blood through her veins and not paint that only mimics how she looked in life. Eyes, like two blue jays soaring through a cloudless sky, stare over the entryway, as though she was put there as August's protector - watching over him even after her real eyes have been buried alongside her body in the grave beside her parents.

Reluctantly, because he could honestly stare at the strokes of the paint forming together to create such a pretty little thing all day long, he moves to the left side of the hallway, sweeping and mopping until he can feel blisters forming on his fingers.