𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨

𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

chapter three  ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

"hello beautiful, i
hope you're here to stay."

his eyes flutter open in the middle of the night, body wracking with violent shivers as he processes that there is someone right in front of him. taehyung's eyes squint to try and see the boy properly but the only thing he can make out is a defined jawline, a scar on the man's cheekbone and broad shoulders. that is enough to set him into panic mode. he was waiting for the day someone decided to harm him in his vulnerable state of sleep and he assumes his time was overdue.

he backs up against the wall, trembling as he pushes his blanket up to his nose and accepts his inevitable demise. he just hopes this stranger makes it quick. he is too weak to do anything but lie back and take it; however, it has been a solid minute and the man has yet to touch him. taehyung stares at the man whom seems to be frowning at his state, and wow, he's actually really attractive–he has eyes that carry stories beyond his own comprehension, swimming with a calming ecstasy as he stares back at taehyung's shattered state. his face, he realizes, does not exactly match his body which is packed with all the muscle he aspires to have but most of all, the man looks warm.

the stranger is wearing some dark jeans paired with a black turtleneck, a longer trench coat with some warm boots. taehyung has a feeling the man is some kind of model or something because his beauty is too much to deal with at the time of night, much less in the state he is in. nonetheless, he manages to croak out one single question that's been bothering him the moment the two locked eyes, "are you going to hurt me?"

the question seems to catch the man off guard. he doesn't look offended, per se, but he appears rather sad at the anxiety rolling off the freezing boy in waves. believe him when he says that if he underestimated his tolerance for the boys beauty, he most definitely was not ready for how honey-like the mans voice was. he could fall asleep hearing him speak with no problems at all, "no, of course not. may i ask what you are doing out in the cold? i mean, isn't there a place you could go to avoid the weather? i heard it was supposed to snow tonight..."

his nervous rambling makes taehyung giggle before coughing a little, wiping his nose and mumbling, "i believe this is my home."

"this?" the man looks around the alley, frown deepening. when their eyes lock again, taehyung wishes he could take everything back because the wrinkles between the man's eyes are too much to bare. in his groggy state, he reaches an arm up to smooth them back to their original worry-free smoothness. the man's eyes soften, "do you mind if i take you someplace warm? i promise, by the time it is morning i'll take you right back here if that's what you want but i'm afraid i will not leave this alley if you reject my offer."

taehyung was hoping this wouldn't happen. he understands that people worry but he feels like such a burden when random strangers ask this of him; he always ends up sneaking out before they get any funny ideas like holding him hostage or hiring him to become their nanny. who knows what people are like these days. he coughs again, wincing at the internal knowledge that he is catching a cold and he hopes that's all it is–if it's the flu or pneumonia, he is afraid he is very screwed.

the man nudges taehyung over to his warmth bubble, opening his coat to make room for him inside and taehyung immediately melts into him. the older man flinches at how ice cold the younger feels against him and his heart breaks, sniffling as he squeezes him, rubbing up and down his arms. "i'm going to help you stand up, okay? then i'm going to take you to my car and we are going to drive to my loft. is that okay with you?"

taehyung doesn't think he has it in him to reject the warm body against him right now, already on the verge of falling asleep listening to the soothing rhythm of the man's heart beating. he weakly nods, arms circling around the man's waist and snuggling into him. the man stands, taking taehyung up along with him until he shrugs off his coat and wraps it around the smaller boy who is still clinging to him sleepily. he situates them so he has his arm around taehyung's shoulders, letting taehyung cuddle into his side as he walks them over to his car.

taehyung watches as the man cleans out the passenger side for him before turning back to the smaller and smiling softly, "hop in. the seats are heated so you should get warmer faster and i have the heat turned high."

the smaller nods before his eyes widen, "blanket."

"what?" the man looks as confused as taehyung thought he'd be. "yeah, i have some in the trunk so i'll go get one for you. do you want one or two? three?"

taehyung points back to his alley, "m- my friend made me a blanket and i wan- i want it. i- i'll be right b- back."

"shh," the man hushes, pulling taehyung up into his car and into the warmth. "stay in here where it's warm and i'll be right back."

at this point, all taehyung can do is muster up a nod before watching the stranger run back into his alley and his eyes flutter shut. the street lights leave little red dots behind his eyelids but he doesn't notice it for long before he is already drifting off into a blissful, warm (finally warm) sleep. he only barely registers the sound of the car door opening and a blanket being draped over his body, and he latches onto the warm hand where it was tucking the blanket around him.

taehyung could cry from how good he feels, how relieving it is to feel warm after so long without being indoors. it feels like it has been hours since he has last since rain, and technically it has been. this random stranger just comes into his life like a hero, saving him from his impending doom. he mumbles a tiny "thank you" before sleeping the whole car ride to the strangers loft. the man doesn't let go of his hand until he lays taehyung in his big, comfortable and especially warm bed.