WISHING FOR AUTUMN | kth

10 | SHOOTING STARS

THE AIR WAS sharp, the coldness of it nipping at taehyung's ungloved hands. he'd been so distracted with setting up his camera to capture the beautiful scenery surrounding him that he hadn't noticed he'd dropped his gloves.

trudging his way back to his glass igloo, he found them forgotten right at the door. he snatched them off the ground, feeling a slight dampness from the snow as he slipped them on.

it was the last leg of his photography tour. he was in saariselkä, finland. and taehyung didn't want to be a prisoner of the moment, but he felt this might be his favourite place of all the locations.

maybe it was the igloo village, how magical the thick pure white snow and the golden lights coming from the glass igloos made the ambiance, or the aurora borealis that was dancing across the night, only adding to the ethereality of the whole place. the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

he already had countless pictures. from the igloo village, the interior décor of his glass room, to the magnificent view of the outside world from within. it was all beyond beautiful. and made him all the more excited for his next exhibition, to be able to share such wonderful moments in magnificent places with the world.

but there was a bittersweet quality to the emotions it evoked in him. he was glad to be here, experiencing the unique and unmatched scene in its untainted beauty, but he kept wishing the people who were most important to him could share in the magical moment with him.

"it's beautiful, isn't it?" he heard someone say, cutting into his thoughts. "yeah," he glanced up at the familiar man. elon grayson. he was a part of the tour and taehyung had to commend the man's photography skills.

he stopped fiddling with his camera, stepping back. his head tilted back to admire the undulating curtains of colours growing in intensity as the night dragged on. hazes of rich purple laced with large waves of vivid green brightened a dark night sky. it was a clear cloudless night and the stars were sprinkled generously across the sky, and with the aurorae dancing over them, it almost looked like a different galaxy.

"yeah." taehyung repeated, sounding more enthralled. long lashes rested on soft cheeks when he closed his eyes to savour the moment. when they fluttered open again, the feeling that he was living in a dreamlike reality hit him.

he imagined it was how lucy felt the first time she walked through the wardrobe and into narnia. it was like seeing a whole new world.

it reminded him of how he felt being around autumn. of how everything seemed so different and magical as he fell in love with her. when his feelings evolved, the way he saw her did too. just like it felt like he was seeing snow, the stars and the night sky for the first time tonight, taehyung had felt like he was experiencing autumn for the first time.

the brown of her eyes. the curve of her nose. the shape of her lips. the raw quality to her voice. her unrestrained laughter. the genuinity of her smile. the spring in her walk. the way her hair curled. how her skin glowed. every gesture and nuance. it all felt brand new to taehyung.

it was like he was knowing autumn afresh and in a different light. he saw her in a haloed perspective, appreciating all the little things he had previously taken for granted. he saw the earth in her eyes and heard heaven in her voice. everything was a new and rich experience.

taehyung pressed his lips together. even now, he was unable to get autumn out of his head. all those months apart meant absolutely nothing to his feelings. out of sight may be out of mind, but it certainly didn't mean out of heart. especially not in his case.

nothing worked. autumn had found a home in his heart and was not planning on moving out anytime soon. taehyung was starting to accept that. perhaps, this was his fate. to live his life pining for a woman he could never have.

glancing down forlornly, he tried not to think about it. so he leaned into his camera, index finger resting on the button. he pushed down when he thought the scene looked just perfect. except something he hadn't been expecting crossed into the view and found its way into the photograph.

eyes wide, taehyung stared at the streak of white crossing the night sky in right corner of the photograph. gaze shifting up, he could still see the burning meteor falling through the earth's atmosphere. a shooting star.

taehyung could hear the astonished excitement of the man next to him at the rare sight of a shooting star and the aurorae in one night. he could hear him gushing about how the air seemed to be charged with magic. but he ignored it, only one thought radiating in his mind.

squeezing his eyes shut before it disappeared, he made a wish. one he had probably made a million times to a million different things. a wish that held all of his desperation and hope.

taehyung wished for true love. her love.