18

Jeongguk couldn’t explain what he was feeling or why he was feeling it, this profound need to comfort Taehyung. But it was more than comfort, so much more. There was something swimming in those dark eyes, something that was threatening to drag him to the deep. He could feel himself moving closer, or wanting to. His body still had limitations that even he couldn’t overcome with sheer will alone. For the time being he would have to be content with holding Taehyung's cheek in his palm, wiping away his sadness with the hope that everything would be alright.

“I don’t know why I’m shocked anymore.” He laughed quietly. “I don’t think there’s anything you can’t do at this point.”

A faint smile ghosted the corners of his lips and Taehyung returned it in kind. He was so beautiful. So perfect. Jeongguk wanted to remember this moment, this perfect snapshot of a better time. Without meaning to he began recording, cataloging Taehyung's perfect face into his memories and tucking it away in his unconscious mind. If there wasn’t any hope for him he wanted to be able to look back and remember Taehyung's smile with pristine clarity. He wanted the power to drown melancholy and gloom with the sunlight that first tore through his darkened skies.

The sunlight he loved.

Taehyung's eyes basically lit up. “You—you’re so—wait a minute, is that—is that a retinal display? You’re actually wired with a retinal display?”

Caught off guard, Taehyung was suddenly in his face and Jeongguk couldn’t gather himself quick enough. He was two inches from him staring deep into his eye, he could feel his breath on his skin. His thoughts stalled, synapses lagged, it felt as if his mind had returned to the alley he had called home. Jeongguk couldn’t explain it, it was like all of the progress they had made suddenly regressed in the matter of a few seconds. Taehyung had never been that close to him before. He—he didn’t know why that made him feel uneasy.

“This is insane!” He exclaimed, exhaling a sigh of relief. “I never—Canary’s aren’t usually hard wired with this kind of tech, I never even thought to look for it. I should—well, I hope that I can mirror your signal, cast the information to my computer and finally be able to see some numbers I can do something with!”

Hope.

Is.

Eternal .

There wasn’t much Jeongguk could do while Taehyung scurried around the room in a manic frenzy. He was pilfering through drawers, tossing papers, tripping over cords, suddenly a moment of desperation dissolved into pure chaos. Which wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, Jeongguk didn’t think much of it because whenever Taehyung was excited the entire bunker was entirely at his mercy.

It was cute.

“Here we go!” Taehyung suddenly shouted with flushed cheeks. “Found the cord I need! Now—let’s get you hooked up!”

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