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00. THE EPILOGUE: STARGAZING エピローグ：スターゲージング
TINY WHITE FLAKES flurried down from the dark skies, crowning lia and jungkook's hair with a thin layer of snow. pulling the thick wool turtleneck higher so that it covered half his face from the cold, he pulled a second blanket over the two of them.
lia snuggled further into his chest, eyes staring out at the view of the city from the hood of jungkook's new car. his arms wrapped around her middle to pull her even closer. "today was fun." he started softly, letting the sweater move down to his chin.
"yeah," she answered with a smile. "you must be happy to have your parents with you for christmas." her fingers danced over his hand playfully. "mhm," he hummed, resting his chin on her shoulder. "and i'm glad you got to meet them."
"your mum is great." her smile became bigger. "she is. she's always super affectionate to try and make up for when she's not around. it's sweet but kinda embarrassing." his warm breath fanned her collarbone through her sweater.
"i think it's cute." she twisted her neck to look at him. "and that's probably why she loves you so much." his lips pressed against the crook of her neck. "hmm," the corners of her mouth lifted. it was true. when jungkook had introduced her to his parents, jeon sehui had been all over her, making the girl feel both flustered and flattered.
"you like our date, right?" his arm moved up, looping over her chest to her shoulder. "yeah," she chuckled. "ice skating is harder than it looks though. i trip on flat ground, i don't know why you had so much faith in me."
"true," he nodded. "you had all the grace of bambi." he laughed out, clearly replaying the earlier events of the night. his face straightened and he cleared his throat when she shot him a dirty look. "and you looked just as cute." he added quickly. "nice save." she grinned, kissing his nose.
"but," she pulled away, staring at the view of the lit city before them. nighttime milwaukee glittered beautifully with the festive lights of christmas. "why are we camping out on your car in the dead of winter? it's freezing." she shivered, leaning further into him.
he pulled the blanket tighter around them before rubbing his palms together and pressing them to her cheeks. admiring the way the snow dotted her her black hair like miniature stars in the dark sky for a moment, he snatched the beanie he'd pushed aside earlier, fitting it on her head. "better?"
she nodded cutely, smiling up at him. "i wanted to see the stars with you." he answered her earlier question, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. "you're too cute for your own good. or my own health." she remarked softly.
he chuckled, wrapping his arms even firmer around her shoulders. "it's funny, that's what i think about you too." he kissed her cheek and she giggled. she was doing that a lot tonight – smiling and giggling.
they stared up at the sky, comfortable silence floating between them. she was leaning easily against him, head resting on his chest as he leaned back against the car. the stars twinkled and shined for them, not in the least bit deterred by the falling snow asking for attention.
"you know what i think?" his soothing voice cut through the silence. "hm?" she hummed out, head tilting up to catch a glimpse of him.
"stars are like people." he started simply. "there are billions of them out there but we only ever see a small fraction of them in our lifetimes. they might look the same from a distance but they're all so vastly different." he stared up at the dark sky, gaze following the trickling snowflakes.
"they seem so tiny and inconspicuous from here, like specks of glittery dust coating the night sky. but on a closer look, we realise there's so much more to them and they're way bigger than we imagined. they're all sparkling the way they know how, craving a little attention. but only the brightest ones ever really get noticed. and we don't even always realise when those fade out because they're quickly replaced by some other vibrant one that catches our attention."
for a moment, lia didn't say a word and jungkook found himself wondering if she'd fallen asleep in his arms. a small breath left her parted lips and she lifted her head the slightest bit. "there it is." she chimed. "the star analogy i've been waiting to hear." she clarified when he momentarily appeared confused.
a breathy chuckle escaped his throat as he recalled her statement when he walked her home after bowling. "it's a pretty interesting take though. i never thought of it that way."
"i was building up to something." he flicked her head playfully. "what's that?" curiosity seeped into her voice.
he pressed his lips together, eyes crinkling with mirth when he imagined her reaction to what he was about to say. "that in my galaxy, you're the brightest star and you'll never burn out and i'll never stop staring at you. thank you for being my 2018 miracle."
he watched her wriggle and nearly jump out of his hold but he held tight. amusement danced in his eyes at her reaction. her face had gone beet red, causing him to chuckle softly. "you're cute."
"shut up." she muttered, trying to hide her face behind her hands. "i'm just telling you i love you in an extra way." he laughed, playing with the ends of her hair.
tilting her head up, she looked at him intensely. he stared back, snowflakes starting to blur his vision as they fell unrestrained on his glasses and lined their lashes. "well, here's mine." she finally smiled fully, letting him see her crooked tooth. he waited with bated breath but her next words only made him burst out laughing.
"i love you, bitch. i ain't ever gonna stop loving you, bitch."
FIN
☀️☀️☀️
and that's it, folks! the final end to teddy bear. that 2018 miracle line is actually something my best friend said to me on our first new year together as friends. years later, it is still one of the sweetest, most touching things anyone's ever said to me and i'll never forget it. i debated whether the setting for this scene should still be during their christmas break or them in japan during their spring break and sakuras are falling instead of the snow but i stuck with this in the end. i hope i don't 'regret' this later. anyways,thank you guys for reading this story and i hope you enjoyed it! i'll have a little thank you note in another chapter or just in the q&a (the latter is more likely) because this is already getting too long for an ending note. thanks for everything! - toni
