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THE TIME BEFORE (PT. 4)

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“Is it good?”

Chaeri looked up at Taehyung with bright, happy eyes and nodded eagerly, taking another of her ice cream cone. The tip of her nose was red from the frigid temperatures of the Winter Island they were on but that didn’t stop Chaeri from enjoying her chilly treat.

“You’re going to get sick,” Taehyung chastised with a click of his tongue when he saw a shiver run through Chaeri. “Who eats cold food in zero degree weather?”

“I do,” she retorted, munching on her ice cream. The snow began to fall harder around them, piling on her head since she didn’t have any protective winter gear on her. When she sneezed, Taehyung’s frown deepened, his point proven.

They approached the inn they were temporarily residing in and immediately Chaeri felt her stiff joints relax when the warm air hit her. She let out a content sigh before finishing up her ice cream cone with a satisfied grin on her face.

“Honestly,” An exasperated sigh escaped Taehyung as he stepped towards Chaeri and lifted his hand to wipe away the snow from her hair. “For someone with such a weak immune system like you, you sure don’t take care of yourself well.”

She stilled completely at his touch before turning her eyes to meet his. “Commander…” She trailed off and immediately Taehyung took a step back, a blush rising to his cheeks, though he successfully managed to fight it down.

“Sorry,” he apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Habit.”

Chaeri threw a small smile his way but even as oblivious as he was, he could tell how forced it looked. They made their way up the stairs and to Taehyung’s room where they could freely discuss their mission progress and what they had learned from their targets.

It wasn’t much information but Taehyung wrote it down to report to the boss regardless. Any information was priceless in peril times like these and who knew if it could come in handy sometime in the future.

“Don’t look so serious, hot stuff. You’ll get wrinkles if you keep crinkling your eyebrows like that.”

Taehyung scowled at her before reaching over to flick her on the forehead. She yelped in pain and glared at him. “You’re going to give me brain damage!”

“Don’t be such a baby,” he retorted. “Besides, you already have brain damage.”

“Do not!”

“Do too!”

“Do not,” Chaeri protested but she made no move to retaliate by flicking his own forehead or by punching his arm playfully as he had seen her do to Jimin and Jin and the others at headquarters. She was still like that; avoiding any chance of physical contact with him. Even after years, she never willingly touched him and it made him wonder if he made her uncomfortable.

Perhaps she still saw him as more than just a friend. Or maybe old habits died hard?

“Anyways,” Chaeri changed the subject before breaking out into a blinding smile. “I heard you’re going to become Commander within the next few years!”

Taehyung quirked a brow and stared at her questioningly. “How’d you hear that?”

It had barely been a week since Bang Sihyuk had called him over to his room to tell him about his upcoming promotion. Granted, it wouldn’t be for another year or two but the news had made him ecstatic. He hadn’t shared it to anyone other than Jimin and Jimin had sworn to secrecy but of course, he should have known Chaeri would know.

She knew everything somehow.

“Oh, don’t give me that look. You told Jimin,” Chaeri emphasized. She chuckled amusedly before giving an innocent shrug. “So naturally, everyone knows about it.”

Taehyung shook his head. He should have known.

“What I tell ya, Commander?”

“I’m not Commander yet,” he replied.

“Yet.”

Taehyung merely rolled his eyes, tempted to flick her forehead once more.

“Hey Commander,” Chaeri called suddenly, pulling his undivided attention towards her. Not that she didn’t have it in the first place. It was hard diverting your attention from a girl like Chaeri. Was he overly worried about Bang Sihyuk’s plans for Chaeri? Yes, that was it. He was just looking out for another one of his subordinates as anyone would do, he thought reasonably.

He opted to ignore her jab at the title. “What?”

“I wish I could be here to see you get that title,” she said softly.

Taehyung fully turned to look at her. Chaeri kept her gaze focused on the ground.

“Does this have something to do with what the Big Boss talked to you about?” He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and forcing her to face him. He pulled his hand away once she did. He didn’t know what she meant by those words but he didn’t want to have to talk to someone that wasn’t looking at him; as if this wasn’t an important matter.

She of all people had been expecting him to gain the Commander title for years, even going so far as to call him ‘Commander’ far before his promotion was ever announced. This wasn’t something she could just tell him while staring at the ground.

“You knew about our talk?” She asked, tilting her head.

Taehyung nodded, recalling the memory of her sound asleep in his office. “Big Boss came into my office when you were sleeping that one night and said he needed to speak with you. He didn’t tell me what it was about.”

“Figures,” she mumbled. The last time they had come back from a mission together, Taehyung had been in a foul mood for days she had heard from Yuna. It was no wonder the boss didn’t want to inform Taehyung of her next mission. “It’s just his suspicions,” Chaeri said after a moment. “Nothing to worry about.”

“I still want to know,” Taehyung said seriously. “You’re one of my subordinates and as my subordinate your business is my business. How can I protect you if I don’t know what’s going on?”

The last part had come tumbling out of mouth before he could stop it but it didn’t seem like Chaeri had noticed.

There was a small pause before she opened to speak. He wasn’t fully prepared for her response or the details he knew would make him worry endlessly. Hi