I Promise

Mine For A While (Taehyung, Jin, Yoon Gi & OC)
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“You can’t do this to me. All of the things you said are like a mask that hides the truth. It rips me apart. It pierces me.  I’m going crazy. I hate this! Take it all away… I hate you.”

Excerpts from ‘I Need U’ by BTS
 

 

Just a few hours ago, after they had left school and he had driven her to the mall, Taehyung and Tanya were relaxed in each other’s company. Their conversations flowed easily. The sweetness in their actions came out naturally, brought about by this inexplicably magical chemistry between them. Barely a day into their ‘special arrangement’, there had been plenty of memorable moments filled with flirtatious advances from him which elicited helpless giggles from her. The boyfriend-girlfriend status felt as real as they had agreed to make it.  They were both lost in the sensations evoked by a true relationship… culminating in that toe-curling parting kiss he had given her before she left for work.

Things were the complete OPPOSITE after he fetched her from work.  Sweetness was absent. The mood turned sour.

He was not his animated self and she was not so bubbly either. Her chin was raised higher than usual as she kept pace with his strides. There was no touching— in fact, there was about a three-foot gap between their bodies while they traveled the expanse of the mall from the department store to the VIP parking lot.

Both of them kept silent until they reached his car.

“Thank you,” Tanya said stiffly when he opened the door for her but she did not get in right away. She reached for her backpack which he was carrying all along. “May I have my bag?”

He removed the straps slung on his shoulders. “I’m going to put this in the trunk.”

Truthfully, Tanya wanted the backpack with her because she needed something to hold throughout the trip. Whenever she was tense, she had a tendency to be fidgety. Without the bag, he would probably notice her wringing her hands.  She did not want to appear obviously distressed.

“I’d like to have it with me in the car, please.” She grasped the top handle and pulled.

He did not immediately release his hold of the bag. His eyes momentarily searched her face to assess her mood. And then he let go… “It’s up to you.”

He waited for her to take the passenger seat before he closed the door.

Taehyung passed the front of the car to get to the driver’s seat and Tanya caught a glimpse of his fit frame wearing fresh clothes. He was no longer in his school uniform.  His new attire was composed of loose black slacks and white long-sleeved cotton shirt. She wondered how he could have showered and changed his clothes. She had noticed it earlier but did not get the chance to inquire.

He sat behind the wheel and slowly turned sideways to look at her holding the big backpack on her lap. Tanya maintained her position—staring ahead and not speaking either.

He sighed.

Tanya heard the sigh and eyed him sideways. She did not move her head so it wouldn’t be obvious that she stole a glance. Her heart stopped when he leaned towards her... so close that his head almost touched hers.

“I know you love your bag very much,” he said with his face right before her, “but can you let go of it for a moment?”

Her eyes shifted down. She was indeed hugging the backpack fiercely as if it were filled with cash—no, more like filled with GOLD.

“Wae?” Tanya inquired meekly.

“Seatbelt.”

“Oh… right…” She set the bag free from her tight embrace.

His arms sneaked between her backpack and her chest. He leaned over to reach for the buckle near the upper side of her seat. His cheek almost grazed her face so she sank deeper into the leather chair.

For a second there, his skin presented itself to her up close... and his profile came to view, more beautiful than any scenery she had ever beheld as a passenger in a car.  He was breathtaking. She had to remind herself to breathe…

He buckled her seatbelt and eased back behind the wheel. He was still watching her.

Sizzling under his stare, she unconsciously held the backpack even tighter—so tight that if it were a person, it would have been dead due to suffocation by now.

“Does it even make sense for me…” he began with his deep, soulful voice filling their luxurious enclosure inside his magnificent car. “… to be jealous of a bag?”

She was so miserable and tense that she had difficulty processing thought coherently. When the lovely and tender meaning of his words sank in, the familiar warm feeling suffused her.  That delicious heat she would experience whenever he was near… it consumed her again. It also stirred to life that little fluttery thing inside her tummy so that now, it’s very active— and tickling her from within.

“Do you want to ask me something?” Taehyung prompted.

Tanya shook her head, fidgeting with the zipper of the front pocket of her bag.

“You sure?” he asked again. “I’ll answer anything.”

After a long pause, she finally mumbled, “How were you able to change clothes?”

“I spent time at the gym while waiting for you,” he answered. “I took a shower there after my work out.”

“I see…” she uttered. “I forgot about that there’s a gym in the mall.”  He must be a member there.

He didn’t elaborate that he was referring to the private fitness facilities in the CEO’s suite at the corporate floor of the building, not the commercial gym located in the mall. “Is that all you’re going to ask me?”

Silence…

She wouldn’t meet his eyes. She was pouting. Her lower lip was protruded all the way to Busan.

He ran the back of his finger under her chin and she moved her head away to avoid his touch.

“You're upset,” he observed. “Why?”

She turned her head towards the window. “Nothing.”

He waited. When no other reply came, he decided not to pressure her. He released the hand brake and shifted the car’s gear to reverse.

“WHY ARE YOU MASSAGING SHERI’S FOOT?”

Her question was an outburst— the delivery was layered with a harsh release of breath. And the words ended with a slight croak.

Taehyung was about to move the car out of the parking slot but he stopped. He set the gear in park again.

He saw that her face was flushed. She looked very disgruntled. She looked like she would want to poke somebody's eyes out.  “Tanya—”

“I know that … like… I know you’re just being a gentleman and it’s an innocent, helpful gesture…”

“It was.”

“… and I should NOT think of anything bad against Sheri, okay?! She’s my friend!”

“I know…”

“By the way, she’s the sweetest girl EVER!”

“Agreed." 

“You agree?!” She stopped her litany to scowl at him. “You find Sheri sweet?”

Instincts told him that he’d better qualify that statement fast. “Sweet… as a friend. To you. Sweet as a friend to YOU… yes. Sweet—to you. She is.” Shut up, Taehyung... NOW.

She lowered her eyes. “You’re a nice guy.  That much I can be sure of based on what little I know about you. I should be thanking you for being kind to my friend instead of…” Her voice trailed away.

“Instead of…?”

“Instead of getting worked up…”  Her head lowered and she tugged on the strands of hair that cascaded over her shoulder and spilled on top of her backpack.

He tried to see the expression on her face but she was pulling her hair to hide her face. “Were you worked-up?"

“Yes. I know I’m being stupid.” Shame on her for feeling the way she did. She saw how Kim Taehyung was tending to Sheri’s foot and she saw RED!  For an insane moment, her first instinct was to cuss and push Sheri off the chair.  And that’s her very close friend they’re talking about… my goodness, she must have gone mental!  She sighed forlornly.  “I don’t even have the right to feel that way.”

“I thought we already established that you do have the right?” he stressed. “Tanya, look at me.”  She wouldn’t.  Her breathing was unsteady.  He was afraid that she would cry. He would lose it if she cried because of him.  “Bae…”

She held on to her bag. She wrapped her arms around it like a comforting stuffed toy and sank her chin on top of it the way a sulking child would.

Taehyung snatched the damn bag that she was using to shield herself from him. He stepped out of the car before she could protest.

“Hey…!” Too late.  Tanya watched helplessly as he brought her heavy bag out of the car and locked it in the trunk.

He entered the car again and slammed the door.  He turned to her immediately. “MAY I EXPLAIN?”  He shouted that one out and instantly felt self-remorse.  She would think that he’s yelling at her.  He repeated his request, gently this time. “May I please explain to you…?”

There was nothing to keep her hands busy so she flattened both palms on her thighs and mentally commanded the restless fingers not to move.

Taehyung spoke in English—so she answered him also in English. “Yes.  Eks...pleyn-uh.”

Bae took her hand and trapped it between both of his.  “Look at me.” He waited for her stare to leave their hands and settle on his face. He spoke with clarity and sincerity. His ‘explanation’ sounded like it was not meant for silly child’s mind… but for a doubtful girl’s sensitive heart.  

“I helped out an injured person,” he said. “That’s all there is to it.  I witnessed how she dropped a box on her toes and that thing proved to be quite heavy when I lifted it.  Yes, I was concerned.  Yes, I was holding her foot to check if she was hurt.”  He squeezed her hand. “But bae… it would not have mattered if it were a child or an elderly person who had an accident. I would have offered my help to them anyway.  She just turned out to be Sheri.”

It’s a logical explanation, Tanya thought.  It was, in fact, a very good explanation. I should let the petty matter rest. No big deal.  Say, ‘I understand.’  Go on, Tanya. 

What came out of was entirely different. “But how you’re touching her, though!”

He was taken aback. “What… how?”

“You were kneeling,” she whined. “And… and you’re looking at each other in a way that’s… like… ‘ROMANTIC’…”

He repeated her foreign word. “ROH-MAN-TIK-EU?”

She noticed that he was to keep his face straight.  He was biting his lips to prevent a smile from showing.  She snatched her hand away. “KIM TAEHYUNG, YOU’RE MAKING FUN OF ME!”

“I’m not—ouch!” He felt the punch on his shoulder and he tried to capture her hand but she kept swatting his touch away.

She unbuckled her seatbelt and grasped the door handle. “Let me out.”

That’s when he moved swiftly from his seat to seize her. “Tanya… bae… wait!”  He embraced her firmly from the back, holding her as tightly as she did her own bag earlier.  “I’m not making fun of you… I’m not. I swear that I will never do that.”  She calmed down.  He could feel the tension leaving her.  She made a quarter turn to look at him over one shoulder…

…and he spoke with his mouth right by the corner of her lips. “Sheri has only ONE thing that I feel romantic about.”  He gave her enough wiggle room to twist around so that their faces were pressed together.  With his forehead upon hers... he declared, “Her friend.”

His perfectly heartwarming admission felt like a sedative, cooling down the irrational fire in her blood and inducing sense into her brain. And then, there’s only shame. Thick, gooey and awful shame. Her shoulders slumped. Her spunk departed from her like a bad spirit.

Tanya’s sudden silence worried Taehyung.  Where did the feisty girl go?  “Don’t you believe me?”

“I do believe you,” she replied glumly.

He moved his head up a bit so that he was talking and kissing her brow at the same time. “Is there…”

She moved so that they could look into each other’s eyes.

“… anything else you want to sh

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Comments

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Shanwreeb
#1
Chapter 56: I miss this story so much! I was so excited when it popped up and said there was a new update! I think I may have to read it again!!
VanillaSugarARMY
#2
Chapter 56: the ending was beautiful, I love it, I'm going to miss this
RizaOneie
#3
Chapter 8: I love this story. Been laughing my off a lot of times.
hollyeu
#4
Hiii it's been a while since I last read this story! I suddenly dreamt of Taehyung last night and so far your story is the greatest one I can relate with my dream lmao hahaha. I love and miss the roller coaster emotions you put in here. Gonna read this again for the second time hehe! xoxo
kellykeyes #5
Chapter 56: Min Yoon Gi has found love, yay! Great ending ;D I'm going to miss TaeTan now that this is over. Now I'm hoping for an update of HTCAF.
rockchiq14
#6
Chapter 56: i'm sorry for only commenting now. the comment box kept disappearing and it always says there's no comment to show so i was very frustrated that i can't comment (i find it funny that i used the word "comment" thrice in one sentence HAHA! sorry). i've read the ending and the epilogue a long time ago and i wanted so bad to comment but i can't. but i guess it's already fixed now.

i love you and thank you for this awesome, amazing, wonderful, and anything synonymous to those words, story. i cried, laughed, got frustrated and mad, thought and realized a lot of things, but i'm most thankful for making me realize that love is the most powerful thing in the world. that it can conquer everything as long as you believe in its power and treasure it more than anything. that love can bring you back to that one person who is worth all the tears, sacrifices, and the wait. that love will make the pain bearable. and love will always give you a reason to believe in it. no matter how painful and tragic the journey was, it will always bring you to your happily ever after.

it's so hard to say goodbye to this story because i cried and laughed with the characters and screamed with rage, squealed in glee, and bawled my eyes out with the other readers. but all things must come to an end and this story is one of them. but i will always remember this story and the characters in my heart, and also you, SeaSunSand. you're an amazing writer and i look forward to reading more of your stories. fighting and lots of love!
Amsohappy
#7
Chapter 56: This story is one of the best I've ever read. Thanks once again for your efforts towards this fic
sbroces
#8
Chapter 56: I love this. I just had time finishing this story. OMG and I can't wait to read your other stories. Jdndjdjdhdbdbdbdk Thank you for making non stop fics that are gems. They're really precious.
tartytorts
#9
Chapter 56: Author Bae I'm loving the Suho story and looking forward to the Jinyoung one...
BTW i remember you once mentioned a jungkook fic in one of your notes.. Will you still write that one sometime in the future?