"Wait!" Jisoo said, scooting back over to him.  

"Darling, go ahead." he said, his hand automatically finding her elbow.

"Should I go back with you?"

"Don't you have to be on time for the submission?"

"I do, but... it won't take that long, right?"

The need to go on was quite strong, but she also really, really wanted to stay with Yoongi as long as she could. There must be another time to meet the deadline, the office was always open and she had already sent her electronic version, so why would it matter if the hard copy was a little late? But then her night school teacher could be a real douchebag about those things sometimes and it was hard to predict how he would react. Was it really a big deal? She did care about her course, though. Ah, how annoying. Jisoo looked up at Yoongi with her big eyes, unsure of what to do. He smiled back at her before asking:

"Will you stay or go?"

"I'll have to go." she said reluctantly, re-shouldering her bag. "Let me just get my card out."

Opening the clasp she looked inside to fish for her purse, instead finding Yoongi's wallet sitting right at the top.

"Oh?" she pulled it out and handed it to him. "Good thing you didn't go back! You would have been looking all day."

"How did that get in there?" he asked, a confused look on his face.

"Didn't you ask me to put it there yesterday when we went shopping?" Jisoo replied.

Yoongi grinned.

"Thank you my darling." he sang, kissing her forehead.

She loved it when he did that, kissing her forehead, patting her hair. She often pretended not to like it, because she liked it when Yoongi would go on to shower her with compliments in order to explain why he couldn't help himself. Her other friends weren't like that at all, according to them being in your twenties meant that you could no longer like cheesy things like that. Head patting? Nope. Holding hands? Nope. Kissing in public? Absolute gigantic no-no. Jisoo thought being barely affectionate towards someone you were engaged to was much more weird. Some of her friends still shoved their boyfriends away and called them erts if they even tried hugging in public.

She didn't get it.

She loved Yoongi more than anything in the world and she always wanted to cuddle and be affectionate with him.

"Lucky I have mine in here, too." Jisoo said, "Although Jennie said she would... oh no."

"What's wrong?" Yoongi asked.

"I forgot Jennie's present! I'm going to have to go back and get it. You go first, honey."

"Alright. I'll see you later. Go quickly!"

Jisoo gave him a quick kiss before dashing away back through the station. She didn't have tons of time to go back and get it but she couldn't turn up empty handed at a baby shower. Jennie was only in Seoul for a couple of days before going back to Busan, so there would be no opportunity to give her the gift later, she had to go back. It all happened so fast with that girl, one moment she was job hunting in Seoul, the next she went back to Daegu, dated Taehyung for about a month before he decided he didn't like her after all and she then landed a company job in Busan and then suddenly she's getting married to some lifeguard a year younger than her who knocked her up. He had "saved" her after she went into the knee deep water at Gwanganri beach and fell over in the sand. It was probably more of a courtesy marriage, but at least they had actually dated for a little while before then and he seemed like a sweet enough guy from what Jennie had said. She ought to write his name on the card, if she could remember what it was... Jeong...? No... Jung... No that wasn't it either. Jung Jeong...? Crap.

She'd have to look it up on Facebook later instead of guessing - that could go horribly wrong.

Tossing her bag on the sofa, she dashed to the bedroom and opened her closet, searching around for the gift bag she had packed some weeks before. Where had she put it? Wasn't it on the shelf? Stepping on a chair, she searched through the things at the top of the closet, but found nothing. Her eye caught a gift bag peeking out from under a cardigan that had fallen off a clothes hanger. She hopped down and grabbed the bag, opening it up to remind herself of what she bought.

Though...

She would be needing these things for herself soon enough.

No! No she wouldn't.

Looking inside the bag, she pulled out the pair of little white scratch mittens and tossed them back inside, revolted by the thought.

 

Jisoo's attention was caught as the buzzer to their apartment rang. Who could it be? Did Yoongi come back already? Setting the gift aside, she scooted through the apartment and looked at the intercom camera.

Nope.

Taehyung.

Opening the door, she greeted him warmly as he grinned holding a parcel.

"Is Yoongi in?" he asked.

"No he's out doing errands." Jisoo said, stepping back to let him in.

"Oh, uh..." he trailed suddenly wondering if it would be safe to leave the box in Jisoo's care. Were they that kind of couple? "Do you guys open each other's mail?"

"Usually..."

"Then I'll come back later when Yoongi is in."

"Why what's inside?"

"Nothing." he lied, it now being abundantly clear to anyone watching that it was something very important indeed. "I'll come back later. Hey I'll bring some pizza and soju over!"

"Oh, I can't drink any alco-" Jisoo blurted out, raising a hand to cover .

Taehyung gave her an odd look.

"Are you on a diet or something? You're already pretty skinny, you always drink with us though. Seriously why can't you drink alcohol? I always bring extra for you, you can drink me and Yoongi under the table. Are you sick or something? I mean it's so unlike you to suddenly go off of it, though now I think about the last time we drank together it didn't sit well with you at all, didn't you throw up? That was a bit weird, you never throw up it's like you're pregnant or..."

Taehyung noticed Jisoo's expression.

"No!" he gasped, his eyebrows almost going up into his hairline. He squealed and jumped from foot to foot. "Does Yoongi know yet?"

"He doesn't."

"Oh my God, Jisoo. No, I can't be the first person you tell!"

"You didn't give me a choice, you just kept rambling on!"

Taehyung stepped back with his hands clasped in front of him and cocked his head as he grinned at her. "I'll come back later with this. You ought to tell Yoongi even if you're gonna get rid. , sorry, I didn't even ask how you felt about it!"

Jisoo's face fell.

Oh.

Taehyung straightened himself up.

"I don't want it, Tae."

"Let me make you some tea." he said.

"We don't have any."

"Then I'll buy some. Wait here."

 

"Honestly speaking, I've never liked children."

"I totally understand." Taehyung said. "There's such a heavy stigma against women who don't want children, or like them. I honestly think way more people don't even want kids, but they feel pressured to do it by their families or whatever. I mean, I don't want them either. They're a huge waste of money, time and energy. A terrible investment! You expend millions of won and get nothing in return, because that child is its own person - it didn't ask to be here - its cruel to place expectations on it."

"It's like you're reading my mind." Jisoo sighed, sipping her tea. "I have to tell Yoongi, don't I?"

"Yes."

"There's other issues besides me just not wanting them-"

"No." Taehyung interjected. "That's the only reason you need! It's valid."

"Thanks." she smiled.

"You shouldn't need too long to recover." he said. "It's early days for you. Just some medicine and you'll be right as rain in no time."

"Would you go with me?" she asked suddenly, startling Taehyung. "I don't want to tell Yoongi!"

Taehyung sighed. "Of course I will go with you if you want me to! But it's only right that you tell him. It's not like anyone else is the father and I'm absolutely sure he'll support you through this, why wouldn't he?"

Jisoo bit her lip before taking more tea. Taehyung frowned. He had never seen Jisoo like this, but he supposed that she just wasn't in her right mind. Her hormones ought to be all over the place, not to mention she would probably be feeling exhausted and scared. He noticed her body language, and suddenly wondered if something more serious was worrying her. She almost looked afraid when asking him to accompany her. Well, that was natural too for anyone going through what she was going through.

"Can you come back here at eight?" she asked. "We'll both be here."

"Sure."

 

*      *      *

 

Taehyung raised his hand to ring the buzzer, but hesitated once he heard a yell.

Was that Yoongi? 

Nope. No time to wait for them to open the door. Taehyung flipped up the door lock, punched in their code and swung the door open, intruding on the scene of Yoongi throwing a pillow towards the hall where he stood. It landed on the floor before it could reach him. Only then did Yoongi notice Taehyung standing there, two pizzas in hand, a look of utter shock upon his face.

"Leave!" Yoongi barked. "This isn't a good time, Tae."

"Bro..." he trailed, looking over to Jisoo who sat in tears, now realising why she was so reluctant to tell him.

Without another word, Taehyung entered their home, ignoring Yoongi and stood in front of Jisoo, between the two lovers. His senior was not a violent person, he knew that.

"Jisoo, are you okay?" he asked, looking back.

"I said this isn't any of your business!" Yoongi repeated.

"I'm not talking to you!" he shot back. "You think I don't know what this is about? I knew before you!"

Yoongi's face fell and he looked from his junior to his girlfriend.

"Why the hell do you know?" he demanded.

"Because I arrived here earlier to deliver your damn package and it came up in conversation!"

"I need to return that package." Yoongi muttered.

"Return it?" Taehyung repeated.

"There's no way I'm proposing now! Not now she's going to kill our baby!"

"Hey!" Taehyung yelled as Jisoo began to cry louder. "What the is wrong with you? Since when did you behave like such a piece of ? You're acting like Jisoo is gonna go around murdering babies, you prick!"

Yoongi recoiled, never having been spoken to that way by his junior. Never.

"Jisoo is only doing what's right for her! No one gets to tell her otherwise about what she should or shouldn't do or how she should be feeling!" he continued.

"It's my baby!" Yoongi retorted.

"Yeah? Well you're not the one who's gonna be carrying it around for 9 months! You're not the one who's gonna have to endure the pain of childbirth along with all the other bull that comes with being pregnant! No one is going to be ing threatening you to either have and raise a baby you don't even ing want, or else you lose your boyfriend who's been by your side for almost a decade! What is wrong with you?"

"It's mine!" he repeated, looking over at Jisoo, his energy drained, anger gone and sadness seeping in. "If you don't want it - something that is part of me and you - then I don't want you."

"Don't." Jisoo croaked.

"Don't what?" Yoongi pressed.

"Don't try to emotionally manipulate me. How dare you..." she seethed, her tear stained, swollen eyes boring holes into his.

"You two need to sit down and compromise on this." Taehyung commented.

"How?" they both yelled.

"There's no compromising on this issue. No matter what we do, one of us will end up miserable for the rest of our lives." Jisoo said, wiping her face down with wet tissues.

Yoongi flopped down on the arm of the sofa, posture slouched as he stared at the ground. Was that really true? He couldn't have imagined a more wonderful thing with a more wonderful person. He would love to have more of Jisoo in the world, and having a person that was a product of themselves, well, there was nothing better than that. But now? He never expected that Jisoo never wanted kids. He never expected that she would hate them so much - though when he thought back on it - he realised she avoided their friends kids like the plague and always made up excuses for why they couldn't babysit. When he managed to accept for them, she always locked herself in their bedroom and avoided the child until it was gone.

Perhaps he should have pieced it together earlier.

He wiped the tears from his own eyes.

She would be miserable for the rest of her life if she gave birth to their child?

"I can do everything." he said softly. "I can do all the caretaking."

Taehyung rolled his eyes.

"That's not the point, Yoongi." Jisoo replied.

"I know. But if you love me and want to stay with me, then have the child."

Taehyung looked at him in shock as Jisoo put her face in her hands. This attitude was not something she ever expected from someone like Yoongi. She thought he would support her fully, though she was nervous to tell him lest he be disappointed. She never expected this outcome, but she couldn't blame him either. Seeing him try to guilt her into staying with him and having the baby... that was making her blood boil. She could understand his objections to what she wanted, she could understand his anger, but she would not accept his attempts to manipulate her.

She loved herself far too much and knew herself far too well to put up with anyone trying to pull that on her.

It put an instant end to her feelings.

"I'll have my stuff out of here by tomorrow." she said, her voice now totally stable and confident. She stood up and walked around the sofa, grabbing a pizza and putting her shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Taehyung asked, Yoongi's head snapping up as soon as he heard the door open.

But it closed before they could get an answer.

 

*     *     *

 

Taehyung flinched as the door to his bedroom burst open, pulling the covers up over his t-shirt clad chest as Jisoo barged in and threw the blanket back, climbing into bed beside him. He was used to this now. This was a thing that Jisoo did now that they were 'besties'.

"What's eatin' ya?" he asked.

"Nothing..." she trailed, picking at her chipped nail polish.

After the fiasco five months ago, Taehyung immediately took Jisoo in. He had managed to get enough money for a deposit for an apartment and had an extra room. He knew she didn't want to go back to her parents, and so she took him up on his offer. He was so used to living above the fruit shop that he missed the smell of apples and peaches and pineapples in the morning. Jisoo went to the trouble of buying scented fresheners and placing them in every room in the apartment so that he could feel comforted before  going to his dreary office job that he finally managed to secure. The money more than made up for it, though.

"Thanks for everything these past months, Tae." she said finally. "I don't know what I would have done without you. Thanks for going with me that day to the clinic, it was scarier than I thought."

"No need to thank me. I promised I would. I would never dream of letting you do something so big all alone." he smiled, waving his hand. "Why're you blushing?"

Jisoo clasped her cheeks. Oh no. Not again.

She had been noticing Taehyung more and more while they lived together. She knew him for years and years as the goofy oddball dork he was, totally kind-hearted and sweet, and so she wasn't sure when it started. Probably back that day when he fearlessly stood up for her against Yoongi, the guy she knew he respected the most. She never expected that, in the end, Yoongi would not be understanding in the least.

But Taehyung was.

And from then, she began noticing things. The smoothness of his tan skin, the contours of his tones muscles, his voice when he sang at noraebang and how he kept his hair that same ash blonde that so complimented him. His handsome face... how hadn't she noticed him until then? She was too caught up with Yoongi, probably. He hadn't contacted her once since then. She returned the following day after their argument, cleared everything she could find and left. Taehyung kept in touch with him here and there, but largely, he had been cut out, too.

"Did you hear from him?" Taehyung asked, figuring her blushing was a mystery.

"No." she said, a smile on her lips. "I don't want to, either.. do you have some free time now?"

Taehyung blinked.

"Yes."

"Okay. I need your opinion on something." she said, and flipped the covers over again, running out in her fluffy pyjamas and closing the door after her.

What was that all about? She was asking him for his opinion more and more these days. Truthfully, it hurt him to be cut out of his senior's life, but... he just found himself so defensive over Jisoo. He couldn't believe that Yoongi would ever speak to her like that - he had seriously lost a lot of respect for him that day. It was the least he could do, though. He would probably throw himself in front of a bus for her, but never would he say anything.

He had some bloody sense.

It wasn't really appropriate to like your senior's girlfriend or ex-girlfriend and he would never dream of burdening Jisoo by confessing his feelings to her. He wondered how much longer he would last sharing an apartment together before it would become too much for him. He wasn't sure how much more his wrist could take, but he couldn't help it, she just walked around the apartment in next-to-nothing half the time. He was a man, too.

He snapped out of his dumb thoughts as his bedroom door opened again and Jisoo stepped in.

Taehyung's jaw dropped.

"What do you think?" she asked, smoothing out any wrinkles on the little black dress she was wearing. "I found it on sale for almost nothing yesterday! Do you think the shoes work?"

She raised a foot to show off the tall killer heels she had newly bought.

"I mean I know it's just black and a bit plain, but it looks okay, right?" she asked.

"Y-yeah. It looks, uh. Yep. Good."

Now who was blushing?

"It's just, you know, Christmas is coming and I thought it would be nice for a date."

"Do you have a date?" he asked, grabbing his bottle of water and downing a few gulps.

"Well... maybe." she said, a slight smile on her lips. "Would, um... if you don't have any plans, would you like to, maybe..."

"Yes." Taehyung said. "I would like to order some chicken right now. That's a great idea, thanks for the suggestion."

"Hey!" she protested, Taehyung laughing at her foot-stomp. "I'm trying to take initiative here!"

"I'm sorry. Please continue." he grinned.

"Would you like to go on a date with me?" she asked loudly and confidently.

"Yes!" he replied equally loudly and confidently.

Jisoo could only smile as she walked over to him as he sat in bed. He looked up as she bent down and placed a tiny kiss on the tip of his tall nose. He blinked rapidly a few times and shook his head. Oh. He liked that.

"Again." he grinned holding his head up and she did as he asked. He thought he might burst at the cuteness of the little squeaky noise that her kiss made.

She smiled down at him and ran a hand through his hair, over his cheek.

"Shall we get chicken?" she asked.

"I'm starving!" he replied.

"l'll change back into my pyjamas and you order whatever one you want!" she said, already headed to the door.

"You don't have to!"

"It's minus ten outside, Tae."

"Ah, yeah."

He leaned back as the door shut and glanced at the mirror. He was smiling like an idiot, falling back onto the bed and rolling around, tangling himself in the sheets and squealing in delight. Once he'd calmed himself, he picked up his phone and dialled his favourite chicken place. They always gave mountains of food. He stood up and sauntered out into the living room and over to the window that overlooked a park as he waited for the shop to pick up the call.

The first snow of the year was falling.

Fresh snow.

Fresh start.