Ewon

Thanks to our shower turning into a couple of frantic s against the wall, it was a solid hour before Taehyung and I were finally dressed and presentable. With that out of our systems for the moment, we took Lola with us to a café down the street that allowed dogs in their patio seating, and after we'd dropped her off at home, I drove us into Seattle.

"You know..." Taehyung said as the city came into view "...for some reason, I thought the Space Needle would be bigger than that."

"Yeah, a lot of pictures make it look big compared to the skyscrapers." I gestured toward it "But that's all there is." I'd had the same impression when I'd first moved to Washington. The Space Needle had always seemed much bigger in pictures, but it really wasn't. The only reason it was visible at all was that it was set apart from most of the taller buildings, which were clustered together.

"You ever go up in it?" Taehyung asked.

"A few times. After the last time, I probably won't go up again."

"Why's that?" 

"Partly because I went with my ex, but mostly because it was really windy that day." I glanced at Taehyung, and realized he was watching me blankly "The Space Needle is specifically designed to sway. Which, I mean, it's a good thing—that's what keeps it from breaking during an earthquake or a windstorm. But when you're up in it and it's swaying?" I shuddered, stomach lurching at the memory.

"Wow. I'm surprised they let people go up when it's like that."

"I don't think they usually do. The wind didn't pick up until we were already having dinner." I shot the Needle a wary look "We, uh, didn't stick around for dessert."

This time it was Taehyung who shuddered "I don't blame you. Good God. And holy , I can't imagine being up there during an earthquake. Those are scary enough on the damn ground."

"A-ing-men."

I continued down the I-5 to our exit and started the slow crawl through downtown Seattle. I hated driving down here—too many one-way streets and drivers who clearly needed to retake driver's ed—but I tried not to let it show. The GPS took care of figuring out when and where to turn, at least. Navigating in this city without a GPS was a nightmare, so thank God for that impatient voice ordering me to turn.

When we were close to Pioneer Square, I turned off the GPS just before I pulled into the famous Sinking Ship parking garage. It was a weird, ugly triangular garage that sloped sharply—hence the name—and about the only place to park down here besides on the street. Fortunately there were some spaces available so I didn't have to showcase my lack of parallel parking skills.

After I'd squeezed the car into a too-small space on the top deck, we paid for the spot and headed for Pioneer Square.

"So this..."—I gestured around us—"...is Pioneer Square. Basically one of the oldest parts of Seattle."

Taehyung nodded as he took in our surroundings. The buildings here were seriously old by West Coast standards—a hundred years, give or take—and some still had their nineteenth century stone façades. In the middle of the square was the iconic black metal pergola that had been rebuilt a few years ago, and along the edges were some bars and restaurants—old and new—with outdoor seating.

One bar in particular was our destination—Doc Maynard's Public House.

"The tour starts here." I said "You want to get a drink or anything before?"

Taehyung shook his head "Nah, I'm good."

We went inside and bought tickets. It was still early enough in the day that the tours weren't heavily booked, so we snagged the last two spots in the next group, which left in fifteen minutes. The girl selling tickets directed us into the large room beside the bar, and we joined about twenty people waiting for the same tour.

I opened my mouth to say something to Taehyung, but three women in their mid-twenties did double takes so hard, I was surprised their necks didn't snap. Their eyes widened, and one put a hand to . The other was fumbling with her phone. My stomach dropped.

Beside me, Taehyung casually turned, ostensibly to look at some of the black and white photos on the wall "So, this bar's been around for a long time?"

I cut my eyes toward the women, who were still very much interested in him, then, after a slow breath to release the cold dread, followed his lead "Yeah. Doc Maynard was one of the founders of the city. I can't remember if this was actually his place or if someone just named it after him."

He looked closer at one of the faded photos "That's going to happen sometimes. Wish I could do something about it, but..."

"I know." I kept my gaze fixed on one of the photos too. I'd known, and I'd dreaded it. Now that it was actually happening—someone in public had recognized him while we were together—my stomach roiled. I didn't like cameras or attention, not even from a couple of girls who'd probably just text a photo of Taehyung to their friends without giving me a second look. Except what if they did notice me? What if they noticed us? 

I hadn't realized until just now how much it would truly bother me to have strangers even potentially wondering how Taehyung and I knew each other. Judging us. Judging me.

What am I getting myself into?

I watched Taehyung out of the corner of my eye. Okay, so the attention—imagined or otherwise—was gross, but the tradeoff wasn't so bad. I was with Taehyung, after all. I could weather some stares and gossip in exchange for being the one he was hanging out with. Or doing more than hanging out with.

Oblivious to my thoughts, Taehyung sighed. He sounded tired. Maybe frustrated or annoyed. Less than happy, anyway.

"Hey." I said softly "You still want to do this? We can always—"

"Yeah, it's fine." he glanced at me and smiled, though not as brightly as he usually did. “I’m more worried about you than me."

"You're in this too, though." I fought the urge to take his hand "I'll be all right."

"So will I. If you're not, just say so."

"I will. You too." 

A moment later, our tour guide—a petite woman named Bethany with a huge voice and a long blonde ponytail—announced that we'd be getting moving shortly. She gave us a brief overview of the history of Seattle, in particular the part where after the fire in 1889, the city's founders decided to raise the city in order to mitigate flooding.

"And that left us with the Underground." she concluded "You'll be walking through tunnels that used to be Seattle's sidewalks. They were used for everything from opium dens to bootlegging during Prohibition. Also, since we are going to be underground and these tunnels are only used for tours, you're going to want to watch out for things like uneven ground, pieces of wood, metal, and concrete, and the occasional rat. Oh, and sometimes roaches. And I think there's still some methane leaks. So, with that in mind, if you'll follow me..." Bethany gestured for us to follow her, and as she led us out of the room, she started chirping "Methane and roaches and rats, oh my!"

Taehyung snorted "I like her already."

I smothered a laugh "Me too."

Bethany was an awesome tour guide. I'd been on this tour before, and the guides could be hit or miss. Sometimes the jokes were a bit too cheesy, or the history lessons got a bit too long and dry, but Bethany was good at what she did. Historical trivia peppered with bad puns and jokes that were racy enough to make the adults chuckle while flying over the kids' heads. She was definitely getting a tip at the end. 

The tour wasn't all underground. Sometimes we had to come up to the street, cross over, and go down again via another entrance. While the group waited to cross the street, I glanced at a restaurant a few doors down, and realized I'd been there before.

Bethany was explaining something to the crowd, so I turned to Taehyung and leaned in close enough to whisper "If you're hungry after this, that place has amazing food."

He looked in the direction I was pointing, and nodded "Cool. Let's keep it in mind."

We exchanged smiles, and a moment later, the crosswalk light turned green. We followed our group across and down into another section of the Underground.

At Bethany's direction, the group stopped. A few stragglers were still catching up, so she didn't start talking quite yet.

And that was when one of the women who'd spotted Taehyung decided to make her move.

She appeared beside him, clutching her phone to her chest and smiling "I'm sorry, I just have to ask—are you Kim Taehyung?"

The instant she said his name, heads started turning. Other people's eyes widened with recognition, and I heard someone murmur "I told you it was him!" 

Taehyung smiled apologetically and shook his head "Nah. I get that all the time." he laughed as he added "I wish I had that guy's bank account."

That sent a ripple of amusement through the group, and most people lost interest in him. The woman didn't seem entirely convinced.

"Sorry." he said with what sounded like total sincerity.

I elbowed him "Dude, you really need to do one of those lookalike contests."

Without missing a beat, Taehyung groaned and rolled his eyes "Ugh. No, thank you."

The woman frowned and inched back "Okay. I'm sorry. I just thought..."

"It's okay." Taehyung said "Like I said—happens all the time."

We all exchanged looks, as if no one quite knew what to say.

Bethany either had perfect timing, or she'd caught on that there was an awkward moment in progress, because she called everyone's attention back to her "Okay, so let's talk about why the police didn't intervene with all the bootlegging going on down here..."

As our guide went on about how the Seattle police were actually doing most of the bootlegging, the woman who'd approached Taehyung slipped 

back into the group, and Taehyung and I both exhaled.

"Think she bought it?" I asked.

"I hope so." it came out as a sigh more than anything.

The tour continued, and Taehyung seemed on edge. Or maybe that was me. Other people in the group were being a bit less subtle now about stealing glances at him. Though some had apparently taken him at his word that he was just a Kim Taehyung doppelgänger, others didn't seem so sure. They kept eyeballing me too, but I did my level best to ignore it, if only so Taehyung didn't catch on.

It was kind of a relief when the tour was over. The group dispersed into the gift shop, though Taehyung and I hung back for a few minutes to let everyone else move on. By the time we started browsing the shop, only a few stragglers remained, and I didn't think any of them gave us a second look.

Taehyung bought a tacky shot glass and a book on Seattle's history. Once he'd finished, we headed out, and ran into Bethany by the exit.

"I hope you both enjoyed the tour." she said.

"Definitely." Taehyung dropped a couple of twenties into the tip jar, and her eyes widened.

"Wow. Thank you." she blinked "That's really generous." 

"Good tour guides are hard to come by." he said.

I added a single twenty to the jar—didn't want to look stingy, and we continued out of the bar. Now we were back where we started—standing in Pioneer Square—but I didn't feel nearly as relaxed as I had when we'd arrived. Taehyung still seemed tense too.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." he exhaled and lowered his gaze "Just...I can usually deal with that stuff when I'm alone. When I have someone with me..." he looked at me through his lashes "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I nodded toward the other end of the square "Let's go grab some lunch and chill. Then maybe we can check out Pike Place Market."

Taehyung studied me for a second, and finally some of the tension in his shoulders and features eased "You sure it doesn't bug you? Having people do that?"

"It's fine. I promise."

He released another breath. As we started walking toward the restaurant I'd pointed out to him earlier, he said "Better than the paparazzi, I guess."

I shuddered but tried not to let it show.