Taehyung

"Holy ." I groaned happily as I laid my fork down on the empty plate "You were not joking about this place."

"Right?" Ewon put his fork down too "I discovered it like two years ago, and I could pretty much live here."

"If I lived within a hundred miles, I'd eat here so often I wouldn't be able to fit into my clothes again. So worth it, though."

"Uh-huh." Ewon turned and gestured at the waiter, probably to get the bill. Facing me, he said "So we've got the whole evening. Anything you want to see or do tonight?"

I'm already seeing everything I came to see.

I shrugged as I picked up my water glass "I could stand to walk some of this dinner off if there's a place we can do that."

"Oh yeah. Tons of places. In fact there are some parks we could..." he paused, his expression suddenly turning a little shy "Would you, um, object if we swung by my house and picked up my dog?" 

"Of course not." I smiled "I'd love to meet your dog."

That eased the sudden nervousness in his face, and he smiled back "Fair warning—she's a little rowdy. I mean, she's well-behaved, but she's young, so lots of energy."

"Sounds like my kind of dog."

When the check came, we split it, and then left the restaurant. The instant I was in the passenger seat, I decided my lingering nerves were the only thing keeping me awake. Though this morning's flight had been short and uneventful, flying always wore me out, and I also hadn't slept much last night. Then we'd had this enormous—and amazing—meal, and now I was ready to curl up in the backseat and say goodnight.

I didn't want to waste what little time I had with Ewon, though. There was no telling if we'd see each other after this weekend, so I wanted to be here for every second of it. Walking around a park with his dog would probably be exactly what I needed to keep my eyes open, I just had to avoid nodding off between now and then.

We'd kept the conversation light during dinner. Mostly comparing notes on different cuisines, culinary disasters we'd experienced firsthand, and reminiscing about long-closed restaurants that we wished were still open. For all I'd worried about being able to find something to talk about, or about connecting enough to keep a conversation going, we'd done just fine so far. We were a little quiet now, but I suspected he was getting hit with lazy puppy syndrome just like I was. After that much delicious Thai food, a food coma was inevitable.

"Any chance we can eat there again before I leave?" I asked.

"Dude, say the word." he glanced at me, smiling as if he had no idea how much that adorable smile turned my insides to liquid "We can eat there for lunch and dinner every day you're here, and you won't hear me complain."

"Awesome. But if you've got other favorite places, I'm game. You haven't led me astray so far."

He chuckled and kept driving.

We shot the breeze a little, mostly about traffic jam horror stories. About fifteen minutes after we'd left the Thai place, he parked in front of a two-story gray house.

"You want to come in?" he shut off the car "I'm just going to put on her leash and grab the bag of treats, so it'll only take a minute."

"Sure." I shrugged and unbuckled my seatbelt. Truth was, I was curious as hell about Ewon and where he lived, so I jumped at the chance to have a peek into his world before we left with the dog.

I followed him onto the front porch, and we hadn't even cleared the top step before thundering paws and clicking nails approached. A low woof came through the door, followed by a thump-thump-thump that I guessed was a large tail wagging against the wall. I'd seen some photos of her, so I knew she was a big dog, but she sounded like a herd of Clydesdales.

Ewon unlocked the door and pushed it open "Hey, sweetie. Did you miss—"

The enormous German Shepherd shot right past him and started bouncing in front of me, whacking him with her long tail as she did.

"Hey!" Ewon snapped his fingers "Lola, down." she instantly dropped onto her haunches, but kept her attention fixed on me as she vibrated with excitement. He rolled his eyes and muttered "Traitor."

I laughed and held out my hand for her to sniff. Well, . All over "You are friendly, aren't you?"

"God, yeah, she is." he gazed fondly at her as she slobbered on my hand "Anyone ever breaks into the house, she'll just ask them to throw her toy or pet her."

"Aww, not much of a guard dog, are you, baby?" I petted her with the hand she'd soaked, and her tail wagged so hard it made her whole body sway "She's tall for a German Shepherd, isn't she?"

"She's a Belgian Malinois. They're kind of like Shepherds, but yeah, they get huge." he watched her for a moment, then said "Come on, Lola. Go inside." 

She trotted in, and we followed.

"Go get your leash."

Instantly, she broke into a run and sprinted across the house, barking as she did. She turned a corner, and there was some sliding and crashing. I winced, but Ewon just laughed.

"Don't worry." he said "There's nothing for her to hit. I dog-proofed this place the day after I got her."

Before I could respond, there was a jingle at the other end of the house, and Lola came loping back with a harness in , the leash flapping behind her. She dropped it at Ewon's feet and sat down, wiggling and whining.

"Somebody likes going out." I said.

"Oh, you have no idea. And we only had a short walk after work because I was meeting you, so she's got a lot of energy to burn."

"What?" I straightened "Well, . Maybe we can take her along when we go out this weekend, then. She'd probably be happier, right?"

Ewon blinked "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, I'm sure there are places that don't allow dogs, but there have to be some parks and beaches we can go to, right?" I scratched behind one of Lola's giant ears "Do they allow dogs at places with outdoor seating?"

"Um." he blinked again, and then shook himself "I think so, yeah. I can google dog-friendly restaurants." he crouched and collected the harness "She'd definitely love to come with us, especially if we swing by the D-O-G P-A-R-K."

I chuckled "She knows the word, eh?"

"She knows a lot of words." he muttered, and slid the harness onto his dog, which must have been a challenge with her bouncing and wiggling like that "Too smart for her own good sometimes." he tousled her ears and smiled "Aren't ya, baby?"

She woofed. He stood, and as he did, the leash jingled. She whined, front paws barely staying on the wood floor as she radiated excitement.

"You want to go?" he asked "You want to go see some squirrels?"

Lola almost came unglued at that, and we both laughed. God, I loved how his blue eyes lit up whenever his dog's did.

We went back outside, and as I got into the passenger seat, he opened the backseat. Lola leaped in, went right to the middle, and sat down.

"Good girl." Ewon leaned in and clipped her harness to something. 

"Is that—" I looked closer "Does she have her own seatbelt?"

"Yep." he reached past her and clipped the other side of the harness to the passenger side seatbelt "Some people think I'm nuts, but I'm not driving with a loose animal in the car."

"No, that makes sense. I just didn't know they made something like that."

"I didn't either until I got her." he wrapped her up in a bear hug and kissed the side of her face "Gotta keep my baby safe."

And dear Lord, I almost melted right then and there. As if I hadn't already been quietly losing it over basically everything this man did.

Once Lola was secured, she lay down on the backseat while Ewon got in on the driver's side. He started the car, and, after glancing back at her, backed out of the driveway "I hope she didn't slobber on you too much."

"Nah." I twisted around so I could pet her "I miss having dogs, so I'm not going to complain."

"Okay, good. Some people get annoyed by that. And the dog hair. She's a longhaired dog, so you'll probably need a lint roller or—"

"Relax." I patted Lola's neck "Trust me—I don't mind at all." 

He glanced at me, brow pinched "Are you sure?"

"Dude, I love animals. Seriously, I miss having pets, so I'll take the dog hair."

That must have been what he needed to hear because the tension started easing in his features and his shoulders. Some of it, anyway.

I gave Lola another pat, then faced forward again, but I still watched Ewon "You're really nervous, aren't you?"

He laughed quietly, cheeks coloring "Is it that obvious?"

"If it's any consolation...me too."

Ewon's eyebrows shot up "Really?"

"Well, yeah." I shrugged even though he wasn't looking at me "I was nervous about meeting you on the show, and then coming here after I blew you off..."

"You didn't blow me off. You had somewhere else you had to be." he glanced at me, a subtle smile on his lips "I get it. It's okay."

"Still. I felt like an ." I paused "Especially since I really wanted to meet you one-on-one. Without all the cameras."

"You did?" 

"Of course. Ewon, I'm not joking—you were the reason I made it to that audition, and that audition changed my life."

He swallowed hard but didn't speak.

Heart thumping, I went on "I'm not here because I feel obligated to you or like I owe you something. But it's hard to forget someone who came along and acted like it made perfect sense for me to succeed. You didn't have any reason to believe I could, but you didn't have any reason to believe I couldn't either. With all the negativity I'd been getting, and all the negativity that I'm surrounded by now, it's hard not to be drawn to someone who sees possibility and potential in anyone."

He exhaled "Wow. I just...I still can't believe that. I've been such a huge fan of yours ever since I saw you in Shots Fired, and..." he shook his head "It's kind of surreal, honestly."

"Tell me about it."

We exchanged glances. Though we both smiled, his anxiety was palpable, and mine probably was too. We'd been doing all right up until now—definitely nervous, but with plenty to talk about to fill the silence. Now that we'd acknowledged those nerves, they were impossible to ignore.

I swallowed "This isn't too much, is it? Me crashing your town for three days?" 

"No! No. Not at all." he adjusted his grip on the steering wheel and focused on the road as he nosed up an onramp "Like I said—surreal." he chewed his lip as he merged onto the freeway. Once he'd found a lane and sped up with the rest of traffic, he went on "I mean, one day I'm watching this amazing actor and none of my friends believe I met him before he made it big. The next..." Ewon glanced at me "The next, you're in my car, making friends with my dog."

Hopefully making friends with more than just your dog.

"And I guess that's just a lot to get my head around, you know?" he was almost whispering now "You're you. And you're here. And I..." he didn't finish the thought.

My heart was doing weird things as I listened to Ewon's soft, starstruck confession. Sometimes it still blew my mind that anyone could even get starstruck over me, and if he thought this was surreal for him, he had no idea what it was like for me.

Hoping I wasn't about to make things weird, I twisted a little so I was facing him "Would you believe a day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about that day at the diner?"

He flicked his gaze toward me "Really?"

"Really. I sometimes wondered if I'd ever be able to find you again. Partly because I wanted to say thank you, and partly because I always..."  

I hesitated, heat rushing into my face "I guess I always regretted that I never got to know you."

Ewon's breath hitched.

I moistened my lips "Someone who'd say something like that to a total stranger—I mean, that has to be a pretty amazing person. And I always kicked myself for letting you walk out the door without even finding out your name."

A smile slowly formed on his lips "Well, you know it now."

"Yeah. I do."

He looked at me again, and we both smiled.

As he kept driving, we let the subject drop and moved on to figuring out which park to take Lola to and walk off our full stomachs. Still, my mind stayed on that little exchange we'd had. There was more to it. More that I wanted to say but couldn't. Not yet. A sense of urgency I hadn't noticed before—a jittery, uneasy feeling in my chest—had begun to fade. As if I'd felt a clock ticking and needed to get all the words out before I ran out of time.

Somehow, I didn't feel like I was on a clock anymore. We'd get there. I'd find the right words and the right time to say what I needed to say. This thing we were doing had the potential to extend beyond the weekend, which meant I could really think about everything I hadn't said just now.

Like how attracted I'd been to him that very first day.

And how attracted I still was tonight.

And how much I hoped this weekend wouldn't be the end.