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     chapter eighteen      the rest of the family.

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Ever so stealthily Taehyung stole a glimpse of Arang through his peripheral vision. When he saw her staring straight ahead, he mimicked her actions. Why was he looking at her? She had nothing worth seeing anyways. They had just hopped off of the bus and were venturing toward the girl’s house. He didn’t have a clue to where they were but he continued to follow Arang. There weren’t too many words exchanged between the two of them since they had left the agency and oddly enough it feel extremely peculiar to Taehyung. He had gotten so used to swapping insults with her that this quiet atmosphere lingering around them made him feel awkward.  

Immersed in her own thoughts, Arang exhaled through her nostrils and hitched her lips to the side. Today had certainly been a long and tiring day for her. The scene with the eggs and flour constantly ran through her head and no matter how hard she tried to eradicate it, it wouldn’t go away. She had to admit that it was utterly humiliating, add the fact that Taehyung, out of all people, had to swoop in to save her…  

That was definitely a grave blow to her ego for sure.  

She had skimmed through a good amount of articles dealing with saeseng fans and the scary things they did when she had gotten bored. In her opinion the stories seemed to be a bit exaggerated and over the top. After having experienced it herself, however, she could see that there was some truth about these crazy girls and the demented infatuation they carried for their idols.  

They didn’t even know anything and they had blindly attacked her.

She didn’t even want to think about what would happen to her if they had discovered that she was the owner of the blog where the post regarding Taehyung being a ert had originated from.  

Before she even realized it, they were standing in front of her house. “Is this it?” Taehyung tilted his head to the right and his neck crane upward as he stared at the apartment complex which had at least fifteen floors.  

“Oh yeah, come on.” Arang prodded, dazed as she punched in the security code. Luckily for her she lived on the second floor. Instead of taking the elevator, they used the stairwell. “Just so you know my sister will probably hyperventilate when she sees you. Although I don’t understand why.”  

This was more like it. Taehyung clucked his tongue as he plastered on a teasing simper. “Of course she’d do that in front of me. It’s only normal. I am Kim Taehyung after all. What girl wouldn’t lose their mind after having been graced from my presence?”  

“The sane ones?” Arang replied immediately; it was like she had been anticipating it. She entered the pass-code for the apartment and when it beeped, she twisted the handle and entered. “I’m back,” she announced. She slipped out of her shoes and Taehyung trailed her.  

“Unnie! I missed you!” Aesook screeched, running to hug her older sister.  

“I missed you too.” Arang chortled as she patted the child’s head. 

“Oh, who’s this oppa?” Aesook blinked profusely at the stranger who suddenly bent down, removed his hood and winked at her.  

“Hi, cutie. This handsome oppa is named Taehyung.” He mused cheekily, thinking that she was the sister that would automatically fawn over him. To his dismay the little girl stepped back and and her expression contorted into one filled with much disdain.  

“Why are you following my sister? Are you a stalker?” As fast as her little arms would allow her, Aesook protectively pulled Arang behind her small frame.

“This oppa doesn’t look nice at all.”  

At her negative remark, Taehyung stood up straight,  his teeth and quickly looked away. Children were always good at judging a person’s character. Arang tried not to howl at her sister’s quip and ended up chewing on her bottom lip to restrain herself. 

She could always count on Aesook to make her day.  

Regaining the confidence he had lost in less than ten seconds, Taehyung cleared his throat and returned his attention to Aesook. He flashed her a dazzling smile and reached down to ruffle her hair. “I’m not a stalker. Oppa is actually your sister’s boyfriend.” He declared suavely. He saw how Aesook’s eyes rounded as she peered back at Arang.  

“Unnie, is he really your boyfriend?” She balked.  

“Ah, Taehyung! It’s nice seeing you again.” Mrs. So popped her head out from the kitchen and waved the ladle she had in her possession in the air.  

“It’s nice seeing you again as well.” He returned ever so courteously.  

“Will you be joining us for dinner then?” The elder questioned with her both of eyebrows arched.  

Taehyung glanced over to Arang, his lips hiked into a small and mischievous smirk. She scowled at him and mouthed “Don’t even think about it.” Her back was facing her mother so the older woman was not able to see anything.   

As much as it would please h