(Request from anon)

It’s been a week since Taehyung’s sudden confession.  Strangely, everything seems to have gone back to normal.  It was like nothing had ever happened.  Back on that day, the members were so engrossed in their own conversation, that the only thing they noticed was the fact the Taehyung was holding on to your shoulders after the bump.  They proceeded to tease you two a little bit, but nothing they said alluded to the confession that Taehyung had made.  So everything is back to normal.  Well, not everything.  You are not normal.

Ever since the incident, you’ve developed a sudden tolerance for Taehyung’s goofy ways.  He still acts the same alright, but it doesn’t seem to affect you as much anymore.  In fact, you wonder how it ever affected you as much as it did.  Not only do you tolerate it, it’s actually quite cute sometimes.  Not that you would ever admit that out loud of course.

Jimin’s in your chair now.  You are doing his makeup for an interview.  He’s currently fast asleep, his head leaning to one side, but you’re adapting.  His music is blasting so loud in his ears that you can hear every beat.  How does he sleep like that?  Though the answer is pretty obvious; they’ve been moving constantly for almost a week now.  You would be sleeping too, if you could.

You look over at one of the couches in the room; the one where Taehyung is.  He’s asleep laying on Namjoon Oppa, who is also asleep laying over one of the arm rests.  Taehyung is clinging to a little stuffed lion, snuggling it to death.  He’s so cute, you think.

Wait.  When did you start to have thoughts like that?  What possesses you to think this now?  What’s even more disturbing to you is the way in which the words played out in your mind.  You sound just like all the fangirls you are always seeing around the members everywhere you go.  You even said “cute” in a slightly higher voice.

You feel your chest get tight looking at the lion toy he’s holding.  You think about the time when Taehyung was holding you the same way.  No, stop.  Don’t think like that.  Don’t think about the way he held you when you thought the car was going to crash.  Don’t think about the way he was biting his lip to hold in his laughter.  I said stop.  Dang it!

You shake the thoughts away from your mind, trying to refocus on Jimin.  The interview was still a couple hours away, so there’s no need for you to hurry.  Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try to focus, your eyes keep wandering back to Taehyung.  He is so adorable curling up with his lion and laying on his hyung.  A smile creeps across your face and a sigh leaves your body.

What is happening to me? you scream in your head.  This is so not like you at all.

Taehyung stirs and you instinctively look at him.  He sits up and rubs his eyes, before stretching his arms in the air.  His lion falls to the ground and he is quick to swipe it up again.  He looks over at you and smiles, sleepily.  You feel yourself blush and smile back before returning to Jimin’s makeup.  But when you look at Jimin’s face, you realize that he’s done already.  Wow, I must be really good if I can do makeup while totally zoning out.  You nudge Jimin’s shoulder a little to wake him.  He sits up straight and takes out his headphones.

“You can go and sleep on the couch now.  I’m done,” you say sweetly.  Jimin smiles back, thanks you then heads over to another couch where he collapses and plugs back into his music. 

You look up at Taehyung; it’s his turn now.  You give a little beckon with your hand, urging him to come over.  Taehyung gives you a mischievous smile before laying back down on Namjoon and closing his eyes.  He squeezes his lion close to his chest.  You roll your eyes and scoff.  Hes planning on being difficult today.

You march over to the couch and stand over Taehyung with your hands on your hips.  You see him snuggle in closer, trying to hide himself.

“Taehyung?” you say in a sweet, quiet voice.  He doesn’t move.  You say it again, a little louder.  “Taehyung?”

Again, he doesn’t move.  You decide to play a little rough.  You reach down and pull the lion out of his arms. 

“Ya!” he says, not trying to be quiet.  He sits up and tries to grab it back.  “Give me that back.”

“Nope.  You’re not getting it back until you have your makeup done.”  You hug it tightly and start walking back to your chair.  Before you can take two steps, Taehyung circles his arms around you, trying to take the toy back.

“Give it back,” he says.  You can hear him laughing at your playfulness.

“Not gonna happen.”  You hold on to the lion for dear life, as Taehyung tugs on it.  You find yourself giggling; you never giggle.  Thankfully, almost everyone in the room is asleep.

“Come on, Noona,” Taehyung whines.  He has given up on taking the toy back, but still has his arms wrapped around your body and his chin resting on your shoulder.  You blush.

“Are you gonna be good and let me do your makeup?”

“Hmm,” Taehyung hums.  After another minute or two, he answers.  “Fine.”  You can hear the exaggerated pout in his voice.  So cute!

Taehyung lets you go and stomps over to the chair, before sitting down and slouching with his arms crossed over his chest.  You resist the strong urge to laugh out loud at your same-age friend.  He looks like a 5 year old being made to sit back down at the table to wait for the meal to finish.

“Aww, was that so hard?” you taunt.  You walk over to the vanity and sit the lion down, facing Taehyung.  You grab the foundation brush and set to work.

No more than 30 seconds later, Taehyung starts his normal squirming that used to make your blood boil.  However, now you are able to follow along.

“Noona?”

“Yeah?”  You’ve gotten over the whole “Noona” thing.  Your heart seems to jump every time he says it now.  Strange.

“Have you been thinking about it?”  Taehyung’s voice was almost a whisper, clearly trying to not draw any attention to your conversation.  You know exact what he is referring to, without having to question his meaning.

“Yeah.  I guess a little bit.”  You had.  There was no way you could not think about his confession to you.  But the answer was so obvious, you tried to push it out of your mind.  You brush the foundation across his face not really paying attention to what you’re doing.

“Well?”  Taehyung’s voice is expectant.

“Taehyung, you know something like that could never work.  We have our separate careers that don’t really allow for romance.  Not to mention you’re famous and I would have fans banging down my door or plotting my murder.”  You drop your volume to match his, equally not wanting to draw attention to the topic.  You find yourself brushing over his cheek mindlessly.

“We could hide it,” Taehyung says, hopefully.  He grabs your hand and stops your constant brushing.

“You know that stuff never works.  You live in a world where you always need to be on your guard because you never know who’s around you with cameras or recorders.  Plus, I’m your makeup artist, not a famous singer or actress like you’re expected to date.”  This last line you said with a twinge of regret in your heart.  It was that thought alone that kept you from imagining a life with Taehyung.

“Do you really think that matters to me?”  He squeezes your hand.  You think about how he was holding the lion.  He was squeezing it too, just like that way he is holding your hand now.

“When will you get it, Taehyung?  It’s not about how you feel, it is so much more complicated than that.  Despite how much you may think you are, you’re not a normal person.  Sure you’re human like everyone else, but people look at you differently than they look at me.  We are not the same.”  You find your voice sounding desperate and strained.  Everything that’s been running around in your head for the past few days is now coming out.

Taehyung stares at you intently.  “I may be an idol, but I’m human first.  You may be a makeup artist prodigy, who has done makeup for top models that have been featured in some of the biggest magazine names out there, but you’re human first too.  We are the same.”

You look into Taehyung’s dark eyes and see a completely new side of him.  You realize that he is normal and he has feelings just like everyone else.  He has the right to date whoever he wants, and if that happens to be you…  Wait, date you?  Is that what he wants?

“Taehyung…”

“Please go out with me, Noona?”  Still holding your hand, he takes the brush away and places your palm over his heart.  You can feel his heart beating.  You gasp at the rapid thumbing in his chest.  You feel a smile crawl across your face as your own heart rate matches his. 

“Yes, Taehyung.  I would love to go out with you.”

“Really?”  A huge smile breaks out on Taehyung’s face making your heart melt.  You nod your head.

“Thank you, Noona.”  Taehyung stands up from his chair and pulls you into a hug.  You feel him grab your shirt, trying to contain his excitement.  You chuckle and hug him back just as tight.  Every muscle in your body starts to relax; your feeling of utter exhaustion forgotten.

After a minute or two, he’s still holding you close.  You glance at the time, before releasing him.  He doesn’t let go.  “Let go, Taehyung.  I’ve got to finish your makeup.”  He continues to hold you.  “Taehyung, come on.  No more fooling around, I’ve got work to do.”

He starts to pull away, when you feel something that catches you completely off guard.  As he lets you go, Taehyung quickly places a light kiss on your cheek.  Your mind starts to cloud as he sits back down.  He’s biting his lip again.

“You said no more fooling around.”

You feel your whole face turn red as you take back your brush and start a new attempt at Taehyung’s makeup.  He’s finally sitting still now, or maybe you’re just dancing with him, letting him lead you up to Cloud 9.