Chapter 8

The best part about this early date was that Tae Ni engulfed herself with golden brown waffles with a glossy glaze finish, along with berries and ice cream to top it. We also can’t forget the strawberry milkshake.

Let alone her shocking eating habit, Taehyung couldn’t do a need, but chuckle at how her cheeks would enlarge and her eyes sparkle in delight.

“I’m glad you like the food. This is my number one restaurant when it comes to breakfast.” Taehyung shared.

Her grinned knowing it wouldn’t be appealing to show the chewed remains in if she showed her teeth. Instead, she held up both her opposable thumbs before continuing to demolish her breakfast waffles.

Noticing that she had gulped down her claw bite of her waffle, Taehyung took this chance to ponder up a conversation. What date is a date without a bit of bonding between the two? He tilted his head to face her directly.

“So… how was your morning?” There was a sensation of awkwardness between the two. Though it may not be as of a noticeable thing, the two had an intuition.

“Oh… well sleep wasn’t much of a good one. Jimin sort of called me at 3 am in the morning because he was hungry.” She giggled for quite a bit, after a sense of realisation at how funny her recount was.

Taehyung’s mouth curved inward, eyes lowering in sight as he nodded. He was quite drawn to her in all aspect, but just the thought of her regarding Jimin had him wonder her true feelings. She just didn’t know it yet. He didn’t want to admit it, but it bothered him.

“But overall, my morning was great. I took a shower, got dressed and waited for you. And… I didn’t eat breakfast, so that was interesting.” Tae Ni continued. Almost as if he had no choice, he chuckled. Not for the reason that he’d be forcing himself to react, but it was clear to him that he was pretty fond of her. She’d attracted him without even noticing.

“What about you?” She asked as her eyes came into contact with his. It’s a common courtesy, however, he felt that beat in his chest thump for a split second. He choked in distraction, delaying him from responding for a few moments.

“Oh… uh… well… I sung in the shower this morning. That was a good sign.” Her eyes formed a crescent shape as she laughed with her hand covering . It was a habit of hers, but Taehyung desired to see her smile as she laughed. As lame as it sounds, it wouldn’t hurt for him to admire her face happy because of his recount in singing in the shower.

He lifted his arm across the table until his hand grasped her wrist softly before pulling it down away from her face just so her smile would flaunt. Expressionless but confused, her eyes were questioning his action.

Not wanting any further pertains to become awkward, he beamed at her, subconsciously shaking it off. It didn’t seem to work either way, so he coughed out a clear to the throat.

“My little brother was a bit of a pain this morning though.” Her head tilted as her expression read to be amused. “Why?”

He shifted himself over the table as his hand motioned her to come in closer. As strange as it sounds, Tae Ni couldn’t predict what he was about to say, or whisper as of this situation and position.

Taehyung formed a hook shape of his hand to disclose his voice from being heard from the other customers of the restaurant. Not that they would care, but Taehyung thought he’d make this humorous and interesting.

Tae Ni turned her head to the side, anticipating his remark of his brother’s mischief doings.

“I found him crying in front of his mirror.” She shot her head up as she jerked back until her back hit the backrest of her seat. There was a distraught look on her face, but all that was wiped off after she had went into her fit of laughter. Hooray for good senses of humour.

He too began to laugh along with her for two main reasons only. (1) He made Tae Ni laugh and (2) they were enjoying their time together in every minute they had.

It was in all honesty that Taehyung minded the fact that this early date would be of a discomfited one. Yet, as of now, he morally valued that you don’t need an evening date to have a really great time. As long as it works, there was nothing to worry about.

A few attentive gazes shot their direction due to their chortling commotion, slowly shaking it off as they continued to linger in their own conversations or pop the papers to fixate the newspaper as they continued to read.

 Leisurely their fit of laughter died off as Tae Ni clutched her stomach, feeling the perception as if she had done 100 sit ups. Taehyung softly gazed at her, prior to her beauty and persona.

It was all strange, don’t get me wrong. First they were in the state of convulse, next thing you know they’re staring into each other’s eyes. Weird.

He wondered how it was possible that with all the concerns and interests that fought for space in his mind, he had completely forgotten he was there just by this moment where their eyes meet. It seemed impossible to divert his gaze elsewhere, but it happened anyway.

“We should probably get going to my next thing on the agenda.”

He quickly rose to his feet, as he caught her arm and helped her up gently before paying for the meal and leaving.

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Typical Saturdays wash your body with fatigue and tiredness, but it soon flourishes in overwhelming joy to celebrate the freedom from any school curricular.

Jimin was enjoying his morning, his blanket draped his entire body as his room illuminated a soft navy blue since the blinds of his window barricaded light from letting any light in. Small peaks of white strips from the blinds were the brightest things in his room currently.

Only now, his eyes gradually blink to open, only for a few slight seconds of blurred sight with a squint. He rubbed his eyes, slowly clearing his vision, yet he hadn’t moved a single bit. No, he wasn’t paralysed, nor was he weighed with a gravitational pull. He just rested in the same position he had woken up.

The thing is, he knew Tae Ni was out with someone else. He didn’t want to admit, but he knew.

This lonesome morning was the beginning to his demise in which Tae Ni wasn’t with him. He was a teen, so what is there to lose hope for? You have video games, food to yourself, this free time in which you enjoy your own company. Yet, why was he troubled by it?

As if it were a daily habit, he slithered his hand over the blanket in search for his phone. Doesn’t everyone do this in the morning?

Finally coming into contact with the phone’s familiar touch and cold surface, he pressed the home button. He looked at his phone, turned pale because of the light and smiled. First thing to see was his wallpaper; him and Tae Ni. The photo wasn’t taken long ago, but Jimin thought why not?

In the photo, Jimin had smiled to an extent where the corners of his eyes wrinkled as he squinted. On the other hand, Tae Ni’s eyes bulged, clearly shocked by the taken picture.

Swiping to unlock his phone rather delicately, he touched the call app to see the first name on his recent list. There it was, the moment of hesitation.

 “If you’re calling because you’re hungry again I’m-” Her tone vented of a scolding rather than yelling.

“Hush child, I can smell your breath over the phone.” As Jimin wavered his hand over his face as if she stunk up the room. A deep inhaled breath intervened over the line as to which Tae Ni sighed.

“Are you serious?! Why’d you call? I’m in the middle of something important.” As she lowered her voice. To be frank, he asked himself the same question, several times in his head.

“Is that something important very ugly and alienated? And might I emphasize, extremely ugly?” Sarcastic, but not really.

“I don’t have time for this! I’m hanging up.” It happened within a quick second of a light switch. Even though he had lost a couple of dollars for a futile and senseless phone conversation, just having to hear her voice was good enough for him. I know, pathetic right?

But that’s how it’s been. All this time he had known her from the very start, as long as she never ignored or left him in literal, he was in a content state of being happy and abounding; Eudaimonia.  

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Several hours have passed as the day reviled the refinements in colours of the sky as well as the night’s warmth.

Tae Ni and her date Taehyung had filled in their time with foods, a movie, and their bonding in feeling a closer connection, may it be friendship or attraction.

As they walked towards the end of their date; her apartment, Tae Ni couldn’t help but blush every single moment as today’s highlights lingered her thoughts.

 For example, as they watched the movie, they only shared a large popcorn together. This lead to the cliché scenes in which both of their hands touch by accident as they grab a handful of popcorn. Or how Taehyung complimented a feature of hers from time to time. It danced around her head like stars.

Continuing to walk the block, side by side, Taehyung had noticed her awed figure and sense of character, finding it rather odd at how quiet it was between the two. Yes, the whole day they had conversed between the two, and most of the time it’d end in a laugh.

As much as they loved each other’s company, fatigue and exhaustion got to them. This was a more of reason to become more excited the closer they got home, for Tae Ni that is.

Finally arriving at the beginning of the flight of stairs in the apartment building, the interior glowed with a dim golden light considering it was late.

Tae Ni stepped out a few steps in front of Taehyung before turning to face his features.

She could barely think, but enjoy this moment and cherish the ones made today.

Taehyung placed his hand at the nape of his neck, rubbing it to somehow calm his coyness, building his confidence.

“I…I had a really great time, thanks to you.” He confessed as he looked at her right in the eyes which made it harder for her to maintain her breath rate. Her heart raced she became more aware at the fact that Taehyung may hear her chest beating.

“Yeah… I had a really great time too… thanks to you.” She merely copied, not knowing what to say. As much as she was happy as of this situation, she really wanted to sleep the rest of the hours left.

Without a thought, Taehyung walked closer to her before leaning in. She could feel his breath hit her cheek as his eyes made the world disappear.

Thing is, her mind was in caution mode. She didn’t know what to do at this point. What was he going to do? Should she just stand there or do something? All of this almost created a malfunctioning error in her head.

Before anything could happen, a cry out had disrupted the two.

“Hello love birds, sorry to disrupt, but uh… you’re sort of blocking the stairs here.” It was Jimin, that sneaky little boy.

Tae Ni shut her eyes in annoyance and frustration as she regained her character before bidding Taehyung the last farewell.

“You should probably get going… it’s getting late.”

“Yeah… I’ll see you soon?” She nodded without hesitation. That feeling of disappointed slowly began to gush throughout her body. Her head swiftly turned to Jimin as she squinted fiery eyes towards him.

“Are you crazy?! We were having a moment!”

“And that moment blocked the stairs. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go back into my unit. The fridge awaits me.” His back faced Tae Ni as her thought had some inquiries.

“Wait, then why did you need to come down here?”

“I’ve done my job. Nighty night.” He had completely ignored her question to which gives off a bit of a twist in his response.

“Are you serious?!” His laugh was forceful with a tint of evilness within it; on purpose.

Arriving upon their designated level of stairs, Tae Ni took this chance to hit his arm not even playfully.

“Ow! What was that for?!” Rubbing the spot that came to contact barely made the pain go away.

“For ruining our moment. Now hurry up, I want to sleep.” She tried to beat him to the hallway of their apartment rooms as she brushed her shoulder against his.

Jimin quickly grabbed her wrist. “Wait.”

His head slowly directed at her face, eyes in all seriousness. It wasn’t exactly an element of surprise, but Tae Ni couldn’t think of anything next. It’s like her mind went blank at the sudden contact.

She slowly gazed at his eyes too, and everything unveiled so strangely. It was new to her.

Jimin’s eyes looked down at her grasped wrist before looking back at her eyes. He let out a small breath out his nose before owning up.

“I don’t like it when you’re with Taehyung.” Her expression widened a bit but her state of mind said otherwise.

Jimin let out another breath before continuing. “As a matter of fact, it bothers me a lot.”

She gulped, lowered her eyes not knowing what to do as of this situation. This hadn’t happened before, not anything serious like this. She was weak and idle as of now.

All of this was disturbed as Jimin’s laughter progressed from a chuckle to a laughter, teasing her reaction.

“AHAHAHA! You should have seen the look on your face!” His forearm supported his stomach as he continued to laugh at his crafty prank at her.

She scrunched her nose before swinging her clenched arm, retrieving it back from Jimin’s hold. “That’s not funny!”

“It is when your face looks like that!” He continued to , as his chuckles headway into bursting out into laughter whilst he pointed at her to ridicule her even more.

She slapped his pointing hand away before turning to the hallway of her located apartment. No, she wasn’t mad because Jimin provoked and ridiculed her. She was mad because she essentially considered that for a split second he was in all seriousness about how he really felt, but in the end it was all a mock.

She creased her face due to Jimin’s altruistic behaviour, stomping her way through the void of a hallway. Faint and subtle was Jimin’s voice calling out to her in a pleading and forgiving tone. That didn’t matter to her though. As long as her feet were moving, it seemed to be the only important thing as of now.

She jerked back from the force of someone pulling and turning her to face the other direction; in other words, him.

“I’m sorry Tae Ni. I didn’t know it’d annoy you that much. I shouldn’t have joked around like that.”

Even though this was a ‘forgive and forget’ situation, Tae Ni felt that small ache in her heart. She couldn’t bring herself to a conclusion, but to have him profess that it was all a ‘joke’ seemed to become a concern and upsetting problem for her.

“But then again, why did it annoy you?” He asked, intrigued of her response. No words left , but the eyes of a shameful deem was diverted at the ground and/or somewhere other than Jimin’s eyes.

His head tilted to angle a better view at her face, as his result ended up being amusing to her. He could read her like the back of his hand which made it even more of an interesting moment for him.

“Naw~ is the little baby upset because she thought I was serious?” She gave a demised glare, but that all wasn’t important to Jimin. He just simply pinched her cheeks as he mocked her in a peculiar tone of voice that emphasized how much he was enjoying this right now.

She slapped his arm down before denying it all and proceeding to head on to her apartment.

He followed her suit without any thought, completely ignoring the fact that she is angry and annoyed.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

“Did you buy ice cream, ask the cashier if they believed in unicorns then squish the cone on your forehead?” Jimin asked.

As much as it was a stupid question, Jimin was on the topic of Tae Ni’s recount on her date. She hadn’t even started the conversation and yet Jimin began with a weird and unnecessary question. She just looked at him, eyes squinting yet quizzical.

“No. Never.” Straightforward, and that was it. She searched Jimin’s face only to be resulted in a disappointed pout.

“Did you at least get into a crowded elevator and say ‘I bet you’re all wondering why I gathered you all here today?’” She gave the ‘are-you-serious’ look. It wasn’t attractive. “No. Never!”

“Well your date was no fun then.” Tae Ni had finished making two hot chocolates before sitting down on the living room floor with Jimin, watching TV that had no element of interesting whatsoever.

“It was fun! I had a great time, that’s until you showed up at the stairs.”

“Boo-hoo sweetheart. Just be thankful I saved you from his ugly face.” She swiftly turned her head to face him irately.

“Stop saying he’s ugly!”

“Sorry, sorry. He’s hideous beyond the comparable.” There wasn’t the slightest hint of sarcasm detected in his voice, which agitated Tae Ni even more. Just as Jimin’s lips hooked onto the tip of the cup, ready to drink his hot chocolate, Tae Ni had snatched the mug away from him as punishment for his attitude towards Taehyung.

“Yah! Give me my drink back!” His reach only elongated her arm further until he could no longer get the cup. She shook her head in decline.

“You deserve to be punished for your crimes in disrupting our moment.” Impersonating crime occupant of some kind, she smirked at her cheeky doings before turning to have her back face Jimin.

“And what exactly was that moment?” Trying to mess with her mind, she hadn’t thought her mischief doings thoroughly.

I think he tried to kiss me. Oh my gosh! Taehyung tried to kiss me! She thought to herself, but her facial expressions showed 100% of what she was thinking. Bulged eyes and an ‘O’ shaped mouth.

She turned her head to confront Jimin, maintaining her shocked facial expression before sharing her idea. She placed the hot chocolate mug on the coffee table.

“I think he tried to kiss me!” Both palms had hit and stuck onto her cheeks as she left in slight ajar in disbelief.

Jimin cocked his eyebrows, an expression that looked formerly confused but not really.

“Even I noticed it when we were down at the stairs. Once again, you’re welcome.” Immediately her heart started pounding her chest.

“I’m not ready for that! How could I not notice that he was about to kiss me?!” Jimin shrugged his shoulders, as his lips frowned unknowing the question.

“What if he wasn’t trying to kiss you? What if you had something on your face?” Her expression could only be described as stunned as his question remained oblivious to her. She didn’t care a single bit, but her mind lingered upon that moment at the stairs earlier ago.

You see, having the perfect first kiss was prior to her. It was like the first thing on her list of urgencies needing to tick off. To her, it was all a Disney princess kiss. Fireworks, a spark and the heel lifting moment. Having her first kiss by the stairs of her apartment edifice wasn’t going to be a magical experience, and yet she was close to it truly ensue.

“I can’t believe I was going to have my first kiss by the stairs.” She touched her lip, dazed out in scepticism.

“Calm down Tae Ni. It’s not that big of a deal.” Of course he was going to shrug it off, but Tae Ni wasn’t going to let it go. She turned to face him furiously before starting a whole lecture about the first thing on her priorities list.

“What if I had my kiss by the stairs? My children might ask me about my first kiss and what was I going to tell them? That it happened by some boring grey ugly stairs? That’s completely ridiculous! You clearly don’t understand!” She ranted on. Yes, it was getting a bit out of hand but Jimin gave the impression as if he was entertained by it. He situated himself leaning backwards with his arms supporting him just past his back.

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t understand. But what I do know is that you survived the ridiculous. Yay~” He was sarcastic. Could you tell?

Her face changed and a light bulb clicked above her head to train and stimulate an idea and thought… an absurd one.

“Do you remember that practice kiss idea?” Jimin knew where this was headed and he didn’t have a clue as to whether it was a good one or bad one. He caught a glimpse of her and detected all seriousness since this was practically the world to her. She is like a princess, Jimin thought to himself.

“Yeah…?” His monotone voice sung. She didn’t need to ask. It was all in countenance and how well they really knew each other. Jimin was delighted without a doubt, but rules apply that it wouldn’t count as their first kiss, and that bummed him a little inside. As much as she was taking it to heart and in all solemnity, breaking the rule here wouldn’t be such a bad thing… would it? It’s not like Tae Ni would know. So, yes. He agreed to it without even having Tae Ni ask.

“Are you sure about this?” He slanted his eyebrows, a bit insecure about the last occurrence of this encounter. Not that they were caught or anything, but this time they were more exposed since they were in the living room.

Tae Ni single nodded his question, reassuring the gesture. She wanted an experience, but not the real one. Get what I mean?

She sat still in her position, on the living room floor in front of Jimin waiting for something to happen. Yes… this was an awkward situation yet again. So, Jimin made the first move. He scooted closer to her cross-legged figure, heart pounding like it was dying to escape his rib cage. She just simply sat there. He couldn’t read her expression nor detect a hint of regret or doubt in this situation.

“Are you… 100% sure?” She nodded. Didn’t say a word.

He slowly and hesitantly wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her close. She held onto one of his arms, feeling his strength as their breaths became more perceptible. Then with one hand, he held her cheek, examining her face.

He was in a trance. Time and everything in it had stopped. The girl he loves since the day they met was about to steal his first kiss. As I mentioned, breaking the rule here wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

He moved his face lower, slower and kissed her lips.

If only this weren’t a compromise.