Bangtan's Baby | 18+

fifteen˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳kindling the flame

Two Years Ago

Jimin's POV

Li looks at me, her nose scrunched in confusion. 

"What do you mean?" she asks, her sweet voice filling the air of her bedroom.

"Don't play dumb, sweetheart." The weight of her Kindle settles into my palm. "These aren't just romance books, are they?"

Pink twinges her neck as she protests, "They are."

"Just romance books?"

"Yeah."

"Ah, okay, so just two people in love."

She hesitates, her big eyes looking back at me with a twinge of shame. "Jimin?"

"Hm?"

"You saw my books?"

"I did."

Apprehension flickers through her features, and all too soon, she's stumbling over her words, trying to make amends for something she doesn't need to fix.

"They're just books," she blurts, "It doesn't mean anything. They're just—they're fun to read. I'll stop reading them if you want, Jimin. I didn't mean to offend you."

"You didn't offend me."

She takes a confused breath. "I didn't? But you—"

"But I what, hm? Asked a question about it?"

She nods wearily. 

"That doesn't mean I'm offended," I murmur. "It means I want to have a conversation about it."

"Oh." She blinks up at me half tremulously, half curiously. "What did you want to talk about?"

I run my fingers along her Kindle's screen. "Do you like reading these kinds of books?"

The cherries blooming on her cheeks threaten to consume her. She shifts from foot to foot, looking uncomfortable. "Yeah."

"Yeah? What do you like about them?"

Her fingers twitch at her sides. "It's just that...they're a mix of love and—" She trails off, her gaze dipping from mine. "Other things."

"What other things?"

"You...you know."

"Can you use your words and tell me?"

This elicits a small whimper from her, high-pitched and whiny. Needy and confused.

"Poor thing," I rumble. "What's wrong? You can't use your words?"

Her chest rises and falls faster, her fingers clenching into her palms. "I can."

"Show me."

"I like the other things."

"You already said that."

She looks at me helplessly.

Her little shuffles and her embarrassed expression, thighs pressed tightly together to alleviate the pressure—it's fucking intoxicating. 

I flick my index fingers forward. "Come here."

She stumbles forward, as confused as she is desperate, her little pitter patter echoing around us on her way to me.

She looks up at me, my taller frame hovering over hers. She looks small, intimidated, her pouty lips downturned as she quickly searches my features for disapproval and disappointment—everything she's afraid I might be, but everything I'm not.