Brush Strokes ✓

19.

"Oh god!" Taehyung groaned, his head falling back. His eyes were shut closed tightly, drops of sweat trickling down the side of his face, his sun-kissed skin glowing.

Aera grumbled something, her words muffled with her mouth full. She looked up through her lashes, watching his eyes roll back into his head, as he hissed, "Shit! I can't take this anymore. Too hot!" he exclaimed, a loud groan following.

The woman swallowed hard, feeling the heady taste almost burning her throat. "You dumbass!" she exclaimed, wiping her mouth with a tissue nearby.

"Why did you eat it if you can't tolerate spicy food?" she continued looking at him disapprovingly. He clutched at his chest, as if in pain, taking a sip of the cold milk the restaurant owner had offered after seeing the young man suffering.

"I wanted to try it..." he said weakly, his nose red and eyes still glassy. Aera rolled her eyes. "Then you could have ordered the mild one. You really shouldn't put your hand in my food."

"Lesson well learnt," he said, gulping down the rest of the milk and looking at her plate of spicy chicken feet with pure hatred. "How can you even eat that? It's so freaking spicy."

"Isn't it perfect then?" she said, flipping her hair and a smile of pure pride making its way to her red lips. "A spicy girl like me eating spicy chicken feet."

Taehyung couldn't help but chuckle at her antics. She was such a drama queen at times. "You're right. I'll just stick to the mild version because I'm definitely not hot and spicy like you," he said, picking up the fish cakes in his plate.

By far, they had been having a great day. They had travelled a bit through the streets, arguing over what to eat and where. They finally stumbled on a small restaurant with no one except the owner sitting on the tables. Considering everything, it was the best place to pacify their hunger and have some privacy.

"I think your fans will disagree," Aera said, pointing her chopsticks at the man. "They think you make the temperature of Earth rise just by existing." This time, Taehyung was full on laughing as he held his belly, the girl too, giggling.

"Well, then I'll just go into hiding till the temperature decreases. Don't want people to die because of me."

Aera threw her head back, tears pricking her eyes and stomach aching as she laughed. She really didn't remember when was the last time she laughed so hard instead of worrying about how to make ends meet. She really was in a tight spot because of money and Taehyung took her mind off it, even if it was for a short moment.

"Alright, no more talking," she declared when she had gained her breath again. "I really want to finish this. I don't like wasting food." Taehyung nodded, quickly agreeing as they dove in again.

When the time came to pay the bill, Taehyung offered to pay for the both of them. Aera wasn't so keen on the idea but he convinced her that she could just treat him later. Her morals told her to keep on reminding him that she would pay him back no matter what. It, however, seemed to irritate the man.

"It's just food, Aera," he said again, slinging his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of the restaurant. "You can treat me the next time. Just think as if you forgot your wallet at home today."

"I still feel guilty but if you say so. I'll pay you back soon."

Taehyung stopped, making the short haired woman stop as well. He grabbed her shoulders, bending down to look into her eyes. Aera's breath hitched having his masked face so close to her. And no matter how often he seemed to do it with her, she just couldn't get used to having his beautiful eyes peering through her soul.

"I told you, it's just food and I like feeding you, okay? You have no idea how cute you look while eating and I'd spend my money to see that anytime."

"You shouldn't say such things, Kim Taehyung," she whispered, her eyes downcast as a blush spread upon her cheeks. "It sounds as if we are dating."

She felt his fingers below her chin, forcing her to look up. His touch made her shudder and she tried her best to hide it but he caught on. His fingers moved over her face, cupping her jaw gently into his big hand. Unconsciously, her own hand went to grab his wrist lightly, her thumb drawing circles onto his skin.

"Then, this is a date," he declared, his voice as serious as it could possibly be before he turned back to his usual playful self. "And before you start arguing about how you are an independent woman and all, I'd like to tell you that I'm a little traditional in my ways. I believe in pampering my date and that's what I'm going to do. So, tell me. Where do you want to go next?"

Aera bit down on her lip, suppressing the smile that threatened to break out. Even though as selfish as it sounded, she was loving the way he was treating her. More than she liked how Doyun treated her. Doyun assumed she would like something, while Taehyung asked what she'd like. It wasn't really a fair comparison considering the amount of time she had spent with both of them, but in her head, it made sense.

"Just so you know," she started, stepping away from his warm, heady touch, "I'm already dating someone. So, no funny business."

It hurt to hear her say that, it really did but Taehyung put on a smile, even though she couldn't see it. "I promise you. It's just a friendly date. No funny business."

This time Aera did smile and took a hold of his hand. "Follow me then."

~~~~
A/N:

Another friendly date. I'm sick of it. Are you?

I totally forgot to find an artwork for this chapter and I really picked it up in quite a haste. I'm not sure if it matches for you but it matches for me.

Anygays, I hope you liked this chapter.

Thank you for reading 💜💜