𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 | 𝐊- 𝐏𝐎𝐏

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗂𝖿𝗍𝗒 𝗇𝗂𝗇𝖾

Chapter 40: Happy Tears

"Hana, listen to me!" He grabs hold of her and turns her face to look at him. He searches her eyes. "I don't have a fiancée. I am not involved in any way with anyone else. No one. There is only you. Mrs. Choi got it wrong, she misunderstood." He exhales deeply, happy to have been able to say the words to her and know that she heard him. She looks up at him confused and unsure.

"But why would she make a mistake like that if there wasn't someone else?" He really doesn't want to scare her off, but, his only chance of keeping her is to explain exactly what happened, even if he looks impulsive, even if she may not trust his reasons.

"Because I told her I found the girl I was going to marry." She gasps again, trying to make sense of what she's hearing. Is he really talking about her? Could he really have these thoughts already?

"When did you say that?"

"I told her that as soon as I knew that I was going to meet you. I didn't want to explain that I hadn't actually met you yet, but I was overwhelmed with my feelings and I just wanted to share. I was just so sure, already." He keeps hold of her hands, rubbing them with his thumbs as he sits across from her.

"How could you say that you wanted to marry me?" She shakes her head. "You didn't even know me. Do we even know each other now?"

"Hana, something is drawing us together, and I'm not fighting it. I'm ready for it. Are you?" he asks her candidly, staring into her eyes.

"I- I thought I was. I let myself believe I was. But it hurt so badly to think it was a lie, that none of it was real." He moves his body closer.

"It's real." He leans in and kisses her lips, softly, feeling her lips part and her head tilt slightly accepting his kiss and he smiles as his kiss grows deeper. He reaches up to clasp her face, feeling tears running down her cheeks. He pulls back. "Are those happy tears?" he whispers. She nods and he leans back in to kiss her again.

She kisses him back with the full force of her want and her hope that everything he's told her is true. She had felt so foolish for believing everything he said so quickly, but yet here she is again, ready and eager to believe, needing him so desperately after such a short time. It's dangerous and she knows it, but at this moment, with his arms wrapped around her and his lips kissing her, the warmth of his skin pressed against hers, she doesn't care. She almost feels as though she has come to the end of a long game. She's played her part faithfully and is ready and waiting for her reward.

"Oh my God, don't do that in the library!" A shrill voice says, disturbing their kiss. They turn instantly and look over at a young woman, standing with her arms loaded with books. She gasps at the sight of them, of him, and drops the books in her hands sending them tumbling to the ground in a loud clatter. Several heads pop up from distant tables and regard them. "You're-" she mutters, raising her finger to point at him.

"We'd better leave," he whispers to Hana. She turns and picks up her books and her notes, quickly stuffing them into her bag as Taehyung smiles at the woman who stands, mouth agape, in front of him, her finger still raised. "Hello, yes. We are just leaving. Sorry to disturb," he says grabbing Hana's arm and dragging her toward the back exit as the woman stares at them, still dumbstruck.

He leads her toward the exit sign above the hallway he came in through, and she follows along, without a word. When they step through the exit doors to the back of the building she looks around confused.

"The guard wouldn't let me in the front door, so the janitor let me in the back." He explains.

"No, you need an ID to get in," she tells him as he pulls her along through the darkened path toward the parking lot.

"I had one, and I tried to use it, but sadly your friend Dongwook has some overdue book fines he needs to pay," he explains. She laughs unsure what he could mean or how he could have Dongwook's ID. She allows herself to be lead through the campus out to the parking lot and to his car. No one has spotted them and no one is following them.

He opens the door for her and she gets inside, looking around her and thinking that she didn't expect to ever be in this car again. She didn't think she would ever feel his kiss, or see his face, or smell the scent of his cologne. She watches him get into the driver's side next to her and as he closes the door, shutting them into their own private space, she bursts into tears. He turns to her quickly running his hand over her cheek.

"Hana, what's wrong? Please don't cry." He leans his forehead against hers, sliding his hand down to hold her chin.

"I'm just so relieved," she struggles to speak over her sobbing.

"You're with me now, and nothing will come between us," he says leaning in to kiss her again. He pulls back, smiling, hopeful. "Shall we go to my place?" She shakes her head.

"I need to work in the morning, can we go to mine?" He smiles and nods, switching the car on and pulling out of the lot. He doesn't need directions to her apartment or to use the sat nav, he memorized every path toward her apartment while he was sat outside it for over an hour waiting for her to come home. He pulls out of the parking lot, filled with the joy of the mission finally accomplished. He reaches out to hold her hand as he drives toward her apartment across town. Whatever tomorrow brings, she's back with him and he's sure of their future. He's already admitted to her that he wants to marry her. The rest will be easy.