Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Hi"
"Monosyllable greeting, you just keep making me chase you more." In an instant, Taehyung's mood had taken a whimsical turn as he stood there, flustered by the woman's words. The budding journalist had her hair frizzing out in an unflattering way, an effect of maybe having ran through flight of stairs or not having brushed them since morning. The doctor didn't mind either.
"May I step in or would you rather have me stand by your door?" He could never pinpoint it but there was just something so eccentric about her, even now as she entered his room with a slight smile on her face. Stepping aside and motioning a little with his hand, he watched her take a look around the suite..
"Do you mind telling me erm, as to why you didn't....?" Sooya was looking around the room with an interrogative gaze which made Taehyung conscious of his entire existence. Yet it still didn't make him budge from the question clouding and drowning him in somber thoughts. It had indeed been humiliating considering the fact that he had called along Jungkook to accompany him.
"Oh yes, I almost forgot! Mr Kim, I'm so sorry about not keeping my word. As I was walking downstairs to take a walk right now, our conversation from last night hit me. If I were to be honest, my memory is that of a goldfish at this point of time. Signs of premature aging." He didn't know whether to be annoyed or relieved by her words. Of course it made him seem like some sort of a desperate chap and also the fact that their promise wasn't perhaps that important to be retained by her memory made him shun in shame even more.
But then again, the reason for her not turning up was not because she wasn't interested in meeting him. That seemed like a valid argument his heart came up with as his rational side just took a backseat.
Sooya had come back to stand in front of him after straying a little into his room. The distance between the two was barely of two feet but Taehyung felt as if she was galaxies away. Her lavender scent couldn't be caught by his nose at the distance separating them. She was wearing a simple beige turtleneck with jeans and he felt himself become allured by her.
"Taehyung?"
"Ah- I was just, trying to come up with a witty response?" Nice save
"And you're clearly failing at your task then."
"Touché" She chuckled and set her eyes on the floor for a moment. Taehyung missed her eyes on him. Oh this was not good. Not even a bit.
"To make up for not showing up," the auburn haired's ears perked up in curiosity and excitement, he really really wanted to spend some of his time with the sparkling woman,
"Can I interest you in a night tour of the beautiful streets of Athens?"
"Oh a night tour? Hmm, am I getting kidnapped or mugged?" Sooya's eyes spoke confusion but looking at his playful demeanor, her eyes then shone of larkiness.
"Let me surprise you."
♡
Being a junior resident at 28 was a feat he had been quite elated about. Or rather his family had been. Nevertheless he had grown to love the profession and the certitude that everyday at the hospital had something new in the bag for him. He was a man with a thirst to learn.
Taehyung never believed in stereotypes but unfortunately was a prey to one himself. Having spent half his life in keeping his nose buried in stacks of anatomy books and cursed himself mentally for not taking out time to explore some other reading sources as right now, his brain wasn't really giving him any suitable answer to Sooya's question.
"Do you know what tree that is?" She asked, pointing at a roadside plant with many branches and a decent height, huh maybe it could be classified as a tree. The fruits on it seemed somewhat familiar but he wasn't sure.
"Some kind of berry?"
"Yes! Mulberry plant. The symbol of Pyramus and Thisbe's love." Now Taehyung always loved a good story.
"Pyramus was the most handsome of young men and Thisbe was the fairest beauty of the East. Family rivalry didn't stop the young couple to fall in love. Their secret meeting place was an abode to their love, a cracked wall between their houses. A tree near the wall always blossomed with white fruits and it would give the couple some hope. Not being able to take the thorns of separation anymore, the two lovers decided to meet the next day near the city gates and run away to be united forever.
Thisbe arrived first but encountered a lioness fresh from kill, her paws still dripping blood. The poor girl, frightened by the ferocious creature, ran to hide behind the nearest tree while the lioness satiated her thirst with the water of the nearby river. Thisbe didn't realise her veil had fallen to the ground during her hiding expedition. The lioness had caught hold of the fabric and tore it to pieces.
As Pyramus entered the scene, he saw the large pawprints of the lioness and his heartbeat fastened for the worse. As he went closer for inspection, his worst fears had come into life. His Thisbe's veil was lying in scattered pieces smeared in blood. Out of the unbearable grief, the man took out his sword and plunged it into himself, in the thoughts of maybe uniting in the afterlife. When Thisbe came out of her hiding, she was met with a sight of his lover lying in his pool of blood by the riverbank. The thought of learning to live life without Pyramus was extremely painful and so, she took the sword in her hands and wrote a similar death as her lover. Using her last dying breath, she pleaded with the Gods to let them be buried in a single tomb and that the tree near their meeting place start bearing fruits in a dark and mournful color. Mr Kim, can you guess which fruit was it?"
"Mulberry?"
"Precisely." Taehyung didn't know what to say further. The story was ridiculous in its approach but did make the young doctor's heart sting for the ill-fated lovers. Before he could point out some parts of the story he found as beautiful, Sooya exclaimed
"Oh, I didn't mean to sadden you with the story. Don't worry, your fiancée and you are surely going to have a wonderful beginning of sorts." Her head barely reaching his nose, the height difference was endearing. Sooya hadn't left her stance and was still looking at him with a giddy mischief a little girl has on Christmas morning. She seemed the personification of reckless, absolute trouble. The man in the coat gulped, this all seemed like a fever dream.
Taehyung felt the world around him turn upside down. The moment had stilled, with only Jisoo in front of him as a constant. She was looking at him with her enchanting eyes and knowing smile. She knew it, she knew everything about him. He seemed to be like an open book to her but he was sure he never mentioned his fiancée to anyone since the start of this trip.
"How do I know about her? Is that what you wish to know?" The man nodded slowly, he looked quite bewildered. The brunette closed the small gap between them, crowding his personal space. Looking straight into his confused orbs, she reached out to hold his hands in hers gently. Taehyung shivered a little at her cold touch but his eyes never left her eyes which was now glinting with mischief.
"As far as my knowledge extends," she brought his hands closer to her face as if to examine them, "only betrothed men tend to wear rings." Taehyung pulled his hands from her grasp and looked at them with his mouth wide open. How could he have forgotten about wearing it?
"Taehyung it is so amusing to watch you become so astonished at the most blatant things. It's like watching a child discover the world." her words were followed up by laughter and Taehyung let his arms hang by his side, slightly embarrassed at becoming so worked up over it. Unfortunately, the light moment they shared was short lived.
