The Soldier

17.Duty calls

Tae was currently lying on my lap. Having to spend so much time burying everything deep inside and not letting anyone know about his burden was already heart-wrenching.He suffered such grief alone. So, he was sobbing his heart out. He always blamed himself for so many things, Even though it was not his fault. I couldn't see him like this and I just wanted to take all his sorrows away. So, the only thing I could do was to be there for him when he needed someone.
I ran my fingers through his hair to calm him down and I guess it worked. I don't even remember how we fell asleep.

Tae's phone started to ring and he woke up and took it to the balcony to answer it. After few minutes, he came back and saw me waiting for him.

"Sorry, I guess I woke you up" He said.
"No. It was not you. It was some one who called you woke me up" I said in my sleepy voice and asked "who is calling you at this hour? "
"It's Jin hyung, he got worried so he called"

That didn't make any sense for me I looked at the clock and it was half past two. Tae seems to notice my thoughts.

"Don't think too much, he woke up in the middle and saw that his car was missing. So, he called to ask about it"
"Oh! Okay. Anyway, we both are awake do you want to have some coffee before you leave? " I asked.
"Yah! Who wants to leave so early in the morning? Do you know it's not safe to drive at this time and it even worse to drink coffee at this time"

I chuckled when I saw him say everything he said with a pout. He was angry and his puffy face was not helping it. He looked so cute and I just want to hold and cuddle him for as long as possible and so I did.

"W-What are y-you d-doing? " He asked as he was confused when I hugged and pulled him.
"You know 'Kim Taehyung - shii' is scared to go out at this hour. So, I'm protect him" I said with a mischievous grin.
"Aah! This girl. Taehyung-shii is not scared to go out. He just want to be here with his baby as long as possible"
"Oh! Really?" I asked as I pulled away from the hug and saw him.
"See its still 2:40Am. You need to rest. You have to go to school tomorrow. So, come let's get you back to bed." And we both slept peacefully that night.

Next morning I woke up to the smell of something burning. I sniffed around to find if anything burning in the room. Everything looked good. So, I proceeded outside to find the source of the smell and I was definitely not surprised when I saw two burnt toast on the kitchen counter.

"Are you trying to set my kitchen on fire? " I whispered into Tae's ears as I approached him.

He got startled and calmed himself
"Good morning to you too" He said with a big smile.
"What are you doing here? And, why there are two burnt toast on the kitchen counter?" I asked as I pretended to be angry over him.
"I was concentrating on this coffee over here and I didn't notice they were in the pan" He said and mouthed 'sorry'.

I couldn't control the small grin forming on my face. But, I didn't want to break my 'fake anger' yet and took a seat as he handed me my breakfast.

"Hmmmm. This is yummy. I thought it would taste bitter but, it's quite opposite to that"
"Anything made by these hands are always wonderful and don't forget I was a 'barista' for sometime" He said with a proud smile.
"Yeah, the one who burns the initial toast" I said with a chuckle "Hey, I heard barista only prepares the coffee"
"The cafe where I worked was small and it was owned by old couple. They couldn't afford separate bakers or chef to prepare food. The wife was like the main chef and she prepared the food. So, she thought me too. Initially I was assigned to make coffee."
"Wow! No wonder it tasted so delicious" I exclaimed.

We both were having the breakfast and I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday.

"Tae? " I called.
"Hmm"
"You never met her after that incident?" I asked out of nowhere.
"I did. She acted as if she didn't know me. She was consumed by her own ego. And, nothing mattered to her, except herself"
"Where did you meet her again? " I asked.

He stopped eating and looked into my eyes and said "The youngsters of our
nation sees her as their role model, if only they knew her like me"
"What? Who is she?" I wanted to know more about her.
"Let's not talk about her. We should focus on us. Not her" He said.
"Fine, I won't ask" I said .
"Can you go out with me. Please. I want to spend more time with you"
"Sure. I would love to go out with you" I said.

He took my plate to wash it and I was sitting on the couch watching something on my phone.

"Tae? Who called you last night?"
" Jin hyung"
"Taehyung-shii, I know Jin has his own car and you got your car yesterday.And, also Jin doesn't care much about your whereabouts"

There was a sudden silence and suddenly floor became more interesting than anything for Taehyung.

"Would you mind telling me the truth?" I asked.
"Fine, you got me there. I guess I can't hide it anymore" He said and sat next to me holding my hand.

"I need to get back to my work. There is a mission and I need to join the troupe"

Both of us didn't say anything for a while and Tae broke the awkward silence.

"This mission might take one month or six months. Even worse it can go on for a year"
"No. I'm not letting you to go back" I said as i hugged him and cried.
"Jiya, when duty calls, I can't deny it. You have to understand this. I am a soldier. And, you know the best part we have this whole day just for ourselves"
"You mean today? Just one day? No. No. No. I'm not letting you go . What mission is that? I don't want you to take part in it"
"It's confidential. Even I don't know. I need go and report to the headquarters as early as possible and I have taken permission for today to stay back"
"But, I just got you. I can't let you go"

I hugged him even tighter and started to cry my heart out. Even he teared up and didn't want to show it to me. He tried to calm me by tapping my back. And, whispering nothing but sweet words. We stayed like that for a while. We parted after some time and got freshen up. I called Ga-Eun and told that I won't be coming to work today. I wanted to spend all my time with Tae. I didn't want to let him go. And, I had no choice.

We went to the Mall as I wanted to buy some parting gift for him. We also did some shopping and took enormous photos.

Currently, we were at the food court eating our food. We both exchanged our gifts. And, I was trying a lot to not breakdown in the mall. The thought of being away from him for almost a year scared the hell out of me. So, we promised each other's to stay in contact and call atleast once a day.

Suddenly, the people's were rushing out of the food court and there was a huge crowd gathered outside the mall. Even we went to see what was the fuss about and for my surprise the most popular soloist 'Mini' of the kpop industry entered the mall. I was so excited to meet her and she was surrounded by bodyguards who were pushing the crowd to secure her.

"Tae, let's take her autograph. Please I like her so much" I said with too much excitement.

Tae didn't answer anything and he kept quiet. I didn't understand why he became silent all of a sudden.
"I'll be waiting here. You can go and get it if you want" He said and I felt little weird.

So, I went and joined the crowd to get Mini's autograph. I tried to approach her. But, it didn't go as planned. So, I gave up and went back to Tae.

"I guess I was not lucky enough to get her autograph" I said with a sad smile.
He didn't care much about it and said "let's get back. I think it's enough for today. I still need to inform Jin hyung about going back"

I forgot everything about the soloist and just nodded to go back home.

We were heading towards our car in the parking lot and a van stopped right in front of us. I thought I died for a second when the van stopped with a great speed.
I was about to scold the driver for rash driving and stopped when the soloist got out and walked towards us.

"It's been a long time. Taehyung-shii"
___________________________________________

Hey my readers, 😃
Who do you think Mini is😅? ?
(I'm not sure if there is anyone by name Mini in kpop.. If so, it is purely coincidental)
Tae will be getting back to his work🙃

Did you all see the 2022 Grammy Awards.. ?? Bts doesn't need any Grammys to prove themselves.. They, deserve everything good thing in the world.

Anyways, please vote, share and comment on this book.. Hope, you all are liking it so far.

#Borahae💜