IKIGAI l KIM TAEHYUNG

Chapter 8: Hera

"Spit it out, Jungkook"
He walked near my bed and spoke as low as he could.
"The information we got wasn't enough. From what we found, he doesn't technically do anything shady. Sure, he kills people but those people are... were also on our hitlist."
"What do you mean?"
"He kills criminals, Hera. He also deals with people that have a track record of doing nice things."
"Okay, okay. I got it. He's a saint. Now what? This was a waste?"

"No. Maybe there are things he keeps extremely well hidden. You think you can go that far?"
"Yeah. You know what to do this night."
He smirked.
"You do know you sound like a lunatic, right? Take care, anyways." He left.

I swear I could hear a bit of care in his voice. Maybe he isn't made of stone after all.

In the evening, Taehyung came with all the things just like he had said.
"Feeling better now?"
"A bit."
He placed them all on the table beside the bed and started to leave.

I have to get closer to him.

"Taehyung!" I called out.
"Yeah, you need anything?" He said as he turned back.
"Yeah, um, I don't think I can bandage this all till the back. Can you... maybe help me with that?"
He looked taken aback, surely not expecting me to ask this.

"Alright." He grabbed the creams and the bandages and walked towards me. I quickly sat on the edge of my bed. He hesitatingly kneeled before me, trying to find a better angle to work.

Well, here goes nothing.

I grabbed my top and held the hem of it up till my neck. He eyed the scars that covered up my torso. Some even went from my stomach to my neck. "How did those...?"
"My job calls for it, you know." He just nodded shakily.

"Is this a better angle?"
"Hm." I could tell his voice was shaky and that he was trying hard to not let his eyes roam somewhere else.
He reached around my back and opened the knot of the bandage from yesterday. He slowly took it off and as it neared my wound, I winced.
"Sorry. Tell me if it hurts too much." He said, being more careful. He took off the cotton on my wound after that.
"That doesn't look pretty."
"Tell me about it." I chuckled.

As he started to apply some ointment on it, he whispered. "You know, I never thanked you about it. About this. Thank you, for doing this for me. I am really grateful to you."
He applied some pressure on the cotton for it to stay in place and out of instinct, I grabbed his hand for support. I could feel his biceps through the black fabric. Now that I think about it, he was dressed in black from head to toe. He certainly looked good in that.

Focus, Hera. But I couldn't. My eyes kept getting dragged back to his hands. His chest. His toned muscles. My heart was starting to race.

"It's rude to stare, you know." He said.
That didn't faze me in the slightest. My senses were getting overwhelmed. His hot breath. His aura. Everything was just so... so...

I watched as he looked at my face for a few seconds. His eyes lingered on my lips a little too long and then snapped to my chest for just a second before he collected himself.

"Taehyung."
"Hm?" I could even feel the vibrations of his voice run through my skin.
"I'm... I'm Hera."
That caught his attention. His eyes looked into mine, surprised.

"Hera... you have a nice name." He spoke slowly, as if testing how my name sounded in his voice.
I smiled as I let him do the rest of the would dressing.
"All okay now? Is it too tight?"
"No. Feels just fine."
He got up from the floor as I fixed my clothes.
"Thank you, Taehyung, for helping me."
"Anytime, Hera." He smiled. I could practically feel the happiness radiating from him.

I sighed as I watched him leave. This won't end prettily.

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some progress finally, i guess 🧘‍♀️ i'm contemplating if i should make things spicy just now or make it a slow burn. tho it probably wouldn't be THAT slow but you get the idea
remember to vote if you liked this chapter :)