𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞; 𝑲𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒂𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒐

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒

"Yeah, I'm parked across the street." Taemoo explained. Letting out a small hum, she grabbed her black Chanel purse and began walking towards the automatic doors.

Glancing up from her bags, she paused when someone stepped in front of her. "Taemoo? I could've just met you across the street."

"Uh," he cleared his throat, glancing away. "I thought I'd help you with your bags."

"Oh, thanks?" Hyejin smiled in confusion, watching as he gingerly took her purse and began leading her towards the car.

Giving him a nervous smile as he opened the passenger seat door, she sat down, eyes widening as he leaned over her to place her purse in the empty space beside her. She watched after him as Taemoo made his way around the car and into the driver's seat. "Are you ready to get going?"

"Uh yeah, just where exactly are we going?" She nodded before furrowing her eyebrows.

"There are restaurants and parks at Sokcho, around the beach." He explained, beginning to drive.

"Around the beach?" She mumbled. "Sounds good."

✧༺♥༻✧

"Wow." Hyejin mumbled, glancing out the window with awe. The sun was out despite the cold, the white fluffy clouds doting amongst the blue.

The man in the blue trench coat carefully parked, getting out of the car as he ignored Hyejin's now confused gaze. "Let's go?" He asked, opening her car door.

"Where to?" She hummed, carefully stepping out with a small smile. Instead of replying, Taemoo motioned for her to follow him and he began making his way down the green scenic trail. "Do you have a plan, Taemoo?"

"Of course I have a plan." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets as he fought a smile. "Just follow me."

As they walked around the beach, Hyejin couldn't help but let out a dreamy sigh. "This is so pretty."

"Yeah it is." Taemoo nodded in agreement, glancing at the girl as they stopped for a second. He watched her with a small smile as she took her phone out and snapped a few photos of the naked trees contrasting the strikingly blue sky.

"Come take a photo with me!" She smiled, glancing at him as she turned to face him.

"Are you sure?" He asked, hesitantly stepping besides her, keeping a fair distance between them.

"Of course I am." She nodded quickly, subconsciously closing the gap between them giving her camera a bright smile.

✧༺♥༻✧

"Are we almost there?" Hyejin sighed. Moving her gaze away from the trees to her right, she furrowed her eyebrows at his silence. Lowering her gaze to look at him, she followed his intent gaze and quickly paused in her tracks. "...wow."

"Do you like it?" He slowly asked, admiring her shocked face as he softly nudged her with his elbow.

"Did you do all of this, Taemoo?" She exhaled, quickly blinking, turning to look at him with wide eyes.

Instead of replying, he lightly placed his hand on her back and gently pushed her forward, ignoring the gaze that never left his face.

Letting out one last sigh, the girl in brown turned back to properly take in everything. There was a large garden of pink and white roses and right in the middle was a picnic. Trailing her eyes from her favorite sushi, sandwiches, and drinks, she turned back towards the man beside her as they made their way through the delicate garden.

"Woah-" He gasped in shock as the shorter girl threw her arms around his neck, pulling her into him tightly.

"This is so thoughtful, Taemoo. I don't- I can't even even put my how I feel into words."

Arms held out in surprise, Taemoo was sure his heart stopped for as long as she held onto him. "No one has ever done something so sweet for me." Releasing him from her tight grip, she gave him one last smile and Taemoo felt the beat in his heart return. Watching her with wide eyes, he shook his head before taking a seat on the white blanket.

"Do you like it?" Taemoo asked, taking a sip from the drink in his hand as he watched Hyejin reach out for another piece of sushi.

"I haven't had sushi in so long, I almost forgot how good it was." She hummed, closing her eyes as she savored the flavors. "Again, thank you so much for all of this, Taemoo."

"You're telling me no one has done something like this for you?" He raised his eyebrows in disbelief as he watched her content smile become uncomfortable.

"Um, since I'm in the public eye a lot, I do have a lot of admirers who, I guess- try to get my attention with romantic gestures." Hyejin shrugged, wrapping her trench coat tighter around her body. "But it's not what younger me imagined when she wanted to be adored and loved."

"What do you mean?" Taemoo asked softly, tilting his head to catch her eyes.

"Well, I mean-it's kind of silly." She began, shrugging her shoulders sheepishly.

"It's not silly if it means anything to you."

Glancing at him quickly, Hyejin ignored the heat rising up her neck as her eyes connected with his curious ones. "When I was in high school, I was so obsessed with the idea of love. I read romance books, watched rom-coms while sketching out what I would wear at my wedding, and I raised my standards so unbelievably high. So I guess in a way, none of the boys around me fit my expectations of how I thought I deserved to be admired. And if they did, I was too much of a nervous wreck to act on any feelings." She shrugged, rubbing her hands on her arms.

"Then when I graduated, I immediately started building my companies. I traveled and went to college for fashion because that was always my passion." She chuckled, shaking her head. "The idea of creating my best friend's dream wedding dresses would motivate me whenever everything felt like it wasn't going anywhere."

"What about your own wedding dress?" Taemoo asked, the quirk of his lips going unnoticed by him as he gazed adoringly at the sheepish women.

"I never liked anyone romantically enough to imagine myself ever seriously getting married."

"Not even me when we were kids?" His smile grew as he teased the already apprehensive girl.

"Oh right." She chuckled, taking a bite of the chocolate covered strawberry in her hand. "How can I forget about all the times little me imagined herself with, shy, awkward, Kang Taemoo at the altar?"

"I'm not sure." He chuckled before his eyes zeroed in on the corner of her lips. "Hey, you have-" he began, wiping the corner of his own mouth. When she didn't get the smudged chocolate, he leaned forward without thinking and the pad of his thumb wiped over the far right corner of her mouth. He froze just as he felt her freeze under his touch, and slowly, so painstakingly slowly, he dragged his eyes to meet her dazed ones.

"You had some chocolate smudged there." He whispered, his eyes never leaving hers, his fingers remaining motionless on her face.

authors note:
❣️a full chapter dedicated to our precious taejin 🫶🏼, how are we feeling guys?

this chapter was so much fun to write despite the slump it put me in so I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing!

thank you for read my loves, I love you♥️