Shadow Dancing | K.TH

Let Me Do The Same

"That wasn't a request." V hisses, and I watch in awe as the man purses his lips. Then he nods tersely, and the guard's arms release the moment he does.

"Come. Quickly."

His warm hand closes around my cold, clammy wrist, pulling me into the closest room available. Tears well in my eyes as I meet his solemn gaze, as I realize it's true.

This wasn't a joke.

He was leaving, to save the rest of us.

Sacrifice himself for our lives.

"Shh," He hushes, wiping the tears away from my eyes. "Hush. Don't cry, Tzuyu. This isn't farewell."

It wasn't?

When I look up with hope in my eyes, he purses his lips together.

"I will come back. I promise— the first and last I will ever make. I don't make promises lightly, Tzuyu."

His words are fast, rushed. I can feel the precious seconds slipping past my fingertips as our final moments tick away like clockwork.

"I—"

The words catch in my throat, forming themselves into a gigantic lump that I can't seem to swallow.

With his eyes on me and the world on fire, I feel more helpless than I'd ever been.

"Shh." He repeats, the breath soft between his lips. "We don't have much time, Tzuyu. Before I go, you need to make me a promise. A promise that you'll take to your grave."

"What is it?"

"You mustn't forget me."

There's true fear in his eyes as he clasps my fingers against his, brushes his lips against my forehead.

I can't help but scoff.

When he looks at me incredulously, I can't help but scoff a second time.

"If you really think I'm going to forget you, Kim Stupid Taehyung, you're not as smart as I thought."

A soft smile curves his lips at my words, and it lasts a second before the urgency comes back. The seconds are falling away— counting down to our last minute together.

Dear Lord, I stutter mentally, wanting to bury my face in the waterfall of emotions that claw at the fragile thing I call a heart.

I wasn't ready for this. God help me— I'm not strong enough. I can't let him go. I just found him. I just—

"Remember me." He says, drawing my hand up to his face and tracing each feature, each expression. My breath stops at my throat as he leads my fingertips over the gentle curves of his lips, the slanted outline of his eyes.

His skin is soft and smooth under my touch as he lets go of my wrist, leaving me to memorize the angles and curves of his face.

He really was so amazingly beautiful.

"You, too." I stutter, my hands growing more urgent as I explore his sculpted contours. "You must remember me, too. I won't forgive you if you forget me, okay? I won't— I really won't."

Now that he'd brought it up, just the thought of my existence fading away in his memory made my head go cloudy with fear. It could be months before we saw each other again. It could be years.

No, I think. I couldn't wait that long.

"You know I won't. I've already burned your everything into my memory. I have all of you— your face, the expressions you make when you're feeling stressed, when you're happy..."

Time is our sole enemy. Nothing else mattered.

"The tone that you adapt when you're hungry. How you walk— how you throw a knife. I have everything about you carved and imprinted in my mind."

I don't realize I'm crying until he kisses the tears away, his hands gripping the gentle curve of my shoulders— the drive of lust and love strong and powerful in the air.

"I can't." I beg as his lips meet mine. "I can't let you go. Not like this. This— I'm not ready. I'm not strong enough. Please— please."

"Tzuyu."

My blubbering stops as I look up into his soft gaze. I didn't think I would ever get used to my name on his tongue— and I was certain now that I wouldn't.

""You make me feel alive." He whispers, the soft skin of his lips brushing against the edge of my ear. A pleasurable shiver travels up my back when he puts a hand around my waist.

"But you must let me do the same."