Midnight | BTS

miso in love; taehyung

The first time she met Kim Taehyung was in ninth grade, after he accidentally killed a bumble bee in the middle of a soccer game. It was a Monday with honey hues, a day when the trees in the courtyard were beginning to shed their red and orange leaves. A bee hive that hung in the school's back entrance had begun to drop its bees to meet an insidious death.

He had knelt on the grass, his hand holding the quivering insect with a look that could only be described as regret. The soccer ball next to him was long forgotten. She had looked down at the boy, disdain clouding her vision and lifting her lips in a grimace, "Grow up." She mocked.

    Looking back now, he said nothing, but she could recall the pink dust that surfaced his cheeks. The admiration that glossed his dulcet brown eyes, watching her retreating back. Taehyung has had a crush on her since.

    With only a year left of college, she still does not understand. Taehyung sat across her, using his chopsticks to make a smiley face in his miso ramen. "I almost had it!" He released another contagious giggle, pink lips forming his signature rectangle smile. [Name] chortled, taking a long sip from her Royal Milk tea can.

The reason she agreed to this date was not because she constantly rejected Taehyung over the years and decided to finally give him a chance. A month ago, the cat-eyed, Chanel No. 5 smelling Kim Jennie broke up with [Name] after being on and off for six months. Jennie made it clear she only needed the love-making aspects of [Name], but [Name] had enough and stopped providing.

Even after all this time, Taehyung has not given up.

[Name] came back to their hometown to rest from her city life in Seoul. Their reunion was an awkward interaction in the fruit aisle at their local grocery store. Taehyung didn't seem fazed by her stuttering, even though the last time they spoke was her throwing out the ice cream he offered her, along with another date proposal.

He looked down at his basket, taking out a pint sized [flavor] ice cream. Their eyes met as he outstretched his hand, "Let's go on a date."

So, she agreed.

"Here, let me." [Name] took her chopsticks, slightly leaning up in her seat to pull a noodle across his miso broth. "There. A smile!" She grinned at her effort.

Taehyung squinted his eyes, jerking his chin up, "Bro. This is the best smiley face I've ever seen." He placed his chopsticks down, folding his arms across his chest, "Now I can't eat it."

[Name] gave a light laugh, propping her elbow on the table and resting her cheek on her hand. Taehyung wrinkled his nose in a childish manner, before lifting up his hand to call back the waiter. As she watched him order another round of Royal Milk tea, her smile drifted to a small grin.

She hated to admit how much fun she was having.

They have been at it for two hours.

Two bowls of ramen, three plates of takoyaki, and six cans of that sweet beige milk tea.

Each.

She impulsively began picking at the stray strands of her [texture], [color] hair, "Taehyung," She called out in a soft tone. He snapped his head back, setting the two cans down, "Don't worry, I got you the large one-" He began.

"No. It's not that." She sat up, not knowing where she was going with this.

    [Name] inhaled sharply, "I was just going to say that . . . that I'm . . ." It was a lot harder to express herself than she thought.

    After a couple moments, Taehyung placed his hand on top of hers.

    She looked up at his soft, brown eyes. Not yet, she told herself.