peach blossom; 桃花 || jung wheein x kim taehyung

petal; 花瓣

"I'm Taehyung."

It had been the eyes, Wheein tells herself every time she reminisces on their first encounter. Those damn eyes of his and that spark she saw lurking in its depths and complexity. Maybe if she hadn't been so intrigued by what laid beneath their surface she wouldn't be where she is now, drawn to him like a moon in orbit and unable to escape.

They hadn't been close in the beginning. It had taken some time before Taehyung even began warming up to most of them. He started his first week off only following either Seokjin or Chaeyoung around, since those two were the ones that had originally found him and taken him in, and were the only two he was comfortable with at the time. He spent more time with Chaeyoung than Seokjin since the older had more responsibilities around the base and as a result soon became friends with Jungkook and a reluctant-at-first Jimin as well. Jimin took to the same aged boy much better once he realized Taehyung wasn't trying to go for his long-time girlfriend, but was simply too shy and timid around other strangers. He quickly took Taehyung under his wing after his intentions were clarified, showing him the ropes and introducing him around the base to anyone they encountered.

Their little family has grown quite a bit since Wheein's own arrival. From what Seulgi had told them back when she was showing newcomers Wheein and Hyejin around, it all started back when Seokjin and Byulyi and their group of friends realized they would need a safehouse and base to live and train for survival, as well as one big enough to adapt to their growing numbers and strength. While the couple still insist that there isn't a hierarchy so long as everyone respects one another, it's still clear to see how much everyone else at the base treats them as leaders when important decisions need to be made or when someone needs to take charge of a situation.

There had been other newcomers after her and before Taehyung, of course, yet none of them had lingered in the back of Wheein's mind or had her gaze drifting over to their figure whenever they walked into the room like he did. Despite their many mutual friends and rather unorthodox first meeting, it wasn't until Jisoo had insisted on everyone in the '95 line doing a training session to bond together that they had truly ever interacted one on one once again.

Funnily enough, Wheein doesn't even remember much about that uneventful day other than the fact that it served as the catalyst for everything after that. Because now suddenly, whenever her gaze would drift across the room she would always end up finding him staring right back at her.

It was the quiet exchange of knowing smiles during their monthly meetings whenever they met eyes across the room, the unintentional yet somehow full-of-meaning brushes of their shoulders as they passed one another in the hallways, the nights where Wheein would train by herself under the dim glow of the moon to avoid a sleepless, nightmare-ridden rest and suddenly find herself no longer alone anymore when Taehyung miraculously showed up out of nowhere and offered to be her sparring partner.

"You don't spar with just anyone at midnight," Jisoo had once teasingly said in observation when she and Wheein were once assigned to the same raid. Of course she would be the first to suddenly bring up Wheein's complicated inner feelings about the subject while they were cutting down a hoard of zombies before them. "And neither does Taehyung. What's going on between you two, huh?"

"Tons of others spar together at night sometimes," Wheein had protested at the time. "Chaeyoung and Jimin spar during those times too every now and then."

Jisoo had just sent her the most deadpan look she could before swinging her arm in a wide arc and beheading the undead in front of her with one clean slash. "Jimin and Chaeyoung have been dating for almost five years."

"Oh." was all Wheein could muster in reply, before they both focused back on the raid, conversation long forgotten. Jisoo never brought the topic back up after that, but her words were more than enough to help Wheein reach a startling and alarming realization.