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The night was indeed—long.
For the past few hours, Yinn had sat through two of Kim Namjoon's philosophical lectures, three of Hoseok's karaoke sessions, and five rounds of rock-paper-scissors between Seokjin and Jungkook, which the latter had won 5:0, by the way.
"Miss Yinn Naron!" For the nth time, her head jolted up at the voice of the silver-haired man. "I need to tell you something."
Jimin lazily lift a finger, gesturing her to come closer. Hesitantly, Yinn shuffled towards him, stopping when she was an arm's length away. With a tilt of his head, Jimin then pushed himself forward, almost stumbling as he closed the space in between them. With a serious expression, he looked around discreetly before speaking in a low whisper.
"I'm sorry."
Out of everything Yinn had been through this night, this had to be the most shocking yet.
"Why are you apologizing?"
"I'm sorry!" Ignoring her question, Jimin repeated his apology, this time in an even louder voice. "I must have been deaf. How could I not have heard you? I'm sorry."
Yinn was at a complete loss of what to do.
She had no idea why the silver-haired man was apologizing to her as if he had committed murder, when he had nothing to be sorry about. If anyone, it should be Yinn who had to apologize for everything she'd done.
"...You don't have to be sorry for anything." She said with a frown. Jimin slowly blinked at her saddened expression, which then contorted into pure shock as large droplets of tears started streaming down his flawless face.
Yinn's mouth dropped open.
"W-why are you crying now?"
"You're s-such a nice p-person!" Jimin sniffed as he managed to choke out his words amidst the waterfall of tears.
"You bet she is!" Behind them, Clarity pumped her fist on the air, still sitting on the back of Taehyung. "Yinn is a nice girl! She was a saint in her past life!"
"I'm not a saint," she said softly.
"No, you are! You're nice, so you might as well be one! Right, Taehyungie?"
"Yes, yes."
Eyeing the two drunks muttering nonsense, Taehyung and Yinn exchanged a knowing glance. In the current situation, they felt like comrades who had to survive a war together.
It was at that moment.
A ear-piercing sound filled the room as the wine glass in Seokjin's hand fell onto the floor, shattering into numerous tiny pieces. Startled by the noise, everyone turned towards the eldest, who stood there with an awestruck expression as he pointed his finger towards Clarity, then to Yinn.
"Why are there two Claritys!?"
This time, Yinn couldn't help but shake her head.
"I'm Yinn Naron, Mr. Kim."
Much to her chagrin, Se0kjin seemed even more shocked after hearing her stoic introduction. At that moment, his mind flashed back to a blurry conversation he had with Clarity sometime in the past. It was about the fanfiction she had read.
"Y-you..." With shaking hands, he slowly lifted a finger towards her direction. "I will never, ever fall in love with you!"
Listening in on the conversation with a giggly Clarity on his back, Taehyung let out a long exhale after hear the eldest's nonsense. Clarity had told Yinn about the alternate book universe. She had also told Yinn that she was the female protagonist in the book. However, she had not said that Seokjin was the male lead in that story.
Which was why Yinn Naron was standing there, jaws dropping at Seokjin's sudden statement.
"W-where was this coming from?" Her face was heating up as she frantically waved her hands in front of her. "I did not ask you to do that in the first place!"
Shaking his head at the two, Taehyung felt Clarity's arms that hung around his neck tighten as he stood up from the couch. He walked past Yinn, whose eyes happened to met Clarity's at that moment.
Despite the chaotic atmosphere, the brown haired girl felt a surge of warmth filling her chest as she looked at everyone in the room. From the different interactions to the drunken chaos, things she never expected to experience in her life were unfolding before her eyes.
Yinn felt that these memories would remain vivid for a long time.
"Miss Clarity," Yinn quickly called out to her before glancing up with a grateful smile. "Thank you. For everything."
Head resting peacefully on Taehyung's back, Clarity red cheeks puffed up with a grin. "You're welcome! We're all trying to survive. Survival is key!"
Taehyung didn't even bother to hide his sigh as he secured the short-haired girl on his back before giving Yinn a curt nod. His gaze moved towards the rows of empty bottles scattered on the table, and Yinn could see the visible regret in his eyes.
"I will leave the rest of the members to you, Miss Naron."
"Huh?"
"Good luck."
As Taehyung made his way mercilessly upstairs without looking back, Yinn felt an ominous foreboding as she faced the remaining six members and the room which was a mess. Yinn sighed.
It was sigh filled with fatigue, but she was smiling.
✿✿✿
"Wah! Your bed is like cotton candy!"
Clarity flopped onto the blue mattress like a penguin as she allowed her body to sink into the soft covering. Standing before the bed, the black-haired man was observing her actions with a helpless smile.
Taehyung had originally planned to carry her to her room, but Clarity—completely wasted—had started sulking when they were a third through the hallway, saying that she wanted 'visit the tiger's den'.
"Y'know, I thought you were a tiger at first. A really scary one, too! But it turns out you're just a cute puppy!" Clarity was grinning like a child as she tightly wrapped her arms around his waist. "My puppy!"
Compared to the normal Clarity, who was usually thoughtful and rational, this Clarity acted upon impulse. Noting this, Taehyung couldn't help but be amused at this new side of her.
He thought he didn't mind seeing more of this drunk Clarity.
"Are you done playing around? Let's get you back to your room," he said gently, offering his hand to the giggly girl sitting on his bed.
Instead of taking his hand, however, Clarity's attention was focused on the shelf behind him, her eyes lighting up at a certain item.
"It's the camera that's worth a house in Seoul!" Springing up like a bouncy ball, she reached past his ears for the Leica camera that Taehyung had kept in utmost care on the highest row of his shelf. Unfortunately, she was too short and the raven-haired man, seeing her struggles, let out a soft chuckle as he turned to get the camera for her.
"No! I want to do it myself," Clarity pouted as her round, brown eyes narrowed at his actions. Taehyung moved his head with a small tilt.
"But you can't reach."
Scrunching her nose, Clarity thought for a moment before reaching out her arms like a child. Taehyung blinked at her action.
"Carry me!"
"Ha..." Regardless of his sigh, the raven-haired man did as he was told. Putting his large hands around her waist, he lifted her with ease, levelling her face with the highest shelf.
With a grin, Clarity hugged the camera in her arms as she was lowered down. "Let's take a picture together!"
"A picture?"
"Yes! A lot of pictures! That's what couples do." She bobbed her head up and down, unaware of the blush inching onto Taehyung's face at her mentioning of the word couple.
Without waiting for his reply, she tugged downwards on his wrist so he was sitting beside her on the bed. Flipping open the camera cover, she turned the lens towards her direction. Pulling the man closer to her, she held out a peace sign with her empty hand and grinned.
"Say V!"
"V..." Taehyung had a confused look on his face as he managed to mimic her peace sign as she clicked on the shutter.
Click!
"Haha, you forgot to smile." Printing out the photo from the camera, she examined the final product in amusement. "But you're good looking anyway, so it doesn't matter!"
In the picture, Clarity and Taehyung's faces were slightly squished together, framed by their peace signs. The former was beaming like she had won the lottery while the latter stared into the camera with a stoic but cute expression.
"Is this a couples photo?" He asked the short haired girl, who nodded promptly. At her response, he looked at the picture fondly.
It was his first time taking a picture that was not for mission necessities, but to make memories.
As Taehyung reached for the picture, however, Clarity drew her hand back with a teasing smile. "I'm keeping this our first couples photo! We'll take another one and you can keep the second one!"
Raising an eyebrow at her words, Taehyung nodded as he reopened his camera, only to find it to be out of battery. Slightly frowning, the raven haired boy contemplated for a bit before scooting towards the drawer by his bed. Clarity watched as he took something out of the drawer, turning to her with a purple pendant box in his hand.
"What's this?" Her eyes, round with curiosity, widened as Taehyung opened the box, revealing a lustrous but elegant helix earring. Amidst the center of the adornment was a glossy purple gem that looked as if it had been kissed by magic.
"This...For me?" Clarity's jaw dropped at the mesmerizing jewelry.
"I'll trade you this for the picture, how about it?" He offered with a small smile.
Taking her flabbergasted expression as a 'yes', the raven haired man placed the black box in her hand while taking the picture from the other. He had planned to give her the necklace once everything was over, but this also worked out nicely. Holding the picture delicately in his hands, Taehyung's lips tugged into a smile.
"It's... so pretty." On the other hand, Clarity looked like she was about to cry as she examined the piece of jewelry, then the black-haired man who gave her the jewelry. "Kim Taehyung!"
Taehyung turned around after hearing his full name, only to freeze halfway as Clarity pressed her lips onto his. Her lips, sweetened by the Soju, was intoxicating to his senses and sent an electrifying wave of emotions throughout his body. Without thinking, Taehyung leaned to deepen the kiss, pressing his body towards hers.
Maybe it was the flavoured Soju, maybe it was Clarity's inherent sweetness, but as their lips pieced together, Taehyung thought she tasted like peaches.
It was driving him insane.
He could feel one of Clarity's hands find its way to his back while the other ran through his messy, black curls. The shift in weight caused them to fall backwards, with the girl back sinking into the bed as Taehyung found himself hovered over her, his arms pressed to the space by her sides.
"T-Taehyungie..." Clarity's face was bright red like a Christmas ornament as she called his name.
Taehyung's breath hitched as he swallowed hard, his Adams Apple shifting in his throat. Both of them were breathing heavily, chest syncing in its movements, lost in each other's eyes.
Laying beneath him, Clarity's shoulder-length hair was sprawled behind her as she looked down at her white blouse, which had become an unkempt mess from moving around. With an annoyed pout, she clumsily moved her hands to the top of her blouse, undoing the first button, then the second.
When she reached the third, Taehyung had grabbed on to her wrist with shaking pupils.
"Clarity." His voice was raspy, its usual calmness replaced with a cautious whisper. "...Do you know what you're doing?"
"It's hot... I want to take it off because I'm burning up!" Clarity whined before attempting to push his hand away, only to realize that his grip was not budging. "Taehyungieeee! Move your hand!"
She nudged his torso with her knee to get his attention, and Taehyung stiffened at her action.
"Either do that..." Clarity mumbled before moving her face towards him again. Her breath brushing against his skin, Taehyung froze as he felt her tongue smoothly glided over his bottom lip. Clarity glanced upwards at him with a glint in her round eyes, the corner of her lips curling into a mischievous smile.
"Or kiss me again!"
Taehyung's mind was a jumbled mess as he stared at the girl before her with a blush visible even under dimmed lights. As much as he wanted to continue—now wasn't the time. Not when Clarity was barely staying awake under the influence of alcohol. She didn't know what she was doing.
He didn't know what he was doing.
It took all of Taehyung's self control to lift himself off the bed, away from the short-haired girl.
"You need to sleep." He brushed his hair backwards, massaging his temples with a shaky exhale.
"But I'm not sleepy..."
"No. You are sleepy."
"..."
Before Clarity noticed what was going on, Taehyung had rolled her into a sushi-roll with several layers of blankets. As the man was about to step back, however, Clarity suddenly grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulling him back down with her. The two of them just laid side by side, one in covered in blankets, the other forgetting to breath.
Even in sushi-form, Clarity somehow managed to cling onto the raven haired man. Yanking out her arms from the blankets, she curled them around his sides, using his arm as a pillow while hurling her leg over his.
Tensing over her actions, Taehyung internally muttered out a term of profanity as he tried to stay as still as possible. Truly, he thought that his biggest development since meeting Clarity was his self control.
One day.
One day, he would get back at her for this.
Taehyung shook his head at his own naivety as he recalled his initial impressions the drunken girl. Eyeing Clarity beside him, who was now in a deep, sweet slumber, the man let out a long exhale.
He was never going to let her touch alcohol again.
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taehyung: probably a beast in bed
also taehyung: blushes at the word 'couple'
next chapter will be out sunday, so look forward to it :)
lori ✿