Taehyung had a constant smile on his face as he went through the schedule. It started with dance practices. He was so happy, it showed through his dance. He looked amazing as he danced. Even during recording a song, he made no mistake.
It's true what they say. The performance of a person improves greatly when they are in a good mood. The reason for his good mood was known to everyone by now. He just couldn't stop talking about it and checking the clock every five minutes.
By the time lunch time neared, Taehyung had dropped everything and was waiting near the reception. He was biting his nails anxiously, giving the receptionist a nervous smile everytime their eyes met. He realised, he had never been so excited to see a friend coming to visit him at work.
But then, other's weren't her and she was certainly a lot different than anyone he had ever met. She was almost like him, weird, loud, often clumsy but innocent and insightful. Most importantly, she listened to him and wasn't afraid to let her opinion known. If it was any other person, they would have surely let him do whatever he wanted but not her. She treated him as her equal, not a superior. In this line of work and after achieving such success, people often forgot they were humans too, just like everyone else.
She was a good friend even before being his crush.
Taehyung felt his heart beating faster as the door opened and in came a woman, bowing to the receptionist respectfully. It took her time to notice him as she looked around herself, her big eyes taking in the interior as if seeing something like this for the first time. It made him chuckle softly. It also made her look at him.
Aera squealed, her lips breaking out in the brightest of smiles Taehyung had ever seen on her face. It didn't even take her a moment to run and launch herself over him. The man grunted with the force of their collision, his arms instinctively wrapping around her back protectively and lifting her off the ground and swinging around. It elicited giggled from both of them, drawing attention to themselves but the staff distracted themselves from the adorable sight.
"Wow, I'm taller than you for once," Aera said, squishing a smiling Tae's face in both of her hands. He laughed, "Oh, trust me. There are a lot of times when I feel shorter even while standing infront of you."
"You are just adorable, you know that?" Taehyung blushed at her unexpected words of compliment. He looked away, hiding his face as he let her down but kept his arms around her.
"Adorable?" he scoffed with fake anger, amusing the woman even more. "I'm not adorable, I'm sexy. Have you never seen me properly before?" Like the expression king he was, Taehyung quickly hid his shyness behind a serious, smoldering gaze. He didn't fail to notice the way her eyelashes fluttered and her ears turned red.
"S-sexy," she scoffed this time, hitting his chest lightly. "Don't fool yourself, Mr. Kim. Jimin and Jungkook are more sexy. Namjoon is the sexiest of them all."
"What!" he exclaimed, his amusement gone as shock and an unexpected but familiar wave of jealousy hit him. "You mean to say I'm not sexy? Just you wait, Lee Aera," he said, distancing himself from the giggling woman. "I'll show you just how sexy I can be one day."
"Forget it," Aera rolled her eyes, teasing him even more. "You can't prove anything. You'll always be an adorable baby." He turned around, scowling at her as she followed behind him. Catching up to him, she clung to his arm, pouting and making his scowl disappear immediately.
"I've got a good news," she changed the subject, her eyes lighting up and showing just how excited she was. "What is it?" She told him all about the visit of Miss Kwon to her studio before, telling him in detail just how big of an opportunity it was and she was shit scared of messing up as he tried giving her a short tour of his work place.
She also told him about her plans to meet her father, gloominess taking over her previous hopefull-ness. But Taehyung was right there to make her smile again as he made her sit in the studio.
"It's going to be okay, Aera," he said, sitting on his knees before her, keeping her hands warm and secure in his own. He looked up at the sober girl with an assuring smile. "I will never understand how hard it is for you but I know how brave you are to do this. I'm not sure many people would face their weaknesses like this. You are very courageous and if anything you inspire me to be just as courageous and face my problems."
Aera felt something flutter in her chest. It was a strange feeling but it felt too good to let go. With soft eyes, she ran her fingers through his hair, much like she had done this morning and said, "You always know the exact words that make me calm down."
"I know another way to calm you down," he said, his shyness returning as he made her wear headphones. Gulping nervously, he clicked the mouse a few times, opening a music file in the computer and playing it.
Aera closed her eyes as soft instrumental sounds she couldn't really decipher like an expert, started playing in her ears. She couldn't really understand the lyrics sung in a foreign language but she didn't need to hear them when his soulful vocals started doing their magic.
She jolted a little when she felt Taehyung's hands unexpectedly moved over her thighs, nowhere near pervy but it made a shiver run up her spine. They moved up and up over her lower back, waist, up between her shoulder blades, his digits applying a slight pressure there. She whimpered a little when he took away the headphones, the music filling the whole studio instead of her ears only.
"Shh, relax," he said, his breath hitting the sensetive shell of her ear. "Don't open your eyes. Just feel and listen."
She relaxed almost instantly when he started singing. Her hands clenched tightly against his biceps before relaxing, her touch almost caressing as his deep baritone seemed to sink into her skin, speaking to her soul. She couldn't help but shudder as his breath hit her neck and jaw as if he was tracing her features with his lips as he sang.
Aera was beyond the point of thinking by now, drowning in his voice, his scent, his touch as his fingers massaged her scalp soothingly. She didn't know what exactly was happening. She only knew, Taehyung was doing something fatal to her. Making her fall for him, making her feel more than friendly towards him.
When the song ended, his hands were burning hot on her neck, his thumbs soft over her jaw. She felt his breath on her lips, the tips of their noses touching. She hadn't realised how tightly she clutched the collar of his shirt and her other tangled in his hair.
"Do you like me?" Her eyes flew open at his whispered question. Her breath was stuck as he continued speaking without letting her speak.
"I know you are dating Doyun, probably not now since that fight but you keep giving me signals and they are never mixed. I've been giving you signals too and I know you see them all, so you probably know that I like you. I would very much like to know you better and be friends along with being with you romantically. The question is, do you like me enough to go out with me?"
She had the urge to run away from something as dangerous as this feeling, like always. And she would have if it wasn't for the way Taehyung's eyes held her captive. Those mysterious, beautiful eyes...
She finally understood why he felt so familiar the first time they met at Sehee's restaurant. It wasn't because he was an idol nor was it their first meeting.
"Yes, but..."
~~~~
A/N:
There's a BUT now? ;-;
I am a little late today for updates. I was just out the whole day and away from technology, having some family time. Here are some pictures from the short trip.
Did you go somewhere recently?