Taehyung's POV
Next morning
This was a new chapter in my life... Getting a job. Yeah, I know. This time in my life, you'd think I'd already have a job. Eh. No. I fix my dress shirt and walk into the Korean rice and grill. It was a restaurant on the border of the college campus, but it was still referred to as on campus. So this would be great to help me out with my debts.
I walk into the restaurant, and the smell invites me. I grin. Everything brought back memories. My grin instantly goes away. My heart ached. I see people eating and enjoying their food than the chef in front of them, chopping and grilling chicken. I almost forget why I'm here. I was being interviewed by the manager of the place. I walk up to the front desk.
"Hello." A young Korean girl says from behind the desk. "Anyounghaseyo" I say. Her face lights up automatically. "Anyounghaseyo" she says bowing her head to me. (In Korean) "Are you Kim Taehyung? Here for the interview with Mr. Ryu?" I nod. "Ah. I let him know you're here." She says. I smile. "Okay. Thank you." I say. She walks off to the back of the restaurant.
I look around. It was a very nice place. I turn and see a bow of small mints. I grab one quickly, like its a crime to take a free mint. I pop it in my mouth. Maybe this will help with my nervousness. "Kim Taehyung." I turn to the sound of my name being called. Its the young girl. I walk up to her. "He's waiting for you." She says. I bow my head to her. "Thank you." I say. She just pats my shoulder and walks away, was she flirting?
(In English) "Ah. Taehyung. You're before schedule, that is a great first impression." Says a old man. I bow to him. "Hello I'm Kim Taehyung." I hear him chuckle. I instantly stand up straight. "Very proper as well.." He rubs his chin that had a bit of a stubble, he sticks out a hand and I instantly take it and shake it. His eyes wrinkly and small. "And I understand you speak Korean." He says. I nod. "Yes sir. Its my first language." I say. His eyebrows go up.
"Is that so? Your English is amazing. Take a seat." He motions to the chair in front of his desk. "Yes, Thank you. I moved here a couple of years ago, so I've had a lot of practice." I explain as I sat down. "Korea is my home town.", "My home town is also Korea." He smiles. Was this a bonding session or an interview? "So Taehyung.. I understand that you need help with financial aid for your courses." He pauses.
"And your application also says that other than.." He raises an eyebrow, and clears his throat. "You've never had a job." He looks up at me. I nod, trying my absolutely best not look nervous. "Yes sir, but I'm willing and hard working. I will do anything. I'm a fast learner." I say. "That's not a problem Taehyung. I understand. My daughter was a huge fan of the group, and I understand how it must have been hard for you." He takes me by surprise.
"I'm not just highering you because my daughter was in love with your group." My heart felt like someone was gripping it tightly. "But because I have faith that you can do much more that being an idol." That word gave me shivers down my spine. I hated it. I never wanted to look back on that old life, this was my new life. I smile. "So how soon can you start working?" He asks. "As soon as possible." I say. He smiles. "You start tomorrow." He stands up and so do I.
"I'll be happy to see you tomorrow Kim Taehyung." He says. "Thank you. I feel very honored to have this be my real first job." I smile. He sticks out a hand. "See you tomorrow." I shake his hand. "Definitely." I say. "Meya will give you your uniform." He walks over and opens the door. "Thank you sir." I bow to him before walking out of his office.
I walk up to the front desk and Meya is already ready to give me my uniform. She looks up a me, "So. Did you get the job?" She asks. Her voice was small, and you couldn't tell that she was Korean. At least from her voice. "Yup." I grin. She hands me a small pile of clothes. "If they don't fit, we can always give you a smaller or bigger size." She says. I nod. "Thank you." I bow my head to her, and she does the same.
**
I finally make it back to campus. I was a hastle, but I did it. Students are freaking out because of finals. I was too, but not as much. For my final I had to write my own skit, and I have to present it to my whole class. My professor is looking for creativity, uniqueness, and that the story makes sense.
For months I couldn't quite get it together. But when I met Val, everything changed. I based my skit on the situation right now. The whole, manipulating Lauren thing. So hopefully my professor will enjoy it.
I definitely don't use the same names. And I switch it around a bit, but I still think that it's a decent skit. But we'll see how things will go. "Taehyung." I turn. My face instantly lights up.
"Valerie." I say. She grins. "I just saw you right now. Laurens been crying that she wants to see you, and its getting on my nerves." Her grin goes away and she rolls her eyes. I chuckle nervously. "She's obsessed Tae. You have no idea." She runs her fingers through her hair. "Well. That's a good thing then." I say. She nods. "True." She agrees with me.
For a while we don't say anything. Maybe it was because of yesterday, because of our.. Make out session. Yeah. That must be it. I fiddle with my car keys. "So you hungry?" I ask. Her eyes lit up. "Yeah. Why?" She asks. I grab her wrist and walk us to my car. "Tae. What are you doing?" She asks. I look over my shoulder and smile at her, her face heating up. The funny thing was that she didn't fight it. She actually just followed along.
I click the button for my car to unlock. "Escape with me, Val." I say.
**
Valerie's POV
"Escape with me, Val." He says. It was like we were in the movie Peter Pan. Of course he's Peter Pan, and I'm Wendy. This moment can change your life forever. One choice can change everything. His dark brown eyes watched me, waiting. I smile, "okay." I say, causing that smile to pull on his lips. And with that we get in his car and go off to God knows where.
"So. Mr. Kim Taehyung. Where are we going?" I ask, looking at him. He smiles at the road. "Have you ever been to a Korean restaurant?" He asks. "Nope. Never." I say. He nods. "Then perfect. That's where we're going." He says. My eyebrows go up. "We're going to the one on campus?" I ask. He shakes his head. "Nope. We can easily be seen together there, and we can't risk that." He was right. I sit back and let his drive us to the restaurant.
"So have you thought about.." He doesn't finish. "A little." I confess looking out the window. "I don't want to push you to anything, you don't want to do." He says. I look at him. "No. I know. Its just that the plan-". "So you're going to let the plan get in the middle of us." He says. My lips part to say words but I can't say anything. "Don't think that I just want to be with you because of all this, okay? Even before I came up with this stupid plan, I wanted to get closer with you, Val."
His words made sense, I really did like him. If I didn't like him, I wouldn't have cried when I saw that he had slept with Lauren. Or get jealous of the fact that she would kiss him in front of me. Why would I fight this? Why should I? All those times that I thought he didn't liked me, all those things are now in the trash. All of that was in the wrong mind, it wasn't true.
"I don't think that.." I say. He glances at me and smiles. "You don't have to tell me now." He says. But of course, it was a lot to think about. This was a huge step, what if it ruined the plan? What if everything would be ruined with one decision?
Its quiet for the rest of the time. It was quite a long drive there, he puts on the radio and its Korean music. "Oh. Sorry. I was listening to it on the way back from my interview." He's about to change it, I set my hand on his. "No. Leave it. Its interesting." He smiles and sits back.
**
Taehyung's POV
I was quite surprised when she wanted to listen to kpop. She was jamming out to groups I used to know, personally. Like exo and other single artists.
"Wow! That was a new hit, Monster by exo!" The person on the radio is speaking English, which surprised me. Its translated to Korean. "Bringing great Kpop songs to people, all around the world. We have another request on the other end." It switches to some horrible audio. "Yes! Hi! I'm Jennifer and I'm from Canada! And I want to request a old song from a group that's no longer together." My heart pounds. Please don't say BTS. Please don't say BTS. Please don't say BTS.
"Sure hon. What group and what song would you like?" The person asks. "Butterfly from the Bangtan Boys. Bts. We miss you so much!! Please come back! Taehyung Oppa! Jungkookie Oppa! Jin Oppa!" ,"Ah. Thank you for requesting, Jennifer. We luckily have the song. We'll play that for you." My heart pounds in my chest. I haven't listened to our old music in 12 years. The music slowly starts. "Here's Butterfly by the late boy group, BTS."
My teeth grit together tightly. "Did that girl say Taehyung?" Oh. Great. She noticed. "Y-yeah." I say.
"amugeotdo saenggakhaji ma
neon amu maldo kkeonaejido ma
geunyang naege useojwo"
I hear Jungkook's voice, and my eyes tear up.
"nan ajikdo mitgijiga anha
i modeun ge da kkumin geot gata
sarajiryeo hajima" I sing as if I was there, and I still knew all the words. I could feel her gaze.
"Is it true? Is it true?
You You
neomu areumdawo duryeowo"
"Untrue Untrue
You You You"
"gyeote meomulleojullae
naege yaksokhaejullae
son daemyeon naragalkka buseojilkka
geobna geobna geobna"
"siganeul meomchullae
i sungani jinamyeon
eobseotdeon iri doelkka neol irheulkka
geobna geobna geobna"
"Butterfly, like a Butterfly
machi Butterfly, bu butterfly cheoreom"
"Butterfly, like a butterfly
machi Butterfly, bu butterfly cheoreom" I sing my part again. The music is lowered, actually, the radio is turned off. "Pull over the car." She says, and I do. I look at her. "Taehyung.. What is going on?" She asks, her thumb running over my cheeks, rubbing my tears away.
"That was you.. Wasn't it?" She asks. I slightly nod. Her eyebrows knit. "You sang so beautiful, what happened?" She asks. I haven't actually talked about the whole break up situation. "The radio said it all, the band broke up, and we haven't seen each other in years." I say. She frowns. "I'm so sorry.. I didn't know." She apologizes, though she shouldn't be.
"No. Its okay. I wasn't.. Very comfortable talking about it, and I never wanted to have to talk about it. But today .. Was a bad day to listen to Kpop I guess." I chuckle. That frown still snug on her face. "I'm fine Val. I really am, I just.. I haven't listened to the music in forever. That's why I got over whelmed." I confess. She wipes my tears away from under my eyes. "I'm sure you weren't the only one who cried." She says.
She was right. I remember seeing videos of girls crying when our group made it official, so I'm sure people cried listening to this song. Especially because this was one of our more, deeper feeling songs. She leans in and plants a kiss on my lips.
"I don't like seeing you sad." She says. My heart skips a beat. "Are you mad that you didn't know about my past?" I ask. She shakes her head. "That's your story to tell if you want to or not." She says. And I feel better. But there was one thing I couldn't tell her. It was personal, she couldn't know about it. Definitely not.
She couldn't know that I'm a alcoholic, and when I came to America I went to special classes. I went to those classes for two years. That's how bad it was. I really couldn't get over the fact that Bangtan was no more, I really couldn't. I had given a big chunk of my life to Big Hit. But I knew that what we had decided was the best for all of us.
""Let's go.." She says. I nod, the restaurant was close by actually. I felt her small hand rub my back, trying to sooth me. My heart was pounding in my chest. "You're okay Tae." She whispers. I nod, unable to say a word. The feelings I was feeling at the moment, they were so strong. "Just promise me one thing." I finally find the courage to say. "Anything." She says, her fingers running through my hair. "Don't look up the group I was with.." She quiet. As if thinking.
"Val. Promise me." I park the car in the parking lot. I look at her. She takes her hand away from me. "I don't even remember the name of the group. And even if I did, I wouldn't look it up if it hurts you. I'd never want to hurt you Taehyung." She says, her dark iris's looking into mine. And I knew I can trust her. I smile. "Thank you." I whisper. She nods. "Of course." She relies.
I lean in, and she instantly leans into me. Our lips in sync. I slowly pull away. "Okay." She says. I look at her weird. "Okay what?" I ask. She chuckles. "I want to be with you.." She replies. I smile. "What changed your mind? The group thing?" I ask. She tilts her head. "During the plan, I kept wondering if you'd ever like me. Or if I had a chance with you. But I thought I didn't because I was so messed up from Robert cheating on me with some slut from his college." She pauses.
"But.. Now I see.. We're both hurting. And we're very much a like, you and I." She finishes. I smile. "No one can be too perfect to be with you, because you're perfect in my eyes.." I say. Her face takes up a pink tint. "And you're cute when you blush." I glide my thumb over her cheek.
"Taehyuuung." She whines put of nervousness. I chuckle. "So does this mean you're my girlfriend now?" I ask. "That's what you wanted.. Isn't it?" She asks. Making me smile.
**
Valerie's POV
Who knew that having Taehyung as a boyfriend for an hour, would be so amazing? He was generous, funny, cute, easy to keep a conversation with, romantic. But he was already all that when I met him. Everything about him made me smile. The Korean barbecue was very interesting.
He held my hand as he drove us back to the college. "How'd you like today?" He asks. "Very interesting." I say, thinking about my thoughts. He smiles. "I'm happy you considered." He glances at me. "I am too." I confess. The brightest smile could be found on his face. We pull up to the front of the campus. "What are we going to do?" I ask. He pauses.
He pulls out his phone, letting go of my hand. He smiles. "Let go." He says. I look at him weird. "I texted Ivan. Lauren has been in her dorm all day." And with that we both rush out of the car and I go ahead of him. We walk into the building. "Val. Tae." My heart stops. "Fancy seeing both of you together." I looked at her.
"I was going to come and tell you that I found Taehyung." I say calmly. She smiles. "Really? You're the best." She says. "Where were you?" She runs up to Taehyung. He forcefully gives her a hug. "I went job hunting." He smiles. She kisses his cheek. "Really? That's great baby." She kisses his lips. He nods. "And I got highered at a Korean rice place." He says. She looks happy. Did she really honestly like him? That's a first.
"I'm gonna go." I point behind me with my thumb. "Taehyung. Come with me to the room." She pulls his wrist. Practically pushing me out of the way. He looks back at me, and I frown. I make my way to Ivan. I knock on the door, it opens. "Ah. Val." He smiles. He sees my face. "They in the room together." I didn't even have to say a thing. "Come in." He opens the door.
**
"Do after finals, we'll proceed." He makes sure of our agreement. I nod. "Okay. Good. Because I've been sweating about my courses and it takes some weight off my shoulders." I smile. "I'm glad you feel better." He shakes his shoulders. Should I tell him Taehyung and I are now together?
------------------------------------------
Hey! Yo! Update!
So! I'm stressing about this chapter. I feel like its horrible.
We'll have to see if Taehyung tells anyone about his addiction to alcohol. Sadly, the reason why BTS broke up will not be explained in this book. Its Not in Jungkook. Jimin. Or Hoseok. Its in Seokjin.
Though Seokjin is on hold so I can finish this book. And get a little more ideas for it.
Thank you so much for the support with this book!!
Bye!