YOU'RE A
PEACH 🍑
WORD COUNT 2.4k
OVERVIEW the new housekeeper at taehyung's father's house in italy isn't what he was expecting. ( feminine!taehyung, inspired by the aesthetic of the film call me by your name & the song summer by brockhampton. )
PLAYLIST summer / brockhampton, honey / kehlani, swimming pools / troye sivan.
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TAEHYUNG FEELS PRETTY. he feels pretty in lace and bright white silk, he feels pretty with sunlight bouncing off his face like it's a broken window, he feels pretty with a cup of chamomile clutched in his hand as he watches the sun rise delicately over the hills of the beautiful roman town he so adores. his father's villa in italy is so perfect, and he's lucky enough to be here without his parents.
his lace adorned white shirt ripples in the early morning breeze, tainted with the smell of vineyards and sea salt, like ancient gods carried on the wind. taehyung watches cobbled streets begin to get active, watches the sun flood the courtyard with the aquamarine pool and the luscious greenhouse; the whole house is old, you can tell from the décor, old and used and wondrously homely. taehyung loves sitting on this little balcony, like juliet awaiting her romeo, watching the morning unfurl.
standing up, his grey shorts let cold air onto his tanned legs, and taehyung admires himself in a full length mirror. hair like obsidian, messy as a crow's nest — still stylish — rests just above his eyebrows, and his tanned face, features cut from rock, has freckles and moles painted into it. he walks through his bedroom, tiled floors cold against the soles of his feet, and he regards the slight disorganization of it all, but can't be bothered to pick it up. what he really fancies at eight a.m is breakfast, so he makes his way down to the wonderful kitchen.
"senhora flora!" he greets the elderly housekeeper, his nanny growing up, with a wide grin and almost fluent italian rolling off his tongue. flora smiles widely and embraces him, as she hadn't seen the boy when he arrived the day before. "ah, flora, you look better every time i see you."
"tata, you flatter your nanny," flora chuckles, her strong hands covered in flour. she's just come from the bakery, and the smell of fresh loaves drifts through the air, taehyung's mouth watering. "bread and presunto for breakfast?"
"would i ever say no?" taehyung chuckles, sitting on one of the stools at the table. flora doesn't comment on his somewhat girlish outfit, rather she's wondering how a boy can pull off a lace vest that well. she cuts steaming bread, lets thick slabs of butter melt on it, and layers it with thick smokey ham, sundried tomatoes hidden in there like treasure — taehyung's favourite since he was little. italian coffee gets poured into bright white cups, smelling strongly of sweet vanilla and cream, and taehyung's childhood seems to return as he sits in the rustic wooden kitchen, herbs hanging from the dark rafters over his head, crossing his legs under the table and smiling gently at mrs flora.
"back in rome, tete," flora grins, her face like an ancient map, mediterranean skin coloured cinnamon and eyes dark and twinkling. taehyung's korean name is too hard for her to pronounce, and over the years while she taught him italian, she called him variations of 'tete' or 'tae'. he loves how it makes it different from being in korea. "are you happy to be here?"
"always," taehyung smiles, biting into the hot breakfast bread and groaning as he savours the taste, hot and buttery and smokey — the taste of his childhood in rome. with a smile, he looks at the greenery that hangs over the giant aqua blue swimming pool, where he'll spend the majority of his day perched on a pool chair drinking wine and reading. "has dad hired any more staff while i've not been here?"
flora nods slowly, hands clasped around her cup. "actually, tete, i don't work for your father anymore. i'm retiring, amore — nana's old. your father hired someone else to do my job."
taehyung raises his eyebrows. "ah, i'll miss you, senhora. you'll still be around?"
"yes darling, of course," flora nods. "i'll bring you breakfast, don't you worry," taehyung laughs. "you'll like this new guy. he's korean — your father wanted you to have someone you could speak to easily."
"does he know that i speak italian?" taehyung rolls his eyes with a chuckle, although it does sting that his father knows so little about him. the divorce happened when taehyung was fifteen, and his father has mostly been away on 'business' — that business being fucking women he couldn't fuck whilst taehyung was home, whilst on business trips — ever since. but he takes care of himself.
"probably not. but this kim boy is sweet, the son of a local cow farmer — his father left when he was little, poor doll — and he'll just make sure you don't get into trouble," flora explains, her withered face showing signs of past beauty, like a ruined temple. taehyung nods slowly, his hair illuminated like a black halo by sunlight behind him. "but he is only a year older than you... maybe it's better that you'll have someone your age here," she smiles gently, before coughing a little. "anyway. give your nanny a hug."
taehyung smiles as the two embrace, having mixed feelings about this namjoon boy. he supposes he'll be fine, but anything feels like it'll be fine as long as senhora flora's sweet sunshine smell is surrounding him like her arms are. taehyung kisses her cheeks, and she bids him goodbye, leaving him with his breakfast and his thoughts. taehyung knows that namjoon will be showing up at 10, roughly, so he's going to make sure he's looking stunning — of course, he always looks stunning.
sipping his coffee, taehyung walks the slate stairs back up to his beautiful spacious room with huge windows and a distinct smell of citrus, mingled with taehyung's cologne he adores. the sunshine shining on his features, illuminating him like a fine statue, he looks through his wardrobe, slender pianist fingers clutched around his cup. first, a pair of swim shorts — loose white things, meant for women, with a little lace detail —, a loose flowing top, with black lace and red roses sewn into the fabric, and under that, an almost see-through floaty white vest, which contrasts beautifully with his tan.
freckles stand out on his makeup-less face, which makes taehyung smile as he gently puts in his nose piercing, the silver glittering. summer by brockhampton, the first song on his favourite mixtape, drifts hazily through the thick heat of the italian air, making taehyung long for something more. with his sony walkman and new book in hand, he walks down to the pool patio, appreciating the slight wind that seems to carry away his worries — not that he has any. taehyung's bare feet barely make a noise as they cross the slate, and he settles himself on a ledge beside a sickly fragrant bush of orange flowers, the music at the perfect volume and the sun the right heat, and everything perfect.
"in the heat of the summer..."
taehyung sings along softly, his toes close enough to the pool to lightly skim over the water, calming, book abandoned for the time being. he loves these little moments of peace, accompanied by the mixtape he makes each summer exactly for this trip, they make his heart slow and his brain stop being so demanding, and time just seems to slow in old ancient italy, which is probably why he adores it so much. yawning gently, taehyung leans his head back against the wall, as the song fades into palace by the same band, and he closes his eyes, happy.
he must fall asleep at some point, because when he next feels like he's actually present, there's a different song playing — honey, by kehlani — and there's someone else there. taehyung can hear footsteps, the distinct sweeping sound of a broom, and a deep humming voice. his eyes flutter open slowly, sunlight making him wince, and he looks around for the source of the sound, glassy eyes fogged up from sleep.
there's a boy beside the swimming pool, a huge broom — not as tall as he is, though — in his hands, moving old crunchy leaves out of the way and into a corner. sweat beads on his forehead and rests in the crooks of his collarbones like dew on rosebuds, and his hair is tied back by a black bandana, almost indistinguishable from the soft looking raven locks, identical to taehyung's. taehyung hopes the boy hasn't noticed him awakening, because he's staring a bit too hard for it to be polite. he can't help but feel caught up in the boys long frame that moves slowly, like a dancer, clad in tatted jeans. they're ripped from being worn, and hang lowly on his hips, accompanied by a shirt that looks like something the farmers wear out in hot fields — must smell of dirt and sweat, taehyung thinks —, red and black and sleeves rolled up.
but enough about small details. taehyung's eyes skim up to his face, taking in the boy — who, come to think of it, is probably who flora mentioned earlier — with skin like a clay sculpture, sun kissed and pimpled, natural. his eyes are grey-ish brown, like a child of athena, and his chapped lips glisten with some sort of gloss. he's quite handsome, taehyung thinks, sort of rugged, with a few cuts around his chin from shaving, freckles and pimples spotted around, and there's a sort of lovely vibe from him, as he hums along to the song and sweeps in time to the rhythm.
taehyung stays silent, watching him, maybe just a little creepily, but when the song switched to his favourite lo-fi, i'm in love with u, sorry, by j'san, he felt like he should say something. he pretends like he just woke up, exaggeratedly yawning and rubbing at his eyes. the other looked up, eyes like galaxies.
"oh, hello," taehyung spoke in korean, kinda caught up in sparkly slanted eyes and plush lips. the sweeping boy smiled very softly, the broom pausing.
"hi, mr. kim," he says. taehyung resisted the urge to roll his eyes; his father is mr. kim, not him, and he hates being called anything other than his name. "i'm kim namjoon, the new housekeeper."
"call me taehyung, please," taehyung's voice is still very sleepy, rough, but it contrasts with his feminine look. "flora told me you'd be coming today," a smile from both. "oof, i must've fallen asleep. it's too peaceful here, i swear — anyway. how are you?"
namjoon blinks, like he's not used to that question. "um, i'm well, i suppose. this is my first time having a stable job, but it's weird, i guess, as this place is really expensive."
"not used to it?" taehyung says, and namjoon nods. the younger smiles a little, standing up to stretch his arms and then sitting by the poolside, one foot dangling above the water. "you'll get used to it here," taehyung says distractedly, his fingers dipping into the water. "god knows i did."
"it's a lovely place," namjoon shrugs, continuing his sweeping, the dry scrape of the broom on slate a nice accompaniment to the music. taehyung hums. "i suppose you're here every summer?"
"last year i was in morocco, briefly, and japan for two months," taehyung says without thinking, aware of how snobbish and rich he sounds, and he wants to take it back immediately. "but yeah. since i was little."
"new generation of foreign locals," namjoon comments, placing the broom down and sticking his hands in his pockets. "well, i've got to tend to the gardens."
"one second, what time is it?" taehyung asks, as he doesn't know how long he was asleep for. namjoon checks the wristwatch he's wearing.
"it's eleven forty two."
taehyung smiles, putting his feet into the water. "you can take a break, namjoon. i'm gonna swim, and then i'll make some lunch." taehyung strips off his top as he speaks, hair ruffled slightly and the light reflecting off the swimming pool onto his face in patterns. taehyung can feel namjoon's eyes on him as he drops into the pool, a relaxed sigh leaving his lips as his body is engulfed in turquoise, a calm feeling washing over him.
"oh— okay," namjoon seems hesitant in his response, standing there semi-awkwardly, while taehyung ducks his head underwater, emerging with a pleased groan at how cool the water is. namjoon stares down at his feet, and taehyung almost rolls his eyes.
"you can sit down, relax. seriously — i'm not gonna force you to work," taehyung says calmly, watching the farm boy's expression, his feet kicking as he stayed afloat. "s'not like the place actually needs much tending to."
namjoon shrugs, and sits on the bench where taehyung had fallen asleep, still not fully relaxed. taehyung decided to just let him be, and dives underwater, swimming to the deep end with a smile on his face when he resurfaces. leaning against the pool wall, elbows keeping him up on the edge, he watches namjoon, who is staring at his fingers like they hold the secret to the universe, looking anywhere but the sunkissed boy.
taehyung floats on his back to the middle of the pool, arms spread and still, eyes closed and breathing through his nose. "namjoon," he says quietly, and the boy looks up, even if tae can't see him. "what do you like to eat?" he asks, because maybe he wants to cook the farm boy something nice for lunch. taehyung's always taken really easily to strangers, namjoon is no different, and the tanned boy really wants to get along well with the boy that'll be housekeeping for the next three months.
namjoon's bites his lip and shrugs. "um... my mum's cooking, not gonna lie..."
"what does she make?" taehyung — whose never had the privilege of a mother's cooking — asks, curious, and namjoon smiles a little.
"this amazing gnocchi dish with pasta sauce and sundried tomatoes, that's her speciality. i know the recipe by heart," namjoon's voice is soft, fond. "i could help you with it?"
"of course," taehyung smiles, climbing out of the pool and letting water drip off him. "let's go!"
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180718
yes i know this is pure shit but there will be a part two and i just wanted to publish something. i have some smut in the works, wink wonk, and if you're into other bands, i've got another oneshot book for all my others groups, i like you!
thank you so fucking much for 9K!!! i wanna do something for 10K... i dunno. but i can't believe this got so many reads!! i love you all sosososo much i'm cryin
💞💕💕💞💕💞☀💕💞☀💘💟💞
– jace