"Intimacy transcends the physical. It is a feeling of closeness that isn't about proximity, but of belonging."
The next morning, I was abruptly brought back to the real life by the erratic buzzing of my phone.
I yawned, stretching out. I opened my eyes and greeted the sunshine as my heart and lungs expand. I smiled, feeling blessed for a new day, and welcomed it happily.
Stop, stop. Rewind. I'm just kidding. No one wakes up this way.
Instead of raising from heavy slumber, I simply pushed my annoying phone away from me and shoved my head back into the pillow. Now that was the beauty of being the devil's daughter, you didn't have to go to work. Or rather, not in a conventional, wake-up-at-6am kind of way.
Which was why it seemed weird that my alarm had been set for this morning. Oh well, it would stop buzzing in a second, I thought as I soaked in the warmth of my covers.
But that second passed. And then another one after that, and another one, and the damn piece of technology still wouldn't shut the fuck up.
Grunting, I uncovered my face and sat up on my elbows. I dragged my feet off the bed and shuffled to the bathroom. Meanwhile, my phone finally stopped vibrating, probably having realized that it would meet its doom soon if it didn't stop.
But then the harsh ringing of the doorbell echoed in my apartment ad I dragged my feet to the door. I pressed the button on the intercom and the screen lit up, revealing a rather nervous looking Taehyung.
"Taehyung." I mumbled gruffly, rubbing away the remnants of my sleep.
"Hi." Came his voice, his eyes darting before fixating on the small camera. "Were you asleep?"
I scoffed.
"No, I was just practicing my death."
He looked a little bemused, uncomfortable even. For a moment, he just kept staring at the camera. I wasn't saying anything on purpose, still upset about last night when he rejected me.
"Do you want to go and have breakfast together?" he asked. "I have my day off."
My stomach growled hungrily, leaving me no choice. Without a second thought, I made a decision.
"I'll be down in five." I said, removing my finger from the button.
A quick shower later, I was already taking the stairs down the building's exit. I yanked the door open and my gaze cast over Taehyung with his back leaned against his car, one foot in front of the other. The morning breeze ruffled his jet black hair slightly, the lustrous texture flowing gracefully.
When he noticed me, he turned to greet me, and his full lips stretched into that same damn rectangular smile that made me weak at my knees.
Oh no, please don't give me that. Not that smile.
My stone cold devil heart is melting right now.
Grab a hold of yourself, Faye. He's just another human male like the rest of them.
But how can someone be so good-looking?
Great genes, basically.
Who looks so amazing in the morning?
He and probably half of the population of the Earth, you idiot. Stop fangirling!
But he's just... one of a kind!
No he's not, shut up!
Ah, fuck, he's coming towards me. Act nonchalant, act nonchalant!
Before I could put an end to my inner dialogue, Taehyung was already standing right in front of me.
"Sup." I mumbled in the spur of the moment, attempting to sound as bored as humanly possible, but instead I just sounded like I had a really bad cold.
Taehyung was visibly abashed, seemingly not knowing where to put his hands. It looked like he was debating internally on whether to hug me or shake my hand, so in the end, he just patted me on the back awkwardly.
Yikes. Such a smooth womanizer.
"I'm sorry I woke you up." he apologized, probably intimidated by how grumpy I looked. Little did he know, that was just my usual morning face.
"Whatever," I shrugged. "Let's hope you have a really good plan in mind, or else I'm gonna unleash Hell on you."
He chuckled softly, rubbing the nape of his neck.
"I'm not kidding." I shot him a serious look. Terrible pun aside, I really wasn't.
"There's this really cute place a couple of blocks away from here, we can grab breakfast there," he offered, tilting his head to the side and giving me the most heart-melting puppy eyes I had ever seen.
Without saying anything, I merely nodded and stomped past him towards the Ferrari, leaving him to scramble after me. I didn't even wait for him to open the door for me and instead just climbed right in.
It wasn't long before Taehyung pulled over in front of a sweet little bakery. The ride was very brief, so we didn't really talk, as I focused my attention on looking out through the window.
Taehyung seemed to pick up on my attitude very easily, as it obviously bothered him. Which was, you know, great; because bothering him was exactly what I wanted to do. We grabbed two cups of coffee, a croissant and a muffin which Taehyung didn't let me pay for, and looked around for a table.
"How come you're not at the hospital today?" I asked casually once we sat down on one of the tables. Instead of taking the chair next to him, I installed myself on the seat across from his.
"It's my day off," he explained, peering at me over his cup of coffee. Please stop looking at me like that, I'm gonna be soft. "And you? You don't have any appointments today?"
"What fucking appointments?" I made a grimace before freezing. Ugh, I completely forgot Taehyung was under the impression that I was a psychotherapist. Shit. "Oh yeah, no, I don't work on Saturdays and Sundays." I explained, a tight smile plastered over my face. Crap, I almost blew it. Let's hope he buys it.
"Right," he nodded, a little bit bemused. "Well, that's awesome. So, I was thinking we could spend our days off together."
"Together?" I repeated, my face creasing in disbelief. A whole day together? Wasn't this, like, a thing that couples who are dating do? "Hm, yeah, okay. Sure." I continued chewing on my muffin absently.
"I mean, if you have any other plans, that's okay. We don't need to do that."
"No, I don't."
For a moment, Taehyung just stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he placed his cup of coffee on the table and leaned in.
"I may be way off, Faye, but I feel like there's some tension between the two of us." He stated.
"Tension? What tension?" I asked incredulously, taking another giant bite of my muffin. Taehyung stared at my hand, probably wondering how the hell could I continue eating while he had addressed such a serious issue. I have a healthy appetite, okay? Deal with it.
"I don't know, you're behaving differently," he confided, looking concerned. "On our dates, you were being so sweet, and it seems to me like something's changed. Is there something wrong?"
Yeah, well, you rejected me, you jackass.
"Oh, nothing's wrong." I shrugged, taking a sip of my coffee.
"Was it something I did?" he continued interrogating. As flattering as it was how much he wanted to make things right, I'd never admit to feeling insecure in front of a man.
"Nope."
"See, I don't believe you," he leaned in even more. "Is this because I refused to come up last night? Faye-"
"Taehyung, stop," I raised a hand next to my face to shut him up. It was humiliating to talk about this and I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of witnessing me in a vulnerable state. "There's no need to talk about this. You didn't want to, that's okay. End of story."
"No!" he exclaimed softly. "Faye, you got it all wrong. It wasn't that I didn't want it – believe me, I did. I wanted it so bad," he let out a sharp exhale and his shoulders slightly stiffened. "But I just..." he trailed off, apparently struggling to pick his words.
I decided to spare him the trouble.
"Let's just drop the subject."
"No, just let me explain," he insisted, coffee brown orbs glistening with sincerity. "I just... I'm so fed up with casual sex."
"Oh, because you've had too much casual sex?" I cocked a brow. "Show-off."
"I didn't mean it to sound like that!" he panicked. "I'm saving myself."
"You're a virgin?" I dropped my muffin in shock.
"No," Taehyung shook his head. "No, I'm not. I meant it as in the next time I have sex, I want it to be meaningful and with someone I can just... connect with. Someone I can trust."
"Oh."
"You see, I'm just very careful about who I let in my space. I want the next time I have sex to be with a woman I have feelings for."
"Oh." Was all I mustered, again. Did this mean that Taehyung was... developing feelings for me?
"I just think that way the experience is better." he went on. "More intimate."
"Mhm." I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Damn it, what kind of man talks like that?
A sweet one.
Shut up, Faye.
"That's why I didn't want to come up last night," Taehyung placed a hand over mine. "I don't want to ruin what we have with meaningless sex."
"Well... okay," I mumbled once I realized he was staring at me, expecting me to say something. "I understand, but Taehyung, you coming to my place doesn't necessarily mean that we're having sex."
"Oh, trust me," he husked. "Faye, I wasn't going to be able to keep it in my pants if we ever ended up alone in your bedroom."
"What? Fuck-" I choked up on my coffee, almost spilling all of the hot liquid on my shirt.
Frantically, I reached out for a tissue to wipe the little droplets that had escaped the cup and had landed on my shirt. I started aggressively rubbing just above my chest, desperate to remove the stain.
"Faye..." Taehyung's faint voice took my attention from my battle with the stain.
"Yes?" I looked up over at him.
"You have-" he stiffened up, his voice strained. All the color left his face. Then he reached out a hand and brushed it over my upper lip gently. "You had some whip cream... on your mouth." He swallowed hard as his gaze dropped to my neckline.
"Oh, thank you." I said in a breathy voice.
"And please, please, for heaven's sake, don't ever do that again in front of me or I won't be able to control myself." He begged, staring at my chest where the coffee stain remained. I forgot he was a boobs guy.
His other hand was clutching on the edge of the table as the other dropped to his lap, squeezing his thigh. He dug his teeth in his lower lip.
"Sorry." I tried to stifle the giggle that worked its way up my throat.
A low growl rumbled from his chest and I had to clench my thighs together to suffocate the feeling building up between my legs. His brows pulled together and I heaved a long sigh; for the love of God, not the brow furrowing. That thing is so incredibly sexy I can't even explain with words the effect it has on me.
We stared at each other for some seconds as the air around us filled with tension. Dear Lord, I really hope Taehyung isn't saving himself for marriage, because I won't be able to wait this long.
"Uh..." he interrupted the faint daze my brain had decided to swim in as his gaze drifted somewhere behind me. "Faye, why is that guy staring at you like that?"
Even before I could turn around, I had a general idea of who could that be. It was one of two guys.
I turned. It was the lighter one.
I fought back the urge to literally combust in flames as I watched Jimin walk stiffly from the door, his limbs moving as if someone who was totally inexperienced with walking was controlling them from afar. He was dressed in a striped short-sleeved button-up shirt tucked into a pair of beige khakis. His brown belt matched his brown hiking shoes and his long green socks stretched all the way up his ankles.
It was too late to hide or run as he was headed right towards us.
"Hello, Faye." He said once he approached our table. Why does his voice sound like fucking Google Translate?
I shot him a deathly glare.
"Faye, do you know him?" Taehyung asked with a frown, obviously confused as to what was going on.
"Yes." at least his voice managed to snap me out of mentally cursing Jimin in every language there was. "This is Jimin, he's my... uh... cousin."
It was still close to the truth.
"Hello." Jimin said politely.
"Hi, buddy." Taehyung still eyed him weirdly but took his handshake. "Will you join us for breakfast?"
"Yes." Jimin said.
"No." I said at the same time.
"It's okay, Faye," Taehyung gave me a reassuring look. "I'll go grab another cup of coffee for your cousin." He stood up and made his way to the bar.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" I hissed once he was at a safe distance, glaring at Jimin. "And why are you dressed like someone's grandpa?"
"Isn't this how the youths dress these days?" he was abashed, staring down his attire.
"The fact that you're calling them youths is enough proof that you're not from this generation." I scowled.
He got offended. "Hey, I got swag." He stated before raising his hand next to his face and doing the peace sign. In the process of doing so, he managed to poke his left eye. "Ouch."
"How did you even find me?" I whisper-yelled.
"My sources wish to remain anonymous." He said flatly.
"Bullshit! There's only one obnoxious demon that keeps tabs on me, and we both know who that is!" I accused, my irritability flaring at the thought of Yoongi. "Are you two, like, teaming up together now?"
"Yoongi and I are friends with benefits." Jimin declared confidently.
"Jesus Christ," I pressed hand over my mouth, my eyes so wide they were about to jump out of their sockets. "Do you even know what this means?"
"Doesn't it mean that we're two individuals who've developed a relationship that is beneficial to both of us, as in we're both looking out for you and are willing to share information regarding you and you well-being?" he knit his brows together.
"No, it means something completely different," I cringed. "Don't ever say that in front of anyone else ever again."
"Why not?"
"It doesn't matter! Now scram before I flip a table!"
"No." Jimin refused. "I want to get to know Taehyung."
Speak of the devil, Taehyung was just back with another cup of coffee for Jimin.
"So, Faye's cousin," he crossed one leg over the other. "Tell me all of the embarrassing childhood stories you have of her."
"Oh," a smile that was anything but angelic painted over Jimin's lips. "There's a lot of those."