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To be honest, Cassandra hadn't been a too cautious person in her life. She got suspicious and didn't trust easily. However, when it came to emotional stuff she tended to be inattentive. Not that she easily trusted people, but she wasn't really cautious either. Having led to her getting her heart -or rather ego- broken more than once.
She knew Taehyung by now, but she was still confused. After all, she had only got to know him properly not long ago and before that, all she had known about him was that he was social and good in photography. And that was it.
Was she letting him get too close? Now that she thought about it, perhaps.
She had opened up about her interests, she had let him know about her wishes, she had trusted him to drive her around and she had shown him her attic.
She had pretty much already given away a tiny part of herself to him. A tiny, yet still relevant and important one.
However, he had opened up to her as well. Didn't he? He opened up about his own interests, he had let her listen to his music, he had told her about himself, he had shown her his little lake and that beautiful port village. He had trusted her to keep his little astronomical secret. So hadn't he given her a tiny part of himself, too?
She believed so. And that was why she did trust him.
But even so, she wanted to have a little bit of time for herself. She needed to think. After all, she had pretty much seen him every day these past days. Whether during lunch or when their classes ended at the same time and he had taken her home. It wasn't much, as both spent their afternoons with homework and studying for the upcoming exams in the next weeks. It was enough though to make him occupy almost each of her thoughts.
Cassandra sighed. Looking up at the clear sky when leaving the college building that Friday afternoon. Classes were officially over. Two more weeks and her holidays finally started.
Putting on her headphones, she pressed play on her playlist. It consisted of all kinds of favourite tracks of hers, from the 50s to nowadays. She wasn't picky. If it sounded good, she liked it. Besides, that playlist always cheered her up and she needed that right now.
The wind was tangling her curls as she walked down the street. Her slightly boping her head along with the music, when suddenly feeling a pair of hands grabbing her shoulders and turning her around. She flinched, not expecting it. Only to find Taehyung's face in front of hers. He was frowning, staring at her for a second. She watched his lips moving, not understanding a word. He stared at her again, eventually breaking into a smile. Causing her to smile as well, confused.
He grabbed the wire of her headphones then, pulling it lightly to take them off her ears. "No wonder that you didn't hear me," he chuckled, "Damn, this is so loud!"
Cassandra laughed. She had told herself she needed to stay away from him for a bit, but now that he was there, she was happy about it. "Sorry," she giggled, pausing the music, "What did you want?"
His brows furrowed, him tilting his head. "What do you mean? I'm taking you home," he said, matter-of-factly.
She had him in front of her, with that huge t-shirt, looking so warm. All she could think of was getting on his car and listen to their music with him together. She contemplated again though. There was no way she could make up her mind and think of anything else other than him, if she let him take her home. "I don't think it'd be a good idea for me getting on a car right now," she started, being a good liar herself after all, "I didn't feel that well a few hours ago. I don't want to become car sick."
"Oh." He seemed concerned. "And how are you getting home?"
"The way I always got home before meeting you. I'll walk."
He remainned silent for awhile. Nodding then. "You think you'll feel better this afternoon?"
She shrugged. "I guess I will. It's not like I'm sick or anything."
Her reply making him visibly content as a smile tucked on his lips. "Good. Because I wanted to ask you if you could give me another astronomy lesson today. It's been a while.."
She smiled back. Yes, she said she needed a little time to think, but the afternoon would be enough for doing so. Besides, she could never say no to astronomy. And the fact he had come all by himself and asked her for that only excited her more. "Sure. What time?"
He thought for a moment. "Would 8 o'clock be okay? 'Cause me, Jimin and Hobi are going to the mall later."
She nodded.
"Good, see you then."
"Can't wait."
Taehyung grinned. "Me neither."
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Taehyung walked up to her front porch at exactly 8:01 pm. Ringing the door bell and waiting for Cassandra to open.
"Hey," the girl yawned. Quickly covering her mouth with the palm of her hand. She was wearing a huge t-shirt, as always. Her hair up in a messy ponytail. She looked warm and cozy.
"Did I wake you up?" he smiled. By the look on her face and how it seemed she wasn't able to properly open an eye, he assumed he was right.
"N-no. I was watching some tv and my eyes felt heavy all of a sudden. That's all." She rubbed her eyes, stepping aside. "Come in."
Taehyung entered and followed her up to the attic. Like he had done many times before. They sat down on her matress then. Cassandra picking up the familiar silver book from the small nightstand. "What do you want to talk about today?" she asked with a smile.
Taehyung's eyes rested on her profile as she was browsing through the pages. There were many things he would like to do rather than talking. Shaking his head then, he let out a shaky breath. Looking up at the glass roof and the orangy coloured sky. "It's probably written in the book, but I couldn't find it," he began, making her perk up. "What?" "Is there a southern pole star? Like Polaris, but pointing at the South Pole?"
His question astonished her a little. "Yeah, there is," she said then, "It's called 'Polaris Australis'. It has a small magnitude though, so it's barely visible with the naked eye. Making it quite useless for navigational purposes, contrary to Polaris. So the constellation 'Crux' is often preferred for determining the position of the South Celestial Pole."
He hummed, slowly laying down on his back. Folding his hands behind his head. His eyes still focusing on the darker becoming sky above them. "I didn't know that." He breafly looked at her with a grin, redirecting his gaze back to the sky.
"You know now.. Anything else you wanna know about?"
"You really do know everything about astronomy, don't you?"
Letting out a dry laugh, she shook her head. "No, not really. Maybe more than the average person. But only because my grandpa has been giving me lectures since I was a kid."
"Your grandpa the astrophysicist?"
She smiled. "You remember."
"Of course I do."
She pursed her lips, her eyes leaving the book and instead laid on him. "So, what else do you wanna know about?" He was silently observing the sky, when a smile spreading over his features. "Tell me more about supernovas."
"It's supernovae," she corrected. She couldn't prevent herself from smiling fondly at his expression.
"Supernovae then," he grinned.
And they kept on talking. Well, it was mainly her doing the talking and him simply listening carefully to her every word. Occasionally peeking at her, watching her every move in the dimmer becoming sun light. Her hands, her hair, her lips. He liked staring at her.
"Cassandra?"
She hummed at the interruption.
"Would you mind if I kissed you right now?"
Biting down on her bottom lip, she shyly looked down to her hands for a moment. Her gaze slowly wondering up, her eyes meeting his. It was intense. So intense, it gave him goosebumps.
"I'll take that as a 'no'," he whispered. One of his big hands cupping her cheek and she couldn't help but lean into him. Resting her hand on his chest when connecting their lips. And they started to move gently against each other. Soon his other hand found its way to the back of her neck. Getting buried in her curls. Their breaths catching up as they deepened the kiss. And Taehyung could feel her hand clutching the fabric of his shirt.
It felt as stars were dancing on their skin all over again. Like in their kisses before or all the other times they just spent time together. Only intenser.
They pulled away for a second, trying to catch their breaths. He looked for her lips then, not wanting to wait any longer to sense them again, when her hand on his chest stopped him.
"Tae?" He was still trying to find his way back to her lips. She sighed, gathering courage. It felt like the right moment to tell him. Tell him that she liked him as well. However, she was still insecure regarding some things. Men seemed unpredictable when it came to her. One minute they liked her, next they didn't. And she had to be sure she wasn't doing the same mistake again. "W-what's this?"
"What's what?"
"This. What we keep doing. I mean.. what.. what are we?" Her voice delicate, not above a whisper. Anxiously waiting for his answer.
Taehyung felt himself panicking, his mind going blank. He knew he wanted to be around her. And he knew he had been losing his mind over her this past month. Funny enough, tomorrow it would be exactly one month since their encounter in the book shop. However, he didn't know what she wanted to hear. And if he did, he didn't know if he could give it to her.
"W-we're friends?" he blurted out then, not thinking much. He was just desperate to kiss her and she only kept talking and he kept thinking and they both kept on wasting time.
For a moment, the look on her face changed. She looked away. "Oh, okay," she whispered. A faint smile on her lips. It was a sweet smile, she didn't seem to be mad.
Taehyung heaved his head then, slowly leaning in again. Waiting for Cassandra's permission, but her hand pressed his chest down. Her pulling away instead. "It's kinda late." She got up, starting walking towards the stairs. Confused, he slowly stood up himself. Getting her hint, he walked up to her and tried to kiss her again. She turned her face away, though. He didn't protest and instead placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
"Bye, Cassandra," he whispered. Watching her giving him a small smile.
"See you, Taehyung."
He nodded and walked downstairs, all by himself. He left then, closing the door behind him. Making his way back to his own house. The sun not having completely set yet. The sky being in shades of blue. The first stars appearing. Reminding him of the stars he had felt only minutes ago.
With a dragged sigh, he opened his entrance door. Coming across Jin and Jungkook, who were on their way to the living room with a bunch of snacks in their arms.
"What are you doing here so early? I thought you'd be at Cassandra's?"
"Yeah, ditching us for your girlfriend," Jungkook teased. The two passing by then, leaving him standing alone in the hallway. The younger's joking remark making Taeyhung's eyes grow wide then. It finally hit him.
"What the hell have I just done?"
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