AMIN
He's not in his office.
"Did you see Mr. Kim anywhere?" I ask, stopping the first person I meet. He shakes his head, and I breathe out in frustration.
Come on, Tae. Please.
The fifth person I ask tells me he'd gone towards the upper levels.
And the seventh tells me she'd seen him go up the stairs to the company rooftop.
The rooftop.
And the worry turns to terror.
What in the hell are you trying to pull, Kim Taehyung.
My face is paler than snow by the time I shove the door open to the roof, the highest point of the company. I'd ditched my heels by the base of the stairs, just because they were dragging me down.
And he really is there.
"Tae!"
My grip is rougher than I'd meant it when I turn him around.
I growl.
"What are you doing up here?"
But his eyes are fixed down.
"You're barefoot."
"I know. Do you understand how scared I was when I heard you were up here? What were you thinking?"
I press my palm harder into his chest.
"Answer."
He grips my wrist, forcing my hand from his body.
"Noona, calm down. Please."
Calm down.
"Calm down?" I repeat, my voice sounding strange to my own ears. "You're fucking unbelievable."
He flinches when I jerk my wrist from
his hand.
"I'm not doing this anymore. Not with you."
And I knew, that he knew. He knew how much of a trauma it had left me when he'd nearly died that day, fifteen years ago.
I was more afraid of anything happening to him than myself dying, and what was he doing?
Playing with me by coming up here?
"I'm done."
"No, you're not." He whispers, pulling me back. "You're not going anywhere."
And I just get ready to shake him away, when he doesn't let me.
This is the first time I feel his strength.
Taehyung forces me back into his chest, his hand pressing my head into his body.
And I can't do anything.
"You're not leaving me again." He breathes. "You're not done until I say so."
I murmur into the front of his shirt.
"Then tell me why you were up here in the first place."
He relaxes his grip on me a little. And I feel his hand start to run through my hair, smoothing down the mess there from running.
"I actually come up here a lot, to calm down when I get angry."
He hesitates.
"You affect me so much, Noona. It just made me so....furious when you told me to forget. I thought maybe you didn't think it was as important as I'd thought it was."
He bites his lip.
"I know it's stupid."
"Hey."
And the moment he shifts his eyes to mine, I tug him forward and kiss him.
It isn't stupid.
His shocked eyes soften.
And when he kisses me back, I know that somehow, he'd made himself the most important person in my life without even knowing it.
__________________________
"I can order."
"You sure?" I say casually, and he frowns. Then he bursts out of his chair without another word, heading for the register.
I laugh under my breath.
But my smile fades away the moment I notice the woman eyeing Taehyung, who's staring thoughtfully at the menu board.
"Anything I can get for you?"
My expression darkens.
And when I see her fingering a slip of paper behind the cash register, I stand from the table and walk straight over to him.
"Yeah, actually. Can I get a white chocolate mocha? And a, uh..."
"An americano." I say, giving her a cold smile as Taehyung looks down at me in surprise.
"Thank you. Come on, Tae."
Her hand slowly falls back down, still holding the paper with her number written on.
I blow out a breath.
Maybe I was too rude just now.
"Noona, I'm twenty two." Taehyung says when we get back. "I'm not seven anymore."
"I know. It wasn't about that."
His brows furrow. "Then why—"
"Hush." I say, not wanting to let him know.
"Didn't you want to talk to me about something? Why'd you call me here?"
"Oh yeah!"
His face suddenly brightens a little.
"Will you come to the party with me tonight?"
Party?
My face instantly turns into a wince.
"What party?"
"I wouldn't go either if I wasn't required to." He says, sipping at his drink. "But all the other CEOs are going to be there, and I want you to come."
So it was a fancy gathering for the elites.
I taste the coffee. "Don't you have Jungkook to keep you company?"
"Yeah, but he can't really do that 'cause of his job."
Then Taehyung suddenly blinks. A look of hurt crosses his features.
"You don't want to go with me?"
"I'm going because of you." I correct him, and he smiles, tilting his head a little.
"Thanks, Noona."
A party. Even if it was the last place I wanted to be, I'd choose that over leaving Taehyung by himself. I didn't like it when he wasn't in my sight.
"It's at seven." He says, checking his wrist.
"I'll pick you up, okay?"
__________________________
He'd gotten me a dress.
And I'm nervous, for the first time in my life. It's a beautiful dress, but it was something I'd never thought I'd be wearing.
"Don't be scared." He laughs when he sees me tugging at the neckline. It plunged low— not lower than most of the women's dresses here, but still low.
I shoot him a look when he doesn't stop laughing.
"Noona, you look like a stunning kitten."
Taehyung kisses me on the back of my hand, his eyes sparkling a little when he looks up.
"Or a sexy one."
I growl.
"I'm going to turn right around if you don't stop the giggling, Kim Taehyung."
He blinks innocently.
"Okay."
The inside of the massive room is full of people, talking and socializing. And from some of the women I'm seeing, I realize what Taehyung had bought me was modest compared to them.
I hadn't expected so much people.
"Stay close to me." Taehyung says, pressing me to his side. "You look really lost."
"No."
"Yes." He laughs, fixing my earring. "Do you know everyone's looking at you, Noona? You have no idea how gorgeous you look."
He kisses the curve of my ear.
"Too bad they don't know you're already mine."
And my cheeks blush the slightest red.
"Mr. Kim."
Jungkook. He raises an eyebrow at his friend when Taehyung lets go of me in a flash, and motions at someone in the crowd.
"Mr. Lee wants to talk to you, apparently. Something about the business deals."
"What?"
Taehyung frowns. "Tell him to come and talk to me. Noona's here, I can't leave her."
And I catch on.
Look at this boy, using me as an excuse.
"Tae, go talk to him." I say, pushing him forward. "Mr. Lee's one of our largest business partners."
"I don't want—"
But at the stare that both me and Jungkook give him, he sighs. Then he walks heavily over to the man, who's waiting for him with a smile.
I turn to Jungkook.
"How's Shilla?"
"Min Shilla?" He blinks. "How do you know her?"
"She's my friend."
But then I notice his eyes are elsewhere. And when I follow his gaze, it's fixed on the very person we're talking about.
I try not to laugh when I see her looking around, tugging at the sleeves of her suit.
She always seemed like a lost lamb.
"My apologies, Miss Amin." Jungkook cuts me off. "I need to get to her before she does something she isn't supposed to do."
With a stiff bow, he leaves.
And I can't hold down the smile I've been pressing back all this time.
He cared for her more than she knew.
After watching them for a few seconds, I turn back to one of the balcony doors.
It looked like Taehyung was going to be talking for a while, and I preferred to be alone than to be around so much people.
And I'm right.
The air is cooler outside, and I take a light breath. The door swings shut behind me, and I'm about to go towards the balcony when I realize someone is already there.
It's him.
The young CEO, of BHM.
Dammit.