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We fell asleep.
I don’t remember when, or how, but the next time I open my eyes, the light is darker, and the movie is over.
However, we’re not alone.
“Aria! Where are you?”
Eomma.
I stiffen, craning my neck to glance at the sleeping boy who leans against me. He breathes deeply, not moving a muscle, but before I can even detach myself from him, I hear footsteps enter the living room.
“Aria!”
I jump, disturbing Taehyung, who moans, slowly blinking his eyes. We both turn to face my mother, who has a hand over her mouth, the other carrying a bag of takeaway food.
“Eomma! This isn’t what it -“
Oh, who am I kidding? It’s exactly what it looks like.
We’re huddled together under a single blanket, my head on his shoulder and his arm around mine, sleepy-eyed and bemused. But as soon as we realize where we are, we spring apart, the blanket tumbling unceremoniously onto the floor.
“What are you doing? Who’s that?” my mum launches into full-on mum mode, while I try to put as much space as possible between him and I.
“Hello! I’m Taehyung,” Taehyung greets my mum with a bow and a bright innocent smile, and I see her expression visibly soften as she looks at him properly for the first time.
“Ah, of course, hello Taehyung, nice to finally meet you,” her gaze slides to mine with a subtle eyebrow raise, and I can guess exactly what she’s thinking. But of course, I don’t have to guess, because she then speaks it out loud.
“Aria, how can you keep such a handsome boy all to yourself and not introduce him to your mother sooner, huh?”
I want to die.
“Eomma,” I mutter through gritted teeth, but she isn’t finished torturing me yet.
“I’m so sorry for my daughter’s bad manners, Taehyung. As you probably know, she is not good with people,” she apologizes to Taehyung, who has the nerve to laugh.
“It’s okay, Aria’s mum,” Taehyung chuckles, but my mum shakes her head.
“No, no, please, call me Eomeoni,“ she insists, before gesturing to the bag of what smells like Chinese takeaway. “Are you hungry, Taehyung?“
Please say no, please say –
“Oh, yes, Aria’s – I mean, Eomeoni,” he nods eagerly. “I’m very hungry.”
My mother has the audacity to gasp. “Really? Oh, poor boy. Aria, why didn’t you feed him? He’s a guest in our house and you didn’t give him food?“
I’m about to respond, but Taehyung speaks first.
“Oh, no, Eomeoni, don’t worry, I ate, but the reason I came here is to take care of Aria, who is very sick,” he explains, and my mother’s eyes widen.
“You’re sick?” She immediately clamps a palm over my forehead, pulling away with a gasp. “Oh, my, you are hot!”
“I’m okay now, but I was worse before,” I tell her.
“Worse? Oh my, I can’t believe this. Aria, why didn’t you call me instead of making this poor boy come here and risk his own health for you?” she scolds me.
Suddenly I wish she were drunk, like, just a teensy bit tipsy, because at least she would be less interrogative, grilling me like a damn chicken. But then again, it would also be much worse.
“No, Eomeoni, it’s not like that, I came myself,” Taehyung clarifies with a wave of his hand. “Aria didn’t know I was coming.”
“So, you really came all this way just to take care of her? Wow,” my mum raises her eyebrows, seemingly impressed. She then turns to me. “Aria, marry him right now.“
“Eomma!” I burst, rising to my feet. I almost fall over from the sudden movement as my vision fizzes with static, and I swear I feel a hand on my forearm, gently steadying me, but I am too swept up in my cloud of anger to acknowledge this small thoughtful gesture. “Please stop!”
“Stop what, Do Ah Ri?” my mother smiles innocently at me, saying my full Korean name with a challenging glint in her eyes.
“You know what,” I hiss, and my mother just laughs.
“I’m joking, silly, don’t worry, you two,” she giggles as if she’s the most hilarious person, and I can hear Taehyung force a laugh.
I scowl.
“I’m sorry, I’ll go prepare the food in the kitchen, so we can all eat together, okay?”
And then she leaves me alone with the boy she just jokingly told me to marry right now.
“Your mother seems nice,” Taehyung chuckles out. I turn to him with a glare, only to have it softened by the touch of his hand as he drags me back down onto the couch with him.
“She loves to embarrass me,” I sigh, glancing at the way his large hand engulfed my smaller one.
“My mother is worse, don’t worry,” he assures me, but it just heightens my anxiety. Do I have to meet his mother too?
Suddenly, it feels as if things have shifted into sixth gear. Too fast. This is all too fast.
Yet how come time slows down whenever I look into his eyes? Or whenever he smiles at me until those eyes crease into two perfectly carved crescents, or whenever he draws me into his arms so that I can hear his heartbeat, the source of all his love for this world?
How come he makes me think all these thoughts that until now only seemed like the stuff of fruitless daydreams?
Because he’s Kim Taehyung. That’s why.
“Aria, are you okay?” he asks me slowly, deeply, carefully. I nod out of habit.
“You don’t look okay,” he tells me.
I shrug.
“Are you really okay?”
I hesitate. He licks his lips.
“Aria, I really want to kiss you again.”
His words create all sorts of chaos in my nervous system, especially when he begins to lean in. I shut my eyes in anticipation. His breath fans my cheek. I feel my pulse quicken and then –
“Aria! Taehyung! Come eat!”
“Okay!” I yell back, turning my head. Taehyung ends up kissing my cheek, swiftly and cheekily.
“Let’s go!” he is the one to drag me up, never letting go of my hand. As soon as we enter the kitchen slash dining area, the aroma of deliciously fried rice and steaming pork dumplings permeates our senses, causing us to break apart and attend to the desperate calls of our empty stomachs.
“You two must be close, huh?” my mother watches us from the other side of the table as we eat incessantly and excessively.
“Not really,” I say while Taehyung, who just stuffed an entire dumpling in his mouth, replies with, “Of course!”
My mother nods, scrutinizing us, but mostly me. According to her eyes, I am eating too fast, and that isn’t what a proper lady should do, especially in front of a handsome guy.
You can tell a lot about what someone’s thinking from their eyes.
Or maybe my mother and I are just that close.
“Thank you so much, Eomeoni! I ate well!” Taehyung is the first to finish his serving, while I am starting to feel a little…full.
“I am very glad, Taehyung, and please, come over more! I’d love to see more of you around here, this house really lacks the scent of a man.”
I choke.
“Careful, Aria!” Taehyung slaps my back, something he’s done on many occasions whenever we ate lunch together. Once I regain composure, I notice my mother watching us with that look again.
She doesn’t say anything though. For once.
“I have to go now,” Taehyung announces, touching his pocket, which seems to be buzzing frantically. “Thank you for the food, Eomeoni,” he bows at my mother before walking out of the kitchen.
“Go follow him!” my mother urges, so with a sigh I slide out of my seat and follow his footsteps, but I stop when I hear his voice.
“No, I’m at Aria’s house…yes, she’s the one I told you about…of course, she’s the best…don’t worry, I won’t…Eomma! I swear we didn’t…yeah, I ate…okay, I will. See ya.”
He hangs up, biting back a smile, and I feel like melting into a puddle.
He talks about me to his Eomma.
“Oh! Aria,” he chuckles, ruffling the back of his hair as he finally spots me leaning against the door frame.
“You’re going home, yeah?” I step forward slowly, my arms crossed over my chest, hugging myself.
“Yeah,” Taehyung nods, his lips forming a straight line as he looks a little remorseful.
“Why you sad?” I pout, unfolding my arms in order to reach out to him and tug on the sleeves of his hoodie.
“Because I don’t want to go home,” Taehyung raises his gaze to me. “I want to stay here with you.”
The hallway is dark, but not dark enough for me to miss the dark look in his eyes. Why is he looking at me like that?
“But you can’t,” I reply a little hoarser than I intended, but then again, I am sick.
“I can’t,” he echoes, drawing me in closer with his arms around my waist. His stare intensifies, and I swallow, my heartbeat having trouble following a steady rhythm.
“Aria, I can’t be your friend anymore,” he growls.
“Y-you can’t?” I suck in a breath as his breath hits my ear, whispering, “I can’t.“
His lips leave a kiss on the groove of my temple and I close my eyes, accepting the flood of heat that rushes through my entire being, making it difficult to think straight.
“Let’s be together from now on, okay?” he engulfs me completely in his arms, and I engulf his scent, so soft and clean like lavender, with traces of other scents, one of them being that manly scent that no words could describe. It is just so…manly?
I find myself nodding, and then smiling. “I’d love that.”
He holds me tighter. “Oh, I’m so happy!” he begins to sway us from side to side, before observing me at arm’s length. I expect him to say something, but he just looks at me, so I cough.
“I better go,” he chuckles sheepishly as he finally tears his gaze away, rubbing the back of his neck. But then he sighs, slumping his shoulders and pouting. “Oh, but I don’t want to!”
“Just go, idiot,” I laugh, pushing him towards the door, and it’s a struggle, but I finally manage to kick him out, holding the door open as he stands on the porch, pouting at me.
“What are you looking at? Go!” I point to the street, but he just shakes his head stubbornly, grabbing my hands again. Due to the doorstep, we are at eye level, and I almost stumble forward if not for his hold on me. He grins.
“Can I kiss you?”
His question catches me off guard, and before I know it, he brings a hand to my cheek and presses his lips to mine, so delicately, but I feel it deep within.
He lets me go with a satisfied smirk, and I frown. People who ask permission while performing the action are the reason I dislike people, but…I feel quite the opposite now.
“Yah, I didn’t even answer!” I whack him, embarrassed, but he just laughs it off as he ambles away.
“You didn’t have to. I know what’s in your heart,” he calls back, and I instinctively touch my heart, stunned.
Am I that obvious?
The answer to that question is evident when I am jolted back to reality by my mother’s knowing voice, caught in the act of gazing after him, even after he is completely out of sight.
“Wow, you must really like him, huh?”
I turn to her as I shut the door behind me, the hallway lit up so bright I have to blink. “Nah.”
My mother just laughs, and I laugh too, because for the first time, I feel something new and electric fizz through my veins, and I can’t deny it to myself, or anyone, anymore.
I really do like him. And it scares the crap out of me.
In a good way, though. A very, very good way.
【★】
This chapter was hard to write for some reason but I’m happy with it now! 😄
Dedicated to occamy who is an absolute legend – thank you so much for reading Hooded, it means a lot to me! 😁💖💖💖
And thank you all for reading as well! It’s such a pleasure to receive notifications of votes and comments of you guys reacting and enjoying the story. Honestly, that’s the best reward for me, your enjoyment, so thank you! 💕
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