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“Where did you two go?”
As soon as we walk into the house, we are interrogated by Taehyung’s sister, blocking our way like a bull.
“Where is everyone?” Taehyung asks, sliding his feet into some slippers.
“Hey, I’m the one asking the questions here,” she scolds. “Now tell me, where did you go? Were you on a date?”
“As a matter of fact, we were, weren’t we, sweetie?” Taehyung draws me to his side with a goofy grin, and I shoot him a threatening look. Suddenly, the bag in my hand is ripped from my grasp and I turn to find Eonjin pulling out the black dress with an awestruck expression.
“You bought this?” she holds the dress up against her body and simpers at us both. “Is it for me?”
Taehyung immediately snatches it away from her, sending her a glare. “No, it’s for Aria,” he hands it back to me, and I clutch it sheepishly as Eonjin huffs.
“Wow, okay, no need to get snatchy. Congratulations, Aria, that’s a killer dress,” she eyes the dress longingly despite the smile on her face.
“Hey, we’re sisters, remember? You can wear it any time,” I beam at her, and she visibly brightens.
“Really? Oh, thank you, Aria!” she flings her arms around me, jumping up and down. Once she pulls away, she turns to Taehyung, pointing at me. “Keep her.”
“That’s the plan,” he grins proudly, and I just stand there, once again feeling overwhelmed but…happy.
“Oh, and to answer your question, Jeonggyu is in his room procrastinating, Appa is at work, while our dear mothers are out doing something, I don’t know,” Eonjin shrugs, before heading back to the lounge, where she seems to be watching Netflix.
Taehyung heaves out a sigh, running his hand through his shaggy hair. He then turns to me. “Wanna come and yell at my brother with me?”
I smirk. “I thought you’d never ask.”
The door to the boys’ room is closed, but through it we can hear hard-core hip-hop music and grunting. Taehyung exchanges a look with me before flinging the door open, revealing none other than Jeonggyu, except…shirtless.
He doesn’t notice us first, for he is too immersed in his workout, temporal veins popping and hair dripping with sweat as he performs push-ups to the beat of the song, which I don’t recognize. My eyes have no choice but to stare at rippling muscles of his back and biceps, and it’s only when he glances up that I tear my gaze away, feeling ashamed.
Jeonggyu, however, has no shame, and he just sneers, continuing with the push ups, this time with just one arm. Taehyung marches forward and kicks his brother, causing him to slam down onto his stomach, wincing.
“Yah, Pingu head!” Taehyung towers over him while he just breathes heavily, rolling onto his back so that his well-defined abdomen is clearly visible. Look away, Aria, look away!
“Wassup, bro?” he sits up, smirking at his brother until his gaze slides to mine, and I wish I could disappear right then and there, especially when Taehyung follows his gaze.
“You like what you see?”
Taehyung immediately pounces onto his brother, wrestling his brother while growling, “You wanna die, huh? You wanna die, you little punk?”
The fact that he says it in Korean makes it sound even more terrifying, and I don’t know what to do as I witness the two brothers roll around on the floor until Taehyung eventually holds Jeonggyu into a headlock that looks impossible to escape. “Apologize!”
“For what? I didn’t do anything!” Jeonggyu protests, causing Taehyung to tighten his hold around his neck so that his face turns red.
“If I ever catch you doing this again in front of Aria, I will not hesitate to destroy you,” Taehyung threatens, letting Jeonggyu go, and he collapses onto the carpet, gasping for air.
“I’m sorry I was just trying to keep fit in the privacy of my own room,” Jeonggyu spits. “You could’ve knocked or something.”
“You wouldn’t hear it anyway over this noise,” Taehyung turns off the stereo, and I can finally hear my own heartbeat instead of the throbbing bass of the hip hop beat.
“Hey, that’s not noise, that’s Kanye!” Jeonggyu cries.
“Potato, tomato,” Taehyung shrugs.
“Dude, it’s potato, po-tah-to, idiot,” Jeonggyu kicks his leg out to hit Taehyung’s legs but he dodges him, rolling his eyes at me.
“I’m so sorry you had to see that, Aria, let’s go,” Taehyung drags me out of there, but not before Jeonggyu flexes at me, smirking. I wrinkle my nose, wishing I could turn back time and maybe bleach my eyeballs while I’m at it.
“That’s the second time I’ve led you into a bad situation today, I’m sorry,” Taehyung pouts, and I press a hand to his cheek.
“It’s okay,” I assure him. “You looked really cool back there.”
The corner of Taehyung’s mouth curves upwards. “I looked cool?”
“Oh, yeah, like a total badass.”
“I remember you saying you like when I’m bad,” Taehyung’s voice drops to a husky tone as he leans against the wall, pulling me toward him with his wrists. “Would you like me to be bad more often?”
“Wait, when did I say that?” I cock my head to the side, staring at him until the sly look in his eyes jogs my memory.
“I swear I’m never drinking again,” I groan, closing my eyes in shame. When I open them, Taehyung’s face fills my field of vision.
“Not even just once? With me?” his puppy dog eyes consume me, as well as convince me.
“With you?” I contemplate this, trying to imagine an intoxicated Taehyung. He would be clingy, and probably do even more aegyo than usual, and then he would be really affectionate…Basically, he would be exactly the same as his sober self.
“Sure, let’s drink together one day,” I agree, and Taehyung lets out a whoop.
“Yay! I get to see drunk Aria,” he giggles, gripping my waist. “From what I’ve heard, she’s very…” he leans in. “…sexy.”
My first reflex is to smack him. “What’s wrong with you today? Dirty boy,” I scoff, but he just smiles a silly smile.
“What can I say, Aria? You made me like this.”
【★】
“I have good news!”
I am sitting in between Taehyung and his sister, watching Riverdale, when we are interrupted by the arrival of our mothers. I twist my head back to look at my own mother, who beams like a radiant sun.
“What is it?”
She holds out her hand for me to take, so I do, feeling bemused. “You don’t have to drop out of uni!”
I gasp. “Seriously?”
She nods, squeezing my hand. “I’ll tell you all the details later,” she glances at the television screen. “Keep enjoying yourself, okay, sweetie?” she kisses my cheek, and I touch it, stunned as I turn back round to face the TV. That was unexpected.
“Hey, I’m happy you don’t have to drop out,” Taehyung whispers, and I jump, startled by his voice, so close to my ear. Will I ever get used to his spontaneity?
“Me too,” I whisper back.
As soon as the episode finishes, I spring up from the couch and go locate my mother’s whereabouts. She can’t just tell me something like that and then run off. I need to know more.
“Eomma!”
She whips her head to me in surprise once I burst into our room, catching her in the act of stuffing an envelope into a bag.
“Oh! Aria, you scared me,” she laughs, clutching her heart, but my eyes are on the bag.
“What’s that?” I point to it, and she follows my line of sight.
“Oh, this? Nothing,” she pushes it under the bed and out of sight. But it’s not out of mind. Not in the slightest.
“Eomma, come on, I thought we agreed to not hide things from each other,” I fold my arms across my chest, and she sighs.
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” she hauls the bag out from under the bed and unzips it to reveal a lot of money.
“Eomma!” I cry, and she shushes me.
“Aria, this is a secret, okay?”
I am in disbelief at the sight before me. Envelopes filled with a rainbow of notes ranging from five dollars to fifty, fill this woman’s black handbag, and my first question is, “Where did you get this from?”
“I emptied our bank account,” my mother whispers, giving me five seconds to get a good look of the cash before zipping the bag up again.
“Why?”
“So they don’t have anything on us,” she continues to whisper as if the bank were listening, stashing the bag back into its hiding place. “I also talked to the Centrelink people,” she informs me as we get up, sitting on the bed. “They’re gonna start supporting me again until I find a job, and since we don’t have a house anymore, we can pay off your uni fees with your youth allowance instead of using it to pay the bills.”
“Okay, and what about our living situation? How long are we staying here?” I ask the dreaded question. If I am going to be honest, I enjoy living here with the Kim family. I won’t say I want to stay here forever but…I definitely don’t mind that idea. I got to see Taehyung in all his elements, and it made me appreciate him even more, if that is possible. Plus, I have a new friend here – Eonjin. And who can forget Yeontan, the cutest dog I have ever met.
“That depends on how long it takes for me to land a job, and how long it takes for us to pay off our debts,” my mother responds with a weary sigh that I feel in my bones.
“So will we ever get our house back?” I ask.
“It’s being sold.”
“Of course it is,” it seems as if everything we left behind is being taken away by another owner, and it is starting to feel like nothing belongs to me anymore. Except maybe that dress…
“Eomma, you won’t believe who I saw today!”
I tell her about seeing Ella at a retail store in the city, and she gasps. “Wow, really? Do you think she could get you a job at that shop?”
“I would never!” I cry. “That’s a level I am never going to stoop down to.”
“Oh, come on! If not for you, then ask for me. I love working in retail,” she smiles wistfully.
“I am not gonna call her, not even if someone paid me,” I huff, and my mother raises her eyebrows.
“She gave you her number? Where is it? Show me!”
“No! You already have her dad’s number, so call him!” I retort.
“Maybe I will!” But she makes no attempt to grab her phone. I sigh.
“I think we shouldn’t depend on any more people. I mean, it’s what got us in this situation.”
“You’re right, we need to be independent!” my mother raises a fist into the air, eyes gleaming. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go help Eonjae-ssi with the dinner. You wouldn’t believe how kind she is, Aria. She is letting us stay here free of charge, even though I offered to pay for some of the expenses, like the water bill and electricity bill.”
“We can’t stay here very long, can we? I feel bad,” I gnaw on my lip, pinching my eyebrows together.
“Didn’t I tell you not to frown so much?” my mother smooths out the skin of my forehead with two fingers, scrutinizing me. “Frowning doesn’t look good on you, and I’m sure Taehyung would agree.”
“Eomma! Don’t bring Taehyung into this!” I lean away from her, still frowning.
“Well, if it weren’t for Taehyung, we wouldn’t be here, so you better be good to him!”
“Yes, Eomma, I thank him every day,” I roll my eyes.
“What’s in that bag? Aria,” she shoots me a reproaching look. “What did you buy?”
I gulp, feeling guilty as she pulls out the black dress. I shouldn’t have accepted Taehyung’s offer to buy me a seventy-dollar dress! But at the time, it seemed like the best decision of my life. Damn you, Taehyung, with your puppy dog eyes and deep irresistible voice!
“Wow, this is nice,” she whistles. “He bought it for you, didn’t he?”
“Well…”
“He has good taste,” she nods appreciatively, examining the dress. “In fashion…and women.”
“Eomma!”
“What? It’s true, the Do women are exquisite, I mean just look at me,” she flicks her hair and plants a hand on her hip, the dress draped over her chest. I snort.
“Sure, Eomma.”
【★】
a short filler chapter for y’all while I procrastinate studying for my first exam which is 8:30am next Monday rip
depending on how bored/unmotivated I feel I might update again later this week but we’ll see lol
WHO’S HYPED FOR RM’S PLAYLIST MONO DROPPING IN TWO HOURS OMG. It’ll be 2am then so I’ll probably be asleep since I am so TIRED 😴
anyways I love you guys who are still reading this story and don’t forget to VOTE my 300th voter will be getting a dedication 😊
This chapter is dedicated to my latest reader and twitter friend maryndawood thank you so much for your support I love you 😘
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