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Somewhere far away, a phone rings, rousing me from a deep slumber. It feels like my limbs weigh a thousand tons, while my head feels like it was tossed into a washing machine for a couple of hours, throbbing with an ache that can only be soothed with painkillers and lots of water. I attempt a stretch, scrunching my eyes shut in the morning light, only to have my hand brush against something warm and alive.
What the –
Something groans beside me, shifting the sheets, and I squint, rubbing my eyes. When it’s finally not so painful to keep them open, they bug out as my brain registers what I’m seeing.
“Taehyung? What are you – why are you -” I sit up, gasping when I notice that I’m wearing nothing but…oh, thank God. I’ve still got all my undergarments on. And by the looks of Taehyung’s bare chest that is barely covered by the sheets, he’s in the same state as me.
The phone stops ringing, and I collapse back onto the pillow with a sigh.
“Good morning.”
His voice rumbles through the air like thunder. When I turn to take a look at him, my heart does a somersault. His hair. I’ve never seen it this messy, almost obscuring his sleepy eyes from me. His skin is golden and glowing, his chocolate flecked eyes focusing on me as a lazy smile curves his swollen pink lips.
“Morning,” I find myself smiling back, closing my eyes as he caresses my cheek with his thumb, staring into my soul. He has a way of looking into me as if he can see everything, hear everything, as if he knows me inside and out. But how much does he really know?
“I’ve always wanted to do this,” he whispers, his fingers now roaming to my hair, stroking it softly.
“Do what?”
“Wake up next to you.”
That’s when it all comes back to me. Last night.
Flashes of breathless kisses, heated skin and tangled limbs. But then there’s a gap, a void of blackness that follows, erasing any coherent memory of what happened next. What happened?
“Did we…” I trail off, the brightness of the morning making it impossible for me to say things that would have been no problem the night before. Curse this sober daylight.
Taehyung’s stare becomes vacant as he replays everything in his head. Then he begins to giggle goofily, licking his lips, so I whack his arm, lightly, demanding that he spit it out.
“Aria, we fell asleep, remember? We were too tired to do anything…” he wriggles closer to me as I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding, draping his arm over my waist. We gaze at each other, openly, unabashedly, infinitely, until the moment is interrupted by the sound of that damn phone again.
Taehyung scrunches up his nose in annoyance. “That must be my mum, even though I told her I was with you yesterday.”
“Your mum…” my eyes widen as I remember my own mum. Did she come home? And if so, did she check up on me? Or was she too drunk to care?
For once, I hope the latter is true.
“What time is it?” Taehyung wonders aloud, and I twist over to glance at my alarm clock. Eight thirty.
“Time to go to sleep,” I shut my eyes, but they snap right open again when I feel his lips on my forehead, gifting me with a kiss. I smile.
“I wish I could kiss you on the lips, but…” he bites his lip, hesitating, but then I remember something.
“I have an idea,” I roll away from him for a second to reach an arm out to my bedside table, where I keep a pack of spearmint gum. I grab two sticks, unravelling them both then popping one into my mouth and the other into his at the same time. We chew in harmony, grinning at each other, and then we lean in, lips meeting for a minty peck that quickly turns into something deeper. Familiar sensations travel through my body as his warm hand cups my jaw and our legs intertwine beneath the sheets, our clashing skin radiating with heat. Suddenly, I don’t feel like sleeping anymore.
“Should we finish what we started last night?” Taehyung whispers, his breath cold and minty against my face while his eyes are hot and fiery, the complete opposite. I swallow as my heartbeat flutters. Should we?
“Tae…you know I love you, but…”
“You’re not ready,” Taehyung sighs, and I shake my head briskly.
“No! That’s not it,” I blush as I remember how badly I wanted him, how badly I still want him, all of him, just…him. I thread my hands through his soft locks, streaked with gold by the sun’s early rays. “I just think that now is not a good time. I mean, I don’t even know if my mother is home or not.”
“Oh, she’s home, alright.”
We both gasp and almost snap our necks from how fast we turn to the door, where my mother stands, leaning against the frame with folded arms. Oh crap.
“It’s okay, I’m not going to go all ‘strict parent’ on you,” she forms quotation marks in the air, and that’s when I take her in, surprised that she is not a complete mess. In fact, she looks like she took a shower and freshened up, her makeup all removed, hair brushed and tied into a low ponytail. She looks like a regular mother again, making me feel like last night was all some whacky dream, except I’m still living it. With Taehyung right next to me. In nothing but our underwear. In my bed.
“It’s not what it looks like!” we both cry out simultaneously, dissolving into giggles when we realize what we’ve done.
“Well, it still looks like you guys slept together, and you know what? That’s completely fine with me. You guys are allowed to do whatever you want together,” she beams, and I feel my jaw drop in shock. Is she really my mother? What happened to my mother? Why is she not yelling at us? Should she be yelling at us?
“R-really?” I stutter, and she nods.
“Of course! Now, I’ll let you two get ready while I make breakfast, okay?” and with that she is gone, leaving us absolutely gobsmacked, but also…relieved?
“Why is she in such a good mood?” I ponder, until it clicks, and judging by the look on Taehyung’s face, he also figured it out.
“Victor.”
I squirm, covering my face in my hands. “Ugh, I don’t want to think about it.”
“Then don’t think about it,” Taehyung responds simply, removing my hands from my face to leave a kiss so strong it eradicates all thoughts from my mind. I stare at him in wonder, and he just grins.
“You’re even more beautiful in the morning, you know that?”
“Stop lying, no one is beautiful in the morning,” I scoff, but he just yanks me toward him, staring deeply into my soul.
“Then you must be no one.”
My breath hitches in my throat, and for once I don’t feel like cringing at his line. Instead, I grab his face in both my hands, drinking him in, for he, too, is beautiful in the morning.
“That makes two of us,” I whisper, before sealing my lips onto his for what feels like the millionth time. But do I ever get sick of it? Never.
We get dressed, or at least, Taehyung does while I just stay in bed, drawing the sheets around me to cover my bare skin. Once he’s done, he pounces onto me, kissing my cheek and trying to coerce me out of bed.
“Come on, Ari-yaaaa, get uuuppp,” I shiver as his minty breath enters my ear, rolling away from him, but he just follows my movement, sitting on top of my legs and slamming his hands on either side of me.
“What do I have to do to make you get up, huh? Huh?” he attacks my sides over the thin sheets, causing me to writhe into a fit of giggles.
“Get off me!” I squeal, attempting to push him away with our fingers interlocked, but of course he’s stronger than me, and I end up giving up, giving him the opportunity to pull me into a sitting position, face to face with him straddling my lap. He giggles, wrapping his arms around my neck.
“So this is how it feels…” he swipes his tongue over his swollen lips as his eyes travel down to my black lacy bra, and I blush, feeling shy in the broad daylight.
“Yah, where are ya looking?” I tap his cheek, and he smiles sheepishly.
“I’ll go get your clothes,” he finally climbs off me, scanning the room. “Uh…where are your clothes?”
I look around, biting my lip at the messy state my bedroom is in, as I didn’t have time to clean up, and point to something black and crumpled on the floor. “That’s one of them. And…there’s my pants.”
Taehyung delivers my clothes to me with an extravagant bow, and I laugh, ruffling his hair. “Good boy! Now go let me change, okay?”
“Okay!” He clicks his tongue, giving me a cute salute before turning to exit the room, leaving me alone for the first time in…fourteen hours.
I can’t believe it. We almost had sex. We were so close…but so tired. I feel relieved, yet…disappointed? But maybe it’s better this way, because what if I didn’t remember it?
I want to remember the first time.
It’s also the first time we spent a night together, a whole entire night, sleeping beside each other in the same bed. Like real couples do.
God, I’m in deep, aren’t I?
【★】
“Yes, you are.”
My mother has returned, interrogating me as soon as Taehyung left. I collapse onto the couch and run a hand through my hair, avoiding her stern gaze.
“There’s nothing to tell, because nothing happened. I swear,” I hold up my right hand, however she still looks unconvinced.
“Well, I hope you used protection at least.”
I choke on my spit. “Eomma! How many times do I have to tell you? We didn’t do anything!” I sigh in exasperation, before turning to her with an arched eyebrow. “How about you? Care to spill the details on your date?”
To my surprise, my mother’s cheeks flood with colour and she begins to play with the end of her ponytail, which is longer than usual due to the extensions. “I mean, there’s not much to say except…it was maybe the best night of my life!” her eyes gleam as she begins to recount the whole night to me, starting from when he took her for a ride in his motorcycle for the first time from the apartment to the restaurant, and how she never felt more alive riding through the city with her hair flying out from under the helmet. And he’s such a great conversationalist, so funny, she almost spat out her food from laughing so hard. And he’s so sexy and buff, and adventurous, just like her.
“So are you going to see him again?”
She grins. “Duh. In fact, he’s going to help us out of our debt.”
“Wait, what? How?” My mind races with all kinds of wild thoughts as to how exactly Vic could “help” us. Taehyung told me all about him. He’s apparently the ringleader of the group of guys he used to hang out with, a group of guys who dropped out of school to pursue things that are not exactly…legal. They are dangerous, and reckless, but most of all, they are criminals, and according to Taehyung, people he wishes he never met.
I wish my mother never met him.
“He says I can help him with his business, Aria, it’s going to be so fun! I get to dress up and go out every night for it and ride his motorcycle!” her eyes glow with excitement. “He’s taking me out tonight, actually, to meet everyone.”
“Everyone?” I echo in suspicion.
“Oh, yeah, he has lots of people working for him, and he says he’s been needing a woman like me to be on his team. So of course, I’m going to accept his offer!”
“Are you sure you can trust this guy? I mean, you only just met him two days ago.”
My mother rolls her eyes at me. “Aria, honey, things move faster in the adult world, you know. And besides, I need this job, okay? If it’s going to help us get out of here, I’ll do it. Just have some faith in your Eomma, okay, baby?” she touches my hand, and I stare at it, gnawing on my lip.
“Okay,” I utter, but my stomach churns, and not just because I just had a large breakfast that Eomma made for us.
“Good girl,” Eomma smiles, squeezing my hand, and then she lets go to grab her phone from the bedside table. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta make a call.”
I watch her disappear down the hallway to her bedroom before grabbing my own phone. I too have to make a call. A very important one.
“Hey, Taehyung?”
“Missed me already?”
My somber expression falters with a smile, but it is gone in a flash as I picture Vic’s smirking face. “I need your help. Again.”
“Do we have to go out again?” he sounds tired, and I almost feel bad, but I feel worse about what I’m about to tell him.
“He’s taking her to work with him tonight, to meet the whole gang, and I have a feeling there’s more to it.”
“Well, your feeling is right. Vic does this all the time. Bringing new, unsuspecting people into his schemes. And that’s why he rarely gets caught.”
“You were one of these new, unsuspecting people, weren’t you?”
“Yes. And that’s why we have to stop him from getting your mum involved, because she could get into big trouble, Aria.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I sigh. “But how big is this trouble?”
There’s a pause, and I brace myself for his next words. “Big enough to either put her in jail, or worse.”
“Worse?” I gulp.
“Vic’s plans are only ninety-nine per cent successful. Which means that that one per cent is where it can all go wrong. I don’t want to scare you Aria, but I’ve seen it go wrong, and it’s not pretty. I’ve seen people…Aria, people have died because of him. He’s not just a criminal, but a -“
“Killer?”
As soon as I say that, my mother reenters the room with a giddy smile on her face, texting rapidly. “Oh, who’re you talking to? Is it Taehyung?” she asks while continuing to text, and I hesitate, phone still clutched at my ear.
“Uh, yeah, it’s Taehyung. I gotta go, we’ll talk later, okay?”
I barely let him speak before hanging up the phone, my heartbeat raging like a beast in its cage. My mother closes her phone, then beams. “How would you like to go shopping? I need some new clothes.”
“Sure, let’s go,” I say with sarcastic enthusiasm that my mother fails to pick up on. All I can think of as we leave the apartment is how we’re living in the same building as a dangerous criminal, but can he be considered a criminal if he’s never gotten caught? Does that make Taehyung a criminal since he’s worked with him? Is my mother going to become a criminal if she works with him?
“Aria, what did I tell you about frowning? This is why people believe that I’m your older sister, because I keep my face young with a smile, see?” she smiles, revealing her teeth, and I refrain from rolling my eyes, because then she would say that if I did that too much one day they will get stuck.
“You’re not my older sister,” I snap, and her smile drops.
“Aria, come on, I was just joking, you -“
“Tell that to Victor,” I storm ahead of her, pressing the down button for the elevator multiple times as I wait for her to catch up to me, slightly out of breath.
“Aria! Don’t you dare run from your mother like that, we’re supposed to walk together, like a team.”
“If we’re a team, why does it feel like you’re betraying me?”
The elevator dings and I step in swiftly with her at my heels, glaring. So much for smiling. “Betraying you how? By finally going out there and dating someone? For finally being selfish for once and living my own life? How am I betraying you if you’re the one who told me to go do these things!”
I press the ground button and let the doors close, clenching my jaw. “Because you’re not being honest about it. Do you really expect him to love you if he doesn’t even know how old you are? That you’re turning forty-one in two months and that you’re a mother who’s already been through a divorce?”
Her eyes flash with anger. “I don’t expect him to do anything, but I would at least expect my own daughter to support me. What’s the crime in having a little fun, huh? I’ve spent the past fifteen years devoting my whole life to you, so why is it so bad that I want to live my own life now, even at forty-one?“
“The crime is that you’re jumping in too fast, and you’re not thinking this through. Does Victor seem like a decent guy to you? Do you even know what he does for a living?”
“Of course I know, Aria, I’m not stupid. And I don’t know why you can’t just trust me on this. I’m not just doing this for myself, you know. He promised to help us, he promised me some money, and that’s the only reason I am continuing this relationship, even if I do have to lie about a few things. It’s the only way, Aria, can’t you see? What else can I do at this point?”
She sounds exhausted, and desperate, and sad, but all I can think about is how there’s no way Vic actually told her what he really does, because if he did, there’s no way she would agree to it. Right?
“Taehyung says Victor can’t be trusted, and that’s all I’m going to say.” The elevator doors open and I step out, thinking the conversation is over, until she speaks.
“How do they know each other?”
I stop walking as a wave of dread floods over me. I can’t answer that. I can’t tell her about what Taehyung used to do, because then she won’t let me see him again. And I can’t possibly explain their association, nor can I describe Victor’s history, since it would also make Taehyung look bad. The only way I can safely respond is to tell a lie. A white lie.
“They…go way back,” I begin with the truth. “Victor was like an older brother for Tae.”
“So why does Taehyung say he can’t be trusted? What did Victor do exactly?” my mother demands to know.
“I…don’t know,” I lie. “All I know is that I trust my boyfriend.”
“More than your own mother?” she crosses her arms.
I sigh. “No. I mean, Tae knows Vic better than both of us, right? So we should trust him.”
“Well, nothing you say is going to change my mind,” my mother walks ahead through the doors of the building and into the sunshine. “I’m still going with him tonight, whether you like it or not.”
“I had a feeling you were going to say that,” I mutter as a strong wind blows my hair about. “Which is why I have to follow you.”
“Did you say something?” my mother squints at me, only a couple of feet ahead.
I fix a smile upon my features, shaking my head. “Nothing.”
Because nothing I say is going to change your mind.
【★】
30th chapter on the 30th of November? This calls for a zepeto face reveal LMAO
with taehyung uwu ^^ I sort of look like that irl my own mother said it looked like me so I’ll take it 😆
Dedicated to Armysdontneedguns thank you so much for reading and commenting! 💕
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