For Everything I Am | KTH 18+ ✔

Chapter Seven

Taehyung continues to drive farther and farther away from the center of our thriving metropolis as I quietly look out of the window after leaving the wedding reception. I don't even dare ask where he's taking me as I know it's a moot point. After being friends with him for more than three-quarters of my life, it's well known at this point that he wouldn't tell me anyway. Whether it's a secret or a surprise, he's the one person I know that could keep it to himself as if it was under lock and key.

Pulling into the parking space, my eyes light up at the realization of where we are as I quickly turn to face him with a bright smile, "You brought me to the old dance studio?"

He pulls out a lone key attached to a tag with an address written on it from his console and shows it to me, "Stole the key from work so you could see it before we tore it down on Monday. You looked so disappointed when I had told you about it the other day."

Smiling, I snatch the key out of his hand and quickly hop out of his car, running up the steps as if my feet had a mind of their own. It had been eight years since the last time I've been inside of this building that I used to consider my home away from home and for a moment, I felt as if I were a kid again, simply happy and carefree.

Taehyung's own smile seems to be permanently plastered on his face as he walks inside with me, wrapping my white faux fur shawl around my shoulders that I left behind in all of my excitement. The stale smell of dust lingers in the air while the clacking of our shoes echoes through the empty halls. I try to turn on the lights before quickly noticing that there was no electricity. Looking back at him curiously, I realize that the moonlight may end up being the only thing to illuminate our surroundings.

"They cut it off last night to get ready for demolition." He explains without me needing to ask. Continuing to stay back to let me look around at my own pace while he just watches my every move, I ambled my way around, taking in some of the simple details I had forgotten about.

My fingers slowly trace over the worn-down wood of the front desk. My rouge-stained lips curl up at the corner of my mouth when I remember the time Tae and I were playing hide and go seek with a couple of the other girls while we waited on our parents to come to pick us up. We had crouched behind the desk with his hand covering my mouth in an effort to keep me from laughing too loudly when they would walk close by looking for us.

Striding down the almost bare halls with him following behind me, I peep into each room one last time. Some looked the exact same as I had remembered while others showed signs of attempted renovations. It was an old building even when I began dancing there when I was three years old, way before Taehyung and I met, but the charm it possessed was unlike any of the modern buildings I have ever stepped foot in.

We reach the last door at the very end of the hall where the younger-aged girls used to practice and walk inside. The scuff marks were still on the wall in the corner from where Tae used to kick his feet as he watched us run through our routine over and over again. As I reach the middle of the room, I do a small spin pretending I was that same little girl again while he goes to find his unassigned seat in the corner. His much longer legs fold under each other as he looks up at me with that same adoration he used to have in his eyes every time he came to class with me.

"I'm going to miss this place." I speak in almost a whisper as if talking in a normal tone would be too loud for the moment, "I guess in the back of my mind, I always knew it was just a small drive away. Kind of like moving out of your childhood home, ya know? You know it's there, but if you were to find out it was going to be demolished, you'd suddenly feel an emotional attachment to it."

"Just so you know, I fought and begged to work on this project. If I couldn't stop it from being torn down, I at least wanted to make sure it was going to be redesigned by someone that also had a connection to it." He states looking up at me through the dark bangs that fall over his brown eyes.