𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐒 | 𝐊- 𝐏𝐎𝐏

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗁𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗍𝗒 𝗍𝗐𝗈

Chapter 23: Lighthouse

It seems like such a short drive to her apartment, too short, and as they get closer, she's regretting her decision to be taken home. She was sure it was the right decision ten minutes ago when she said the words. But now she questions herself as he silently steers the car onto the roadway towards her home.

Regret is something she fears. She wanted to end the date, not because she doesn't have feelings for him, he's probably one of the most attractive and generous people she has ever met, but, his life is about things that somehow don't seem real to her. For her, every day is the same; she goes to work with the children, she eats at the same places, stops at the same market, she studies in the library, attends classes, and, somehow this fills up her days and her nights.

She doesn't have time to think about dating or relationships. She isn't looking for her soulmate. She's not even sure there is such a thing as a soulmate. Her grandfather believed, but, his soulmate was left behind when he was 18, and he spent the next 10 years alone before he married her Grandmother. They had a perfectly respectable marriage. Not fireworks and rose petals strewn under your feet kind of love, but a good partnership. They raised a son; her Father, and they each found their own interests to busy their lives. Her Grandmother died not long after her parents were killed, but she remembers that she was kind. She can still picture her puttering around in her rose garden in the back yard, always snipping off a little pink rose to give to her.

Her Grandfather wasn't interested in the garden, he loved boats, he loved adventure and risk. He took her sailing in Puget Sound, and they would try to pass as many lighthouses as they could. He had once told her that the story of Rapunzel was really set in one of the Lighthouses on the Sound, and that there was still a beautiful girl trapped in one of the towers, waiting for rescue, shining her light to the people in passing boats, hoping to end her isolation. She always thought she might find her if she visited enough of them, but there were so many, and as her Grandfather got older, he wasn't able to take her out on the boat as often. Maybe there was still a girl trapped in the tower, waiting for her true love.

The car comes to a stop in a parking spot and she looks out of the window to see her apartment building a few doors down. He turns to her, with a worried look.

"Can I walk you to your door?" he asks timidly. She nods and as she reaches for the door handle, she remembers how much it seems to mean to him to open her door and she waits for him, still clutching her package of treats from the cafe. He helps her out of the car and she slowly leads him toward the front door to her low rise apartment. The street is quiet and dark. Traffic buzzes in the distance but she can clearly hear their footsteps on the path, each footfall taking her closer to her home, and sounding more tentative and reluctant than the last as she wonders if she will ever be bold enough to take this risk.

She stops at her door and turns to him. He is waiting for her to speak, but his face seems cold and drained. She wishes she could see his smile, maybe realizing in its absence how much she needed it to fill the growing empty space inside her. His eyes look up at her and she recognizes the pleading look. It's clear he doesn't agree with her decision but he is allowing her to make her choice. She steels her nerve.

"Taehyung, I've never met anyone like you, and I don't know you, but I feel...well, it sounds strange, but I feel a little bit like I do." She wants to explain herself better although she knows the answer will sound exactly the same to him. Hearing her words, hope begins to rise within him. He steps closer to her, taking her hands in his.

"Hana, I need to confess something to you. I have to do it now, in case you won't see me again." He looks down. She is surprised by his sudden desperation and a little worried, unsure what he might say.

"It's just that I don't think we should-" He interrupts her, shaking his head.

"Please, there is something you don't know." He looks up into her eyes but just at that moment, they are disturbed by a loud shriek in the street nearby. They turn toward the sound, his hands still holding hers.

"This is his car!" A voice cries out. The silhouette of several bodies can be seen under the streetlight near the car. She takes a moment to process what is happening. "This is Taehyung's, he's here, in one of these houses!" The voices cries out louder. The figures are several houses away but moving around the vehicle. He turns and looks at her with a mixture of shock and disappointment. "Which house?!" another voice yells. His eyes pop open wide as he realizes he's stood on her doorstep, feeling very exposed under the light of the front entryway. She realizes what is happening in a quick moment and she pulls her hands away and turns to her door, opening it and pulling him by the arm inside. She closes it as quietly as she can and locks it, before turning to look at him. He's still trying to make sense of where he is and what's just happened.

"I'm so sorry," he apologizes in a whisper, expecting the inevitable discovery of their hiding place. He feels sorry that this moment was interrupted, particularly when he had just found the courage to tell her everything .

"I think you should come upstairs for a while. I'll make some tea and you can tell me what you wanted to say."