LET ME - taehyun x oc

CHAPTER 1 🔞

VIOLET
Friday, August 13, 2021

It was hot. Really hot.

I heard the air quality and heat advisories on the radio all morning, warning of the kind of temperatures where the city's air pollution just hung in the air, trapped by the humidity and sheer heat.

I'm not used to this kind of humidity. It never got like this back home.

"You'll get used to it..." my eomma said to me this morning before I left my apartment to go to university. She called me to see how I was doing.

It's been a month since I moved to Seoul from the US. I miss my parents, but when my eomma said they could save a lot of money by sending me to study here, I couldn't say no.

So here I am. Alone in an empty park, trying to meet people in this big city.

I stretch my calves out on the curb and wonder if anyone else will show up. Maybe I should scrap the workout and go home, stop to pick up dinner on the way and call it a night.

They sent an email to the whole group that the meeting had been canceled, but they still included the planned workout, with the disclaimers to take extra precautions.

"Take it easy, guys! Don't push yourselves."

But to me it felt like a dare.

I was a track star in high school, always coming first in the relay races and hurdles. I haven't competed since graduating, but I love the high I get from running.

I pull my arms over my head, rolling my neck and loosening my shoulders. I couldn't have been the only one who took the challenge, right?

Just then, I hear crunching on the gravel path.

"Oh, hey- are you here to run?" a man's voice echoes behind me. I turn around and see him. Light blonde hair peeking through his black baseball cap. The loose sleeveless t-shirt hangs from his shoulders as my eyes travel down the sharp curves of his biceps. "Are you part of the workout group?"

"Yeah-" I stammer, forcing my eyes to travel up to his face. He seems familiar, but I don't think I've ever seen him before. "I'm Violet-"

His lips curl up to a timid smile and I notice the dimples on his face as he hears my name escape my lips.

"Nice to meet you," he smirks, a slight rosiness appearing on his cheeks. "I'm Taehyun."

I take in the grey sleeveless t-shirt, worn thin, peppered with holes at the collar. There's something about grey cotton. I'm wondering how his sweat will fill it out. Consistently? Or a V down his chest? How heavy will it get?

Suddenly, I don't wanna wait for anyone else to show up. I glance at my watch. 7:06pm.

"Looks like it's just us tonight-" I glance up at him with a smile, motioning to him to follow me. "Let's go!"

I take off before I change my mind, my shoes crunching on the dirt. He follows me as I cross the park and then head north on our warm up at a pace that feels faster than what I would normally run.

The park feels swampy even as the sun begins to set. Every leaf completely still. Total silence except for the humming of the cicadas.

I break a sweat, drips forming between my breasts, running down into the thick band of my sports bra. He catches up with me, but I can tell this pace is easy for him. His rhythmic breathing echoes in my ear as I glance at him out of the corner of my eye.

His blonde hair bounces with his steps and I see the grey fabric of his shirt stick to his chest with the slight breeze blowing through.

"I don't usually run at this time-" he huffs, glancing over at me with a smile. "I prefer to go first thing in the morning-"