𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑. || 𝐓𝐎𝐊𝐘𝐎 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒

PART 26.

SEPTEMBER, 2005

Y/n waited patiently for Baji to arrive on the sidewalk. She watched cars and bikes occasionally pass by her. She hoped that soon one of the vehicles would slow in front of her. Y/n flipped her phone open to check for any messages, but nothing was there. Only the time was displayed and a fair amount of it had passed already. 

"Seriously, where the fuck is this guy," she started to mumble to herself. "What could my future self have possibly seen in him?"

Just then, a motorbike pulled up in front of her and Y/n's lips suddenly felt dry of words. Yeah, now that she had seen him, it was obvious what herself had seen in him. Y/n cleared her throat when she caught herself staring longer than she meant to. 

"I know you're probably mad about me taking so long," he mentioned before tapping his hand on the seat. "Trust me, I'll make up for it."

"How am I supposed to know I can trust you?" Y/n decided to counter while crossing her arms and looking him over. He smiled in amusement and went to step off his bike. 

"You don't," Baji outstretched his hand to her almost as if he dared her to take it. "But you're a girl of thrill, aren't you?" He questioned and Y/n glanced down at his hand for a moment.

She may have been a bit biased because a cute guy was asking for her trust. Y/n figured she had been treading on thin ice until now. A little fun wouldn't kill her.

Y/n felt almost drawn to take his hand into her own. It felt natural to wrap her arms around him and rest her head on his back. His warmth was comforting as the wind blew past her and Y/n found herself throwing her arms back into the air, admiring the simple freedom she felt when riding on the back of his bike. She wasn't scared in the slightest and didn't allow the possibilities of slipping off to restrain her. 

For once, Y/n let herself live in the moment and left anything else in the back of her mind. 

"You scared at all?" Baji seemed to shout over the sound of the engine and noise around them. 

"No!" Y/n was able to shout back with confidence making him grin wide and laugh aloud.

"Good!" he said between his laughter.  I should try it too!"

"Are you out of your mind?" she asked since she had believed him to be kidding. Though, when she noticed his arms starting to raise from the corner of her eye, she gasped into a fit of laughter. Y/n made sure to keep his hands in place with her own over the handles of the bike. Right then, she came to the conclusion that this guy was definitely not one of the smartest. "You really are out of your mind!"

"Am I?" He attempted to tease her with a playful tone in his voice.

"You are," Y/n confirmed into his ear to make sure he heard her clearly. She shook her head in disbelief, still without any fear in her mind. Y/n was slightly scared for herself since even after Baji's antics she felt that she could trust him. 

"Maybe I just really wanted to hold a pretty girl's hand. In that case, I'm kinda smart," he tried to reason and turned his head to meet her eyes. Baji gave her a knowing look of triumph when Y/n became flustered and forcefully turned his head forward. 

"If you were so smart you wouldn't take your eyes off the road."

"I have better things to look at," he complained with his usual grin as he awaited Y/n's response. However, she stayed quiet and held onto his jacket tightly between her fingers. "Where's that witty response?" he asked curiously.

"You win," Y/n muttered into the air while hoping the wind blowing in her face would cool her heated cheeks of embarrassment.

He eventually stopped at a park for his final destination. Baji lead her to a swingset where he sat down with his back against the pole and Y/n sat on the swing nearest to him. Her eyes wandered the large playground and all the bright colors of the childish designs. 

Baji had been quiet ever since they arrived to the park. He was deep in thought with his eyes casted to the ground, trying to decide if he should tell Y/n about what he planned to do. He figured she already knew more than he ever could.

"I've been meaning to ask, so don't take this the wrong way. Why did you call me here?" Y/n spoke up first and hesitantly glanced over at Baji. Her hands tightened around the chains of the swing each second longer it took him to respond. 

"I wanted to take you on a proper date while I still could," he said and looked up to her. 

"A date?" she repeated softly in a daze, but she soon registered other words. "What do you mean, 'while you still can'?"

"At the meeting today, I'm going to do some things that will startle you and I apologise in advance. I wanted to avoid it at all costs if possible, but--" he began to say while staring directly into her eyes. She wore a serious expression of concern for him while awaiting his next words. 

He couldn't do that to her. Not when people already were questioning her loyalty to Toman. Baji wasn't going to drag her name through the mud with his. 'You don't deserve that,' he thought to himself.

"But what?" she asked.

"But," he hesitated to think. "But I was just kidding to see how you would react in a time of crisis. That's important to know if we were to do this again." Baji forced out a laugh and as expected, Y/n didn't join in.

"You're acting like an asshole. Don't joke about things like that anymore, okay?"

Baji nodded his head, "Okay." He raised from the ground and walked over in front of Y/n. He leaned down and held her in an embrace which confused Y/n. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's alright seriously," she rambled to explain awkwardly as he held her tighter. "Baji, it's really fine. Baji--" She was surprised to feel him lightly pinch and tickle the sides of her abdomen. Y/n bursted out in laughter and immediately tried to jump out from the swing. Unfortunately, Baji already locked her in an embrace and continued to tickle her more. She started to laugh so hard that snorts could be heard and Y/n slapped her hands over her mouth.

"Was that a snort I heard?" Baji teased again.

Y/n was short of breath from how much she had been laughing. "Fuck you," she attempted to say in a serious tone, thought in was only able to come out between her laughing fits. 

Even if Y/n claimed she hated her laugh, Baji found it lovable and comforting. He knew that she would try to get him back for it later and he accepted that. Baji just wanted to hear it since he had a feeling that he probably wouldn't get the chance again.