Quiet | BTS ✓

30

Mr. Min stands up from his seat and clears his throat.

Aria and Yoongi stand up too, making eye contact for a moment before they both turn to look at him.

"You may both be dismissed from class now since you've completed your assignment for the day," he says, sending his nephew a soft smile before leading the two back to the classroom.

Mr. Min calls for the next student while Aria and Yoongi grab their things and make their way out of the classroom towards the parking lot.

"We should probably talk about some things," Yoongi says, holding onto the strap of the backpack slung over his shoulder.

Aria is focused on her phone, typing for a moment before showing Yoongi the message she's typed up. He notices that it's addressed to Hoseok.

Aria: "I'm going to Yoongi's since we finished early. I'll have him bring me home later."

Aria is watching Yoongi with her eyebrows raised, and Yoongi realizes she is asking if it's okay that she wants to come over to his house.

Yoongi nods, sending Aria a reassuring smile, and she brings her phone back to see her screen before pressing "send" and putting her phone into her backpack.

They walk together to Yoongi's car and he unlocks the doors before opening the passenger door for Aria. She smiles at him gratefully before getting into the car and Yoongi gently closes the door after she's inside.

The walk around to the driver's side seems like it's lasting an eternity. It's like the relationship between Aria and Yoongi is situated on a fault line; the dynamics are always shifting and changing, new thoughts and emotions being pulled to the surface through the ever-shifting nature of their relationship.

Yoongi takes a deep breath to clear his mind. He's admittedly nervous; he's never had anyone in his apartment before, not even his uncle. He used the least amount of money he possibly could to secure a place to live, so it's far from what would be expected of Yoongi to live in, especially since he's lived in luxury his entire life up until the age of 19 when he left home.

It's almost as if, subconsciously, Yoongi doesn't want to live in luxury ever again. It's like he's afraid of turning into his parents if he begins to rely on wealth.

Yoongi doesn't need a nice house. He doesn't need housekeepers. He doesn't need the nice clothes and the fancy sports car.

All he needs is the music.

Once he's safely secured in the car, he drives them to his apartment, hoping that Aria will like the simplicity of it. He could so easily decipher her personal style from her shared apartment with Hoseok, and he hopes that Aria sees more than just the fact that he hasn't spend a lot of money to make the place feel like his home.

After the short walk from the parking garage to his floor, he unlocks his apartment door and ushers for Aria to go inside. He follows her in and they remove their shoes, Aria being careful to place hers neatly while Yoongi's are sprawled haphazardly over his other pairs of shoes situated by the door.

"Sorry it's not much; I just don't feel right spending a lot of money on things these days," Yoongi sighs apologetically, cringing to himself when he notices just how messy he's left his apartment.

He hasn't been focused on keeping his place clean recently; he's done nothing but compose and practice music here, and also sleeping when he can't physically stay awake any longer.

Aria frowns and shakes her head, her eyes scanning the small, messy space with an almost loving gaze in her eyes that confuses Yoongi.

How can she have that expression on her face when looking at something as simple as this?

"Aria," Yoongi says quietly, taking cautious steps towards the girl in the middle of his living room.

She glances towards him with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Can we talk?" He asks tentatively, pointing towards his couch and gesturing for her to sit.

She scoffs and rolls her eyes and it takes Yoongi a moment to realize what he's said.

"Oh," he says, biting his lower lip. "I'm sorry. You know what I meant."

Aria rolls her eyes but smiles reassuringly at him and sits down on his couch.

Yoongi immediately smiles back and sits down next to her, feeling suddenly nervous about everything that is about to come to the surface.

Again, their relationship is shifting.

Yoongi takes a deep breath before deciding to just start talking.

"Your piece about loss," he says.

Aria takes in a small breath before nodding nervously.

"It was so powerful; it was so beautifully devastating," he says, staring down at Aria's hands in her lap- the hands that have shown him such deep emotions through music; the hands that have shown him an entirely new beauty that he didn't know existed before he met her.

He's reminded of the phrase, "Where words fail, music speaks."

Aria is the epitome of that phrase.

"I know that having these heart-to-heart conversations may seem pointless to you since you can't verbally reply. I know that you feel trapped inside that beautiful mind of yours, and I will never forgive myself that I can't set you free in the way you wish to be. All I can say is that, in my own way, I hear you. Aria, I hear you just as clearly as I would hear if you spoke to me."

His eyes slowly move from her hands to meet her gaze; tears are silently sliding down her cheeks and Yoongi's heart breaks at the sight of it.

Aria quickly wipes the tears away, leaving behind no evidence of her emotions except her flushed cheeks.

"I know we've only known each other for a week. I know that the things I feel about you should be impossible, but I can't just pretend you're a new friend, Aria. Not after hearing you play today," Yoongi says, keeping his eyes on her face as he struggles to get out what he knows needs to be said.

She cocks her head to the side slightly in confusion, and Yoongi knows she is now wondering where he is taking this conversation. So, instead, he just decides to cut to the chase.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of folded paper; a piece of paper that he's had in his pocket all day but had been too nervous to give her. Until now.

He gently takes her hand in his and places the note into her palm.

Aria turns her attention to the paper in her hand and slowly opens it, eyes going wide when she reads what is on the paper.

"Be my girlfriend, beautiful."