home sweet home - kth

elevator

elevator sounds like eleven right
—

"congratulations, player #1! you have won!"

"haha! you have to do aegyo now, jia!"

she grumbled and stomped like a child to sit down at a table.

taehyung followed her like a puppy following its mother. "that was cute, but it doesn't count."

"i didn't even do anything.. anyways, wanna eat?" jia took notice of the two menus on the table and figured now would be a good time to eat.

he sat down across from her and held the menu in his hands.

"sure, but you still have to show me your aeg-"

"yea yea, later. i'll do it when i feel like it."

after an employee went up to them and asked for their order, they waited until their preferred food arrived.

around them was a noisy atmosphere with prepubescent, snot-filled kids laughing and yelling. but between them, was a thick, awkward silence that was waiting to be broken.

jia shot her head up to start a random conversation to pass the time, but she noticed how fond taehyung looked of their surroundings.

"i remember when i was as innocent and carefree as them," he blurted with a sad smile, "my older brother and sister took me to an arcade after school everytime we went home and found out our parents were still at work."

she placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin atop her palms. jia grew comfortable at taehyung's story telling.

he suddenly let out a small chuckle. "they would tell me "oh? taehyungie, eomma and appa aren't home right now! while they're gone, let's spend some time at the arcade!" and then we would end up having lots of fun by the end of the night."

the drinks arrived shortly after taehyung was finished speaking. jia took a sip while continuing the conversation, "you must miss your siblings."

he nodded after taking a sip of his as well. "i want to see them but the problem is, i don't know where they live now. when i got kicked out by my parents, they were in medical school at the time and didn't come home often. i wonder what their reaction was when they visited my parents and noticed i was gone."

"i bet they were heartbroken, tae."
"mm."

she stirred my drink around with her straw before thinking of a solution.

"we can always find them using the phonebook or— tae? are you crying?"

the questioning female brought her head up to look at him and there were tears in his eyes. when she mentioned his state, he seemed shocked as well.

"i am? really?" taehyung wiped at his eyes furiously. he looked away for a moment to calm himself down, then returned his gaze back on her.

taehyung was now smiling with evident, glassy eyes. it was incredible how he could easily mask his emotions. jia's heart clenched at the sight.

"taehyung, if you're upset, please don't try to hide it. in front of me, at least. you're human and it's only normal for humans to show such strong emotions."

she reached her hand out to hold his in support. but he shook his head.

"oh, trust me, i would sob in front of you with no worries. but the waiter is coming with our food and on top of that, we're in a public place crowded with people. it would just be embarrassing to cry here."

taehyung assured jia and patted her hand before letting go to make some room on the table for the incoming food.

after that, the two stopped talking about things that would make either of them emotional and conversed about anything in their surroundings. how good the food is, how cute the children are, if taehyung could visit jungkook soon for more pancakes.

she looked up and surveyed taehyung, specifically a dirty spot on his face. jia contemplated whether she should? or shouldn't?

okay, here i go.

"aigoo~ taetae~ you have some food on your cheek! silly boy. i'll get it off for you~"

jia said in her cutest, baby voice and grabbed her napkin to wipe off the dirt. she was wearing a big (fake) smile on her face.

the man under the napkin grew blank and expressionless. the aegyo came out of nowhere and took him by surprise, leaving him in utter shock.

when jia has gotten his cheek clean, she resumed eating her food like nothing out of the ordinary has happened.

"jia, you were so cool," taehyung breathed out, "you should do aegyo more often! it's really cute!"

the aforementioned turned a light shade of red at the unexpected compliment. "as a matter of fact, i did aegyo earlier while you were busy watching that drama."

"you did? i didn't notice."
"i wonder why.."

—
this chapter was kinda boring soorrrryyy
didn't proofread btw