i'm single. kth | slow updates

십이

later that night, taehyung came over as promised to have dinner with aera. normally, their conversation flow would be endless, but today they enjoyed a comfortable silence.

aera was replaying jungkook's confession in her mind and taehyung was deep in thought too.

"뭐해?" aera asked, deciding to start the conversation.

"ah... just thinking... about eunbi."

"oh... what about her? and i was meaning to ask you, how close were you guys in the past?"

taehyung scratched his neck awkwardly, which did not go unnoticed by aera. he normally did that when he was nervous.

"eunbi and i almost dated? i guess? before i left to seoul, but it was never official... and we didn't kiss or hold hands or anything... we just both liked each other, i guess." taehyung replied truthfully, as he felt comfortable enough with aera to always tell the truth, although his voice held tones of uncertainty.

"oh... i see...do you still like her?" aera hummed, although inside she was freaking out. what did that mean?! were they going to end up together? was this fake relationship not working out anymore?! and then her mind drifted, dwelling on the aftermath of taehyung and eunbi going out.

"aniya haha, we're just friends." he replied, although aera couldn't help but doubt him.

she imagined that if they did end up together, it would be awkward to see them acting all lovey dovey in school, and taehyung and her would probably grow apart... she hated that. she was pretty sure she was starting to develop feelings for him but with jungkook confessing and now eunbi?

would it be better to just go with the flow and let herself fall for taehyung? or kookie?or should she save herself and prevent her heart from getting broken, she couldn't decide.

but she needed to, fast.

_

the next morning, taehyung and aera had gone back to their cheery selves and the walk to school consisted of playful banter and unhealthy amounts of laughing.

"oh taetae ya, when are you going to audition next!"

"next week..." taehyung replied, sounding nervous.

aera nudged him with her shoulder playfully. "i'll come and cheer you on!"

his pout melted into a smile immediately. "진짜? 고마워 라라아!" aera smiled and he wrapped her into a hug.

aera assumed he was going for a quick hug, but was surprised when he didn't let go. returning the hug, aera stood with taehyung along the sidewalk, leaning against his chest awkwardly.

the hug lasted about five seconds, but aera felt as if they had been standing there for hours. the smell of clean laundry, the warmth from his body, how well they seemed to fit together was all aera could focus on.

but it didn't last long.

with a quick squeeze, taehyung released her and flashed his rectangular grin at her. then he hooked his arm around hers, dragging her towards the school.

aera followed him listlessly as she kept on replaying how safe and comfortable it felt to be leaning against his solid chest... she craved for more.

_

during school, taehyung didn't bring up the hug, and aera didn't have the guts to. but she wanted to talk about it, she had so many questions.

why did he hug her to say thanks? weren't they just friends? was a ten second hug normal and considered a friendly hug? or did it mean more? were they supposed to make you feel warm and tingly inside? why hadn't she had such a long hug with any of her other friends? would she feel the same way if she hugged her other friends?

but she supposed there were other things that were more pressing at the moment. taehyung was about to audition and pursue his dreams! aera needed to make sure she was prepared to support him every step of the way, she promised that she would. and she intended to keep that promise.

she smiled as she turned to face taehyung, but then her smile melted into an annoyed pout when she realised he was currently occupied.

occupied with eun-freaking-bi.

frankly speaking, eunbi was slowly getting on aera's nerves. it had been almost a week since she first arrived and the only person she ever talked to was taehyung! and what aggravated aera even more, was eunbi's lousy excuse. " but i have no friends" doesn't count if you are to busy sticking yourself to my boyfriend instead of bothering to go out and make some!" aera wanted to shout, but refrained herself.

she was just his fake girlfriend, so technically, eunbi could leech onto him and aera couldn't comment about it. but then again, eunbi didn't know they were fake dating and still continued to parade the fact that she wanted taehyung in aera's face.

and that also reminded her of jungkook and his confession. she had stayed up all night thinking about it, and only came to the conclusion that she saw him as her 동생 . since young, she had always taken care of him, and treated him like one, so it was weird seeing him in a different light now. and she worried too, what would happen to them if they were to break up. losing jungkook would be more than just losing a friend, it would be like losing a family member.

and furthermore, it was so immature of him to cockblock her from getting a boyfriend...

she sighed. she didn't like how her mind had drifted so much. from taehyung to eunbi to jungkook, everything was getting so complicated!

"뭐해?" taehyung asked, finally breaking apart from eunbi.

aera sighed. "nothing taehyung..."

"ya, where's my rara at! come back, i miss you!" he said as he ruffled her hair.

aera crinkled her nose and she hit his hand slightly in fake annoyance. "don't mess up my hair!"

"그래, 그래..." taehyung said as he petted her hair down nicely. "i wouldn't want my rara to be mad at me!" he teased with a joking eye smile.

my rara...

aera almost squealed. only taehyung could cheer her up like this. only he could flip her mood completely just by opening his mouth.

my rara...

those two words made her want to do a handstand! not that she was physically capable of doing one, but the point was, it made her happy.

her taetae made her happy.

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뭐해 (mwo-hae) : what's up?
그래 (ku-rae) : sure