THE BOYS ✔️

TWENTYTHREE

Tae and I sat in silence for over an hour after I confessed everything. I told him about my surgeries, I told him what my original name was, and I told him the real reason why I don't talk to my old friends. He didn't run. He didn't shy away from me. His grip didn't even loosen from my body. In fact he held me tighter, he kissed me harder, and his look was determined.

"I am not going anywhere." He finally spoke breaking the silence.

I looked up to him confused. What? "What do you mean?"

"You are my girlfriend and I'm not allowing us to break up over this." He said sternly.

I looked up to him and sighed deeply. "Tae –"

"No." he said again. "You make me happy. Finally I found someone who loves me for me, who loved Kim Taehyung. I'm not letting you go. I don't scare that easily, and when I said you're worth the work I meant it. I will fight for you, and so will Jiminie and the rest of the boys. We all love you." He said as he traced his hand down my face.

I leaned into his touch ecstatic that he wanted to stay with me. "I really do love you, Tae. I know we havn't been together for long but, no one makes me feel the way you do. I meant every word I said last weekend. You make me feel safe. Even now. Thank you."

"You make me happy, and that's all I ever wanted. I will protect you, you're not alone anymore."

---

Tae for the most part didn't actually need to be in his office to work. He was a vocal coach but mostly he listened to auditions and watched audition videos of dancers. So after we told the rest of the boys, and Jin, they he spoke to their HR department, they decided that Taehyung's position would be one carried out from home. We turned my spare bedroom into an audio office for him, and Taehyung officially moved into my apartment. Despite the dark reasoning behind his sudden move, we were so happy to go to bed together every night. We loved ordering take out and falling asleep on the couch watching movies. And our sex life didn't change at all. He still made my blood boil, and I still got him hard by walking around in my lace boy-shorts. Things were looking up, sort of.

One day at work, it was just Nina and I since Ian was at yet another conference, and Jaxon was sick. A flower delivery man stepped into our office looking for me.

"Awe..." I heard Nina coo. "You really have a winner with that one, don't you?" she said to me.

"I am so lucky." I said back as I signed for the flowers.

We stepped back into my office and with a lone rose was a small box the size of my hand. This was the first time that Tae had sent me anything less than a dozen of something, but the rose was beautiful. I read the card and all it said was...'I'll love you forever.' When I opened the box, my stomach clenched and I gagged in my place. I threw it on my desk and Nina gasped in horror as well.

"Why would he send you that?" she shouted.

"He didn't." I responded  still nauseous from the realization. "It wasn't him." I looked up to Nina but before she could ask I spoke first. "Go home." I said. "I will explain to Ian that we were slow and I sent you home, but seriously leave. I'm closing the office."

We didn't speak much. We closed down our computers, locked the door and I sent a text to Ian explaining our absence. I made it back to my apartment with the flower and dead bloody baby rabbit to see Tae watching TV. He turned to me and shot up when he saw my distraught look.

"What is it?" he asked making his way to me.

I just handed him the flower, the note, and the box. He had a confused look on his face before he looked back to me in anger. He dropped them all in the trash and pulled the trash out and stormed out of the apartment. When he came back he was empty handed and he slammed the door shut locking the deadbolt. He hugged me tightly.