The Crown | myg

twelve

Yoongi chuckles lightly before looking out the window as well to see his friend pressing his face against the glass and cupping his hands around his eyes to see into the building.

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," he smiles before waving his hands in a summoning motion to get Taehyung to come inside.

It takes a few moments, but Taehyung soon gets the message and pulls away from the glass before walking into the building. He stops beside Yoongi and clears his throat.

"Yoongi, fancy seeing you h-"

"She knows," Yoongi responds, not allowing Taehyung to finish his sentence. Taehyung falls silent and looks at me awkwardly before Yoongi begins to speak again. "You got this, Tae. I'm going back to work."
Without saying anything else, Yoongi turns away and walks out of the building, leaving me alone with a very nervous piercing artist.

"Hello, Taehyung," I say as I look over the counter at him, observing his posture, a clear indication that he's nervous.

"Hello, Hyuntae," he speaks, avoiding eye contact with me. "Would you like to, maybe if you want to, go on a date with me?"

"A date in which context?"

Taehyung shoots his head up and his eyes widen with pure fear. "A friendly date," he chokes before clearing his throat. "I haven't known you long enough to go on a romantic date. Plus, I know someone who I think likes you."

"Uh huh," I respond, leaning over to rest my elbows on the counter. "And who might that be?"

"No one," he shakes his head quickly. "Disregard the last comment."

I nod.

"How about we go on that little friendly date after you get off work," he suggests.

"Sounds like a plan, I'll walk over to the shop when I'm off," I smile kindly.

Taehyung bounces a little as he stands there before hardening his features and nodding in a manly manner. "See you then."

I don't get the chance to respond before he nearly flies out of the building and around the corner back into his own. With a sigh, I look at the clock and roll my eyes before walking into the kitchen to accompany Chanyeol in whatever he's doing.

"Chan," I say as I walk through the doors. "The strangest thing just happened."

"Do tell," he says with a little shake to his shoulders as he continues to abuse the shit out of the batter in the bowl in front of him.

"So Taehyung just asked me on a date," I say with absolutely no hesitation.

"See, I always knew Yoongi would-" he stops what he's doing, his hands stopping in their place before lifting his head and narrowing his eyes. "Did you just say Taehyung?"

I nod.

"Something is wrong," he shakes his head before looking back down into the bowl. "Something is very wrong. You better tell me everything, though."

"Yes, sir," I joke as I leave the kitchen, my hand waving as I walk away. "Whatever you wish."

-----

Just as I'm getting ready to close the shop for the night, one of my old coworkers walks into the building and rushes towards me. Her eyes are filled with some off concoction of fear and nervousness, but I don't call out to her to ask what's wrong until she stops in front of me.

"I was at the tattoo parlour next door," she takes a deep breath before leaning closer to me. "I overheard them talking about you and your date tonight."

"It's all friendly, Mina," I say as I count the cash in the register before placing it into a cash box that I hide every night. "I don't know why you're worried."

"You don't understand, Hyuntae," she whisper-growls. She suddenly begins to speak English, assumably because she noticed Chanyeol working in the back. "They were talking about Seojoon."

I take a deep breath and quickly drop the things in my hands before running up to the front of the store and locking the door. Turning back to Mina, I take a deep breath and push my back against the door.

"What else did they say?" I whisper; a signal for her to whisper, too, as Chanyeol is still in the kitchen.

"Seojoon has been looking for you ever since you quit," she whispers, looking toward the back to make sure that Chanyeol doesn't suddenly emerge from the kitchen and overhear our conversation. "They said that they have an opportunity and they're going to take it. Tonight is the night."

"Shit," I curse, pulling my body away from the door. The apron around my body nearly rips as I pull it off. "How the fuck did they find me?"

"I don't know," she shrugs. "But it seemed serious."

"I refuse to dedicate more of my life to that man," I spit, rage coursing through my body. "I refuse to let myself get caught up in that life again."

Our conversation is cut short when I hear my phone begin to ring from behind the counter. Without a second thought, I rush to it and answer the call.

"Hello, Taehyung," I say as I calm my nerves, trying to sound as put together as possible.

"Are you ready for our date?" He asks, his voice is cheerful. "There's only an hour left."

"I'm sorry, but something came up last minute," I say as I bite my lip in an attempt to conceal my lies. "Can we reschedule?"

"I'm sorry, Hyuntae," he speaks, his voice no longer cheerful, but deep and serious. He means business. "But this date can't be rescheduled."

The line goes dead and I find my heart racing uncontrollably. My eyes widen and I look toward Mina, my heart nearly leaping out of my chest. We're both left there speechless.

There's no way I can escape this now.