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"Whatever makes them happy," Taehyung whispered, something fading from his eyes.
Nonetheless, the smile that painted his lips was on the cover of every magazine and online article later that night along with his members who lined themselves beside him.
Another successful music show, and another day hiding behind a lie. After so long, he'd justified it by claiming that V was the happiest, sweetest soul. That was who they loved, V. Not Taehyung. Taehyung was a mess undeserving of their love and attention.
Taehyung was trapped in a mirage. Forcing a smile every night and fabricating a persona had become easy to him.
He didn't understand how people wished on shooting stars or prayed every night for fame and fortune.
Taehyung had it, and he didn't why people yearned for such things when each night he wished for his struggles to disappear, to feel less alone, and be loved.
No matter how many millions of people loved and cared for him, he didn't believe it was him they cared about.
Still, there were some good days. Days where he felt the love he received was for him, strengthening him to move on and better himself. Today, today felt like one of the good days.
"What about what makes you happy?"
Taehyung slowly blinks his thoughts away, turns his head to the side to the voice that questioned his happiness. His eyes dropped to the smaller figure, scanning the shelf of ramen. He hadn't even noticed her at first.
He realized she hadn't directly been talking to him, but rather, to whoever she was on the phone with.
Taehyung watched unamused as her eyes studied the bags of ramen indecisively. There really weren't that many options. Her selection included regular, mild, and spicy pork or chicken ramen, and she still didn't know what she wanted. He mindlessly watched her silently, zoning out of her conversation.
Finally, she stretched her hand out to the top shelf, fingers waving in the air in attempt to at least graze the ramen. A hint of amusement flashed in Taehyung's eyes after noticing her on her tippy toes and only being able to poke the ramen. Finally, after watching her struggle long enough, he reached for the bag, but she had already knocked it down and caught it in her hand after it hit the top of her head.
"Thanks," she smiled with red cheeks, mentally hoping he hadn't seen it hit her head. "I got it."
Taehyung's stoic expression remained the same, nodding softly before returning his attention to the shelf, but she remained in his mind. Not for any reason besides having recognized her, but not knowing how.
'Was she a fan?' He thought, but he shook the thought away because if she was she probably wouldn't have reacted that way.
Easily picking out his ramen, he made his way to the register and paid. In the midst of the silence, a laugh decorated the silence. Again, he recognized it, turning his head and finding the same girl from the ramen section. She rested her body against the counter, waiting for her ramen while she spoke into her phone a 'goodbye' and pocketed it in the tiny pocket of her cropped sweater. It peeked out of the pocket, and Taehyung swore it would fall at any moment.
He approached the counter she was at, preparing his bowl of ramen while studying her's in subtle glances.
It finally clicked, at perfect timing too, because she cheerfully greeted him. "Hi, Taehyung."
"Hi, Coco." He smiled, finishing what he had been doing before looking up, but she was gone. Surprised because she had just been there, he looked around him and spotted her seated next to the window.
Because Taehyung acknowledged he was a public figure, he had to keep his image around anyone— even if he didn't think Coco knew who he was.
When his noddles were ready, he sat by her and offered her a pair of chopsticks because he noticed she had left hers on the counter and was using a plastic fork.
She kindly took them. "Thank you, but I'm not very good at using plastic ones."
Taehyung's brows rested high on his forehead, eyes round in surprise that made her giggle.
Taehyung smiled at the small dimple that appreared on her right cheek and the scar that became noticeable under her jaw when she turned her head away from him.
If Taehyung was acting, he deserved a Grammy because his emotions were almost.... raw. When he caught himself, he composed himself as if the act was forbidden, sinful.
"Here," he said, taking the chopsticks in one hand and taking her wrist in the other. The great contrast between the sizes of their hands allowed him to manipulate her fingers with his. He positioned her hand appropriately before placing the chopsticks in her hand.
Coco's smile was soft as she watched Taehyung's finger's weave between hers. Her hand, which bore the innocence of a little's girls, was warm against his. She smiled, shaking away the childish thoughts that painted stories in her mind.
"Then," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "You move your fingers like this."
Coco laughed. "I know how to use them, but plastic chopsticks makes it harder to pick food up." Coco copies Taehyung's hand that easily picked up noddles before he stuffed his mouth. "Especially with noddles. It's slippery and all."
Taehyung laughed at the pout that formed on her lips, but slowly, his smile faded.
He resisted the urge to lean in and kiss her pouty lips the way he would kiss Kali's pouty lips. But Coco's lips didn't compare to Kali's. Kali's were wide and equally as full with a pale pink coloring them while Coco's were round and small with the top lip being slightly thinner with a soft dip and rounded mountains of her Cupid's bow.
He didn't desire her, but he wanted to taste her. He wondered if she tasted the same; maybe enough to distract him from Kali because he knew he could never forget her.
"Taehyung?" Coco asked and Taehyung's thoughts evaporated like a cloud. He's been staring at her lips too long and by now they were glossed with her saliva from licking the soup off them. "I got it. Well, a bit." She laughed. "I'll practice later."
Before she set the chopsticks down, Taehyung held her wrist. "Nuh uh," he smiled, fixing her fingers on the plastic sticks.
"Why?" She whined, biting her lip to hide from her smile peeking out. "I'll take too long to eat my ramen."
"It doesn't matter," He laughed, distracting himself from her lips by staring into her equally as captivating eyes. "We'll stay here all night if we have to."
