delicate | K.TH

6

AMIN

He is outside.

He's standing by the streetlight, and I tilt my head in confusion. He was standing so stiff— so unnatural.

"Tae? I'm here."

"Amin." He says, smiling. And I know something is wrong the moment he says my name like that.

And even more when he wraps an arm around my waist and kisses me on the cheek.

His hand is shaking against my back.

"I missed you." Taehyung says, and I catch on the moment his eyes flicker anxiously behind him— where it's dark.

"Me, too."

And I kiss him, softly on the mouth. His hand tightens on the curve of my waist in surprise, and I quickly shift my lips to his ear.

"Is there someone here?"

He swallows, and that's all the confirmation I need.

"It's so cold, Taehyung." I say, pretending to shiver in my cardigan as I pull at his sleeve. "Let's go inside. Come on."

I secure my hand into his.

And until I get him inside my apartment and lock the door, I don't say another word. He doesn't, either.

But the moment the door's locked shut, he pulls me into his chest.

"Thank you. Noona— thank you so much."

He's shaking uncontrollably now, so I wrap my arms around him and wait until he calms down.

"Was someone stalking you? Who was watching?"

He doesn't let go of me, even as he's talking.

"S-She used to work for me. After I fired her, she wouldn't stop coming."

"She keeps asking for me to be her girlfriend, so I told her that I already had one and— and she wanted proof."

He hugs me tighter.

"I'm sorry, Noona."

"Don't be." I say, almost cutting him off. My face is dark with anger.

"Taehyung, you need to shut her down completely. Why didn't you call the police? And your guards?"

"It's my fault."

He turns his face away. "Jungkook told me not to leave without him tonight, but I did anyways. I didn't think anything would happen."

"She just— she just hadn't come for the past three weeks, so I thought..."

"It's okay. Is that him? Jungkook?"

I point at his echoing phone, and he nods. I fix him a look.

"He's going to be mad. Answer it, Tae."

He hesitates for a second, before accepting the call. And immediately I hear angry shouts coming over from the other end.

"Kim @&&&@& Taehyung! Where the hell were you when I came out? I told you to wait a damn minute, and you can't even—"

The sentence cuts off into a furious sigh, and Taehyung winces.

"I'm sorry."