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Between Us And Infinity

Genre: Angst/fluff || soulmate!au / street performer!tae

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Length: 35.7k

Summary: Place two strangers together and give them seven days to fall in love, and they will be soulmates for the rest of eternity, otherwise, neither of the two will come to love anyone ever again; The Seven Days Countdown has always been an old wives tale to you and nothing more, but all of that changes once you meet Kim Taehyung in the midst of a crowd of thousands. From then on, your life is thrown into a race against time, not only on a mission to beat the clock in falling in love with the renowned heartthrob, but also on a quest to make him fall in love with you.

Soulmates, fate, and destiny; all concepts of which you deny and fail to completely grasp. If it is the red string of fate which ties you to your soulmate, your supposed partner whom divinity has reserved for you since the time of birth to the rest of eternity, and if it is your destiny to inevitably fall for said man, then the only question you are left with is: what exactly defines love? To be betrothed to an unknown stranger amidst millions of others and to have an intangible phenomenon dictate who you will, and will always, hold a bond towards is as unrealistic as it gets, and you can’t help but question the irrationality of such a concept overly romanticized by society.

Why fall for a man whom you have never known? How does one become suddenly captivated by someone they have little to no recollection of? Is it valid to label it as ‘love’ if it is an occurrence merely written in the stars of fate? And is your love proof of fate’s work? Or is it a product of your own will and desire to intertwine your fate with his?

These are the discoveries to be made and questions to be answered as they all come to play when destiny takes you on a path to whom you least expect.

-

A peachy, strawberry haired boy flashes on the television screen. The soft hues of his locks and the bright, rectangular shaped grin of his immediately captivates you as your eyes are drawn to the glaring screen. The entire living room lights up at the digital presence of this boy, along with the six of his group mates trailing closely behind, as he skips through the narrowly cleared pathway amidst a bustling crowd filling the cramped up underground subway. The cameraman from your local news station jogs by the boys’ side, whereas his coworker holds out a microphone and dutifully proceeds to dish out several questions.

“I told you they’re popular! You’re lucky I even managed to get us tickets tonight,” your friend suddenly exasperates from the couch across from yours. Judging by how much commotion they’ve been causing in your small suburban city, it would be a lie to outright deny Hyerin’s claim.

“But I’ve never heard of them before…” you scrunched your nose and cocked your head. “What’re they called again? Bangtan Sonyeon-”

“-dan. BTS for short,” Hyerin cuts in with a mischievous grin plastered over her face, the brewing excitement overwhelming you. She rolls her eyes at your remark and waves her hand at you to dismiss it. “Of course they’re not that popular. They’re only street performers. What kind of authentic band like theirs has made it to the charts in less than a year? People don’t recognize talent, but I do.”

You scoff at her bold statement, frowning as her thumb flicks the side of her nose and a prideful grin spreads across her lips. “Alright, you do you, Hyerin. As long as you don’t drag me into this. I’m only coming tonight because you begged me to for a week.”

“Oh, don’t worry, you’ll thank me later,” she snickers and grabs a handful of chips from a bag lying on her stomach.

Pressing your lips shut, you nod your head and successfully pretend to go along with it for the sake of entertaining your friend. Although you had agreed to attending her favorite band’s concert tonight, you don’t plan on delving into her fangirl side of the world any time soon. Sure, the boys breathtakingly gorgeous and their type of music is right up your alley, but you just don’t see the purpose in falling for these boys whom will never reciprocate those feelings, nonetheless even catch a mere glimpse of you. So what's the point in screaming over boys who would never come to know you?

“Okay, but you have to admit they’re pretty cute,” Hyerin shifts in her seat until she’s facing you. Without sparing a glimpse at her, you keep your eyes on the television screen to avoid her mischievous gaze. The silence becomes unbearable as all you can hear are the low hums of the device before you and the loud chomping of Hyerin’s jaws as she tosses chip after chip into her stuffed mouth.

“Okay, fine. I’ll admit they’re hot as hell,” you huff.

Your words instantly piques Hyerin’s interest as she screams and you regretfully realize that you’ve just turned on an internal switch of hers. “Which one do you like the best?!” her eyes pop and her gaping chip filled mouth muffles her squirming.

“I don’t know… they’re all so… ethereal,” you struggle to keep your actions consistent with your statement, but your eyes persist to follow the peach haired boy across the screen.

Hyerin narrows her eyes at you suspiciously, a smirk dancing in the corners of her lips. “Yeah, right, Y/N! I can always tell when you’re lying. You won’t even look me in the eye!” she snickers before adding, “so who is it? And don’t even think about lying to me this time.”

You stare at her and she mirrors your glare, narrowing her eyes and raising her brows as she detects the slow cracking of your determination. After a few seconds of the intense staring competition, you finally give in. “Alright, fine,” you groan, pointing your index finger at the television screen, “the peach haired one is pretty cute.”

“Oooh! Taehyung? The Kim Taehyung?” your friend squeals and claps her hands like a seal in sought for attention.

“What? What’s so ‘oooh’ about that?” you frown.

“Of course you’d like Taehyung. He’s one of the most popular ones after all,” she purses her lips and nods. “Why him though?”

“I don’t know… there’s just something about him? Something that screams out to me and I can’t really put my finger on it, but he’s the only one I feel familiar with out of all seven? Like home? Comfort?” you mumble, brows knitting and cheeks burning the more you express your absurd, yet genuine, inner thoughts. The conflicting emotions gnaw at your chest; there’s something about the boy through the screen that tells you he, out of all people in the entire world, is crafted specifically catered for you, and the way the pulling force in the back of your mind persistently urges you to believe your paths with him would soon intercross. You purse your lips and immediately shake your head, “forget what I said. I don’t know what I was saying.”

Hyerin snickers, “you don’t think every girl has said that before? We all like to think we’re fated for them.” She sniffles and feigns a few sobs. “But fate is such a cruel thing.”

“I never said anything about fate… I was simply admiring their looks,” you scoff, keeping your previous thoughts to yourself.

Are you really becoming another one of those fangirls right now? No, surely you’re just slightly dazed by this so called Taehyung’s ethereal demeanor. After tonight is done and over with, you’ll forget all about the silly crossing paths with a near celebrity, about the exertion of warmth and solace you found in the dark chocolate eyes of his. Tomorrow, you’ll be back to the good old you… right? But as much as you attempt to suppress yourselves of these mysterious emotions, the floating thought of the serenity of his eyes linger in the back of your mind.

“Well, that’s good, because he’s off the market anyways.”

“What?” you quirk a brow.

She crosses her sprawled out legs and slides the bag of chips across the coffee table towards you. “Yeah, I heard he hasn’t been in a serious relationship in years. Something about how things ended badly with his ex,” she shrugs. “Everyone’s given up on their dreams now and moving onto Jimin.”

“Pfft, good luck to them,” you scoff.

“Well, say, Y/N,” Hyerin’s tone lightens up as she turns around and curls up into a ball, the curl of her lips adorning her giddy expression. “Isn’t it sometimes fun to imagine a life with them? Maybe you bump into them in the streets and fall in love or something!”

“Like in fanfictions?”

“Yeah! Sure! Or maybe, say… being soulmates? Ooh, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps!” she gasps at her own statement and giggles in overwhelming excitement, clapping her hands and endlessly squealing.

“You’re kidding, right? Soulmates?” you burst out into laughter. It might be hypocritical of you to call off such a concept which you had just been pondering over a few seconds ago, but merely hearing the words and being forced to face it head on makes your head spin in the absurdity of the ridiculous proposition. “Are you telling me you believe in those things?”

“I mean… why not? I’ve always heard stories about it from family friends and there’s even articles about it in the newspaper,” she huffs at your reaction. You continue to grin at her like an adult peering down at a child, eliciting a pout and whimper from her.

“You live in your own wild fantasies, and I’ll live in reality and admire these boys from afar,” you snicker.

“They’re not fantasies, Y/N!” Hyerin pouts. “Haven’t you heard about the Seven Days Countdown?”

“Seven Days Countdown? Sounds like Christmas Eve,” you raise a brow without budging in your seat, keeping your eyes on the boys whose interview had just ended on the flat television screen.

“No, Y/N, not Christmas Eve! We’re talking about soulmates here!” she whines at your lack of attention. Seeing the large grin plastered all over your face as you persist in pretending to ignore her like you have always done in the past, she correctly figures you’re just waiting for her to continue another one of her many stories. “Once you lock eyes with your soulmate, a timer appears on your hand and begins counting down from 168 hours, and bam! You have seven days to fall in love!”

“To fall in love? Don’t you just fall in love at first sight…? Isn’t that how the whole soulmate thing works,” you cock your head to the side.

“Not from what I heard. Apparently some people meet their soulmates but never fall in love. It’s pretty rare though.”

“...and if they fail to fall for each other?”

“Then they’ll never fall in love with anyone ever again,” she casually says all too bluntly. Glancing at your widened eyes and taken aback expression, Hyerin waves her hands dismissively. “Ayyy, don’t worry about it. It’s just an old wives’ tale. I was just bringing it up because I thought it’d be fun to talk about.”

“...yeah,” you mutter under your breath.

“I’m just joking anyways—” she glances up at the clock which just struck nine, “—shoot, the concert’s starting soon. Let’s go, Y/N!”

She scurries out of the living room, grabs her purse, and drags you out the door along with her. As she scrambles her way through the house, you barely manage to swipe your jacket and phone off the couch when you’re nearly tumbling out onto the front porch. Locking up the front door to her house, she whirls around and beams at you with her slim, smiling eyes.

“But you know, wouldn’t it be funny if one of us ended up being soulmates with one of the boys tonight?” she giggles. “I actually think you and Taehyung would be pretty cute together!”

And with that, she skips off into the driveway to start up her car, leaving you behind and mumbling, “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad,” before jogging into the moonlit streets amidst the breezy, fateful night.

-

Screaming girls and boys crowds the relatively small room, bustling and chanting as they await for the performers to start the show. Luckily for you and Hyerin, the two of you have somehow managed to squeeze your way just a few rows from the front of the crowd right before the elevated wooden stage. Judging by the absence of seats for the audience and the small stage standing before you in the vast, previously empty room, you can tell the venue isn’t exactly originally meant for concert purposes. On the contrary, the band, supposedly called “BTS,” seems more than popular enough to completely fill the room. In fact, the audience of at most a thousand or so are so electrified for tonight that you and Hyerin are constantly being shoved back and forth. There’s practically no room for you to budge at all, your elbows bumping into others and your arm rubbing against Hyerin’s and the girl to your left, and you swear the security guards standing in the entree way must have exceeded the maximum occupancy limit.

But before you’re given a chance to escape this madness of a crowd, the lights dim and the red curtains just a few yards away are drawn open to reveal the seven boys everyone has been waiting for. Suddenly the volume of the audience peaks at an all time high when each and every one of its members screams the boys’ names, arms reaching out and lungs bursting in excitement as their shouts reverberate in the enclosed room along with piercing your poor eardrums.

“Are you ready?!” one of the black haired boys growls into the microphone, a howl of screams ensuing afterwards. Like the novice you are, the easiest way for you to identify each one of the boys is by their hair color. One is black haired, the other two are brown haired, the rather pale one is gray, one is blond, another pulls off vibrant mint hues quite well, but alas, when your eyes land on the last boy in line, your breath is quite literally knocked out of your lungs.

You hear yourself gasp at the sight before you, your heart skipping a beat, and your entire body running stiff. The boy you saw just earlier in your very own living room is standing just a few meters away on stage, a beaming, large boxy grin adorning his face and a brighter presence than anyone you’ve ever seen lighting up the room. He’s even more stunning in person.

The stage lights which strike him at the most perfect angle illuminates his gorgeous tan skin and his bright smile which resembles that of a child’s. The cupid’s bow of his slim, wide lips accommodate his small frame, his high nose bridge, and his monolid, sharp eyes which spoke of mystical wonders beyond words to you. It’s at this moment that you realize the accuracy of Hyerin’s constant awe; it’s impossible for any human to not have their jaws drop in shock at the sight of these men. Sure, there must be thousands of fans who might prefer another member over the boy you can’t help but stare at in awe, but to you, he’s simply mesmerizing. You can’t explain it in exact words, but it’s as though every one of your tastes have somehow blended into the definition, an unbreakable mold, which represents the very existence of this boy. And if you have to put it into some form of words, then it’s simple. He’s ethereal, exquisite, and breathtaking.

In fact, he’s so out of this world that you find yourself eyeing him throughout the entire duration of the concert. The bass of the music blasts through the speakers and thumps against your chest so firmly that you find yourself immersed into the concert, screaming and chanting along with the audience with a smile on your face. It isn’t until the next incident which occurs that pulls you from your mini daydream and disrupts you from the swiftness of the concert and draw you back into reality.

A burst of screams come from your right, causing you and the rest of the crowd to snap your heads towards said direction, finding the one and only Kim Taehyung jumping into the audience with his back and body propped up by the hands of his fans as he crowd surfs and drifts several feet away from the stage. And before you even know it, the boy is literally just two feet from your right and a foot higher hovering in the air.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N! That’s Taehyung!” you can barely hear Hyerin belting on the top of her lungs.

But her voice is drowned out into the blurred background, because all you can see now is the boy before you.

A tunnel vision forms; your eyes black out everything around you, the flashing red, purple, blue lights, the white smoke filling the stage, and the many faces which surround the boy dissipate within that split second. You’re staring at him, at his slender, long fingers, at his smooth, soft bare skin of his neck, and ultimately at his dark chocolate orbs of his eyes. And then it finally hits you.

He’s staring at you too.

Your gaze locks with his and you swear your heart nearly jumps out of your chest in that mere second. He’s wearing a grin, a mischievous one which perfectly matches his red, plastic sunshades you can probably buy at any toy store, and it’s an ever so slightly smug, lopsided smile that you fail to reciprocate. Because all you can do at that moment is gape in shock. He’s lightly laughing at how cold stone you’ve become, but what he can’t see is how your heart instantaneously melts along with every inch of your insides when the warm, soothing hues of his eyes looks into yours. Despite being a moment which probably lasts less than a second, everything about this short moment epitomizes every fan’s wildest, most surreal dreams.

Unfortunately the split second ends abruptly when the top of your left hand stings so intensely, as though a hot, simmering pan had planted itself firmly against your bare skin, and you instinctively avert your eyes from his to glimpse at your hand.

Like the start of what you presume to resemble that of a heart attack, a force of shock and edging pain pierces through the center of your chest at the sight before you; seven numbers brand across the top of your hand.

168:00:00

167:59:59

167:59:58

...and just like that, the clock begins its countdown; each second that passes hammers against your thumping chest, the pain descending from its zenith as it begins to fade into the back of your consciousness. Hastily reaching out your right hand to rub against the top of your left hand, you roughly ran your thumb across the flat surface of your bare skin repeatedly until it began to burn with a brazing light shade of red. But regardless of how many times you attempted to smear the digits off of your hand, the numbers remain imprinted seemingly underneath the first layer of your skin. And as the translucent digits shift between a light red to a dark blue-purple hue with each tick of the clock, the origin of the mystical, dreamlike ordeal strikes you to the core of your heart.

Is this the Seven Days Countdown?

It can’t be true; it’s only a myth. This must be a dream. But when you look up to reaffirm yourself of your own delusion thoughts, attempting to find the boy’s gaze whom you had so effortlessly lost yourself in, he’s gone. After having the once in a lifetime opportunity to touch—hold—their celebrity crush, the crowd is jumping up and down with more electricity filling the air and adrenaline running through their veins than ever. Your eyes glide over the mess of a sweaty, rejuvenated audience only to find the boy standing back on stage, glowing and performing his heart out as though the last few seconds where time halted and motion froze have never occurred in the first place.

The rest of the concert flies by in a blur; half an hour becomes condensed into merely five minutes. The crowd begins to deplete little by little, the lights begin to dim, and the red curtains draw closed as they glide across the now empty stage all while you stand there with your mouth gaping and your head scrambling for an explanation to grasp the situation you have just been flung into.

“Psst, Earth to Y/N. Did you enjoy the concert so much that you don’t want to leave?” Hyerin hisses by your side, tugging on your arm and urging you to follow the flow of the crowd.

“H-Huh?” you stutter, eyes flickering to your friend as you snap back into reality. People are bumping into you from all directions, side conversations are louder than ever, and the security guards hold lightsticks in their hands to guide the traffic towards the door where an exit sign hangs from the ceiling.

“Are we leaving or not?” she furrows her brows at you in concern.

“Uh y-yeah,” you splutter.

Hyerin yanks you forward without another second to spare, maneuvering through the crowd like the expert she has become throughout her years as a dedicated fan. Despite how desperately you’re yelping and clambering onto your feet, you can’t help but look back over your shoulder to gaze wide eyed at the dimming stage where the boy had stood just a few minutes ago.

Is he simply an illusion of the wildest dream your subconscious had somehow let slip past its seams? Or is the magical little moment where he looked into your eyes and acknowledged your presence and existence a snippet of a split second solidified into history? When you narrow your eyes at the empty stage, all you can wonder is: are you sure you’re not just dreaming? There is only one comprehensible possibility your mind can formulate amidst the flood of thoughts crashing and streaming straight into dead ends of your constrained head. Did fate just betroth you to the one and only Kim Taehyung?

Somehow at some point in time, the two of you manage to make it into a taxi cab as she crawls into the back seats and you slam the door shut. Earlier, Hyerin had suggested a quick trip to the nearest nightclub to top off the end of what she claims to be a perfect night. But after what had just played out right before your eyes, you personally have a change of plans for tonight is your only chance to resolve whatever situation had just presented itself to you.

“I can’t believe we actually got a ride before the others. It’s not usually this crowded—”

“—Hyerin, I actually forgot I have something really important to do back home,” you blurt out breathily.

Hyerin’s lips turn upside down and she raises both her brows at you more out of surprise from your outburst than skepticism. “What did you forget?”

Should you tell her the truth? Would she believe you? Sure, she’s the one who had explained the whole concept of soulmates to you in the first place, but at the end of the day, does she really believe in such silly myths? Hyerin has always been an optimist and a dreamer, but you know that even she wouldn’t keep her cool in a situation like this, especially if you suggest the person standing at the end of your red string of fate is the renowned member of a boy band you two had just been daydreaming about.

“My, um, stove! I’m not sure if I left my stove on,” you mumble, pressing your lips into a thin line as you lie to your unsuspecting best friend.

“Your stove?!” she emphasizes, eyes popping open and fear plastering every inch of her facial expression. Even though you were one of the worst liars on this planet—or at least when it came to lying to your best friend—judging by how Hyerin is pushing you out of the cab with every sense of urgency in her voice and hands, your silly, gullible friend must have fallen for your improvised act. “It’s been at least an hour since we left your house! There’s too much traffic right now. Walking should be faster. Hurry up and go!”

“Alright, alright. I’ll call you later tonight! Have fun with Hani!” you call out to her as they fall upon deaf ears. Hyerin simply bobs her head up and down like an adult disregarding a child, waving her hands off at you as she shoos you to hurry yourself up. Whirling back around, you scurry and allow yourself to be engulfed into the bustling crowd standing outside the venue as you beg for Hyerin’s mercy if she is to ever discover what you’re truly up to tonight.

Ducking low and hiding yourself from the security guards scattered across the crowd of amassed fans, you leap and dodge the inevitable pushes and pulls of the screaming guys and gals before your hand grasps a cold, metallic door handle. Giving it a hard pull, the door whooshes open and you hastily slip yourself through the small opening to re-enter the small venue. Luckily for you, Hyerin was correct when she gauged the popularity of the boys—they’re popular, thats for sure, but judging by how easily you sneak into the completely evacuated venue once again, you figure they aren’t popular enough to afford decent security.

But that underestimation gets the best of you when you’re climbing onto the empty stage and roaming your way into the back rooms right by the podium where you assume the boys must be wrapping up their performance for tonight—what you’re planning to do exactly when you meet them, you’re unsure of—and your head suddenly slams into a chest which honestly feels as hard as a stone cold wall. In a dazed state of mind, you tilt your head up to meet the piercing stare of the security guard who towers over you.

“You’re not supposed to be back here, miss. The exit is that way,” he sternly instructs while pointing firmly at the entrance door you’ve just come through.

“I-um-yeah, I know,” you stammer, ducking your head and jumping every which way in a vain attempt to peek through the closed door labeled ‘VIP’ behind him. “I’m just really in a rush right now—like really. I swear I’m not a crazy fan or anything—”

“—then what are you? A staff member?” you can just sense the security guard rolling his eyes at you despite your avoiding gaze. “You have no idea how many times I’ve heard that before.”

“No, but I have an emergency. I swear I’m not making things up.”

Cautiously trailing your line of sight off his feet and up his lengthy torso, you gulp at the unamused look in his stare; his lips presses into a thin line and his protruding jaw clenches as he faces yet another seemingly lunatic of a fan.

“And that is?”

You frown, brows knitting and hands fumbling with the hem of your shirt because how are you supposed to explain your current situation when even you don’t believe it yourself? Tell him you’re supposedly fated to meet and fall in love with the Kim Taehyung? Spew nonsense which only seem to originate from the very depths of fairytales by proclaiming to be the soulmate to the ever so conveniently jaw dropping, attractive member of a boy band?

You can’t do it. The only person you’re willing to make a fool of yourself in front of is your so called mate waiting on the other side of the door and one person is enough.

“I can’t exactly tell you right now…” your voice trails off into a squeak.

The man lowers his sunshades down the rim of his nose until you can now clearly stare into his deadpanning expression with wide eyes.

“And so what’re you suggesting?” he asks with the quirk of a brow.

You avert your shifty eyes between the ground and the fueling fire in his own. Judging by how he stands with his arms crossed and his feet firmly planted onto the ground to affirm his wide, defensive stance, you know he has already completely and accurately predicted your next answer. Your knees go weak and your blood runs cold as you stare at the ground and take deep breaths in and out in order to calm the borderline painful beats of your heart.

“...can I just talk to Kim Taehyung for a minute?”

“No,” the man growls and points at the door across the empty stage. “The exit is that way.”

“Please!” you beg, both you and the man taken aback by your sudden spike in volume. “I-I promise I’m not a crazy fan! I just really need to tell him something! I swear—”

“—whoa, whoa. What’s going on here?”

Your ears perk at the sound of a series of chuckles and your petrified gaze averts to the side behind the man where the door is now slightly ajar only to find a curious, familiar looking boy peeking through. With his brows raised and one of the largest, brightest smiles adorning his equally radiant facial features, he takes a step out from the room and reveals his unreal body proportions from behind the door.

“Oh, Hoseok,” his entire body goes stiff before he whirls around and immediately gives him a slight bow. “It’s nothing serious. I have this under control.”

The boy—seemingly named Hoseok—nods his head slowly with his lips forming an ‘o’ shape as he turns his head to glance you up and down. “Hey, what’s up? Is there something you need?” he quips with a large smile, ruffling his sweat drenched hair with a white towel. “I don’t have a pen on me right now, but I can go get one real quick if you wanna wait.”

“Oh, no,” you blurt out all too suddenly. Hoseok turns around before re-entering the room and raises both brows at you questioningly. You clear your throat and hide your fidgeting hands behind your back. “I’m not here for an autograph or anything… I just need to talk to Taehyung... Kim... Taehyung…?”

Hoseok seems taken aback at the mention of his band member’s name, eyes flaring as he blankly blinks at your request. “There’s only one Taehyung here,” Hoseok softly laughs after a few seconds of silence. He cocks his head to the side and flashes you the ever so radiant smile. “We’re kind of having a certain... dilemma right now, so I don’t have much time. Is there something you need? Or do you want Tae’s autograph and not mine?”

You let out a small laugh along with him as you rub some warmth into your arms and ponder over how on earth you’re supposed to break the news to him. Telling someone you literally just met a minute ago that divinity has supposedly betrothed you to his smoking hot friend isn’t exactly the most ideal way to explain your current situation. He’d think you’re crazy—no, even worse than that. He’d order the intimidating security guard to haul you away before banning you from not only attending their concerts but also visiting your soulmate to be. Nonetheless, you didn’t have much time, but luckily for you, Hoseok breaks the long impending silence after scanning you up and down before staring at your left hand with widened, dart-like eyes.

“Wait, hold on…” he mutters to himself under his breath. He glances you over once again, brows knitting and lips curving downward into a baffled, unconvinced expression, but his stare never strays too far from the numbers branded on your hand. Grabbing your hand, he pulls you towards the back room and waves off the alarmed look on the guard’s face, “Taehyung… come over here and take a look, Tae!”

Hoseok calls out into the room before opening the door just enough to allow the two of you to easily slip through. His gentle pull yet firm grip around your wrist incites a small yelp from your constricted throat, your eyes going wide and your mouth gaping when the sudden transition between the dim, dusty yellow lights out on the stage and the bright blast of white lining the pale, speckless walls of the barely decorated room. While the backstage crew roam around in the room, minding little to no attention to you and Hoseok, the two of you weave around the furnitures, lights, mirrors, and props scattered around in its temporary house before being moved onto the next city of the tour. He’s squeezing your hand loosely yet tightly enough to keep you close behind throughout the havoc of everything that goes down backstage, maneuvering through corridors and pivoting down a few halls until you stumble into what seems to be your final destination beside Hoseok.

A solid few seconds of silence passes, and you still can’t come to terms with the fact that you’re standing in a room staring at six boys any girl could only dream of seeing up close, and to be even more specific, they’re the boys whom you had no plans on associating yourself with other than watching them from afar. Nonetheless, here you are now, hands fidgeting behind your back and eyes shifting between the two groups of three boys seated in couches across from each other. Contrary to your baited breath, the boys are mumbling amongst one another with frowns and creases between their brows as they take part in a discussion which seems to be of serious business; only the clearing of Hoseok’s throat manages to snap them back into reality, heads turning and eyes darting to their fellow member before quickly averting them to land on you.

“Oh, Hoseok, you’re back!” the peach haired boy—the one you went through so much trouble to look for, the one who started this whole mess, the supposed one—chimes with raised brows and a box shaped grin, cocking his head to the side to glance at you along with the five other members.

Despite knowing just how strange your sudden appearance must have been, you can’t help but stare at Taehyung; and unlike last time where you were starstruck and staring in awe, this time around, you’re staring at him knowing who he is to you. A potential soulmate. Nonetheless, the intentions behind your attentive state goes under his radar when he locks eyes with you, “oh? Do we have a visitor?” his grin widens and his eyes light up before scrunching up into thin lines as he waves at you. “Hi, I’m Taehyung! You can call me TaeTae if you want.”

Did he really just introduce himself to you, a stranger?

“H-hi…” you manage to say under your breath before quickly averting your eyes to Hoseok; but even with your attention diverted elsewhere, you can still sense the cheerful tint of his brightened eyes gazing at you from the corner of your eyes, ultimately causing blood to rush to your cheeks with each second that passes.

“Oh? Is she the one we heard outside from earlier before?” Namjoon utters with the raise of both brows. He stands up from his seat to close the distance between you two, each one of his steps inciting a hard thump against your chest. “Hey, I don’t think we’ve met before,” he pauses to smile with his hand reached out towards you, “I’m Namjoon, and you’re…?”

His beautifully tanned skin brings out the vibrant colors of his uniquely cut mint hair, his cheeks are rounded and his lips are full, he’s tall and long legged, and just everything about him makes you question whether or not the seven boys before you are truly real and not just a fantasy your fangirl infected mind had come up with. And so struck by the presence of this towering man, your lips part despite failing to formulate any words as you blankly blink at him.

“...Y/N,” you finally manage to mumble.

He greets you with a warm smile and shakes your hand, “nice to meet you, Y/N,” he averts his gaze to Hoseok as if to ask him for why exactly he had brought you—assumingly one of their many fans—backstage in the first place. But instead of an explanation, Hoseok only gives him a concerned bob of the head towards you, eliciting a quirk of both brows from Namjoon as he turns his attention back to you. “Is there… something I can help you with?”

“Oh, yeah, uh,” you stammer over your words, thousands of thoughts flying across your wide eyes only to retreat back into the depths of your mind.

Throughout the small frame of time which had elapsed since you left Hyerin back in the cab, your entire body had gone into autopilot. You weren’t sure where you were going, what you were doing, or why you were doing what you were doing, but the one thing you did know was who you needed to find; and now that you have finally found him, you aren’t exactly sure why you needed to see him nor how you were going to explain yourself. And so before you know it, your jaw is slacking wide open as you find yourself struggling to formulate an answer to his question—because just what exactly are you doing here? The only thing which manages to draw you out of your momentary daze is the burning sensation of the friction between your thumb and the back of your hand, the constant rubbing causing you to wince and halt yourself from peeling off more layers of skin.

“This thing appeared on my hand…” you mumbled, creasing your brows as you attempted to explain yourself. “It’s a, uh, timer… it appeared on my hand during the concert, and I was just thinking—”

“She has the same timer as Taehyung,” Hoseok cuts your wild goose chase to an end. Gently wrapping his fingers over your wrists, he raises your hand into the air for the rest of the boys to see. “They even display the exact same times.”

The boys gasp at the sight before them as the two beholders of an intertwined fate blankly stare at each other—you, bewildered by the confirmation of your wild suspicions, and him, just coming to terms with the meaning behind those mysterious numbers.

But surprisingly to you, rather than appearing baffled and ticked off by the mysterious path fate has placed him upon, instead, Taehyung seems be much more amused than anything; his mouth hangs wide open and his eyes pop out as they glide between you, your hand, and Hoseok, the cheeky grin dancing in the corner of his slightly curved lips boggling your mind.

Is he… entranced by this whole situation? Does he see this as just another challenge that he's more than willing to challenge? Is this boy—Kim Taehyung, the current heartthrob of this city—seriously alluded by not necessarily you but the challenge against time and fate itself?

You're baffled by his goggling eyes which glistens with a spark of interest for the sudden twist in what he probably claims to be a mundane life, but the voices of concern cloud and bury your observations for later.

“So what does this mean exactly…?” the pale gray haired one frowns, lips pressed into a downward sloped line.

“Well, I searched it up right after we found the timer on Tae’s hand—” he turns to find you blinking at him in confusion, “—right after the concert, that is. There's a myth that it's called The Seven Days Countdown.” You timidly nod in confirmation of his quick research, and Namjoon mirrors your gesture when he glimpses to check on your own reactions. “It sounds kind of outrageous, but to put it simply… they’re soulmates.”

“What?”

With the exception of you and Namjoon, everyone’s jaws hang wide open as they nearly jump up in shock over the term which only seems to come from the most romanticized of movies. Pressing your lips, you’re careful not to make yourself too obvious when you sneak a few glances at your supposed partner just to check up on how he’s taking this all in. To your surprise once again, his eyes only widen, his brows raise, and his lips curve downward into not necessarily into a frown but rather a slightly taken aback and impressed reaction to the phenomenon occurring right before his eyes.

“Soulmates?” Hoseok emphasizes, placing a hand on who Hyerin informed you to be the leader of the group. “Are you sure?”

“Ay… you’re not pranking us, are you?” the boy with the brightest, slimmest eyes of the group turns to pat Taehyung’s lap. “You’re not going to fool me, Kim Taehyung. I know you’re a part of this whole plan.”

“Me? A prank?” Taehyung points at himself, eyes bulging out at the idea. He scans the room from wall to wall, skimming over you who stared at him with a quirked brow over his struggle to find a self explanatory answer. He turns back to Jimin with concerned, knitted brows, “I don’t think I am…? There aren't any cameras set up, so I’m pretty sure I’m not pranking you.”

You frown at his peculiar answer. Just who exactly has fate betrothed you to? Is this really going to work out?

“Wait, I don’t get it,” Hoseok shakes his head, “what does that have to do with the timers?”

“They have exactly seven days to… come to a consensus. 168 hours to be precise,” Namjoon avoids thoroughly explaining the unconvincing concept, narrowly dodging questioning laughs and looks that would come from the boys.

“What kind of a consensus?” a blond, broad shouldered boy quirks a brow.

Glancing at the boy wide eyed, your lips part but your mind fails to formulate an answer you’re too bashful to speak aloud; and the fact that the boy is undeniably gorgeous—the way he perfectly pulls off a pink collared shirt along with his plump lips and smoldering gaze—doesn’t help at all. Fortunately for you, a staff member knocks on the door just as you’re about to mutter some sort of incoherent response to his oblivious question.

“Namjoon, Jin, everyone who hasn’t finished their takes, I need you outside in a few minutes!” the rather raspy voice echoes in the hallway right outside the door, yawning in the midst of his sentences; from the drag of his words and the looks of the boys’ dreary eyes, with the exception of the peachy haired boy whose eyes persistently shines with glee, everyone is tired to their bones, and the only thing they want to do now is return home despite knowing that they must endure more hours of labor and fatigue.

“Got it, we’ll be there in a second!” Namjoon calls back out to the now long gone staff member, signalling the rest of the group to follow along as he heads for the door.

Getting up from their seats, everyone mumbles about, words of discontent and encouragement to convince both their fellow members and themselves that the light is nearing at the end of the tunnel. Their hands hang attached to the back of their strained necks as they trudge along; everyone has already seemingly forgotten the large issue at hand—literally and metaphorically—except for the subject of fate’s present project, as the boy remains seated on the couch and cluelessly shifting his circular eyes between you and the boys like a lost puppy.

Before leaving you alone, standing there with your hands helplessly by your sides and your mouth falling agape in loss for what to do next, Namjoon turns to glance over his shoulder and back at you. He shoots you a reassuring grin, lips clamped shut and both corners lifting as his eyes smile along until his intimidating presence transforms into a rather small, soft bear, “the boys and I will make sure to sort things out with our boss. We’ll try to make some excuse for Taehyung, free up his schedule and give you guys as much time as you need for… you know.”

“For what?” Taehyung blurts out, eyes slightly popping at Namjoon’s statement and lips parting only to utter simple words and questions like a child lost in a conversation held between adults.

But before you’re able to mumble some sort of confirmation, all your body allows you to do is blankly stare at him while instinctively nodding your head.

“Alright, for now, try to get to know each other more. Taehyung, make sure to stay by her side at all times. Have fun kids,” Namjoon chimes. And with that, he ushers the boys who only shoot clueless looks at each other with shrugs that only mirrors the other before firmly shutting the door behind them, leaving you and Taehyung alone together in a room.

Silence passes for a few seconds; to you, it’s an overwhelmingly deafening silence filled with unease and urge to fill what you gauge to be an awkward tension between the two of you, but to him, it’s only a temporary moment for him to catch up on all that just played out right before his eyes. Because after a couple of blinks, eyes wide and void of any knowledge as to what had just happened, his puppy like eyes turn to you, causing you to nearly jump in nerves, as they scrunch into a childlike grin with eyes squinting and lips forming a rectangle to flash his perfect teeth.

“Sit down,” he chirps, gleefully patting the seat beside him with excitement filling his low, honeylike chuckles. Pressing your lips into a thin line, you hesitantly take a few steps towards him, never failing to notice how he never fails to keep you in his line of sight; he intently watches you like an impatient puppy waiting for the right opportunity to pounce, head turning and eyes gliding with each one of your steps until you finally resolve to uncomfortably seat yourself on the couch across from him. He leans forward, “you said Y/N, right? I’m Taehyung, Kim Taehyung. You can call me Tae for short!”

While introducing himself, Taehyung slightly swings one of his bent arms across his chest, as if he’s a salesman attempting to promote himself as a product, and you can’t help but snort at his overwhelmingly friendly aura; from the few minutes since you’ve met Taehyung, you can tell he’s warm and kind, funny and energetic, and all you can think of at the moment is ‘perhaps fate hasn’t chosen such a bad mate for you after all.’

“Hey,” you somehow manage to utter, crossing your arms and keeping them in your lap and close to your stomach, “it’s nice to meet you, Taehyung.”

He gently smiles at you, never minding the timidness residing in every inch of your body language; instead, he only kicks back, leaning back into the couch and arms reaching over to rest behind each side of the headrests.

“Ditto! Uh,” he chimes before lightly patting his head to fluff his hair out of habit, wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue and continuing in mumbles, “I meant that as in it’s nice to meet you too, Y/N… not that it’s nice to meet me… because I’m not that kind of person if you think I am—”

“I know, I got it,” you chortle at the lack of eloquence in his use of words. He simply nods his head, shifting his gaze between you and the ground as you glance around the room as though you’re looking for something in particular, when in reality, you’re just trying to avoid the awkward moment of having to look at him face to face. “So… don’t you need to go out there with the rest of them?”

“No,” he shakes his head, “I already finished filming last week since I originally had an individual schedule today, but that ended up being pushed to next week anyways… so I’m free! What do you want to do?”

“Um…” you yawn in the midst of your sentence, the longevity of the concert seems to have taken a toll on you, “nothing in particular.”

“Oh,” his eyes widen as he stands up, “are you tired? Do you want to go home? I can take you home!”

“No, no, I’m okay! I promise,” you immediately shake your head and hand before dropping your hands into your lap and furrowing your brows. “But… you do know what’s happening to us both, right…?”

“What Namjoon said about the timers? Yeah,” he quirks a brow.

“Yeah, but do you know what he meant by a consensus…?”

“You mean falling in love?” he quips, plopping back down into his seat when your mouth falls open in surprise. “Yeah, I know about that. I’ve always liked reading about things like this, and I’ve never doubted the validity of them… but now that I’m actually experiencing it for myself, I’m not exactly sure what to do.” He lets out a breathy chuckle, his shoulders and chest rising and falling as he gives you an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I feel like I should’ve been more prepared for this.”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” you quickly blurt out to reassure him. “I didn’t even believe in things like soulmates… or at least before all this happened.”

Both of his brows raise, “really? I’ve always believed in those stories people post online—be it about aliens or soulmates. I mean, don’t you think some bunnies might live on the moon?”

“Bunnies? On the moon?” you try to suppress your laugh. Just where exactly did that question come from? Disregarding your supposed mate’s peculiar yet amusing behavior, you’re just glad that the seemingly awkward tension had disappeared and been replaced by an easy flowing conversation. “Well, you gullible child, what’s your plan for all of this then?”

He frowns at the word gullible, “I don’t know. If seven days are on the clock, then shouldn’t we spend as much time as possible with each other? You know, get to know each other first and hopefully we’ll… fall in love… or something like that. But I guess it’s not possible if you’re practically falling asleep when I talk.”

“Huh?” you nearly yell, eyes popping open and yawn stopping midway. “Oh, I’m not tired. I just… blanked out. What were you saying?”

“Oh, forget it,” he waves off, rising from his seat once again with his hand reaching out towards you. “C’mon, I’ll bring you home.”

“I’m fine, really!” you exclaim, trying to mask how your bodily instincts are obviously contradicting your words. “Plus, you’re right. We should spend as much time as possible together this week. How am I supposed to do that while sleeping at home?”

“There’s no point if you can’t even hold a conversation,” Taehyung chuckles, grin widening and eyes forming crescents when they pop open and a surge of electricity flashes through his irises as if a light bulb had flickered on in his head. “Oh, I know! You can stay at my dorm for the next week!”

“Me? At your guys’ dorms?” your eyes pop wide open at the thought of sleeping with someone who’s practically still a stranger to you. “Oh, no, no, no, I don’t want to bother you or anything. Besides, we can meet up early in the morning.”

“Why not? We’ll have more time to get to know each other!” his face sinks and his bottom lip barely juts out into a pout, completely oblivious of the evident reason holding you back from his offer.

“The thing is, I’m a girl… you’re a guy… and I just don’t feel exactly comfortable with that idea if you know what I mean,” you sigh, pursing your lips when Hyerin’s voice echoes in the back of your head and reminds you of Taehyung’s reputation as the supposed member with a bad habit of fearing commitment. “I mean, I know you might be into that kind of stuff—not saying it’s bad or anything—but I just don’t know you well enough.”

“What on earth are you saying?” Taehyung frowns, his brows scrunched and his lips upside down, looking at you in concern. Luckily for you, the need for you to reiterate more explicitly dissipates when a light bulb flashes in his eyes before his chin dips and his lips curl up into a sly smile radiating of implications that he has finally registered the meaning behind your vague words. He wiggles his brows at you, “ohhh, I see how you are, Y/N. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I was just offering you a friendly invitation, a proper solution to our problem at hand. But if you’re thinking about anything more than that, or shall I say steamier than that, then I’m afraid you’ve got the wrong boy—”

“Am not!” you blurt out, gawking at him. “I’m not thinking whatever you think I’m thinking.”

“Oh? Then why not stay at our dorms?”

“I just prefer my own bed!”

“We have fairly decent beds ourselves! C’mon, I’ll even let you sleep on the new mattress I bought with my own money!” he slightly shakes his outstretched hand, prompting you to take his offer once and for all. Keeping your hands tightly tucked into your crossed arms, you huff and glare at the boy who only gives you cheeky grin and a wiggle of the brows. “If you don’t take my hand in 3 seconds, I’m going to assume you’re a pervert who faked this entire situation just to sleep with me! In 3… 2…”

But prior to the final count, you loudly sigh and smack your hand into his as a submission to his persistent ways. Taehyung’s boxy grin only widens while giving your hand a quick, firm squeeze, enabling you to realize just how large and soft, slender and delicate his hands are engulfing yours before whisking you away. Pulling you up onto your feet, you yelp as Taehyung wastes no time to lead you out of the room and through the busy crowd of staff members wrapping up the concert; he’s turning and jumping and skipping every which way, and it would’ve been impossible for you to keep up with him if it weren’t for his hand which holds tightly onto yours.

Every once in awhile, he takes a quick glance over his shoulders to flash you his mischievous grin which resembles that of a child. And every time he would turn his head back, stripping you of the breathtaking sight of the stage lights perfectly reflecting against his glistening eyes of hope, wonder, and thrill, you could finally release your baited breath and allow your heart to skip freely without being caught red handed; but oddly enough, it isn’t him who catches the flips of your pounding chest, instead, it’s you.

Your lips clamps shut and your eyes pop open in surprise, because how is it possible for some stranger to make you panic like this with your heart skidding and your stomach fluttering? Regardless of his dashing looks, you know there’s just something about that childish smile which captivates your heart at first glance. Is it the gleam of his soulful eyes which word to you to live in the present rather than worry over things which will eventually fall in place anyways? Or is it the soft edges of his monolid eyes, the features of his nose, and the curvatures of his kissable lips which makes your heart melt, knowing fully that as commonly seen as energetic boys like him are, there’s still a part of him which keeps you on your toes because he’s unpredictable in every other way.

Maybe it’s the spur of the moment, or maybe it’s the complicated situation divinity has placed upon your shoulders; nevertheless, there’s something about Kim Taehyung that undeniably enchants you until you’re left at the edge of your seat waiting for more and wondering—

—just who exactly is he?

After waving his hands before the shut eyes of his manager, he cracks a giggle before happily and swiftly swiping the car keys off the desk beside him and into his hands. You’re just about to ask him if it’s a good idea to take them without permission, but he only waves you off while guiding you out the back stage and into the private parking lot under the building in order to avoid the swarm of fans still waiting outside.

“Don’t worry, hyung always lets me use his car,” he coos, buckling in his seat belt as you did so too yourself. Inserting the keys, the engines roar to life before returning to a soft purr when Taehyung begins backing out of the car. “Plus, this isn’t my first time borrowing the keys while he’s sleeping.”

“You mean you sneak out at night? With someone else’s car?” you quirk a brow.

“Something like that,” he chirps before glancing at your disapproving look and cowering in fear, shoulders rising and smile widening in nerves. “Hey, Jungkook brought up the idea, not me! It’s not my fault cup noodles taste so good at night.”

A snort escapes your throat before you erupt into a fit of giggles; it’s impossible to deny that Taehyung sure does have an interesting take on things, but there’s no doubt how much fun you’d have on a night out with such a spontaneous boy. In fact, the rest of the night ends up much less awkward than you had predicted. Conversations flowed smoothly, jokes were cracked here and there, basic questions like your background, age, and favorite types of whatnots were asked, and before you knew it, you’re standing in the bathroom connected to his bedroom with his oversized shirts and shorts draping over your frame.

He had offered you his own clothes as a temporary replacement for your own pajamas at home, as he was unable to drive you back home for it was already getting too late and the boys would soon be home, but judging by the way he swung his clothes nonchalantly at you without another thought to what you gauge to be filled with promiscuous implications, you know you’re the only one with such thoughts in your head.

Taehyung had been calling out at you impatiently in the last few minutes while you were in the shower, asking you things like how much water and shampoo of his were you planning to use and how much longer he would have to wait to pick up wherever he had left off his never ending conversation with you. And so despite the jitters in your heated, freshly washed skin, you shut your eyes and turn the doorknob before stepping out into the flood of comparatively cold air of his room filled with the scent of him—blueberry and raspberry with a hint of high end cologne.

“I’m done, you can quit yelling at me to get out now,” you barely manage to say, peeking one eye open when no response follows.

“Oh… you’re finally back?” you hear a low, throaty mumble coming from the ground. Lowering your line of sight, you find Taehyung lying in his sleeping bag sprawled across the ground. With his body curled and his hair tousled in every which way, he barely lifts his head and peeps open one eyelid in an attempt to acknowledge your presence before groaning and plopping back onto the ground.

Out of the blue, a loud snore roars throughout the room and interrupts your endless stream of thoughts; the suddenness of it all elicits a soft laugh from under your breath, because hey, maybe you really are overthinking it. Besides, you’re simply too drained to even waste energy over worrying about such things like this. Maybe Taehyung really is just too tired to properly react or take in the sight of you in his clothes. Or maybe cheesy things like that never actually happen between couples. Either way, the second your hand falls back under the sheets after having reached over to flick the light switch down, a pit of darkness dawning upon the room and throughout the dorm, the only thing your mind is some sleep to rejuvenate your worn state.

And to end the crazy havoc of tonight, that’s exactly what you get when you’re lulled into deep slumber void of light and sound; with his soft bed sheets tucking underneath your chin and pulled to engulf your cheeks with warmth, you can inhale to sweet, musty smell of him, and as much as you would end up denying it the morning after, you’ve never had a better sleep than tonight.

-

DAY 1

The next morning—or rather afternoon—you’re startled awake by the beam of light peeking through the small slit between the two curtains you had heard Taehyung attempting to shut properly to ensure you a better sleep. After tumbles of raspy groans and incoherent mumbles left his lips, Taehyung had changed and gathered his things to depart from the dorms and head for what your ears could barely pick up as the recording studio down the road.

Swinging your legs over the edge of the bed, you take a few minutes to stare off into the distance and absorb the silence which has taken over the now empty dorm . Your head is spinning and your throat is parched, but none of those compare to your incapabilities of sinking in the fact that you’re sleeping over at not just any celebrity’s house, but a boy whom fate had supposedly set you up with just last night.

Was that not all just a dream?

Your eyes immediately glide over to your raised hand to confirm the skepticism lingering in the back of your mind. And surely enough, whether or not to your dismay, the digits remain ticking and shining brightly under the skin of your hand’s back.

After a half hour of pacing back and forth, attempting to comb your tangled hair and walking around the mess of the dorm to rinse your mouth with cups of water, you settle yourself back into the comforts of Taehyung’s room. You’ve gotten used to the smell of his room, the musty yet sweet fragrance of his pile of clothes worn “just once” he claimed, and you’re not sure how to feel about the smell of him lingering in the locks of your hair. In fact, you’re baffled to discover that a small part of you has taken some sort of liking to the intimate thought of the scent on his clothes radiating off of your bare skin and hair. He’s just a stranger, you haven’t even gotten to know him yet and you’re already getting ahead of yourself, you internally remind yourself, but that doesn’t stop you from sheepishly smiling to yourself with flushed cheeks before thinking that God, you’ve gone crazy.

Roaming around his room, it’s impossible for you not to notice how tidy he is aside from the occasional piles of sweatpants and beanies he’d throw here and there. The few books you figure he only uses for aesthetic purposes and seldom reads are nicely aligned next to one another on his desk, a few papers with pen marks inking across its surface lies in the right hand corner of the tabletop, and more than several electronic devices sprawl across his supposed workspace including video games, consoles, controllers, and numerous headphones which you figure to be for his gaming purposes with Jungkook—the one who had begged Taehyung to play a round of Overwatch with him instead of endlessly conversing with you last night.

It’s all an enjoyable experience for you, getting to know Taehyung through the subtlest of things, but that’s before a certain picture with a bold shade of red catches your attention from the corner of your eyes. Squatting down to find a printed, rectangular picture of a familiar face, Taehyung, next to a girl you’re rather unfamiliar with, you hesitantly reach in to recover the discarded photo from the plastic bag filled with crumpled pieces of recycled paper.

You know you shouldn’t be doing this; it’s invasive and uncalled for. Who are you to rummage through his trash? Who are you to look into his past when you’re just a stranger he had no choice but to be destined to? You’re nothing more than that, a person who has no other relation to him than knotted red strings, but for some reason, the tug of your heartstrings tells you otherwise. Holding the picture in your shaking hands, you don’t even want to glance at the picture, but from what you can tell, the girl’s utterly adorable with blonde bangs and shoulder length hair—she’s much too cute for you to feel reassured.

She has to be a relative… right? Someone as attractive as her? It must run in the family… or at least that’s what you’re trying to convince yourself of. Your stomach drops as you toss the image of your supposed mate comfortably throwing his arms over the girl’s shoulders, the both of them smiling and giggling with Disneyland’s renowned castles towering behind in the background.

It’s a strange sensation, the twist of your chest and the denial of your mind as it forcefully retracts itself from the new discovery, especially when you remember this boy is just someone you met last night. You don’t have any connections to him, neither physical nor emotional, yet why did you feel this way? Why are you so jealous and hung up over someone who you barely know? You ask yourself all of these questions, and yet you already know the answers to them all: the fact that you’re supposed to be his soulmate, the one and only living being in this entire universe fated for him and capable of making his heart leap and taking his breath away from the simplest of gestures, but what’s the point in your role when someone else has already taken it?

Maybe fate really did make a mistake this time around. Maybe Taehyung doesn’t feel the same sensation of protection and desire to fulfill his role like you did—even if it’s on a miniscule level. Maybe by the end of this week, the both of you are going to walk away just as quick and unattached as you had came in.

Despite all of the insecurities flooding in, you quickly brush off the thoughts and grab your jacket off his chair before departing the confinements of his room and leaving the dorm. As odd as that short moment of a breakdown was for you, fortunately enough, you’re able to keep your heads on your shoulders by deciphering just how much Taehyung really means to you. He’s still a stranger, albeit a cute one at that, but all of those feelings in the room back there? They were all just natural insecurities anyone would have of being unwanted and unneeded in a role the divinities had assigned them themselves.

If fate says you’re destined to be with Taehyung, then the puzzle pieces will naturally fall in place. And if not, then so what?

Crossing the currently empty streets, for everyone had gone to work by now, you make your way to the small studio lying across their dorms in your jacket and Taehyung’s baggy set of clothes from last night. A bell rings a welcoming tune the second you cautiously swing open the door and peek through to find the boys sprawled across the room, some standing and some sitting on the ground and couch.

“Oh, Y/N, you’re awake!” Hoseok greets you from the floor.

“Morning,” you give him a small smile before mumbling, “or I guess afternoon...”

“Actually, it’s almost 3, so it’s nearly evening by now,” Yoongi—or at least you think it’s Yoongi, according to the set of pictures Taehyung had showed you last night—remarks with a shrug.

Despite being taken aback by your own delay, nevertheless, you narrow your eyes at him and huff, “okay, but in my defense, Taehyung forced me to stay up until 3 am in the morning before I can even take a shower.”

“Good point… he does tend to do that,” Namjoon mutters, everyone’s head turns to eye at who you presume to be Jungkook, someone you’ve learned to associate as Taehyung’s trusty side kick from the countless stories he had told you last night.

“What?” the boy stares with shifty, wide eyes.

“Well, anyways,” Jimin changes the topic, “did you sleep well last night? Taehyung tends to mumble and move around a lot in his sleep…”

“Oh yeah, I know,” you snort, recalling the various times you had heard him sleep talking in your subconscious. Apart from the several times you had to push him off the bed only to have him subconsciously attempt to climb back up with grumbles, moans, and a confused state of mind—to which you couldn’t help but giggle at how utterly adorable he appeared—you did indeed have a restful night of sleep. “But aside from that, it was pretty nice. I hope you had some good rest too?”

“Well, it was as good as it could get,” Jimin laughs, shrugging. “We had to get Taehyung in here early so he can finish most of his recording for the week. That way, he has more time to spend with you.”

“Oh,” you utter, eyes wide in surprise. “Thanks, that’s... thoughtful of you.”

Now that Jimin mentions it, you finally come to realize the absence of the bubbly puppy in the room; it was just too quiet from what you’ve become accustomed to. Glancing over the floor before you, you purse your lips in a vain attempt to find the usual chirpy boy by your side.

“If you’re looking for Taehyung, he’s in there recording,” Yoongi points across the room.

Turning your line of sight to follow Yoongi’s, a wide, slightly tinted window lays on the wall separating the recording studio from the lounge room where the rest of you stands in. Peering through the glass, the first thing your eyes land on is Taehyung—a ridiculously alluring Taehyung at that; beads of sweat trickle down his temples and drip from his drenched bangs and his stare is so intense that you swear he's going to a hole into his music stand at any second, and yet this intangible force constantly pulls your eyes to stare at him in awe like the opposite poles of two magnets because the northern pole of determination and passion in his dark brown, soulful eyes seems to attract the southern pole of your reluctance to fall in love for the sake of fate’s plans for you.

But as much as you like to internally deny it, it’s this certain moment in a fracture of time that you first admit he’s one of a kind; if there’s one thing you look for in a partner, passion for commitment is a crucial factor, and he has just that.

Does that mean you’re in love? No, certainly not... but there’s no harm in admitting this boy’s unique charms.

With the exception of Jimin, the rest of the boys enter the studio to join Taehyung and their agency’s producers. You glance up at Jimin with a quizzical look when he scratches the back of his neck, his gaze shifting between you and the ground, before handing you a piece of scrap paper with numbers written in messy penmanship.

“I don’t know how to phrase this… but I was thinking about you and Taehyung’s situation last night and how I could help,” he starts off with a mumble, “I thought maybe it’d help you if you got to know his preferences and past experiences with… love… and all that.”

Both of your brows raise, “oh, that’s kind of you to consider… but what exactly is this then?”

“I don’t know if Taehyung wants me to tell you, but if this all turns out for the better, then the two of you will be getting to know each other awfully well anyways,” he purses his lips, “but this is his ex’s number, Lisa.”

“Oh,” you utter, trying to ignore the drop of your stomach. So that girl in the picture really is his ex. Taking the note from his nimble fingers, you can’t help but question yourself: why do you still feel that rising sensation of jealousy lingering in the back of your throat? Why does Taehyung still have a picture of his ex—an ex of two years—in his room? Is he still invested in her? Are you good enough competition for her?

Aside from all the rising self conscious issues, you can’t help but wonder if it’s right for you to even intrude on his privacy like this. Shouldn’t you ask Taehyung before contacting his ex? But you don’t want him to know that someone like you, just another one of the many girls vying for his attention, are trying to decipher his likes and dislikes in an attempt to win his heart. It’s sheepish and cowardly of you, but who would like that? You want to play hard to get, you want to have that slow build up of a chase, but in a situation where only seven days are given, things like that aren’t possible. You have to get him to fall for you somehow, and hopefully you’ll fall for him as well in the process of it all. But despite trying to convince yourself that you’re doing this for a good reason, the moral compass within you states otherwise.

His eyes widen in panic, “oh, don’t be so down over it! They really weren’t anything that serious! But ever since he broke up with her a few years ago, he hasn’t really dated anyone, so I thought maybe she could help you out? I don’t know! I’m sorry! This was a bad idea!”

“No, no, it’s fine. Maybe this’ll work,” you brush off with a lopsided smile, “thanks for the help, Jimin, really.”

Scratching the back of his neck, he timidly nods his head and shifts his weight between his two feet. “If you ever need any help, feel free to ask me. I just want the best for you and my best friend.”

With a nod and wave to end the conversation, the following couple of hours pass by quickly except for the burning sensation which never leaves your fingertips and back pocket where the note has touched. Luckily for you, the boys invite you to sit in on their recording session, estimating that Taehyung would be free for the rest of the day afterwards, and the entire process of it all impresses you enough to entertain you for what could have turned out to be the most dreadful experience. While half the group separated themselves from the other group to practice their lines, the remaining four members, including Taehyung, spend their time rehearsing certain portions of an upcoming title track with a vocal trainer.

But that wasn’t the best part of the entire experience, because what manages to get your head turning and your mind spinning while replaying the scene over and over in your head is the minute Taehyung’s lips part to run through his lines. Sure, the other three members, Jungkook, Jimin, and Jin, have amazing talents which any rational being would die to have, but when Taehyung sings…. When series of notes spill from his smooth, oh-so-kissable lips, your heart along with the rest of your insides melt at just how utterly honeylike his voice is—something that has a different impact compared to the riffs of the other members.

As if his deep, throaty voice isn’t enough of a surprise in contradiction to his childlike personality and looks, hearing the soul resonating in his thick, smooth voice which engulfs you in warmth and assurance, akin to a tight bear hug on a chilly winter day, it’s simply impossible to deny how delightfully taken aback you were. And if that isn’t enough to impress you, the way his head nods in acknowledgement of the trainer’s critiques, jotting down notes before practicing his lines over and over again, evident improvement shining in the growing gleam of confidence of his soft eyes with each repetition, every single gesture of his tonight shows you just how humble and passionate of a boy he is; and even though he’s obviously more than capable of gaining a strong fanbase without these moments of extra effort, sweat, and tears to be shed, his commendable dedication for music is what pushes him on, shining a positive light upon him in your eyes.

“Y/NNN, you came!” Taehyung sings, exiting the recording studio and skipping over to you. You stand up to greet him with a smile, but his definition of a greeting is evidently different from yours, for he pulls you into a tight hug “I missed you so very munchies!” His arms wrap over yours and around your back as he rests his head against yours, smothering you in dripping sweat before you smack his back and push him away.

“Hey,” you laugh, “you’re getting all of your sweat on me.”

“Maybe it wasn’t on accident,” he gives you a mischievous grin and wiggle of the brows. All you needed to do is cross your arms and narrow your eyes at him for him to take a step back with hands up at his sides in self defense. “Alright, I was just joking… maybe.”

Frowning, you disregard his last statement, and unbeknownst to you, you’re smiling at his enjoyably cheeky acts. “You literally saw me last night, heck, you met me last night. How could you miss me already?”

“Oh, you caught me. Should I drop my act now?” he jokes, covering his gaping mouth as he gasps. But the second your frown deepens, he immediately retracts his words and takes your right hand in his, squeezing them and swaying them side to side as he clutches his chest and pretends to wince in pain. “Ah, ah, but how would you explain this ache in my heart? Is this not the feeling of missing someone you love? Are movies all lies?”

“Oh, shut up,” you laugh, slapping his chest. “Are we heading back to the dorms now then? Or can I finally go back home?”

“Go back home? No!” his jaw drops before he lunges forward to engulf his hands in yours. “I actually have somewhere I want to take you!”

And before you can say another word of approval or protest, Taehyung begins jogging out of the room and down the block, calling out and bidding the other members goodbye; your body practically jolts forward as you yelp in surprise, attempting to keep up with him when he breaks into a full out sprint.

“Good,” you breathe out in huffs, calling out to him from behind, “because I didn’t wait for hours over nothing!”

“What did you say?!” Taehyung turns around to look over his shoulder, brows raising and lips slightly parting questioningly.

You aren’t sure if it’s the lighting or the angle, but his eyes are practically sparkling, glimmering, and exuding a certain shimmer that captivates you and leaves you breathless in a way you can’t put into words. The way he’s running with you hand in hand like an eager puppy looking back at you as he weaves through the crowd and still pays attention to your every needs, you can’t help but feel a certain jump in your chest, a temporary void before your heart returns to its place along with all forms of gravity. But there it goes again; when he smiles… when he smiles the childish, signature boxy smile of his after your delayed response, a fall, a loss in the grips of self control disappears in your chest returns that all you can mumble is a small ‘never mind’ before a wide smile adorns your lips from ear to ear.

All of the running sums up to Taehyung taking you to a nearby convenience store to swiftly buy two cups of instant noodles, and whether or not you agree with his idea of a great date, you’re certainly intrigued by the excitement bubbling in his giddy jitters.

“Can you remind me why we’re getting cup noodles again?”

He jumps up and down in place, glancing up at you from the water boiler in the store as it filled the cup nearly to its rim. He grins, “why not?”

“Because if you can’t cook, I can always try to make something for us…”

“Ay…” he cocks his head to the side with a cheeky grin, holding out the cup at you as if it’s a glass of wine. “You’ll see why we’re doing this soon.”

And with a wink of the eye, he swiftly grabs your hand in his and sprints out of the store and down the blocks once again. You’re trying your best not to spill boiling water all of yourself when, thankfully, the two of you reach your destination and take a seat on the top of the playground. The sun had just set and the night is still young as the horizon of fluffy white clouds disappears underneath the sheaths of the emerald blue hues of the sky.

“Cheers,” he cooly coos, gently bumping your cup with his.

Shaking your head, you roll your eyes and fail to suppress your smile before the both of you start digging in, “cheers, you goofball.”

With the night air setting in, the chilly breeze grazing against your bare skin and cheeks like cuts skimming across your freezing state, you finally come to understand the purpose of the noodles. The spice in the dinner the two of you share on the top ledge of the yellow and blue playground next to the entrance to a red slide helps warm you up as your cheeks and lips puff in red. He drapes his jacket over your shoulders without a single word to speak, as if it’s the most casual and obvious thing to do, and you hate to admit how your heart melts at his nonchalant act of chivalry. But what you hate even more is how you’re intaking the scent of him which radiates off the warmth of his jacket, a scent that has somehow redefined itself as ‘solace’ and ‘soothing’ in your head.

“I had a good time hearing you sing today,” you break the silent atmosphere filled with slurping.

“You heard me sing? You were watching?” you can barely see his eyes widen in the darkening of the skies.

“Mhm,” you hum, “you were good. I really love your voice. It’s soulful and unique… but there’s one thing you can do better at.”

“What? What is it?” he urgently asks.

“You should’ve sang about me,” you tease with a chime, bumping your shoulder against his. “If there’s one thing all girls fall for, it’s a guy who can sing. It’s even better if they sing to her.”

“Ay…” he scoffs at your cheesy request, pressing his lips and leaning back before giggling and flashing his wide, boxy smile along with his crescent eyes. “I’ll do it if you remind me to next time.”

“Oh, really? I was just joking, but a promise is a promise,” you hold out your pinky at him. He glances between your outstretched hand and your eyes with a wide grin before hooking his own lengthy, smooth skinned pinky over yours.

“So you’re a fan?” he asks after a few more minutes of slurping. “Hm, being soulmates with a fan. Never would’ve figured.”

“A fan?” you nearly choke on your noodles. “No, no, no, I’m not a fan.”

“But I saw you at the concert. You were the one I looked at while crowd surfing, right?”

“You remember?” you nearly gasp with popping eyes. Out of everyone in the bustling crowd, you can’t believe he actually pays attention to his surroundings, nonetheless remember you out of the thousands of fans.

“Of course,” he chirps, leaning in to bump his head to yours with his gaze locked with yours. “We looked into each other’s eyes like this,” he lowly whispers and all air is knocked out of your lungs, “and then you stared at me, frozen still just like how you are now.”

His observation brings heat to your cheeks when you push him away and lean back, sheepishly looking away. His 180 degree changes in personalities, alternating between sensual and loveable, is mind boggling to you in every which way.

“You’re being silly. Anyone would’ve done that with a celebrity inches away from them.”

“Ahah! So you are a fan!”

“No, my friend dragged me to the concert!” you unexpectedly raising your voice in an urgent need to correct him.

“Alright, alright, whatever you say Y/N!” Taehyung waves off, nudging his elbow at you only to have you scowl at him.

He tilts his head back and stares off into the distance and into the starry night sky as you do the same. With a warm styrofoam cup in your hands, your stomach filled and your lips throbbing with leftover spice, everything is practically picture perfect except for the tempting urge for you to lean your head onto Taehyung’s shoulder. And despite the itch of your shoulders and the growing uneven weight distribution of your head, it’s all too strange for you to move at such a fast pace, especially if he’s someone you don’t even know and maybe don’t want to know on that level just quite yet. But to him, he has different goals in mind.

Taehyung grabs your right hand in his left, squeezing them as he gently pulls you towards him to your right until your head perfectly lands comfortably in the crook of his neck. And before you could move back, he leans his head onto yours, encapturing and locking you into place with a cheeky, pressed smile.

“Taehyung, what’re you doing? Let me go,” you half laugh half sternly instruct.

“We’re bonding! This is what couples do, right?” he chimes. “If we want to fall in love in seven days, then we have to get right to it, don’t ya think?”

“You’re being silly,” you huff, about to protest further when you decide to give in and sigh into his shoulders. The piece of paper in your backpocket begins to burn as if to serve a cruel reminder of the decision you must soon make. “You’re acting like you haven’t had a girlfriend before… I mean, you haven’t had one before… have you?”

“Mmm… do you want the good answer or the bad?” he hums before quipping without hearing your answer, “I have. More than any of the other members actually.”

“Oh… what happened to them?”

“Oh, nothing really. We just didn’t work out,” he shrugs.

“...why not?”

Taehyung turns to quirk both brows at you, surprised by how intrigued you are over his past love life, especially in comparison to how many times you’ve rolled your eyes at his cheesy remarks. “I don’t know,” he says in an all too serious tone, and you can’t tell if he’s hiding something or if he’s telling the truth. “But I just never felt anything special with them.”

You peer up at him as he gazes into your eyes, the deep and dark aura of his wraps you in warmth, and yet it scares you to your very bones. Who exactly is he? He’s warm and welcoming, kind and sweet, but is he like this to everyone? Has he made countless girls swoon over things like this? How can you make yourself special when you just happen to be the person fate has betrothed him to? You want to know how he feels about you, no, you need to know.

“And how about with me…?” you ask with bated breath.

“You?” he lowly chuckles. “You want the good news or the bad?”

“I want the truth.”

Taehyung chortles at your answer, lips pressing into a smile curved slightly upwards at both ends before he breaks his eyes away from you and glides them over to the skies above. Suddenly, you no longer feel so comfortable in his shoulders, because his sudden distancing makes you believe that maybe the two of you aren’t meant to be and fate had just made a mistake.

“How do you feel about this whole soulmate thingamajig?” he coos into the night sky, puffs of visible clouds of breath drifting in the air.

“I don’t know… to be honest, I’m quite skeptical of it. But what’re we supposed to do? It’s better to do our best than uselessly whine all day,” you shrug.

Taehyung snaps his fingers and points his forefinger at you, “exactly. That’s exactly how I feel, Miss Y/N. I believe in soulmates, I really do, but now that I’m actually experiencing it, I’m not sure how everything’s going to fall into place, but I know it will eventually.”

Despite how goofy of a boy you’ve come to know Taehyung as, it’s impossible not to recognize the more mature side of him where he has his head properly on his shoulders at times when needed. With a soft smile slowly making its way across your lips, you finally begin to realize you’re drowning in the bittersweetness of his words; they’re realistic for any rational human being destined to this unexpected journey for love—hell, even you have to agree with him—but that doesn’t numb the pain any less.

It hurts to know you’re not enough. You know it’s only been a day since the two of you met, but the entire concept of soulmates, the idea that you’re supposed to fall in love at first sight as though the two of you are a match made in heaven, all of it only adds up to your self critiques and insecurities. If the two of you are fated for each other, then why hasn’t he fallen in love yet? Why are you the subject of this cruel experiment implemented by divinity? Why does someone as perfect as him have to be stuck with you?

All of these questions only spell out the final resolution you come to at the end of a few seconds of silence where time stopped for seemingly countless hours: you had never agreed to this unexpected turn in your life, but neither have you agreed to playing this game fair and square. The crumpled scrap of paper burns in the back pocket of your shorts, your gut twisting and your heart sinking with a guilty conscience of your plans, but you know it’ll only hurt more if you fail to proceed with your plans.

Lifting your head off his shoulders, you take a deep breath and sigh into the night air when Taehyung turns to glance at you with wide, blank eyes.

“So if you’re asking me for the truth, then no, I’m as in love with you as pumpkins are to strawberries,” he chirps and you quirk a brow at yet another one of his odd analogies. But before you’re able to point out the flaw in his words, Taehyung’s warm, large hands reach up to cup your freezing left cheek, the intimate gesture and contrast in temperatures sending chills down your spine. He then gently guides your head back to rest in the crook of his shoulders and whispers with the deep, velvety voice of his, “but I really hope I am by the end of this week.”

Scoffing at his subtle way of announcing the “bad news,” you roll your eyes and shake your head. “Don’t think that cheesy things like this will work on me, Kim Taehyung. I never said I’m in love yet either, so don’t let it get in your head just yet,” you lightly laugh along with him.

And just like you say, you’re not quite in love with Taehyung—no, you’re certainly not in love. You don’t believe in love at first sight, despite how much easier it would make this situation, but you do believe in the potential of this blossoming bud of something between the two of you; and whether it’s what most people call true love or whether it’s simply infatuation sparked by the struggles of keeping afloat in a leaking boat amidst the wide ocean, you’re not sure, but you’re more determined than ever on this quest of falling in love with Kim Taehyung.

-

DAY 2

The next day passes by quickly within the blink of an eye; neither of you brings up the rather sentimental conversation last night throughout the entirety of the day, but instead, Taehyung takes you out on a date at the amusement park he claims, and you certainly don’t doubt, to frequent regularly.

The morning starts off with the both of you waking up to the other’s droopy eyes and tousled hair, and despite how most people are at the worst state dishevelment appearance wise, it’s hard for you to say that rule of law applies to Taehyung as well—in fact it doesn’t, not even in the least bit. Because the way he wakes up with his eyes squinting and barely peeping open to peek at you, the way not even the slightest chuckle escapes him after seeing you in your worst state except for when you duck away in embarrassment, and the way his lips are as brightly red as ever, the back of his hair tousled in every which direction, and his cheeks adorably puffy, you can’t help but gulp and drink in every single inch of him. But what shakes you to the core the most is when his lips part and the deepest, most throaty and raspy voice rumbles from the very depths him to mumble ‘good morning,’ contrasting the cute, childlike grin of his that he flashes right after his greeting.

If it weren’t for Taehyung’s giddy smile to brighten the very first minute of the day, you would’ve been furthermore self conscious of your comparatively lacking appearances. But Taehyung doesn’t care. He doesn’t mind how you look in the morning or how you sleep with your mouth gaping and your legs sprawled across the mattress. The fact that the thought of laughing at your disheveled state never even crosses his mind when it’s all that you can think about gives you a glimpse of how he’s golden at heart.

The next thing you remember is kicking him out of his own room to change into the clothes the two of you had dropped by your house last night to pick up, but none of that comes without having flashbacks to the embarrassing incident last night. He had walked you back home after having dinner at the all so classy restaurant that is the local playground, but instead of waiting for you outside in your driveway like you had instructed him to, he came skipping into your house as if he had already forgotten your warning just a few minutes.

Seeing that your room was a mess, you stood in front of the doorway to your bedroom, arms reaching up to grip your hands at both sides of the doorframe. However, you being the gullible person you tend to be in front of Taehyung, the mischievous boy pointed at something in your room and yelled out a quick ‘Y/N, what on earth is that?!’ before ducking under your arm and entering your room when you weren’t looking. And although the next few seconds quickly became one of the most embarrassing moments in your life, it was also satisfying to see how karma really does get the best of you, for when Taehyung pranced around your room and made a quirky remark about nearly everything in your room, the large grin plastered over his face disappeared when he spotted the set of bras you had thrown across your bed. His jaw practically dropped to the floor, his lips parting but no words escaping and his eyes blankly staring at the sight laid in front of him before you yelped in panic and jumped onto your bed in a vain attempt to cover your bras.

Thankfully for you, the both of you somehow managed to put that scarring memory in the back of your minds when Taehyung drives you—with his manager’s car, of course—to the amusement park. With the long lines and half an hour wait in between each ride, the two of you get to know each other quite well, sometimes maybe even a bit too well. He tells you about his family stories, how his dad had given him the watch on his wrist which you had first marvelled at and how his grandma had bought him an expensive jacket to prevent others from mocking him before moving to the cities to pursue his music career. His eyes shine and glimmers just like how you’ve come to absolutely adore, large and circular with a beaming smile to match it as you listen to him rambling on and as he listens to your own stories you have to tell.

The two of you nonchalantly share overly priced snacks strategically placed around the park, ice cream and cotton candy being the two main courses for the day. Every so often Taehyung would offer you his spoon, seeing that the concession stand had forgotten to provide a second utensil for you, and even though you would politely refuse his offer, the boy never fails to somehow convince you otherwise by scooping a large amount of ice cream and stuffing it into your mouth before you could protest further.

Other times, both you and Taehyung would lean in at the exact same time to extract a mouthful of cotton candy from the mass of fluff whirled around a paper cone; your lips would nearly touch, just barely grazing each other’s before you would immediately lean backwards with wide eyes and alarmed senses. You would prepare yourself to repeatedly apologize, but Taehyung would only blankly blink at you as if questioning why you were so flustered before catching your drift and wiggling his brows at you suggestively. You would then roll your eyes, scoffing at his cheeky ways and throwing the stick of candy back at him. Marching off to the next ride without him, you would try to suppress your growing smile along with a vain attempt to ignore the skip of your heart and the hard thumping of your chest.

“Where in the world are we going, Taehyung?” you nearly hesitate on your last word, struggling between whether or not to call him by his full name or his nickname.

“If you look up at the sky, you’d know,” he chimes, dramatically whirling his head to glance at you and shoot you a wide grin before breathing out, “because our love is written in the stars.”

“What’re you doing?” you scoff, laughing at his antics. You only laugh with the shake of your head, “will the day come when I can finally see what’s going on in that head of yours?”

Taehyung only laughs off your last remark, but what he doesn’t know is that you’re being entirely serious. When will you ever be able to truly understand him? To know who he is, past, present, and if all goes well, future? Having heard his honest answers last night and having officially gone on a date with him tonight, you can’t help but wonder how he feels about you.

Does his heart leap when your fingers brush against his while walking side by side? Does his breath get caught in the midst of a gasp when he tightly interlocks his fingers with your hand right before a drop on the roller coasters? Does his stomach flutter every time he hands you his spoon to scoop ice cream from or when the two of you lean into the fluff of cotton candy only to have your lips graze against his? Are these mutual feelings, or are they just silly fluctuations in your clouded mind as you attempt to fulfill your supposed destiny?

The rest of the car ride is filled with laughs and small jokes here and there, and before you know it, you’re being dragged out of the car and down the streets with your feet stammering and protesting your every step.

“I didn’t know we were coming here! I never agreed to this!” you groan, trying to pull your hand back from his that are desperately pulling you forward. Looking up at the brightly lit attraction site, you catch a glimpse of the breathtaking scenery; fairy lights hang from the fences of a bridge painted with a coat of dull maroon hues and people are bustling about on the sides and throughout the entirety of the bridge, most of them holding a pair of locks and keys they had just bought in the gift shop right by the bridge.

“Why not?! You said you’d do whatever I wanted tonight!” Taehyung whimpers, letting go of your hand and crossing his arms to pout at you.

“It’s so cheesy! I don’t know about you, but attaching a lock to a public bridge just to proclaim your love for the rest of eternity doesn’t exactly sound like the best idea. What if this doesn’t work out?” you blurt out only to bite your bottom lip when you watch Taehyung’s falling, sullen face. “Okay, fine… the truth is, my feet are dying after walking around for so long. Maybe we can do this another day—”

His eyes shoot up from the ground, shining brighter than ever as his gaping lips slowly curve upwards into a giddy smile. “I can help you with that!”

You take a few steps backwards as he takes some forward, but before you’re able to sprint down the block after turning around, Taehyung grabs your hand and whirls you back around to face him. He then swiftly scoops you up into his arms, one hand under your knees and the other behind your back as he marches up the steep hill with the largest, boxiest grin you’ve ever seen from him.

“Kim Taehyung, let me down!” you yelp, thrashing around in his arms.

His grin only widens as he coos, “nope, I have to be a gentleman!”

“I don’t think this is very gentlemanly,” you hiss under your breath, narrowing your eyes at him and glancing around at your surroundings.

Luckily for you, only a few passersby glance at the two of you with quizzical looks, for the rest of the crowd is too occupied with flirting and giggling with their significant other to care about anything else. So seeing how Taehyung has always been the stubborn type to advocate for the strangest—although undoubtedly most fun—of things, you give up and opt to bury your head into his chest, hiding behind the flaps of his open denim hoodie.

And as much as you hate to admit it, the mere vicinity between you and him causes your stomach to flutter and your heart to flip, threatening to burst at any moment now. You want to brush these strange feelings of yours off, but the warmth of his chest which radiates into your frozen cheeks and spreads downwards to thaw the constriction of your freezing chest, body, and fingertips forces you to do otherwise. His heart beats calmly, albeit your mind never fails to note the occasional skip or two, and you can’t help but hide the smile gradually making its way across your lips.

“So why is the lock red when the key is rainbow colored?” you raise a brow at the unmatched pair of accessories in his hands.

“Well, the rainbow one is cheaper—”

“That’s not true. It’s the most expensive one out of all the keys.”

“Okay, but the lady at the counter gave me it for free!” Taehyung huffs.

“That’s because she thought you were ‘a handsome young man,’” you grumble, lowering your voice and crossing your arms. “I’m supposed to be the only one who can call you that…”

“Ay, you’re not really jealous of a grandma, are you?” Taehyung nudges you with his elbow. “I thought you said you haven’t fallen for me yet? I guess we’ve made some good progress today then—ow!”

You roll your eyes at how dramatically Taehyung backs away from you, eyes popping open and jaw slacking as he stares at you in horror for smacking his chest lightly. “Alright, then why the red? Please tell me it’s not what I think it is.”

“Oh, it’s exactly what you’re thinking,” he wastes no time hanging the lock around the fence peering over the calm river running several hundreds of feet below you. He then whirls around to lock the smoldering look in his eyes with yours, wiggling his brows, “it’s red for… love.”

“Oh shut up,” you lightly laugh and smack him again, chuckling at the offended look he gives you once again. Following Taehyung’s gesture, you place your hand under the cold surface of the metallic lock and prepare yourself for what you’re about to commit yourself to for the rest of eternity. What if the two of you really don’t fall in love? What if this doesn’t work out, and the both of you are left without the capability of falling in love ever again? Would you really be okay knowing that this lock exists to constantly remind you of how you had failed your one chance at finding love? “Are you sure this is a good idea…?”

“Of course,” he nonchalantly chirps before glancing at the void in your hesitant stare and bending down to level his head next to yours. Right by your ear, he lowers his voice into a whisper that only the two of you can hear, “I promise you by the end of this week, I’ll fall heads over heels in love with you.”

And just like that, he places his large, warm hands under yours and gives it a gentle push.

Click.

Your heart winces and flutters all at the same time.

The lock seals into place; and despite having to withstand the obstacles soon to come, whether it be rain, wind, or sun, you know the fight will come to a triumph against the test of time, for as long as the bridge remains here on the top of a hill connecting mountains to mountains and crossing a lake separating two drastically different worlds, your reminder of this very week will etch into the back of your mind for the rest of this forsaken time fate has destined you to.

But the fairytale-like moment comes to an end when a buzz vibrates in your back pocket.

Hyerin [11:37 PM] Y/N, this is Hyerin’s mother. Hyerin got into a car accident tonight. She’s in the operation room right now, but the surgeons have told us it shouldn’t be a big problem. I just wanted to let you know. I’m sure Hyerin would’ve wanted me to tell you.

Hyerin… the girl you saw just a couple of days ago, the lively one who had introduced you to the boys and Taehyung in the first place… is in the hospital? While you’re over here having the time of your life and enjoying a date with someone who’s nearly a stranger compared to how long you’ve known Hyerin, your best friend is lying limp in the operation room?

A pang of guilt pierces your chest as your body switches to full panic mode. Your breathing becomes rapidly uneven and your hands quiver along with the trembling of your lips as Taehyung watches you with knitted brows and a concerned stare.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?”

“H-H-Hyerin… my f-friend… she got into an accident,” you stammer. “I-I don’t know what to do. S-She’s in the hospital and we’re too far—”

“We’re not too far. She’s at the hospital a city down from our dorms, right?” Taehyung grabs your hand firmly in his. “It’s never too late. Let’s go.”

“Are you sure?” your eyes pop open, your footsteps halting when Taehyung attempts to pull you forward. Your heart is racing and you’re overwhelmed with fear and guilt and every possible combination of negativity you can think of, but the one thing which keeps you calm is the warmth of his hands. “I know it’s been a long day and you’re tired. I’ll go alone. She’s my friend after all.”

“Any one of your friends is my friend too,” Taehyung articulates, and you’d be lying if you say you aren’t taken aback. “I’m not tired in the least bit. Let’s go. We have to be there for your friend, don’t we?”

“Y-Yeah…” you mumble, staring at the gentle lopsided smile Taehyung gives you before guiding you back down to his car. “I’m sorry for ruining tonight… and I know we only have five more days left… I’m sorry.”

Taehyung turns around to frown at you, “don’t ever apologize for something like this. This isn’t your fault, and a few hours of our day is much less important than someone who’s important to you. I’ll be here for you, Y/N, through thick and thin, I’ll be here.”

And he’s right when he commits himself to something like that; he’s a man of his words. Because for the rest of the night, the two of you sit in the waiting room outside of the operation hall. With your head resting on his sturdy shoulder, and his head leaning atop of yours, he waits beside you for any news of Hyerin’s condition. He talks you through panic attacks, reasons and guides you past irrational thoughts and anxiety spikes, and even though you’re a crying, guilt filled mess, he stays by you through it all until hours later, the surgeons come out to inform you of Hyerin’s safety and that she would be needing a few days of rest before any visitors outside of her immediate family can visit.

To Taehyung, this night might just be another night of many.

But to you, this means so much more than that.

To you, this tells you the path between you and him might not be so distant after all.

-

DAY 3

Taehyung spends a majority of the following day at work filming a variety show having to do something with running and name tags. Even though the dorm falls silent without the company of the puppy like boy skipping around by your side throughout the day, you must admit it’s nice change of pace as spending some time apart is a necessity in all relationships. With the entire day to spend to yourself, you manage to catch up on a few TV shows, check your social medias, and check in with Hyerin’s parents every now and then to make sure her condition is completely stable. But just like any day filled with lounging around and about, the momentary solace comes to an end when the boys return home in the late evening.

“Hey, welcome back,” you call out to them as they file in one by one and greet you with a nod of the head.

“Hey Y/N,” Jimin replies with a sweet smile.

“Oh, Jimin,” you immediately lower your voice into a whisper, waving him over towards you.

After a few moments of hesitation, Jimin shuffles his way towards you. “Is there something you need?”

“It’s… it’s not working out. At the pace we’re going, I don’t know if Taehyung will ever be interested in me by the end of this week.”

Jimin frowns, “what do you mean? I’m sure he’ll come around eventually. Did you two get into a fight?”

“No, not exactly… it’s just that I don’t think there’s anything about me that Taehyung likes in that way, otherwise he would’ve been interested in me by now, right?” you breathe out in a soft sigh, recalling the several moments he had proclaimed his eventual affections last night and the night before.

“That’s not true, Y/N. From what I can tell, you’re an amazing girl, and I don’t even know you as well as Taehyung!” Jimin attempts to reassure you only to find you sulking with your head down. “Well, how do you feel about Tae?”

“Taehyung?” your eyes widen. “...I don’t completely like him yet, but I see more potential in him than he does in me.” The crinkled piece of paper Jimin had given you a couple of days ago sets your fingertips and sweaty palms ablaze the longer you hold it. “Do you… do you think it’d be rude of me to contact his ex?”

“Lisa? No, not exactly, as long as you tell him beforehand,” Jimin cocks his head to the side when his lips part after realizing what you’re pondering over. “Oh… I wouldn’t go behind his back to do it. Tae isn’t really a huge fan of that.”

“It’s not that I’m going behind his back, it’s just that…”

You don’t want him to see how pathetically desperate you are.

“...it’s awkward. I’ll tell him next week, even if this doesn’t end up working out.”

“Mm… alright. I’d still ask him if I were you, but I guess this is between the two of you. You should just think it over a few more times beforehand,” Jimin hums, whether disapproving or approvingly, you’re unsure of, but it’s impossible to deny the guilt panging against your chest. Seeing your repressed expression, Jimin gently smiles at you before patting your back. “Everything will fall into place, so don’t worry too much. That’s why it’s called fate, right? Anyways, the boys and I are going out for some late night snacks. I think Taehyung will be home any time now, so maybe the two of you can talk things out. Have fun and feel better soon, Y/N!”

Surely enough, the boys bid you goodbye one by one until the dorm falls silent once again. Having the entire day to yourself was more than enough to replenish all the energy the shock of the last few days had sucked out of you, but now that you’re alone once again in the deafening silence, you finally come to realize that the only person who can relieve you of the thoughts which drown you with worry is Taehyung; but even then, he’s the only one capable of worsening the throbbing pain of something deep within your chest.

Why are you so worried about the repercussions for calling so called Lisa? Why do you worry over a reaction belonging to someone with little to no significance in your life? Why are you scared of disappointing him?

Just send her the damn message.

In a rush of frustration, both at your wavering determination and your conflicting situation, you hastily pick up your phone and immediately type up the most incoherent message you could string up to the number written on the paper.

You [9:34 PM] Hey, Lisa! I know you have no idea who I am, but just for starters, I’m Y/N. I guess I’ll get straight to it: I need to ask you about something related to Taehyung. I know I’m being extremely vague and I sound crazy right now, but it’ll all make sense in person. It’d be awesome if we could meet sometime soon?

Just as you turn off the screen and toss your phone to the side, a pair of large arms wraps around you from the back and pulls you into the warmth of a familiar chest. You nearly yelp out in surprise as they gracefully sway you side to side.

“I’m back Y/N! What’s my baby boo up to to… day…” Taehyung’s velvety voice trails off into the silence of a breeze grazing against your red earlobes.

“N-nothing,” you stutter.

Did he somehow manage to see your phone screen?

Does he know what you’re truly up to?

What would he say if he were to find out you were reaching out to his ex? Would he be disappointed?

Your heart pounds so loudly and thumps so harshly against your insides that you swear it has already given you away.

Taehyung lets out a breath, a toned down scoff hinting at what’s to come. “I saw you texting someone… I don’t think that’s nothing, Y/N.”

“I was just texting my friend,” you mumble, pursing your lips when his pet names for you somehow manages to pierce you with guilt.

Making his way to seat himself on the side armrest of the couch, he towers over you with a piercing gaze you’re too scared to even glimpse at. “Y/N…” he lowly says with the darkest of tones, “I’m being honest when I say I really do like you. But if there’s one thing I hate, it’s liars.”

Should you tell him? Should you tell him you were texting his ex behind his back without the intentions of even asking until you deceive him enough to make him fall for you and seal the rest of his future with you? You’ve already done the deed, so what use is it to turn back now? It’d only get worse. And so you remain silent, hands fidgeting in your lap as you uncomfortably sit below him with your eyes trained at the ground.

“I know the last few days have been hard, Y/N, I do. And I know it hasn’t been very long since we first met, but I already feel like you’re that one best friend I’ve been waiting to meet my entire life.. And I don’t want to let that go,” Taehyung sternly states, voice flat and firm, sending chills of fear down your spine. “I’ve been honest with you the past two days, so can you please be truthful with me?”

Should you tell him the truth? You know you want to, the gut wrenching feeling in your stomach wants to, and the pain which courses through your veins from the heart of your system wants to, but the fear of rejection, disappointment, and embarrassment that runs through your head tells you otherwise. What is he going to think of you when he discovers that you went through the trouble finding his ex’s number and even contacting her because you feel like you aren’t good enough? What will his reaction be when he hears that your sole purpose in contacting Lisa is to find ‘tips’ on how to make Taehyung fall for you? Most importantly, how is he supposed to fall in love with you when you don’t have enough self love to even respect yourself?

Trailing up the sides of the couch and up his lengthy body, you take a quick glimpse at him only to immediately avert your momentarily locked eyes when his piercing stare hammers against your chest; the smile on his lips have disappeared and been replaced by the flat, slim lines of his unamused expression and the glimmer in his eyes that you had admired and melted for has dissipated into the depths of the stern look in his dark brown irises. This isn’t the Taehyung you know, this is the other side to him that Jimin had warned you about. The intimidating demeanor of it all shakes you to your core, and the fact that you’re the one who had caused him to turn like this only causes a wrenching ache to run along the veins of your wrists.

Seeing how you choose to remain silent, your head hanging low and the fidgeting of your hands freezing as a pale overtone creeps along your skin, Taehyung takes a deep breath and lets out a long sigh. “Alright, can you at least tell me why you’re texting her? I know who you’re texting, Y/N,” he pauses in hopes that you’ll return his gaze, which you’re too afraid to do as you’re frozen in your seat.

“I…” you begin to mumble, glancing up at him to catch the raise in his brows as he leans in only to have you look away and fall silent once again. “I’m sorry.”

After a few seconds of baited breath, Taehyung taps his fingers along the back of the couch. “Things didn’t exactly end perfectly between her and I—” yeah, maybe that’s why he still has her photo in his room “—I mean, I thought it ended well, but now that I see you texting her when I once thought you two had no relations to each other, I’m only now finding out how wrong it was of me to trust girls.”

Bang—his words pierce straight through you.

“But because I trust you, Y/N, because I’ve come to like you and I really want to believe my judgement of you isn’t wrong… I’ll ask you one more time. I’ve always been a carefree lad, but I hope you won’t take me for granted,” he sternly warns before taking a deep breath, “so I’ll ask you one more time. Who were you texting?”

“You already know…” you squeak.

“I want to hear you say it yourself. 3…” he begins counting down.

Your stomach churns in pain.

“2…”

Your nails dig deep into your palm.

“1…”

Your mind floods with regrets and useless pride until all you want to do is bury your head deep into his chest and break down crying—but he’d never comply to that.

Because the next thing he does is count to zero, the digits of his hand folding into his palm until only his fist remains. Taehyung takes a deep breath and sighs, each millisecond of his sigh hitting you hard and each tick of the clock pulsing under your hand’s thin layer of skin.

“I should've never opened my heart up to someone like you,” he darkly speaks before standing up and quietly leaving your side to retire to his bedroom.

In a spur of the moment, you get up and whirl around to exert the pent up frustration into a yell, “you’re the one who kept a picture of your ex in your room while I foolishly intruded on your love life!”

Taehyung grits his teeth, “...maybe I just never got over her and only recently decided to throw it away now that you came into my life. It’s not my fault!”

“And how about me? It’s not my fault I'm scared for my life, Taehyung! You're not the least bit interested in me and this will never work out! I want to fall in love, get married, and start a family; I don’t want to live the rest of my life alone, remembering that one moment I ruined it all by failing to fall in love with some random stranger!”

Taehyung scoffs, jaw protruding and eyes darting to the side and back at you, “is that all I am to you? A stranger? I know it’s only been a few days, but even I can tell there’s more of a connection between us than simply strangers—”

“Oh, but you do. You’ve mentioned it several times before, Taehyung, you’re not even interested in me—”

“Interested? Who said I wasn’t interested?”

“Well, you haven’t fallen for me yet and we’re already halfway done with this week!” you raise your hand to remind him of the constantly ticking stopwatch branded on your hands which starts to burn your skin from the very start of this heated argument.

“It’s only been a few days, Y/N,” Taehyung cinches his brows. “That’s like me asking you if you’ve fallen for me yet, and you haven’t, have you—”

“The thing is, though, I already have!”

Both his and your eyes widen in shock, taken aback by the words that had tumbled from your agape lips. Time seems to stop for a long moment as the two of you fall silent, holding a staring contest with each other until Taehyung begins small shakes of his head.

“No, Y/N, you haven’t. You might like me in the way that I like you, too, but if you truly did love me, then nothing would stop you from answering such a simple question; it’s not hard to admit your mistakes if you’re in love, Y/N, even if you’re too ashamed to say so.”

His blunt yet accurate words rekindles a fire running ablaze in the pits of your stomach; you’re frustrated to say the least. You know you’re wrong in some ways, but does he have to be so cutthroat about it? Maybe you’re not in love, maybe all of this you’re feeling is just a spark of infatuation or lust for a new challenge, but there’s nothing your growing jealousy and desire to be acknowledged issues tell you more with red blaring sirens that you’re beginning to fall, perhaps not in love, but you’re most certainly falling into the palms of his hands.

“Can’t you just trust me? I’ve gotten to know you better than most in just a few days, Taehyung. I trust you, so can’t you trust me when I say that I have a reason for all of this?” your voice breaks in the middle of your sentence as you glare at him with spiteful eyes that say ‘yes, I’ve made a mistake, but you’ve unjustly judged me in the wrong way.’ “You don’t even believe in all of this soulmate thing, do you? You’re just playing along and seeing what comes of it, because something happened with your ex and now you’re too afraid of commitment, huh? You say you believe in fate and destiny, but you don’t. You say you’re interested in me, but you aren’t—”

“I am, Y/N! For the last time, I am!” Taehyung yells, raising his voice against you for the first time ever. “I’m being serious when I say nothing happened between Lisa and I. I just can’t trust you enough to continue on with you if you can’t even admit your wrongdoings! I… I don’t date liars. And quite apparently… you’re a liar, Y/N.”

A small scoff escapes your lips as your stomach falls and your chest twists and turns until all of your heartstrings are tugged to the point of snapping in half. You gawk at him with the most disdainful glare you could give him. His eyes soften just the slightest of bits when he realizes how much his words had hurt you.

How could he say something like that?

After coming to the revelation that he had gone too far, Taehyung takes a few steps backwards before turning his back on you and heading back to his room, evidently too stubborn to apologize like the half child half adult you’ve come to know him as. Grabbing a small pillow off the couch, you instill all of the frustration and pain he had caused you into the throw which you successfully aim at his head. The pillow hits his head and tousles his fluffy hair which you’ve come to love before plopping onto the ground. Slowly turning around, Taehyung shoots a questioning glare at you as if waiting for an explanation, one which you give all too quick for the both of you to realize.

“Fine, I was texting your ex! I was scared you wouldn’t fall in love with me by the end of this week, I was frightened to death thinking that you only see me as a friend, I was insecure because I thought I was the only one catching feelings! I texted her hoping that she’d give me some tips on things you like or dislike, and seeing how much of a significance and impact she’s had on you, I’m starting to think nothing will help me make you like me!” you shout, huffing as your chest heaves up and down and your hands scrunch into fists. “Are you happy now that I’ve told you the truth?! Are you and your indignant self satisfied that I’ve exposed myself for the insecure person that I am, huh?!”

Taehyung only stares at you with wide, circular eyes, the soft edges of his clueless, puppy like gaze inevitably melting your insides and making you ache in pain, because how can you be so affected by him when you’re supposed to be mad?

Without the numbing of the rush of adrenaline has dissipated, the gnawing pain of your chest becomes so evident that you can no longer handle the sharp cuts and pierces of prolonging your stay here. Grabbing your jacket and purse, you shuffle your way towards the front door before breaking out into a full sprint when Taehyung takes a few steps after you and softly calls out your name; but you don’t care, because what the both of you need now is some time alone to recuperate and reevaluate the direction in which this relationship is going.

As you run down the streets with teary eyes and streams of waterworks flowing down your cheeks, hands clutching your aching chest and legs endlessly working to carry you to a place far from him, you can’t help but wonder what the pulsating pain of your heart really means.

Is the ache a sign that you’re truly falling in love? Or is it a sign that maybe this whole fairytale won’t work out like the tale it is after all?

-

DAY 4

After taking refuge in your own home, a night of endless sobs and contorted confusion as to why you’re even so affected by him in the first place passes by until you fall asleep only to awaken to yet another morning filled with moping around the television screen with puffy eyes.

By the time evening rolls around, the ache from within has settled into a blaze of anger; you know you're wrong for contacting his ex behind his back, but that doesn't make any of his harsh words hurt any less. Calling you a blatant liar, complaining about being paired up with you as a soulmate, and refusing to trust in you and your motives, all of it could've been conveyed without these broken hearts and spiteful aftertaste on the tip of your tongues.

Nonetheless, you know your actions aren’t completely justified either; so in order to be the bigger one of the two, you decide to pay a trip to the grocery store not only to replenish the depleted refrigerator of Bangtan’s but to also cook something up for him and his group as a way to apologize. You can’t give up now. You have your whole life ahead of you, and you can’t afford losing your one chance at love over something as petty as a small argument. Every time you glance down at the timer counting down without a hint of hesitation, you always realize that time really waits for no one; Time is running out, and currently, you only have nearly 3 days left. But even with this slight glimpse of hope, you know you may as well be the only one of you two who’s willing to receive it, and you’ve about given up on your entire relationship with Taehyung by the time you reach the grocery store… or so you think; because standing in front of the blindingly lit store is the very boy you had argued with the night before.

Taehyung whirls around right on cue, eyes widening and his sweater paws of his hands hidden underneath his oversized gray hoodie as if he hadn’t already spotted you from a block away. He stands there like a lost puppy, a small smile adorning his lips while patiently waiting for you. Usually, you’re not the type to hold a grudge, but seeing how your heart melts in reaction to his oh so adorable, apologetic grin only angers you with more self frustration than ever.

He looks even better without dressing up, casual, comfortable, and soft in his regular clothes… or is this just another effect of love you’ve fallen prey to?

“Heyo, Y/N, where were you last—

You brush past him, and his eyes follow you like a puppy following its treat with a watering mouth. His mouth gapes open before he snaps back into reality and picks up his fallen jaw off the floor, fluffing his hair with his hair like the habit of his you’ve come to notice and regrettably adore.

“Open... sesame!” you hear him call out from behind you, glimpsing over your shoulder to find him bowing with his hands held out as if he’s telekinetic—whether to you or the automatic sliding doors, you don’t know and aren’t sure if you want to know. But when you keep your snort to yourself and continue walking into the store, Taehyung hastily jogs up to you with numerous calls to you. “Hey, hey, Y/N! I opened the door for you! Can’t you at least thank me?”

Rolling your eyes, you proceed to roll your shopping cart down the aisles. Admittedly, the way Taehyung follows along by your side while you reach your hands out towards the shelves only to have his chest press up against your back and his towering body reach out to grab things you can’t reach causes your heart to flip in all sorts of patterns. But with your flushed cheeks and widened eyes, you quickly shuffle your way to the cashier in an attempt to cover the upset front you’re trying to put on.

“Yahhh, Y/NNNN, why are you ignoring me? I know I was being a bit harsh yesterday, and I’m sorry for that, but don’t you think you should apologize too?” Taehyung whines while carrying the grocery bag for you, the cashier’s eyes practically ogling over the handsome boy before her.

Shooting the girl a glare, as if to claim Taehyung as yours and only yours, you mentally slap yourself for overreacting with jealousy yet again. He’s not yours, you remind yourself of something that only sends a painful thump against your chest. Bolting straight out of the store, your body subconsciously makes a run for it as you sprint down the blocks and leave Taehyung cluelessly calling out to you from behind. The pain of your wrenching chest is all too much to bear even without the sight of him before you; just seeing how nonchalant he is after such a fight, something that doesn’t happen between a committed couple in a serious relationship, and knowing how he probably only sees you as a friend when you see him as much more than that, you rub the slowly forming tears from the corner of your eyes until you spot sight of three tough looking masked men making their way towards you in the darkly lit alleys of the night.

“Shit, shit, shit,” you curse under your breath before quickly whirling around and walking away from them. Grabbing your phone from your pocket, the first number you subconsciously dial is Taehyung’s. Unfortunately for you, Taehyung never picks up his phone—probably because he had either given up on you or headed home after your constant neglectance of him. Punching in his number again, you hear the rustling of the men behind you as they snicker something about ‘striking at the right time and right person for once.’ Your heart pounds tightly against the constricted space of your chest, jitters in your hands and feet and adrenaline at an all time high. Pick up, pick up, pick up, please… “Taehyung… please pick up—”

Your head bumps into a chest and all of your movements come to a stop as you look up to find Taehyung standing right before you. He grabs your phone and begins to dial a number, turning the phone to show the men your phone screen.

“Gentleman… and ladies, I suppose, I don’t really know what you prefer or what you look like under those masks and it’s pretty dark here,” Taehyung trails off in his line of thought before shaking his head while the three men quirk their brows. “I’ll be calling the cops at any time now. So unless you want to sit in jail for who knows how long… a few months? A year? Five years? You should probably get on your way now.”

The three men dart alarmed looks at each other before coming to a consensus that Taehyung is a man of his words, especially after seeing him whistling and teasingly hovering his thumb over the call button. They then make a run for it, snapping around and sprinting down the blocks while you sigh out a baited breath and nearly collapse to the floor if it weren’t for your attempt at putting a tough front before Taehyung.

“...thanks,” you shakily breathe out, leaving the ‘I thought you had gone home already after getting upset at me’ to yourself.

“You wouldn’t think I’d actually leave you to walk home yourself alone, would you? At this time of night? In these streets?” he skips until he’s in front of you, squatting down with a giddy smile plastered across his face. “Nooo, I wouldn’t do that. I’m too much of a gentleman… only for my boo, of course. You can call me TaeTae the Gentle—oh no, that doesn’t have the right ring to it. TaeTae the Good?”

“Whatever you say… thanks to however you want to be called…”

...because you didn’t think he’d actually come. Not after how you treated him. And now that he’s proven himself to you yet again by showing the compassion and good hearted boy he is, prioritizing your safety before any of his grudges, you really can’t help but wonder how lucky you are that fate had somehow betrothed you to him.

Trying to grab the grocery bags from Taehyung, the boy only pulls the bag away, above his head, and out of your reach as you jump in a vain attempt to retrieve your items.

“Don’t you think I’ve at least earned an apology?” he chirps.

Crossing your arms, you huff in exhaustion of his little acts. “Alright, fine. I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have went behind your back and contacted your ex,” you emphasize the last word out of spite. “Now give me my bags back.”

Taehyung smiles triumphantly with the bags remaining high off the ground, cheeks rising and lips curving into what resembles the cuter version of the Chesire Cat. “Apology accepted. As your reacquainted boyfriend, I’ll be carrying these for you,” he frowns when you walk onwards back to the dorm without him, you, ignoring his use of terms which aches you from within, and him, running after you once again. “Can’t you at least look at me? Or talk to me? You haven’t looked at me even once today! I miss seeing your cute little pumpkin face!” Seeing how you continue to ignore him, he pouts and stomps his foot. “I said I missed you! I missed you, Y/N!”

“It’s not like I’ve forgiven you yet,” you snort.

“H-huh?”

For the rest of the walk home, all you can hear is the tumble of apologies and ‘sorry’s from his lips. And if you’re being completely honest, you’re not exactly upset at him other than how nonchalantly he’s acting towards you. To be more accurate, you’re frustrated at yourself for inability to attract the right kind of interest from Taehyung. Sure, it’s only been a few days since you met him, but even you have to admit you’ve somehow become interested in him at some point in time. So why is he treating you like a mere friend?

Nonetheless, his apologies persist all the way home and even after you leisurely place the groceries in the fridge and begin folding the freshly cleaned laundry piled on the couches in the living room. After swinging your arm side to side for a good few minutes only to have failed capturing even the least bit of attention from you, Taehyung retreats to his room before you hear the shuffling of his heavy footsteps behind you shortly after.

“Y/N, please, I know my master is a bit harsh at times, but I hope you can brush that side of him off,” a squeaky yet raspy voice, which consists hints of Taehyung’s voice but tweaked, echoes behind your ear; out of the blue, a fox toy with a green collared shirt and purple tie appears in front of you, Taehyung’s tan, large hands holding the ‘talking’ fox in midair. You’re just about to snort at another one of Taehyung’s playful antics when you force yourself to hold it in.

“Go away. I don’t even know who you are,” you huff, punching the fox in the face and causing it to fly towards the ground.

“Oh no, Vic! My best friend, Vic!” Taehyung cries out and runs after the toy. “Are you still here, Vic? Can you hear me? Stay alive, Vic! Stay alive for me!”

“I’ll… I’ll be okay once Y/N forgives you, master…” Taehyung feigns a croak from the fallen fox.

Pursing your lips, you take a deep breath and sigh, simultaneously throwing his large, folded tee off to the side of the couch. Turning around, you cross your arms and face the widened eyes of Taehyung’s. “Look, I know everything is largely my fault. And no, I’m not mad at you… but that doesn’t change how much the things you said to me hurt, Tae.”

A cheeky grin creeps onto his face, “did you just call me Tae?”

“Did not,” you blurt out.

“Yes, you did. Oho, you’ve really fallen hard for me, haven’t you?”

...and there he goes again. Speaking whatever is on his mind, freely and ignorantly without the consideration of how you feel. No, he’s not entirely wrong and you’re not entirely mad at him. But after your confession, after giving up your dignity and succumbing to the shame of being so damn desperate to attract Taehyung that you even consoled his ex, the very least he can do is refrain from saying things like that, things that remind you of how you’re the only one committed and affected by this relationship.

“Amusing, isn’t it?” you turn away from him to continue folding the piles of laundry.

“Y/N…?” Taehyung softly calls, setting aside Vic on the couch. “What’s wrong? Is it something I said?”

“Yeah. It’s always been about the things you say,” you decide to be honest, “I know I might not mean anything to you, I know our relationship is something uncalled for, and I know I’m not the most ideal person to be soulmates with, but that doesn’t mean I feel the same way. I’ve told you and shown you how serious I am, and I don’t know if it’s just me being sensitive, but seeing you acting like our argument never affected you, treating me like another one of your good friends, and hearing you constantly point out just how uneven the affections I have for you as you have for me, it’s… it’s not a great confidence booster. You don’t have to love me, and I know that, but the way you treat me makes me feel unworthy of love.”

He remains silent, and you’re not sure if he’s gazing at you so intensely because he’s listening to what you have to say or if he’s staring at something you have on your face, but your cheeks start to burn out of self consciousness.

“And plus, the fact that we only have three days left to change things doesn’t seem very hopeful to me,” you mumble.

Grabbing another shirt which seems to belong to either Jin or Namjoon, you attempt to put Taehyung’s piercing—yet oddly loving, something you notice in the corner of your eyes—gaze to the back of your head, but what happens next puts all your efforts to vain; because what happens next all occurs in a flash and a blur of time as Taehyung grunts at your response, grabs the large white bed sheet from your hands and tosses it high up into the air. And before you know it, the thin fabric engulfs the two of you under its grace and encapsulates you into a world of pure white. The light which hits from outside the sheer sheets illuminates the universe which belongs to you and Taehyung only, striking the boy before you at an angle which your eyes and mind nearly mistaken as an angelic figure. Slowly, as if time has stopped in consideration of you two, the sheets fall from the ceiling like feathers prolonging its air time.

“I swear to you, Y/N, if I could make myself fall in love with you by the time the sheets reach the ground, I would within the blink of an eye and the skipping beats of my heart,” Taehyung confesses, his low voice like silk and honey. “But I can’t. Love is a serious matter and I only want to say it if I mean it wholeheartedly.”

The sheets finally reaches the ground in the softest, most elegant way possible, and the only thing holding it up is Taehyung’s towering head. You glance at your hand to check if time is still a valid concept or if this is merely just a dream—it’s still counting down.

You avert your eyes, because quite frankly, you’re afraid they’ll reveal how you truly feel inside. You’re hurting; your heart is aching and your guts are wrenching and your stomach is churning, and every bit of you feels like it has fallen akin to the loss of gravity on the drop of a roller coaster. Because essentially, he had just told you he doesn’t like you. And the fact that you’re feeling this sort of way, with your heart trampled over and its edges wincing of bittersweet acknowledgment that you had foreseen this all along, it tells you that you feel otherwise.

“I’ll let you call her if you want,” Taehyung hesitantly mutters after your prolonged silence.

Let you?

“I don’t want to anymore.”

“No, I want you to call her,” he corrects himself. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore, Y/N, because believe it or not, it hurts me too. I hate seeing you like this. I want to do whatever it takes for this to work out.”

“Tae… the thing is, I don’t even know if this is the right thing to do. It’s not whether it’ll work out or not, it’s that I simply don’t want to ask her something like that. It’s embarrassing.”

Taehyung furrows his brows, “but don’t you want this to work out? Neither of us wants to walk away at the end of this week having failed our last chance at love.”

...and here he goes again. Doesn’t he ever consider your position in this all? When will he learn? If there’s one thing you had to pick as a flaw of Taehyung’s, it wouldn’t exactly be ignorance, it’d be being so oblivious to others because of his own flood of overwhelming emotions. But unfortunately, reading other’s emotions isn’t his forte, and that very flaw is what causes the drop in your stomach.

“...Taehyung, I don’t think this will work,” you sigh after throwing in the towel. “Can I get the keys back? The lock was a bad idea… it’s my fault for agreeing in the first place. I’m sorry.”

“What? Why?” Taehyung’s eyes widen in fear. “It’ll work out, Y/N, I promise! We just have to keep trying!”

“It just… won’t, Tae. I can’t bring myself to confront your ex, and you still can’t accept my reasons for doing so. If we can’t even solve such a simple problem, how are we going to live out the rest of our lives together? Maybe it’s better living and dying alone,” you speak your thoughts aloud. “Can I just have the key? Please?”

“...no,” Taehyung says after a few seconds of pondering. “We’ll work at this. We’ll persevere and see the rest of the week through. We’ll make it happen.”

“Taehyung, please,” you take a deep breath and sigh, attempting to control your quickening breaths. You’re so frustrated and mad at the entire situation that you’re driven to the verge of tears, the warm waterworks welling up in your eyes as you stare at the ground and bump your fists against his chest. “Just please… give me the keys. Please don’t make me beg.”

Seeing your pitiful state, your shut eyes and gritted teeth, Taehyung sighs before lifting the bed sheets off the two of you and making his way back to his bedroom where you presume he keeps the keys; but a quick minute passes, and your presumption is proven false.

Through the locks of your disheveled hair, you glimpse up from watery eyes to find Taehyung peeking from behind the walls of the hallways. A slow, melancholy tune bellows from the speakers of his phone as he slowly dances his way towards you. One step, one stride, and one skip from side to side until he finally reaches your side with the widest of grins.

“May I have this dance?”

You’re just about to protest and ask for the key’s whereabouts when he takes your hands into his, interlocking his long fingers with yours and engulfing your entire body against his chest, before swaying you side to side and humming to one of the most classic songs every romantic knows like the back of their hand.

“Wise men say only fools rush in, but I can’t help falling in love with you.”

Your ears perk, not only to the vibrations of Taehyung’s chest as he sings along to a song which perfectly suits his velvety voice, but also to the lyrics which resonates to the depths of your very heart. You can’t help but realize how much you can relate to this song.

Seven days to fall in love. While others have year long relationships with their significant others, you and Taehyung are given seven days. And at first, you’re completely skeptical. People have always told you to be careful; not to fall too fast, and not to fall too hard. You shouldn’t rush into relationships, but now that you’ve met Taehyung, you realize none of that matters anymore, because love is love, and you just can’t help falling in love with him.

“Y/N, I know we both have work to do and things to fix. I’ll try to keep myself from hurting you so carelessly like I have in the past two days, but I hope you know I don’t mean any of the things I say,” Taehyung confesses, leaning down to level his lips with your ears and grazing his warm lips against your burning earlobes. “I really do like you, Y/N. I can’t say love quite yet, but I can for sure say like. I know this means nothing to us in our current situation, but I just wanted you to know. We’ll make this work no matter what. So… will you give me one more chance? Just a few more days?”

If there’s one thing you despise the most about Taehyung, it’s most definitely how he never ceases to make your heart melt at his sweet gestures or how you’re practically wrapped around the tips of his fingers like the fool you are. But what do you have to lose? Just three more days worth of time? Compared to decades of loneliness and regret?

You might not be able to say you truly love him just yet, but you can say you’re starting to. From the filial ways he keeps the watch his dad had given him to the elephant made up of moles on his arm which he had boasted to you just the other day, you find every part of him endearing. He’s passionate about work, he’s silly and yet he can change from cute to smoldering hot in the blink of an eye, and even the way he smiles with his shoulders scrunched up makes your heart helplessly flutter.

Resting your head against his chest and feeling the beating of his heart thumping against your ear, you shut your eyes and unweave your hands from his to wrap them around your body and yours to his. You give him a simple nod, and that’s all he needs to giggle that low chuckle of his before swaying you through the carpet of the living room and the wooden floors of the kitchen, singing the magical night away.

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin…

…if I can’t help falling in love with you?

-

DAY 5

The next day flows by within the blink of an eye. And even though it’s rather a simple date like the first two you’ve had with Taehyung, you get to know him better little by little.

First, he takes you to the outside shopping center where the two of you stroll by—or to be more precise, skip by—the windows of countless shops, and you’re forced to constantly decline his offer to buy you something from the nearby Gucci store. There, stages to promote lottery drawings or simply to put on a show to entertain people passing by would attract Taehyung’s utmost attention, and the next thing you know, he’s already up on that stage and ushering for you to join him. And as reluctant as you are to put yourself out there in front of everyone, you have to admit you haven’t had so much fun dancing and laughing around on stage along with the audience—some elders calling the two of you a sweet couple, and others shooting you looks as if the two of you are lunatics.

Then, he takes you to the beach next to the shopping center. With an ice cream cone in your hand and a quick ‘cheers’ shared between the two of you, the gusts of wind filled with the smell of seaweed and salt water weaves through your tousled hair along with Taehyung’s. Seagulls fly by and squawk, the shine amidst the thin surface of the deep ocean reflects the sun which begins to set, and the skies are painted an elegant royal pink and orange hue. Of course, the day would not have been complete without Taehyung’s usual playful antics; sometimes he would pick up a seaweed and greet him as ‘Mr. Seaweed,’ and other times he would introduce himself to nearby children playing by the shoreside while you would watch from afar and smile at admirance over how easily he gets along with both children and elderlies. It’s little things like the way his boxy grin accompanies the scrunch of his raised shoulders and the way he’s practically beaming while playing around with children that make you realize what a true gem he is.

Getting up to throw the cone Taehyung had hastily left on the bench, you wave at him with a soft smile in response to his calls for you before whirling around to weave through the incoming crowd of shoppers when something—or rather someone—catches your eye.

“Sorry if I’m mistaken, but you are Y/N, correct?”

Looking up to find a familiar blonde girl standing before you, your lips part but fail to utter any coherent sounds because she’s gorgeous. “U-um… yes…? And you are…?”

“Lisa,” the girl chimes, her full, adorable cheeks rise with a smile. “You know, the person you texted a couple of days ago… Taehyung’s ex, if that helps ring a bell.”

“Oh,” your eyes widen. You had totally forgotten about that text, or to be more precise, you wanted to forget about that text. “You could’ve texted me back. I wouldn’t have wanted you to go through the trouble of finding me… wait, how do you know what I look like? Or where I was?”

Lisa quirks both brows, lips pursing as she averts her gaze to formulate some sort of an answer. “Oh, I didn’t come out expecting to find you. And how I know you? Well, I have my ways… but anyways, does Taehyung know you contacted me?”

“Um… yeah. I don’t think he knows you’re here though…” you mumble, looking down at the ground in shame.

Lisa laughs, “alright, let’s make it quick then. What was it you wanted to ask me? Is it about Taehyung? Don’t tell me you’re about to ask me how to woo him.” When you fail to respond, because she’s completely spot on, Lisa just sighs and scans you up and down with her observant eyes. “Well… for starters, what really captures Taehyung’s attention is physical attraction.”

Looking down at your own body, you realize you’ve never felt more self conscious than you do now. “I… I actually don’t want to know anymore. I—”

“He doesn't particularly like girls who get too clingy or jealous,” she goes on as if she's describing the very person you've been in the last few days. She then darts her eyes at you, intensely watching your fallen reaction. “But I don't know why you're investing yourself in him. You do know why we broke up, don't you?”

“...why?”

“He treated me like every other girl. I didn’t feel special. I just felt like another one of his friends. So I broke up with him when things didn’t change for a month. I don’t know what your relationship with him is, but I’m sure you’ve felt the same way at some point in time,” she shrugs, eyes intently watching you. She’s right, you really have felt the same exact way, and figuring that she’s been trying at it for longer than a month, while you only have 2 more days, your dwindling hope is crushed even further if that’s even possible at this point.

“Y/N! Where are you? I didn’t know we were playing a game of hide and seek again!” Taehyung calls out, leaving behind the kids to wander around the streets in search for you. “Y/N! This isn’t fair! You can’t get a head start!”

Lisa snorts at Taehyung’s remark, patting your shoulder and giving you one last smile—you’re not sure if it’s one that bids you good luck or one that warns you to run, whether out of jealousy or simply girls looking out for another, you’re unsure of. “Well, I’ll get going then. Good luck with our little TaeTae.”

Our? TaeTae?

You frown at the words, something within you twisting until you realize that your jealousy issues has been more frequented than ever in the last week—something that Taehyung supposedly despises. But by the time you look up from the ground to bid her goodbye, all you can see is Taehyung peering down at you with a giddy smile adorning his lips.

“Boo!” he chirps. “Found you.”

When the sun sets and the sky falls dark, Taehyung takes you back to the dorms where the rest of the boys had already gone to sleep after a long day of work. The both of you are in pajamas, and while you’re texting Hyerin who repeatedly assures you she’s fine and you can visit her in a few more days, you find Taehyung staring off into distance between something in his hand and the glowing moon outside his windows.

Quietly and slowly approaching Taehyung, you lean over the back of his chair to swing your arm over his shoulders when you catch the sight of what appears to be a photo of his parents, grandma, and him with a shovel in one hand and strawberries in another. Tilting your head to the side, your eyes widen when you see Taehyung gazing longingly at the photo without the heart to explain to you the solemn look in the soft edges of his eyes. Just seeing the other side to him, the side that’s less energetic and optimistic than the usual cheerful boy most know on the outside, it‘s all too heartbreaking.

“Who’re they?” you gently ask.

“My parents, my mom and my dad. And this is my granny,” he points at his picture without looking away.

“And why do you look so sad?”

He remains silent; you’re not sure if it’s just your mind playing tricks on you, but you think his lips are quivering.

“...what’re you thinking right now?” you opt for your second question, slowly stroking his head and playing with the locks of his hair in your left fingers.

“I miss them. I miss them so much,” he finally confesses with a shaky breath. “They’re everything to me and they’ve given up so much for my dreams and career, but now that I’ve finally made it this far, I can’t help but wonder if it’s worth it. I don’t even get to see them anymore.”

God, seeing him this somber tugs at your heartstrings.

“Why don’t you see them tomorrow then?”

“I have a concert the day after tomorrow, which was supposed to be the last day of the countdown. That means tomorrow will be the only chance we have the entire day to ourselves.”

“Why don’t you go after this week?”

“My schedule is filled. I can’t extend my break any longer. I’ve had too long of a break.”

Taking a deep breath, you sigh, squatting down to peer up at Taehyung as he turns to look at you with those soft, puppy-like eyes of his. “Let’s go tomorrow, then. I’ll come with you. That way, you get to see your parents and we’ll still be spending the entire day together.”

“...are you sure? We really don’t have any time left, Y/N—”

“You did this for me when my friend got into an accident. I’m just returning the favor,” you run your hands through the fluff of his hair, smiling at his widened, blinking eyes. “And because I care about you, Tae. I don’t want to see you like this.”

And just like that, he reluctantly nods with glistening eyes and you can’t help but melt in utter adoration for him.

You’re not sure if something as silly as a small conversation like this can be considered as a stepping stone in a relationship, but there’s one thing for sure: something changed. Because for the first time ever, you feel like you have a firmer grasp of who Taehyung actually is having revealed the more vulnerable side to him. And you don’t know if it’s just you and your helpless dwindling hopes, but you think something about the gaze in his eyes which reflects of you and only you has changed.

-

DAY 6

Early in the morning, the two of you take a short flight to Taehyung’s hometown before driving several hours into what appears to be the countryside and arriving at his first home prior to the dorms. His house is a relatively small shack compared to the towering skyscrapers of the cities, and the farm beside the house consists of rich soil and countless greens planted across in neat rows which only articulates the authenticity of the country feel to the sun kissed boy beside you.

First, you reluctantly enter the house and greet his parents. They rush to Taehyung and engulf him into a hug that warms your heart, and of course, they waste no time catering to you and your needs as they ask you for your name. Bashfully smiling at their endless stream of compliments, Taehyung introduces you to them as his ‘girlfriend,’ something that you swear your heart has never skipped a wider beat than it had ever before.

Afterwards, Taehyung introduces you to his white, fluffy cat, Kkanji, who only spares you a mere glimpse before carrying on with his own business. The two of you giggle at the underwhelming response which leads you to the back of his house where his strawberry farm lies and his other family pet, a large white dog named Soonshim, comes running after Taehyung. The reunion is short lived, albeit utterly endearing as you watch the dog prance around with his tongue licking the boy whom you only naturally associate with the puppy version of the dog, when the dog’s attention is turned towards you. The large “wolf,” as Taehyung likes to refer Soonshim as, lunges at you and tackles you to the ground while giving you sloppy licks to the cheeks and you can’t help but giggle despite knowing how much of a mess you must look like. Nonetheless, you’re happy to know that practically everyone adores Taehyung, including his family, dogs, cats, children, elders, and even you, and you’re even happier to know that many of these people are willing to accept you as Taehyung’s significant other… now if only he felt the same way.

The sun decorates the sky like the second brightest figure of what had once been the brightest in your universe; its warmth radiates across the horizon and drifts into the dependent beings below to grace its light upon the two of you with a chaste kiss onto your skin and his. The air is clean and fresh, albeit filled with the scent of damp soil and watered plants, and just as Taehyung had warned you prior to today, the humidity is rather bothersome to deal with. But for you, it’s all worth it; none of it even comes across your mind twice when you have everything you need with you—a matching floppy straw hat with Taehyung’s to protect your face from the sunlight and a firm, large hand engulfing yours in his as he leads you across the narrow pathways in between each row of strawberry plants.

“Want me to show you how to pick out the perfect strawberry?” Taehyung gleefully chirps, squatting down to meet the two or three feet tall plants as you did the same.

“Not in particular,” you tease the boy who only quickly disregards your remark.

“Okay, okay, quit whining. TaeTae the Honest will teach you now, so listen carefully!”

You only snort at him, turning your eyes away from his beautiful lengthy and delicate fingers which began his lesson and averting your attention to the giddy, rectangular grin plastered across his face. You’re not sure if you’re being crazy or just stuck in the moment of what people call “infatuation,” “lust,” or “temporary love,” but there’s no denying how much you utterly adored his unique smile; the way his lips form a thin box to adorn his soft facial features, the way his eyes scrunch up into smiling crescents, and the tall nose of his being the only thing remaining unchanged that you just want to boop the tip of it where the mole he had made sure to introduce you to this week, and the way the sunlight perfectly strikes his features at the most ethereal angles that the locks of his peachy hair shines and the tan, honeylike skin of his practically glows, all of it makes your heart melt right at this moment as you gaze at him with a smile subconsciously spreading across your lips.

You don’t know what being in love truly means, but if there’s one thing you think must fall into its category, you’re certain this moment does: simply being happy because he’s happy.

“Y/N… Earth to Y/N… Y/N!” Taehyung repeatedly calls out.

“Huh?” your eyes widen, quickly snapping out of its daydream and staring at him quizzically.

“Are you not paying attention to me?” he pouts before mumbling, “or… were you… never mind.”

His eyes flicker and flinch when a realization dawns upon him before he timidly looks towards the ground with a bright red strawberry in between his fingers; you can’t help but wonder how oddly he’s acting. Taehyung? Look away from you? Not speaking whatever is on his mind? Usually he’d be teasing you for staring at him, something about how ‘handsome’ he is and all that. But this…? This is most definitely a first, and you’re not sure how to feel about it.

Snatching the strawberry from his hand and plopping it into your mouth, you begin chewing and humming, “mm. This really is good. It’s sweeter than any strawberry I’ve ever had. Your family sure does know the secret recipe to a great berry.”

Taehyung looks up from the ground, flashing his beaming smile, “right? I picked well, right?”

“Mhm, our Taehyungie picked well,” you smile, patting his head before the two of you freeze when the fact that you had just referred him to ‘Taehyungie’ for the first time registered in your heads.

Quickly retracting your hands from his soft strands of hair, you let out a nervous laugh and begin fumbling your hands with the plant in front of you, whereas Taehyung looks down at the ground with soft, pressed lips—whether they’re smiling or not, you’re unsure of—and fluffs his hair with one hand. In the corner of your eye, you catch sight of the tip of his tongue running across his smooth lips—a habit you’ve come to notice this week—and you force yourself to gulp and look away. Keeping Lisa’s tip in mind from yesterday, you try to remind yourself all of these feelings you’re experiencing right now must have been felt by dozens of girls before. The only thing that’ll keep you special is by being unfazed; but what’re you supposed to do when your heart doesn’t want to comply?

Taehyung then clears his throat, your head snapping to see what he has to say after such an awkward break only to find him gazing at you with a kind of look you haven’t seen in him even once throughout this week. A split second before you turn, you catch the slight curve of his lopsided smile, the soft edges of his eyes, and the gaze filled with… longing? Desire? Adoration? You’re not sure if you’re getting ahead of yourself, but when has Taehyung ever looked at you with more genuity now than ever?

His eyes pop when he notices his blown cover, “u-um… I just wanted to thank you for coming with me to visit my parents…” he begins before gulping and giving you a gentle smile. “You know I’m not good with my words, but I really do want to say thank you. I can’t even begin to put my gratitude—my feelings,” he stutters, “into words… but it means so so much to me.”

You smile, “yeah, of course. It’s only normal for anyone to do this when they have the chance to.”

“No,” Taehyung shakes his head. “The thing is, they really don’t. If they think it’s even the least bit of a waste of time, or if it’ll somehow get in the way of their schedule, the last thing they consider is me. But you’re different.”

“Well those people are idiots. You deserve better.”

Taehyung cocks his head with a smirk, “you think so?”

“I know so. I’m glad you’re not too oblivious to everything.”

“Alrighty, well, if they’re idiots, then you’re a special idiot,” he pokes his finger at your right cheek and you frown. “Who in their right minds would waste one out of only seven days to something like this? We could’ve visited my parents in the future, you know, after we finish the end of this week. I can’t believe you went ahead and suggested using up one of our days.”

“But you wanted to see your parents,” you mumble. “You can’t call me an idiot for doing the same thing you did for me and Hyerin. And plus, it makes me happy to see you like this.”

Taehyung’s brows raise, for he’s stunned still by your last remark, before his eyes quickly averts to stare at the ground with his lips barely parted and failing to utter a single word. Laughing at his taken aback expression, the two of you then slowly break out into a giggle, staring at each other and laughing like two dorks completely unaware of the passing cars zooming by the nearby roads and the wind which blows lightly across your locks of hair and brushing the harsh edges of the picture perfect moment until it’s branded into the depths of your memory like the timer on your hands. And for a split second then and there, you like to think time had stopped for the two of you and the two of you only.

Reaching out to instinctively squeeze his cheeks in your hands, you stretch them out until they resemble a chubby bunny—a chubby bunny evidently unamused by your actions as they frown and glare at you with furrowed brows.

“What’re you doing?” he asks through incoherent words.

“You’ve gained some weight after eating out nearly every single day this week, Tae,” you observe, squishing his cheeks some more.

“Oh, really?” he stares at you with panicked eyes. “Does it look bad? Do you think the fans will notice? How about my boss?”

“No, no, no. It looks adorable. I think the extra weight looks great. You look even more loveable than before,” you quickly add in, “or at least I’m sure that’s what the fans will think.”

“Really?” his eyes twinkle before he turns away to stare at the strawberries in front of him with a giddy smile. “My grandma used to say she likes me chubby, so I try to eat as much as my job will let me.”

Ah, for some reason, his words tug at your heartstrings; you especially love his filial side. Knowing how much Taehyung loves his family tells you he’d be the perfect husband, but after hearing what Lisa had to say, you know your chances at that are slim—and that very fact pains every inch of you.

Raising your brows, you’re slightly taken aback by the flutter in your stomach and the skip of your heart. He quickly turns his head to glimpse at your expression before turning away once again, both of you flashing a bashful smile at each other.

“Okay, I’ll keep myself chubby for both my grandma and my little pumpkin.”

“Pumpkin?” you chuckle at his pet name for you. “If you’re calling me your pumpkin now, then can I call you my strawberry?”

Taehyung purses his lips, “then I’ll call you my silly pumpkin.”

“Okay, then I’ll call you my silly strawberry.”

But in some ways, he’s right. You’re silly for using up one of your precious seven days to do something you could’ve done in the upcoming months if you had stuck to the task at hand for this week, but at least there’s one thing keeping you from regretting too badly; at least you got to see a side to him no one else had ever seen before… not even Lisa.

The worries regarding the warnings Lisa had given you last night continuously burns in the back of your mind even as the day passes and the two of you are sitting on boulder hovering over the wide lake spreading across the horizon before you. Taehyung had suggested watching the sunset at one of his favorite spots he had discovered back when he still lived with his family to end the night, and unsurprisingly, his parents had gleefully agreed to his idea. Preparing a full set of side dishes for the two of you to take on the flight home later tonight and giving their son one of the longest and most endearing hugs you’ve witnessed, the two hastily push you two out the door as if bidding a recently married couple off into the sunset of their honeymoon.

The skies are the palette of the sun, for it is painted colors of golden orange and rosy pink. The little sun ray which remains of the setting sun reflects across the sparkling, vast lake, and the dark silhouettes of the evergreen trees sitting on the opposite side of the lake perfectly tops off the scenery. With your head lying snug on his shoulders and his head leaning on yours, the two of you silently watch the sunset with only one thing on your minds: tonight would be the last night before your fates are determined.

“Are you ready?”

You glance up at Taehyung, “for what?”

“For tomorrow, silly pumpkin,” he laughs the low laugh of his that you’ve come to adore.

“Mm… not really if I’m being honest. I wish we had more time. I feel like the past six days flew by way too quick… I want to relive it,” you confess.

“Well, we can always relive it if we get a happy ending tomorrow,” Taehyung chortles.

“Do you want a happy ending?” you look up to find Taehyung gazing off into the distance, the light radiating from the sunset reflected in his dark irises.

“I do,” he peers down at you with a lopsided smile, “I want us to have a happy ending.”

He’s gazing into your eyes and you’re gazing into his, but all that you want to ask right now is if he’s fallen for you in any way shape or form. Neither of you would have to have this conversation if either one of you confesses your true feelings. What if he really has already fallen for you despite all the things Lisa has said? What if you’re that one exception, that one girl he does fall for? What if all that’s keeping him from saying so is a sign that you feel the same? Regardless of the answers to these questions, there’s one thing that your body and heart keeps pushing you towards the edge of your seat and the brink of a cliff which you know will only lead to disaster and heartbreak.

You want to confess.

So leaning in, you press your lips onto his soft ones—not too gently and not too forcefully, but just right. You catch sight of his eyes widening in shock and his body remains still, but you muster up the last bit of courage to close your eyes and hope for the best. When you feel the feathering of his long lashes brush against your lids, you know he, too, had his eyes closed. Then he leans in ever so slightly, and his hands reach up to cup one on your right cheek and the other behind your head.

Your heart pounds so loudly and harshly that you don’t think your chest can handle it, your stomach flutters and churns with a mess of emotions that you don’t know if they’ll ever go away, and your mind floods with thousands of unanswered questions that you think you might faint anytime soon. But then you pull away, your lips and his seemingly too reluctant for the loss of contact as they attempt to remain connected until the very last second, and your eyes flutter open to the world which had frozen still; it was a short kiss, that’s for sure, but it’s one that you’ll remember for years to come.

With the silence that ensues, you’re reminded of all the reasons you have developed these feelings for the boy in front of you. He’s playful like a kid, but he’s mature when he needs to be. He seems like the most carefree boy you’ll ever come across, but what’s on his mind is golden and to be treasured by those who care enough to seek it. He’s loving to his friends, strangers, children, and pets, but his family will forever remain in his heart. He’s understanding, albeit oblivious at times, but that’s what makes him that much more easy to love. He’s willing to sacrifice for others, even if it means he’ll suffer with regret and incompetence to voice his inner thoughts in fear of letting down others. And lastly, he believes in the goodness of others, sometimes a bit too much, but amidst a world where betrayal and distrust runs rampant in every being, people like him shine to guide others through the darkness.

A high pitched whistle echoes across the chilly air as the two of you whirl your heads around to find a set of fireworks flashing and crackling across the skies. Mumbles of ‘ooh’s and ‘ahh’s tumble from your lips just like Taehyung’s, and for a second you’ve nearly forgotten the burning of your red cheeks and the incident that had just played out before the two of you. With the seemingly magical moment akin to the one where Taehyung had crowd surfed and gazed into your eyes as a commencement of the start of this entire journey, you gulp down to feel the walls of your dry throat graze against one another as your hands clenches into fists.

“I know it’s silly for me to say this, and you’re going to think I’m mistaken,” you blurt out before taking a deep breath and sighing, “but I think I’ve fallen for you… I think I love you, Kim Taehyung.”

His eyes pop open and his brows raise like he’s never heard those words before. His lips part, but they fail to utter a single word. After a few seconds of tense silence fills the air, cars zooming by and wind weaving through your hair as time stops for the two of you, Taehyung softly laughs with a half smile.

What is he going to say? How will he react? Is this the moment of truth?

Your heart pounds against you so loudly you swear he can hear it, but the answer never comes.

Instead, he glances away and off into the sunset. His hand takes yours into his, interlocking his warm fingers with yours and squeezing firmly before resuming the sightseeing session and looking off into the sky where fireworks continue to burst. But what he doesn’t take note of is the drop in your stomach and the painful edge of each thump of your chest… because what is that supposed to mean?

It’s rejection. It must be rejection. Taehyung’s too kind to reject you outright. And it hurts. It hurts to think that there really might not be a happy ending to this tale. You never thought you could ever be so heartbroken by someone you’ve only known for a week. You never thought you would even harbor any of these feelings for someone whom you would’ve regarded as a stranger but now you can’t even think of a world without him. But there’s always one silver lining to this heartbreak…

Because the heartache you feel now is simply a confirmation of the sincerity of your feelings.

You love Taehyung… it’s just that Taehyung might not love you.

-

DAY 7

“Are you sure you don’t want to come? Is it really urgent? Do you really have to go?”

The desperation in Taehyung’s voice still echoes in the back of your mind.

“Yeah… it’s really important. I can’t afford to miss it,” you quietly apologize with your eyes glued to the ground; you don’t dare lie to him straight to his face. “I’m sorry… I totally forgot to tell you yesterday.”

“It’s okay… I understand...” Taehyung mumbles, head low and bottom lip just barely jutting into a pout.

You’re absolutely dreaded with guilt and you don’t want to let him leave, but you know there’s no point in keeping him with you anyways.

“It’s not like we can interact during concert or anything! You should focus on work! And I’m sure the fans won’t be too excited to see you with me anyways,” you try to cheer both of you two up.

He peeps up to catch one last glimpse of you, “but we’ll meet up afterwards, right…? I know it’s our last day together this week, but we have to stick together until the very last minute, regardless of the turn out, okay?”

“Mhm,” you hum with a forced smile.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t spend more time together this week… You’re right… about everything you said last night. I wish we could just rewind and redo everything we did the last six days. It was such a blast. I’ve never had so much fun before,” he loosely links his pinky with yours and swings it side to side, peering up to intently gaze upon you.

The child in him tells you he isn’t going to let go, or at least he doesn’t want to let go.

And you don’t either.

But the coward in you tells you you must end things now in order to avoid confirming what you already know at the end of the day unless you so desperately desire to experience the painful tug of your strings and the inner turmoil of your mind when you can finally know for sure that your love for him is indeed unrequited.

So you lie to him.

“We don’t have to rewind if there’s an option to press play,” you feign a smile to which his eyes brighten to, “let’s keep in touch. We can hang out after your concert.”

But you don’t plan on seeing him afterwards; in fact, you don’t plan on seeing him ever again.

Lisa is right, your first instincts are right, and your wariness regarding the foolish concept of falling in love within a week is right. In reality, no rational beings can truly say they’re head over heels over someone they’ve just met without a fault of hesitation. Or maybe that’s just your excuse to assure yourself that the two of you just aren’t meant to be and not that you’re simply not desirable in Taehyung’s eyes.

A part of you wants to believe fate had just made a mistake in believing in you, and not that you had made a mistake believing in fate.

But despite all the self convincing you’re doing while lying on the couch in the living of your own house where it had all started, you can’t help but take into account the temptation within you that screams at you to see him just one more time; you’re ridden with guilt, you know you shouldn’t have left him with false hopes, and yet you still can’t bring yourself to acknowledge failure and defeat in the face of fate. The only thing which cuts through your internal debate and the silence of the thin air and a ticking clock is the vibration of your phone.

Lisa [9:10 pm] Hey Y/N, it’s Lisa. I just had a few important things to tell you tonight.

Lisa [9:10 pm] First. You know that day you asked me how I knew where you were and what you looked like? Well, turns out Taehyung was the one who told me. He sent me a picture of the two of you and told me exactly where the two of you would be on that day. He wanted me to meet you and tell you… certain things that I”ll explain later… but I never ended up saying them.

Lisa [9:13 pm] Which leads me to the second thing. Most of the things I said about Taehyung were exaggerated. He’s a sweet boy, and I’m sure you’ve noticed, but the fact that I felt neglected remains the same. What isn’t true is that I dumped him. He actually dumped me. He told me something about “not feeling a spark” or just “feeling like it was going nowhere.” I guess I really wasn’t special, and I’d agree with him in that we weren’t great as a couple.

Lisa [9:15 pm] Am I jealous? Nah. Spiteful? Nope. The reason I changed the facts, or lied if you prefer that term, is because I still worry for him as a fellow artist. You have no idea how many girls have tried to take advantage of him, his money, his status... and him being the rather oblivious type, I was scared you were trying to do so too. I wanted to see if you’d still keep at it even after the hurtful things I told you. And after seeing the two of you still as happy as ever, and seeing how much Taehyung loves to rave about you, I think you might be that one girl, that one exception for him.

Lisa [9:17 pm] I’m sorry for hurting you; I really didn’t mean to hurt you too much. I was just keeping an eye out for my friend. I hope you understand. But now I have nothing but good wishes and high hopes for the two of you. I hope you two have an amazing, smooth sailing relationship!

Lisa [9:18 pm] P.S. What Taehyung really wanted me to do was to talk good about him in front of you. He wanted me to tell you about how “handsome” he is and what a “great boyfriend and husband” he’d make… yeah, no, I’m not doing that.

Lisa [9:19 pm] P.P.S. I only had good things to tell him about you. As far as I can tell, you’re a very sweet girl, and you look like a great match for Tae! So go get ‘em girl! ;)

....what?

You won't believe your eyes. Is this really Lisa? Is she saying the truth?

So all those days of burning jealousy and self insecurities are meaningless in the first place? Taehyung isn’t hung up over his last breakup with Lisa, in fact, he’s the one who broke it off? So why didn’t he tell you? Why didn’t he reassure you of this when he saw you beating yourself up over it?

Your entire world is turned upside down, but if there’s one thing that remains constant, it’s the fact that your affections for Taehyung are still unrequited. Lisa’s relationship with him doesn’t change this very fact, and if anything, it only confirms how insignificant you are to him as you’re just one of the many girls he’s seen before. But if there’s one thing that has changed, it’s your determination to lock yourself up in your room for the remaining hours of the clock which continues to count down on your hand and fate itself.

Grabbing your phone, you send a quick text to Hyerin.

You [9:21 pm] Hey, hey, hey, I hope you’re feeling better!!! I know this is really random, but I just wanted to ask you something I thought of really randomly. If, and this is only IF, a completely hypothetical situation, if you ended up in the whole Seven Days Countdown ordeal… and you were the only one in love on the seventh day, would you still keep in touch with who was first meant to be your soulmate? Or would you leave early?

Your phone buzzes right as you place your phone back down on the couch. This girl should be resting…

Hyerin [9:22 pm] “hope you’re feeling better!!!” oh please, I know you’re not here just to wish me something as simple as that. And why on EARTH would you leave early?!?! That would be a once in a lifetime chance! I’d go through all seven days so I wouldn’t have any regrets! I have to try my best or who knows what might happen? Who wouldn’t fall in love with me?

You [9:24 pm] Even if you’re 100% sure they don’t like you?

Hyerin [9:25 pm] Not possible, but yeah, duh!!! What kind of a person do you think I am? A give-upper?

Chuckling at Hyerin’s enthusiastic replies even after sustaining such injuries, you shake your head and turn off your phone. Glancing at your hand, your heart nearly stops at the number branded across it.

00:02:05

Two hours and five minutes on the clock.

Two hours and five minutes left between you and Taehyung.

Two hours and five minutes until your path with Taehyung untangles to become two parallel lines.

Well, Hyerin has a point, and the clock which continues to tick only pushes you furthermore onto the edge of your seat. As much as it saddens you to know your time with Taehyung is over, Hyerin’s word of advice gives you a glimpse of hope; maybe things aren’t over yet, maybe you should see it out until the very end so that no regrets will remain.

And so before neither you nor your mind can even register it, your body is moving on its own as your feet stammer across the floor and your hands hastily grab your purse and jacket, and the next thing you know, you’ve already exited your house and well on your way running down to retrace the same path you and Hyerin had taken to the concert venue just a week ago.

Your heart is pounding harder and faster than ever and it most certainly doesn’t stop when you hand over the ticket Taehyung had given you in case you changed your mind and find yourself surrounded by a swarm of screaming girls filled with adrenaline and thrill which somehow infects its way into your own system. It’s an odd feeling knowing that just a week ago you were standing right here, a few feet from the stage, waiting for the boys to begin the show without a clue for the storm that’s to come. And yet here you are now, standing in the very same spot and knowing exactly who you’re looking for with a bittersweet type of angsty excitement and hope bellowing from the depths of your chest.

But what’s even more ironic is the fact that you swear your chest can no longer take the generous pumps of blood overflowing in your veins and that you ponder whether your heart can truly take seeing him before your eyes not as his potential soulmate but as a mere fan, and yet the second he steps out of the red curtains and a sense of deja vu floods over your frozen body, your heart stills for a short moment of what you gauge to be near eternity.

Despite the fans whom are jumping and screaming higher and louder than ever, all you can see and hear is the familiar boy who shines so brightly like a distant star in the sky illuminated by the stage lights striking its grace upon him. He steps out from the curtains along with the other boys and every light other than the main stage begins to dim as the show starts.

“I can’t hear you!” Taehyung shouts into the microphone. “I asked you guys ‘are you ready?!’”

The audience roars in response, inciting a smirk from the boy whom you’ve come to learn is extremely passionate in both music and his career. Standing here amidst a crowd of thousands, you’re happy for him. A week ago you would’ve acknowledged the success of these boys, but now that you’ve unexpectedly and irrevocably fallen for him, you can finally and genuinely say you’re happy for him… even if it’s at your own cost.

Throughout the entirety of the concert, you find your eyes completely affixed to him rather than the other members, however his eyes never seem to meet yours. He’s completely immersed into the concert, hyping up the audience and singing as if the world outside of music ends for him tonight, but even so, there are more than several times you catch him gazing off the distance and skimming through the crowd as if to look for something. You’re not sure if your mind is playing tricks on you or if you’re pathetically holding onto the last string of hope, but you’d like to think that very look in his eyes resembles the look he’s had plastered over his face whenever he was searching for you in the midst of a crowd in the past seven days. But the fact that you’re speculating and even doubting yourself sends a painful edge to each one of the thumps of your heart.

As much as you’re enjoying the concert, you can’t help but constantly glance down at the now dangerously bold purple digits branded across your hand.

00:04:01

00:04:00

00:03:59

Each loss of a second, each tick of the clock, each moment you spend with Taehyung up on stage and not beside you leaves your knees weak and a hole gaping from within. Only four minutes left until the end of the concert, the moment when your fate is to be decided—a fate which consists of a future absent of love, but most important and painfully, a fate which lacks the one love of your life you know you’ll never forget, Kim Taehyung.

So this is it. This is how it ends. A week of skepticism, revelations, and chasing, and yet this inevitable result still dawns upon you as of now. With you being the only one locked in the spell of what fate has betrothed upon you, you can finally confirm the mistake divinity had made and so graciously thrown upon you and who was supposedly your soulmate. No, maybe the two of you aren’t meant to be soulmates. Maybe this is your fate after all—to attempt at love and fail at the very end.

Weaving your way through the bumping and pushing crowd that only gladly lets you go, you make your way towards the exit when just a few feet away from your original spot, you hear the crowd go insanely wild. Whirling around, you find Taehyung crowd surfing yet again, laughing like he’s having the time of his life, laughing and holding himself back while his eyes are busy searching the crowd as if everything is perfect in his life, everything but one thing. Because he’s tossing his head around with his shades lifted above his head, eyes wide and alert as his body continues being passed down the front crowd…

...until his gaze locks with yours.

A sense of deja vu and a hint of shock as you thought you could only relive this in the depths of your memories, all of it comes flooding through the crooks and crannies of your head all at once.

The blaring, ear piercing screams of the crowd drowns out into the background and your mind somehow creates a tunnel vision where everything but Taehyung is blacked out to create the focus of what you and your own body knows is all that you care for at this very moment, and you can’t help but wonder… is he seeing and experiencing the same for you as you are for him?

The widening of his eyes answers your question.

“You came, pumpkin?” he mouths.

“Silly pumpkin,” you correct him with a soft laugh as he only chuckles at your remark.

A happy reunion this is; the perfect way to close this chapter of your life and end the short yet seemingly long journey you’ve shared with Taehyung—but a sharp burning of your hand akin to accidentally brushing your hand against a freshly used cooking pot turns the short lived joy upside down.

00:00:52

Glancing back at Taehyung to hold your hand up into the air where he could see, you give him a pressing smile and whisper, “I”ll see you later then, my sweet ‘lil strawberry.”

“Wait, no, Y/N! Y/N! Wait for me!” Taehyung yells out at you, but no one except for you seems to hear as they continue to scream and you continue to turn you back on him to make your final exit on both the arena and his life.

Just a step away from the door, you take a deep breath in and sigh our all your frustrations, regret, and self pity. This is it. No more flutters of the stomach, no more skips of the heartbeat, no more meaningful relationships, and worst of all, no more Taehyung. The last three words hurt you the most. Smiling to yourself, you can feel yourself on the brink of breaking down; tears well up in your eyes and your cheeks become so heated you know you have to leave now or you’d never be able to bring yourself to leave. So placing your hand on the cold metallic surface of the door, you—

“Y/N!”

Turning around with eyes popping and raised brows, your heart nearly stops when you see Taehyung up on stage out of breath, hair disheveled, and chest heaving up and down. Looking around, you find none of the audience members throwing glancing at you as they’re too busy with the other members whom are crouching down to interact with their fans, thus leaving the two of you locked in a moment frozen in time.

A pulse beats against your hand, and you look down.