M I N A

"Why did you want to meet up so late, Tae?

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's okay, I...just I have something I want to tell you."

____________________

My eyes open and it was still dark. I look at the clock. It was three in the morning.

I must've had a weird dream. The more I tried to remember, the more it faded away. I only remember that Taehyung was in my dream and he wanted to tell me something. Why would I dream about that?

I just closed my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. I'll probably forget about this in the morning.

_________________

"Bwah!"

"Ah-! Taehyung-ah..!"

He laughs all innocently like he didn't just sneak up behind me and scare me.

"You scared me!" I whine.

"Sorry, sorry." He says, putting his arm around me, "I'll stop."

I found him while walking towards school, so technically, we're not on campus yet.

"Sorry I forgot to call last night." I apologize, "I fell asleep as soon as I got home."

"It's alright. You must have slept good."

I lean my head on his shoulder and look up at him.

"You look nice today." I say.

His eyes go down to meet mine, "I do feel good today. I don't think I did anything different than yesterday though."

I kept looking towards his neck and then back at his eyes to see if he would get the hint.

Eventually, after I was quiet for a bit, he notices.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that-" And then he looks to where I was looking, "Oh."

His tie was loose and the first two buttons of his shirt were open so the very top of his chest was exposed.

He clears his throat, quickly fixing his uniform, "I uh...I didn't know."

I nod, "But that's why I'm here, right? If it wasn't for me, you'd get dress coded."

He chuckles, "I was wondering why you kept looking there. I thought I was crazy."

We reach the gate to the school. I take one step through and he pulls me back out by my arm.

I was a bit flustered, since he pulled me kind of roughly and he just stared at me with serious eyes.

"You can't go yet." He says.

His deep voice always gives me chills when he talks like this.

He pulls us a few steps away from the gate and puts his hands on my waist.

"What are you-"

He slowly leans in until our lips finally meet. He kisses me softly, making it last.

When he pulls away, he takes my hand.

"Okay. Now we can go." He says, walking back to the gate.

He lets go of my hand as soon as we step onto campus.

"That was very bold of you." I say under my breath.

"What can I say. It's all thanks to you."

He seemed extra flirty today. I wonder why.

Taehyung and I both had things to do immediately after school so the last time we saw each other was the last class of the day. I promised to call him tonight and told him I wouldn't forget this time.

In the mean time, I had to work on the project with Ijun again today. We're usually quiet while we're working, but we talk in the beginning and when we're done for the day.

Today he seemed a bit different.

I didn't think much of it until our conversation at the end of our work session.

"I like your hair, Mina. Did you do something different with it today?" He asks.

"Oh, thank you." I reply, "I just didn't use as much hair product today. I guess it really does make a difference."

He smiles to himself, "I like working with you, Mina."

"I like working with you too, Ijun."

He was quiet again until it was time for us to leave. He looked deep in thought.

"So if we work on this tomorrow I think we can finish it." He says as we walk out the door.

"Same time same place?"

"Sounds good."

"Alright, we'll have a good night, Ijun. I'll see you tomorrow-" I start to wave goodbye, but he stops me.

"Wait."

I stop and turn back to him.

"I know this might seem sudden, but..." He clears his throat, "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

I sigh in my mind.

"Ijun..." I say, "I think you're a really nice guy and I enjoy your company, but I have a boyfriend."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't know." He says frantically.

We both stand there awkwardly.

"Good night." He says before quickly walking away.

Oh man. Now things are going to be weird when we work together. I had no idea he felt like that. My mind was racing on my way home.

I almost forgot to call Tae again today, I was so distracted, but I remembered when I saw the polaroid picture of us beside my bed. I step outside to call him since it was kind of late and Momo was already asleep in our room.

"Minari." He sounded happy when I called.

"Taehyungie, sorry, I got home late again today."

"It's okay. I just got home a few minutes ago too."

"So...you had something you wanted to tell me?" I ask.

"Hm?"

After a few seconds, I realize I had gotten mixed up with reality and whatever that dream was I had last night.

"Oh- nevermind. Sorry, I was thinking about something else."

"Oh okay. So how's your project going?" He asks.

"It's going well. We should be done with it by tomorrow."

I thought about whether or not I should tell him about Ijun. I mean, we promised we wouldn't keep secrets when we started this relationship so, I can't keep this from him.

"But something kind of weird happened today." I say.

"Weird? What happened?"

"Ijun asked me on a date. I guess he didn't know I already have a boyfriend."

"He asked you out? You said no, right?"

"Of course I said no. I told him I thought he was nice but I was taken. Now things are going to be awkward between us at school."

"Ah...well I guess these are just the consequences of being the prettiest girl in school." He says.

"I'm not the prettiest."

"You are in my eyes. That's all that matters."

When Taehyung uses his charm, it just keeps on going and going.

I'm surprised he didn't get upset that another guy was trying to ask me out.

I guess there's no reason to be jealous when he knows I'm his.