Maybe it's the little touch of her love, that relieves the agonising pain that burns his heart.
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Request(s): there were precisely no requests that matched with the storyline (except for some who requested for f2l prompts), just a random train of thoughts that I expressed in words.

Genres/Warnings: friends to lovers (f2l) au, roommates to lovers (sorta), somewhat domestic!taelice, slow burn, hurt-comfort, references to past character deaths, grief — angst and a smidge of fluff, no more spoilers so read it till the end :)

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Word Count: 5.7k (yeah take that, it's long!)

«NARRATION»

Kim Taehyung braced for the darkness.

He was certain, that all the light in his life had incinerated and there was nothing left but sheer darkness — the shadows that consoled him.

Just days ago, he remembered being snuggled up against the arms of the lady he loved with all his heart, who would read her novel as he laid his head on her lap to have his hair stroked softly every night. He had dreamt that he shall be spending the rest of his life with her, Aera.

The fairytale was ever so convincing, but couldn't withstand the tragic mishap that burst the bubble open with such a speed that Taehyung hadn't seen it coming.

The day's incident was clear in his mind, like a bunch of photographic reels playing inside the projector in his mind. It was a normal day like no other, with Aera leaving for her firm before giving a usual peck on Taehyung's cheek.

Around noon, while he was in midst of his shoot for an upcoming drama, he received a call.

There had been an accident.

An unfamiliar voice spoke from the other end of the line and Taehyung could feel a burning lump form in his throat, his heart being constricted in his chest as he jumped in his place.

His visions felt hazy and the sounds from the surroundings almost cancelled out, with a perturbed echo of the voice in his head.

"I-I'll be there." He paused before putting the phone away in his pocket, to rush out from the shooting venue, mumbling an "emergency call" to his manager, only to disappear around the corner with his chauffeur.

All the while the drive to the hospital seemed like a step closer to death itself; his heart pounding in dangerous anticipation of Aera's health, the many questions in his head to which he had no answers for.

A sea of fans engulfed him as he made his way through the crowd. If it weren't for his bodyguard, he wouldn't have possibly made through the entrance doors at all. None of this served a purpose — the damage had been done. His celebrity face had been recognised and soon, the involvement of the tabloids and media would add bulk to his situation if it hadn't been burdensome enough.

"Mr Kim, Ms Aera is being operated in the ICU, we can't permit you to see her yet." The nurse said in an apologetic tone as Taehyung collapsed on one of the waiting seats, his face buried into the shoulder of his bodyguard, latching onto him for support as every gruelling minute had passed.

Aera couldn't die.

She couldn't leave him in a state like this — there were a number of unsaid vows they were yet to make on the wedding day they'd been planning for months.

Every passing second felt like the burn of a decade; with legs crammed up, dots dancing in Taehyung's vision as his mind gobbled up the incessant mess of jumbled thoughts and memories. He shut his eyes close only to pray for a higher deity, hoping everything was just a bad dream.

Oh dear, how it wasn't; the searing agony in his heart was a testament to it — right when the doctor shook his head sideways when asked about her health.

"I'm so sorry for the loss..." he started, the words buzzing loud echoes in the lobes of his brain.

"We couldn't save her."

ᯤ

Since that fateful day the incident occurred, everything had seemed to go in a blur. Tabloids flashed everywhere, forums discussing his girlfriend's death, tabbing it as a scandal, a planned murder by some obsessed sasaeng and what not.

The stigma was so intense that Taehyung feared to step out from his own home. Her parents who had happily blessed over the couple now refused to look at him in the eye during the funeral processions; in their belief, it was Taehyung's profession that drove their daughter to such a merciless death.

Regrets set in sooner than expected.

In his self retrospect, Taehyung reminded that he should never have made the relationship public — it hurt.

To have someone you've loved and promised to love for the rest of your life be ripped from your grasp in a premature stance — it hurt so fucking bad.

It was particularly a week after the funeral, when the news of the upcoming drama being halted came in headlines — the actor-musician had gone into self recluse, away from the public eye. Almost everybody knew these things were bound to occur, but no matter how much they could feel sorry with the loss, they couldn't sympathise enough. What wasn't the known fact however, were Taehyung's whereabouts.

What anyone didn't have the information about, that he wasn't in his residence in Seoul anymore, rather hundreds of car miles away in a small province in the outskirts of his home in Daegu.

Passing through the endless array of shops that were constructed beautifully on the brick laden path in the crisp October air, he passed the bakers' and got a loaf of freshly baked baguettes as a gift. In his hand was his suitcase while the other gripped a piece of paper with an address of the place that would be his abode — maybe for the span of a year or so, until he could figure his shit out.

Finally reaching the address plate that matched the one on the paper, he mentally read the name carved in warm taupe against the beige coloured enamel. He then lowered his valise to the porch of a cottage-like home before pressing a finger to the door chime.

A familiar pair of chocolate brown orbs meet his grief-brimmed ones. Some strands of hair fall over the face, very much unlike the bangs that rested on the forehead ages ago. Somehow the glow up was so shocking that Taehyung would've stared at the doll face in awe had the circumstances of his visit been different.

Taehyung expected the person to freak out in a temperament of surprise and knock his figure into a bear hug, but was startled to find a strikingly opposite gesture, which was somewhat comforting.

"Welcome home, Tae." The soft dulcet of her voice greeted him and opened the door ajar just enough for him to enter in. Taehyung raised his hand holding a bag, the aroma of the bread lingering in the atmosphere as she stared at him agape, waving her hands in a jittery fashion.

"Why did you— Tae, there wasn't a need for this."

"Lisa." His baritone was sublime enough as his stare to melt her down as she took the bag from his hand. "You and your gifting culture — runs like a tradition I believe."

"Make yourself comfortable while I brew you some tea." She smiled lopsidedly before getting into the kitchen counter as Taehyung sunk into one of the seats. The furniture around the corner was minimalistic, some photo frames hung up on the wall behind the couch.

At the initial thought, Taehyung fretted upon his decision to live in Lisa's home — she was a married woman after all and he didn't wish to be a third wheel in her sweet home. What was more shocking to him was the fact that his mother told him that Lisa was the one who suggested the arrangement. The question kept prompting him to speak up and finally, he decided to take an indirect approach.

"Is Jaewon hyung off to work? The last time I remember he had enlisted in the army as a Colonel when the two of you were engaged, hmm?" Taehyung asked when Lisa settled the cups of tea, noticing the paleness resting over her face when the question was raised.

"Jaewon...he passed away a year ago." She sighed. "Brain tumour."

Oh.

Taehyung paused, staring wide eyed at his childhood best friend — not a single sound left his lips for two minutes.

He just had to land themselves in an embarrassing spot by asking that question—

"I'm s-sorry, I didn't mean to...."

Lisa shook her head and took a sip of her chamomile tea. "Ah, its okay Tae. Y'know, I had no clue of it since he had been hiding it from me. He died within a month after I found out."

"That's....aggressive, eomma never mentioned it to me when I asked her about you."

"I want to keep it a private affair. You were booming with so much success with a bang year of fame and all, so I thought it was better if you were, uhm— unaware." She took a pause before smiling at him again. "Drink up the tea, it won't be effective enough after it gets cold."

Taehyung nodded at the advice and picked the teacup as Lisa carried his luggage through the hallway into the room adjacent to hers. He didn't glance at how his hands shake because he busied himself at the thought of Lisa living in solitude for the many months after her husband had died — maybe this was the reason why his parents had been persistent to let him live with Lisa instead of inviting him home to stay with them.

She could understand his need for a quiet companionship, if not sympathy because she felt the same hollow kind of loneliness after losing her significant other to the unfortunate time.

ᯤ

The first two months were, in simple words; awkward. Taehyung's departure from town to pursue his dreams of being an actor had widened the distance with someone he knew from childhood as his best friend — a distance of both physical and emotional aspects.

The town was still a drive of two hours away from his own home and although his parents suggested to come over and see him, he refuted.

Taehyung was one of the best actors in the industry at expressing himself on stage — but quite the opposite in the mirrors of reality. This was quite the reason he limited the knowledge of living somewhere far from home to only a few trusted persons he knew; his manager, his parents and his bodyguard. And he didn't wish to fall vulnerable before those people he saw or talked to almost everyday. Although worried for their son, Taehyung's parents respected his decision and accepted their son's bizarre request.

In this makeshift arrangement, Taehyung and Lisa worked almost perfectly.

Keyword, almost.

Life was extremely challenging to cope up with the simplistic lifestyle as opposed to the modernised one in the metropolitan — surprisingly it felt more homely (if that was a word) than it did in the city. Maybe it was the quietness of the place, the rarity of passersby around or the atmosphere in general, though he still needed to hang on for the next few months to get used to it.

He'd usually stay up in the town library and borrow some books to read in his bedroom, sometimes do some part of household chores but only unless he found nothing else to do. The smiles were hollow when he tried to mould into the changed landscape by assisting Lisa in her daily chores. Sometimes he'd walk her over with some supplies to the tea shop she owned across the street.

Thoughts of Aera were fresh in his mind as his heart found it difficult to forget her. His heart palpitated and he felt all jittery and feverish whenever his fingers would brush against the phone's screen through the memories of his love. He could never bring himself to delete those pictures clogging in there — neither from the phone, nor his heart.

He never for once tried to make an eye contact with Lisa and preferred to stay mute — and observe. At the first glance, he had kind of figured it out that he couldn't be like her. Because while Taehyung was finding it hard to grieve and move on, Lisa had busied herself with a simple number of chores to distract herself; he wasn't sure if the practice came with time or her hands let her do the feeling for herself — but certainly, it made him more depressed about himself.

He couldn't figure out why.

What he didn't figure out was that despite being a busy person, Lisa did observe. And when she observed, she tried to help too.

At first, she gave him time to space out for the first month of his stay, but after realising he had gotten increasingly quiet and cornered himself to the four walls of his room, she tried to encourage him to speak some more. She tried her best to involve him in activities, starting from laundry work or doing the dishes to teaching him gardening — though he never obliged those activities from the heart, doing it only for the sake of it; she could've sworn Taehyung wouldn't move an inch from his bed until prompted to.

One afternoon Lisa was certain her soul had parted from her body when she spotted crimson red stains on the bathroom tiles attached to Taehyung's bedroom; she immediately dashed out and checked up on Taehyung's self engulfed in a deep slumber — looking for any sorts of wounds.

The was until, she finally heaved a sigh of relief after having finally confirmed the blood was the result from his childhood problem of nosebleeds and nothing serious.

Although the threat still persisted, without a reluctance to leave.

ᯤ

It wasn't until the fourth month when Taehyung had started being increasingly responsive to his surroundings — which was a good sign.

With the winters slowly paving way to the spring of February, Taehyung took up a new hobby of crocheting from a local old woman who dropped by Lisa's tea shop as a punctual part of her regime — he grew interestingly fond of it.

Evenings were no longer contained in pin drop silence unlike before. The early spring breeze slapping against the window and the shuffling of playing cards against the sandalwood table were perhaps the only sounds from the surroundings as Lisa suggested to play cards over a cup of tea talk, as a method of distraction — though she wasn't sure if it was 100% effective.

The early signs of Taehyung's participation came in form of gardening — when he sat out in one of the chairs placed in the back entrance of the kitchen that opened towards a mini-garden where Lisa cultivated some veggies and fruits among some herbal plants she used to brew her tea.

Around the early days of March when the snow had melted away and commenced the beginning of the harvest season, Lisa sat in a crouched position, a straw hat resting on her head as she sifted the older roots and ploughed the soil loose enough to plant afresh.

She was contented to see Taehyung spending more time outside than being crammed inside his room, but wasn't prepared for that moment.

The moment, when she felt his perfectly slender fingers over her soft ones; she nearly froze at the first form of physical intimacy — a simple touch of a hand, that felt like warm water on her cold palms muddied in soil and dirt.

"C-can I-I...y-you teach me how to do that? Looks interesting. I hope I'm n-not uh...i-intervening?" He asked timidly as Lisa flashed a small grin.

"Of course you're not intervening. Gardening is easy, come sit I'll show you."

The sparkle of enthusiasm in Taehyung's eyes seemed to ignite a glint of happiness in Lisa's. The thought itself brought a natural smile to her lips as he innocently submerged his hands in the cool, dark earth.

"Careful!" She chimed as he passed her a startled look. "Be gentle as you plant the saplings."

Lisa's birthday felt much livelier than the past year — her husband had left her shortly before the day and she hadn't expected the day could feel anymore colourful.

It wasn't a grand celebration but she considered the day lucky; for she found another member to accommodate in a family of two — a cat. Or rather, a homeless kitten that found her in an almost serendipitous manner when it crashed onto the doorstep right when she was about to open her shop. Since she found him wrapped up in a beautiful scarf with a Mayan sun pattern printed on it under the first rays of the sun she called him Leo.

Taehyung easily felt warm around the cat as it snuggled up on his lap when he came by to assist her during lunch break and the interaction almost looked like he was a doting father to the young kitten. She almost forgot about her birthday until she noticed a bowl of chicken noodle soup neatly placed on one of the tables with Taehyung encouraging her to take a sip of what he had prepared in her absence.

The flavour of the soup instantly hit her taste buds, sprouting memories of the time her husband would cook her hotpot meals whenever she called in sick back in the day. The twist of her emotions reflected perfectly in her facial features as Taehyung peered over and slightly winced, causing her to stare at him.

"Is it that bad....?"

She meekly laughed, her hand clutching his fingers that rested atop the table. She shook her head and took another spoonful, this time feeding Taehyung her share too. It wasn't much to ask for, but everything felt so complete.

"Thank you—"

Taehyung hushed her words by putting a finger on her lips. "No, thank you. Lisa."

ᯤ

The arrival of monsoon was much quicker than anticipated — it posed as some sort of relief against the summer wave that ran through the months of April and May, where survival felt like it was based off sheer chances of luck.

Taehyung was surprisingly missing and so was Leo and Lisa hadn't seen a sight of the two since morning, settling a sense of worry in her mind when she discovered he left his phone at home. Her fretting finally seized when she heard the cat purr lovingly as it settled on the kitchen counter and Taehyung got a bunch of fresh, sweet tasting peaches to try baking a pie later.

The afternoon of the following weekend was a dreary day as it kept drizzling nearly the whole day. Leo purred out of sadness, resting his paws against the windowsill where the raindrops pattered, a yearning to go out reflecting in both Lisa and Taehyung's eyes as they watched the poor child. Suddenly Lisa shot up from her seat and Taehyung followed his surprised gaze as she opened the backdoor from the kitchen to stand in the garden where Leo enjoyed the July weather to his heart's delight.

"Yahhh, come on inside, you'll catch a cold!" Taehyung hissed as Lisa excitedly jumped into a puddle after putting on her rain boots, as he watched adoringly how she loved to get drenched in the rain — it brought him the nostalgia of times when they were kids barely aged ten, playing countless number of games whenever it rained.

He was caught up in midst of a haze so strong that he didn't realise when Lisa yanked his arm into the backyard. "Lisa—"

"Shhh."

Taehyung and Lisa danced around each other as Leo purged in; a moment of sheer comfort — one that was always missing in his life from the endless overworked, unavoidable schedules he had to retreat back in his job.

After sometime when Lisa had put the growing kitten to sleep in his shelter, she took a warm shower and felt goosebumps reaching the exposed parts of her skin as she wore a bare midi dress that did little to sheath herself against the cold.

She noticed Taehyung freshened up and seated on the couch humming a particular melody, instinctively inviting her over; only to cover themselves with a blanket to insulate her in the grey room. Though they weren't cuddling and sat up close to one another, Taehyung could feel his heart race when Lisa rested her head on his shoulder, taking soft sighs as though she were asleep.

So he continued to hum the melody, matching it with the rain; keeping his shoulder firm as it cushioned her head. In that moment for the first time in the many sickening months, Taehyung wasn't reminded of Aera.

He never wanted this to end; the quiet peace he shared with Lisa.

It was relaxing, how he didn't have to worry with being under the constant radar of fans or manipulative media around him anymore, in a paradise of warmth and comfort that allowed him to be free in all the embarrassing moments that ranged from singing in the shower to the shallow twerking whenever he listened to a hit song on the radio while cooking in the kitchen.

Somewhere deep inside his heart he ached and berated for being so disloyal to Aera; knowing that he still cherished her as much.

Love is a scary emotion — 'tis was what he had learned the hard way.

Love is inevitable. It puts one into a vulnerable position, dredging up the memories that don't feel pretty like they did earlier.

Love is challenging. It questions the ability to face one's fears; fears of the unknown, of being hurt, of losing trust, of losing someone...

Taehyung pressed a chaste kiss against Lisa's hair as he tried to fight those emotions from within. His heart was thrumming loudly against his chest in form of adrenaline rush.

It wasn't in his intentions to pull away or retreat back to normal — he simply couldn't. The psychological trauma that lingered after the abrupt ending of his past relationship had him feeling lost and helpless, the walls his inner voice built were too strong to demolish.

Somewhere deep within even he knows these walls lack a foundation and can be easily broken down — it was just the fear that scared him, from letting himself fall in love.

Tears brimmed in his eyes, nearly blurring his vision; a glance at Lisa remarked her efforts to make him smile. In the past eight months of the time he'd been living with her, she only provided him comfort and happiness to heal the scars he bled from within. Lisa planted a seed of radiating hope in his darkness and he felt embarrassed for not being able to do enough; he felt stupid, weak, pathetic even — for not being able to express himself smoothly or wholeheartedly like he could do in the movies and dramas he previously starred in.

His hand clasped Lisa's for a fleeting minute and his lips touched the back of her palm. It was a small, muffled voice when he whispered against her palm.

"I'm sorry."

He left for the kitchen to boil some water and Lisa pretended of not being awake when he lifted her head from his shoulder.

ᯤ

"Ah Kim Taehyung! Who told you to experiment with tea leaves, huh? You're allergic to passionflower—" Lisa swallowed her frustration as she hastily rummaged for a remedy against Taehyung's allergic reactions that controlled his body — there was redness almost everywhere in his face, his lips a little swollen and he kept barfing out of nausea from time to time.

After having found some home remedies for a quick relief, Lisa boiled a bowl of hot water and sat Taehyung to inhale the steam. She passed him a bowl to wear over the head as Taehyung whined like a little child while she watched over as a caring mother, after which he had to reluctantly comply to her instructions.

"Now go take a warm shower, I'll get something to relieve you." She ordered as Taehyung trudged into his room.

Lisa trailed her eyes down at Leo as she fed his meal, running her fingers over his fur.

"Your Appa doesn't seem to listen, does he?" She smiled when the cat softly purred against her hands before holding the bowl and getting into the kitchen.

Taehyung came out of his shower just minutes after, as Lisa brought him a cup of lavender tea to settle his nerves and induce sleep. She came to check up on him an hour later, covering him with a blanket as she watched him take a nap. She stroked his hair while he shifted in his sleep and right when she was about to leave, he clutched her hand.

In a half sleepy voice, he rasped. "A-Am I hard to love?"

His words were shocking, and so was the question about love — this was the first time during his stay that they were even having a conversation on it.

"Taehyung, you need to re—"

He only tug on her sleeve a little tighter, this time pulling her closer so that he could hide himself in her chest. Lisa brushed his hair and cradled him back and forth, wondering if he was still consumed in the nightmare.

It was difficult to comprehend why she kept coming back to him, despite all the red alerts that flashed in his dreams — he was someone who didn't deserve love. The question troubled him in his dreams, that his mouth couldn't zip itself but ask the question — even if he was in midst of s sleep-induced haze and the position they were in, was conflicting.

"C-Can you please tell me, you love me? E-Even if....y-you don't? E-Even if y-your words are hollow....can you tell me, you love me?"

His request was like the stinging pain felt from being pricked by a thousand rose thorns at once. She only held him tighter, making believe that he was loved — by millions of people around the world who admired him for his many talents, by his parents who doted on their son's success, by... her, for being a flower who never lost his will to live and had the potential to blossom into one of the most vibrant flowers he'd ever be.

"I love you, Tae. Love you more than you can ever imagine." She mumbled, tucking him back to sleep again. She exited the room and closed the door behind her, only to find Leo rubbing his fur against her leg.

Lisa didn't realise when she started to blush; a smile crept her lips and she crouched down before Leo again, the cat staring at her with his bold eyes.

"Do you think he would remember that, or forget it as a dream?"

Leo stared at her pensively as she rubbed the back of his ears. He then reached his paw and rested it over her palm.

"He'll forget it. Hopefully." She choked on the words as tears welled up. Cocking his head to one side, Leo then withdrew the paw and started to lick it. Lisa snickered at his action. Leo was her best boy.

"You've convinced me."

Lisa concluded that Taehyung still needed time to heal. She knew she couldn't bring him to trust her or talk his pain out — she needed to realise that with a start. Because even if Taehyung wasn't good at expressing his emotions behind the camera lens, he wasn't great at hiding them either.

Well versed with the epistemology of loss, Lisa knew that falling was easy, but getting back up on your own was contrastingly difficult. She was no stranger to his sorrows; for she had been through that phase and it wasn't tough to put herself in his shoes.

The half paced closeness seemed to do not longer enough, now that a part of her had been steadily opening to accommodate him into her heart, just like how she welcomed him into her house.

She didn't want to feel lonely anymore.

ᯤ

Within a blink of an eye, it was September.

A year's anniversary had passed to Aera's death; the day washed over as quickly as it came and nobody mentioned it.

Taehyung had been ignoring the calls from his team, still not sure what he wished for. He prayed to Lord every Sunday at the local church, to help his way out.

The only reason he had come to live with Lisa was to escape the felonies in his life; to escape them, for a transient period of a year.

And now, he didn't wish to leave. He convinced his manager with an email that he would get back by spring; he thought it helped, although he wasn't sure if it worked.

He finally got the answer to the endless labyrinth of questions that kept twisting his mind in a maze — which happened to coincide with the day he shared a kiss with Lisa for the first time.

It wasn't dreamy or planned, but happened as a mixed course of actions — when Lisa was helping Taehyung in cooking up for a communal dinner with some friends he had made in the church. Taehyung happened to accidentally flip some pieces of fish bread to the floor while trying to do stunts of sorts as a self proclaimed comedian — and Lisa couldn't help burst into a hearty fit of laughter when he pouted watching Leo get a free meal.

And then his heart raced when his gaze fell on Lisa — her lips beautifully curved into a wide chuckle, she looked overtly cute without actually even trying. He couldn't recount when he lost control over his emotions, accidentally acting upon his hidden feelings; he got hold of Lisa's wrists and pressed his lips to the corner of her mouth, leaving her stunned.

What got him confused and rather amused, was when Lisa kissed him back — he almost froze at the feeling of her lips on his own. It was perhaps her comforting aura and the feeling of her tender smile against his lips that told everything he needed to know.

Their lips slot each other perfectly like the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the kiss soft and delicate, obliging Lisa to curl her fingers into the soft hair strands of his mullet resting at his nape.

Everything in the moment felt so serene, so blissful that Taehyung couldn't complain for anything anymore. He was beyond certain that he wanted this: Lisa by his side and him by hers, the two lost souls find a way in the universe and find a perfect harmony in each other's company, in each other's presence.

There was no going back and living a life crushed beneath his fears that ruled him — he had decided what he actually needed was to be in a relationship built on trust and love.

He promised to try his level best for her to make her smile the way she had made him.

Taehyung had always felt obscure if he were ever to say the phrase again, yet this time there wasn't a glint of uncertainty in his eyes when he cupped her face in his hands and finally opened up.

"I know I have been really hard to deal with. I have never for once told you of how I appreciate your presence in my life and I don't wish to let go of it. I just want to thank you for doing so much for me, just by being in my life. I love you, Lisa."

In the spur of the moment, Lisa stood on her toes and kissed him again; and Taehyung could've sworn he felt so good after the weight of darkness had alleviated from his chest.

"You know Tae, I've been aware of your fears ever since you moved in with me...for they were once a reflection of what I had lost. I just wanted to become the part of the process where I can see you heal, in a proper way — it is not an easy process and I've experienced it, just to let you know, everybody is not perfect in letting go of things we've lost. They just keep coming back as we trip ourselves to remember them. And I am proud to see you grow, to nurture, to love again. I can't agree much but say that I love you too...and I'd love you, always."

Taehyung's baritone was evident when he lowly chuckled; he smiled a little more and said it was Lisa, the reason behind his smile. The bed felt warm that night, despite the cold autumn breeze that blowed past — cuddles became a regular thing and embraces were a compulsion every night.

What did come as a shock however, was when Taehyung announced his farewell from his acting career only a month after, in October. Millions of his fans were saddened by the news, rumours flying around that he had started a tea cultivation business somewhere in the hills and his all the wealth he had articulated from his past endeavours were given away in philanthropy.

Taehyung's parents were vexed, dealing calls to him and Lisa every now and then, asking if everything was okay, if the decision was well planned or hurried, how they were holding up.

Taehyung surprised them in the end when he showed up with Lisa at their door one fine day — a wedding invitation in his hand. And with just a look at it, his parents were happier than ever.

There wasn't a hint of sadness in their hearts; nothing more needed to be asked or said after that, because at the end of the day, Taehyung and Lisa had each other as a guiding light in the dark — like each other's solace.

FIN.

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A/N: I hope I'm not sounding very narcissistic but personally, writing this oneshot was an emotional rollercoaster for me and it might prolly be one of the greatest pieces I've written in a while. I'd love to know a feedback on this if that's not too much to ask for. ツ🤎

—Authornim.