"Will you stay by my side? Will you promise me? If I let go of your hand, you'll fly away and break. I'm scared, scared, scared of that."

0:00 |───────── 3:59

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Rein sat in the backseat of her car, giddy with excitement as Namjoon read a book from next to her, squeezing her thigh every once in a while. They had met at an inconspicuous midpoint (the cafe, their signature meeting place, was slowly becoming a popular destination for BTS fans for some reason.) and had proceeded from there to Namjoon's house.

"Since it's a Sunday and we're technically not supposed to be working, do you wanna come over to touch-up the last of the lyrics?" he asked, voice low against the bustling city. There was something different about him when he asked.

Earnest. Like there was something more he expected.

Keeping that in mind, she agreed and called her driver to pick them up. Upon arriving, the driver waved at them unassumingly, but behind it was a suspicious glint in his eyes Rein could not ignore.

We have to be more careful.

So this was where they were now, passing through the gate to Hannam the Hill, taking in the serenity of their surroundings. The trees were bare of their colorful leaves but still beautiful in their own way. They were stark against the pale blue sky, creating asymmetrical patterns Rein never knew existed. Each section of the woods was different every time the car blurred past them.

In a few minutes, the car rolled to a stop in front of the mammoth apartment complex, and as they approached the door, Namjoon gave her a guilty smile.

"So, uh, don't be alarmed if no one's home... I kind of timed it so that they would all be out at the arcade..."

Rein laughed, saying, "I see. So you planned this right from the start, didn't you, Mr. Kim?" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Guilty as charged."

"Well, we should get started as soon as possible, then," she said. Namjoon nodded. He punched the code in to unlock the door and stepped inside, scanning his surroundings to see if anyone was home. When he was done with his inspection, he gave her a thumbs up.

"Wanna go to my room? It'll probably be more comfortable in there," he offered. Rein smiled, seeing right through his charade of gentlemanliness.

More comfortable, my ass.

"Yeah, sure," she said. They walked down the hall together, Namjoon leading the way. As she followed, she couldn't help but admire his form. His strong frame, the muscles on his arms, the way he carried himself. It was all so perfect that she was tempted to pinch herself to make sure the whole thing wasn't one vivid dream.

But everything was too real, too raw. No dream could have done that. 

Suddenly, Rein heard a muffled groan, and she was sure Namjoon heard it as well from his reaction. The pair froze like a deer in headlights and looked at each other with wide eyes.

What. The. Hell.

Rein put a finger to her lips. At first, she was already whipping out her phone to call the police about an intruder, but that's when she heard another moan, this one more breathy. She took Namjoon by the hand and pulled him inside his room, the realization of who the pair were beginning to dawn on her, though she wished it hadn't. They had yet to close the door when a phrase rang out that almost gave Rein whiplash.

"Mmm... You're so fucking good..." a throaty voice said, followed by a groan.

"Oh, Jungkook!" Namjoon moved to close the door, but Rein didn't let him. Not when things were getting good.

"Jungkook?" she mouthed, making no sound. Namjoon paused before nodding slowly.

"And Jimin," he mouthed back, his blush deepening to a scarlet red. When she heard a smack and a gasp, she let go of his wrist and allowed him to close the door, leaning against the wall for support.

"The room is soundproof. It should be fine now," Namjoon said, turning away from her in embarrassment.

"Holy shit. What did I just witness?" she whispered, ignoring his comment.

"It's called 'Everyone Is At The Arcade So We Took This Opportunity To Have Really Kinky Sex'," he said.

"I so did not need that." Shivering, she tried to remove the scene from her mind, but she did not find success.

Taking out the folder containing the lyrics, she attempted to distract herself by flipping through them. Namjoon didn't pay attention to her efforts and took to fiddling with the papers on his desk. He stole quick peeks at her body when he thought she wasn't looking, but it was too obvious.

"Aren't you gonna come over here?" she asked finally, catching him off guard. Namjoon looked at her sheepishly.

"H-huh?"

Caught you.

"To work on the lyrics, I mean."

"Oh. Right." Rein sighed, shifting to give him a playful jab on the shoulder.

"You didn't invite me over to work, did you?" Rein asked.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, eyes twinkling. She stepped toward him almost challengingly, and he stepped backward. She kept moving until his legs hit the bed frame and he was forced to sit down, and after a second of deliberation, she climbed onto his lap. Shock plastered itself on his face.

"So, is this what you wanted?" she whispered, leaning in to kiss his neck. His hands rested on the fabric of her shirt and soon trailed down to grip her waist. The thought of stopping flashed in her mind, because if she kept going, she'd most likely leave marks.

But everyone will know he's mine.

Rein moved the bottom half of her body against Namjoon, slowly, tantalizingly, eliciting a soft but satisfying groan from him.  It was a power trip, getting such unprocessed emotion from him.

She smirked against his neck as she moved up to his jaw and left love bites in her wake. Finally, she put her lips to his. He reacted as if he were frantic, kissing her back with a fervor she was not prepared for. Her hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they went under Namjoon's shirt and tugged, only pausing the kiss to pull it over his head. Her head swam with intoxicating thoughts of what she could do next.

Rein gasped as she felt Namjoon clutch her thighs and flip her around, throwing her onto the bed with ease.

"Is this what you wanted, Ms. Jones?" he asked. Now on top of her, he had full autonomy. Rein studied him as her fingers outlined his toned stomach, and time seemed to freeze at that moment.

Namjoon's disheveled hair, the wild look in his eyes, his jaw tense with unfiltered desire. How broad his chest was and how it rose and fell heavily with every breath he took.

Yes, it was just what she had wanted.

They were so busy that they didn't hear the front door open. In fact, so busy that they couldn't hear the footsteps approaching Namjoon's room.

There was a knock at the door.

"Hyung? Hyung! Why weren't you at the arcade?"

Rein's eyes shot open, and she covered herself, looking around for an exit strategy. Namjoon ushered her off of the bed, and they locked eyes. There was one place no one would even suspect.

The closet.

She silently cursed herself, then slipped into the wardrobe, closing the door in front of her as Namjoon tossed a blanket over himself. The door to Namjoon's room opened just then, and through the cracks, Rein managed to make out who was standing there.

It was Taehyung with an expression of horror was growing on his face.

"Hyung... What are you doing?" Taehyung asked. All he saw was how tightly Namjoon gripped the blanket over the lower half of his body while the top half was bare.

"Uh..." Namjoon thought for a second, but it felt like an eternity in the closet where Rein was.

Oh god. It's through. We're done. I should have started planning my funeral ahead of time.

"I was... Masturbating," he said. Taehyung's face became pale with embarrassment. Rein put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"W-what?" Taehyung squeaked, stepping away from the door.

"You know. Masturbating," Namjoon repeated, now taking on the demeanor of absolute tranquility. Taehyung's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

"Oh. I thought I heard moaning or something..." he said. Namjoon nodded understandingly.

"People have told me my moans are a bit high pitched," he said. He then made to move out of the blankets to put some clothes on (hopefully), but Taehyung covered his eyes and screamed until he stayed.

"Why do you have to be naked to do... that?" he asked. He looked around to make sure no one was around, as to protect the chastity of anyone nearby. Namjoon, instead of correcting him saying that, no, he in fact was not naked, shrugged, going along with it.

"I've found that it's very soothing to be fully in tune with my body when I jerk it. You should try the technique sometime. It's very sensual." Taehyung pursed his bottom lip, considering the advice. He seemed to have relaxed a bit compared to the beginning of the conversation.

"Uh-okay. I definitely will, hyung," the younger said. Then, leaning against the doorway, he pulled out his phone to check Twitter, unaware of Namjoon looking at him intently.

"Hey, Taehyung?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you go now? I wanna, uh, finish," he said. A look of subtle realization passed over Taehyung's face, and he closed the door wordlessly. After it was clear he was not coming back, Namjoon beckoned for Rein to come out. She opened the closet and shifted into his bed as quietly as possible.

"That was so close," she breathed. Namjoon wigged his eyebrows.

"Yeah, we were," he replied, running his hand along her neck and outlining the shape of her collarbone. Rein rolled her eyes and pushed him away playfully.

"Get off me, you perv," said, laughing. He chuckled and covered her mouth gently.

"You should get dressed. The sun is going to set in about an hour, and I want to take you out to see it," Namjoon said. He left her on the bed to change into some clothes and Rein did the same. Though Taehyung had technically ruined the moment, she had a feeling that what they were about to do would be better than anything physically intimate.

Namjoon miraculously snuck her out of the house, as all of the boys were in their rooms recuperating from the intense day at the arcade. She wondered if what they were doing was so shameful—being together in his bedroom as grown adults—but she supposed if they acted like they had something to hide, it might as well have been.

They intertwined their hands together once they were outside and clear of anyone's scrutiny and didn't bother with jackets even though the breeze chilled them to the bone, too busy enjoying each other's warmth.

Squeezing Namjoon's hand tighter, Rein took the time to get an appreciation for her surroundings. The trees, the occasional rabbit she saw hopping by, the darkening sky. How she loved the sky. Every sunrise, sunset, dusk, twilight was different from each other. The colors outside were muted just like winter should have been, as the vibrant colors of spring and summer were held back for better days.

This is home, she realized. Here, with him.

"Where are we going?" she asked when she came to realize they were wandering from the set path. They were trekking through the woods surrounding Hannem the Hill, and nothing looked familiar to her anymore. Wildlife skittered about as they went deeper into the thicket with every crunch of their shoes. It was rare to see something so natural, so not artificial in the city of Seoul.

"We're going to my secret place," Namjoon replied.

"Secret place?" Rein asked with a twinge of a smile on her lips, "sounds sketchy. Gonna turn into an ax murderer all of a sudden?" Namjoon wiggled his eyebrows, then laughed.

"Yeah, you just watch," he said. They came to a clearing, a breathtaking hilltop in the middle. Yellow-tinted grass that had not yet recovered from the wrath of winter swayed in delicate waves as she looked to the hill, to the very top. It pointed the both of them toward whatever was up there. With a short hike up, she gasped at the view below.

The city was alight like gemstones amongst cool, cement rocks. The sun, just beginning to disappear into the skyscrapers, twinkled as a last goodbye. To the right of them, a cherry blossom tree bent in the wind, giving off the few buds it had managed to bloom. Pink and ivory flowers landed on Rein's hair, her clothes, and they fell away slowly as if they didn't want to leave. She felt a tear grace her cheek at the wonder of it all.

"You okay?" Namjoon asked when he realized she was crying. She wiped the tear away.

"Yeah. It's just... Pretty," she said. Motioning for her to sit on the grass with him, he pulled her close and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. He was so warm, like her fireplace at home. Thinking of home got her thinking of her past life, of her life back when she was still an innocent child with simple emotions. A simple life.

But maybe this was better than the nostalgia-caked thoughts of her past. Maybe the reality she was in was her own path that she had created for herself, with new people and new memories to make.

The pair sat in silence, but it was the peaceful kind. It was the kind that made one wonder what the other was thinking in a curious sort of way, not with a hint of malice or anxiety.

Namjoon's hand crept up Rein's back until it rested on her shoulder, and he pulled her close with a burst of affection she didn't know he was capable of.

"Look," he whispered, pointing to the skyline. She smiled when she was met with the dark blue tones of dusk, swirling like a liquid canvas. There was a tacit bond between them then, nothing that had to be spoken out loud to be plain as day.

The three words Rein ached to say danced on the tip of her tongue, but she pushed them back. It was too early, and besides, it wouldn't matter in a month. He would disappear out of her life, a candle extinguished.

"You know I'm always here for you, right?" Namjoon asked.

"I wish that were true," Rein replied, looking down at her lap. He tilted her chin toward him until their faces were inches apart.

"It is," he murmured, gaze hooded by his eyelashes. "I don't want anyone else but you." With that, he closed the gap between them, melding his lips with hers. She kissed him back desperately, and it took every fiber of her being to not take him then and there. It was a sweet moment. Rein wanted to keep it that way.

For now.

Namjoon pulled away just as the last of the traces of natural light winked out of existence, and it left only the artificial city to illuminate the lovers.

They stayed on the hilltop for the rest of the night, privately dreaming of the last days they had with one another.

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A/N: 안녕 여러분! I hope everyone enjoyed this slightly spicy chapter haha... Make sure to comment/vote if you liked it!

I'm not excited for school to start... i feel like i did nothing this summer! does anyone have the same feeling???

QOTD: What is your least favorite trope in any genre of media? (movies, books, plays, etc.)

Mine is probably the stalking trope... that is, when an MC or love interest stalks his/her love interest because... reasons. I've always found it creepy. I also don't like the "I'm not like other girls" trope. Comment your answers here!

Until next time, happy reading!

-Haneul xoxo