"Why do you have so many sketches of me?"

Hayan questioned as she sat down on her knees to grab some of the pages off of the floor. As much as she was weirded out, she couldn't help but think that Taehyung was awfully talented. There were perfectly sketched portraits of Hayan's face, some of them were younger versions of Taehyung and her together while others seemed to be made solely based on his imagination.

"I copied them from old pictures...for practice purposes," Taehyung quickly excused as he started collecting the sketches spread all over the bed. Then he bent down to grab the folder and take the rest of the sketches from Hayan.

"So many of them?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, so what?" Taehyung avoided her eyes, his face flushing all over again. "It takes a lot of practice to become good at making portraits," He reasoned, rushing to shove all the sketches back in the folder before closing it.

"Let me see them one more time," Hayan said, feeling curious, as she stood up and reached to grab the folder but Taehyung placed his hand over it harshly.

"No,"

"Why not?" Hayan stared at him, annoyed. She hadn't gotten to see all of the sketches properly yet and if it was her face drawn all over those pages, Hayan thought, she had a right to see them.

"Because-"

A knock on the door interrupted the two, leaving Taehyung's sentence unsaid. As Taehyung consented to the person on the other side to come in, one of the maids from earlier who seemed to be in her late 20's, came inside and informed them that the dinner table was ready.

"Could you please show Hayan to the table? I'll be there in a minute." Taehyung quickly requested the lady before Hayan could say anything.

"Hey, what about the sketches?" Hayan turned to Taehyung with a frown.

"Please," He pressed, his eyes locked onto the maid. The maid nodded and gestured for Hayan to follow her.

"This way, ma'am."

"It's okay, you can go. I know my way around." Hayan told the maid off with a smile. She looked from Hayan to Taehyung, seeming a bit confused, then nodded and left.

"I will be seeing those sketches again, got it?" Hayan stated firmly as she glared at Taehyung before leaving the room, banging the door shut much harder than she needed to. Taehyung let out a sigh of relief when he was alone in the room with the folder pressed underneath his hand.

He ought to hide it somewhere.

~~~

The food was delicious but Hayan felt that the dinner could have been much nicer only if she did not have to sit next to her mother again. She sighed at the plate that was placed before her by Mrs. Yeon with food that only she preferred Hayan to have in it. Half a steak? Hayan pressed her lips together. Why did she let her mother decide what she ate and how much she ate? Had she gotten so used to her mother controlling her life all the time that she'd become a pushover with no backbone? If she had opinions, she wondered, why did she never voice them? She felt like a puppet sitting next to her mother and she hated it. She could feel Taehyung smirking at her. He was probably dying to make fun of her when they were alone again. Hayan didn't get along with Taehyung but she thought that she would still choose to sit with Taehyung instead of her mother.

"Mom, can't I just have a full piece like everyone else?" She leaned in and whispered to Mrs. Yeon, her cheeks flushing in slight embarrassment. She was no child anymore and it made her feel like an outcast to not eat the same amount that others were eating. "and why did you put so much of this grass in my-"

"It's salad, Hayan, not grass," Mrs. Yeon stated firmly, sending Hayan a disapproving look. "and don't you know meat can gain you an unnecessary amount of fats? Do you want to get fat and look pregnant without actually being it?" Hayan's jaw dropped in disbelief for a moment. Had Mrs. Yeon really just said that to her own daughter? She looked down at her frail figure. She was sure eating a full streak for once wouldn't make her stick-like figure fat but she didn't want to be arguing over this at the table. She knew she couldn't get logic through her mother's brain anyway. Sighing, she leaned back and picked up her knife and fork as everybody continued eating and talking.

The night was going horrible for Hayan so far and Taehyung wasn't making it any better. She found the mundane conversation too boring and was being forced to eat salad even though she did not like it, and now, Taehyung had her sitting on the edge of her seat with every word that left his mouth. His cunning eyes glanced at Hayan in between sentences that were too risky for Hayan to be said, and every time he opened his mouth, she felt like her heart jumped into her throat. He was slipping in words that sounded almost disapproving of Hayan but he was not saying anything directly. Hayan had put her fork down. She was having a rather difficult time swallowing the piece in her throat.

"Yesterday, Hayan, ditch-"

But Taehyung was unable to finish that sentence as he yelped in pain. Hayan had kicked his foot under the table to stop him from exposing her. He tried to mask his yelp with an interrupting cough and continued speaking, acting like nothing had happened.

"did her work very fast. She's more helpful than I thought she'd be." Taehyung finished, changing his sentence mid-way as he sent Hayan a smile that did not reach his glaring eyes. He knew he was stressing her out and that was exactly what he intended to do. Hayan just wished he would shut up.

"Well, that's my daughter." Mrs. Yeon sounded a little too proud like usual. Hayan didn't know why Mrs. Kim admired this overconfidence.

"Taehyung exaggerates things." Hayan tried to send him a flattered smile and everyone at the table let out small giggles and chuckles. She looked so pretty and innocent that one could mistake her for an angel but under that fair façade, Taehyung knew, what kind of demon she was. She hadn't been an angel once in her life, not to Taehyung. He wanted to get back at her for kicking his foot so hard. He moved his foot next to hers and Hayan's eyes instantly shifted to Taehyung's figure with a warning look in them, telling him not to dare and kick her. But Taehyung did not kick her. Instead, he raised his foot above Hayan's and stomped on it. Hayan hissed as she retreated into her seat and silently mouthed curses at him.

Now their attention was completely off the dinner and on each other as Hayan tried to reach for his foot again but Taehyung kept shifting in his place, trying to keep it away from her. It felt childish and immature to be kicking each other's feet under the table but Hayan hated being on the losing side. She had to get revenge for having her foot stomped on. Her toenail was stinging in pain. Stupid Taehyung. She didn't want to give up, not when Taehyung was smirking at her with that cocky expression. When she couldn't kick Taehyung despite trying and their awkward movements started to catch her mother's attention, she knew she had to stop. She straightened up in her seat rather reluctantly as Taehyung gave her a look of triumph but little did he know that it was not over yet. Hayan was not the kind of person to let things go. 

A new idea popped into Hayan's mind as she remembered how flustered Taehyung had been when she'd accidentally fallen onto his lap earlier. A mischievous grin crept up Hayan's face as she continued eating her meal peacefully, pretending that she had forgotten all about kicking him back. Taehyung remained cautious for a few minutes like he knew she was planning something, but soon his attention wandered off elsewhere as the conversation at the table changed to the subject of his love life. 

"Ah, no, I'm not seeing anyone right now," Taehyung told everyone, seeming uncomfortable with the topic. He nodded at Mr. Yeon politely when he told Taehyung that a handsome man like him should not be single since so many ladies were probably crazy for him. Hayan mentally rolled her eyes when she remembered Kim Bora, her colleague who turned into a squealing teen every time Taehyung passed her by. Hayan did agree that Taehyung was undoubtedly charming but her standards required much more than just good looks, or perhaps, she did not find him that attractive because she saw him too often. There was no way they were going to get together anyway. Taehyung hated Hayan as much as she hated him. She thought that they could never get along. 

"Is there anyone you're interested in?" Mr. Kim asked his son and he shook his head, causing him to sigh.

"Not really," Taehyung seemed as though he wanted to change the topic quickly but others thought that twenty-three was the perfect age to be dating and were being a bit pushy. As Taehyung's attention was not on Hayan anymore, she found that it was the perfect moment to catch him off guard. She forwarded her foot towards Taehyung's leg and touched him near his ankle. He quickly pulled back, casting a brief annoyed glance at her.

"You should go on a few blind dates, maybe you'll find someone you like. We could set you up if you want," Mr. Yeon suggested.

Hayan leaned down a little so she could stretch her leg out and reach Taehyung's. He felt her foot graze his ankle again but he stayed still this time. With everyone's eyes on him, he did not want to be noticed awkwardly fidgeting. As he thought of the nicest wording to use and reject Mr. Yeon's offer, Hayan moved her foot up, sensually touching his leg all the way from his ankle to the outer side of his thigh. Taehyung seemed to have frozen with a look of horror on his face. His face flushed as he resisted the urge to look at Hayan. Hayan wanted to laugh. He was too easy to tease. When she moved her leg back downwards, his face had become as red as a tomato.

"Why would he need to go on blind dates when a potential partner is right in front of him?" Mrs. Yeon countered with a foul smile as she turned to look at Hayan. It was Hayan's turn to freeze up. Mrs. Kim giggled, understanding what Mrs. Yeon had just put forth. There was a brief silence at the table before everyone broke into smiles, everyone except Taehyung and Hayan who were staring at each other, wide-eyed and speechless. Hayan pulled her leg back at the speed of lightening as she blushed in embarrassment. This was so awkward. Why did her mother have to say that in front of everyone? Especially at this exact moment?

"Look at how they're blushing," Mr. Kim whispered to his wife. "I don't think we'll have to worry about his love life after all."

Taehyung and Hayan avoided any kind of interaction afterward and Hayan kept urging her father to leave. When they were finally going back, Hayan was still so embarrassed that she did not say goodbye to Taehyung. Everybody found it cute and thought that she had been shy, but the truth was that Hayan was internally seething with anger. She was unreasonably angry at Taehyung for even existing. She was so angry at her mother that she never wanted to talk to her again. Mrs. Yeon, on the other hand, seemed quite happy about what she had said and that made Hayan even angrier. She had already told her mother countless times that she did not like Taehyung romantically but Mrs. Yeon had still suggested that she might. She'd gone against her wishes again and was forcing Hayan to get together with Taehyung. Hayan decided she had had enough. She'd spent enough of her life listening to her mother and doing whatever she wanted but she did not want to remain that way anymore. She just waited until they were home.

_______________________

A/N: I can't wait for winter vacations, they begin next week! :D