"I'll handle it Jimin. But we won't tell Tae that any of us know. If he happens to share any other information with you about it though, please let me know. I know he talks to you, especially when he's upset, so I'm counting on you to keep an eye on him."

~♡~

I woke up and realized that I was snuggled up to Tae's side, his arm around me holding me close to him. I had my leg thrown over one of his, and an arm draped across his stomach. My head was on his shoulder, my nose pressed to his neck, and I could feel the stubble on his jaw against my forehead.

I never wanted to move. I knew I would think that every time a situation like this happened, if it even happened again, but I couldn't help it. To me, this was the perfect place to be. I had never felt so comfortable, or felt like I fit so well, figuratively and literally, with anyone.

I had no idea what time it was, but I knew it was late. We had fallen asleep after our lovemaking, and I was sure several hours had gone by. It was getting dark outside, so it was after 7pm for sure.

I sighed, and felt Tae stir, waking up himself. I felt his arm tighten a bit around me and heard him hum in satisfaction.

"You weren't going to try to sneak away, were you?" he mumbled against my hair.

"I would never leave your arms if I had a choice, Taehyung." I said, not even realizing what was coming from my mouth until after I'd said it.

I felt him tense up slightly at about the same time I realized what I'd just said. I stayed silent for a moment, waiting mostly to see if he was going to say anything.

He took a breath, his chest rising, then falling as he exhaled slowly, my hair fluttering under the breeze he created.

"I know you're going to tell me that it won't do any good, and maybe you're right, but I'm still going to pray harder than I've ever prayed for anything."

"Tae..."

"At least I can say I tried. Otherwise, I'm going to feel like I just let you go, without doing anything at all to try and keep you here."

I leaned my head back, and kissed his jaw. "You wouldn't have to try, and I want you to always remember that. I would stay here forever if I could, with you, because of you."

He smiled, and pulled me to him, sighing deeply. "This sucks."

I laughed. "I know it does. So much. But since I've already admitted that I would have made this wish even if I'd known everything that I found out after the fact, there really isn't anything we can do, except live in the moment, and try not to think about anything beyond right now."

"You say that like it'll be easy." He pouted.

"Not even a little..." I said quietly. "It's going to be the hardest thing I have ever done. But I don't see what other choice I have."

He let go of me and I moved out of his embrace, as he sat up and scooted back to lean against the wall. I did the same, pulling the sheet against me and tucking it under my arms.

"Part of me wants to be with you on your last night here, so I can hold you all night and not let you go. But I'm scared that I'll go out of my mind if I wake up to find you gone. So of course, there's also the part of me that's afraid to stay with you."

He looked at me, and I tried to lighten the mood a little, even though I knew neither of us had any reason to smile. "Maybe If I hold you tight enough, I can bring you with me."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, and I watched them fill with tears, my heart shattering. I never, ever imagined that this beautiful, sweet man would come to have feelings for me, to the point that he was afraid to lose me.

I didn't want to cry, I wanted to be strong. But his tears were my undoing. Seeing them rolling down his cheeks, his eyes squeezed closed trying to stop them, I couldn't hold back the sob that escaped my chest.

I turned, my arms going around him as I pulled him close, and I realized that even though I was crying too, at that moment, I was the strong one. He let me pull him against me, his head buried into the crook of my neck, his arms going around my waist weakly, and he cried, his body shaking as his tears wet my skin, rolling down to be caught by the sheet covering me.

We sat like that for what could have been 5 minutes, or an hour. I really didn't know. I didn't want to let go of him, and he didn't try to get away. His tears continued to fall, although he had calmed down a bit, his body resting against me heavily, no longer trembling.

"Taehyung" I whispered, "please don't cry anymore. I'm so sorry, I wish you weren't going thru this."

I heard him draw in a breath, feeling him shudder with emotion. "I-I'm sorry, God...I c-can't. I don't know how to accept that your just going to be g-gone."

"I know."

He pulled back, looking into my eyes, and I reached up and brushed his hair back. His cheeks were wet, his nose red, his lashes glistening with tears, and even so, he was the most beautiful being I had ever seen in my life.

"How are you so calm?" He sniffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"I'm far from calm, Tae. Honestly, my heart is broken into a million pieces, and it'll never be mended. I'm dying on the inside, you have no idea. I suppose maybe the fact that I've been around long enough to see how the world works, it's made me realize that when you're powerless to change something, all you can do is accept it."

Just then, his phone dinged, and to my delight, he leaned over to retrieve it from the corner  of the nightstand, allowing me an almost unobstructed view of his ass. I bit my lip, thanking God for small favors.

"Jimin wants to know if I'm with you. I kind of wanna ignore him, since he told me I should stay away from you."

"It's only because he loves you, Tae. He knows how much you're going to get hurt. Don't be mad at him."

He huffed, quirking his lips up to one side. "I never can stay mad at him anyway. He's my best friend. Sometimes he's the only one I feel comfortable talking to about stuff."

He started to type on his phone, and I leaned my head on his shoulder, watching as he typed.

                                                        I am, and this is where I'll be staying for the rest of the week. I'm sorry if you don't agree with me, but I have to do what's best for me.

                                              8:49am

Jimin:

It's fine Tae. I just wanted to make sure that's where you were.                                                                        I shouldn't have tried to tell you what to do. I'm sorry.

                                                                                                  8:50am

Tae looked at me, his eyebrows raised in surprise. I shrugged.

"I'm curious why he changed his mind. I know Jimin. Once he feels a certain way, he doesn't go back on it. He must have talked to one of the others. I did leave a note before I came here. I'm guessing whoever found the note interrogated Jimin, knowing that if I talked to anyone, it would have been him."

JIN'S POV

I'd just finished telling Hoseok and Yoongi about Laney, and surprisingly they didn't freak out as much as I thought they would. Hoseok took a bit longer to come to terms with it, but after I explained why I didn't think she was lying, he seemed to reluctantly agree.

Yoongi is one of those guys that you never know what to expect from him. It could have gone either way. Thankfully, he seemed to believe me right away. He said he had a feeling there was something weird going on, and that he just hoped Tae was okay once the whole thing came to an end.

I was on my way to Jungkook's room, a little worried about what his reaction might be.

I knocked on the door, hearing him mumble 'come in.' I opened the door, stepping inside and closing it behind me. I didn't want Namjoon to hear anything. I was saving him for last, for obvious reasons.

He was digging thru his closet, looking at each item and moving it aside.

"Hey Kook, got a few minutes?"

He turned to look at me, seeming frustrated about something. His head dropped, and he sighed, backing out of the racks of clothes.

"Yeah, I guess. I can't find the hoodie I'm looking for anyway. What's up, Hyung?"

"I wanted to talk to you, about Tae...and Laney."

He smiled, a genuine happy smile. "Tae really likes her, ya know. I think they might really have something. I talked to her a little once, while she was waiting for him to get out of the showers. She thinks her position with BigHit is temporary. I hope it isn't. I think we should try to get them to keep her as an extra."

I took a deep breath.

"She can't stay, Kookie, she isn't from here."

His face fell, then his brows drew together causing him to look mad. "What do ya mean, she can't stay. Just because she isn't from here? That shouldn't matter. She's a good stylist and -"

"Kook, that's not why...I mean, it is, but not in the way you think."

He stood there, staring at me, so I continued.

"I don't know how to say this in a way that makes it easier to understand, so I'm just going to say it. She is a stylist from America, but she isn't really 20. She's 51, she's married, and she has two kids in their 20's. She made a wish, and it was granted. That's why she's here. She won't be here forever. She only has 30 days, then she goes back to where she came from."

I couldn't be any more to the point than that. He continued to stare at me for all of 10 seconds, then he laughed loudly, doubling over and holding his stomach.

"That's a good one Hyung. I almost believed you," he gasped. "That's even better than your dad jokes."

I stood there watching him, my arms crossed, waiting for him to realize that I wasn't laughing. I wasn't even smiling. It took a few minutes, but his laughter finally died down, and he glanced at me, the smile dropping from his face when he did.

"Ha ha, you...aren't laughing, Hyung..."

I tilted my head, raising my eyebrows at him. I watched as his shoulders dropped, and the realization sunk in that I wasn't trying to play a joke on him.

"You're not serious, are you? Hyung? Tell me you're not serious."

"I wish I could, Kookie, you have no idea how much I wish I was kidding."

He swallowed thickly, a sadness taking over his face.

"Tae will be devastated. He can't lose someone else he loves, Hyung."

"I know Kookie, but Tae knows of all this, and he's still willing to help her. He knows he's going to lose her. I only hope that he has no memory of her once she's gone. It would be cruel if he did, so I can't imagine it happening that way."

"So, how did you find this out. Did Tae tell you?"

I shook my head, "no, I kind of coerced Jimin into telling me. So we need to keep quiet about the fact that we know. We want him to think that Jimin is the only one who knows for now, at least until it becomes clear that he needs us to help him keep it together. I've told everyone but Namjoon. He's next. I'm not looking forward to it."

He smiled halfheartedly. "Good luck Hyung. You're gonna need it."