"Can you play with us?"

You both looked into the direction of the small sound. Two little children were looking at you with doe eyes and small pouts formed on their lips. You shared a few glances, then Taehyung jumped up so you got up too.

Taehyung : What are you names babies?

He said, joining his knees and bending down at them. An adoring smile tugged at his lips, as he held the boy's hand.

Baemin : I'm Baemin.

Sooyun : I'm Sooyun.

The about five year boy and a three or four year old girl introduced.

???: We have to go somewhere. We'll be back soon. Would you take care of them till then?

Taehyung: We'd love to!

You smiled and nodded. They left.

Baemin: I'm bored.

Sooyun : Yeah. And he won't let me pick the flowers.

Baemin : It's not good Soo!

You both giggled at their cuteness.

Sooyun : Unnie can you help me make a necklace?

And ofcourse you couldn't resist the cute doe eyes. You nodded.

Y/n : Sure let's go.

You looked back. Taehyung stepped to come along, but the little boy pulled him the opposite way.

Baemin : We'll go make a castle!

Sooyun : Ok monkey!

They both giggled and pulled you both in the opposite directions before you managed to share an excited glance. She brought you to the little flower garden.

Sooyun : This is my favourite aisle. Do you think pink and yellow ones will look pretty together?

Y/n : I think pink and the blue ones over there would be pretty too.

Sooyun : Yes! Let's get it.

She extended her hand towards them, but wouldn't reach, so you picked her up and she picked them one by one. Soon, you were sat down with a bunch of little flowers.

Sooyun : I am going to do one leaf, then a pink flower, then a blue flower, then a white. No, then another leaf.

You fumbled with the twigs in your hands at her instructions. She let out a little giggle. You made a small necklace for her.

Yn : Tada!

She put a bracelet around your hand.

Y/n : Oh my gosh.. it's so cute.

Sooyun : I made it pretty.

You smiled at the cute little bean.

Sooyun : You think this would be good for their castle?

You picked up the stone.

Y/n : Sure. Let's give it to them honey.

You both searched for them. You laughed at the sight of Taehyung surrounded with rocks and Baemin building the castle. "Tae is playing as if he's five too."

Baemin: Why are you here?

Sooyun : She brought me here.

She pointed at you. He stuck his tongue out at her and so did she.

Y/n : We thought this would be useful to you.

You gave it to Baemin. He looked at it, examined it.

Baemin : No. It's not good.

Sooyun : Why! You can keep it here..

She took it from his hand and placed it on the top.

Baemin: It's not complete yet!

Taehyung and you stepped back. Taehyung nudged you with his elbow and pointed. They're parents were back. You both smiled, bowed and left.

Y/n: You are a kid Taehyung. You know that?

He grinned shamelessly. You sighed, and checked the time.

Taehyung: Do you want to go? It's five. The busses won't be stopping till nine so..

Y/n : Let's not go home so early. Let's go to the fountain.

Taehyung: As you wish m'lady

You chuckled and walked to the fountain. It was crystal clear. The now dark blue sky reflected in it. You sat on the marble platform and put your hand in the cold water. The trickles flowed through your fingers. He just stood infront of you.

Y/n: So, what next?

Taehyung: Isn't it too early to ask that?

You hit him on his back as he broke into his boxy grin along with deep chuckle.

Taehyung: I mean... To ask , if you want to continue dating or not?

You looked blankly at his face who was nervous.

Y/n : It-

Taehyung : Sorry I don't-

Y/n & Taehyung: Go on.

You both chuckled and looked away for a second. You took a deep breath before looking back at him.

Taehyung: Sorry I don't know much. Or anything at all. So, I had to do some research..

You started laughing loudly. He hit you, but you couldn't stop. It was really funny to you. "Did he just say he-"

Y/n : Sorry.

You got back your breath while he gave you an offended look.

Taehyung: I have no experience in something like this alright? And there's no one I can ask about it to. I didn't want to ask the hyungs either-

Y/n : It depends.

Taehyung: Enlighten me.

You straightened yourself before continuing.

Y/n : Look. If you want to know the other better, then you can decide together to keep going out. If you know each other well, being friends or something, you can make it official earlier. We can keep on going on casual dates, and decide whenever we feel like the relationship should be more.. confirm? Official? Like when we mutually decide that we're in an actual relationship as a boyfriend and girlfriend, which can be soon or late. It depends.

You looked at him, and your heart skipped a beat. "W-Why is he smirking?"

Taehyung: Understood. Just loved the way how it went from "you" to "we".

You blushed and looked away. He sat down beside you.

Taehyung: Then I think we should keep dating casually till we become more clear about each other. I think we know each other better as a person, but not about anything else. And I really want to bring myself to be honest with you. So.. can you give me some time? I swear I would not disappoint you at all.

You smiled at his serious geniune words.

Taehyung: I will do anything for it. I will try-

Y/n : Yes. Taehyung..

He took your hand in his which made you look directly in his eyes.

Y/n : Gosh I don't think we needed such a serious talk on our first date.

Taehyung: You're a good teacher. I think you need to teach me more things...

You wouldn't lie, you were hyperventilating at his tone. "What should I do with his mood swings?!"

Taehyung: Y/n.

His deep voice made your frantic gaze lock with his yet again. He stared into you. You just looked in each other's eyes. The time had stopped ticking. You were lost, really. It would take both of you forever to recover from what you had fallen into. He slowly leaned in. You would have stepped back , but because of the tremendous love, care and affection you could see in his eyes, you couldn't bring yourself to do so. You didn't realise that you had closed your eyes till you felt his breath near your face. His nose brushed against yours sending a current through your whole being.

"Unnie!" "Hey!"

You jumped back and hid your face in your palms. Your heart was about to explode. You peeked through your fingers, only to see him bend down at the kids and smile playfully.

Baemin : We thought you forgot and left us there!

Taehyung: We didn't little guy. Your parents were back. Do you want to play more?

He looked at his parents standing behind him, then shook his head.

Baemin: Ani. I had fun.

Sooyun : Me too.

??? : Say bye to them~

Baemin: Bye noona, bye hyung.

Sooyun: Love you Unnie , bye oppa!

The two cute little bugs left, holding their mother's hand and jumping. You both went silent for a while.

Y/n : Gosh take things slow..

Taehyung: Did you say something?

"Fuck my life."

Y/n : Nope.

Taehyung : Alright, should we leave now?

Y/n : I want an ice-cream.. Then we can go back!

You pouted as chuckled and smiled.

Taehyung: Sure. Let's go.

You both left the park. The street lights were illuminating the street as you walked with icecream in your hands to the bus stop.

Y/n : It was really fun, Tae.

Taehyung: Yeah. I loved it too.

Y/n : Oh! I almost forgot to tell you. We are going to the art gallery tomorrow. All the boys are also going to come. Aunt really wants you to come along too.

Taehyung: I'll definitely be coming then. Ah! You're bus is here.

He got up before you.

Y/n : Bye Tae.

The bus halted.

Taehyung: Wait!

He rushed over and handed you a paper bag.

Taehyung : For you..

Y/n : Thank you. Bye.

Taehyung: Bye.

He looked down shyly and you quickly placed a peck on his cheek before getting on the bus. It took him time to realise as stood there stunned. He started to get warm. Even his hair felt ticklish and his heart had blasted. Too many things were happening at once and he thought that he would float away. He sat back down, feeling light, weightless, and the only thing he could hear was his heart racing. He smiled brightly.

.

You entered the flat in an all too energetic way. Your aunt immediately rushed to you, and you didn't even try hiding your smile.

Y/a : How was it?!

You hugged her tightly and ran to your room. Your aunt smiled.

Y/a : I've never seen her so happy on the day before tomorrow. I'm glad he makes her happy.

You sat on the bed and giggled. "The bag!" You took out what was inside. Two books, and a folder. You read the note sticked to the book.

"These are some books I want you to read. Ikigai. The thought I told you in the library is from this book. 'also, Japan is my dream destination. I hope we can visit it together.' I hope you like it. Now go ahead and open the folder. I hope you like that too."

You opened the folder, and gasped. It was a sketch, of you. "This is a drawing? Not a picture?" You stared at it for a lot of time. You opened the envelope.

"I know you love it. So.. um. The first one is from the day when we talked for the first time. The second one.."

"There's more?" You pulled out the A4 sheets and put the first one aside , and gasped again. "Isn't that the stream at the camp? If it's the same I swear-" You pulled out your phone and searched for the picture of the stream which you took. It was exactly the same. You could see the weeds, rocks at the bottom of the stream and a reflection of the stars too. That's how detailed it was.

"Yes, the second one is of the night we were at the stream. That's when we first held hands. So I thought I'll gift this to you when we actually go on a date.
Romantic, right?
I know it's cheezy.
And I know that we're not actually dating.
But I really want to say, thank you.
So, thank you. Y/n."

You saw another corner peeking out. So you took it out, and it was a smaller paper, also a drawing of you sleeping.

"I didn't plan this one, but you looked too cute today. So I drew a little doodle type of thing ;)"

You sighed. "He's so sweet. What did I do to deserve him?"

Y/a : DINNER'S READY!

"See you tomorrow. Taehyung."

~The next day~

Y/a : We're here honey.

You got off and walked in the graveyard. Aunt gave your hand a tight squeeze before you sat down in front of her.

Y/a: I'll be back when you're done.

Y/n : I'll call you..

You smiled at her and looked ahead. She went away. You placed down the flowers and inhaled deeply.

Y/n : She's always worried if she's being good enough. But I love her mom. I really do. It'll be alright. Sorry! I kept blabbering about myself. How are you? Are you happy?

You smiled as a tear rolled down your cheek.

Y/n : I'm happy mom. I'm very happy. Dad is happy. I don't need to tell you that. You know it all. You know how much he still loves you, even if he's busy in his work. I have Taehyung now. Yes, we went on a date yesterday. You really would have loved him mom. Even though I don't know much about him. He's still a mystery. But you always told me to trust with caution. That's what I'm doing. Atleast trying haha. I like him a lot mom.

You never wiped your tears. You never hid anything from her. She knew everything. Even when you didn't tell her, she would know what's wrong. She was your mother afterall. This very day, seven years ago, you had lost a part of you. A part of your family. And nothing could ever replace that and never will. You were devastated. You had refused to eat, drink or even talk. They tried consoling you, but you didn't listen.

In the end, you realised. Nothing you did could bring her back. And you blamed yourself. You still do. Because that's the only way you handle the grief. By blaming it all on yourself. If you blamed someone else, it would cause hatred, vengeance. So you tell yourself that it was your fault and you have to pay the price by being strong for her, not hate yourself. Because that would be punishing her, not you. You did at times have the strong urge to end it all. But then you would laugh at your own foolish thought. Not being soft neither hard. Be malleable, flexible. Redirect it in a constructive way. That was what had kept you alive till now. After loosing your mother at a young age. But all of it helped at times and didn't at times too.

Y/n : I'll be strong mom. I'll be a good person like you always wanted me to be. I love you.

You got up and called aunt. She came back with a broken face. You gave her a tight hug and left to give her some time alone too. You cried, and cried. Letting all the memories hit you. Her time as a teacher, and old faces flashed in your head. You remembered those days. And breathed numerous times till you calmed down. Your aunt came back and you both now headed to the art gallery where everyone was waiting. "You have to move on. Always. Life goes on. I love you mom."

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