“You are so cute! I am called Erin Müller.”

Taehyung was in utter disbelief. He had never fathomed of experiencing such an unprecedented event before. He eyed her cautiously but there, she was radiating confidence about her identity. He sucked a sharp inhale. Goosebumps peppered his skin, and her response was enough to make him lose his goddamned mind. His mouth still hung low as ever, not bothered to speak anything.

“I am Erin myself, and thank you so much for reading out my books.”

His jaw was back to its place, and he licked his dry lips to smoothen the situation.

“Oh my god! I never thought about this,” he spoke.

“No worries, we all have —” a call cut her in.
She reacted instinctively after a glance at the dialler. He watched, how she responded with just a yes and at last put her phone in a small, eggshell white coloured handbag beside her. She stood up and bid her farewell to him.

Erin turned to leave but didn’t make it two steps before Taehyung was behind her, his scent filling her nostrils and his breath brushing her ear. They both made it that close.
“How can I meet you…again?” his voice threaded itself around her like a long, sensuous ribbon.
Taehyung didn’t touch her, but she could feel him all around her. They both knew, that Erin knew why he was asking her. It would have been disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

“Let destiny decide itself,” she said and walked away while swinging her hips side to side. He sighed annoyingly, it was his first time and maybe the last time too.
___________________

“Yes sir, I will send you the rest of the project details soon,”
Ern spoke to someone through the device, she was holding between her cheekbones and shoulder, as she was typing vigorously on her laptop ahead of her.

The bright afternoon sun had softened to the warm yellow of golden hour. Sunset approached, turning the sky into a palette of soft pastels. She liked being here, in the ‘CUP OF COFFEE’ shop. For the last few days, she had been here and damn! It helped her to relieve some stress.

Erin failed to respond to Taehyung for three days after their library meet-up. Initially, of course, I'd say.
She examined the coffee shop layout and current décor. It soothes her a lot. And at some point, she wants to get back to him, once more.

Whereas, inside the shop;
“I am tired Wonwoo, please send someone else to bring the lady a tall latte!”
Taehyung exclaimed exaggeratedly to the boy beside him as of his same age. He was very hungry, but his boss ordered him to do another service.

“Do this only for once, there the girl is!” declared Wonwoo.

He tried, to look out for the customer he had to be for in a few minutes with the order. When he looked up, to see who was it, his smile grew.
The universe had handed him a second chance on a platter, and this time, there was no way in hell he was going to fuck it up. It was like the universe had tired of his waffling of 3 days and given him the kick in the ass he needed. Erin was the lady to get the order.

This was a sign.

“Next time, I’ll make—”, Wonwoo was stopped shortly by an interruption of Taehyung’s voice.

“It's fine Wony, I’ll go. It’s my deal as the boss said.”
He kept his tone even, but inside he was a chaotic storm of contentment and emotions.

The other boy was filled with scepticism as the second Taehyung gave respect to their boss. This can’t be happening!

Tahyung quickly prepared the drink to not make her wait for long and oriented the glass very carefully to his way of getting near to Erin. He watched how she was so engrossed in her laptop, so, coughed a little to get her attention.

“Please put that here and—”, she signalled the vender, as she thought of one, but her eyes widened, fingers not in the connection with the keys. Her face matched the colour of the white linen tablecloth.

The other boy grinned widely with his boxy smile. In a second, she replied with a half-hearted laugh.
“Hey, what are you doing here? Come sit,” she urged him and expressed her joy. He did the same. In the first place, she didn’t even know his name. It was so embarrassing to admit.

“Taehyung. Kim Taehyung.”
“Oh you even read mind, I see,” she spoke.

He just laughed and when she was about to order something for him, he stopped her on her track and claimed as one of the ‘vendors’ of this shop.
She nodded her head in agreement, still requesting one of the drinks even after his so many rejections.

“Stp Taehyung, that’s my treat.”
They kept talking for minutes and were very much engrossed in each other.

Suddenly he rolled his sleeves up, and asked,
“By the way do you have any other profession too?”

“Yeah. A chemistry professor who writes novels on Sunday.”

She completed herself with a laugh bursting out of her chest, unexpected and genuine. Not long after, Taehyung's laughter mingled with hers.

She finished the rest of her drink, and the same goes to him. They questioned each other more about their professional life. The time she investigated him, he leaned forward and cleared his throat to say.

“I'm currently in the last year of my wildlife photography course, and my mom is very sick. My dad is no longer with us, so I have to work as a vendor here to pay for my fees.”

She observed how he lowered his voice while speaking all these. She swallowed hard, and her skin tingled with the sudden change in the atmosphere. She gently lifted her shoulder to get both of their attention positively. However, just as she was about to speak, her phone rang. They briefly exchanged glances. Understanding the importance of the call, she politely excused herself to attend to it. As she was about to leave, she was pleasantly surprised to be paused by his reassuring voice.

“At least tell me, where to meet you again?”

At first, she thought to answer but snapped to give him a different response. She turned around, wearing a mischievous grin and said,

“Let the destiny decide, Taehyung.”

"Maybe I should just decide by myself," she pondered.

He let out a sigh in anticipation and dwelled on his thoughts. He shook his head decisively, resolute about reconnecting with her. He found it astonishing how captivated he was by someone he had only met once. His normally reserved nature didn't bother him when it came to exchanging a few words with her.

“The next time we meet, I will not be taking a leave. MARK MY WORDS, ERIN MÜLLER.”

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Thank you!
(1168 Words)
-hope you have a good day ahead!
JIYA