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January 23rd

Tae Bae🐯💕:

Do you wanna go out for dinner tonight Gorgeous?

Gorgeous 💕:

I'd love to but I've already made plans with Kookie.

Do you wanna come?

We are going to that new burger place that opened up by his work.

Tae Bae🐯💕:

Nah it's cool, baby. 

I don't really wanna third wheel with you guys.

Gorgeous 💕:

Are you sure?

You love burgers plus you won't be third-wheeling, our other friend will be there! 😄

Tae Bae🐯💕:

I'll just stay and work a little. When will you be home?

Gorgeous 💕:

Maybe around 8 or so?

Tae Bae🐯💕:

Okay.

Have fun I'll see you when you're home. 😘

I stare at the message before deciding to just leave it be. We have been doing better and I don't want to force him to come out if he doesn't want to. But I know he's avoiding Kookie and he can't do it forever, they are both special in my life and I need them to get along.

I send off my last email of the day and shut down my computer before grabbing my stuff and heading downstairs to wait for Kook. The end of January seems to be even colder than December was. I pull my jacket tighter to my body trying to keep warm as I wait out front waving goodbye to the few coworkers who leave after me.

6:10. Kooks never late.

Suddenly a pair of hands cover my eyes and I can feel their body heat warming my back. The smell of Orange Blossom invades my nose and I relax, instantly knowing who's approached me. It's my comfort smell, or at least it was.

"Jimin, what are you doing here?" I laugh as he lets go of me and I turn to face him.

"How'd you know it was me?" he says with a little pout.

"You never change, you still smell like tangerines and irises," I tease and his pout turns into his beautiful smile.

"It's my favorite smell," he replies and links his arm with mine.

I give a tight-lipped smile and the mood seems to get heavy as we both stand there silently.

"Jimin that's a girl's perfume," I giggle as I take the bottle out of his hands and place it back onto my dresser.

"That's fine, I really like the way it smells," he says grabbing it back and spraying it onto his clothes.

"Why do you like it so much? I have better unisex perfumes," I say motioning to the other bottles on my dresser.

"This one reminds me of my favorite season. Spring," my eyes narrow on his nervous form. "and it reminds me of my favorite girl," he says softly almost whispering it as he meets my eyes.

"You can uh, just keep it then," my face turns red and I nervously turn around and busy myself with tidying up my dresser.

"Thanks, Viv," he steps closer to me and pecks my cheek before Kookie bursts through the door with a load of snacks.

From that day on he wore that perfume every day and it became his signature scent. When we had drifted apart, I couldn't stand the smell and all the memories it would bring with it. But today I didn't feel as sad smelling it.

I tug him closer trying to steal his body heat and he gladly snuggles closer. "I'm here to drive you to the burger place. Kookie's gonna meet us there, he got caught up at work," he says pulling me along to his warm car.

"That butthole didn't even text me to tell me," I whine as he opens the door for me to slide in.

He jogs around to the driver's seat and cranks up the heat making sure the vents face me. "Feel better?"

I nod and he hands me a small tattered black and blue blanket. "You still have this?!" I'm completely shocked as my hand runs along the messy blue braiding of the blanket.

I'd made this blanket the summer I was 15, I had broken my leg and was not allowed out of the house for a good part of the summer. Jimin had brought over a bunch of yarn thinking we could learn to crotchet.

He was amazing making tons of small jellyfish in different colors while I struggled with making just a simple blanket. When I finally gave up on it, it was barely big enough to cover your legs, but Jimin insisted on keeping it because it was his favorite color.

"Of course I do. You made it for me," he smiles and pulls out along the road.

"Look what I got," I pull out a small object from my bag and dangle it between my fingers.

"Oh gosh, why would you keep that?" he laughs and his cheeks adorably tint pink.

"Because you made it for me," I clutch it close to my chest as he tries to snatch it away from me.

"I gave you so many better gifts," he groans and I just shake my head no.

"I thought you probably had thrown it out...you know after everything that happened with us," he keeps his eyes focused on the road but I can hear the hint of sadness in his tone.

My thumb rubs against the little clay daisy. In truth, I had thought about throwing it out, but this was the first thing he had ever given me and he had made it himself, saying it had all his support in it and would bring good luck.

It had indeed brought me tons of luck in school and carried on in college even after we stopped talking. I've always kept it with me and I've been lucky in love, work, and friendship with it around.

"It's my good luck charm," I say softly and place it back into my purse.

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"Your home already?" I say surprised seeing Tae laying in bed reading.

"You said you would be home around 8 I wanted to be here when you were," he says with a wide smile.

He places the book on the nightstand and gets out of the bed, walking over to me he pulls me into his arms and leans down pressing a soft kiss to my lips.

"I missed you today."

"You did?" I ask perplexed and his deep laugh echos in our room.

"Yes, I missed you a lot. I missed holding you in my arms," his arms tighten around me.

"I missed your cute face," he says pecking my nose with a loud muah that makes me giggle,

"I missed your adorable laugh," I smile up at him, happy to see the man I fell in love with coming back.

"I'm home now," I say and press my lips to his.

When he tries to deepen the kiss I gently push him away, "let me go shower, and then we can cuddle and you can tell me about your day."

He nods and kisses me one last time before following me into the bathroom to talk while I shower. "Did you have fun with Kookie? Were the burgers good?"

"Oh gosh, Tae you woulda loved them. They were so juicy and the chili cheese fries were to die for," I gush as I wash my hair.

"Who was the other friend he brought along?" I hear his voice get gruff as he asks his question.

"Our old friend from high school," I answer honestly, hoping that he'd feel less threatened knowing it's not someone new.

"The one you stopped talking to? How'd that happen?" he asks unable to keep the annoyance out of his tone.

"Kookie never stopped talking to him and we kinda all just fell back together during Christmas," I say peaking out from behind the curtain.

"So while you were ignoring me, you were reconnecting with some lost fling?" he says crossing his arms over his chest.

I sigh and shut off the water before wrapping my towel around me and stepping out. "It's not like that Tae. He's just a friend, I love you." I say standing in front of him.

"Show me," he says pulling me closer so we are now flush together.

His lips make contact with mine desperately as he pushes me through the bathroom door and down onto the bed. No more words are exchanged as we get caught up in the moment and when we are done, his arms are again around my waist keeping me locked in place.

"I love you." his voice is husky with sleep as he snuggles closer into me.

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