One Shot

You shiver while walking towards Emart (a large supermarket in Korea) in your flimsy hoodie, as rain lightly pelts down on your face.

"I can't believe I forgot to buy rice..." you think bewilderingly as you walk faster, noting that it was almost 11pm and that the rain was getting heavier.

"I also can't believe I'm desperate enough to go get some when a storm is coming... but everything will be closed after tonight for a week" you think, trying to rationalize your actions.

"Ah screw it... rice is life. This isn't dumb at all." You say out loud now, and walk past the automatic door of the entrance.

Unfortunately for you, you see a guy in uniform about to close up the mart.

"Wait!" You shout desperately. He pauses and looks up at you questioningly.

You stop for a second, surprised to see a guy who looked close to your age with unkempt brown hair, wearing adorable glasses. You weren't entirely sure, but you think he looks at you in recognition but that would be impossible, because you don't remember seeing him before...

He stares at you weirdly now, still waiting for you to continue.

Snapping out of your scrutiny, you shoot him a sheepish look "Can I just grab something really quick?" You ask, slightly begging.

He looks around him but no one is there, so he shrugs.

"I'm not allowed to do this... but since I'm the last one here, go ahead" he says amusedly, sweeping his arms like a gentleman.

You glance at his name tag and mouth silently
"Kim Taehyung"

"Hmm cute name too..." you think distractedly.

You walk towards to dry foods section and he follows behind you casually with his arms behind his head.

"So what did you so desperately need at 11pm on a storm-approaching night?" He asks in a teasing tone. His face lightens up in understanding. "It can't be... is it that time of the month? Are you buying tamp-" you cut him off by grabbing the box of cereal on the shelf and throwing it at him embarrassedly, but he dodges it, to your displeasure.

"Hey I just cleaned up around here... put it back" he says with a pout but bends down to do it himself. You send him a wry look and he lifts his hands up in surrender, trying to placate you, again you see him look at you as if he knew you.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" you ask bluntly

He pauses, and looks at you worriedly, giving you a once over.

"Because you look just like him..." he whispers sadly, but you miss what he says so you ask him to repeat.

He shoots you a smile instead, which changes to a look of horror as he points behind you. Eyes wide, you turn, prepared for the worst, but all you hear is a laugh and you see him running away.
He tricked you. You narrow your eyes and run straight for him. Little did he know you were an athlete, so you caught up to him with little effort and took him by surprise when you tackled him onto the floor. He stares at you in shock with his mouth open and you flick your hair haughtily and whisper "Rice" before brushing yourself off and standing.

"What?" he asks slowly.

"I need rice. You asked me what I needed so where is it?" you demand, seeing him snap his fingers in understanding. He stands and leads the way and you follow cautiously, not knowing what to expect from this guy. He turns back to you and looks you over again and you raise an eyebrow.

"I think you need to cut back on the rice to be honest" he says and squeezes his tummy in emphasis. You gasp and he laughs at your expression. "I'm just messing with you, you're not fat at all, you have a great body" he says casually and continues to walk ahead like he didn't just insult you and compliment you in one go.

Gaping at the back of his head you just sigh and go along with it. Finally you arrive at the aisle and you pick the usual sack that you always get. Before you could take it however, Taehyung reaches for it and lugs it over his shoulder effortlessly. You see his muscles flex under his sleeves, seeing the outline of his chest and back muscles in the process, and you swallow, not entirely immune to his features. He sends you a cheeky grin and walks off with no other words, but you knew he caught you checking him out and internally you face palm at your obviousness.

You run up to catch up with him "I can carry that myself you know..." you say, trying to be casual.

He shoots you half a glance and smirks "But then you wouldn't be able to see this" and gestures to his body confidently. You glare at him but he laughs back so you give up and let him do what he wanted.

"How old are you, Taehyung?" you ask inquisitively and he stops in his place.

"You know my name?" he asks disbelievingly and you stop as well.

"No... it's on your name tag. Should I though? Have we met before?" you ask suspiciously.

He quickly changes the topic and walks again, picking up his pace.

"Oh I'm 21, and you Y/N?" you nod slowly, catching up to him. "Huh he's only three years older than me... he must be in universit-"

You cut your thoughts off and keep your foot rooted on the floor. He notices that you're not following him and he sends you a quizzical look.

"I never told you my name Taehyung" you say, distrustfully.

His eyes widen at his mistake and he opens his mouth to explain, but then the lights went off.

Now you freak out a little. You're with a stranger, who obviously knows who you are, and you stupidly let yourself be alone with him. The power is off and it's dark, and you feel like this is your chance to leave before he did anything weird.

Blindly, you try to head towards the exit but you stumble around too much. You feel something grab your elbow and you scream. A light is pointed at your face and you see Taehyung with a flashlight. You push him off quickly and back away in alarm.

"Wait Y/N, I can explain!" he shouts but you ignore it and run. You end up in the fruit and vegetable section and hurriedly look for something you could use to protect yourself. Seeing nothing, you grab the bunch of oranges and apples you saw and throw it at the now approaching Taehyung.

"Ow! Y/N stop. I don't even like oranges!" he screams, which makes you throw more.

"Go away! I don't know you and I don't know how you know me but I swear I can kick your ass if you try anything and I'm not afra-"

"Y/N! I KNEW YOUR BROTHER!" he shouts finally and you drop the apple you were holding in your hand. It lands on the floor with a dull thud, cracking slightly, just like your heart did at his statement.

Slowly you calm down, sighing softly; now everything made sense. The worried looks he sent you and how he made an effort in teasing you the whole time. You see him stare at you with pity this time and you glare at him.

"Don't look at me like that" you say bitterly and he slowly approaches you.

"He's been gone for 3 years already, but it doesn't hurt any less" Taehyung whispers and you look away.

"How did you know him?" you ask, changing the topic before the mood got too dark.

He goes along with your obvious change. "We met in the first year of university and were roommates. He talked about you all the time and showed me your pictures. So when you walked in here tonight, it felt like I already knew you"

He explains and grabs your hand. "Look, I won't bring it up anymore but we need to leave soon... The storm is going to get worse; can you call your parents and tell them you'll be on your way back now?"

You laugh slightly "He didn't tell you?" you ask curiously. He glances at you "Tell me what?"

"Our parent's traveled a lot before, so it was usually just the two of us in Korea but now that he's gone, my parents permanently moved abroad. I didn't leave because I didn't want to run." you say and he looks at you in surprise. "So you've been living here by yourself since you were 16?" he asks disbelievingly and you nod, not thinking it was that bad now that you were 18 and in university.

His eyes harden "You shouldn't be alone in this storm, let's go" he says and drags you to the front, grabbing his car keys from his coat with one hand, and holding the rice in the other arm. Pausing, he bends down to pick up an orange and places it into his pocket before handing you the keys and grabbing your hand. 

You start shooting a series of questions. "Wait where are we going? You're not paying for that? And why are you taking an orange... You just said you didn't like them..."

"Oh, I'll cover it later... I doubt they'll realize anything this week anyways, and we're heading to my place. You can go back to yours after the storm passes." He says easily and before you could retort, he stares at you, eyes softening, and continues, "I think I'm starting to like them a lot more now" he finishes, and somehow you didn't think he meant the orange...You swallow at the intensity of his stare and look away quickly.

But then he sends you a wide grin,

"Besides, I think I'm craving rice now after all this trouble, so you're stuck with me until I'm sick of it."

You smile amusedly at that.

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