Ahhhh I Love This So Much - Tumblr Posts
Sing to me: JJK x Reader đ

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader
Genre: Mermaid AU, Siren!Jungkook, Prince!Jungkook, homeless!Reader, Romance, Smut duh
Wordcount: 5k (medium)
Tags/Warnings: okay so, spoiled kook, possessive kook, Theres literally an attempted murder lol, drowning? whoops, blood oh no, reader is hella fucking dense ok, biting, courting lol, fish boy is in love, whoops, anyways we got sexy times too, because in this AU fishboy got legs n all of that hah, unprotected sex because, guys pls this ainât supposed to he realistic, wrap it before you tap it folks, its also not all that filthy lol, blink and youâll miss the scene, honestly I didnât include much smut because yall nasty so you will ask for dirty drabbles anyways, not that I mind lol, k Iâm done I think, wow mom Iâve sinned less than usual..
Summary: Help me love myself, and I might learn to love you as well.
Or alternatively: you save Jungkook from being killed, and he totally gets the wrong signals. But heâs cute, so its fine. Probably.

Jungkook is floating.
Keep reading
A Christmas Fix â 02 (m) | kth

â¶Â Summary | One-night stands are supposed to be nothing more than just. It shouldnât have involved seeing those two red lines looking back at you weeks later without a name or a contact number linking you back to your mystery man. Nothing more but his face. The unforgettable face that would sometimes appear in your dreams at night. So unforgettable that you immediately recognise him the moment he walks into your family home at Christmas, hand-in-hand with your older stepsister.
With special collab prompt: "the holidays aren't so bad with you around."

â¶Â Title | A Christmas Fix
â¶Â Pairings | Taehyung x female reader
â¶Â Genre | Secret Baby!au, Second Chance!au, Strangers to Lovers!au
â¶Â Ratings & Warnings | +18 / M for Mature; including: alcohol consumption, mentions of pregnancy, morning sickness, surprise babies, miscommunication, profanities/swearing, fake dating trope on the side, minor body insecurities (implied), fight scene, some family drama; involves multiple explicit sex scenes, including: sexual tension, one night stand, drunk sex (with clear consent), minor dom/sub dynamic, brat!reader, size kink, rough sex, light choking, restraint, hair pulling (M, F), protected & unprotected sex, pregnant sex, fingering (F), oral sex (F), clit play, breast play, stripping, biting, minor hand job/groping, grinding, masturbation (M, F), mutual masturbation, dirty talk, implied pain kink, praise kink, body worship, marking, multiple orgasms (M, F), overstimulation.
â¶Â Word count | 29,410 words (of 54,773 words)
â¶Â Story Notes | Part of the Jingle All the Way collaboration with @leahsfavefics, @kithtaehyung, @kpopfanfictrash, @cybrsan, and @sugaurora | Written in 2nd person POV (in case youâre new to my writing, I donât use ây/nâ coding as all of my lead characters are considered as OCs) | Moodboard was done by me | Posted in: February 1st, 2024 by @yoonia
â¶Â Author Notes | And we're finally at the end. Thank you so much for everyone who has read part 1, and those of you who have been so patient with me. I'm sorry I had to wait for a day to post this. I hope you'll enjoy the rest of the journey to see how this story ends :)

ⶠJingle All the Way collab masterlist | A Christmas Fix: †previous chapter
ⶠMain Masterlist | Taglist | Feedback | Mailbox | Ko-fi
ⶠRead on AO3

The house has been quiet all morning.Â
There is only one day left before Christmas Eve, and everyone has been busy for the past couple of days. Your mother and Honey are hosting the Christmas Eveâs family dinner this year, with close relatives from their side of the family joining in, so everyone has been busy going around and about to prepare for it.Â
After days filled with all the bustling activities, it feels like you finally have some downtime. With both of your parents goneâyour mother is out with Honey to shop for a couple of necessities needed for the event, and your stepfather out doing some errands, assisted by Taehyung in place of Hansolâit feels like you can finally breathe easy.Â
While the pre-Christmas rush helped smother the loud thinking constantly happening inside your head, the silence that you are experiencing now feels comforting. The underlying tension that is also present, however, isnât so much.Â
When you agreed to stay home and help out with the rest of the Christmas baking still needed to be done, you didnât expect that Alia had volunteered to stay behind and help too. So you have been using this silence as a protective shield.Â
Almost an hour has passed since the two of you started getting busy in the kitchen. No meaningful conversation has been shared so far, aside from the times you had to talk through the recipes together or talking about passing things over. The only sounds that are keeping you company are the occasional sounds of kitchenware hitting the counter, the shuffling sounds coming from both you and Alia as you move around the kitchen, and the burning oven behind your back.Â
Slowly, you are beginning to enjoy this routine, finding calmness in the steady rhythm of baking and cooking which helps quiet the voices in your head. Too bad it doesnât last long enough for you to relish it when Alia suddenly speaks, bringing up something other than the task in your hand for a change.Â
âIâve been wondering for a while, but you look like you had a rough night. Is your stomach still bothering you?â she asks, breaking the silence.Â
To say that you are caught off-guard seems like an understatement. And you have no idea how to respond to her question. For her to suddenly ask something personal is completely unexpected.Â
Itâs not that the two of you never had an actual conversation with one another like a pair of normal human beings. Itâs just she never seemed to truly care or have any interest in getting to know about you other than the stories shared at family dinners with your parents around.Â
Itâs making it even harder to answer when you have this underlying guilt brewing inside you. A feeling that comes from hiding a secret that keeps getting heavier to carry. And you are afraid that the moment you open your mouth to speak, they will all come spilling out of you.Â
You wish you could just lie to her face. Tell her that everything is fine so you can continue working in silence.Â
But when you look up and actually look at her, she seemsâgenuine, in her concern, and almost as much with her curiosity.Â
But there is no malice or pretence in her question that you find yourself reaching out to accept the olive branch that she is offering you and answer, âItâsâokay. I mean, itâs been pretty rough the past few nights. I think itâs because of the lack of sleep Iâve been getting.âÂ
And youâre not completely lying. Because the past couple of nights have been rough. But you couldnât possibly explain to her why.
Alia scrunches her nose, oblivious to this. âI heard from Honey that you get this way when youâre stressed out. Has work been stressful for you lately? I mean, with your latest work promotion, I can only imagine that youâve only gotten busier lately.âÂ
You purse your lips and avoid her gaze, once again biting back the secret that is threatening to slip out.Â
âMaybeââ you start to answer, âI havenât been eating well, and Iâve messed up my sleeping schedule so bad lately, that itâs been hard to fix it even when Iâm home. Iâve been having trouble sleeping, and I woke up with a headache this morning.âÂ
Alia frowns. âHave you been taking meds? I have some vitamins that may help you sleep better. Iâve been taking them lately toââÂ
Thinking about taking vitamins makes you cringe. The doctorâs warnings come floating through your mindâreminding you that you should be wary of the medicines and vitamins to take, as they may not be safe enough for the baby in your belly, her warning about keeping your stress level low, and her reminder of watching over your diet at the beginning of your pregnancy.Â
âNo, itâs fine. I donât usually take medicines or vitamins to help me sleep,â you gently refuse. Even without your doctorâs warnings, you know that nothing could really help you with your sleeping problems.Â
Because the truth is, your nausea and âstomach bugâ havenât been the sole reason why you have been having trouble sleeping as of late.Â
It was Taehyung.Â
Ever since you came across Taehyung that night in the hallway, memories from the night of your wild hookup have been coming back to you. They have been haunting you at night, whether you were sitting in bed wide awake or when you were deep in your restless sleep.Â
When sleep failed you, you would be left spending long hours recounting every action and every conversation that you could remember. Every single detail had been coming back to you in bits and pieces jumbling together, and you would spend the next long hours trying to piece everything together. You went through it all to answer the resounding questions that are still messing up with your mind.Â
How many times did we do it that night?Â
More than twice, for sure, you recall each time you try to look back. Was it three, or four times?Â
You remember feeling sore and tired the next day, yet you were content enough to sleep the whole flight away towards your dream vacation with your whole body humming with the waning pleasure. And while you werenât completely drunk that night, you were surely tipsy enough that you were unable to memorise every single moment with a clear mind.Â
But the biggest question that you have yet to answerâ
He really did wear condoms that night, didnât he?Â
You remember watching him roll the condom down the length of his impressive cock. It wasnât really a memory that you could easily erase, no matter how tipsy-minded you were that night. Not when the way he did it left you completely transfixed.Â
For some reason, everything about the first intercourse you had with him remains vivid in your memory. Because it was the first time for you to ever feel that kind of pleasure. To feel wanton and free with someone who was willing to help you open up a part of you which had been locked and sheltered during the long period of time you spent in your past relationship.Â
The second time always seems a bit blurry. But you can still recall waking up to his sinful lips devouring your sore pussy in the middle of the night.Â
He claimed it as a way to make up for the rough and dominating way he took you the first time and the lack of foreplay. So he spoiled you by giving you pleasure through his mouth and tongue and the work of his fingers, before he fucked you gently, slowly, until you were arching into him and crying out his name once again as he helped you embrace your slow rising climax.Â
And the third timeâ
âUm, earth to ________.âÂ
Aliaâs sharp voice pulls you out of your dark thoughts. Her curiosity seems to grow more palpable, and so does the concerned look you see on her face.Â
âAre you okay? Seriously, you donât look so well. You keep spacing out today and now itâs like youâre burning up or something.âÂ
With a gasp, you reach up and touch your cheeks, quickly realising that she is right. You are burning up. Except that instead of burning from a fever, your body is growing hot from the inside for a different kind of reason.Â
You are burning from being drowned in your dirty thoughts and recounting all the pleasure that you felt back then. To be thinking about all the wanton things that you shared withâ
Your eyes fall open as you draw a shocked gasp. Realising too late that you are thinking about your stepsisterâs new boyfriend while she is sitting right in front of you. Guilt pierces through your chest right at that moment, and you quickly rise from your seat.Â
âExcuse me, I think I need to cool down a little bit. Iâll be right back,â you quickly say to her before slipping away from the kitchen without waiting for her response.Â
Needing distance from Alia, you rush to your bedroom upstairs, finding solace in your safe space as you lock yourself in it. The feeling of shame washes over you. You canât believe that you had allowed yourself to think of dark, sultry thoughts while you were sitting right across your stepsister.Â
Worse yet, that doing so made you feel aroused.Â
The same thing always happens each time you think back about that night. As if your body has memorised what your mind has failed to remember. Each memory of his touch brings back sparks on your skin, reigniting the same reaction that he managed to draw from you then.Â
By the time you lie down on your bed, the heat in your body has spread all over the place. Even to the places that you didnât expect to be affected, as it spreads down between your legs.Â
At the same time, your skin seems to be humming with need. There is a desire that has been awakened simply by reliving that night in your thoughts, which would be impossible to quench.Â
You close your eyes, and immediately feel as though you are under a spell. Your hands begin to move on their own, searching for the source of the heat rushing within your body. They continue travelling their way down, following the pulses that you feel emerging from your core.Â
You slip one hand down your pants, reaching down until you feel skin. A gasp threatens to come out when the tips of your fingers are met with dampened skin. Just as expected, thinking about that night and the things you did with Taehyung then has made you wet.Â
Your fingers tremble, and your heart starts pounding like crazy as you continue touching yourself. Slipping your fingers across your slit, you make use of the slickness that has formed to slide back and forth, playing with yourself until you feel only pleasure. A shudder erupts through you as you stroke your clit.Â
You shouldnât be doing this. But before you can stop yourself, an image of his face hovering right above you comes to you. In that moment, you are back to the night when you were with him.Â
The fingers that are touching your hot center are no longer yours. They may not be the same size as his fingers, and not as firm, but your memory easily replaces your dainty digits with Taehyungâs longer and wider ones as you push them into your throbbing core.Â
There is a voice in your head that keeps telling you how wrong for you to be doing this. How inappropriate for you to be thinking naughty thoughts about someone who isnât yours and pleasuring yourself with it.Â
But your body wouldnât listen.Â
Your hand continues to move, pumping your fingers in and out of your pussy while your hips push back against them. The pleasure rises, increasing quickly the faster you move your hand, the more you ride your fingers like an animal in heat.Â
And you donât stop until your orgasm starts building. It keeps growing stronger, until everything within you snaps.Â
As you fall into bliss, his face is all you see. His voice is the one you hear instead of the soft, muffled moans coming out of your lips, whispering to you the same sweet soothing voice that he gave you that night while you were succumbing to pleasure.Â
âGood girl. Youâre amazing, Red. Rest up, and weâll play again once youâre ready.âÂ

âI suppose this is what people call a Christmas miracle.âÂ
You start to roll your eyes before you remember that Skye wouldnât be able to see it. For the past hour, you have been on the phone with your roommate while you were hiding from your family.Â
Locked in the safety of your bedroom for the second time today because you still couldnât get over the mortification that has fallen upon you after this morningâs blunder.Â
Having your arousal slowly pooling between your legs by the mere thought of Taehyung and the sinful deed you shared with him seemed scandalous. Allowing it to happen while you were sitting right in front of his girlfriend, someone closely related to you, made you feel as if you were more deserving to be burned in hell rather than sharing the joy and laughter of Christmas.Â
And instead of brushing those nasty thoughts away, you took it one step further by seeking pleasure with the touch of your fingers. With your head filled with thoughts of Taehyung and while your stepsister was waiting downstairs for you to return.Â
Shame and guilt plagued you once you were done. And you were also too sated and tired to even function. But you couldnât hide in your bedroom for long. Doing so would only cause people to grow suspicious of your behaviour, and you already gained enough unsolicited attention to let it happen.Â
So after cleaning yourself up and wiping off any remnants of your misdeed, you put your big girl pants on and went back downstairs to finish the Christmas baking with your stepsister. This time, you kept to yourself more, avoiding as much conversation with Alia while you continued to pretend that nothing happened while you were away.Â
Thankfully, you didnât have to be alone with her for far too long when everyone returned from their outing.
Masking your shame no longer became a struggle when you stopped being the main focus of the room. Everyone was busy with Christmas Eveâs preparation; your mother with the holiday decorations, your stepfather with his handiwork as he went out to fix the porch and the locks on the front door, while you and Alia remained in the kitchen to finish baking.Â
Honey stayed nearby, as she sat at the kitchen counter, watching everyone doing their own thing while she was nursing a mug filled with steaming hot cocoa and sharing the most recent gossip about the old ladies living in her apartment complex.Â
While all of this was happening around you, you were blessed with the absence of Taehyung, who was said to have gone back to the motel where he and Alia have been staying to finish some work before Christmas Day.
You didnât question it, trying not to care too much about him and making use of him being gone to try and forget everything that had happened.Â
But then lunchtime came, and he returned just in time to rejoin your family for the meal. Seeing his face again, hearing his voice, watching how your stepsister kept being all touchy feeling with her boyfriend and clinging to him all the time gave you an unpleasant feeling that you felt sick to the stomach.Â
That was when you rushed back into your bedroom. You convinced yourself that you werenât hiding from them. That you simply needed some time alone; alone with your thoughts, to gather your wits, and calm your nerves that had become unsettled during lunch while he was once again sitting right across the table, subtly watching you when others werenât looking.Â
But being alone with your thoughts hadnât been quite helpful.Â
Your mind kept wandering into places that you shouldnât dare to visit. You needed someone to talk to. To vent and get everything out of your system. And Skye, who is currently on the other side of the country to be with her family, was the best option to call.Â
And yet, after telling her everything that has happened and keeping her up to date with the latest developments, you are starting to regret calling her.Â
âDo tell me why you, of all people, would call this catastrophe a miracle?â you ask her while pinching the bridge of your nose. Your head feels tense, although you are relieved that it has somehow stopped pounding after sharing all of the drama to your roommate through the phone call.Â
You can hear the subtle sound of her humming to herself, contemplating her answer. âI mean, think about it. We already made an elaborate plan to track him down, to the point that we nearly booked a ticket to go back to the place where your flight made a stop for transit in case we canât easily find him,â she says with the same no-nonsense tone of voice that she always uses when she is laying out all of the facts, âand then he suddenly appears, right at your familyâs home, as if saying âHere I am, look no furtherâ.âÂ
She laughs, and you can picture her shaking her head when she adds, âTell me thatâs not a miracle.âÂ
Instead of answering her, you only bite your lips. It does sound almost too good to be true. Except for the one simple fact that is impossible to ignore. âYouâre forgetting the fact that heâs here as Aliaâs plus one. Iâd say itâs a curse, instead of a miracle.âÂ
You can her chuckling bitterly on the other side of the phone. âAnd once again, Iâm going to say that I donât envy you.âÂ
You let out a groan as you fall back on the bed. âThis isnât funny.âÂ
âI know, sweetie,â she says, comforting you with a sigh. âItâs just so absurd to think about all the coincidences happening around this baby business.âÂ
You close your eyes, hating the fact that sheâs right. There are too many coincidences happening around you, and itâs astonishing to think that everything could come to this point.Â
âYeah, it does sound absurd.âÂ
âIâm just sad Iâm not there to witness it,â she says, laughing, while you barely have the energy to scoff at her.Â
For the longest time, Skye has always been the one you turn to whenever you need someone to vent about your ordeal with your stepsister. But compared to the other times you clashed against Alia, this one surely takes the cake.
âYou havenât told him about the baby, have you?âÂ
You wince. âNo,â you answer with s sigh. âI canât think of a way to do it.âÂ
And you have been avoiding being in the same room with him to even have the chance to talk about it. Not that you would have found that chance anyway if you did, as Alia has always been by his side. You suddenly remember the way Alia suddenly sidled to his side when he was alone at a time, making a complete show about her doting on him.
Grimacing, you shake the image out of your head. âIâve thought of different scenarios involving me talking to him and revealing about my pregnancy, but everything has changed now that Alia is involved in this.âÂ
Skye grows silent for a moment. âJust tell him,â she says. Her voice softens, which only means that she is being serious about this. âThe sooner the better, even more so because he is involved with Alia. Itâs better to let him know now rather than later, once theyâve been dating longer and the baby is here.âÂ
You bite your lips again, refraining to tell her that you had thought about the same thing. âHe did say he wanted to talkââÂ
But he never made it clear what he wanted to talk about. What is there to talk about if he still has no clue about the baby? Is he trying to convince you again not to let Alia know about your past hookup? How would that work if youâre having a baby together from that hookup?Â
You hate to admit it, but being kept as a secret feelsâpainful.Â
âWellââ Skye hesitantly says, âItâs not like youâre planning to have an actual relationship with him, right?âÂ
Her question makes your stomach drop. Have you ever really had any hope of having a relationship with him, just because you are expecting a baby with him?Â
Thinking back to the night of your hookup makes you look back and relive the emotions that you felt that night. You are sure that you felt a connection with him that night. A connection that you never felt before with anyone else. It felt real, yet you denied it simply because neither of you had been using your true identities when you climbed on that bed together. It had seemed to you that both of you had only wanted that night to be a one-time thing.Â
The sparks you felt with him had also been real, and you are quite sure that you felt them again the last time you were alone with him in that hallway, when he confronted you after the first family dinner that you shared with him. Sometimes, you can also feel that same sparks coming back whenever he is in the room, no matter how far away you try to distance yourself from him.
Could it be that somewhere along the line, you had unknowingly harboured hope that you could be together again? When did this happen?Â
Or did having his baby growing inside you make you think that you could somehow build something real with him, to develop the connection that you felt that night into something else entirely?Â
Is that why seeing him with Alia has been bothering you so much? Not only because you are hiding this secret, but also because nothing can come out of it once you come clean to him?Â
Not for the first time today, you feel like youâre about to throw up.Â
You only had one night with him. You keep reminding yourself this, hoping that it will be able to snap you out of the silly illusion that you had allowed your mind to possess.Â
âNo, I just want him to know about the baby,â you answer weakly, hoping that voicing this promise out loud would help put an end to your wishful thinking. To stop it before it gets too far.Â
âBut having this baby with me while heâs dating my stepsister will complicate things. And things are already complicated between me and Alia.âÂ
âRight,â Skye sighs on the phone. Knowing exactly what you mean without you having to say it out loud.Â
Over the years, Skye had both witnessed and heard every single spectacle that had become a major part of your relationship with Alia. You can tell that she understands what to expect once this thing blows up.Â
âYouâre right. I canât imagine how sheâll react,â you hear her say, before releasing an overly dramatic sigh, and you immediately know where this is going. âMaybe she wouldnât have hated you so much if you didnât break that doll of hers when you were a kid.â
You scream into the pillows while she laughs historically on the phone. âWhy do you have to bring that up?â you groan, hating yourself for sharing this with her during one of your late-night drinking fests. âOut of all the ludicrous things I shared with you, thatâs the one crossing your mind right now?â
âHey, you were the one who brought it up first. How would you know that it wasnât true?âÂ
âHow could you possibly remember that when I barely could?â you whine out loud.Â
One drunken night was all it took for you to disclose the severity of your childhood crime. Even if you barely remember the details of it. Thankfully, your roommate had been the only witness to listen to your drunk confession.Â
âIt was an accident that happened ages ago, and I already told you that she couldnât have possibly started resenting me for years because of that ugly doll.â
Because it sounds ridiculous if you think about it with a sober mind. And you refuse to believe the disdain that Alia has shown you for years had all stemmed from the small incident that happened when you were a child.Â
At nine years old, your small familyâoriginally consisting only of you, your mother, and your sweet grandmother, Honeyâsuddenly expanded. Everything changed for you the day your stepfather, Cliff, came into the picture. Not only did he fill the void that was left behind by your late father, but he also brought with him another girl, and you suddenly had an older sister to play with and to look up to.Â
A few years older than you, Alia appeared in your eyes like the coolest kid you have ever met. Beautiful, smart, witty, though she could act a bit snobbish whenever you tried to play with her, yet she still shared her bedroom, her toys, and sometimes her collection of dolls.Â
One sleepover, a pair of clumsy little hands, and a ripped old doll later, everything turned the other way around. It happened so long ago that you eventually forgot about it. As Alia entered high school, she rarely came to visit her father, and the incident was simply overlooked with all the other things happening in your life soon after.
The moment she came back into the picture, Alia began acting differently towards you and your relationship was quick to turn dreary.Â
Forced smiles and tensed, courteous chats. The hard and solemn look coming through her eyes that she would always reserve for you when others werenât looking, always at the times when you earned everyoneâs attention or when you accomplished something good in life. Plotting schemes by arranging her own agendas to match the significant moments of your lifetimeâgraduation days, birthdays, anniversariesâoftentimes forcing Cliff to have to choose between being there for you or to be by his biological daughterâs side, while mostly finding excuses to miss out on your important dates altogether.Â
After another incident where she caused another drama back home years ago, you came back to your apartment with an opened bottle of tequila and spent the night drunk-venting with Skye.Â
Somehow, as you drunkenly wondered why your stepsister would treat you with so much disdain, that small incident from a long time ago came back to mind. And that moment, it seemed that your subconscious linked the incident with the way she treated you years after, and you let it slip to Skye for her to later make it a running joke between the two of you whenever you came to vent about your stepsister drama.Â
But really nowâŠall of that hate and drama over a doll?
As if that would justify the way she has been treating you for years. It also makes you wonder if last yearâs incident had anything to do with that as well.Â
Shaking your head, you hate to think of what kind of hell she will be giving you once she finds out that you are carrying a baby from the man sheâs been flaunting around since the day she came home.Â
You shudder at the mere thought of it.Â
âYou know that my offer still stands, right?â Skye suddenly questions you, much to your relief, as she changes the topic right before your head begins to ache again. âIf things get too hard or if he wants nothing to do with the baby, or if he mistreats you at all after knowing that he got you pregnant, we can still run away and raise the baby together. Maybe Europe is a bit too far, and too cold for me, so how about Australia?âÂ
Unprepared to hear her comment, you immediately erupt into laughter. Like always, your best friend knows how to ease your mind. The tension that comes from the stress is lifted, and so are your worries.Â
It doesnât change the fact that you are still going to have to face the music the moment you are given the chance to, but at least you are starting to see some light waiting at the end of this.Â
âRunning away sounds awfully tempting right now, Iâm not going to lie,â you murmur into the call, knowing that Skye can hear you perfectly. But she wouldnât be able to see it as you rise from your bed and reach out to the beside table, picking up the sonogram which you had gotten right before you left for home.Â
Running away does sound tempting. But it is not the choice that you can make. And you wonât.Â
You are going to have that talk with Taehyung and tell him everything. Soon. You just need to be ready to face his reaction and the consequences of what the truth might bring.Â

As much as you kept telling yourself to prioritise finding the chance to speak to Taehyung, all of your bravado simply vanished by the time you rejoined your family for dinner.Â
Sitting down at dinner, once again taking the front row seat to watch Alia making a good show of being the doting girlfriend, as she kept clinging onto Taehyung while he was trying to keep his composure in front of you, you felt suffocated.Â
And you couldnât escape it.Â
You had done it once, masking your discomfort with your sickness. And then doing it again a couple of more times under various excuses while everyone was spending time together.
Despite feeling like you wanted to run away, you were running out of excuses and there was nowhere for you to hide. Even once dinner is over, your attempt to escape unnoticed quickly fails when Taehyung finds you first.Â
âWhat are you up to now?â you nearly snap at him as Taehyung slips into view, intercepting you when you are about to slip past the backdoor, hoping to get some fresh air.Â
Pursing his lips, he hides his smile and shrugs. âNothing, just trying to see what youâve been up to.âÂ
You squint your eyes at him, finding him suspicious. âDoes Alia even know youâre here? Cornering me instead of chaperoning her out there?âÂ
As you cross your arms over your chest, challenging him with your question, Taehyung simply stares at you with an amused look in his eyes. âYou know, everyone is in the living room and theyâre wondering where you are. Honey is about to make a show of making that rum cocktail that she was bragging about at dinner.âÂ
An overwhelming feeling of craving and queasiness comes over you as you picture Honey and her rum cocktails that you would normally enjoy during the holidays. You swallow the tightness in your throat and force a smile. âSo you offered to look for me?âÂ
Taehyung grins, making it seem like he has no fault whatsoever for being where he shouldnât be. âIâm currently free, so why not?âÂ
You scoff at him and shake your head when you fail to hide your smile. âYeah, well. I doubt that theyâll be missing me.âÂ
Thereâs already Alia in the room with them to steal the show and everyoneâs attention anyway, you silently wonder.Â
And yours.Â
Surprisingly, a frown forms on his face upon hearing this. âThatâs where youâre wrong. Honey kept asking for you. Said something about making a special recipe for your, umâŠstomach bug,â he says with a small smile, and then lowers his voice to add, âand I also wondered why you werenât there.âÂ
Your heart makes a sudden leap inside your chest. âThank you for caring,â you say to him with a sarcastic tone of voice, trying not to look deeper into it or feel to happy about him looking for you.Â
Having the flutter in your chest gives you more reason to walk away. âPlease tell Honey Iâm sorry that I canât join her tonight. Iâm not feeling up to it.âÂ
âAre you sure?â he asks before you can get away. âI remember that you enjoyed drinking sweet cocktails the last time we met. With how Honey kept bragging about it, Iâm a bit curious to try the drinks sheâs making. Donât you?Â
Of course, you would be interested, you wonder. But I canât possibly drink whatever it is that Honey is concocting, even if I feel like I need a glass of whatever she is offering.
But he doesnât need to know that yetâor should he?Â
Suddenly, you start doubting yourself. You can feel the words hanging by the tip of your tongue already, the urge to spill everything to him right this moment grows so strongly as you look at his smug face.Â
So what if he wanted to wait until the time is right to talk? When is the right time to talk about this?Â
You take a quick glance around, noticing that you are all alone with him. This would be the perfect chance to tell him about the pregnancy, wouldnât it?
âMaybe her cocktail can help you feel more at ease and lessâtense,â he suddenly adds with a hint of a teasing tone in his voice that rubs you the wrong way, taking away every good will you ever have of talking to him properly about your ordeal.Â
âTomorrowâs Christmas Eve dinner. Thereâs going to be enough drinking then,â you say to him while gritting your teeth. But you know that it would be highly unlikely that you are going to drink even then.Â
You realise that you will have to find more excuses tomorrow to avoid any alcoholic drinks being passed onto your hands. But you can figure that out later. You first need to figure out how to share him the news.Â
âYou should go back. Alia would be looking for you by now,â you say to him with a bite while avoiding his eyes as you try to walk around him, yet he stops you from running away again.Â
This time, he isnât using his words.Â
Your entire body freezes as he catches your wrist. Once he knows that he has gotten you right where he wants you to, he starts pulling you gently back to him. You look up at his face, surprised that he would do something so daring when he was the one who had been so adamant about keeping your history with him a secret.Â
âWhat are you doing?â you hiss at him, yet you donât make a move to pull away. You throw a quick glance towards the hallway leading to the living room, worrying that someone might suddenly show up. âAre you crazy? What if someone comes here?âÂ
Taehyung steps closer until you can feel his warmth engulfing you. He only stops once his chest is merely a few inches away from yours. His move seems menacing, and so does the look in his eyes as he looks at your face.Â
Those are the same eyes that had been looking back at you that night. You get to see the same look you saw then. Passionate. Enthralling. He grounds you with nowhere else to go even without having to restrain you to him, only refraining you from escaping him with nothing more but the look in his eyes.Â
Suddenly, the room feels tight. As though there is not enough air in your chest for you to breathe, much less to speak. And he is getting too close for comfort.Â
His hold on your wrist loosens, yet he doesnât pull away. The dark look in his eyes also wanes, and he looks almost as if he is in pain when he leans down, getting even closer until your faces are almost touching each other.Â
âIs it making you feel uneasy that Iâm around? Is that why you keep running away from me when Iâm there?â he questions you with a voice so soft that you would have missed it if he hasnât been this close, with his lips hovering close to yours.Â
So close that you can almost feel his kiss, even without touching. Each word he murmurs to you sends your skin shivering, while the cavities inside your chest seem to tighten on themselves when he whispers, âYou might be able to ignore it and pretend nothing happened, but I canât.âÂ
You take a sharp inhale of breath. What is he saying right now?Â
Suddenly, you feel as if you have just walked into a dream. The same feeling that you had that night returns to you; all the sparks that seem to be floating in the air around you; the way your head seems to be in a haze, as if his entire presence is intoxicating you.Â
And his words are making your head spin.Â
Once again, you feel as if you are under his spell. But at the same time, you feel irritated at him for doing this. For choosing to act like this now, when he was just holding hands with your stepsister just moments ago.
While your irritation lights up, he rubs his thumb across your wrist, and the sparks explode around you like fireworks. âTell me youâre not feeling it too.âÂ
And just like that, his voice snaps you right out of the spell that he placed on you. Closing your eyes, you suck a deep breath and try to compose yourself.Â
âThis isnât right. Alia is in the next room,â you grit your teeth. You open your eyes and glare at him. âYou were the one who told me not to tell Alia about us. Was that not your way of telling me to forget everything?âÂ
Taehyungâs eyes grow wide and he slowly pulls back. To his credit, his face is filled with shame when you remind him of his own words.Â
Leaning closer, you whisper to him, doing your best to keep your voice from shaking when you question him, âOr do you make it a habit of jumping from one woman to another as long as itâs convenient for you?âÂ
He winces. Once again, he looks pained after hearing your accusation. âWeâre going to talk. Once the time is right,â he whispers. He clenches his jaw, looking tense for a moment until he lets everything go with a sigh. âBut you need to stop avoiding me.âÂ
You rear back, not expecting to find that he has noticed that you have been deliberately keeping your distance.Â
How are you going to explain to him the reason why you canât possibly stay in the same room with him?Â
For you, the reason is quite obvious. You are still feeling it now, when your skin feels tight and your chest grows warm the longer you are in close proximity to him. Even when you entered a room once he left, you could still feel his presence lingering around you, and it was starting to drive you insane.Â
And yes, seeing him with Alia bothers you so much that you can never bear being there to witness it.
After your last conversation where he made it seem like he wanted to move on and forget everything, you thought that he would only notice Alia and wouldnât care to notice your predicament. But obviously, he isnât completely oblivious to your turmoil.Â
âIâm not avoiding you,â you insist.Â
Taehyung raises his eyebrows. âAre you sure?â he questions you with an accusing tone. âI donât think I imagined it when I saw you turning away and running out of the room whenever I came in.âÂ
He is right, and you find it impossible to lie about it when you barely tried to hide it.
Tired of holding out the truth, you finally admit to him with a small voice, âNo, youâre not imagining things. Do you really think itâs fun for me to watch you both together with Alia getting all over you the entire time youâre here?âÂ
The light in his eyes dims. âIâm sorry, I didnâtââ he sighs, âIâll talk to her so she can tone it down.â
You shake your head and chuckle bitterly. âDonât bother. Sheâs your girlfriend. Iâll be out of here right after Christmas anyway.âÂ
This makes him frown. âLook, ______,â he starts, but you are too exhausted to deal with this right now to listen.
âI have to go,â you whisper as you pull your hand away. âWeâll have that talkââÂ
Because there are a lot of things that I need to tell you.
âAnd then Iâm gone and you can go back to Alia with her family thing on Christmas Day. But tomorrow night, we talk. Right after the family dinner.âÂ
Not bothering to wait for his response, you turn and walk away, once again leaving him behind in that dimly lit hallway as you search for solace, somewhere far, far away from him.Â

Taehyung has been restless.Â
He has been feeling uneasy for days. The truth is, it has been like this for him since the moment he stepped foot into Aliaâs fatherâs house and saw you standing there. It has been a struggle to hide it and keep everything in. But last night, after talking to you again, the urge to speak to you about everything and explain himself has been growing even stronger.Â
The look that you gave him when he first saw you has been haunting him, weighing him with guilt. Ever since that night six weeks ago, he has kept your smile deeply ingrained in his memory; the coy smile that you gave him as you flirted with him at the bar; the sultry look you wore when you clung onto him at the elevator while testing his limits with your lips tracing his neck; the content smile that he saw on your face the morning after the long, passionate night he shared with you before he took you again one last time.Â
And yet, the smile that he kept wishing to see again for the past month was not there when he finally met you again. The expression that he has yearned to see had been replaced with shock, as you stood there looking like a deer caught in the headlights, while at the same time, you also seemed as if you had just witnessed someone kicking your puppy.Â
Which was quite understandable, looking back at it now. It must have been a complete shock for you to see him entering your home, holding Aliaâs hand and introducing himself as her boyfriend. Just as shocking it was for him to find out that you are Aliaâs stepsister.
Fuck, how did things get so messed up?
âYouâre not ready yet.â
Taehyung has been so out of it when he enters the motelâs bedroom that he fails to notice Alia watching him. Sitting right in front of the dressing table, she barely gives him a glance as she is busy putting on her makeup and doing her hair for the night.Â
Normally, she doesnât take this much time getting ready. But Taehyung understands that tonight is different.Â
According to Alia, the familyâs Christmas Eve dinner is a small annual gathering that is quite important for them. Held on behalf of Honey, who often spends the holiday with Cliffâs side of the family. It is when family members and second cousins would come to her Dadâs house to celebrate both the holidays and Honeyâs good health.Â
Ever since early this morning, Alia has been saying how she needs to look as her best self tonightâspoken in her own wordsâbecause she wants to make a good impression on her stepmotherâs family. The only problem was that she also made it clear that she wanted Taehyung to play his role as her boyfriend perfectly, to continue to show that they have a great relationship right in front of everyone, just the same way he has been doing it for the past few days.Â
It shouldnât be bothering him so much that she would ask him to do this. Since that was the main reason why he is here in the first place.Â
The original plan had been simple. All he had to do this holiday was to accompany Alia on her trip home to see her family. The family gathering from her motherâs side has always been so stressful, and he simply wanted to help her lessen the pressure so she could enjoy the holidays for once.Â
Yet her motherâs special Christmas gathering tomorrow had not been the only thing that was bothering Alia before this holiday came around. Once Taehyung agreed to be her plus one, she extended her desperate plea for help by asking him to come with her as she spends Christmas and the upcoming days to it with her fatherâs family before heading to see her mother. Â
He canât remember well what Alia told him about having to be here. He understood the reason when it came to her mother, but he barely knew anything about her fatherâs family. He remembers her talking about something that had to do with clearing her name. Obviously, he shouldâve paid more attention, and maybe he shouldâve taken the time to know more about Cliffâs family.Â
Not that it matters now. When he has travelled all the way here for this, and now he is stuck in this mess without having any clue how to fix it. Â
âTaehyung?âÂ
Taehyung blinks. âWhat?âÂ
Alia doesnât say a thing at first. For a moment, Taehyung wonders if she notices anything when she tilts her head at him, finally looking directly at him as if she is trying to read him.Â
Yet he is proven wrong when Alia merely sighs. âI just said that you need to get ready,â Alia says, unaware of the battle happening inside Taehyungâs mind. Before he can say a thing, Alia averts her gaze and looks back at the mirror as if she is trying to solve a puzzle. âYou need to look your best if youâre going to stay beside me and weâre going to be late if youâre not moving it.â Â
Chuckling to himself, Taehyung walks over to stand right behind her. With his face appearing in the mirror, she has no choice but to look at him. âShould I wear my best suit tonight, then?â he taunts her as he leans down, breathing in her perfume that is a bit too extravagant to his liking.Â
I was right, this perfume is nowhere near my taste, he says to himself, while he silently recalls breathing in your perfume and thinking just how much it suited you.
Alia looks up at him through the mirror and rolls her eyes. âYou can wear whatever. A suit would be too much, since weâre having the dinner at home, not at some fancy and way too expensive restaurant like how my Mom would have it. You did bring your suit, didnât you? Wear that at my Momâs party tomorrow,â Alia instructs him, and for some reason, it doesnât make him feel good about it.
Usually, he wouldnât take it to heart and just laugh it off when she acts this bossy around him. Not this time, however. The entire situation has made him grow a bit resentful to her, something that he has been realising for a while now, even if it isnât fair for her to be treated this way when it wasnât really her fault.Â
Alia keeps her eyes on the mirror when she continues to speak to him. âWear that black jacket that you love so much. You always look good in it,â she says, flickering her gaze in a teasing way when she adds, âEven I would swoon when I see you wearing it, and that doesnât happen a lot.âÂ
Taehyung scoffs at Alia and lowers his head to avoid her gaze. The black jacket brings back a lot of memories. He didnât think much of it when he brought it with him on this trip, but maybe a part of him already felt that he would be needing it.Â
Would it be okay to wear it tonight, right in front of her?
âAre you okay?â Aliaâs voice snaps him out of his musings. As he looks up to meet her gaze through the mirror, she surprises him by not only softening her voice, but looking as if she is worried about him. âYou know, you donât seem like yourself lately.âÂ
How nice of you to notice, Taehyung wonders to himself but bites his tongue so he wouldnât let those words slip. He has been wondering for a while now just how she could remain oblivious to everything that has been happening around her.Â
If only she would notice how uncomfortable he feels whenever she clings to him, or how their act in front of her family bothers you so much.Â
Maybe she does notice it, he muses. Maybe sheâs been doing it on purpose by pushing it on him. Does it have to do withâ
Before Taehyung could finish his own thoughts, Alia seems to have enough of his silence and turns on her seat to look at him straight in the eyes.Â
âWhat is it? Spill.âÂ
Taehyung only continues to remain silent, having no idea how to answer that question or if he should try to. Even if he can explain himself, where should he even start?Â
Is this the part where he needs to tell her that her stepsisterâthe reason why Alia decided to come to see her Dad after spending weeks complaining that she didnât have any desire to, and also the reason why she is trying so damn hard to impress everyone this holiday, even to the point of bringing Taehyung home to meet her familyâwas his last sex partner?Â
âYou need to tell her.âÂ
Taehyung closes his eyes as your voice echoes through his head, as if you are the voice of his conscience.Â
You were right. He needs to tell Alia about his connection to you. But knowing her mood swings, and the reason why she has been trying to be âperfectâ the entire time she was spending time with Cliffâs family, he was hoping that he could postpone talking to her about it until tonightâs big family dinner is done.Â
An event that Alia claimed to be more important for her than her motherâs fancy family gathering.Â
No, I need to talk to her first, he decides. Maybe we could figure something out once she knows everything.Â
âNothing. Iâm just overwhelmed. You didnât tell meââ he stops himself as he almost let it slip that it was your presence that bothers him.Â
You didnât tell me anything about your stepsister.Â
He keeps those words to himself. But he makes a mental note to bring it up once he gets back to her again by the end of the night to have a different kind of conversation to the one he is having with you. âSo, black jacket, huh? Got it.âÂ
âGood, now go get ready and make it quick. The trip from here back to Dadâs house will take some time,â Alia says with a sigh as she turns back to the mirror, her concern is quick to vanish as she proceeds to complain, âWe couldâve spared that trip if you hadnât insisted that we stay in this motel instead of using the guest room like me and my Dad suggested.âÂ
âI already told you,â Taehyung says with a deep chuckle, leaning back down again to whisper, âIâm a terrible actor.âÂ
He straightens up while looking pleased with himself for drawing a frown on Aliaâs face. âAnd being in your Dadâs house the entire time weâre here would cost me too much work. The gig wouldâve been up before you know it.âÂ
âFine, whatever. Just go,â Alia waves him off.Â
Taehyung nods and makes his way to the door. He stops before he opens it and asks her, âRemember what I asked earlier?âÂ
Once again, Alia rolls her eyes at him. âYeah, yeah, tone it down with the clingy girlfriend act. I get it. Now go get ready, weâre going to be late.âÂ
Taehyung breathes a sigh of relief to hear it. He canât seem to forget the way the light in your eyes seemed to dim when you talked about the way he kept putting on the new couple act in front of you. On top of this whole mess, the last thing he wants is to leave you feeling hurt by his actions, so he made a deal with Alia to tone it down, even if he couldnât explain to her the reason why.Â
Pleased to know that Alia is listening to him for once, and that he has at least one problem handled before tonight, Taehyung leaves Aliaâs motel room, closing the door behind him with a click before he goes to his own room to get ready.

You turn to your side and have a good look at yourself in the mirror. On instinct, your hands run down your belly, pressing down gently at the spot where the baby should be.Â
The knitted dress that you have chosen to wear tonight may not be the fanciest one, but it is the one that feels comfortable on your skin. It isnât tight enough on your body to make you feel self-conscious about yourself and definitely not enough to show the changes happening in your body.Â
With just over six weeks of gestation, the baby bump isnât showing that much yet. But you can still feel the way your body is changing. Perhaps it is all happening in your mind, only from knowing that you are keeping a living being inside you, but you can almost see it when you look at yourself in the mirror that you cannot help but try to do anything you can to hide it from your family.Â
For now, at least. Only until you are ready to reveal everything to them.Â
Thinking about this only makes you grow more anxious. You have been feeling this way since morning, all for the thought of having to face Taehyung again, and to finally talk about everything that is needed to be said before the night ends.Â
âTonight,â you tell yourself as you straighten up to look at your reflection in the mirror for one last time. âIâm going to tell him about the baby tonight.âÂ
Tonight will be the only chance you will ever have to talk to him, after all. Â
Tomorrow, Taehyung will join Alia to visit her birth mother. Aliaâs mother has always held a massive luncheon or dinner event on Christmas Day that Alia would be required to attend, so you doubt that she would miss it this year, even if you had always overheard her complaining about it to your stepfather. Â
Every year, Alia would always prioritise her motherâs family event over her fatherâs during the holiday season. Coming from a wealthy family, Aliaâs mother had always appeared to you like a different breed. Her holiday parties had always been so fancy, almost too extravagant compared to your familyâs simple ones.Â
Every year, Alia would focus on preparing for those events, always stressing about it before going, and barely focusing on her days spent with her father and his family that it did come as a surprise to you when she came early this year to join your family and to even get herself involved.Â
Perhaps that was the reason why she had decided to bring a date with her this time around, and to introduce her boyfriend to the family like you did with your ex.Â
Shaking the thoughts of Alia out of your mind, you finish getting ready and walk over to your purse. With gentle fingers, you pull out the sonogram that you had printed during your latest trip to the doctor.Â
Holding it up under the light, you brush your fingertips across the blurry image of your growing baby. Sometimes it is still hard for you to process the fact that you are carrying a human child within you. Even through the nausea, the cravings, the lethargy, and any other peculiar things that have become parts of your life as of late, you still have a hard time grasping this fact.Â
But this sonogram shows you the undeniable proof that the baby is there. You had even gotten the chance to hear the babyâs faint heartbeat on your last appointment, making it clear that you are carrying a life inside you.Â
A life that seems so fragile, that you have developed a strong urge to protect it from the world. Even from its father, if he ever tries to deny or reject it.Â
âItâs going to be okay,â you whisper to yourself while brushing your fingers on the picture again, speaking of it like a mantra. At the same time, it also feels as if you are talking to your baby, soothing it like you would if the baby is here with you. âEverythingâs going to be okay. Letâs just get through tonight first.âÂ
For a moment, you contemplate between carrying the sonogram with you or to leave it here. With no purse or a pocket to hide it in, you finally decide to leave it on top of the bedside table until you are ready to show it to Taehyung later tonight.Â
With one last look at the mirror, you rub your palms down your dress and give yourself the final pep talk before heading out. âLetâs go,â you whisper to yourself as you walk out of your bedroom, strengthening your shoulders and keeping your chin up as you prepare yourself to face the inevitable.

Itâs finally Christmas Eve.Â
The holiday spirit hasnât completely sunk in on you until you finally sat down at the table for the annual Christmas dinner, surrounded by your immediate family and the family members that you havenât met for a period of time while you have been pursuing your dreams away in the city.Â
Outside, the temperature has dropped down even lower than before. The layer of snow that your stepfather had spent hours shovelling away are piling up with fresh ones as snowflakes keep falling from the evening sky, while the windows would tremble once or twice with the flowing breeze that seemed to have picked up as the day turned into evening.Â
Inside, however, the warmth of the festive season fills the air, as everyone gathers around the overflowing feast that has been set up on the tableâyour grandmotherâs specially made ham and turkey with the additional main of lamb skewers and turkey meatballs, Aunt Daraâs potato bake and baked salmon, and Uncle Marcoâs signature casseroles, with smaller bowls of side dishes set on the side.Â
A couple of bowls of the fennel salad that you helped prepare are being passed around on the table. Once everyone is done with their meal, your home-made cinnamon bread rolls and your cousin Juneâs apple and caramel pie are ready to be served as desserts.Â
Once everyone has filled the dining room, your motherâs Christmas decorations which you perviously thought was overdone no longer seemed as much. The twinkling lights and the fragrant pine garlands adorning the room are enough to rival the festive sweaters and bright-coloured dresses that everyone is wearing for the night. The scent of cinnamon and cloves wafts around you all the way from the kitchen, and it makes your head swim even without sipping on the champagne that are being passed around.
As everyone took their seats at the table, you stepfather stepped aside to let Honey take the head of the table as the matriarch of the family and the nightâs host. The radiant smile on her face which never seems to wane sets the mood in the entire room, helping you to also forget about your personal troubles that no longer seem as dire as your mind had made them up to be.Â
The laughter and chatter filling the room becomes the perfect distraction that you need to pay no heed to the unwavering gaze that Taehyung keeps stealing your way. Even as he chats with June who had sat down by his side, Taehyung continues to throw a few not-so-subtle glances your way, making you feel uneasy and self-conscious whenever you arenât having your attention dragged away from your younger cousin, Maya, who is chattering right beside you while sipping her glass of champagne.
You turn your gaze at Alia, who had chosen to sit by Cliffâs brother, Kyle, who had decided to join your family this year. Too busy catching up with her uncle, she doesnât seem to notice her own boyfriendâs wandering eyes. She doesnât even seem to care as much as she should, you realise, as you have also noticed that she hasnât been clinging or openly doting on Taehyung throughout the night since they had gotten back from the motel.Â
It has given you a sense of relief, because you can finally have one night where your heart isnât being crushed from watching them together, but also a twinge of guilt, knowing that your last conversation with Taehyung may have had something to do with it. She did appear tense when she first came in, and you never figured out why when it quickly faded the moment she saw her uncle in the room, and her stiff expression quickly turned into relief.Â
The sounds of glasses clinking and the pouring champagne continues on as everyone is starting to finish their meal. Nursing the glass of fresh juice that you have had all through dinner, you hope that nobody notices that you have left the glass of champagne on your side mostly untouchedâapart from the occasional raise of the glass when someone makes a toast or pressing your lips lightly on its rim to disguise the fact that you are not drinking any drop of it.Â
Not too long, dinner is over, and everyone filters into the spacious living room to gather around the fireplace while the kids loiter around the Christmas tree to curiously shift through the wrapped presents to try and find which one of them would be theirs.Â
There are a selective few that separate themselves to head out to the back porch to smoke and talk businessâmostly your male cousinsâwhile the others quickly follow Honey to where she has set up the minibar for her signature rum cocktails and act as the designated bartender for the night.Â
As you follow to join everyone in the living room, the impending conversation that you are about to have with Taehyung keeps weighing you down, making you grow more anxious with each passing second. It makes you feel vulnerable, causing you to be hyper-aware of his presence inside the room even before you catch the sight of him mingling with your family.Â
Moving one feet after the other without tripping feels like a struggle under the heat of his gaze. It bothers you to no end to notice that Taehyung seems to have disregarded any last bit of subtlety, when he is now openly staring at you even while he is chatting with someone else by the Christmas tree.Â
You have no idea if anyone, especially Alia, has noticed it. You wouldnât be surprised if someone has caught on, when he makes it so obvious that he is watching you from across the room.Â
The only reprieve that you have to cover you from Taehyungâs gaze and the silent questions that may linger within any observant pair of eyes would be your grandmother, Honey, who steals most of the attention by running the show as she mixes her sweet cocktails and shares new stories about her friends back at her apartment complex and gossips that she heard recently from the neighbours here.Â
âCongratulations.âÂ
A deep voice greets you, pulling you out of the stupor that you are in. You look over to see Kyle, your stepfatherâs younger brother, coming to your side.Â
It was a nice surprise to see him this year to join your family gathering, as your step-uncle has been working at another state for the past year and you havenât seen each other since. Carrying a glass of wine with himâred, just the way he enjoys itâinstead of a glass of cocktail, he gives you a warm smile that looks like a mirror image to his older brother.Â
âI heard from your Dad that you just got another promotion. Iâm guessing that this gathering is part of the celebration too?â he asks, while your skin warms at the mention of your stepfather.Â
For as long as you could remember, you have been calling Cliff as âDadâ. You can no longer remember how it started, but ever since you were little, the only âDadâ you have ever known has been Cliff, not the birth father who had been gone almost your entire life. He may not be your birth father, and there has been no talking about him adopting you yet, but he is the one and only Dad that youâll ever know.Â
Having someone else noticing and acknowledging it feels gratifying. Especially when it is coming from his side of the family.Â
Nodding your head, you answer your step-uncle with a bashful smile. âYeah, thatâs what Honey said and she insisted that we host the annual dinner this year instead of Aunt Dara. But we all know that sheâs the main star of the show,â you joke with him as you nod your chin to point at Honey, who is teasing your mother about dropping rum into her hot cocoa instead of taking one of her sweet cocktails.Â
Kyle laughs with you as he watches the scene. âStill, you should be proud of yourself.âÂ
âOh, I am proud,â you answer him with a smile. âI worked hard for it, but Iâm feeling a bit guilty too since the busier I had gotten, the lesser I was able to make time to contact my parents.âÂ
Your step-uncle nods. âYou canât help it. Thatâs often the cost of building a career,â he says, understanding your situation, as he too has the same troubles of making time for his family with his busy life.Â
âBut your parents would understand. In fact, your Dad has been bragging about his girls quite a lot lately. One who keeps traveling across the globe to see the world, while the other who keeps climbing the corporate ladder, and I have to sayââ he sighs, âIâm kind of jealous.â
You raise your eyebrows. âHas he now?â you chuckle a little, somehow feeling good about being your stepfatherâs pride. âOh, you shouldnât be feeling too jealous of Dad. You know your kids are doing great too. Theyâre both in college now, arenât they?â
At the mention of his children, Kyleâs eyes seem to grow brighter. He speaks with a voice full of pride as he talks about the two young boys who had just returned from the back porch and now huddling in front of the fireplace to warm up while bickering on their own.Â
You stay to talk to him for a while longer, until your stepfather steals him away to share a bottle of a much stronger liquor in another room and you continue to mingle with the other family members that you havenât met for a while.Â
By the time you are done catching up, the object of your frustrationâwho is coincidentally also the father of your babyâforgotten, you are feeling drained and your legs are giving up from standing for too long that you unceremoniously collapse on the couch in the corner of the room without a single care.Â
For a moment, you find calmness by sitting on your own, staying in the corner where you are mostly unnoticed. The festivities is still high around you, but you find freedom here, away from everyoneâs attention. Too bad that you arenât given the chance to savour it when someone decides to slide in and sit right next to you.Â
âSoâI suppose that aside from the cocktail tasting, the gift exchange is going to be the main part of the nightâs event, huh?âÂ
A shudder rocks through your body. His deep, distinctive voice does that to you even when you hear it in your dreams. Taking a deep breath, you compose yourself before turning to him, hoping that you have enough strength to look at his face without feeling like your heart is about to burst.Â
Slowly, you turn to look at him, and immediately, your entire body betrays you. Your heartbeat picks up, and the cavity in your chest is overflowing with gentle flutters, as if there are a thousand of butterfly wings inside you coming awake with just one look at his face. Taehyung lets his gaze linger on the children who are showing off their wrapped gifts to their parents before looking back at you.Â
Your cheeks burn the moment your eyes meet each other, and you look away before it gets too much. âYes, weâre exchanging gifts before the night ends, and then everyone will go on their merry way. Some drunk, while relying on their designated drivers or a cab, and some others to continue with their own thing back home,â you explain to him while trying to keep your voice calm. âIt started mostly with Honey being the one giving out the gifts on the Eve, since itâs her thing to give something to everyone she cares about.âÂ
A smile is lifted on your face while you watch Honey handing out small wrapped boxes of gifts to the children first before the older ones get their turns. The cheerful laughter shared by everyone who has received Honeyâs special gifts fills the room. Curious expressions that quickly turn into joy has always been the high point of these Christmas gatherings in your family.Â
You should be there to join them, to enjoy the festivities, yet with everything that has been going on, you are feeling too overwhelmed to take part in it. âAfter a while, the relatives who are often invited to these things started joining in, bringing in their own gifts in addition to the plates of food that they bring for dinner.âÂ
âSounds like so much fun,â Taehyung muses. âEveryone seems to be enjoying themselves.âÂ
âWhy are you sitting back here? Arenât you supposed to be with Alia?â you question him as you wonder why he would be so daring to join you instead of staying by his girlfriendâs side and play his role as her plus one. âYou couldâve asked Alia about these things.â
Taehyung grins. âSheâs busy with her own thing. Besides, every time I ask her about these things, she would just brush it off and tell me to ask someone else.âÂ
Frowning, you find his comment to be odd. It isnât something that you could expect to hear from a new couple such as them. Lest of all from one half of the couple that havenât been shy with their constant public display of affection from the day they arrived.Â
Once again avoiding Taehyungâs gaze as he looks at you again, you find Alia across the room, conversing with one of Kyleâs sons. Judging from the way she seems to be enjoying herself with the glass of cocktail in her hand, she doesnât seem to care much about what her boyfriend is up to, much less to feel curious enough to find him.Â
Thatâs odd, but itâs not really my problem, is it? Â
You remind yourself and put your curiosity aside. âYou couldâve asked Honey. You seem to have grown closer to her lately,â you tease Taehyung, pointing out how often he has been spending time with your grandmother whenever he isnât busy helping others in the house or catering to Aliaâs need for attention.Â
Taehyung chuckles softly. âHow could I bother the host of the party? Look at her enjoying herself. Sheâs the superstar tonight, so Iâd rather not take her out of the spotlight just to be my guide.âÂ
Even without looking, you can hear the smile in his voice as he talks about your grandmother. And when you look ahead, you can obviously see that he isnât completely wrong.Â
Honey is clearly having the time of her life; whether itâs about watching the happy faces receiving her gifts or seeing people enjoying the drinks she is making. She may have lessened her own drinking habitâexcept for the occasional drop of rum that she sneaks into her hot drinksâbut she still knows how to make amazing sweet and fruity cocktails for others to enjoy.Â
That should explain why you have the penchant for sweet alcoholic drinks instead of the bitter ones whenever you feel like it.
âSo,â you turn to Taehyung with a sly smile. âI guess that means Iâve earned the honour to answer your questions?âÂ
Taehyung seems surprised to see that you smiling back at him. His gaze softens, and so does his voice when he leans closer to say, âYouâre the only person I know in this room.âÂ
Fuck. Your cheeks shouldnât be getting warm just because he says something like this. You look away to hide it. âIs Alia the jealous type? Would it bother her to see us chatting as friendly as we do now?âÂ
Taehyung scoffs. âI donât think she even bothers to notice. Not tonight, anyway.âÂ
âYeahâŠshe can be the least perceptive person in the room sometimes,â you sigh as you watch your stepsister joking with her cousin without a single glance at her boyfriend. Realising what you just said, you turn to Taehyung to apologise. âSorry, that was uncalled for.â
âItâs fine,â he scoffs. âTrust me, I know it full well from experience.âÂ
There is a sarcastic tone in his voice that should have made you wonder about his comment. Yet there is a bitterness that you feel inside after hearing those words. Of course, he would have enough experience dealing with Aliaâs attitude.Â
They are dating, after all.Â
You look away and bite back that bitter taste in your tongue. âRight, of course.âÂ
Unlike Alia who can be completely insensitive to her surroundings, Taehyung notices your change of mood right away. You feel him sliding closer, just enough to allow him to speak in a low voice, but not enough to make people grow curious or suspicious that something is going on between the two of you.Â
âYou promised that we could talk,â he says, almost a whisper under the noises around you. Â
Your stomach feels tight with nerves. Itâs time. âI did, and we do,â you say to him while clenching your hands. You are beginning to wonder if you had made the right decision of leaving the sonogram behind. Maybe bringing him back to your bedroom wouldnât be a good idea. âI haveâsomething to tell you. Something important.âÂ
Taehyung nods. âDo you think we can slip out of the room unnoticed?âÂ
âYou meanâŠnow? You want to do it right now?â you hiss at him, glancing at Alia before looking back at him again. âWouldnât Alia be looking for you?âÂ
Taehyung merely scoffs. âLike I said, sheâs busy. Once she gets a few more glasses of drink, sheâll be more focused on looking for a sofa to lie down on instead of noticing that Iâm gone.âÂ
As if on cue, Aliaâs laughter echoes through the room, and she turns away to joke with both of her male cousins now. You also notice that she has somehow gotten a fresh glass of cocktail in her hand, and she must have drank it halfway already by the looks of it.Â
Looking around the room, you notice that the guests crowding the living room is slowly dwindling. Most of your relatives who had gotten enough of Honeyâs cocktail and received their gifts are starting to bid their goodbyes, hoping that they could return home before it gets too late and preferably before each of their designated drivers join in with the drinking. Yet there are some family members who have yet to show any sign of leaving soon, still enjoying their chat with Honey by the Christmas tree.Â
There will be no other chance, you tell yourself as you silently make a decision. The lesser people there are left, the more obvious it would be for everyone that you had gone missing from the room.Â
And with whom you may have disappeared together.Â
âCan you, uhâmeet me in my room in about ten minutes, maybe less? I think we can get some privacy there and people donât normally get upstairs unless theyâre staying the night.â And because I left the sonogram there.Â
Thatâs right, it would be easier to show the sonogram to him right away when you tell him everything, just as how you initially planned it, even if you havenât been too sure about it. âIâll have to mingle a bit more and make sure that Honey can see me before I disappear. Sheâll be looking for me if I donât join her even if for a minute.âÂ
âYeah, I can do that,â Taehyung says as he straightens up, âYou go ahead and talk to Honey, and Iâll sneak us out some drinks so we have something to do while we talk.â Â
âDrinks. Right. Good idea,â you simply say to him, not bothering to try and turn down his offer, or to insist him to bring you the non-alcoholic ones. Heâll figure things out later once you are alone with him anyway.Â
With a nod, Taehyung rises from his seat and walks over to June, your cousin who seems to have gotten along with Taehyung over dinner. You wait for a few more minutes before making your move. Honey seems to be busy as more and more relatives are preparing to leave. So you turn to Aunt Dara and have a quick chat with her, making sure that the two of you remain within Honeyâs peripheral vision so she can still see you.Â
Too restless to linger around and stay a bit longer, in not more than five minutes, you end your conversation and turn away from your aunt, hoping that you can slip away from the room before anyone notices your stealthy escape. Not even Honey. Because the moment you are caught by your grandmother, you know it would make it even harder for you to leave the room.Â
But just as you slip through the guests, staying clear from your motherâs relatives who are crowding Honey, your grandmother catches the sight of you and calls outâ
â______, there you are. We were just talking about you. Come over here,â she says, waving her hand so you can join her and the small group that still remains to accompany her after a couple of more relatives have left the party.Â
Fuck. Too late.Â
Forcing a smile, you slither towards her, practically dragging your feet. âWhat is it, Honey?âÂ
Honey leans against the minibar and picks up a small bottle. She continues mixing and pouring the drinks as she starts talking to you, âI was just talking to them about your recent promotion and how proud you made us. And then Jennie here shared that she is starting a new job and moving to the same city where you work. I told them that you have a big apartment that I love so muchââÂ
You roll your eyes and laugh. âHoney, I already told you. I donât own the place, I rent it with a roommate.âÂ
âAnyway,â she brushes you off, âI wondered if you could be a dear and help Jennie out to find a nice apartment. You know people in the city can be a bit sneaky. Weâve heard stories of young girls getting scammed the first time theyâve gone into a big city, so obviously, I was worried.âÂ
Before you can say anything, Jennie raises her hand and cuts in, âI told Honey that Iâve already been looking up at a few places soââ
Jennieâs voice fades in and out and you can barely focus on what she is trying to tell you. Something about making arrangements with property agents to look up for a few affordable apartments not far from where you live. But your attention is being drawn elsewhere, as you notice from the corner of your eyes, that Taehyung is nodding at June and walking away, barely giving you a glance as he slides towards the small corner table filled with bottles of beer to grab the drinks he promised you.Â
âYou know what, why donât you call me up once you start moving. Maybe you can crash at my place and use the couch while youâre looking. Then Iâll see if I can arrange my schedules to go with you when youâre looking into those apartments so you wonât have to go alone.âÂ
âThat sounds great!â Jennie says, looking relieved, and you see it as a chance to also slip away so you can get to your bedroom before Taehyung could.Â
âHoney, IââÂ
âSee? I told you that _____ is an angel,â Honey cuts you off before you can get a word out. Then she turns to you, handing you the glass of cocktail that she was mixing while you were chatting with your cousin.Â
âHere, you should try this. I made this specially for you,â she says as she gives the drink a few more stirs. âI remember that you loved the rose scented drinks I bought you, so I ordered this infusedââÂ
You bite your lips, trying to hide away your revulsion as Honey raises the glass to you so you can take it from her. On reflect, you lift your hands to refuse. âNo, thank you, Honey. Iâm sorry, but Iâm not in the mood for cocktails right now. Iâve just finished my hot chocolate, after all.âÂ
âThatâs too bad. Well, I guess someone else has to taste this one for me.â She pouts, making you feel guilty for refusing her offer as she lowers her hand. âSpeaking of which, I havenât seen you drinking tonight. In fact, I havenât seen you drink any alcoholic drink at all this holiday. Are you sure youâre not pregnant?â
Your stomach drops. An incredulous laugh leaves your lips. âW-what?âÂ
What did she say? You wonder. You mustâve heard her wrong. Right?
Honey shrugs as she puts away the rejected drink and places it on top of the minibar. âSeeing how you keep getting sick and avoiding alcoholic drinks since you got here, I would think that youâre secretly pregnant,â she says while laughing and looking proud, as if she was simply throwing her crude joke as she usually does without realising how spot on it was to the truth. âAre you carrying a child in that belly, dear?âÂ
The room falls into a rapt hush after Honey throws that comment into the room. You can feel everyoneâs eyes on you, while Honey remains unfazed, still wearing her curious smile as if she hasnât done anything wrong.Â
âHoney? W-what are you saying?â you nervously ask her, while your sweet grandmother merely shrugs and innocently waves you off.Â
âOh, itâs nothing, sweetie. Just thinking out loud. Itâs just that seeing you get sick every morning, and being so sensitive with certain smells reminds me a lot of myself when I was pregnant with your Mom. You havenât even touched a drop of alcohol I offered since you got home, and I know that you barely touched your glass of champagne during dinner,â she says with a wicked chuckle. âDonât pretend that you didnât. You tried to hide it, but I knew. I have eyes, you know.âÂ
Fuck. I didnât think she would notice.Â
Gritting your teeth, you can only curse at yourself for acting such a fool. You thought you were being clever about it, but you must have been distracted by Taehyungâs presence at dinner that you failed to notice that Honey had kept her eyes on you all night.Â
âIââÂ
You try to speak, but words fail you. How do you respond? What do you say to this?Â
Ever since from the moment you came back home, you had expected that Honey would be the one who is able to put the pieces together, being the perceptive person that she is, and she had been the reason why you have been extra careful in hiding it, especially when you were around her.Â
Never once did you ever expect that she would so quick to draw up this conclusion and speak of it so nonchalantly with a few relatives are still around.Â
âMom, stop talking nonsense,â your mother gently chastises your grandmother while laughing nervously. She looks back and forth between you and her mother, her eyes flickering on your face, then to your belly, as if she is trying to find what she has been missing. â_____ canât be pregnant. Right, sweetie?âÂ
Your tears begin to form. âI, uhâI donâtââÂ
Your head starts spinning harder the more you try to speak up, to explain, knowing that it would be futile to lie. Not to Honey. And certainly not to your parents.Â
Under the attention and distress, feeling the burden of having all eyes on you, all of them waiting for your answer, your hands move on their own, finding comfort in embracing the very spot where your growing baby is hidden as you press your palms on your barely-there bump. Noticing this, a collective gasp spreads through the room. Honeyâs smile falters, while your motherâs eyes grow wide in shock.Â
But the most devastating of all is to see your stepfather walking around his brother to get to you from across the room. âYouâre pregnant?â Cliff asks you carefully as he slowly comes to your side. When you look up at is shock slowly turns into rage when he asks, âIs that why that prick left you? Did he get you pregnant and choose to walk away like a fucking coward?âÂ
âNo, Dad. IââÂ
While you are struggling to answer him, your stepfatherâs voice continues to rise. âTell me where he is and Iâll chase that fuckerââÂ
Everything moves in slow motion. Your stepfather who keeps cursing at your ex. Your Mom who keeps pulling him back to try and calm him down, and her pleading gaze silently asking you to explain. The whispering gasps and questions shared among the nervous glances that the guests are sending each other.
Everyone is talking at the same time, while you continue having a hard time to speak up. Your stomach feels tight. Even the touch of your hands no longer bring the calming warmth that your body needs.Â
Gentle hands press down on your arms as you are slowly being pulled away from the chaos. You can only make out Jennie and Honeyâs voices whispering to you, guiding you to breathe while helping you to sit down before you would pass out.Â
Amidst the confusion, your eyes travel across the room, immediately finding Taehyung who is standing there in the corner with a frown on his face and a couple of bottles of drinks in his hands. As your eyes are locked with one another from the distance, you can see him processing through everything. His emotions are clearly written in his gaze; confusion, bewilderment, wonder.Â
You have no idea what kind of look that he sees on your face, but slowly, you can tell that everything seems to sink in on him. A dawning realisation sparks through his eyes when he finally puts the pieces together, and his shoulders fall to slump.
He knows.Â
And he isnât the only one who is putting the pieces together.Â
With a quick glance, you find Alia standing on the other side of the room, her eyes keep flickering between you and Taehyung, evidently noticing the silent exchange happening between the two of you. There is a clear sign of shock and hurt in her eyes that you get to see a glimpse of when she looks at you one last time, before she turns away and runs out of the room.Â

âYou need to rest. The stress wouldnât be good for you.âÂ
Jennieâs voice sounds subdued, worrying. She has always been shy, but she seems particularly cautious as she looks at you. As if she is trying her best not to look down at your belly. But her presence here and her small, careful voice offers you comfort. Something that you need as you lean against the doorway to your bedroom, feeling a bit too weak to stand on your own.Â
âIâm sorry you got entangled in all of this,â is all that you can say to her. You feel guilty for having your cousin and your aunt roped into this whole drama, all because they had been there to witness it when everything unfolded.Â
While your step-uncle, Kyle, took over escorting the departing guests, and your mother is somewhere in the house to talk with your stepfather, Jennie had volunteered to help escort you back to your room. She becomes the calming force amidst the storm that helps clear your mind.Â
âItâs fine,â she waves you off. âYouâll be paying me back once Iâve moved closer to you anyway. The couch is still available, right? You said I could crash until Iâm settled.âÂ
That helps bring a smile to your face. âYes, my door is always open. Iâll let my roommate know that youâre coming. Sheâs usually open to welcoming family who needs help anyway,â you say to her with full gratitude before adding, âThank you for staying to help.âÂ
She nods and begins to turn away. âI better go check on Honey and see if my Mom is ready to go. Iâll see you soon.âÂ
Too exhausted to say anything else, you simply thank her one last time and watch her go down the hall before closing the door. Once again, the silence in your bedroom gives you the perfect solace. It does nothing to erase the weight in your chest, however, or give you the answer you need as you wonder how you are going to talk to Taehyung about the whole thing.Â
You never expected that things would turn into such a mess, robbing any chance of you telling Taehyung about the baby properly, free of drama and uncertainty.Â
Just as you start dragging your feet towards the bed, you hear a soft knocking on the door, pulling you back to it. Thinking it might be Jennie, you immediately open it. âDid you forgetââ Your voice falls to a hush when you find Taehyung standing there instead, giving you a small smile that draws back all the slow flutters in your chest.Â
âOh, hi.â
âHey,â he gently greets you. His smile is cautious, restrained, and his exhale of breath seems shaky. But he sounds calm when he speaks to you, âMay I come in?âÂ
You prepare yourself to answer, but your eyes flicker out the hallway, searching, a gesture that he easily notices. âAlia is with your parents. Theyâre worried about you, but your Mom seemed a bit frantic because she didnât see the signs. Alia probably wonât be looking for me until later. I wanted to talk to you first.âÂ
âOkay,â you answer him with a sigh of relief. âCome in,â you beckon him, stepping aside so he can enter your room.Â
He steps deeper into your room while you take your time, gathering courage before you can turn to face him. His voice fills your room as he continues to talk, âI left our drinks downstairs. Things were so chaotic, so it slipped my mindââÂ
âThatâs okay, itâsââ you say in return, failing to notice that his voice has faded out into silence. When you finally turn to him, you find him standing in front of your bedside table, his eyes are locked on the tiny thing that he is holding up under the dim light of the bedroom.Â
He found the sonogram.Â
âHow far along are you?â His voice seems quiet against your thundering heartbeat, drowning even in the silence surrounding you.
You draw an unsteady breath before speaking up. âSix weeks, give or take.âÂ
Taehyung remains silent for a moment longer before a sigh comes out of him. âIs this what you wanted to talk to me about?â he asks, still with his eyes on the sonogram. His expression is unreadable, something which you cannot fault him with, knowing that this must have come as a shock to him.Â
âIâm sorry, I shouldâve gone to you sooner,â you quickly apologise to him. A part of you wants to rush by his side, even if you cannot decide whether you want to calm and soothe him or rip that sonogram from his hand. Yet your legs seem frozen, and you are locked at one spot with no ability to move. Â
âFrom the moment I found out, I was planning to find you and figure out how to share the news to you in person, but then you showed up here with Alia, and I gotââblindsided, aghast, confused, terrifiedââI just couldnât figure out how to do it.âÂ
âSo, I was right. This baby is mine.âÂ
Just as he says those words, you finally understand the look that he is wearing on his face. Captivated. Entranced. Amused. As if this revelation is more fascinating to him rather than it is frightening. It brings a twinge of hope rising inside you, telling you that maybe you can both figure out on how to deal with this.Â
But what about Alia?Â
âIt was from that night, wasnât it?â he asks again, breaking you out of your thoughtsâfrom thinking about Alia. And you can almost sure that you catch the corner of his lips lifting to a smile.
âYeah,â you cautiously say to him. âIt happened the night we got together. Iâve never been with anyone else sinceââÂ
âWhat is this all about?â A deep voice bellows through your small bedroom, cutting through your words before you can finish talking. Both you and Taehyung turn to the door, noticing too late that your stepfather is standing there, watching the two of you with grief and horror in his eyes.Â
âDadâwhat you are doing here?â you ask him as your eyes flicker towards the door behind him.Â
Crap. Distracted by your own nerves that had been affected by Taehyungâs arrival, you must have failed to shut the door tightly behind you.Â
âI came to check on you and apologise for freaking out,â Cliff says, frown deepening, his voice and the expression you see on his face convey a mixture of anger and hurt. âBut what is he doing in here?â he continues, pointing at Taehyung. âWhy is he in your room, when heâs supposed to be with Alia?âÂ
The atmosphere grows heavier, yet Taehyungâthe brave soul that he isâcarefully steps forward to face your stepfather. âCliff, I can explainââ
âAnd what did I just heard about the two of you being together? Is that babyââ Cliff turns to point at you, then back at Taehyung again while keeping his eyes on you, expecting you to answer him. âWas he the one responsible?âÂ
Still holding the sonogram in his hand, Taehyung straightens his shoulders and lifts his chin. And it seems to be enough to answer your stepfatherâs question. But what it only does is to aggravate Cliff even more. The air crackles with his rage, and he moves so fastâtoo fast for your mind to comprehendâas he grabs the front of Taehyungâs shirt and starts dragging him out of your bedroom.Â
âDad, no!âÂ
The moment you see your stepfather dragging Taehyung out the door, that is when you snap out of it and start running to chase them. As you run out the door, you see Alia who was clearly on her way to your bedroom. Her eyes are wide with shock, and though you are unable to interpret the gloss in her eyesâwhether they are tears of hurt or her tipsinessâyou can tell that she has been standing there long enough before anyone noticed.
But was she there long enough to hear everything? Â
âDaddy? What are you doing?â Alia screams out, though she doesnât make any move, seemingly in shock to see her father dragging Taehyung across the hallway.Â
âAlia, you need to stop him!âÂ
Your scream snaps her out of her shock, and she quickly rushes to chase both men down the stairs. You try to follow them as fast as you can, but your heart is racing, your legs feel weak, you can barely manage to come down the stairs without tumbling down.Â
âCareful!â Alia snaps at you in panic as she catches you at the final flight of stairs. You lift your head to thank her for helping you, only for her to give you no chance to as she turns away right after, chasing after her Dad who is now dragging her boyfriend out the yard.Â
Once the both of you are out the house, you can hear your stepfatherâs voice bellowing through the air. His accusations echo through the chilly night, his eyes are blazing with frustration and rage, and he still has his hand pulling at Taehyungâs shirt, nearly lifting him off the ground as he continues shouting profanities between his grievance.Â
ââthe fuck are you trying to pull?â he yells at Taehyungâs face, and you wince at how loud he is being against the silent night.Â
The only relief you can savour is the fact that he hasnât gone physical. No hits are thrown, and the only rough handling he has been doing is to shake Taehyung back and forth with his tight grip on his shirt as he demands the truth. An answer. Anything that could clear this whole misunderstanding.
Taehyungâs eyes dart over Cliffâs shoulder as he notices you and Alia coming. Your stepfather follows his gaze and is caught by surprised to see you chasing him. But as he looks at you, his gaze hardens as he pleads, âTell me that itâs not true. Tell me that you werenât sleeping with him while heâs seeing your sister.âÂ
No, itâs not true. They werenât together. You remember hearing Taehyung denying it when you first questioned it, so it mustâve been the truth. Right? Â
The night you hooked up with him flashes through your head. That night from six weeks ago, the shared moment that he claimed to be a time where he hadnât gotten involved with Alia. You want to speak up, to deny that he was playing both you and Alia, that the only thing behind this whole mess had been mere coincidence.Â
If only you could stop shaking. Get some words out. Anything.Â
But your chest feels tight. You can barely breathe in air, much less to let your voice out.Â
âCliff, please! I told you, I can explain!â Taehyung tries to get your stepfather to listen. You see his hand reaching to grab Cliffâs wrist, though it doesnât seem that the hold would budge no matter what he does to pull it off. His eyes turn to you, then to Alia, right before he screams out with fear in his eyes, âAlia!âÂ
âDonât you dare say her name!â Cliff yells at him, and you force yourself to speak.Â
âStoââ you try once, failing when your chest tightens. âStop,â you cry out again, âDad, pleaseââÂ
Your voice comes out as nothing more than dried paper, a silent hush compared to the loud voices as Cliff and Taehyung continue to argue with each other at the center of the front yard. But Alia is standing close enough to you to hear it. Close enough to see your hands shaking, your face turning pale and sickly, and she quickly moves right in front of you, standing between you and the quarrelling men.Â
âDaddy, stop yelling. Youâre going to stress ______ out,â she yells at her Dad while pushing you behind her to keep you away from them, as if she is making sure you wonât get hurt.
SheâsâŠdefending me?Â
Your head starts spinning harder. Everything is so confusing right now, and it makes you feel worse when you look at Alia, seeing her getting caught in the crossfire as she tries to separate the two while shielding you from the chaos.Â
âAnd itâs not Taehyungâs fault!â she yells again, and this time, it seems to do the trick, because Cliff finally lets Taehyung go.Â
Now free from your stepfatherâs clutch, Taehyung steps back. He tries to catch his breath while fixing his shirt. You notice then that he is still holding your sonogram, surprising you when even amidst all the chaos, he is still gripping onto it protectively.Â
âHow is it not his fault?â Cliff snaps at your stepsister. âWhy are you defending this asshole? He slept with your sister when heâs dating you, and he even dared to show his face at myââÂ
âBecause weâre not dating!â Alia cuts him off with a scream, and everything stops. Her scream even shuts the voices in your head, drawing a single question in their placeâ
Whatâ? What did she just say?Â
With all eyes on her, Alia begins to shake with nerves. And then the truth spills out of her mouth. âWe, uhâTaehyung and Iâweâre friends. I wasnât planning to come this year but you kept calling me to come for Honeyâs family dinner, andââ she says, stuttering as she points at her father, and then turns to face you to add, âI thought that yourâI mean, Hansol. I thought he was going to come with you this year like he always did and I didnât want you to think thatââÂ
Drawing a shaky breath, she pushes through her nerves and forces the rest of the truth to come out. âI asked Taehyung to come with me and pretend to be my boyfriend so you wouldnât think that I was going to try to make a move on Hansol again.âÂ
âWaitâwhat?â Taehyung snaps at her. He seems confused, and it is evident in your eyes that he never got to hear this part of the ordeal from Alia when he signed up forâwhatever it was that they had agreed upon. âWhat did you do?âÂ
Alia opens her mouth to continue, yet Cliff cuts her off before she could. âEnough,â he says, no longer yelling. His voice sounds drained, exasperated, and yet there is an eerie calmness underneath that makes your skin shiver with fear. His silent rage terrifies you more than his loud, raging voice does, while the defeated look in his eyes hurts you deeply. âAlia, get inside. And youââ he turns to point at Taehyung. âGet out of my sight.âÂ
âDad, noââ you step forward to stop him, yet Cliff doesnât even look at you when he calmly orders Alia to move.Â
âAlia, get your sister back in her room,â he says as he turns away, making his way back into the house. Â
Left with no other choice, and feeling like the fight has left you, you let Alia place her hands on your shoulders. âIâm sorry,â you turn to Taehyung one last time as she starts guiding you back to the house, but then your stomach drops when he remains silent. His eyes are cold, as if he is trying to mask his true emotions as he looks at you. Something twists in your gut as if he had pierced a knife deeply through it. âTae, waitââÂ
A small smile is lifted on his lips, though it seems closer to a sneer, something which doesnât seem to reach the pained look in his eyes, and that is the only thing that he gives you before he turns away and leaves the property without saying a single word.Â

Sleep, without a doubt, has become fruitless.Â
All night, you have been tossing and turning in your bed. Even when you manage to close your eyes and doze off a little, your stepfatherâs grievance and Taehyungâs bereft smile flash through your mind, sending you to an abrupt wake each time.Â
At the very last time you find yourself being forcefully pulled away from your restless sleep, you glance out the window, its curtains left partly opened, you see the shadows of nightfall slowly shifting. A blush of hue in gradient colours of purple and grey is beginning to emerge amidst the dark, and you can feel it in your skin the awakening of dawn.Â
Too anxious to remain still on your cold bed, adrenaline and stress still flowing violently through your body, you finally give up trying to rest and tiptoe your way downstairs.Â
The stillness in the house at night has always been something that you have come so familiar with, but as you walk down the stairs and into the quiet kitchen, the house feels more eerie that it usually does. You can almost hear the creaking sound of the floors and the walls around you, as if they are whispering to you all the things that they have witnessed from the night before.Â
The air feels unusually cold. You fight the temptation to light up the fireplace once more and huddle up right in front of it, resisting only to avoid waking everyone else up, and then walk into the kitchen in search for another source of warmth.Â
You are just beginning to make yourself a cup of hot chocolate to warm up when a figure steps into the archway leading towards the hallway. You turn with a jump, realising with relief that it is Alia.Â
Giving you a hesitant smile, she walks into the kitchen. With her arms wrapped around herself and a thick shawl cloaking her shoulders, you realise that you are not the only one struggling with the cold.Â
âCanât sleep? Or did you wake up too early?â she asks you with a soft whisper.Â
âA little bit of both. How about you?âÂ
She stands by the kitchen counter to watch you work. âTried to sleep, but I kept having nightmares. I was running downstairs to catch up with Dad, and it kept repeating over and overââshe visibly shuddersââand then I woke up with this crappy headache.âÂ
You give her a smile and tip your chin at the high stool right by the counter. âTake a seat. Iâll make more,â you offer her, which she accepts with a smile.Â
Neither of you says a word for a moment, only breaking the silence once you are done pouring the hot drinks into two separate mugs and handing one to her while whispering, âHere you go,â to which she responds with a soft, sleepy murmur, âThank you.âÂ
Taking the seat on one end of the counter with Alia sitting on the other, silence stretches between the two of you once again. There is an awkward tension in the air. You cannot remember when you have ever found yourself alone with Alia like this, deep in the night and with nothing else to do but to talk. Not since those many years ago when you were children.Â
You remember how your parents made you share the same bedroom. It was their way of getting you to bond with your new stepsister at the time. Even then, you could tell that Alia wasnât exactly thrilled by it, already so used to having her own bedroom before she had to split her time between spending the weekdays with her mother and then with her father on the weekends.Â
But at least back then, the silence didnât feel as stifling. And she had let you borrow her personal things to play with, as long as you got out of her way. And that included her booksâso many of them, you rememberâwith her occasionally sitting right beside you so she could read you some of the hard ones to follow for a little child. Â
Taking a sip of your hot cocoa, you decide that you have had enough of this silence. âSoââ you breathe out a sigh. âYou and Taehyung.âÂ
Alia groans and closes her eyes. âYou heard me last night, didnât you? I know I was drunk off my ass, but itâs true,â she says, scoffing as she glances sideways and meets your gaze when you do the same, âItâs stupid, I know.âÂ
You sip your drink before asking, âWhy did you have to go make an entire scheme out of this?âÂ
âI donât know,â she breathes out an exhausted sigh. âIt sounded like a good idea at the time.â Her voice sounds wistful when she says this, and then she breaks out into a bitter chuckle. âBut I guess, just like a ton of other bad decisions Iâve made my entire life, it only added to the long list of fuck-ups that have tainted most of my adult life.âÂ
You let out a snort, something that is so uncharacteristically you, but still comes out with all honesty. âAt least youâre taking accountability of it,â you say to her almost teasingly, âI know some people who wouldnât even admit that they fucked up and simply move on while everyone had to pick up the mess they left behind.â Â
Alia laughs. You can see her eyes warming up. âWhen did you meet him? How did it all happen?âÂ
Your lips curl up to a smile. You drink your hot drink slowly before you begin telling her everythingâthe trip that you went to after your breakup, the frustrating debacle with your flight getting delayed and cancelled and meeting him at transit, the hookup, everything that you already shared with Skye the first time you revealed about your first promiscuous night abroad with the stranger, the agreement you both made about shedding your identities, which had lead to this whole mess, and more.
Surprisingly enough, Alia merely responds with a soft chuckle. As if this is something that is to be expected when it involves her friend. âThat explains it,â she muses softly. She has this faraway look in her eyes for a moment, as if recalling something in the pastâperhaps something that happened during that period of time.Â
âHe was going through some stuff when we got in contact again about a year after the last time we met. We lost contact again briefly during that timeââthe time he went to take that trip, you tell yourselfââI think he said he was off to some sort of a business trip and was using it to âescapeâ from everything. He never told me any of the details, though.âÂ
You are curious, wanting to know more. But you also know that it isnât your place to pry. You can also tell that Alia may not answer if you try to ask her. Yet she then surprises you by adding, âThen he contacted me not too long ago and said something about needing my help. I thought it was a wild coincidence and decided to use the chance to get him to help me in return. One thing lead to another, and here we are now.âÂ
You both share a laugh, despite how pitiful the two of you seem at this moment. Â
When you both grow quiet once more, each of you taking the moment to savour your drink and the silence that is starting to bring more comfort than the uneasiness you felt earlier, your mind wanders. You recall the events that have been happening for the past few days, to tonight, seeing everything with a new light now that the truth has come out. You also find that you no longer feel the weight of your secret shadowing you, allowing you to breathe easier.Â
And then the conversation you had with Skye on the phone from a while ago comes back to you.Â
âIâm sorry I broke your doll,â you suddenly blurt out, while Alia snaps her head to look over to you.Â
âWhat? Which doll?â she asks, her face is filled with incomprehension, before her expression shifts into knowing, and then to shock. âOh, that one? That was a long time ago!âÂ
You laugh at her reaction. âYeah, but it feels like you started resenting me since then.âÂ
âNo, Iâmââ she shakes her head and scoffs at you. âItâs actually fine. I hated that doll. That was the ugliest piece of shit Iâve ever owned when I was a kid.âÂ
âWhatâ?â you let out an incredulous laugh. âBut you made it look like Iâve ruined your entire world. All hell broke loose because of it so I thoughtââÂ
Alia laughs, though she also looks somewhat guilty when she explains everything to you. âOne of Dadâs ex-girlfriends bought it for me on my eighth birthday. I never liked any of the women he brought home and introduced me, but she was probably the sanest and most normal one of all,â she calmly tells you, quickly adding, âThat was before your Mom came in, by the way.âÂ
That makes you smile. Especially when you notice that her eyes are filled with fondness as she talks about your mother.Â
âAnyway, she gave me the doll as a gift after she went for a trip abroad, and maybe I did like it because it made me happy to know that she thought about me. But the older I got, the weirder it felt for me to keep it, but every time I wanted to get rid of the doll, it made me feel guilty for even considering it because of how sweet she was to me,â she winces as she recalls the past. âWhen you ruined the doll, I was actually relieved. But I couldnât show it to Dad since he thought I loved the doll so much that he even went out on his way to help take care of the doll for a long time, so I made it seem like losing the doll made me sad.âÂ
Your jaw drops and you laugh again. âDamn, I canât believe I was gaslighted and framed by a twelve year-old.âÂ
âSucks to be you,â Alia laughs back at you as she sips her drink. âSorry for causing you some childhood trauma or whatever.âÂ
âIt wasnât so much of a trauma,â you say to her while scoffing. But that incident did leave an impression on you, regardless. And it wasnât a good one. Looking back on it now, it does seem ridiculous for you to let it haunt your memories for so long.Â
You are just about to share your thoughts to Alia when she finally speaks again.Â
âOn your eleventh birthday, you started calling him Dad,â she says, her voice dull, but you can feel the weight of her words when you hear them. It takes a moment for it to sink in, until you finally realiseâÂ
âOhââ Oh. You swallow hard and take a deep breath, realising that she is talking about Cliff. âDid you, uhâwere you worried that I might take him away from you?âÂ
Alia smiles bitterly. âIâm not sure. Maybe?â She shrugs. âAs a kid, I may have harboured an unrealistic fantasy that one day, my Mom and Dad would make up, get back together, and everything would be back to how it used to be.âÂ
She looks at you with a small smile. âBut then Daddy met your Mom, and my Mom became more unhinged after the divorce and dealing with the consequences of her affair that it was becoming more obvious Dad would have never taken her back, no matter what.âÂ
The more she speaks, sharing her deep, darkest secret, the more you are able to understand her. For all these years, you simply thought that Alia has resented you for childish reasons. You never knew that she had nurtured the heartbreak of an innocent child for so many years. Silently hurting without anyone else knowing.Â
âBut it was the day you began calling him Dad that finally broke me out of that fantasy and forced me to accept that they were never going back together,â she says, sighing deeply with a broken smile on her face, which only deepens the guilt that you feel for becoming a part of it. âMaybeâthat was the moment I started seeing you differently.âÂ
âIâdidnât know,â you murmur, and then you begin to recall how Alia kept avoiding to spend time with her father on the weekends when she was a teenager. âYou started to come by less and less by then.âÂ
Your parents had excused Aliaâs absence at the time as her newfound need of being independent. But you know better now.Â
Alia releases a sigh, as if opening to you is helping her relief some of her own weight. âDad was so happy because you and your family welcomed him into your lives. I guess that was really important to him. The more I watched him having a new family that was a whole, the more I resented it. Seeing you with Daddyââ she stops with a sharp intake of breath, âI guess the child in me felt like I was being replaced and I couldnât take it.âÂ
âAliaââÂ
She cuts you off with one look, with a gaze that is surprisingly warm. âYou know whatâs worse?â she asks.Â
âThe way Dad keeps bragging about you in front of me and anyone from his side of the family whenever he has the chance to. You have always been smarter, youâve gained everything you wanted in life with your own effort. You have a good job, a nice apartment and, for a time, you had a long-time boyfriend, while Iâm still floating through life,â she says with a wistful tone of voice instead of a bitter one. âI have no steady job, and Iâm still moving around instead of settling down, which left me with no chance to start any serious relationship to brag about in front of everyone. So I suppose that makes me feel inferior when I have to face you.âÂ
You have no idea what to say. Because you had no idea about any of this. Still, you feel guilty, even if none of this was your fault when all you ever did was live your life the way you wanted it to.Â
âLast year, I think thatâs when I came to my limit,â Alia adds with a chuckle. âI guess somewhere in my mind, I had this thought that since you already stole my Dad, maybe I could steal something that was yours for a change.âÂ
Once again, your jaw drops. You let out a gasp. âHey, thatâs fucked up!âÂ
She laughs at your reaction. âI know! And Iâm sorry, alright?â she says, still laughing and lifting both of her hands at you. But she quickly sobers up, looking genuinely concerned when she asks, âSeriously, though. Did you break upââÂ
You quickly shake your head. âNo. He chose his career over our relationship,â you admit to her. âHe has always been like that. Heâs always so crazy about work, a perfectionist, and not only does he have a big ego, he also has big ambitions. I think he pushed me to match his pace, whether he realised it or not, which became the reason why I managed to gained everything I have now.âÂ
Looking back, you have to admit that your ex was the one who gave you the drive which helped you get where you are now. As much as you hate to admit it, you do owe him that much for your current life, despite everything.Â
âIn a way, he pushed and motivated me to constantly be a better version of myself. But, deep down, I was starting to get tired of it.â You recall all the fights, the arguments, the agony that you felt when he belittled you for your need to start going in your own pace instead of following his. âI never realised how exhausting it was with him until we broke up. He made me feel like I was on a race against him instead of in a relationship where we were both equals in life.âÂ
Alia slowly nods her head with a silent understanding. âWhat happened last year with your ex was also the reason why I asked Taehyung to come with me,â she confesses with a shy smile.
âI felt so bad for everything that happened, and I had no idea how to fix it. I thought that if I brought someone with me this year, not only would I be able to shut my Mom up about trying to hook me up with some snobby guy from her circle and pushing me into marriageââshe rolls her eyesââI would also be able to show everyone here, and you, that I had no desire to steal your boyfriend from you.âÂ
You grin at her. âThat explains why it was shocking for you to find out that I already broke up.âÂ
âObviously,â she scoffs. âThat thwarted all of my plans.â You laugh together while she continues to complain about it. How she had meticulously planned everything to clear her reputation and avoid adding more drama between you. Â
âBut I couldnât give up the gig. I know that Dad still keeps in touch with my Mom once in a while because of me, and she would call him to check on me if sheâd heard I was coming, so if I let everyone know that Taehyung and I arenât actually dating, my Mom would sit me down next to any bachelor of the year that she had chosen for me at the family gathering with just a snap of her fingers,â she sneers, lifting her hand to snap her fingers in the same manner that you imagine her mother would do.Â
âAnd, as always, I had to mess everything up too because of my stupid plans,â she heavily sighs. âSorry, by the way.âÂ
Scoffing lightly, you simply wave her off. âItâs not your fault. If only Taehyung and I had talked when we had the chance,â you finally admit, realising that you are also to blame for avoiding to speak to him right away, âOr if he had told you about me when I asked him to, then maybe the three of us could have figured something out.âÂ
Alia nods her head in agreement, and then her lips rise to a slow smile. âI didnât expect that Honey would be the one stirring the pot when it was already boiling.âÂ
That makes you laugh again. âHonestly? I had expected that Honey would be the first to notice. I just didnât expect her to blast me right in front of the whole family.âÂ
Sipping her hot cocoa slowly, Alia hums. âMaybe it was meant to work that way. Or else, I feel like neither of us would find any chance to spill out the truth, as bitter and ridiculous it might sound to admit,â she says, and you cannot help but agree with her. Even with no resolution have yet to be made, you can feel some of the weight of your troubles being lifted from you.Â
Everything may have gone messy, yet for some reason, the future doesnât seem so bleak when you are looking at it one last time. Then Alia gently adds, further encouraging the hope that is slowly blooming inside you.Â
âTaehyungâhe wonât be joining me to see my Mom. Heâs driving back home, either in the morning or before noon, Iâm not sure. You should go see him and talk.âÂ
âIââ you swallow hard. âI want to. We do need to talk, butââÂ
Alia stops you by shaking her head. âNo buts. You have a baby on the way, and Iâm sureâseeing his reaction last nightâhe would want to be a part of it. Only if youâd let him.âÂ
That immediately shuts you up, taking away all the excuses that you have to run away and avoid facing him. You still remember seeing the way he was clutching your sonogram possessively as if it was his lifeline, and you have yet to get the sonogram back from him when he left.Â
âEven without the babyââ Alia continues, noticing how you are still deep in your thoughts. âThe favour that I mentioned? I think it might have something to do with you. Iâm not sure what it was though, because he hasnât had the chance to say anything about it. He only said that it had something to do with what happened during his trip from that time.âÂ
You know that she is right. The only problem is mustering the courage to go and see him in person. After what your family had put him through last night, you have no idea how to face him, feeling too guilty that he got roped into so much mess because you couldnât tell him the truth when you had the chance.
âWell, while you take your time considering it, I should go back to my room. I have another Christmas event that I would need to mentally prepare to,â Alia says as she steps out of her seat. You watch her walking around the counter to put away her empty mug before smiling at you. âThanks for the nice chat, and the hot chocolate.â
You return her smile and nod. âSoâare we good?âÂ
That makes her chuckle. She stops before going out into the hall and shrugs. âYeah, youâre okay. I guess we are.âÂ
âDoes that mean weâre friends now?â you tease her, drawing a scoff from her.Â
âUghâdonât push your luck, kid. Donât even think about us being sisters,â she says, pointing at you.Â
âNever wouldâve dreamed of it,â you respond with a chuckle. Still, you are overcome with relief now that the old tension between you are lifted. âGood luck with your Mom.âÂ
âThanks. Good luck withââ she says, âwell, everything.â She turns away, but not before giving you one final warning, âIâm serious. Go talk to him. Donât worry about the others, or about how Daddy would react. Iâll hold down the fort and explain everything to them until youâre back.âÂ

Your grip on the steering wheel tightens just as your stomach tightens with churning doubt.Â
The thought of seeing Taehyung, alone, seems nerve-racking. You have no idea what to expect once you get there, or what you are going to say, which only makes you even more nervous the further you are getting from home.Â
Your thoughts are filled with worrying that things may not go as planned. Not that you really had any plan to go with other than to talk to him, stop him from leaving, and maybe find out what the future holdâif there is any hope there.Â
The weather outside seems dreary, which is no help at all. Even under the winter sunlight that appears brighter than usual, the snow keeps falling thickly from the sky, the trees standing on either side of the streets are swaying dangerously towards various directions due to the intense wind.Â
Weather does hate me, you wonder to yourself as you glance through the side mirror, wondering why these things keep happening to you during critical times such as this one.
Getting more impatient, the urge to press down on the accelerator feels so strong, yet you fight it the best you can, recalling the promise you made when you stepped out of the house.Â
Honey was right, it was a bad idea to be driving out under this weather. She was the one who warned you about the weather when you were about to leave, which you simply ignored because the sky was bright, the wind was steady, and your intention to see Taehyung was strong.Â
You should have learned from experience and took your time checking todayâs weather forecast to find out just how quickly the weather could change.Â
Looking at the fierce weather, it seems obvious that things are about to get even worse. A white jeep breezes past your tiny city car, causing your car to sway, and you feel a pull to match its speed. But then you see it nearly slipping on the road as the jeep makes a turn right ahead, and you heart stops. Your car slows as you start hearing Honeyâs voice warning you about how easy the road becomes slippery on days like this.Â
âDrive carefully. Even if you want to risk your life getting out there, at least think about that baby,â Honeyâs voice echoes in your head, stopping you before you could even think of picking up speed again once the road clears up before you.Â
âThereâs nothing to worry about. With this weather, he couldnât have left yet,â you convince yourself, though your doubt keeps pushing back nearly tenfold.Â
He couldnât just leave, right?Â
Turning with reduced speed on the next intersection, you curse under your breath. It feels like itâs taking you forever to reach the motel, and when you still see no sign of getting any closer to the motel, you begin to wonder if youâll manage to get there at all.Â
âDamn it, Alia. Why did you have to choose that motel? Thereâs a bunch of them closer to home.âÂ
Obviously, there is nobody here to answer your question. So the only thing that you can do is to force yourself to calm down, focus on the roadâand in not slipping or sending your car into a ditchâand find the motel as fastâand as safelyâas you can.Â
Quiet Peaks Motel. Room 1109.Â
You almost laughed when Alia gave you the room number where Taehyung has been staying in. The irony of having those numbers shown to your face, reminding you of that night from six weeks ago.Â
âI suppose this is what people call a Christmas miracle.âÂ
You let out a scoff as Skyeâs words ring back to you. Christmas miracle my butt, you inwardly scoff at the notion. A queer coincidence, thatâs what this is.Â
Not too long, you are driving your car into the small parking lot of Quiet Peaks Motel. With your head covered under the hood of your coat, you challenge the cold to rush into the motel without taking a look around to see if his car is still here. Past the receptionist desk, you follow Aliaâs guide to find Taehyungâs room.Â
Room 1109.Â
Shaking off the snow that has gotten all over your body, you take a deep breath, and knock on the door. A few seconds pass.Â
No answer.Â
Another knock, just a bit harder this time. And all you have in return is silence. No. No. Noâ
You raise your hand again, ready to give it another try while refusing to accept the possibility that he is no longer there, when finallyâfinallyâyou hear a click, and the door slowly opens. Taehyung appears before you, with wide, curious eyes and a smile slowly lifting on his lips, like a piece of a fantasy manifesting into something real.Â
âYouâre still here,â you breathe a sigh of relief, drawing a low chuckle from him.Â
Taehyung crosses his arms over his chest as he hovers by the doorway, the small smile on his face unwavering. âAlia called. Warned me not to run away,â he gently says.
The thought of him driving off to leave town, running away before you could see him, feels like a bolt piercing through your heart. âWere youâtrying to run?âÂ
âI felt the urge to,â he admit while lowering his gaze, briefly avoiding your eyes. âBut I couldnât.âÂ
You can hear the sound of your heartbeat. âBecause of the blizzard happening outside?âÂ
Taehyung looks up, and his smile deepens when he steps aside. âWhy donât you come in? Itâs getting colder. You can warm up inside.â There is a playful glint in his eyes which says the unspoken wordsâ
With me.Â
Drawn by the look in his eyes, your legs begin to move on their own. Your arm brushes against him as you walk past him, just barely, and your skin prickles warmly, as if the thick winter coat that you are wearing is nonexistent. Â
Taehyung takes your coat, shaking the remaining snow that is still attached to it before hanging it on the coat rack by the door while you step out of your snow-coated boots, refusing to leave trails of snow and dirt on his floor as he pulls you inside. He guides you to take a seat on the edge of the bed while he takes the one-seater from the corner of the room and places it across from you.Â
Sitting back, he wears a playful smile on his face. He seems giddy, with a twinge of wariness that is quite noticeable coming out of himâboth feelings are something that you also share as you sit with your back straightened while your legs are shaking.
Sitting here like this allows you to get a good look at Taehyung. And for the first time, you notice the boyish charm in him that looksâadorable. You can see it better when he smiles, when he looks at you with an expectant look in his yes, and when he doesnât seem to be able to remain calm.Â
You have no idea why you had never seen this side of him before. Has he been hiding this part of him? Because, if you want to be honest with yourself, you like seeing this side of Taehyung, maybe even more than the side that he has allowed you to see before today.Â
If comfort is a person, this side of him fits the picture, you wonder to yourself with a smile.Â
Speaking of picturesâ
Your eyes travel around the room, taking notice of the place where he has been staying at. The room is undoubtedly smaller than the suite that he booked back at the transit hotel, but not any smaller than your own bedroom back home. The bed that you are sitting on feels soft, with wooden bed frames that makes it seem sturdy. There is a single vanity table that stretches out on one wall, also functioning as a writing desk, an electric fireplace in the corner that is running with a soft hum, and a wall-mounted television that has been kept on with its volume lowered to fill the room with its white noise.Â
Your eyes fall on the long table, on the small object that catches your attention.
âWould you like to drink?â Taehyung asks you as the silence stretches out for too long, and you look at him with a smile.Â
âSure, Iâd love to.âÂ
Nodding, he rises from his seat to grab a drink from the corner cabinet, while you do the same. Drawn towards the small object that Taehyung had placed on the table like a precious jewelâyour sonogram.Â
âI didnât mean to keep it with me. But throughout all the chaos happening last nightââ you can hear his voice getting closer and closer, yet you do nothing to look his way. Holding up the sonogram between your fingers, your eyes are focused completely on it, fixated at the clear proof of your future. You still have your eyes on it as his warmth comes pressing on your back, his voice feels like a gentle brush on your skin as he whispers closeâ
ââI just couldnât let it go. It felt surreal whenever I looked at it. It was almost as ifâI was actually holding that baby in my hands, and I needed to protect it.âÂ
His words send your mind into a daze, even when you notice the tremble in his voice. Everything he does next seems like parts of a dream. You notice his hand reaching out beside you, placing two objects which seem to be bottles of fresh juice on top of the table. And his hand stays there, palm pressing on the edge of the desk while his other hand is resting on your other side, practically caging you in place.Â
Slowly, you turn around to face him. The sudden closeness makes you feel dizzy, yet the feeling is incomparable to the way your body is reacting when you look into his eyes.Â
His dark eyes somehow appear even darker from up close. You feel nothing carnal in the way he is looking at you, nor the way he is giving you no chance to escape. But there is the heat that you feel reaching out to you, vibrating through his chest together with his heavy breath.Â
âWe areââ he murmurs, stopping briefly with a deep exhale of breath. âWeâre expecting a baby.â He speaks as if he is trying to rewire his brain into accepting reality.
Your heart starts racing when you hear his words.Â
We. That word seals everything in.Â
And you can feel that sense of acceptance coming from him. You can easily see it written all over his face; in his gaze that looks resolved and in his warm smile that seems inviting. And then you get to see it coming together when he takes you in, his eyes landing on your belly. Even though covered under your thick sweater, he looks at you as if he can see what is hidden underneath.Â
âWeâre expecting a baby,â you whisper with a smile. âItâs still early. Very early. Which is why you might not see any changes, like seeing the baby in its fully grown form, or find out the gender yet, but we can already hear the heartbeat. We can arrange so you can join me on my next appointment with the doctor. That is, if youâd like.â
Putting all of your hopes into words feels risky. But thinking about him being there puts a smile on your face. That smile fades for a brief moment when you realise that you are also putting your heart at risk of being brokenâbe it from him, or from life.Â
âAnything could still happen,â you add with a wry smile. The sceptical part of you slowly sneaking its way into your mind to take control. âBut if youâre willing to go through this with me andââÂ
He doesnât let you finish your sentence when he suddenly reaches out to touch you. He brushes your cheek with the gentle touch of his fingers, and wraps his other arm around your waist, pulling you gently to him until you are nearly pressed into his chest. You bring your palms up to his chest in reflex, pressing against him as a barrier, separating you from his overwhelming warmth.Â
You can feel his heartbeat picking up under your palms, just as your own heartbeat starts thundering inside your chest.Â
âLast night, Cliff stole my chance to figure out or express how I felt about this,â he says with a nervous chuckle. âI was in so much shock both from the news and then Cliffâs reaction that I couldnât say a word about it. But the moment I left your home and spent the night alone in this room, I finally got the chance to process everything.â
He stops, shaking his head before pressing his lips on your temple. âStill, I canât believe that this is happening. But this is our new reality right now and I have to face it. No matter at what cost,â he whispers with his lips hovering against your temple.
âWhatâwhat are you saying?âÂ
âIâm saying that Iâm all in,â he says, pulling back so he can look at you. âI told you, didnât I? You never really left my mind after that night. Iâm not sure why, but waking up in the morning to see you gone back then got me curious and, wellââ he chuckles. âIt was all the reason why I got roped into Aliaâs sneaky scheme, which Iâm beginning to regret ever being a part of, but since weâre here anyway.âÂ
Taehyung lets out a dramatic sigh, drawing a curious smile to your face.Â
His chest rises and falls as he exhales a deep breath. âAlia promised to help me once weâve done the deal. And although I never told her specifically what I needed help withââ he grins, looking as if he is thinking back to the day he planned out this whole scheme with your stepsister.Â
A scheme where he pretended to be dating her to trick your and Aliaâs family.Â
âActually, I was already trying to find you. Alia has a lot of connections, gathered by traveling to different places and jumping between odd jobs, so I thought that maybe she would know how to solve that problem of mine,â he admits, and your skin flushes warmly when you realise that not only has he been thinking of you this whole time, but he had also thought of looking for you when you thought that he would have simply forgotten everything and moved on.Â
âThings may have gone differently than I imagined, and not entirely in the right order. But technically speaking, she made it happen, just as promised,â he chuckles again, looking just amused at the situation as you are. âIf I had known about the baby, I wouldnât have asked you to hide from Alia that we got together at one point,â he grimaces. âI wasnât sure what kind of situation Alia was in that would require her having a fake boyfriend, so I donât know what telling her that we hooked up would do.âÂ
Frowning, you simply shake your head and murmur, âNo, I shouldâve told you right away. But like I said, I wasnât prepared to see my babyâs daddy coming into my parentsâ home holding hands with my stepsister.âÂ
Taehyung smiles and rubs his thumb across your cheek. âIâm sorry.âÂ
Your body shudders under his touch, but you cover it with a sigh. âLikewise,â you whisper. âBut can we please stop talking about Alia right now?âÂ
He barks out a laugh. âOkay, if thatâs what you want,â he says with a wide grin on his face. âMaybe youâll be more interested in talking about something else, then?âÂ
You suck a deep breath as his eyes bore into yours. Even before he says it, you can somehow tell what he is thinking. There is something in his eyes that makes you feel hot inside. Something that feels intimidating, yet comforting at the same time, and it makes you want to dive into whatever it is that is offering you.Â
As if he can read your mind, Taehyung starts staring at you the same way he did that nightâwith the same passion and hunger that are enough to engulf you as a whole.Â
While you are captivated with his gaze, Taehyung leans in, stealing a kiss from your lips before you realise what is happening. He begins with a gentle, tentative kiss, as if he is testing to see how you are going to react. But with your emotion heightened, and relief warming your chest, the innocent kiss that he is giving you is already enough to send heat flushing through your body.
Your fingers sink into his sweater in a desperate clutch as you return his kiss, pressing your mouth onto his without any inhibitions. A sigh escapes from your throat, while he releases a deep grunt and begins to deepen the kiss.Â
His tongue presses between the seams of your lips, penetrating into your mouth in seek of control. All the heat inside you starts swirling violently as he devours your lips, and itâs driving you crazy. Your thundering heartbeat presses against your chest and he keeps stealing your breath, leaving you gasping the moment he releases your lips.Â
Yet Taehyung doesnât stop. Giving you a few more pecks on your swollen lips, he then moves his kisses down the column of your throat, and your head falls back in an instant, helping him to travel lower until he rests his lips beneath your earlobe where he breathes out a sigh. Â
âThis wasnâtââ you gasp as he nips at your pulse, rocking your entire body at the touch of his teeth on your skin, âThis wasnât the reason why I came here for.âÂ
âAre you sure?â he hums against your skin. âWe can stop if you want to. But you have to be the one to say the words.â His words make you swoon, but contrary to what he is saying to you, Taehyung continues to press his lips on your skin, making it hard for you to say a thing. âItâs been pure torture having to hold back, being in the same room with you but unable to do anything about it.âÂ
He leans back, looking at you with a deep gaze as he brushes his thumb across your swollen lips. âI kept seeing these lips and wishing I could kiss it.âÂ
Silently admitting that you feel the same way for him, your eyes move to his lips, noticing its swell, the faint crimson shade and the moisture that are left there after kissing you, and hazily blurt out, âDid you kiss Alia with that same mouth?â
âFuck, no!â he says, making you laugh when he seems horrified at the thought of kissing your stepsister. âWeâre friends, but not that close as friends to be smooching at each other.âÂ
The way he is scrunching his nose still makes you giggle. âSorry, butâyou know, I had to make sure.â
Taehyung snorts. âOf course you do,â he grumbles, although the mirth in his eyes turns, as he gives you an understanding look through them, now knowing what kind of relationship that you share with Alia. âThere are a lot of things about your stepsister that you might not know about.âÂ
His words remind you of the short conversation that you had with your stepsister this morning. Deep down, you realise that he is right. With so many years spent harbouring a deep misunderstanding between one another, you realise that you never really knew her at all. Closing your eyes, you tell yourself that you can revisit this later.Â
âAre you going to spend the rest of the day trying to butter me up so I can start being best friends with my stepsister, or are you going to kiss me again?â you question him with a grin on your face once you open your eyes again.Â
He returns your grin with his own, showing you that same boyish charm that makes you swoon as he murmurs, âI think I like the second option a lot better.âÂ
Giggling, you release your grip on his sweater and move to wrap your arms around his neck, meeting him halfway just as he leans down to capture your lips again. âAn excellent choice, Sir. I do like that option much better as well.â
Once his lips descend on yours once again, they donât come down gently. They crash into yours, and you can feel his urgency, his hunger, everything that he had spent days withholding for the sake of the god-awful scheme. The kiss melts every cell in your body. It weakens your knees, leaving your arms as the only thing holding you up against him.Â
His hands feel hot on your skin as he runs them down your waist, your hips, the heat penetrating through your thick sweater and jeans. You instinctively arch your chest against his, while your legs are moving, rubbing against each other when his touch sends your pulse rising, hot blood flowing down right between your legs.Â
Fuck, why I am so sensitive?Â
Right as you are wondering if your pregnancy has anything to do with the way your body is reacting, Taehyung folds his body and grabs the back of your thighs to lift you up.Â
âOh, Godââ you pull away with a gasp, surprised with the sudden lost of balance. Tightening your arms around his neck, you hold on to him as he turns. His smile widens, looking as if he is proud of himself, and then he drops you onto the bed, gentle as he puts you down until you are lying on your back.Â
You shift backwards until you are at the center of the bed with him following close behind. His gaze remains on your face as he starts crawling over the mattress, not stopping until he is hovering above you. He doesnât settle his weight on top of you right away, but instead grabs a gentle hold at the hem of your sweater. With a quick work of his hands, the sweater is gone, tossed somewhere across the room. He doesnât let you see where it went as he bends down, hovering close above you. Â
âDoesnât this make you think back about that night?â he asks, with a deep voice that has your entire body trembling. He ignites more reaction out of you with a gentle kiss at the crook of your neck.Â
âSomething isââyou gasp, shuddering under his kissââsomething is different, though.âÂ
His warm breath comes brushing on your skin with his deep chuckle. âYou can tell, huh? I did some workout after that vacation,â he brags to you while wiggling his eyebrows, making you laugh.Â
âIâd say you may have gotten your moneyâs worth. A little bit,â you tease him as you reach down between your bodies for his zipper.Â
You can feel his hard cock pressing against your palm. Even while hidden under his pants, you can feel the heat coming from him as you rub your palm against his covered bulge, moving it back and forth until you feel him hardening under your touch.Â
âAre you going to continue staring at me, or are you going to fuck me?â you whisper, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with how much you need him.Â
And he is the only one to blame. When his sole existence stirs your every being. With one glance coming from his eyes, butterfly wings flutter inside your body, touching all the crevices that arenât filled with past hurt and the babyâs presence and filling them with warmth.Â
With one touch, your whole body comes alight, and you are feeling it now as he brushes his fingers along the expanse of your waist. As tough your blood is on fire as it runs through your veins, even with nothing more but a light graze on your skin.Â
Taehyung licks his lips. His desire is written so clearly on his face. But then his gaze moves down your body, lingering on your stomach that is completely exposed now that you no longer have your sweater covering your skin.Â
âWill it be okay?â he asks, sounding genuinely concerned. His voice sounds tight, filled with worries, which gives your chest a tight pinch.Â
When was the last time you had someoneâother than your familyâto be so concerned about your wellbeing? Granted, there is a baby that is involved in all of this, and it would be normal for him to care, but that doesnât stop you from feeling like he is seeing right through you.Â
âI think I read somewhere that the baby will be okay,â you look down at your stomach and start rubbing your hand gently over it. âMaybe we can go gentle. At least until we get to see the OB and ask more.âÂ
âGood idea,â he says with a smile, while you feel soft inside. But when his hand begins to move again, his thumb grazing down your exposed stomach, the heat rises back up and he is back in the game.Â
His smouldering gaze feels like a complete opposite to the softness in his voice when he says, âAlright, I can do gentle. Just tell me if it gets too much, or you can lead the pace so I wonât make any mistake.âÂ
He wears the same wicked smile that stole your heart many nights ago as he lifts off from your body. You watch with your teeth nibbling at your bottom lip as he begins stripping himself. His sweater comes off, showing you his hard chest and filled arms which you havenât had the chance to appreciate in the past.Â
This time, you get to see everything with a clear mind. Instead of feeling hazy with intoxication, all you can feel now is the haze coming from your need for him. Â
Reaching down to his pants, he pushes down his zipper. With a mocking grin, he makes a great gesture of pushing down his pants, only to stop once he hears your moan.Â
âGod, I missed hearing that sound coming out of your lips,â he murmurs. He immediately returns to you and pushes your pants and panties down in one motion. Your bra comes off right before your butt comes back down on the bed. Having not an inch of your skin covered while you are lying there makes you feel exposed and vulnerable. Yet he keeps a gentle hold on your waist, holding you still while he takes you in.Â
âI remember thinking that you were beautiful, but it beats seeing you in this kind of light to see what I didnât get to see,â he murmurs, almost groaning as he takes you in.Â
Licking your lips, you hold back, keeping your voice from trembling to answer, âWe were both kinda drunk, soââÂ
âWere we?â he chuckles softly and returns to you again, as if he canât take being apart from you for too long. He presses his lips on your collarbone and whispers, âGood thing we get the chance to change that.âÂ
Your legs come up and wrap around his waist the moment he is back on top of you. The way his hard chest is pressing on your bare breasts feels heavenly. You can feel his heartbeat pounding against your chest, almost at the same rhythm as yours. But your attention is quickly drawn away once you try to move your hips to get comfortable beneath his weight, only to unintentionally rub yourself against his body.
You can feel his hard cock pressing against your thigh as you brush against him. Heat pools right at the depth of your core once you feel just how badly he wants you. It grows more intense as he pushes back into you, rubbing his covered cock against your center until you feel your wet arousal soiling the front of his pants.Â
Yet still, the friction isnât enough to satiate your needs.Â
âTaehyungââÂ
The moment he hears you calling his nameâhis real nameâsomething dark and feral flashes through his gaze. As if saying his name in the heat of desire snaps something inside him that needs to be unleashed.Â
His mouth comes down to capture yours just then, claiming you with a deep kiss. You writhe beneath him while he devours your lips, pressing against his center in a silent plea to have him striping himself off of the restricting pants and letting you feel him.Â
Without saying a word, he understands what you are asking for and complies. With a reluctant sigh, he pulls back. He keeps his eyes on you the whole time as he pushes down his pants and boxer briefs until he is completely bare. His hard cock immediately springs free right before your eyes, drawing your attention towards it the same way it did the first night you were with him.Â
âSay it again,â he says to you with a deep voice. A rough sigh escapes him as he wraps his hand around his girth and starts stroking himself, making himself hard and ready while he pleads with you, âSay my name.âÂ
âTaehyung,â you call him with a soft moan, and he lets go every last bit of his restrictions and covers your whole body with his.Â
His mouth crashes down on yours, kissing you passionately until your body grows hot. A moan slips from you, and his tongue sweeps in between your parted lips, getting entangled with yours and you are immediately lost. You barely notice it when his hand moves down, slipping between your bodies to find the source of your heat.Â
He flicks at your nether lips, drawing a gasp from your lips, and your hips rise up to welcome him. Then he slides a finger into your pulsing core, entering you until you are arching against his chest, overwhelmed with the sensation that he draws out of your body as he buries his finger deeper into your pussy.Â
While he slides his finger in and out of you, his mouth remains pressed on yours, swallowing every sound you are making. Drowning every cries, every moans, while he continues devouring you as though you are his lifeline.Â
The pleasure rises, and your body starts moving on its own before you can control it. You start grinding against his finger, needing more. It starts with a slow rock, but the more the pleasure climbs within your body, you continue grinding harder and harder onto his hand. This seems to amuse him, as you can feel his smile growing against his lips before he pulls away, freeing you from his searing kiss.Â
Yet his hand continues to move, not resting until you can finally find release. âThatâs it, ______. Give it to me, baby. Come for me,â he whispers with his deep voice like a spell.Â
Under his encouraging words and his relentless strokes, you finally reach your orgasm. It feels so intense you can almost feel as if your body shatters in his hold, with your breath coming out in broken pants and your moans rising higher.Â
With a gentle move, he pulls his finger out of you, leaving behind a series of small spasms inside your pussy from the climax.Â
You immediately feel empty. But he doesnât make you wait long as he positions himself between your parted legs, and his heavy hard-on comes right where his finger had been. His cock slides in between your slit, moving back and forth as he rocks his hips. The friction draws the slick sound of your release as he continues rubbing the entire length of his cock against your hot cunt.Â
As your body continues to shudder beneath him, Taehyung lets out a deep groan. âCanât wait, baby. Need to be inside you now.âÂ
âYes, fuck me, Taehyung,â you cry out, and those exact words are the ones that draw him to move.Â
You should have been prepared for it, yet your mind and body are somewhat occupied. Distracted by the blinding pleasure that he keeps pulling out of you, you are not ready when he slams his cock into you. You instantly cry out, and Taehyung stills inside you.Â
You can feel your muscles clenching, pulsing around him in small spasms of pleasure at the sudden invasion. It draws a moan out of him, and he holds you in his arms to help soothe you through it until you are more accustomed to his width filling you up.Â
âYou okay, baby? Iâm sorry,â he whispers with his lips pressing gently on your skin. Starting from your neck, your chin, and then he keeps making his way up to capture your parted lips. His kiss is soft, barely a flutter, but with every pulse rising in your body, you can feel the heat shooting right into your core.Â
You wait just long enough until the pounding sound of your heartbeat eases before answering him, âIâm okay.âÂ
You start to wiggle under his weight, moving your hips to test if itâs going to hurt. When you feel that your muscles are no longer tense, and nothing but pleasure rushes through your body, you start moving your hips more. Grinding down his length, you can feel your hot walls contracting around his thick cock. It draws a sharp hiss out of his lips, and he jerks his hips against you, as though he is close to losing control.Â
âAre you going to stay there the entire time weâre hereââyou tease him while tightening your legs around his waist, your hands on his hard shouldersââor are you going to fuck me?â Â
Taehyung lets out a deep chuckle and begins to move. âSo impatient. Itâs been a while, so Iâm only letting you act like a brat just this once,â he growls against your lips as he rocks his hips, moving in a slow pace.Â
It feels so good. But you want more. You need more.Â
With your heels pressing on his back, you rock back against him, grinding into his cock. He reacts with a groan, murmuring to you, âFuck, that feels good. You want more?âÂ
The pleasure continues climbing. It starts to feel overwhelming that words fail you. The only thing you can give him is a nod. A sharp gasp comes out of your lips when he starts picking up his pace, going faster while pushing deeper with each thrust.Â
âTell me if it hurts,â he nearly begs, sounding desperate when you have yet to give him words in response to him. âPlease, baby. Promise me. Iâm barely holding on here, but I donât want to hurt you or the baby.âÂ
His voice goes in and out of your senses, yet you still manage to hear what he is trying to say. âIâm fine, Taehyung. I wonât hide it, I promise.âÂ
He lets out a relieved sigh and smashes his lips on yours. âGood,â he groans against your lips. âHang on tight then, baby.âÂ
Those words become the last warning as the force and speed of his thrusts escalate, hitting you deep and hard until your toes are curling and your throat feels tight with the urge to cry out in pleasure. Your chest rises in an arch at the sensations you are getting as your hard nipples are rubbing against his chest.Â
But your mind is clear enough for you to do exactly what he asked of you.Â
Your legs are pressing around him, not tight enough to make it hard for him to move, but enough to keep you attached to him. Your arms are around him, fingers running up to the nape of his neck and pulling at the back of his hair, while the other hand runs down his back, nails sinking into his skin as he takes you on a wild ride. Â
Pleasure explodes through your body under his hard strokes. Your mouth falls open with a series of strained cries, calling his name. You wish he would lean down, to kiss you, to drown the sounds of pleasure that you are unable to hold in. Yet Taehyung chooses to pull back, allowing himself to keep his eyes on you as he continues with his relentless thrusts, making sure that he wouldnât miss any sign of pain that may show on your face.Â
But the pain that you had expected to come from his rough lovemaking only extends the pleasure. The wet sounds of his thrusts pushing deep inside you fills the room, growing intense by the minute. Your skin flushes warmly as blood pulses deep in your core, your pussy walls flutter around his girth, letting him know how close you are to reach the edge.Â
âAre you close, baby? Do you want to come?â he whispers to you with a groan, and you find yourself crying out,
âYes, TaehyungâIâm close. Please, let me cum. PleaseââÂ
With his hands reaching down your hips, he lifts your bottom half slightly off the mattress, placing you in a new angle that allows him to reach deeper. Your whole body quakes once he finds your sweet spot, and as he repeatedly pushes his cock against that hidden spot inside you, you soon feel him pushing you over the edge, with him not slowing down even for just a moment. And you take it all while you continue clinging desperately to him with your nails sinking into the skin on his back.Â
Pleasure flares through you like fireworks. A new wave of raw pleasure overcomes you, and your body erupts with the first wave of your orgasm. It flows smoothly through your body, but still intense enough to knock the air out of your chest. You cry out with a strained voice, your entire body shuddering beneath him.Â
You heave as wave after wave of pleasure overcome your body, yet Taehyung shows no sign of stopping. Still not having enough, he still fills you up with long, deep strokes that rock your body and the entire bed together.
With every shake of your body, your nipples grow hard that they start to hurt as your skin keeps rubbing against his chest. Looking between you, Taehyungâs eyes turn darker with lust. You force yourself to watch him through your haze, feeling more than seeing it when he runs one hand down your belly.Â
His big palm stays there, as if silently greeting the baby growing inside, before it continues to travel lower, finding home right where your bodies are joined. With his thumb and forefinger, he flicks at your engorged clit. Already throbbing and growing sensitive with the amount of frictions happening all at once, it sends your hips rising as another wave of pleasure rises from your core.Â
Deep groans escape his lips as he savours the sight of you embracing the pleasure, and he continues playing with your clitârubbing, flicking, pinching, drawing pain and pleasure over the constant thrusting of his cock. And just when you are feeling it building up once more from within, the telltale of your orgasm that you have been depraved of for so long, Taehyung leans down, capturing one taut nipple between his mouth and bites down.Â
"Oh god. Oh god. I'm going to come again,â you cry out with your hips rising to meet each hard thrust that he is giving you.
âYes, thatâs it. Cum for me like a good girl," he croons against your skin, which sends you straight into the next round of climax while you are still riding the aftershock of your last one.
Your body shudders as another orgasm rocks your entire body, and your muscles clamp around his hard cock, sucking him with a tight clench as he thrusts in and out, pushing deep and sending your body shaking violently as you finally succumb into an earth-shattering orgasm that takes away the last drop of strength that you still have.Â
And the force of your final orgasm is what sets him off.Â
With a deep groan, and a rough tremble of his chest, Taehyung finally finds his release. You can feel his warmth filling your insides, his cock twitching and pumping between your spasming walls, and you are almost sure that the wicked sensation of him filling you up with his cum is enough to send you to a smaller, much more subtle climax.Â
It takes a while for you to come down from the height of your release, and Taehyung is there, helping you to ride off your orgasm with the slow strokes of his cock and the gentle brush of his fingers as he slowly comes to halt.Â
Once everything is done, your body is completely spent that you are unable to move. Your legs have turned languid as Taehyung gently drops them back onto the bed. The room is filled with the sound of deep breathing as both of you are fighting to catch your breaths.Â
You can barely feel your arms moving, but essentially, he is freed from your tight hold, allowing him to pull out of you before dropping down beside you.Â
The room no longer feels cold now that your entire body is burning hot. Seeing the thin sheet of sweat on his skin, you know that Taehyung is feeling the same heat, yet it doesnât stop him from turning to his side and wrapping his arms around you to pull you close.Â
The sound of your intense heartbeat makes it hard for you to listen to any other sounds. You feel so tired. The lack of sleep you had last night is making it hard for you to fight off the drowsiness that is coming over you. Feeling relieved and sated, you just want to give in to sleep.Â
Your eyelids keep growing heavy, and once your breath is calm, you can feel Taehyungâs gentle kiss pressing on your temple. His voice is barely a whisper when he murmurs to you, âââsleep, rest for a while. Itâs not like weâre in any rush to get anywhere, right?âÂ
You open your mouth to answer him, yet your body fights against it. His words seem to act like a spell, when you are soon taken deep into slumber, falling into a dreamless sleep with his arms wrapped around your body.Â

When you finally come to, the soft light of the afternoon sun is slowly penetrating through the windows.Â
It feels warm inside, especially now that you have a blanket covering your naked body and his heavy arm resting languidly around your waist, yet you know that the same cannot be said with the weather outside. Even without opening your eyes, you can still hear the sound of the fierce wind hitting the windows, and you doubt that the road would be safe enough for you to drive out of this place.Â
You find yourself curling against Taehyungâs bare chest as you properly come to wake. His heartbeat is steady, and you can feel it when he starts waking up.Â
âHey, thereââ you whisper, greeting him with a sleepy smile, which he returns with his goofy smile. âWas I asleep for a long time?âÂ
Taehyung shakes his head. âNo, not long enough,â he whispers. âI also just woke up, though. SoââÂ
Chuckling softly, you stretch out next to him. Your muscles are lax, and while you still feel worn-out, the short nap has restored your energy some. It helps clear your mind, yet you still refuse to move a muscle.Â
Glancing at Taehyung, you notice that he has a faraway look in his eyes. He keeps his gaze out the window, and you start wondering what he is thinking about.Â
âDo you think weâre going to be okay?â Taehyung asks you with a gentle sigh.
You close your eyes briefly and sigh contently before answering, âWith the baby? I mean, it might be a struggle at first. I know because I havenât really grasp the fact that Iâm carrying your baby, butââÂ
âNo, Iâm not talking about this,â he says with his hand waving around your entangled bodies. âIâm talking aboutââ he waves his hand to point at the window. The muted light of the sun that you saw earlier is still looking bleak, more of a pale-grey than the usual golden, with the wild swirls of snow dropping from the sky and no sign of the blizzard letting up anytime soon. âThat.âÂ
He sighs. âI feel like weâve had strings of bad luck constantly following us.âÂ
Smiling against his chest, you know what he is trying to say. âWe slept together twice, and both happened due to bad weather,â you deliberately deduce his thoughts with a hum. âIs that what youâre saying?âÂ
âYeah,â he says with a delirious chuckle, finding it somewhat funny now that you have voiced his thoughts out loud. âLooks like weâre stranded together, again, until the wind starts letting up. They say itâs going to be soon, but Iâm not sure.âÂ
You cannot stop smiling the more you think about it. âFunny how it keeps happening to us, huh? At least we can remember this day as the first Christmas morning we celebrated together,â you say this with a grin, as you pull back to rub at your stomach from over the blanket. âJust the three of us.â
Taehyung follows your gaze and scoffs. âWay to go for making me feel guilty about stealing you from your family on Christmas Day,â he grumbles, making you laugh. âAnd if weâre actually doing this, uhâthis relationship, do you think itâll be weird?âÂ
You look up to him, seeing the frown forming on his face. Before you can question what he means by it, Taehyung continues to explain, âMaybe I shouldnât come to see your family again next Christmas, or anytime soon. At least until weâre settled and everyone has forgotten about everything.âÂ
The way he says it, and the way he looks when he did, makes you want to laugh. âI think weâre good. And you can always join us next year. Besides, the holidays arenât so bad with you around. Not this year. It beats sitting down and listening to other peopleâs stories for once.âÂ
Hearing this, Taehyung raises his eyebrows at you. âEven with all the drama we had with your sister?â he asks, sounding doubtful. âIn case you forgot, I almost had a brawl with your stepfather.âÂ
For the first time ever, you doesnât feel any need to correct him by calling Alia as your stepsister. That thought makes you smile. But you keep it to yourself, and instead lean up to kiss his cheek to help ease his mind out of it.Â
âWhat we had?â you question him with a teasing voice, âthatâs nothing. You havenât experienced having Aunt Janey around. Have you ever read or heard those Reddit stories about entitled aunts? She would have gotten all the trophies if anyone in the family has ever written anything about her online.âÂ
You smile as Taehyung listens to you with a chuckle, and you can feel his worries slowly being lifted. âAnd as for Dadââ you let out a sigh as you think about your protective stepfather, âletâs just hope that Alia manages to butter him up to let things go. You know that heâs weak when it comes to her. Or, you can buy him a drink the next time you see him.âÂ
Taehyung purses his lips as he considers this. For a moment, he doesnât seem to believe your words, but he still nods his head either way. âFine, I guess we can talk about that later. Weâll cross the bridge when we get there, I suppose?â he asks with a bashful smile. âWhy donât we focus on you for now, and the baby?âÂ
You prop yourself up on your elbow while holding up the blanket with the other arm to cover your nakedness from his hungry eyes. âAlright, what do you want to know?âÂ
âEverything,â he says with a grin as he sits up against the bedâs headrest. âShould we continue and maybe do this with a late lunch, though? Iâm starving. I couldnât eat anything at breakfast.âÂ
âAre you famished for food, orââ you tease him by leaning closer, âDo you have an appetite for another thing?
He groans. âIf the second option has anything to do with you, then the answer would be both. But we need to get some food in our system if we want to get back into the other.âÂ
Laughing, you finally step out of the bed to call for the room service. You continue to spend the rest of the day with him, chatting over the meal, talking about your future plans and all the mundane things that you need to know about each other, before the heat between you picks up again and he pulls you back into bed.
Warmth envelopes you the entire time you are with him, regardless of the winter storm that is still happening outside of these walls.Â


Authorâs Note 2.0 | Thank you for reading this story! Any likes, kudos, comments, and feedbacks will be appreciated. See you in the next story :)
© All rights reserved. 2024 Yoonia â Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these works, including reposting, translating and modification in any form, is strictly prohibited.Â
how do u think satoru would react to reader in a depressive episode, especially what do u think the kids would do
obviously, theyâve all noticed.
the past couple of weeks have not been lived through ignorantly. and you have not been acting normal.
the differences are just that, at first. tiny inconsistencies in your otherwise normal personality, your routine.
and then it becomes more than just a⊠change.
it starts off simple; megumiâs brows furrowing when you ask him a questionâsomething about his teacher, or what kind of drink he wants in his lunch that dayâand then forget what youâve just said as soon as he answers.
tsumiki watching, smiling along idly, as you rub your temples, sighing with every other sentence and squeezing your eyes tight like youâll be able to wake up if you try hard enough.
and satoru noticing when you linger in your room a bit longer, as the days pass. staring when you freeze looking at the wall in the morning, zoning out so hard that he has to shake you back to life.
just an accumulation of things that might indicate that something is up.
but as these momentsâmoments when youâre lost in your head, trying to conceal your entire being from all of them, and pretending that itâs all normalâincrease, the three of them learn a little something about observing.
and lying to themselves, of course.
eventually, though, when megumi or tsumiki inevitably say somethingâusually when youâre not in the room, off hiding somewhereâsatoru just shrugs.
(heâs going to lie his way through this, just like everything else, thank you).
âitâs a bad day,â heâll say, like the two children will comprehend that. like they donât know what a bad day means. âsheâs just tired.â
he could make a million excuses for you. oh, you didnât get enough sleep last night. oh, youâve only had one cup of coffee today. oh, the world is a truly terrible place and itâs only natural that it runs you down.
but he leaves them with the simplest of explanations, instead. maybe itâs his subtle way of denying that thereâs anything wrong. that you could be upset about something. it doesnât matter, anyway.
and tsumiki, ever so trusting of all of you, listens to him. if satoru says that youâre okay, then so does she. sheâll draw you a picture at school or try to help you make their lunches in the morning, but youâre fine. her questions end with an answer.
megumi, on the other hand, has never believed a word that satoru has said.
so when the older man swears that youâre okay, that they donât need to worry, megumi only begins to worry harder.
he sees that look on your face when you walk in the room, and megumi knows. maybe itâs because heâs the most attuned to you, out of everyone, in particular. maybe itâs because heâs observant, or too worrisome for his age (as you tell him).
but he knows.
and if satoru says one thing, megumiâs going to believe the other.
(plus the two of you have always had a symbiotic relationship. you worry about him, and he worries about you. you laugh at him, and he gives a little lip twitch in return).
so satoru is not surprised when megumi brings it up for the fourth time in a week.
âyou want me to what, exactly?â
âyou can talk to them, canât you?â he repeats, giving satoru a bland look. something like âare you serious.â âthey know you.â
satoru snorts. âi donât think my bosses will appreciate me telling them what they can or canât do.â
megumi gives him another look.
and yeah, so satoru already does that. they still donât appreciate it.
he sighs, smiling at the boy. anything to mess with him, really. he ruffles megumiâs hair. âkid, sheâs fine. i canât just tell them to give her a couple of weeks off. there has to be a reason. and,â he adds, cheerfully. âiâve been told itâs impolite to speak on someoneâs behalf without their input.â
âyou donât care about being polite,â megumi argues, crossing his arms.
satoru groans internally. heâs really not going to let this go.
itâs not that satoru necessarily disagrees, but anything he does to help you is going to be refuted with a âbutt out,â or âleave me alone, satoru.â
âtrue,â he says, grinning as he mocks the boys stance. âbut i do care about being yelled at. particularly by your mother.â
âshe needs a break.â
satoru rolls his eyes. âsheâs getting one. the next couple of days are free, and sheâs taking a nap right now.â
megumi frowns, even deeper than usual, and stares satoru down until he breaks.
âmegumi,â the man groans, childishly, pushing the boy out of the room. âyou donât need to worry about her. chill out. just go back to reading about rocks or whatever you were doing.â
âitâs geology.â
satoru waves a hand, indifferent.
(secretly trying to come up with a way to get you to talk to him. he canât ask because youâll just ignore him. he canât force it out of you because that would get the two of you nowhere.
what other options are left, really? youâve put satoru in a terrible position).
âthen can we get something, instead?â megumi asks, almost pleading. âflowers, or⊠whatever girls like.â
ây/n already has flowers. i bought them.â
âbuy something else.â
âwho taught you to be this stubborn?â
megumi only scowls at him.
satoru sighs, scratching his head. he knows he should do somethingâbut heâs so used to sitting around and waiting for you to fix everything.
yes, he does recognize that itâs a terrible habit, and completely unfair. he also recognizes that he is the worst person in the world.
eventually he sighs. âokay. how about i order dinner?â he asks, almost wincing. itâs the most natural responseâeverything can be fixed with food, in satoruâs sophisticated opinion. âthatâll be easy. want to go ask mom what she wants?â
megumi practically runs to your room, leaving satoru with no time to remind him that youâre probably asleep, knocking just brieflyâfrom what satoru can hearâbefore going in.
he tip-toes up to the door, also wanting to check in.
satoru is nothing if not nosy.
and he might as well let megumi do all of the dirty work.
âum, i donât care,â he hears you saying. âwhatever you guys want.â
âitâs for you.â
thereâs a pause. then, âreally, megs, iâm not very hungry, soâŠâ
megumi is frowning down at you when satoru steps in.
âgood nap?â he asks, smiling and sitting at the edge of your bed.
âyou donât need to get dinner. itâs my turn.â
he waves a hand. âi feel like takeout.â
you frown, about to argue when megumi speaks up, glancing between the two of you with an almost furious expression.
âwhatâs wrong?â he asks, his voice soft but mad. like usual. satoru realizes that heâs been tricked into contributing to this.
âwhat?â
âwhy are you upset?â
âupset?â you repeat, eyes widening. âiâm not upset, meguââ
âare you sick?â
âno,â you say, immediately. âiâm just a little tired but itâsââ
âmegumi,â satoru interrupts, trying to ignore the almost hurt look on your faceâthe glance you send his way, pleading and worried. he knows you hate this the most. âletâs let mom sleep some more, okay? tsumiki and you can decide what you wantââ
âno.â
and neither of you can argue, or console the confused boy, before heâs climbing into your bed with a determined look on his face.
satoru tried to grab on to him, but megumi is having none of that, shaking him off before he can get a good grip. youâre looking at satoru anxiously, and this is the worst.
if satoru knows anything about you, itâs that you donât want to be coddled. you donât want to accept any help, even if itâs from your sweet, concerned son.
âmegumiââ you say, though, satoru notes, donât make any attempts to move him when he struggles to get under the covers with you, or when he just sits by your side, barely touching you.
âiâm staying here.â
âreally, bud, iâm okay. you donât need to worry about me.â
âyouâre sad.â
âiâm not.â
megumi looks at you, and satoru watches as you both share a glance. an internal conversation heâll never get to be apart of.
for once in his life heâs not even jealous about it.
âitâsâŠâ you say, but the two boys watch as your shoulders slack and your face drops. all at once, you lose color, life, and just sit there. âitâs fine.â
you say it to them, but it sounds more like a reminder to yourself.
satoruâs face falls. he has no idea what to say, what to do to help youâheâs spent so much time denying that there was anything wrong, that he could do anything to help, and now heâs got no answers.
he feels like an idiot, sitting there. megumi shouldnât be taking more initiative, he should be the one worrying about you, the one to go toâ
megumi doesnât say anything though. he only moves closer to you, not complaining when your arm wraps around his shoulder and you hold him to you.
like a life vest. a support in all of the vastness.
he doesnât need to say âitâs okay,â or âiâm here for you,â for the words to ring out across the the air.
and, satoru realizes, quickly, heâs only doing what you do for them. what you do best.
climbing in beside them and making sure they know that theyâre not alone. being that support, no matter how unwanted.
megumiâs learned from the best.
âsorry,â you mutter to him. âi know im gross.â
megumi shakes his head and settles into you even further. and the boy doesnât cuddleâor, at least, without being forcedâbut your face softens as he leans against you, allowing this kind of intimacy.
and, maybe, satoru thinks, thatâs the problem with all of you.
no one knows quite what to say. what to do to help someone with something that they canât understand. neither he or megumi is sure how to dig you out of this hole.
none of you are very good with words.
but, at least, satoru knows how to be good at this.
he sets his glasses on your bedside table, and he moves you both over with ease, smiling when you both grunt at his intrusion.
and then youâre a tower of people, all leaning against one another. building blocks stacked on top of each other.
you relax into satoru almost instantly and he kisses the top of your head, feeling some sort of prideâjust at the fact that youâll let him be here, with you.
maybe thatâs the thing with families, he thinks. no one needs to say anything for it to be okay.
and the uneasiness sits there with all of you. the past couple of weeksâthe distancing and disassociatingâlinger there.
thereâs nothing he can say to make everything all better. he could destroy the entire world right now, save for your house, and it still wouldnât be enough.
but this is nice. a hug might not fix everything, but it wonât make anything worse
and after a minute or two, you say: âwhereâs tsumiki?â
and she peeks her head out from your door, smiling at all three of you. it takes her three seconds to jump on the bed, having been waiting there the whole time, the final piece to your messed up puzzle.