@⁰² sihyeon k. "you should've cared enough to ask."
albeit dangerously true, and a statement that taehyung had lived by since the events surrounding sihyeon's brother, the words are lost within the brief second of breaths intermingled with each others, only to then be swallowed down by a kiss dripping in fervency.
growing into adulthood, kim taehyung wasn't a man that typically got lost in someone else, nor the need or want for accompaniment by his side. considering the circumstances around his coming-of-age, it wasn't realistic for him to worry about such things. it was challenging, sure, to not have someone by his side throughout the years of his life, but it wasn't a necessity. and to be honest, he'd gotten used to it. but within this moment, he gets lost in a girl that once was his distraction from the woman he'd truly loved. a girl that had become a close friend, yet drifted. just like everyone else. and suppose she were to again after this, whatever this was, but at least right now someone was at his side.
a guttural grunt emits from tiers held hostage, palms exploring the expanse of the female's back before lowering the length of it until his hands find the underside of her thighs. careful to not break the seal of the kiss, taehyung manages to hoist her smaller figure against his with one hand pressing upon her lower back and the other beneath her thigh. the grip holds her against him steadily as blind steps are taken forward until he can feel the wall successfully greet her back, to which his lips finally stray to hurriedly run down to her neck, fingers fumbling at the hem of her shirt.
@⁰⁴ taehyung k. he takes her wrists within his grasp and she feels herself weakening, becoming softer with her pushes, not even bothering to yank her arms from his. no . . . she's angry because she's spent the entirety of her high school career resenting the man before her for absolutely almost no reason, aimlessly following in the steps of her older brother without any shred of guidance from taehyung. there's a slim chance that one could justify her vexation for him, but she knows she's wrong―she should've asked him. she should've confronted him about it, made sure whatever her brother was spewing was right, but no. if anything, /he/ should hate /her/, and maybe he does, but the moment he dips his head too damn close for people who've supposedly disliked each other for years, she can't tell if he does.
perhaps this fact is harder to swallow now, years later, but at the time of vulnerability, the peak of her innocence―she liked him. that smile that she no longer sees, his voice that used to greet her with much lilt, and his laugh that she once adored hearing . . . god, she was nearly head over heels for him.
"you should've told me," she repeats, letting her words get lost in the distance between their lips, to which she takes a glance upon his tiers. "you should've cared about how i felt about you." a younger sihyeon, foolish and naïve, would've taken any opportunity to be the one he pulls so intimately close, and perhaps she hasn't changed, for in this moment, as she gazes up at him, she's back in high school. then he completes that once sweet reverie, the plushness of his lips meeting hers in a hurried kiss, one that almost has her chasing after. this should feel wrong, but she can't help it.
"taehyung, can't you shut up and just ing kiss me."
it's a demand that leaves her, heightening herself on the tips of her toes to initiate their next lip-lock that serves to be of more passion than the brief peck he'd offer her. his hold over her wrists loosen and she takes this chance to wind her arms around his neck, their chests pressing together as her head tilts the slightest to deepen the connection of their kiss. is it selfish of her to want this? it might be, but that worry is bounded to the depths of her mind with the taste of his lips being far too distracting.
@⁰² sihyeon k. the prodding to taehyung's chest is enough to encourage his head downward, brows knitting together. he should've taken it as some kind of red flag, a warning sign per-say, for the shove to his chest sends him staggering back, a second shove encouraging his arms to extend out to catch himself on whatever was closest and find his placement once more. "you're angry with me for not telling you? are you kidding?" the question is spoken between gritted teeth with a narrowed gaze placed over her figure. his own hands are fast to catch sihyeon's wrists in a faint grip before her palms were able to unkindly greet his chest again, and his stance before her is strong.
"i didn't tell you because i didn't want your pity. nor did i want anyone else's."
his head dips downward to relatively lessen the space between them, grip still remaining around her wrists as his voice lowers to a volume as if what was being spoken was incredibly confidential. "i've lost my parents, i've lost a good number of friends. the least i could care about is how somebody felt about me. yeah, it got ing annoying, but at the end of the day i couldn't give any less of a of what anyone thinks of, or feels about me. you still hate me?" he breathes in, looking back and forth between her eyes before his hues dance over her lips. the animalistic instinct of man gnaws at his abdomen, forcing him forward to close the remaining distance between them momentarily, a split second even.
"then hate me. but know the truth of why you're doing so while you're at it." the words are muffled upon being spoken against her lips, and the tips of his fingers find themselves caressing her wrists now, the grip long gone.
@⁰⁴ taehyung k. she doesn't want to listen, it's as simple as that. as stubborn as her older brother seemed to be (to both her and taehyung), she was even more so, and it shows in the way she refuses to even look him in the eyes, etching out a scoff in the midst of his rather harsh explanation.
but she does.
she listens and she understands, despite her brother's voice in the back of her mind telling her otherwise. if she looks through his perspective, put herself in taehyung's shoes, there's no doubt that she, too, would be undeniably upset, on the brink of anger and resentment, with the person on the other end, which would be her brother. but, perhaps, that is what bothers her the most out of their whole unexplained ordeal; he's right and it's possible that her brother was in the wrong. but . . . it's not like she could ask him, now could she? both of them, her brother and taehyung, just left her to blindly hate someone without justification, and , that's so unlike her. that frustration is what fuels her to meet him halfway within his steps, having to tilt her head back just the slightest to match gazes with his own ebony orbs, her pointer prodding once at his chest almost as if to tell him to . . . shut up. she's supposed to be mad at him, just as she has been the past years of her life. she's supposed to be relentless with him, pissed off―yet, she finds herself more angry at herself for not searching for answers after all this time.
"you let me be blind to it," she declares, irrationally shifting the blame. "you let me hate you all this time, that's your fault. you didn't even bother to tell me why the you and my brother were fighting, you didn't even bother to explain to me, after years, about how you felt and what actually happened on your side. if that was supposed to make me hate you less, it didn't work―i still hate you." another push to his chest, more aggressive than she sought out for it to be. inevitably, there's a part of her wanting to apologize, but it's faint, allowing for unreasonable anger to take place. "why didn't you ing tell me?"
@⁰² sihyeon k. "why the would i joke about something like this?" his brows knit together in a look that's a pure mixture of confusion, annoyance and fury. although it'd been years ago, way too long to be thinking about something that could've easily been left behind, sihyeon made it hard to do so. her very presence, and how she greets him and talks to him, is not only a direct copy and paste of her brother but /also/ demeaning. "yeah, that's it precisely." he hisses, the tips of his fingers now tucked within the fronts of his pockets to resist forming fists with both hands, just as he'd done years ago to put her brother back into his place. "the guy never liked me, and i'm sure that's where your despise comes from because bias comes with family. however--" recalling the situation was frustrating in itself, because it was a time where he himself wasn't the greatest guy. "whatever was going on between him and i isn't what the entire school knew. he would go, twist my words and spill them to the next person that would listen. which, considering he was pretty well known, came full circle around the school."
his teeth grit and he raises a hand to stop her from interrupting, exhaling. "i tried to take care of things in private, but how would you feel having an entire school on your back accusing you of saying that you didn't?" his steps are long, slow and calculated as he steps to her. "yeah, i fought him and i'm not proud of it. and i'm sure he's a good guy now, but at the time that's what was happening. even if you and the entire school was blind to it."
@⁰⁴ taehyung k. about ten candidly taken shots in and she's already letting a relatively quiet groan slip out. sure, although she'd tell herself that she would be mature about her working with him, how long was that going to actually last? not long, obviously. 'you can lose the attitude', he says, only to tell her that her older brother is an . right. an audible scoff emits past her lips, ultimately allowing her camera to hang loosely around her neck to shoot him an incredulous look. "you're joking," she deadpans. "you have to be because that's the most ridiculous thing i've heard. you want /me/ to lose /my/ attitude while you're over here thinking you can say whatever you want about my brother?"―her brother that's in a coma, she holds her tongue. undoubtedly, it strikes something within her and although she is usually someone that keeps such negative opinions to herself, she can't help it when it's about her family. "i don't know the entire story, is that it? alright, then tell me," hovering her camera up and discarding it onto the table, her arms cross over her chest, only to await for his reply. "go ahead."
@⁰² sihyeon k. his brow, as it'd been doing for however long the two had been at it, raises in response to the attitude that he was receiving. it was clear sihyeon had a problem with him, and the male certainly understood the reasoning behind it, but how could there have been any room for attempt to clear the air when he's repetitively shut out before given the opportunity to do so? "uh huh."
the bridge of taehyung's nose naturally crinkles, he'd never been a fan of drama and tended to stay far, far away from it. today, however, he felt trapped. "y'know, you can lose the attitude." he mutters before giving a good few poses (one's he'd evidently learned from high fashion magazines). it's when the curve of his chin perches itself upon his palm does he finally shift his hues to catch her own. "listen, i understand why you have a problem with me, but you don't know the entire story." he shifts, up-taking a different pose before raising a brow. "you're brother's an , he wouldn't agree to tell the whole story if i begged on my knees."
@⁰⁴ taehyung k. "yeah, later,"―and it's none of your business, she concludes silently. she responds without paying him a glance, her focus evidently leaning towards the mechanics of her camera to fit the assignment requirements, finding herself more uninterested by whatever he's had to say. "not like i could just up and leave. if i could, i would've already done so."
she takes another step back, switching back between the viewfinder and him, before offering him a face, scrunching her nose in deliberation. "nope. you're the model, so just do whatever you're comfortable with. just nothing lame, thanks." it's a good enough answer, she figures, and if it wasn't, that didn't necessarily concern her. simply put, her job was just to take pictures and she was good at that, but him, on the other hand, would be worrisome if anything. "so, whenever you're ready, loser."
@⁰² sihyeon k. "ah," his right hand flees to clutch at the fabric of his shirt right over his heart with somewhat of a pained expression. "you hurt my pride." that same expression is replaced with one of bemusement seconds later, because quite frankly, taehyung wasn't sure if she could uphold the ability to do such a thing. not that he had much pride to begin with in the first place. honey hues linger amongst sihyeon's visage before elevating to overlook the shape of her wrist that hovered right above his head.
"right," the male begins, a brow raising as his posture straightens up. "i thought you had 'plans'?" the question isn't one of mockery, but is genuine. "any way i want?" leather shoes click as the heels greet the wooden floor beneath, left arm raising to brush through his strands before turning to face the camera once more. "no plans for posing?"
@⁰⁴ taehyung k. as he saunters in, she has to offer him a double take because, quite frankly, she's unsure as to how she forgets just how handsome he is (that she almost questions if that's him)―his hair curtaining over his eyes, jaw sharp, collar smoothed―until he opens his mouth. yeah, that's kim taehyung, alright. utmost immediately, she rolls her eyes upon his usage of a pet name, letting out a sigh. this was going to be a long evening.
"don't," she hisses lowly, hanging the strap of her camera over her neck. "you can trust that i'd be professional with anyone that isn't you." clarifying with an evident tone, she takes a step closer to lay his posture underneath her scrutiny before she outstretches a hand to brush through his tendrils in a subtle move. this is the closest she's ever been to him and she absolutely doesn't like it, but after all, he is her model. she holds her breath, far too preoccupied with wanting to leave and get this assignment done and over, only to shuffle back and look through the viewfinder to adjust her angles. "twenty minutes max. you can just pose however you want."
@⁰² sihyeon k. leaning forward to peer at his reflection within the tall body mirror, slender digits obstruct the placement of his strands and repetitively run through them until he looked.. well, decent. he had to at least give himself some credit, because taehyung is sure he wouldn't be receiving any compliment from /her/. honey hues overlook her form as he walks in long strides to the back drop, adjusting the collar of his shirt with the elevation of one of his brows. "as a photographer should." he utters profoundly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. he, too, was a part of the photography and (would like to claim he knew a thing or two) this certainly wasn't his first rodeo.
"go on then, sweetheart." a look of bemusement dons his visage, his right foot perched atop of a chair and his elbow loosely slung over the shape of his knee. "with your plans, i mean. but i do request that you go on with less of the attitude, not very professional." he notes beneath his breath, overlooking her figure with a shake of his head. he was aware that she despised him, but he's also aware that she didn't know half of the story.
@⁰⁴ taehyung k. here she is, dyed tresses all tied in a loose bun, donning her casual-wear with her personal camera tucked in its bag―seems about normal, right? the only thing extremely out of place was that she was in the home of kim taehyung. she doesn't know how she got herself here, to tell you the truth. perhaps, it was the unlucky draw of the card that brought her to be assigned to him for her photography project, or just fate's twisted way of reminding her that she should visit her older brother more often than she's been. whatever it was, she despised it. but, as she's reassured herself countless of times around him; she'll be mature about it.
with the white backdrop that she's brought successfully set up, she aimlessly scrolls through the gallery of her camera, heaving out a sigh. "i know you're my 'muse'―" this, she attempts to say without the eye roll. "but i have plans, y'know?"
