"I don't know about this color... what do you think?" you question while looking over at Taehyung. Taehyung looks up from his ceramic squirrel dish that he's painting. As he stares down at your ceramic owl you chose, face expressionless for a second.

After a few seconds, he opens his mouth to speak.

"Hm... well, why aren't you sure about it?" he questions. You shrug your shoulders. This causes him to laugh softly. "Well, you can't just not paint it. We paid for us to paint. It doesn't have to be realistic. This is for fun, Y/N."

"I know but with what I've learned in my architecture classes-"

"This isn't for your architecture classes." He immediately states. You pause and look over at him to see him staring at you now rather than the owl. "This isn't an architecture project. There's no rules to follow, no color requirements, no palette to use. This is supposed to be relaxing for you." He licks his lips while staring over at you for a few seconds.

You stare down at the color palette staring up at you before you immediately nod your head. Taking a deep breath, you pick up your paint brush and start mixing paint colors to create your own color. You mix green and blue to start creating a teal shade. You then start painting the base of the owl as Taehyung watches.

His squirrel is purple and the bowl is still white and untouched.

He watches as you begin to mix colors to paint before you start adding in blacks and whites to the teal shade. A smile slowly creeps onto his face as he watches you doing your magic with the paint.

While staring over at you, he tilts his head to the side before resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He then tilts his head to the side.

"Much better. Don't hesitate." He states before picking up his paint brush again, starting to work on the bowl. You glance over at him with a small smile on your face. "If you don't hesitate with what you're doing with your art, you get better results. Any time I have a pitch to give at work for an ad, I never hesitate because then I'd overthink."

"So, you just tell your boss the first thing that pops into your head when they ask for ideas?" he nods. "Even if it were to be an advertisement for something like an STD?" you question. This causes Taehyung to laugh before shaking his head.

Upon saying this, you feel eyes glaring at you. This causes you to turn your attention to the direction you feel the stare coming from. As you do so, you see three parents glaring over at you while their five children giggle.

You then silently mouth the word 'sorry' before looking over at Taehyung. He begins laughing, leaning his head back before reaching his hand up to cover his mouth.

"I've never had to pitch any ideas for something like that actually..." he drifts off before shrugging his shoulders. "I guess we'll find out about that if I ever do get put onto an ad like that." He laughs softly before also giving the parents an apologetic look.

The parents merely roll their eyes before attempting to get their children's attention back on their ceramics.

You then let out a soft giggle before shaking your head.

"So, I have a question." You suddenly bring up, causing Taehyung to arch an eyebrow while staring over at you.

"What's up?"

"Can you jog my memory on something?" you question. "Have I told you why I've been going on so many dates lately?" You stare over at Taehyung and he immediately shakes his head.

"I just assumed you wanted to get a boyfriend." He shrugs while continuing to paint the bowl, carefully making sure to not paint the squirrel he already painted. "Why?"

"I figured I owe you an explanation." You state before shrugging.

"Okay, go for it."

"So, remember the one who turned me down because he had a date already?" he nods. "He's throwing this frat party and I keep going on dates to find someone to take to the party so I don't look pathetic going by myself." You explain. This causes him to pause, paint brush pressed against one spot on the bowl before he pulls it away.

"Why would you look pathetic going alone?" he questions. You shrug your shoulders before letting out a soft sigh.

"I just... I haven't been on a date since high school and everyone I'm friends with pretty much know about that. I just wanted to do something different."

"So, you did that, then asked him to go with you once you had those bad dates?" he places the puzzle pieces together based on what you're saying. You nod. "And then he said no because he already had a date so it's back to square one of finding a different date?" you nod.

"Pretty much." You state before shrugging your shoulders.

"Well, why not just let me take you?" he directly asks. This causes you to pause now, brush pressed against the cold ceramic, no longer moving. You look up at him and see him staring over at you.

"I didn't know it was an option." You state before licking your lips.

"Well, I care about you. So, yeah, it's an option... if you want me to take you." He states before going back to painting. You tilt your head to the side before smiling widely.

"I'd love that." You state before pressing your lips together. "But there's a catch." You mumble under your breath. This causes Taehyung to arch an eyebrow before looking over at you.

"What kind of catch?" he questions. You press your lips together as you try to word this in a way that doesn't freak him out.

"So, this is my friends' faults and it's a little complicated." You state before letting out a soft sigh.

"Okay..." he says, drifting off towards the end of the sentence.

"But basically, the guy who ended up turning me down felt bad about turning me down, broke off his date with the girl he already said yes to and tried asking me out again."

"So, you don't need a date?" he questions, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I'm not done explaining." You state before taking a deep breath as you continue to paint the owl to avoid eye contact with him. "So, I turned him down because I'm no one's second option. However, when I turned him down, I mentioned that I was planning on asking someone else, that someone being you."

"Okay, I'm following."

"Then he started interrogating my friends about who I'm taking so they had to lie and say that I'm taking a guy who I've been talking with and dating." You state.

"So, what you're saying is we're in the talking phase in his mind?" you nod. "So, I have to practically pretend to be your boyfriend?" he questions. You nod your head, biting nervously onto your lower lip.

"Again, I had nothing to do with it." You respond. "I just said that I was asking someone else but never specified anything about it. My friends are the one who couldn't just tell the guy to fuck off. Instead, they chose to give him far too many details that can get us into a lot of shit." You ramble, already prepared for Taehyung to call you crazy and to say no.

The parents are now glaring at you again. Taehyung glances at them before letting out a soft laugh. They start to whisper things to one another are obviously about you and not so quiet. This causes you to narrow your eyes at them.

"Oh for fucks' sake," you say while looking over at the parents. "Get over it. They're going to hear cuss words in school or on TV anyway. And they're going to be taking a sex education class that teaches them about STDs so mind your own business, alright?" you confront the parents.

The children begin to giggle while the parents immediately grab the ceramics their children were painting and their children's hands. They start rushing to get the children out of there, causing Taehyung to start laughing. You, however, are rolling your eyes at their behavior before going back to painting.

"Ah, overprotective parents. Always wanting to shield their children from the simplest things like words." Taehyung says before shaking his head with a wide smile on it. "I'll do it."

This causes your head to snap in his direction. You then blink before shaking your head for a second.

"I'm sorry, did I hear that right?" you question. "You're actually willing to do it?" Taehyung merely nods.

"Friends help friends, right?" he questions before looking over at you. "Plus, we've been getting closer anyway... it wouldn't be hard to fake a chemistry together. Also, it saves you from going on more bad dates and wasting your time." He smiles over at you.

"Taehyung, you're a life saver!" you immediately exclaim before shifting your body on the chair. As you do this, you wrap your arms around him and pull him into a hug. He widens his eyes for a second before wrapping his arms around you as well. A smile finds its way on his face without you knowing.

As you hug him, you can't help but inhale the scent of his cologne. It's musky but fresh.

You can't help but smile as well as you inhale his scent.

"But I will say," he speaks up again. "If we're going to do this, we're going to have to go on a few practice dates." He says. This causes you to pull away from the hug to make eye contact with him. You furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

"What? How come?" he then smiles softly before moving a stray hair away from your face as he looks at you.

"So that we know nothing can go wrong during this frat party." he states. "We have to make sure we get all of the possible bad scenarios taken care of... or at least have a plan for them."

You let out a soft laugh before nodding your head.

"Okay, makes sense." You bite onto your lower lip as you sit properly in your chair again, no longer leaning over to hug him. "After all, with my bad luck, we're bound to have something happen. You're right, it's better to be prepared." He grins before nodding.

"Exactly." He then licks his lips before the two of you eventually get back to painting and talking about many different topics ranging from your childhoods, hobbies, etc.

*****
I hope all of you are doing well.

I've been sick the past week so I'm very sorry for not posting this update last week but I had to take a bit of a break to get healthy again.

I hope all of you are doing great and are happy and healthy always.

I purple you
Kim 💜