"Why aren't you ready yet?!"

Taehyung slammed his laptop shut because he had been previously gawking at some pictures on Seokjin's account before his mother barged into his room unceremoniously.

"Eommoni, please knock before coming in," Taehyung complained.

"Why does your own mother need to knock before coming in?!"

Taehyung sighed and asked, "What were you saying?"

"You aren't even ready yet! Sunhwa is already here!"

"Who..?"

"I knew you would lie to me and skip the blind date so I invited her family over. I made it look like I wanted to just have Sunhwa over but you will have to talk to her daughter, okay?"

"Eommoni," Taehyung tried to control his tone. "I have told you that I am not  interested in women."

"And I don't believe you a single bit! After what I saw a few days ago? Never," his mother replied stubbornly.

"I don't know what would make you believe in me! Do you want me to kiss Jimin and Jungkook in front of you?!" Taehyung instantly regretted his words.

"Oh I'd love to see proof Kim Taehyung! Just because guests are over now, I will let this behaviour pass-"

"Eommoni, do you even care how old I am?"

"I'm your mother and I have every right to-" his mother stopped abruptly and took a deep breath and exhaled, trying to smile.

"Just get ready and meet Sunhwa's girl, okay? We will discuss the rest later." And with that, Mrs. Kim existed her son's room with a dramatic flip of her shawl and hair, which came slightly undone from its tight bun.

Taehyung groaned and closed his eyes, trying to swallow his anger and frustration.

Taehyung: I hate my life

Taehyung waited for his friends' consoling but neither of them seemed to be on their phones.

Taehyung had no interest in interacting or attracting the daughter so his brain devised a little plan. He walked over his closet and pulled out a loud Hawaiian print shirt and bright orange shorts in order to display his unshaven legs. He finished the look my pushing his hair back with a pair of pink heart shaped sunglasses before admiring his work in front of the long mirror. He pondered on using excessive hair gel or coconut oil to make himself look even more obnoxious but his mother's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"TaeTae! You're ready, right?!"

Taehyung took one last look at the piece of art he had just created before walking out, feeling extremely accomplished. He was ready to make the girl and her mother feel repulsed even if it meant he would have conseqeunces to deal with but the universe really hated him so he faced the consequences the moment he walked into the living room because the first person who locked eyes with him was none other than Seokjin.

"Tae- oh, um, you haven't changed yet?" Taehyung heard his mother ask in a sickly sweet voice from somewhere in the room while his entire body burnt with pure embarrassment.

"Hi, hyung," Taehyung squeaked before  remembering there were other people in the room so  bowed to them.

"Ah, so this is... Taehyung?" Said his mother's friend, Sunhwa with an awkward smile as if she couldn't decide what to think of Taehyung.

"Yes! He's my eldest son and he works at..."

Taehyung could definitely see where Seokjin (and his sister) got his genes from because Sunhwa had a timeless face and the grace of a noblewoman. Seokjin himself looked like royalty with his white shirt tucked into black slacks and a black coat finishing the look. It just made Taehyung even more embarrassed.

He almost couldn't recognise Hyejin because when he had first seen her, she had such a carefree face as if nothing in the world really mattered to her but now in a long-sleeved, collared dress that definitely cost more than half of Taehyung's entire wardrobe and the stiffness of her straightened back, Taehyung just could not link her to the girl he saw at the park.

"...right Taehyung?"

"Yes, Eommoni," Taehyung answered absentmindedly, having no idea what his mother was saying.

"Sit down, son, you've been standing there all alone," Sunhwa said with a breezy chuckle and Taehyung was about to see it as kindness but then he realized that she was indicating to the empty spot next to Hyejin.

So Taehyung sat next to Seokjin.

"You should've brought your husband, Sunhwa," Taehyung's mom said, quickly changing the topic to cover up her son's obvious rebellion.

"Oh, he doesn't get out of his bed on Saturdays. He just likes to sit and read all day long," Sunhwa said. "Seokjin wanted to join us, though. Our little prince just returned from abroad today."

Taehyung arched his eyebrows and Seokjin did not meet his gaze, maintaining his doll-like smile.

"Ah, I was going to mention this earlier but your son looks very familiar," Mrs. Kim remarked.

Taehyung noticed Seokjin hands turning into fists at his mother's comment so he came to the older's rescue.

"Eommoni, we went to the same uni," Taehyung supplied.

"Oh, really? Such a small world! So you knew Hyejin too? You should've told me, son," Mrs. Kim said in delight.

"Ah, actually..."

"They didn't go to the same university, Yigang," Sunhwa said with another awkward smile.

"Oh- my bad, Sunhwa..."

"No, it's alright, really! Ah, so Taehyung..."

Taehyung held his breath. He didn't like the look on Sunhwa's face.

"You look... different from the photos," Sunhwa ended with an airy laugh.

At this point, Taehyung's entire body was burning with regret.

"Right, Eomma?" Seokjin piped in. "He looks so much ho- better in real life."

Everyone raised their eyebrows in sync but Seokjin's smile remained unwavered; his ears were ablaze though.

"Ahaha, indeed, little prince," Sunhwa said with an unsure smile.

"So! Taehyung, why don't you take Hyejin and Seokjin to your room? Sunhwa and I don't want to bore you young people with our gossiping," Taehyung's mother suggested.

Taehyung obliged, taking the twins to his room.

"So... little prince, huh?" Taehyung teased as soon as he closed the door and felt triumphant when he saw Seokjin's porcelain doll demeanour break.

"I don't know why she still calls me that..." Seokjin mumbled before looking around.

"Cool room. Appa calls him Nini," Taehyung heard Hyejin, who had taken a seat on his bed, speak for the first time.

"Nini," Taehyung grinned from ear to ear.

"Don't you dare. I'm your hyung," Seokjin said in a pout, softly glaring at Taehyung.

"Interesting choice of clothes, by the way," Hyejin said from her corner.

"Oh, uh- um..." Taehyung tried to look for the right words. "I'll uh- I'll go change."

Taehyung grabbed some clothes from his closet and zoomed into the bathroom, changing his distasteful clothes into something more decent at the speed of light.

"You look good," Seokjin complimented as soon as Taehyung re-entered the room. "Not that you looked bad before- I mean, you always look good."

"Thanks, hyung- um, you look good- great actually like-"

"So I'm guessing you're not interested in me at all," Hyejin called out.

"Yes- I mean, no. I mean, I don't know you." Way to go, Taehyung.

"Good."

"Aren't these your friends from uni?" Seokjin asked as he walked over to some framed pictures of Taehyung with Jimin and Jungkook on the wall.

"Yeah, Jimin-ie and Jungkook-ie."

"I forgot who is who..."

"Well," Taehyung stepped a little closer to Seokjin's back.

He pointed to Jimin and said in a theatrical voice, 'These fine strokes of black and white with a sprinkle of gold to bring life to the monotones is Park Jimin and-"

Taehyung smiled at Seokjin who covered his mouth to giggle.

He pointed at Jungkook and continued in his dramatic voice, 'These swirls of Summer shades fencing with Winter shades represent Jeon Jungkook."

"You guys seem really close."

"Till death do us apart," Taehyung chuckled.

They fell into a moment of unsure silence so Taehyung decided to break it.

"How's your girlfriend?"

"None of your business."/"I'm single!"

"Jin-ah," Hyejin drawled. "He was talking to me."

"Right, of course," Seokjin cleared his throat.

"So uh- we're good, right? Uh, we'll tell our moms that we just didn't like each other," Taehyung offered.

"Obviously."

____________

"Oh..." The colours of dismay on Sunhwa's face was phenomenal.

"Yes, Aunty, I just want to focus on... focus on other things now," Taehyung said carefully, quickly side-eyeing his mother who looked disappointed but not surprised.

"Ah, I see... Well, then... We should be off then..." Sunhwa let out a ring of artificial laughter before rising from her chair.

"At least, have something," Taehyung's mother insisted. "Hyejin and Seokjin haven't even touched anything! And I wanted to get to know your chi-"

"Yigang," Sunhwa interrupted. "I think our business is over."

"But Sunhwa..."

"Aunty made all this for us, Eomma. I think we should stay a little while more," Seokjin tried to persuade his mother with his baby boy smile.

To Taehyung's surprise, it worked because Sunhwa's hard eyes seemed to melt.

"Alright, if our little prince says so," Sunhwa exhaled before saying in a small voice, "I'm sorry, Yigang. I'm just worried about my daughter."

"It's fine, Sunhwa. I understand you. I am a mother too," Mrs. Kim said kindly before beginning to serve the guests.

Taehyung had conveniently sat next to Seokjin because he was too conscious to eat in front of Seokjin and he just wanted to help Seokjin with whatever he needed; maybe he tried to be a little gentleman.

It was all fine. They were all eating with their mothers having small pieces of conversations about things that Taehyung did not care about. Taehyung wondered if he could somehow ask Seokjin to stay over for the night because he kept thinking about Seokjin practically crying out that he was single. The coast was clear for Taehyung. Perhaps he could-

He choked on his food. Very ungracefully.

His mother sighed, pouring him some water, and as Taehyung drank, trying to hold onto his sanity by a thread, the hand on his thigh moved away.

__________

A little visual for my lovelies: