Taehyung reserves Hybe's private jet for early February, so we can take our birthday trip to Indonesia. It's the first time I've ever flown on anything so fancy, but I try to play it cool. Our flight time is just over seven hours, so we enjoy the nice catering, play a few hands of Uno (I win every time), watch a Squid Game rerun, and then snuggle up together for a nap on one of the posh lie-flat seats.

I feel remarkably well-rested when we arrive in Denpasar, and there is very little tourist traffic so getting through customs is a breeze. We pick up the rental car, Tae types the resort's name into his phone navigation, and we set out along the narrow coastal highway.

Dense green forests line the road, opening up on rice fields or small villages from time to time. We catch a glimpse of an ornate Hindu temple peeking out among the trees, and the road is full of motorbikes and scooters buzzing by. A monkey runs across the road in front of me, and I slam on the brakes - fortunately, it makes it across unscathed. "This place looks amazing. We should come back some time for longer, and really explore!" I say.

Tae grins at me and pulls his shades down to look at me. "Yes, let's live here for a while, too!" I chuckle.

After just over an hour's drive, I steer the rental car into the resort's valet spot and we go inside to check in. The resort is really beautiful, but has a deserted air about it, thanks to the pandemic. Bali only started allowing tourists in again this month, and not too many have come. But that's perfect for us - fewer other tourists means less likelihood of running into ARMYs here.

Our cabana is absolutely gorgeous, designed and decorated in a neo-colonial style, with lots of rattan, creamy linens, lush house plants, and natural colors. The soaring ceiling is ribbed with teak wood, reminding me of the upside down hull of a ship. A folding glass accordion door looks out on the infinity pool and hot tub, and there's a lovely view of the bay beyond. To each side of the pool deck, there are abundant flowering trees and manicured shrubs that create a natural screen between us and the neighboring cabanas. Stylish, modern deck furniture and a small table with three chairs finish the wonderful outdoor space.

"I love the décor here, babe," I tell Tae, and he nods.

"We should make a house like this someday," he says. My heart jolts, but I cover my panic with a smile.

"I thought you wanted a Victorian gingerbread house like that one at the arboretum in LA?" I tease. "Or an English country manor house with extensive stables?"

Tae just grins at me.

There are wooden steps down to the beach, and a long dock runs out into the bay. I can see a couple of sit-atop kayaks pulled up on the beach, and there is an open shelving unit to the left of the infinity pool that has snorkels, masks, and fins in it.

We consider walking down to the beach, but decide to just put our suits on and go for a swim in the infinity pool, instead. We alternate between the pool and the hot tub, careful not to overheat his skin, and then go inside for an afternoon nap.

In the evening, we sit out on the pool deck under a big umbrella to eat our dinner, which is amazing. We sample the grilled spring chicken with coriander, served on a bed of mushroom rice, and a dish of calamari dipped in sambal sauce, which almost reminds me of gochujjang but with a gingery twist.

After our dinner has settled a bit, we put our swimsuits back on and watch the pink, tropical sunset from the edge of the infinity pool. As the air starts to cool, we hop into the hot tub and snuggle together, watching the stars appear one by one in the night sky.

"Birdie, this is perfect," Taehyung says, pulling me into a back hug.

I sigh contentedly and lean back against his chest. "I'm so glad we came. Thanks for getting the plane for us, babe!" I say.

His only answer is to push my hair away from the nape of my neck and kiss me under my ear.

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Our first morning in Bali dawns with a beautiful blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. We have a nice western-style breakfast out on the pool deck - eggs and bacon for me, pancakes with fresh tropical fruit for Taehyung - and then decide to put on our bathing suits and walk down to the sea for some snorkeling. He brings his new prized possession, a disposable underwater camera that he bought at the airport.

I always panic slightly when I first put my face in the water and inhale. My brain just doesn't believe that it's OK to breathe underwater. But I adjust quickly and look over at him, giving him a double thumbs-up. He eye-smiles at me, and we swim side by side at the surface out toward the reef. The water is gloriously clear and warm.

Taehyung spots a little cuttlefish just going about its business down on the seafloor, and taps my hand to get my attention. The cephalopod hovers, blending in with the sandy bottom by turning its skin a fashionable tiger striped pattern. The frill around its body ripples hypnotically, and then it starts bopping along the bottom, its skin putting on a crazy show of color and pattern. We glance at each other in wonder and gently drift a bit closer. Unfortunately, the cuttlefish notices us and blanches pure white in fear, then shoots away to hide in the reef. I send finger hearts after it, and Tae's laughter bubbles out around his snorkel.

We reach the reef and float over it for a bit, just taking in the scene and letting the residents get used to our presence. I hear a weird scraping noise, and realize that it's the sound of large teal and purple parrotfish biting pieces of coral off the reef. I look over at Tae, and he points to his ear and then the nearest parrotfish. I eye-smile and nod, clasping my hands over my heart. We watch beautiful yellow fish with black and white striped faces dart back and forth through the coral. A lighter yellow fish with a big black spot tipped with orange, yellow and blue catches my eye and I point it out to Taehyung. It almost looks like it has the eye of a peacock's tail feather tattooed onto its side.

An amazing fish maybe nine or ten inches long swims up to inspect me. It has a dark brown body, with yellow lips ringed in white. Its back has a yellow saddle speckled with brown, while its brown belly has large white spots. Under its eye is a white stripe, while curved stripes of brown and white decorate its tail. The fish floats up, its disproportionately small pectoral fins working overtime, and then turns to peer right into my mask. I try to stay really still and hold my breath, because I don't want any bubbles to escape and scare it. The fish drifts over and nibbles my shoulder to see if I'm food and it tickles so bad I have to laugh. Startled, the fish shoots away and heads back down to the reef.

Tae and I surface and take our mouthpieces out, grinning at each other. "You got bitten by a fish!" he laughs. "I hope you were delicious!"

I beam at him. "That tickled so much, babe! I don't know how it thought it could eat a piece of food as big as me, though!"

He grins. "My tasty little Birdie. And that cuttlefish was awesome! I wish I could do that with my skin. Think of the possibilities!"

"You'll have to figure out how to do it, love! It was so freaking cute. It was just going along like 'doot-do-do-doot!' We should have one for a pet," I giggle.

We put our snorkels back in and submerge again, drifting close to the surface. I watch a parrotfish swim up into the open water two or three feet above the coral and then slowly let its tail end float up until it's almost standing on its head. Tae is watching it, too, and we shoot each other a confused look. Suddenly a much smaller fish darts up from the reef. The parrotfish opens its mouth so the cleaner wrasse can groom its face and gills for it. Taehyung and I exchange astonished looks.

We float out to the far end of the reef, and I see some type of large structures with scalloped edges on the seabed. With a sudden shock, I realize that they are giant clam shells, up to three feet long. The clams that are open show plush, colorful bodies that almost look like velvet upholstery in jewel shades of purple, blue, green and pink. They are so gorgeous, so baroque, that they don't seem real. Tae points down and raises his eyebrows, and I nod, blowing the water out of my snorkel and taking a deep breath. We dive down for a closer look at the clams. I am comfortable under the water, but he is a freaking merman. For one thing, he has incredible lung capacity, and can stay under about twice as long as I can. He seems to really be in his element, so to speak, swimming gracefully and powerfully among the giant shells, his eyes enormous with wonder. I am starting to tire after my third dive down, but he seems to have endless energy. We surface for a breath, and I decide to just float there for a while as he dives down once again to take some photos of the clams with his underwater camera.

Suddenly, I see a large, sinuous shape approaching from Taehyung's blind side, and I panic. I don't want to swim quickly or thrash around, because I don't want to alarm the shark or make it think that I am prey. But I need to warn Tae. I take a deep breath and try to swim smoothly but quickly down toward him, my eyes fixed on the black-tip that is undulating ever closer. Tae sees me coming, and I point behind him urgently. He turns around and sees the shark, which is only about ten feet away now. I stop swimming and just allow my body to float back up toward the surface, watching with my heart in my mouth. Tae calmly watches the five-foot-long shark coming toward him. It seems to register his presence, looking straight at him from about four feet away, then it swerves away slightly, swimming right beneath me and continuing on its way toward the beach.

Tae drifts up to the surface for a breath. "Birdie! Thank you for showing me! That was awesome!! I hope the photos turn out!"

I laugh and shake my head. "I was afraid it was going to sneak up and bite your ass, babe!"

"Could you blame it if it did?" he says, giving me a boxy grin.

"No, not at all!" I laugh and gnash my teeth at him. "But you know how the fish around here are. They really do bite, man!"

He laughs. "These huge shells are amazing, too. I hope the pictures are good."

"They are absolutely gorgeous." I smile at him. "I hate to say it, love, but I'm starting to get hungry. I don't know how long we've been out here. Are you ready to head back for a break? We can come out again this afternoon. Or maybe kayak, instead? Or both?"

Tae grins. "Let's do everything! I love it here."

I smile. "I'm so glad, love! Happy birthday again! Although this is one of those gifts that benefits the giver as much as the recipient, isn't it?" He just twinkles his eyes at me through the mask.

We order a simple lunch of fried rice, a double order of chicken skewers, and a chopped vegetable salad, with mango juice to drink, of course. Then we go inside to rinse the salt and sunblock residue off before room service shows up.

Taehyung sits in the little armchair and takes out his phone, and I tsk at him as I dig through the suitcase to find a cotton sundress to wear during lunch. I'm afraid that he is checking work emails or something, but then he looks up and says, "Do you know what a wombat is?"

I nod. "Australian. Marsupial. Freakish cross between a koala and a footstool. Why?"

He laughs at me. "Well, did you also know that they poop cubes?"

"Cubes of what?" I giggle.

He gives me a look through his bangs. "Dung, Birdie. Cubes of dung." We both laugh, as I ponder this information for a moment.

"Do they have square buttholes?" I ask. Tae immediately begins to type the question in, and I laugh again and walk into the bathroom to shower in the luxurious teak-lined open stall. I'm scrubbing to try to remove all the gross, sticky old sunblock, but can't reach the middle of my back. "Taehyung-ah!" I yell. "I need you!"

He hustles in looking worried. "What's wrong?" he asks.

"I can't get this slime off my back. Can you help me?" He looks down at his swim trunks, peels them off, and steps into the stall.

Tae takes the soapy washcloth and starts to very gently scrub. He rubs his thumb over my skin, and then scrubs a bit harder. "This stuff is really sticky!" he says, and then bands his left arm over my breasts and starts to scrub even harder.

I laugh and wriggle in his embrace. "You just needed leverage, right?" I tease, reaching back to run my fingers up his hip.

He leans forward and says, "Yeah," into my ear in his deep-and-sexy voice.

"Hmmm..." I lean my head to give him more access as he starts to nibble my neck, his fingers stroking my breast.

Tae gently spins me around and hoists me up. I wrap my legs around his waist and smile into his beautiful eyes, then reach over to turn off the water. Tae walks us forward until my back is pressed up against the shower wall, his mouth in a sexy snarl. "Birdie, we've never done it this way..." he says.

"Let's try it, then," I smile, grinding my crotch slowly against him and burying my hands in his stiff, salty hair.

I don't even think about the fact that we don't have a condom, too eager as Tae inserts himself into me and starts to thrust hard, pressing me up against the wall. I spread my legs as wide as possible and rock forward to meet each surge, moaning, then start to giggle.

"What's funny?" Tae asks.

"I feel like a bug in a museum, pinned to the wall. But I really, really like it!"

"Not a bug, a butterfly," he says, stroking the inside of my folded thigh with his fingers.

Fortunately he has the presence of mind to pull out before he comes. I am so carried away by the pleasure that I'm not even thinking about it.

The room service staff have discreetly left our lunch out on the swim deck table, covered with a silver cloche. Our glasses of mango juice have colorful silk toppers, held on with rubber bands, to keep insects out. "Oh, this is so fancy!" I say, smiling.

"Mmmm, I'm glad it's here, I'm starving!" he says, setting the table quickly and diving into the food.

We decide to have an afternoon nap after lunch, before heading back out to the bay. I flop down on the bed while Tae goes to use the bathroom.

He comes out pouting.

"What's wrong, love?"

"Even though I used a high SPF, my skin is burned!" he says. I squint at him carefully, and see that he is slightly tanned.

I eye-smile and sigh. "This is one of those major cultural differences, love. As an American, I think you actually look very sexy and healthy when your skin is sun-kissed like that. I prefer it to really pale skin. Tanned Tae is sexy as fuck, to me."

"Really?"

I nod, growl, and bite my lower lip at him. "Yeah," I purr.

He ducks his head and smiles. "OK, that's good."

______________________________________

Later that afternoon, we click on life vests just to be extra safe, and float one of the sit-on-top kayaks off the dock. I clamber aboard while Tae holds it steady, and then I hold onto the edge of the dock so he can step on. We paddle smoothly all around the bay, stopping to look down at the reefs from time to time. When we reach the mouth of the bay, he asks if I want to go out into the open ocean.

"I don't know, babe, this isn't really an ocean kayak," I say. "It's very short and top-heavy. We should get a different boat if we're going out there."

"OK," he says, steering us back toward the resort.

We drag the kayak back up onto the dock and take off our life vests. I smile over at him. "That was pretty fun, but I think I like snorkeling better!" I say.

Tae nods emphatically. "Should we redo our sun cream and go back in?" he asks.

"Yes, let's!" I say, reaching over to take his hand as we walk back up the dock to the beach.