cold air from the chilly outdoors seeped into her apartment as she opened the door. she took a deep breath, beholding the blast of frigid wind to her face. her dark eyes widened when she met kim taehyung standing at the door with a plastic bag in his hand.

"hey jieun."

"hi, taehyung."

an unfamiliar tension ruled the atmosphere when both of them remembered that feelings were now out in the open. jieun loved taehyung. he met her beautiful doe-eyes, a wistful longing stirring in his heart. he blinked and released the breath he did not realise he was holding.

"love the outfit, by the way!" he commented, shaking off the solemn train of thoughts that ran through his mind.

jieun glanced down at her body and blushed when she realised she had been wearing frozen sweatpants and a magenta barney sweater. taehyung chuckled and smiled as beautifully as elsa and anna as he proceeded to step inside.

jieun immediately turned around to slam the door shut, but taehyung stopped the door from closing, prying the mahogany wooden door open with his bare hand.

"i brought food!" he sang gleefully as he dangled the bag of cream puffs in her face.

with the promise of food, taehyung was let into her home despite the fact that she was dressed like a nine-year-old. she reasoned with herself that delicious food took priority over her own dignity and self-respect. or maybe she simply missed him and wanted him to be around.

taehyung hopped into her apartment, before pausing and staring closely at jieun. his presence in her home made jieun's mind go berserk, and turned her face hot.

"jieun. you're having a fever," he mumbled as he pressed his hand on her neck and forehead. "no wonder you're so red."

"i'm red because you are here."

"i must have caught a flu in the rain," she grumbled and turned her eyes away from those beautiful black gems of taehyung, not daring to look him directly. her heart thudded.

he held her hand and dragged her to the kitchen despite her protests. he opened the refrigerator and got a fever patch and slapped it onto her forehead. "wha- how do you know my apartment so well?"

the tragic answer to that horrible question appeared in her head faster than taehyung responded. haeun used to live here.

"ohohoho... i have my ways," he grinned, a glint mischief in twinkling in his eyes. he sensed that jieun was unnerved that he was around and wanted to ease the situation. "how about i cook you something? you can't eat cream puffs because you're sick!"

"you're evil. get out of my house."

taehyung stuck his tongue out and pulled chopping board out of the cabinet. he wanted to cook porridge but he didn't know how. he decided to chop an onion because he remembered that chefs liked to chop onions, recalling the way his hyung namjoon had done so when they had a barbeque at his house.

"taehyung no-"

a screech of agony echoed across the house. jieun cackled as taehyung turned beetroot red, embarrassed from that horrendously effeminate sound that escaped his lips. she thought he was adorable.

"hey stop laughing!" he pushed her shoulder, a smile slipping onto his face. watching her laugh lightened the load off his chest.

however, the smile disappeared as soon as it came when she immediately silenced after realising that taehyung had hurt himself. a drop of blood fell to the floor, a painstaking contrast of thick, wine-red blood against the pearly white tiles.

she quickly grabbed a first aid kit and tended to his cut, heaving a huge sigh of relief when the cut wasn't so deep. "i'm fine, you know," taehyung mumbled as he glanced that jieun. she ignored him, her delicate fingers holding his bleeding wound and treating it gently.

her face was close to his, so he could watch how she chewed on her rosy lips when she was nervous, or how her eyelashes fluttered whenever she blinked. he could see every detail of her face, every movement she made, and every breath she took.

at the moment, all he could see was her.