kim taehyung hung his head, leaning his forehead against jieun's feverish one. the contact sent rhythmical pulses of warmth from his head to the tip of his toes. he could sense her breath hitch and her eyes widen, but he did not want to move away.

"jieun?"

his warm breath on her lips made her turn giddy with infatuation. she shook her head vigorously, shaking away the deep emotions that had slowly crept up to her. jieun could not help but notice his rosy pink lips.

inches apart from...

"stop playing around, your finger is still bleeding," she mumbled, lightly head-butting his head with hers. he noticed how her cheeks were flamed, and how her stygian eyes looked anywhere but at him.

taehyung moved his face away, sighing inwardly as he did so. he hated himself for flirting with her, for sending mixed signals, for messing with her feelings.

for forgetting haeun.

in the past, he was utterly and completely enamoured by haeun. he had given his everything to her, and she had taken it away with her when she left. he did not want to move on from her. he wanted her to stay forever, happily living within in his memories.

yet, as taehyung sat and looked at jieun's petite frame in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a blossom of yearning in his chest.

don't, he had to remind himself. he could not bear to lose the other sister. jieun was younger than he was. she would find a new love who would take care of her. a better person that could fill her days with joy to her very last breath.

it was bittersweet, the way he shoved his feelings of affection for jieun into a tiny nook in his heart.