"Taehyung? Kim Taehyung"

A voice softly called out his name in front of him. Taehyung's eyes were filled with tears so his vision was blurry. He didn't know who it was calling his name and he didn't bother to know. He started to walk quickly when he felt a strong grip in his arm. The tears had cleared and his vision was normal now. He turned his head and saw Soonyoung staring curiosly at him. He was older now with fine wrinkles around his eyes.

"It's you. Kim Taehyung! I can't believe it" He said in an excited voice.

"What are you doing here?"

"Taehyung?" Another voice came up behind him and he unmistakably recognized it. He didn't want to turn his head and see him so he didn't answer and remained rooted to the spot. Soonyoung shifted beside him and cleared his throat.

"I'll leave you two alone...to catch up"

He walked towards Jimin and opened his arms.

"Tae Hee, come to Daddy"

Taehyung stiffened. His ears pricked as he turned round only to see the girl squirming in Jimin's arms. The girl pouted.

"No! I don't want to. I want to stay with Uncle Jimin"

Soonyoung frowned seeming unimpressed "Come on, it's getting late"

"I don't want to..." She said.

Taehyung blinked rapidly finally realizing his misunderstanding.

"Soonyoung, is she... your daughter?"

Soonyoung smiled. "Yes.. she is" He gazed at Jimin and suddenly laughed getting the picture. "She's definitely mine"

Taehyung blushed and looked to the woman beside him.

"She must be...."

Soonyoung immediately seemed alarmed. "No...no way. She's not my wife. She's my daughter's nanny"

Taehyung was confused. "What? You are...."

Soonyoung nodded "Yes, I'm married to..."

Someone suddenly rushed in carrying bags filled with groceries in their hand. Taehyung recognized an older looking Jay and his mouth hanged open in shock

"Appa!" Tae Hee cried.

"Tae Hee, did you wait long? I'm so sorry I stayed long" he said. But he seemed to notice the awkwardness in the air. That was when he finally saw Taehyung.

"Bloody hell!" He screamed.

"Yah...yeobo!" Soonyoung said and he immediately calmed down.

"Kim Taehyung? How long has it been? Sixteen years? Seventeen? You're everywhere man! Everywhere! How did you find out where Jimin is?" Jay continued.

"I went to see Lala"

"I see..." Jay whispered.

Taehyung stared at them in a gaze.

"So you two..."

Soonyoung grinned "Shocking eh? I thought you knew. We never tried to hide it though. I wonder how you didn't know we've been dating since high school"

Taehyung shivered. "I really had no idea. I'm sorry"

They both shrugged. "It's okay" Soonyoung said. Taehyung was curious and he couldn't help but ask.

"So how did you have your daughter"

Soonyoung answered "We adopted her. She was a sick child when we saw her for the first time. Doctors said she was born with a weak heart and she may not be able to grow like normal kids but as soon as we saw her, our hearts just went out to her. it's been five years already and she's doing just fine"

He smiled lovingly at the girl. "Only a little stubborn"

Jay finally carried Tae Hee away from Jimin and she buried her head comfortably on his chest looking sleepy

"We have to head home now"

He looked from Taehyung to Jimin feeling the intense pressure  in the atmosphere.

"It was nice seeing you again Taehyung. We are always rooting for you" he said.

Soonyoung smiled. "Fighting!" He raised a fist in the air. Taehyung watched with bated breath as the couple left with their daughter and Nanny.

Now they were alone and it was like a ton of bricks was placed on his shoulder. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't look the other in the eye. Now that he was here, now that he has discovered that Jimin wasn't a happily married man as he had thought few minutes ago, he was stuck, his intent flying out the window. He didn't know what to do.

"So... those two, married huh? He began and he immediately felt embarrassment sink into his very core. He wanted to turn around and walk away but he had come all these way for a purpose and he wasn't leaving without fulfilling that purpose.

But Jimin's face seemed dark when he looked at him

"What are you doing here Taehyung? You shouldn't be here" he said in a cold detached voice. Taehyung felt goosebumps all over his body.

He wanted to remain numb but he knew it wouldn't help him right now.

"I wanted to see you again"

Jimin sighed brushing his hair back with his hand "Why now? It's been seventeen years, six months and eight days"

Taehyung was surprised. "You actually kept count"

Jimin ignored him. "You're doing so well for yourself. You're a big celebrity now. You have everything you've ever wanted. Why come here? Have you forgotten what being with me caused you?"

Taehyung was silent. Jimin took a deep breath. "Just go back. Pretend you never saw me and continue living as you have been till now"

He turned away but Taehyung spoke.

"I have never forgotten what happened. In fact, I remember it all but...it only made me miss you more"

Jimin froze.

"I kept wondering how you were doing? I kept wondering if you were even alive. I thought something would happen and that we will meet again but we never did. Days passed by like a dream until I couldn't take it anymore...I just had to see you"

Jimin shook his head. "This isn't right"

"At least let me in. For the sake of old times. I travelled a long distance just to see you. It isn't right to ignore me like this"

Jimin couldn't refuse. Before long, he had led Taehyung into the building. Taehyung took his time to look around the place. It was big and beautiful. Obviously, it had cost a lot to build this place and the architecture looked like the types one gets in a magazine.

They went upstairs and Jimin took Taehyung to his office. It was spacious and neat. There were lots of papers and drawings lying around. But Taehyung noticed that there were music tapes placed on the shelves fixed against the wall.

He walked over to it and was quite surprised to find every single one of his albums on the shelf. He picked one of the CD and stared at it. Jimin blushed in embarrassment.

"I have every one of your CD's...every last one"

Taehyung looked at him deeply.
"Jimin, you know you are my muse. There is a glimpse of you in every of my song"

Jimin didn't answer. He understood perfectly without being told.

"Let's not talk about that"

Taehyung dropped the topic and walked over to the couch where Jimin served him some wine.

"You are doing real well for yourself. How did you manage to get this place"

"You won't believe it!" Jimin said.

"Tell me!"

"My dad won the lottery!"

"What?" Taehyung shouted totally in shock.

Jimin nodded. "Yep... that's right. That's about five years now. He won seven million dollars. He now owns two big complexes and several buildings at Gangnam. He has his own carpentry company and opened a shopping complex for my mom. He gave me some money to establish this place after sending me to school abroad"

"So all these while, you weren't in the country"

Jimin nodded.

"I can't believe this. My parents will flip when they hear this"

Jimin smiled a little but then asked "How is Mr and Mrs Kim?"

"My mother is my manager now. My dad came down with a stroke two years ago and is slowly recovering. He hasn't been working since then"

Jimin nodded his head "I see...you're the sole bread winner of your family now"

Taehyung shrugged. "It's not a burden. I have more than enough"

Jimin sighed. "I'm happy for you. You look good Tae but you're not supposed to be here. You know that!"

"Why?"

"Seventeen years ago..."

"Exactly! I know what you want to say but can you stop?"

Jimin was struck speechless at that moment.

"I hate that whenever you see me, that's the only thing you think about... how I was molested by a group of horrible men"

"I hate that's the reason you left me. It makes me feel dirty"

Jimin's lips trembled. "I left for your sake. So you could get better...."

Taehyung heaved heavily "I know that but i don't care. I told you that I could handle anything but I wouldn't be able to handle it if you leave me"

"You told me you would protect me...that you would only be there for me"

Jimin cried, his eyes "Don't you get it? I failed!"

"Yes you did but as soon as it happened, you dipped"

Jimin lowered his gaze unable to look Taehyung in the face.

"We should have gone through the ordeal together. True, at the beginning, I must have felt resentful towards you, hated you even but you should have stayed despite that no matter how tough it got. You should have stayed by my side. You shouldn't have left me...you had always chased after me. Whether I liked it or not, you were always by my side. That was how I realized that I was in love with you? Why did you suddenly change at that precise moment when I really needed you"

"I'm sorry" Jimin muttered. "I didn't have the confidence to stay with you. I blamed myself back then...I still do"

"It's okay. It's enough. I don't want you to only think of those bad memories when you see me. I want to replace it with nice memories of us"

Jimin stared at him in belweirdment.

"What are you trying to say? You want us to get back together?"

"Isn't that possible?"

Jimin shook his head. "No...I can't think of that possibility. We have spent so long apart. You should have moved on by now..."

"Have you moved on?" Taehyung interrupted. "If you have someone in you life, I will step aside"

Jimin's silence was more than enough answer. Taehyung smiled.

"Me neither. I tried to forget you but I couldn't. I dated a lot of people. A billionaire once asked me to marry him. I even have a marriage proposal from a conglomerate's daughter. I have eligible suitors all around me but even after all these years, I can only think of spending the rest of my life with you till we get old"

Jimin was quiet. "Let the past stay in the past and let's fill our lives with good memories. There are somethings we may never be able to forget but it doesn't mean we should let it tie us down and keep us from forging ahead"

"I can only ever end up with you Jimin. I know you feel the same way"

Jimin couldn't say a word to that.

"I don't know what to tell you"

"I won't pressure you. I'll give you some time to think about it. I'll be staying at the Royals hotel. It's not too far from here. But I'll only be there till tomorrow night. I have to catch a flight in the morning to meet up with my appointment"

"If you don't come within that time, then I'll get your answer but if you do, then I hope only good memories awaits us from now on"

Taehyung finally took a sip of the wine and left full of apprehension. His steps were jittery. Even as he tried to remain calm, he knew he was failing miserable. He could only breathe freely when he was back in his car. He started to thank the heavens for giving him the courage to say all that he had said back there if not he would have been a stuttering mess.

He lodged at the Royals hotel and waited for Jimin but nothing happened. His mother was calling him relentlessly but he didn't pick up determined not to come back without a favorable response. It was the second night and Jimin hadn't arrived. Taehyung had lost all hope and started to pack his bags ready to leave with a heart filled with dejection.

It was a little past twelve in the morning when there was a slight knock on the door. Taehyung was quite surprised. He wasn't expecting anyone by this time. He hoped it wasn't a burglar though the probability was less but he still grabbed a pepper spray just in case and opened the door.

He came face to face with Jimin standing in front of him breathing heavily.

"This is crazy" Jimin murmured under his breath "But let's do it. Let's start over again"

Then he reached for his arm, pulled him close and kissed him. The pepper spray can in his hand fell to the ground.

Thanks for reading. Sorry for the late update. Have a great day.