A / N
loads of wholesomeness ahead ;D

22.

| 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 & 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. |

"Who's that shouting downstairs?"

Taehyung wondered aloud, as Yuri walked out his bathroom, having finished her urgent business.

Yuri paused, listening to the shouts, trying to decipher who was talking that loudly. She heard a familiar pair of voices arguing. Again.

"It's Mina and Yoongi, again," she said, sighing, as she sat back down on the bed.

"Again? They've been arguing before too?" Yuri nodded her head at Taehyung's words. The other nights' argument, which she overheard, came into her mind.

The words came till the tip of her tongue, but she bit down on it. She couldn't tell all that to Taehyung. He wasn't supposed to know about that.

'Then again,' said a voice inside Yuri's head, 'neither are you.'

Guilt took over her. 'It was a mistake,' she argued back, trying to pacify herself, to get rid of the guilt.

"Looks like the argument was a short one," Taehyung said, scooting away from the door, where he had moved to hear the argument better. He came back to his bed, and sat down beside Yuri.

"What do you wanna do today?" Yuri asked.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

Yuri sighed. "Look, Tae, we can't fully ignore everything that happened yesterday. That was clearly a very traumatic experience for you. Look, the frown on your face proves that—" Taehyung stopped frowning, "—anyways, as your doctor, and now therapist, I'm prescribing a stress-free day, doing things that'll distract you from yesterday's events."

"Okay, then. I can't really argue with you, anyways," Taehyung laughed as Yuri playfully hit his arm, "I don't have anything in mind though. What do you wanna do?"

"Me?" Yuri pointed at herself.

"No, I'm asking the red bedsheets to make plans for me," Taehyung joked, but realisation suddenly dawned on his face. "Wait, what? Red? Oh, my God!"

Taehyung jumped up in surprise. Yuri too jumped up to her feet. She took one look downwards and closed her eyes, partly due to anger, but majorly because of embarrassment.

The place where Yuri had previously been sitting was now bloodied, as was the back of the dress Yuri was wearing.

'How did I not notice it?! I didn't feel anything. . .'

Yuri dared to sneak a glance at Taehyung, and saw him staring at the blood on his snow white bedsheets with horror.

Yuri wanted the ground to open and swallow her whole, to save her from the embarrassment.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so, so sorry about your sheets, I'll change them for you, don't worry. Before that, I'll just, uh, quickly go and change. Sorry once again," Yuri said, all in one breath.

She assumed that Taehyung was frozen in his spot because he was disgusted at the blood, and she had to admit, Yuri felt a tiny bit hurt because of that.

Periods was natural, and so was blood; nothing to be ashamed or disgusted of.

When Taehyung still hadn't uttered a word, Yuri said sadly, "I'll, uh, be back quick."

Just as she was about to leave the room, Taehyung finally spoke up, "That's so much blood. . . how do women go through this bloodbath every month?"

Yuri, who was standing by the door cracked a small, sad smile. "We have no other choice."

Taehyung turned back to look at her, a newfound respect and awe in his eyes. He walked forward and pulled Yuri into a hug, who squealed a bit at the force.

Yuri's face was squashed against Taehyung's chest, but she didn't mind it. She liked hugging Taehyung like this.

"You're so strong, and I'm very proud of you," Taehyung said, patting her back, still in their embrace.

Yuri found it difficult to smile, while her face was pressed against muscle, but nevertheless managed to curve her lips upwards.

"Thank you," she said, "it really means a lot to me."

When they had been hugging for more than a minute, Yuri decided to pull away first, because it seemed as if Taehyung would end up sleeping in the same position.

"And, now, I better go and change my clothes. I feel icky and dirty. Oh, and, I'll change your sheets too, don't worry," Yuri said, before walking out of the room.

Taehyung smiled after her, before proceeding to change his bedsheets.

-

"Let's go to that shop first!"

Yuri exclaimed, pointing at a funky-looking shop, which had the weirdest things imaginable, from a bottle multicoloured shimmery vomit, to a clown makeup set, with everything that would transform you into a clown.

Taehyung and Yuri had mutually agreed to just roam around their neighbourhood, after lunch, and explore it, since they couldn't decide on one thing to do for the rest of the day.

"What do you wanna do in there?" Taehyung asked, grimacing when he saw a packet of very realistic fake rats on the display shelf.

"I don't know, waste time. Now, come on!" Yuri pulled him inside.

-

Roughly an hour later, Taehyung and Yuri stumbled out of the store, the silliest grins plastered on their faces. Their hands were full, carrying all the absolutely useless things they had recklessly bought.

Taehyung had a multicoloured lollipop in his mouth, which, (as he showed Yuri over fifteen times), continuously changed the colour of his tongue.

He also held a heart-shaped karaoke microphone, which had caught his eyes inside; he's ashamed to say that he had almost thrown a tantrum to convince Yuri to let him buy it.

His hands also had a bundle of photos that they had taken inside, dressed crazily in different props that the shop had to offer. They got the photos printed, free of charge, because the person handling the photo booth just couldn't stop laughing at their silly antics.

The photos included them dressed as the red soldiers from 'Squid Game', Taehyung's favourite, which they took to the next level by adding squid plushies to their outfit.

Yuri's favourite was a picture of them cutely growling at each other, feline ears and tails attached to them.

"Well, I know where I'm getting all my Halloween costumes from," Yuri said, laughing.

They walked further, looking around, Taehyung specifically getting lots of déjà vu. He remembered the place very well. Though years had passed, and things had developed, not everything had changed.

Taehyung recognised the cafe at the corner of the street. It was the same cafe that his father always used to bring him to, because he loved the cakes and pastries they sold, and was his favourite.

He stopped, staring at it. The name had changed, and the interior of the cafe had changed too, but he could still visualise his past visits here clearly.

Turns out he hadn't forgotten everything, after all.

Yuri noticed Taehyung's abrupt stop, and turned back to see him staring at a cafe with nostalgia in his eyes. She put two and two together, and realised that this place must've meant something to him.

She went and stood beside him, matching his movements, staring at the cafe, before gently squeezing his bicep. "Do you wanna go inside?"

Taehyung looked at Yuri, broken out of his reverie, smiling a bit. He turned back to the cafe, and shook his head. "No, I don't think I want to."

Yuri tilted her head at him.

"Come on, I wanna go to the cherry blossoms park before the sun sets." He pulled Yuri gently along with him, who happily obliged.

They entered the park, and after passing through the gate, they felt as if they had walked into a whole new fantasy world.

When compared to the sight in front of them, the view of Seoul they had before was plain, bland. The beauty in front of them was vibrant and aesthetic, in the best way possible.

Tree after tree adorned with beautifully pink flowers, which varied from the most delicate shade of pale pink, to a bright, attractive shade of hot pink, though the latter was quite rare to witness.

The burst of pink, paired with the green grass of the park, was all in all a very soothing sight to view.

Benches were placed orderly, under the shade of a few trees, almost all of which were occupied by other people who had come to the park, either with their family, or on their own, just to behold the beauty of nature.

Taehyung started walking towards one of the only vacant benches, when Yuri pulled him in the opposite direction.

"I want to sit down on the ground, right below the tree," she explained, when she met Taehyung's questioning gaze. He let out a 'oh,' in understanding.

Yuri had chosen a moderate sized cherry tree to sit under; it wasn't too big, but it wasn't too small either. There were, however, loads of flowers on this tree. She sat down, making herself comfortable, and gestured Taehyung to do the same.

He looked around, and upon finding nothing suspicious, or out of the ordinary, gave up on being cynical, and decided to enjoy his time here while he could. He sat down beside Yuri, and happily scooted closer when she asked him to do so.

They sat there for a while, silent, but revering in each others' presence, and admiring the wondrous sight.

After a few more minutes of peaceful silence, Yuri decided to speak up, "Taehyung?"

He hummed in response, glancing over at her, and found her fidgeting with her fingers.

"Can I ask you something?"

Taehyung nodded, wondering what could be making Yuri so fidgety and nervous.

"Why-why did you. . . choose to come back. . . here? After everything that happened here, you still came back. I-I was wondering why. . ." Yuri said, stuttering because she didn't know how Taehyung would react to her bringing up the previous days' events.

"For this," he said, after a good four seconds, gesturing everywhere around him. When he got no response, he smiled a little at Yuri's confused expression.

"I can't escape from my past forever. It was bound to come back to bite me some day. I decided, instead of that, I'll not be a coward, but be brave and choose to face it head-on. That's why I came back."

Yuri stared at Taehyung with admiration and pride, before he continued, "But, I wasn't fully brave. I delayed coming back here for as long as I could. Even for the refurbishment, I never really came here, and asked Hyunjin to do it for me."

"That doesn't matter, you were still brave, and I'm so proud of you," Yuri comforted him, smiling.

"Plus, I kinda missed this place," he added laughing a little, "after all, I did grow up here. I have a bittersweet attachment with this place."

"Understandable."

And they fell into another silence, but this time, it was a comfortable one.

"So beautiful, isn't it?" Yuri said after some time, looking up at the tree above them. Taehyung nodded, enthralled by the beauty.

"I've decided that after I die—" Yuri ignored the way Taehyung whipped his head to look at her with an angry expression, "—don't look at me like that, I won't live forever, I'm gonna die some day. Anyways, as I was saying, after I die, I don't want a gravestone. I want someone to plant a tree after I die. Preferably a cherry blossom, now that I've physically seen its beauty. Not directly above me, but somewhere nearby, close enough to be a part of me."

Taehyung stared at her, awestruck by her beauty and wisdom. "That was very poetic."

Yuri laughed. "Yeah, that happens sometimes; I become poetic all of a sudden, and say very deep and meaningful quotes."

At that moment, two pale pink petals detached themselves from a flower hanging overhead, and fell down in slow motion, as if the petals were dancing together, falling in each others' embrace.

Taehyung watched as the flower petals separated from each other, and continued falling, this time, in different directions. The petal on the left flew right onto Taehyung's face. He slowly brushed it away.

The other petal moved gracefully, and gently landed on top of Yuri's left shoulder. It felt like fate.

She seemed to have not noticed this little incident. Taehyung reached over and carefully pulled the petal off her fluffy fur top. He felt Yuri's warm breath on his neck, and he loved the feeling.

When he pulled away from her, he saw her questioning gaze. His held up the petal, placing it into Yuri's outstretched hand, who gleefully began playing with it.

Taehyung never realised when he had started smiling fondly.

"Can I say something now?" Taehyung asked slowly.

"Sure, you don't have to ask," Yuri said, still playing with the minuscule fragment of the cherry trees.

"Okay, here goes nothing," Taehyung took in a shaky breath before starting, "so there's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now, but there's never really been any. . . appropriate time to bring it up. I've delayed this for a very long time, and I shouldn't have done that."

Yuri worriedly stared at Taehyung with frowned eyebrows. "Tae, you're scaring me. Is everything alright?"

"It's you, Yuri. You're so sweet, caring, beautiful, kindhearted, generous, perfect, basically. I don't even know how someone like you exists in real life, because you're so unreal. But you're real, you're here, with me. You're sitting right now, beside me. I found you under extremely curious circumstances, and you've been with me ever since. There must be a reason for that. Fate wants us to be together,"

Taehyung stopped to take a deep breath, while Yuri just stared at him, her mouth hanging, wondering where he was going with this conversation.

She couldn't ponder for long, because Taehyung continued speaking, "I think we're fated, destined to be together, because, otherwise, we wouldn't be here. Do you remember when you claimed that no one would want to date someone like me, because of my dangerous job? Yeah, that's the main reason why I haven't brought this up before. But, I believe that, even if what you said was true, there is someone out there for me; someone who will love me and cherish me. That someone is you, Yuri; it's you,"

Yuri let out a silent gasp, tears collecting at the edge of her eyes.

"Every moment I spend with you is precious, it gives me unexplainable happiness and euphoria. Even if we do nothing, even if we waste time, it doesn't feel like a waste of time to me, because it's spent on you, with you. You bring out the best in me, you make me wanna be a better man. I would be the biggest fool on earth to let all of this, to let you go,"

Yuri had started sobbing at this point, hand covering her mouth.

"There is a special type of love that comes once in a lifetime; the best and purest kind. And, there's no doubt about it, I've found that kind of love now. You had said that you liked me, or maybe even more than that. That made me so happy, I've never felt that kind of happiness ever before, so I'm sure that it's a sign. Because, Lee Yuri, I like you too. Maybe even more than like, and, I want you to know that it matters a lot. That means the world to me. You mean the world to me.

I would give you the whole world if you asked for it. It doesn't matter to me, as long as my world is safe and sound. I promise, I won't ever let you stay sad, and give you all the happiness I can. I swear that I will never hurt you, and take care of you like a princess, because that's how precious you are, only if you let me. So, Lee Yuri, will do me the greatest honour ever by being my girlfriend?"

Yuri was crying, and kept wiping her eyes, but tears kept flowing down her face. Seeing her, Taehyung also teared up a little, but managed to keep a small, genuine smile on his face.

Yuri nodded vigorously, not using words, but they weren't needed, because her actions spoke louder than words.

"Say it out loud, please, sweetheart," Taehyung said, somehow managing to tease her despite the situation.

"Or not, it's okay if you don't wann—" he quickly added upon seeing Yuri's furious face.

"Yes, you idiot, of course I'll be your girlfriend," Yuri said loudly, cutting him off, hitting his arm, whilst still crying. Taehyung grinned widely, two tear drops falling down his face too.

He reached forward and grabbed Yuri's tear-stained face, and gently caressed her face, wiping the tears away. Yuri stared back into his shining eyes.

Taehyung leaned forward till their faces were mere inches apart. He stopped right in front of her lips, and looked at her for consent. She gave the slightest nod of her head, and that was all Taehyung needed.

As soon as their lips joined, it was as if fireworks were set off in their stomachs. It wasn't their first kiss together, but it was the most meaningful and memorable one.

They moved against each others' lip slowly, movements full of love for each other, as the sun, skies, trees and birds watched.

Behind them, two more pink petals flew down, landing on their heads, as if blessing them.

It was indeed fate.

x x x

A / N

brb im still sobbing i loved this chapter
more than half of this chapter was total improvisation, and I love that I'm such an amazing author (self love, so sue me)

wow 6 paragraphs full of love and affection for you, as a confession, can't relate, only Yuri does😔✊🏻

help this chapter is so long, it was supposed to be 1k words lesser than now but I just couldn't stop myself I'm sorry. Longest chapter, and probably the best by far?

THEY ARE NOW A COUPLE WOOT WOOT TAERI FINALLY HAPPENED. 20 CHAPTERS LATER THEY KISSED AGAIN SHSHSHHS

oh but I think I better mention this,, we aren't even halfway done with the story yet 🥲
okay maybe not,, we're like two-thirds done with the story. Still a lot to go ;")

I didn't know how to describe the kiss and all that, because I'm majorly an angst writer, I don't do much of extreme fluff ugh but this was fun ㅠㅠ

Vote comment and spam because authornim has spoilt you all with so much and given you what you wanted aka TaeRi
(wrote this chapter two months ago, made the ship name even before,, and after watching Twenty-Five, Twenty-One, I'm— [for those who dont know, taeri is the name of the actress who plays heedo's role])

Ciao~

-xo-
:]