sixteen

The last thing he wanted to do was hurt you, especially after what you'd been thru. He decided to talk to the guys about it. He could tell them, he knew they would keep his secret. He just hoped they had some advice.

~ ♡ ~

You were perfectly happy to stay right there in Taehyung's arms, enjoying the warmth, and the sound of his heartbeat as your ear rested against his chest.

Unfortunately his phone dinged, and he released you, so he could check it.

"Shoot! I gotta go. I forgot I have practice in 20 minutes."

You pouted a little, not wanting him to leave.

"Don't do that y/n, you'll make me feel bad." His brows drew together and he frowned.

You giggled, smiling at him instead. "I'm sorry Tae. I know you'll be busy with work sometimes, and I understand, so don't feel bad. I just really like being with you."

"I like being with you too. But I can't miss practice. I'll text you later when I'm done, okay?"

You nodded. "I'll be waiting. Say hi to the guys for me."

"I will. Don't get lost if you go out anywhere. I can't come save you today." He pulled you close to him, pressing a kiss to your lips, before turning and letting himself out the door. You touched your tingling lips, the excitement of being kissed by him still affecting you.

You sighed, and walked to the window, peering out as you waited to see him exit the lobby. Thirty seconds later you saw him emerge onto the sidewalk, and you watched him take a couple steps before turning, and looking right up at you, flashing a smile and throwing up a peace sign.

You rolled your eyes, annoyed that he knew you'd be watching for him, but the next second you were smiling, watching as he turned and walked away, disappearing from your sight.

You let out a breath, and glanced at the clock. It was 11:45am. What were you going to do with your time? You were now so used to Taehyung being around, keeping you occupied, and you had no idea how you were going to keep from being bored outta your skull.

You pulled out your laptop, sitting at the table and opening it up. There were a few things you could think of that you could be focusing on. You were pretty sure at this point that you would be staying in Seoul for more then two weeks, and you didn't want to live in a hotel room. You needed to see if you could find an efficiency apartment, obviously in this area.

You also felt like you should see if you could find a job, because you didn't want to depend solely on the money you had saved, considering it wouldn't last forever. But you didn't know if getting a job in a foreign country was even an option, because you only spoke english, and you imagined you'd have to have a grasp on enough Korean to at least understand and reply to some basic conversation.

Regardless, the apartment was a must. You needed to be able to cook, and do laundry. Eating out every day could get expensive and you didn't even know if there were laundromats here. You clicked to open a new tab, typing  efficiency apts in Seoul into the search bar, and a list popped up. You drew in a breath, letting it out in a huff, because, of course, everything was in Korean. Okay, you would just wait until Tae could help you.

Even though you could easily use your laptops translate option, it wouldn't help you when it came down to calling and talking to anyone about any apartments.

You sipped your coffee, which was now luke warm, and decided to dump the little that was left, tossing the styrofoam cup in the trash.

You wanted a soda. You grabbed your phone, leaving the room and heading down to the lobby to find the vending machines. You approached the soda machine, grateful that everything seemed to have the ability to accept a card anymore, because it made it so much easier. You swiped your card, hitting the desired button, listening to the machine clatter as your bottle landed in the dispenser opening. You bent and grabbed it, looking at the snack machine before remembering that you had chocolate bars in your bag.

You turned, about to head back to the elevator when you noticed the desk attendant smiling at you.

"Hi y/n, how are you enjoying your stay in Seoul so far?"

You were impressed that he remembered your name, and you looked at his name tag, wanting to  take note of his. It read 'Minhae', and you were glad it was something you could read, or more specifically, pronounce.

"Hi Minhae, I'm enjoying myself very much, thank you for asking. Seoul is beautiful, there seems to be so much to do."

"Oh, you won't get bored, that I can promise you. You can always find something to do here."

You smiled at him, wondering if the nice blond lady had sent you to this hotel purposely because of the fact that he spoke english. "You speak english very well. I'm glad to have someone to talk with, I mean, besides Taehyung."

"Ah...the young man that has accompanied you...I'm glad you've made a friend."

"Thank you Minhae, he's been a blessing, I would surely have gotten lost already without him. It's so busy outside that I get confused in the crowd, and would never find my way back on my own."

He smiled kindly. "You'll get used to it in time. If you need to extend your stay, just let me know. I'd be happy to see you stay longer if your able."

"Actually, I have no plans to return home anytime soon, but I would like to see if I can find an apartment to rent. It just makes more sense, I feel like I would do better with the conveniences of home."

"Oh! So you're going to stay indefinitely. That's wonderful. I'm so happy you like our beautiful city enough to call it home for awhile."

"Thank you, so much. I've seen nothing not to like." You wondered if he knew of any jobs, but again, without speaking Korean, you doubted it would be easy to find anything. "So, this is probably a dumb question, but do you happen to know of any jobs that I might be able to apply for. I know only speaking english limits me, if not completely disqualifies me, but I wanted to ask anyway."

"It's not a dumb question...on the contrary. One would think not knowing how to speak Korean would make it impossible for you to find a job, but actually, the fact that Seoul is a vacation spot for so many who don't, it's not as bad as you might think to only speak english." He reached under the counter, pulling out a binder. He pushed it towards me. "Take a look."

You curiously opened the cover, seeing sentences in english, with  Korean writing under each. The sentences were things you would ask someone booking a room. On the opposite pages were possible answers to the questions. You smiled, closing the book, and sliding it back. "That looks like it could be very helpful."

"It was created for a past employee who only spoke Korean,  because of how often we get english speaking customers. She was able to point to the sentence to ask them what she needed to know to book the room they required. It wasn't always 100% foolproof, and at times, mistakes were made, and had to be corrected, but it helped greatly."

"I imagine you don't use that book?" You glanced at him, seeing a small smile form on his lips

"I have no need for it. I was born here in Korea, but my parents moved to America when I was 2. I had begun speaking already, and had a grasp on my native language, but being so young, I was able to learn english easily. My parents spoke Korean in our home, but spoke english in public. I am fluent in both."

"I would love to learn to speak Korean, but I'm afraid it would be more difficult than what I have the patience for." You pursed your lips, knowing that you would likely give up before you learned anything.

"You'd be surprised y/n, you may catch on quicker than you'd think. Hearing it spoken, it gets easier to understand. Have your friend Taehyung help you by speaking it now and than, and try learning a few words at a time."

You snorted. "Well I already know what pabo means."

Minhae chuckled. "I'm sure he says it with much affection."

You smiled, knowing he did. "Well, it was very nice talking with you, Minhae. You enjoy the rest of your day."

"I will try, and you do the same. If I hear of any jobs I think would be suitable, I'll be sure to let you know."

You waved as you walked off, catching the elevator and finally getting back to your room. You were glad you'd had that chat with Minhae. He was very nice.

You twisted the cap off your coke, taking a big swallow, enjoying the cool liquid sliding down your throat. You reached for your bag, feeling around inside for your chocolate bars, pulling out your stuffed tiger in the process. You set him on the bed, opening a candy bar, and breaking off a piece, letting it melt on your tongue as you sucked on it.

"Well Terrence, here we are in Seoul, making friends with people. Who would have thought I'd be enjoying myself so much already?" You tilted your head at the stuffed animal, as if you were expecting a reply. Terrence just stared at you with his beady glass eyes, obviously not interested in your attempt to converse with him. "Fine, I didn't wanna talk to you anyway."

You pouted, turning around and throwing yourself on the bed.  Terrence bounced, falling on his face, and you turned your head to look at him. "Serves ya right, you heartless beast."

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A/n: does anyone still have a stuffed animal from their childhood? Mine is pretty beat up.

I mean...I'm old, so...🤫