eight

"Okay, fine, let's look around. But if you don't buy this one, then I'm going to buy it for you."

~ ♡ ~

You looked at him, confusion written on your face. "What? Why would you do that? You haven't even known me 24 hours, and you've been so nice to me already. You don't have to buy me clothes, Tae."

"I know I don't. We're friends, right?" He looked at you straight faced.

"Of course we are, I'm grateful for you, and all you've done for me in such a short time, I truly would be lost without you."

"Well then, stop worrying about it. I like nice clothes. Why can't I buy you something if I want to?" He looked completely serious, and like it wasn't a big deal.

"I have my own money, Tae. I don't want you to spend anymore of yours on me. I'm sure these clothes aren't cheap."

"I can afford it, so don't worry about that." He reached up, ruffling the back of his hair.

You looked at him, thinking maybe he came from a rich family. But still. You were with your boyfriend for almost 5 years, and he never bought you nice clothes. He never bought you any clothes.

"I just..." you looked at his face, and for some unexplainable reason, you knew he wouldn't change his mind. "You're going to buy it no matter what I say, aren't you?"

He smiled. "Now you're learning."

You huffed, stepping back into the fitting room to change back into your clothes. You looked at yourself in the mirror. It was a really cute outfit, and you knew you'd wear it. And if you bought it yourself, he wouldn't be able to. You smiled, mentally patting yourself on the back.

The two of you spent another 45 minutes, looking thru the racks of clothes, picking several more outfits for you to try on. Taehyung had amazing fashion sense, everything he picked being super cute. You ended up with 4 outfits, including the one Tae threatened to buy, as well as three pair of jeans, some cute blouses, and another hoodie.

You carried everything up to the counter, smiling as the cashier rang everything up. You weren't worried about the conversion from US dollars to Korean won, at least not yet. This was really the first time you'd spent any significant money, except for your plane ticket.

The cashier placed everything in a bag, announcing your total, and you pulled your debit card from your phone case, reaching out to hand it to her, when Tae stuck a card in her hand, and said something to her you didn't understand.

You gasped, and grabbed his arm. "No, Taehyung, I can pay for my own clothes. Please..." you practically begged.

He turned, putting his hands on your shoulders, looking at you with kindness. "I know you can y/n, but I want to do this for you."

You looked up, your eyes meeting his, and he gave you a small smile. "I know that it's been a long time since anyone's done something nice for you. I know you've pretty much just been working and saving money, and probably sacrificing things you wanted. I know you came here to Seoul to get away from an unpleasant situation, and I just want to do something nice for you. Is there something wrong with that?"

You frowned. Your emotions were about to get the better of you, and you were trying not to cry. You were touched that he would do this, and you didn't know how to take it. It was overwhelming, because you had spent the last two or so years feeling like you were invisible, feeling like the person who was supposed to care about you, and love you, had forgotten you even existed. Yet here was this man who you had literally only known for maybe 14 hours, and he had already done more for you than your boyfriend had in 5 years together.

The tears gathered in the corners of your eyes, and you bit your lip, trying to keep them from falling. His brows furrowed, and he pulled you against him, his arms going around you as he hugged you. "Don't cry, pabo..." he said quietly, as his hand rubbed your back.

Your arms, which had been hanging at your sides, seemed to lift of their own accord, going around his waist, as your face buried itself against his chest. You cried softly, despite him telling you not to. "Why are you so nice to me?" You sniffled out, noticing how good he smelled.

"Because everyone deserves to feel important every now and then. And because I like you."

You laughed softly against his chest, starting to feel a little better. "I like you too" you mumbled.

He released you, setting you away from him when he noticed the cashier looking confusedly at the two of you, pen in hand, waiting for him to sign the receipt.

He smiled at her as she handed him his card, taking the pen and scribbling his signature, before handing it back and taking the large bag of clothes she pushed towards him in one hand, as he grabbed your hand with his other.

He led you out the door, and down the two steps onto the sidewalk.

"How bout we take this stuff to your room and drop it off, and then we can figure out what we're gonna do next."

"Yeah, sure. I need to use the bathroom anyway."

You walked the several blocks to your hotel, during which you tried to remember certain things, landmarks, so you could hopefully start learning your way around, but it was still very confusing. "I'm never going to be able to get around by myself. I'm so lost." You sighed unhappily.

"That's what you have me for" he chuckled, as he pushed the door opened, allowing you to enter the hotel lobby, and following you to the elevator, watching as you pressed number 4.

You grabbed your key card from your pocket, and waited for the elevator doors to open. You walked down the short hall to your room, swiping the card, and turning the door handle when it clicked. You dashed to the bathroom without a word, needing to pee.

Taehyung followed you into the room, setting the bag on the table and waiting for you quietly.

A few minutes later, you emerged from the bathroom, to see him standing by the window, looking down at the sidewalk below. You cleared your throat, and he turned, smiling.

You sat with a bounce on the bed, a habit you'd had since you were a child. He walked over, and sat next to you.

"How long do you plan to stay in seoul?" He didn't look at you, instead focusing on his hands.

You focused on his hands as well. "I'm not sure. I don't have any definite plans. Maybe a month or two, maybe a year." You shrugged. "I guess I'll just see what happens..."

He turned his head to glance at you, a lopsided smile appearing on his face as he caught you staring at his hands. "Do you have a reason to go back?"

You looked away, feeling your face get warm. "Not really..."

You never realized you had a thing for hands. Or maybe it was just his hands...

"Good, that'll make it that much easier for me to try and give you a reason to stay."

Your eyes met his, and you felt your heartbeat increase as you were reminded of how breathtakingly beautiful he was. He winked at you, and you quickly looked away, deciding the floor was safer to focus on.

"Come on, let's go, I want you to meet some people." He stood, holding a hand out, waiting for you to take it. You did, because you were already getting used to your hand being in his. You left the room, taking the elevator back down to the lobby. As the elevator doors opened, he pulled you along behind him, suddenly hurrying out onto the sidewalk.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" You panted, trying to keep up with him.

"Jipangyi..." he stated, wiggling his eyebrows.

You raised your eyebrows, obviously having no clue what he was talking about.

"Ice cream..." he sang out, heading towards a pink and white truck on the street. He got in line, your hand still snugly tucked into his, and you grinned as he bounced up and down like a child.

Once you both had your ice cream cones, which were strange looking to say the least, he started walking, slowly, as he paid attention to his while making sure to also watch where he was walking so he didn't bump into anyone. You watched him as you ate yours, but after a few minutes you looked away, deciding it was a bad idea to watch him lick at the ice cream over and over.

Just as you both finished your ice cream, he came to a stop in front of a large building. "We're here" he announced.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

A/n: Jipangyi is a cane shaped cone with ice cream piped into it.

I just wanted to say hi 👋 and thank you again to those of you reading. It means so much to me, and I do hope you're enjoying the story. Please vote if you are! 🙏