Empress Handbook

Chapter Forty-Eight | Spiders and Butterflies

The meeting finalises an assuring yet deeply frightening plan.

Yoongi confirms the preparations he will need to make and leaves. As the door slams shut, the bitterness Taehyung has been trying to restrain crushes him like a tsunami.

"Thank you for contributing to our plan," Yeoreum says, hurling Taehyung out of his catastrophic blast of thoughts. "You did well."

Taehyung gazes at Yeoreum while different urges play a tug of war in his mind. Instinctively, he wants to hug her, but the brilliance in her eyes encourages him to push her away before he can taint her.

"I can't let you down," Taehyung says, folding his lips together. "Isn't this pathetic? My mother wants to assassinate me, and my little brother is trying to ruin me."

"Taehyung—"

"You don't need to comfort me," Taehyung utters. He lowers his gaze and brushes her hand off his shoulder. "I'm sorry if I seem as if I am fishing for comfort."

Yeoreum braces her arms around Taehyung the way he always does. Her arms are thin, but the determination in her grip squeezes away every shred of anxiety that has ever reached Taehyung's heart.

"I'm here because I care about you, Taehyung. I have never been in your situation, but I'm here if you need someone to talk to," Yeoreum says. "Family is a complicated issue. My mother told me after her divorce that a family is a group of people who would unconditionally have each other's backs, and I agree with her. Families are not always bonded with blood. It can be formed by connection, care and love. No matter what, a new family is always better than the rotten original one."

Taehyung's lips quiver with a suppressed sob as he pulls Yeoreum into an embrace. He kisses her, filling her world with his affection.

"Please don't go, Yeoreum. Please stay by my side. I need you. I really do," Taehyung says, his voice tremoring with every word.

Surprisingly, Taehyung does not feel the embarrassment he expected. Instead, a sense of relief washes over him.

"I'm not going anywhere, so you have plenty of time to collect your thoughts," Yeoreum says. "I know it's easier said than done but please try to think on the bright side. Your mother and Jungkook aren't great people. Staying in the current situation may be temporarily comfortable, but it could cost you your life. Taking them out will be painful, but it will save you. It's like dealing with tumours. Not doing anything saves you from surgeries, but leaving them in could be lethal."

Taehyung nods, a smile inching to his lips. Yeoreum always effortlessly strokes away his armours of disguises in a way that tells him it is okay for him to sincerely gaze at the world without any fears or concerns.

"Can you cook dinner tonight?" Taehyung says, blinking in anticipation. "Please."

"Taehyung, let's not prepone your death," Yeoreum says. "Do you want to do it together? I'll prepare the food, and you can cook."

Taehyung nods again and carries Yeoreum to the kitchen. The tenderness in his eyes fills the summer heat with a ticklish warmth that slithers straight into Yeoreum's heart.

Taehyung carefully places Yeoreum on the marble kitchen counter and pecks her lips.

"What are you going to cook?" Taehyung says.

"What do you feel like?"

A boyish spark of excitement brightens Taehyung's eyes.

"Let's make japchae. I saw a cool recipe the other day."

"Okay," Yeoreum says. She jumps off the counter and heads to the fridge. "How many capsicums did the recipe say we need?"

Taehyung locks his arms around her waist. "One," he says.