To Be or Not To Be: A TaeLice Story

Chapter 7: No Promises

(No Promises Demi Lavato)

The next day at work was a very hard day for Lalisa. While she was Taehyung's personal assistant, she was still new and she had a hard time saying no. People quickly caught on to this and started asking her to do stuff for them. By lunch time she was completely overwhelmed. She made sure to get Taehyung's stuff done first, but he wasn't in the office today so he wasn't aware that people kept coming up to her and being rude with her about the favors they had asked for. She was either "too slow" or did it "all wrong".

When she went on her lunch break, Jennie was waiting for her with a smile on her face. "Awww what's wrong? Rough day, hun?" She feigned concern and she hid her true self well. Lalisa sighed and nodded. "I don't know what's up with everyone today...T- Mr. Kim isn't here and everybody is acting like nothing will get done if I don't help them. I'm completely exhausted..." Jennie had hoped they'd kept her so busy that she wouldn't be able to finish Taehyung's work and would get in trouble. However, she was smarter than that and made sure to finish her priority stuff first.

"Well maybe it's some kind of hazing. I know that people often don't like the new person....but isn't this a little overboard?" she began picking at the food she'd picked up on the way to work. She wasn't eating very well these days with the stress of everything she was going through. She ate maybe a fourth of her food and then threw it away. "Well, thanks Jenie...I better get back to work." she smiled and waved at her and went back up to her office.

Taehyung had emailed her while she was at lunch break. "Ms. Manoban, I request your presence for dinner tonight to discuss arrangements for your living situation. Please be ready by 5:30 and the car will pick you up from work and bring you home. Sincerely, Kim Taehyung." Lalisa smiled, happy to hear from him after the rough day she'd been having. She responded that she would be ready and got back to work, doing her best to please everyone.

Work ended and she didn't finish everything they'd asked of her, but she politely apologized and left the building to wait on the company car to pick her up. The driver was already waiting for her. He opened the door for her and let her get in before closing it and driving to Taehyung's place. She closed her eyes and rested on the way there. She was looking forward to being in Taehyung's presence again, it had a way of making her feel like everything would be ok.

Taehyung was waiting for her by the front door when the car pulled up. Lalisa smiled as the car stopped next to him and let her out. She hopped out before Taehyung or the driver could open the door for her. "Taehyung! I missed you today. Work wasn't the same without you," she smiled and hugged him tightly. Taehyung smiled a bit and looked down at her, breathing in her scent and hugging her back gently. "I'm sorry, I will be back tomorrow before I have to leave for a business trip...you should come with me."

Lalisa stared at him with wide eyes. He wanted her to come on a business trip with him? Maybe it wasn't that shocking. A personal assistant actually being there might make things easier on him...but still he "trial" wasn't even up yet. Was it worth paying her way for everything? Taehyung read her like a book and calmed her worries. "You don't need to worry about the trial any more. You've more than proved yourself efficient." Lalisa pulled away and looked up at him. "Ok, but I'll need to borrow a suitcase," she giggled.

Taehyung told her that wouldn't be a problem and then escorted her into the dining room where dinner was waiting. He pulled out a chair for her and waited for her to sit down and then went to sit on the opposite side of the table directly across from her. "Now. I know you have some reservations about staying here for free. I'd like to discuss what you think would be fair for room and board," Taehyung spoke in his usual business tone. Lalisa was glad he'd finally opened up to the thought of her paying him something for all his help.

The discussion went on for quite some time until a ridiculously low amount was agreed upon. It was better than not paying him anything, so Lalisa finally agreed right as dessert was being brought out. "Let's have dessert in the living room," he commented and picked up his plate, leading the way. Lalisa followed with her own plate and sat next to him on the couch. His face was stoic as he watched her enjoy her dessert. He was happy, but it had become a habit not to let people read his face. Only his boyfriend got that privilege. However, he had let his guard down around Lalisa a few times.

They were watching a movie when Lalisa was starting to get tired, but stubbornly didn't want to go to bed. When she was tired she got clingy and more honest than ever. "Say...Taehyung...I'm really sorry...for the way I've been...falling for you. I've been trying hard not to act on it...especially at work...but...you've just been so kind and amazing..." she whispered during a commercial. Taehyung wanted to widen his eyes, but he wasn't shocked, he knew how she felt about him already. Still he felt something too, but didn't want to act on it more than he already had.

Taehyung smiled as she kissed the corner of his mouth gently. "Don't be sorry. I can see how hard that you are trying to hold back and I truly appreciate it. In our emails I have typed out so many things to you and I had to delete them, because I have wanted to kiss you and tell you how I feel about you so many times now. But I can't let myself hurt my boyfriend. I have to handle this carefully, even if I just want to be "bad" and do things to make myself happy. I can't hurt someone else that way, which I know that's not fair to you either."

Lalisa looked up at him pretty shocked. She had thought he felt something too, but he was always so stoic and good at hiding his feelings that she had thought it had just been in her mind. She blushed and looked down at his hands and grabbed them gently. " That means a lot to me...to hear that...thank you. I don't want anyone to get hurt either...and the fact that you're handling it this way makes me like you even more...I hope we can figure things out" she whispers while looking down.

He smiled while she played with his hands and his expression softened before he spoke again, "I hope so too. I will break one rule, because I don't want you to go without hearing it or have it lead to you questioning things. I love you. I refuse to deny it or hide it. It is hard, but I trust it is something that we can all figure out. I am glad I am here, I want to be at your side. You mean so very much to me," he lifted her chin to stare at him as he spoke. Lalisa was in awe at his words. As much as things happened fast, there was no denying that she loved him and was falling in love with him more and more by the day.

"Tae...I won't deny my feelings. I love you too...but...promise me just this one thing...No promises. You can't promise anything right now...nothing that you can keep anyway. So promise me, no promises..." he leaned his forehead against hers as she spoke. "I promise..." he spoke softly to her. Their breaths mingling and that deep need for each other filled them again. Her breath caught in her throat and she bit her lip to try to hold back the whimper that was longing to come out.

Taehyung too was having such a hard time with self control. "I never knew I had this much self-control, and my body sure tries to fight it. And I am glad you won't deny your feelings either." He cups her cheek and let's their lips linger only inches apart from each other. "I...touched myself when I thought of you...more than once," she admitted. Damn her. That made him so horny he couldn't stand it. "You make me smile so much and my heart feels like it's going to explode, but in a good way," he tried to change the subject but her hand was now rubbing his thigh and his thoughts weren't working that well anymore.

"Tae...I want to kiss you so badly...I feel like I need to do so in order to keep breathing...I'm drowning in you..." her hand was slowly moving up his thigh and his breath hitched in his throat and he slowly pulled away. "I want to kiss you so badly too, but I know I won't be able to stop, there's no way...So...we should go to bed now. We...have a lot of work to do at the office and packing to get done for the trip," he sighed.

Lalisa sighed and pulled away too, she knew he was right. She didn't want to be the reason someone was hurt. She smiled a bit. "Goodnight Taehyung," she whispered and hurried off to her bedroom. He did the same. They were both more worked up than ever and had to take care of it themselves. Again.

End of chapter 7