The Measure of a Man { BTS Taehyung Series }

Chapter 1

Mari stood outside the dressing room door and tried not to wring her hands. It wasn't working. Her hands were gripped to each other so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.

"He's just a person," she reasoned aloud. "He's just a person like anyone else," she repeated, but still her heart slammed against the wall of her chest in blatant rebellion against her calming words.

She knocked hesitantly on the door.

"Ne?" came the answer from inside the dressing room.

"Hello, yes. I'm Mari from Tailored to You. I'm here to take some measurements."

"Oh, yeah, come on in," said a bored voice.

She turned the knob and slowly opened the door to reveal Tae sprawled out lazily on the couch, staring absently at his phone. He didn't look up as she entered the room. She laid out her materials on a narrow table in the center of the room. When Tae finally looked up from his phone, his eyes grew wide.

He whistled under his breath and whispered, "OK, then."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. It's nothing," Tae amended, flashing her a sparkling smile. "What did you say your name was?" he asked as he pushed himself up off the couch.

"Um, it's Mari," she said, extending her hand. "Short for Mariposa," she added, and immediately regretted it.

"Mariposa?" he questioned as he took her extended hand in his own and gave it a quick shake. "Does that have a meaning?"

"Yeah, it's Spanish for butterfly," she answered, staring at her shoes.

"Butterfly?" Tae repeated. "Mm. That's a name," he said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I brought it up. I don't really like it. My parents are weird. I wish they would have given me a normal name. That's why I go by Mari because at least that sounds like a name," she explained hurriedly, realizing that she was rambling.

"Mariposa sounds pretty. I like it," Tae affirmed with a surprising amount of conviction.

"Well, I'd prefer you call me Mari," she said flatly.

Tae nodded slightly and replied, "Well, you can call me TaeTae." He smiled slowly as he watched her face turn pink. Her blush could still be seen even through her golden-brown skin. She ducked her head behind her dark-brown hair that currently sported firetruck red highlights.

"I --- I thought that only good friends could call you that," she stammered.

"Well, maybe I want you to be my friend," teased Tae, knowing full-well the effect that his comments had on her. He reveled for a moment in the rush of being able to fluster this gorgeous woman. He knew the power of his smiles and his deep, rumbling voice. He wondered what superpowers she might possess. Whatever they were, she seemed unaware of them and not terribly skilled in wielding them.

Grabbing her tape measure from the table, Mari lifted her head somewhat defiantly as she moved closer to Tae.

"I'll need to get some measurements for the new wardrobe we are creating for your next photoshoot," said Mari with a confident air that belied her former bashfulness.

"Sure," he said, turning fully toward her.

"First let me just get some measurements on your arms. Could you hold your arms out straight to the side for me?" Mari asked as she gently turned him around to get the measurement from the back. It was a blessing that she couldn't see his chocolate eyes because she didn't trust her face not to be an open book.

She ran the tape measure from his shoulder to his wrist and quickly wrote down the measurement on her notepad.

"You don't use an iPad?" he questioned, finding her choice of pen and paper quaint, but puzzling.

"No, my grandma in Mexico taught me to sew and she always used a pen and paper," explained Mari.

"Oh, that's cool that you are close with your grandma. My grandma raised me for most of my life. So, we were close," he said. Mari noticed a slight crack in his voice. She remembered seeing clips of him publicly crying over the death of his beloved grandmother. Mari unconsciously patted his shoulder before measuring his neck. Again, she jotted down the measurement. She moved to face him.

"Do you know your height?" asked Mari as she stretched the tape measure around his chest. She felt his heartbeat through the thin fabric of his shirt, and she squelched a tiny gasp.

"I'm 180 cm," he replied, looking down at the top of her head as she pulled the tape measure around his waist. She pulled away quickly after getting the measurement. She turned her back to him as she took more notes on the paper.

She mumbled to herself, "Okay, 180 cm. That's about 5'11", I think."

"Ne," confirmed Tae as Mari dropped to her knees to measure his inseam. Her hands trembled as she tried to hold the tape measure still against his inner thigh.

"Whoa! Careful there," he teased as Mari dropped the tape measure and stood quickly.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I didn't realize that I bumped you. It was an accident. I can assure you," she added as her face turned a shade redder than before.

Tae laughed loudly and slapped his knee. "I was just messing with you," he said. "You didn't bump me. I just wanted to see what you would do," he admitted.

Mari, clearly unmoved by the hilarity that Tae was experiencing, merely said, "Oh, I see."

Tae stopped laughing for a moment. "I'm sorry," he said with as much seriousness as he could muster. "It was a joke. Admittedly, it was in bad taste, though. So, I'm sorry," he repeated. He took the tape measure from her hands and held it to his inner thigh and said, "I'll hold it. You go ahead and measure."

Mari knelt again and pulled the tape measure to the floor. She stood up quickly --- too quickly. A wave of dizziness descended upon her as her vision went blurry. When she listed to one side, Tae threw out a muscular arm to keep her from falling. He lowered her gently onto his couch and ran to the bathroom to bring a wet towel. He placed it behind her neck and fanned her with his hand.

"Are you OK?" he inquired as he stared at her intently.

"I'm fine," she said as she attempted to stand up again.

"Hold up, there," he said, gently pushing her back onto the couch. "Just give yourself a moment to recover, OK?" he instructed. "You almost blacked out there. You scared me a little bit. What do you think people would say if you blacked out in here?" he questioned, jokingly. "They'd think I did something to you," he answered his own question.

Yeah, thought Mari. He did something to me alright. He definitely did something to me.

Tae brushed her hair away from her face with one hand as he continued to fan her with the other. Mari remembered reading reports of how he was born left-handed but had become ambidextrous. This boy has mad skills, Mari thought. And he's gorgeous and he's not afraid to use it.

When Mari finally stood, she went to the table and gathered her supplies. Tae moved to her side. "When will I see you again?" he asked, feigning ignorance of Mari's hurry to leave.

"I should have some things for you to try on in a week or so," said Mari briskly, indicating that she had turned to business mode. She straightened her back, hoping to regain some dignity after fumbling about and almost fainting in front of Tae.

"I'll be looking forward to it," Tae said with a wink, as he opened the door for her.

Mari grasped for something clever to say, but nothing came to mind. "Okay, then," she said simply as she breezed out the door. Tae's eyes followed her as she fled down the hallway. A secret smile came to his lips as he whispered, "Wow!"