Blood and Roses || Lee Taeyong

Chapter 19 | "your favorite"

Chaerin was sitting in the garden, the calm silence of the night consuming her thoughts. It was dark out, the only light being from the moon above, illuminating the beautiful flowers planted around her. She sighed at the tranquility of it all, relishing in the peace.

"Hey, loves."

She jumped at the voice, turning to see Taeyong standing behind her.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Oh, no not at all. Go right ahead." She replied, nodding her head and making room for him on the bench.

He flashed her a small smile before taking a seat. She continued to stare out into the silence but she could feel his eyes on her. Taking a chance, she turned her head slightly to look at him, only to find him staring at her.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked nervously.

"Let's talk. Get to know one another." Taeyong replied, relaxing his shoulders with a calm smile on his face.

"Uh, alright. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything. You." She let out an amused huff at his response. "I'm serious, you're a very intriguing person."

"Why's that?"

"You know, you're the only person who's ever yelled at me before."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. If I wasn't the one on the receiving end, I would've been impressed." He said with a slight smirk.

"You weren't impressed?"

"More angry at the time, but maybe just a little bit impressed." The pair nodded at one another.

"Yeah well you deserved it."

"I know, I know." He said with a chuckle before fixing her with a focused gaze. "But you know who I am and what I'm capable of. So why risk it? Why risk any of it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you've yelled at me, talked back, insulted me, all of it. Multiple times. But I know you're not dumb. I know that you know I could've killed you, but you still did it all. Why?"

She paused, letting out a sigh before responding.

"I just... knew you would never kill me. Even if I pushed you."

"So if you're so brave and confident to do that, what about that boyfriend of yours?" Her eyes widened at his question. "I saw him hit you today."

Chaerin quickly stiffened, her hand instinctively raising up and touching her cheek where he had slapped her.

"Well he... it's just um... I-"

"Hey relax, I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable, I'm sorry." He said quickly, noticing her rising panic. "I'm just saying, don't devalue yourself and what you're worth."

"You've really done a 180, you know that?" She said with a laugh, lightening the mood.

"Well now that I'm not actively trying to ruin your life or make you leave, things are different."

"Why were you doing that again?"

"I didn't want you dragged into this life." He sighed out. "But you've certainly showed that I don't get to dictate that. I think it's also pretty clear that the scary intimidation thing won't work on you either, like it does with the guys so I figure if I can't make you leave, I can at least keep you safe. Maybe it's time to try for friends." He said with a soft, hopeful smile.

"I like that." She said with a nod, meeting his eyes with a grin.

"So loves, my new friend, tell me about yourself. Interests, hobbies, how'd you meet the guys, what makes you tick, anything. I want to know all about you." Taeyong said, sitting straighter and leaning in before he noticed the skeptical look on her face. "Don't worry, you can ask me as many questions as you want after, I'm sure you have many.

"You're right about that." She chuckled, relaxing her shoulders and thinking. "Well, let's see..."

- - -

The two of them talked for hours into the night and, surprisingly, they had much more in common that Chaerin would ever have thought. She ended up enjoying herself quite a bit.

They continued to grow closer through the week, taking strolls in the garden together or late night drives. By the end of it, Chaerin could definitively say that he had made a solid effort to get to know her, and they were definitely friends.

He sat with her often during her studies, allowing her to work in his office with him since it was the one place none of the members were allowed to enter without permission. He claimed to be doing his own work so she wasn't bothering him but instead he found himself zoning out and watching her work, observing the little doodles she would draw in boredom.

"Hey, lovely, I need you to do something for me." He said, noticing her doodling away on one of her pages again.

"Yeah? What's up?" She asked, putting her pen down.

"Since you're a real full member of this gang now, we really need to tattoo you."

"Tattoo me?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. Every member has a neck tattoo to identify you. Also, Jungwoo and Sungchan developed this special ink that allows us to find your location incase you ever get kidnapped."

"Oh, uh, okay. Should we do it now?"

"Can we?" He asked quietly.

"Sure, I need a break anyway."

The two of them stood up, and she followed him down the hall to a dark room in the back.

"Do you know what you'd like you tattoo to be of?" He asked, starting up the machine.

"Uh.... No clue. What's yours?"

He smiled at her, tilting his neck to the side to reveal a small black dragon tattoo.

"A dragon." He said proudly before straightening up again. "I think I have an idea for you, if you'll trust me to design it myself."

She looked at him hard for a moment before slowly nodding her head and tilting her head to the side.

"I'll make this quick. It's going to sting but it'll be over fast." He said, passing her a pillow to squeeze before he began.

He was right that it stung, Chaerin tightly clutching the pillow and clenching her teeth at the pain, but it was over in a matter of minutes as the machine whirred down and Taeyong let out a satisfied hum.

"All done." He said happily, passing her a mirror.

She took it from him, tilting her head to the side as she observed the small black mark with a smile on her face.

"A rose?"

"Yeah... they're your favorite, right?" He asked nervously.

"How did you know that?"

"You draw them on your hands and all your notebooks, so I took a guess..."

"Well your guess was correct," He relaxed with her confirmation, smiling at her with a straighter posture. "I love it, thank you."

"No problem. Now you're officially part of the gang. Congratulations."