Idol Next Door

31

Taehyung woke up facing the empty side of the bed. The petite body of the girl he remembered cuddling with to sleep last night had now been replaced with a bolster.

Despite his head buried beneath the sheets, he managed to get ahold of his phone from atop the bedside table. Their "exclusive for 7 members of BTS only" group chat was bursting with notifications. One message came after another at the speed of light, until Taehyung thought that the notification bell would explode. This was a typical scenario in the group chat every morning, except this time his name was constantly being mentioned for some reason unknown to him. Taehyung even saw some missed calls from Jin and Namjoon. Perhaps his hyungs were worried about leaving him home drunk last night. But in truth, Namjoon and Jin just couldn't wait to ask about last night's events and how the "talk" with Dahyun went.

Taehyung opted to call Namjoon back but decided against it. He was too lazy to entertain such unnecessary fuss and besides, they were on vacation right now.

Sleepiness still evident in his half-lidded eyes, Taehyung staggered out of the bedroom, instantly greeted by a pungent smell of cooked food. The aroma of soup lured him to the kitchen where he found the girl he was searching for.

Dahyun wore an apron over her pajamas that bore red plaid patterns, humming a song while she frolicked around the kitchen. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and prescription glasses perched upon her sharp nose as she seemed to be whipping up some breakfast.

Taehyung's heavy and lazy footsteps thumping against the kitchen's flooring made Dahyun aware of his presence. The girl turned around, a warm smile stretching across her face.

"Good morning," she greeted him, her voice sounded soft, as it always was, at least to Taehyung's ears. She went over to the burner and started plating some potato pancakes.

Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Taehyung tailed behind her and leaned his head on Dahyun's shoulder with eyes closed.

"You can go back to sleep if you're still sleepy," Dahyun coaxed. "I'll just wake you up when I'm done."

Taehyung hummed, his warm breath fanning her neck as he mumbled, "Aren't you cold?" He noticed that the fabric of Dahyun's pajamas was thin and it was a cold winter morning. The heating system of the unit was excellent but he knew Dahyun was easily cold.

"Not so much," she replied, eyes focused on the pan that she pre-heated and pouring on some oil to make fried eggs. With Taehyung's head on her shoulder, she found it troublesome to move but let him be anyway. It was adorable having to see this side of Taehyung since most of the time he always goofed around.

It was common knowledge among his group and circle of friends that Taehyung was clingy. Often clingy more than necessary. But this was a romantic kind of clingy and Dahyun reveled at the notion that she was the lucky girl to be able to receive Taehyung's affection.

"Are you sure you're not cold?"

"Uh, maybe you could set the heater on a slightly higher setting," she requested.

Taehyung didn't move one bit and instead wrapped his arms around her, catching Dahyun slightly startled. "Hey," she nudged him.

"I'm keeping you warm. Forget about the machine, I can be your personal heater," he said, hugging her tighter in a way that he didn't want to let her go.

"You still need to pack your stuff for Daegu, in case you forgot," Dahyun reminded as she escaped from his embrace and stirred the hangover soup that started to simmer.

Taehyung frowned, leaning back against the kitchen counter,  mumbling, "I don't wanna go."

"You promised your parents that you'd be there for the holidays."