time diplomat | kim taehyung ✔

| Feeling Lucky Today |

Astra looked into the huge, fancy, colorful bags that Terry had in his backseat. She was pretty comfortable in her place but, the seatbelt seemed to be trying to break her ribcage causing her to push herself further into the cushion. 

Trying her best to know what was inside those bags, Astra tried her best to stretch her neck while Taehyun focused on handling the steering wheel with one hand. He randomly scoffed at drivers and clenched his jaw at red lights.

Once when the boy hit the breaks hard at a stop, the bags fell from their positions, dropping all the content—vintage clothes, hats, and shoes. Female ones. Taehyun sighed, letting his shoulders loose. "Oh, wow. Who are these for?"

"You, of course, silly."

"Me?" Astra pointed a finger at herself, feeling surprised. "Obviously. We don't want you to roam around my dorm naked now, do we?" He winked, making her frown in disgust. "Oh. That's cool. Thanks, I guess."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not sure about your size so . . . it's all just random guesses."

"Yeah, fine. I can adjust." She sighed, looking out to the city completely filled and covered with advertisements everywhere and to the black puff of smoke that each vehicle emitted. "I wish I could go back but, here I am—researching," Taehyun said, drumming his fingers on the wheel to the song that played softly in the back. It was a language she did not understand but, Terry's expression said that it was something about a favorite person.

'Mi persona favorita
Tiene la cara bonita
Tiene un ángel su sonrisa
Tiene un corazón y yo~'

Nearing the hospital Taehyun worked at temporarily, he parked his car alongside the others and turned off his playlist, getting off the vehicle. Astra struggled with the belt but, finally did manage to entangle herself. 

"I work here in the morning only and . . . I'm just gonna resign. It'll be quick. You can wait on the eighth floor near the Intensive Care. It's quiet and no one will disturb your reading session." He rapped out, throwing her his mobile that had all those online reading apps and games she could keep herself busy with.

Walking inside, he high-fived his friend Jay, whispered a few words inside his ear, got a sad and disappointed look from the man, and finally pointed a thumb at Astra. Jay nodded and trodded towards her as Taehyun found his way to another room around the corner.

"Hey, Astra! I'm Jay. If you want, I can give you company today. Taehyun is probably gonna be late as our head is still not here. So . . . " Jay extended his hand but Astra acted as if she never saw him and turned her face to the room her friend just entered.

". . . Okay. Do you want me to lead you to the eighth floor or . . . " Astra walked to the elevator, her eyes never leaving the door as Jay continued murmuring to himself. Once the metal door closed, she sighed. "I felt like punching his face. I don't know why."

Reaching the eighth floor with a ting, she was met with another lady. She smiled lightly and stepped aside, letting Astra walk through first. "Uh . . . What are you here for, miss?"

"I'm Taehyun's acquaintance. He wanted me to wait for him here."

"Oh? That's nice. Please don't make any unwanted noises—"

"—Like what? Do I look like an alien? I'm a grown-up adult! I know my manners pretty well, ma'am." Astra pushed aside Eli, as her name tag suggested, and walked to the white chairs near the rooms. Once the elevator door was heard closing, she slumped on her seat, hearing a few sobs coming from room 0 0 7. 

Unable to hold back her urge to see who was crying so devastated, Astra tried to peep inside the translucent glass of the door. Still having nothing clear to her sight, she lightly pushed the door open but, it created a huge crrrreekk sound, causing the boy inside to turn back and wipe his tears off. "Oh, Eli? Ten minutes are over already?"

He stood up, his face still away from Astra's sight as the boy didn't spare her a look and tried to storm off of the room but, Astra caught a quick hold onto his pants' pocket. He turned around, his eyes still teary and red as he raised his eyebrows. "Uh . . . D-Do you need anything?"

"Hey, sir. I guess your man has woken up!" Astra pointed back at the boy on the bed who had his one hand floating in the air, a little above the bed and his fingers twitched along with his eyes. 

"Jimin!" The dark-haired boy ran back inside, roughly pushing Astra aside as she calmly decided to leave the two crying messes and closed the door behind her.

_ _ _ _ _

Sometime later, which felt like hours, the boy walked back out but, this time, he had a smile on his face. He sat beside Astra, still trying to wipe his eyes with the back of his palms. "Hey . . . Is Jimin okay?"

"Ah, yeah. He's totally looking fine now. I contacted the doctor—he'll be here soon. Thanks to you—maybe I would have left without seeing my best friend today."

"Oh. That's great. Okay . . . What's your name, sir?" Astra tried to turn her entire self to the boy's side. "I'm Taehyung. You—"

"Taehyung?! Tae—ex K-pop band member Taehyung?"

"Um . . . That's awkward, but, yeah." He nodded and placed a hand over the back of his head, smiling weirdly. "You were a fan?"

"Uh—no. I just know you." Oh, boy. You're gonna die soon.

"Wah~ That's nice! Thanks again." Taehyung stood up, dusting his coat as he walked to the elevator again. "W-Wait, wait, wait, Taehyung! Where did you say you were leaving to?"

"I never said it though but, I'm planning to simply drift off somewhere. Maybe even go for a pilgrimage. Sounds fun, right?" He laughed. Taehyung looked as if talking to Jimin finally made him feel much better about the things he didn't feel comfortable with at first. 

"So . . . I won't be able to meet you ever again?"

"Not sure. Bye, miss—"

"Astra. My name's Astra. Um . . . I'm new to this city and if you want, you could join me too, ya know? I was planning to look around." Lies and lies.

Taehyung blinked and hummed in doubt. For a second, Astra had her fingers crossed, wanting him to say 'yes' so that she could easily get done with her job first and look for Yeonjun. But, Taehyung looked as if he had other plans—his body language screamed so. A hand of his was rubbing his shoulder uncomfortably as if her presence made him feel so and his mouth continued opening and closing like a goldfish releasing nervous 'Uh's and 'Um's now and then.

By now, Astra was damn sure what Taehyung's answer was gonna be—

"Okay, sure! So . . . Can we first start with knowing each other, Astra?"