ELVEN | K.TH

61

One year later

RINEI

The breeze carries a faint scent of salt from the ocean. The waves hit against the rocks below, deep-blue water breaking into crystal seafoam. The sun glitters in the sky.

This is nice.

It's very quiet. The only thing I hear is the ocean lapping against the shoreline, and the soft whistling of the wind as it brushes past my cheek. I mindlessly graze a strand of hair over my ear.

So quiet, and I still don't hear him.

"Hi."

"What are you doing out here?" Taehyung murmurs, and I blink sleepily as he takes a place next to me on the rocks. "I couldn't find you in the garden."

I smile.

"I gotta fix up that crack in the cottage wall." My voice drones, words lazy. I yawn, and I hear him laugh as I lean against him. He's warm, a shield of the wind.

"I've already fixed it, love."

My eyes shoot open, and I turn to stare at him. He looks amused at my stunned look.

"But I— you cooked dinner yesterday!" I exclaim, but I can't help the smile slowly rising to my lips. "I promised that I would do it."

He brushes a kiss against my lips.

"I have so much time on my hands now that I don't know what to do with it." He says, before his gaze unfocuses for a split second. He looks back at me.

"V has something to say to you, Rinei."

I nod. And the golden of his eyes dilate, just a little. When I see the warm glimmer of summer fade and replace itself with a cold, embracing winter, I know that V has taken over.

His lips split into a sharp smile.

"He's done it for a reason, Rinei. Did you really believe that he would touch a finger on that wall without wanting something from you? Think again, Princ—"

The winter flashes back to summer.

"That wasn't what he told me that he was going to say." Taehyung scowls, his eyes narrowed.

I burst into laughter.

V and Taehyung had become closer to each other over the past year. I'd guessed they'd finally accepted the fact that things were just going to be this way forever.

Now they would just cross over whenever they felt like it, during day and night. There was only one exception where V would leave us completely uninterrupted, and that was when we were in bed together.

"So you had something in mind?" I probe, leaning closer.

Taehyung hesitates. Then he shakes his head, but I'd already seen the twitch of his lips.

"No. Of course not. I'm not someone who would..."

"Just tell me." I say, cutting his excuse off. He falls silent as I touch his tinted cheek, shifting closer until we touch. "You deserve it. I really, really didn't want to fix up that wall. And I think I would've done such a bad job anyways."

He makes a defeated noise.

"Fine."

Then he comes even closer, hands wrapping around my waist and cupping my jaw.

"Rinei, I want a child."

I pause momentarily. Okay— that was more unexpected. I'd thought he just wanted to make love or something tonight.