Chapter 13 - Birdie's Place

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Sleepy and full of mango juice, I really would like to stretch out on the sofa and take a little nap, but of course that wouldn't be appropriate under the circumstances

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Sleepy and full of mango juice, I really would like to stretch out on the sofa and take a little nap, but of course that wouldn't be appropriate under the circumstances.

Instead, I take my hair down from the bun and fluff it up a bit, so that I can more comfortably lean my head against the back of the sofa. I hear Taehyung suck in his breath sharply, and glance over at him as he clears his throat, looking away. I scoff and shake my head at him, then pull my feet up and tuck them over to the other side of my body. Taehyung pauses the movie again and carries his dishes into the kitchen. When he comes back, his shirt is untucked and I'm almost sure that he has unbuttoned one more button, as well. "Comfy?" I ask him, smiling.

He grins. "Yeah. Are you?" I smile and nod at him. He grabs a throw blanket and spreads it carefully over both of us.

"This is nice, Tae," I say. "Thank you for convincing me." He smiles, scoots a little closer, and then does the oldest move in the book, stretching and putting his arm along the back of the couch behind me. I give him a pained look. "OK, now you're ruining it," I tell him.

"Oh, sorry." He pulls his arm in again and looks crestfallen, so I nudge him with my elbow and snicker. He laughs self-consciously.

By the time the film gets to the second wedding, I am sitting cross legged and leaning against Taehyung, who has his arm wrapped around my shoulders. We are both laughing at Rowan Atkinson's disastrous turn as a priest, and Taehyung gets very sad for the main character when his love interest turns out to be engaged to another man.

I wake up a couple of hours later, and see that a completely different movie is playing. Taehyung has toppled over sideways and is sleeping with his head in my lap. I look around but don't see a clock. It feels late - two or three a.m., perhaps.

"Tae," I say softly. "Taehyung-ah!" I shake his shoulder. "Kim Taehyung!"

He sniffles and raises his head, "Wha? Oh, Eunen Sae, sorry. I fell asleep." He lies back down, then glances up at me, looking bleary-eyed. "Oh, shit, sorry!" He sits bolt upright and brushes a hand across the blanket that's over my lap, then realizes what he's doing with a start. "Sorry!!"

I giggle at him. "Stop apologizing, please, and call a taxi for me, if you would be so kind."

"You can't just stay?" he asks, yawning hugely.

"No, I need to go home. Feed my cat. Put on some pajamas. Things like that."

Taehyung groans slightly, but stands up and offers me a hand to help me get up. He dials for a taxi, and then walks to the back of the condo somewhere and comes back with a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a black face-mask.

"Oh, you don't have to walk me down there, it's OK."

He looks at me like I'm crazy. "I have to make sure that you get home safely, Noona!" He slides his shoes on and presses the elevator call button.

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