Healing (KTH, featuring KNJ)

Chapter 11

The morning after Taehyung got home Clara arrived at the dorms relatively early, sneaking in using the passcode Namjoon provided so she could begin to execute her plan. First she needed to accept the delivery and get things set-up.

What she wasn't expecting was that the delivery would be so large. Or heavy! But starting with one bag and one piece of lumber at a time, she began to carry her supplies to the large sunny patio behind the dorms. Their patio offered perfect views of the Han River and the rest of Seoul, but was a bit sparse.  Mostly consisting of a stone pavers, a rarely used dining table and chairs, and some bushes around the exterior. It was the perfect place to create a small raised garden. But in her excitement to make the surprise as big as possible she may have underestimated how many bags of soil and how many plants she'd need to carry. Undeterred, she was excited for the perfect surprise for Taehyung. She wanted to be mostly set up with everything on the back patio so he could just join her for the fun of the final assembly.

But clearly fate had other plans. After nearly an hour of carrying heavy things she was exhausted. And the boys were starting to trickle downstairs, woken by repeated thuds as heavy bags were dropped, sometimes accidentally and sometimes on purpose out of frustration. This was partnered with an occasional shout of irritation when one fell on her foot.

Clara was a sweaty mess.  Her face was covered with dirt smudges which matched her exasperated facial expression as she began to seriously rethink the wisdom of her idea. Luckily one of the first to come down was Jungkook, who after hearing her frustration offered a small laugh which earned him a glare in return. But he immediately redeemed himself by offering to help carry the materials with her.

She gratefully accepted. Normally her pride would have kept her from saying yes, but she knew she had been beaten and needed help.  The two of them were eventually joined by Namjoon, and before long everything had been transferred to the back patio for assembly. Now she just needed Taehyung so she could surprise him!

She asked Namjoon to come with her to wake up Taehyung. She wanted to let him sleep but knew that if she didn't take matters into her own hand he may stay in bed until evening. And that simply was not going to work. If for no other reason, she was much too excited both to see him and share her surprise. But she also knew that he deserved privacy and it wasn't appropriate for her to go into his bedroom uninvited.  So Namjoon offered to help ensure that the coast was clear for her to enter and confirmed that he would stay nearby.

She started by sitting on the edge of Taehyung's bed and gently calling his name while shaking his shoulder. Namjoon, watching from the doorway, shook his head at her futile attempts to wake the heavy sleeper.

"Clara, you're never going to wake him up like that. You're going to need to be much louder, and much more forceful."

With a small glare, she scooted closer to where he lay sprawled on the bed. "Hey Tae, it's time to wake up. I brought your favorite snacks and a special surprise." This partnered with somewhat more aggressive shaking and some rubbing of his shoulder still elicited no response.

Rolling his eyes Namjoon sighed, "You're hopeless."

Rolling her back in return, Clara decided it was time to kick things up a notch. She grabbed the blankets and pulled them away and followed it up with a few well placed tickles to Taehyung's sides. "Tae! Time to get up! If you don't get up now Jungkook will eat all the snacks I brought for you!"

At this Taehyung started to stir, but it was Clara who squealed out when he moved to grab her, pulling her close and tucking her head under his chin while he snuggled up. "I thought you promised that as soon as you saw me you'd give me a big hug?"

Burning red with embarrassment Clara slapped his chest. "Let go of me! If you don't get downstairs now Jungkook will eat all of your favorite snacks I brought. I saw him heading toward the kitchen when I came up here. Oh, and I have another surprise for you too!"

"This better be good. I'm pretty comfortable here in my warm bed claiming my promised hug."

After several more slaps to the chests, paired with a lot of wiggling and requests to be let go, Clara eventually escaped from Taehyung's clutches, bouncing to her feet. Clapping with a brilliant smile on her face she hopped up and down in excitement. "Let's go, I have the most fun thing planned today and I can't wait to get started!"

With a small groan Taehyung started to roll toward the edge of the bed. "Fine, I'm coming. But absolutely no more shouting, clapping, or bouncing up and down until I've had at least one cup of coffee. Deal?"

"Deal!"