Trusting (KTH)

Chapter 29

Taehyung once again found himself banging on Jungkook's door in the early hours of the morning. After a few minutes the door cracked open and a sleepy Jungkook appeared.

"Hyung, what time is it?"

Taehyung wasn't able to keep his voice level, shouting about the article that Jungkook clearly hadn't seen yet.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

By now other doors in the hallway were beginning to open. Jin and Hobi were the first to come out, followed shortly by Namjoon. A manager was also coming from farther down the hall, disrupted by the loud knocking and shouting.

"I'm talking about the article Jungkook. I'm talking about how you've been sleeping with my wife!"

By now the three other members were scurrying closer to try to get things back under control. Mr. Kim had opened his door too but was just watching the scene in front of him.

"Hyung, I don't know what you are talking about. I've never had any kind of relationship with Clara like that. She's just a friend."

Taehyung crouched down in front of him, the emotions overtaking him. "But why..." he trailed off, unable to speak.

By now Clara had slipped into the hallway unnoticed by all but her father. She'd seen the article when she first woke up but had set it aside to think about later. At this point she was almost numb from everything that was happening.

"Tae?" She asked, drawing near and squatting down beside him so she could rub his back. "Why don't we go back to our room ok? We can talk about it there."

Taehyung nodded his head but made no immediate move to leave. Clara continued to rub his back until he eventually gave her a watery look, allowing her to help him up and down the hall into their room, fingers intertwined.

As soon as they were in the room Taehyung crushed Clara into a hug, his tears falling onto his neck. "I'm so sorry, everything is going wrong. I don't know what to do anymore and I'm so afraid..."

Clara rested her head against his chest, gently rubbing his back and whispering. "Afraid of what?"

"Afraid you'll leave me."

"Never" Clara whispered back, pushing herself closer. "I'd never leave you. We'll never leave you. I think I'm finally starting to understand how many challenges and problems we'll have to face but none of them compare to how much I love you. Please never doubt that ok?"

"But you left me last night."

"I know and I'm sorry if that hurt you. I didn't mean it that way. I just needed some time to think and I was really tired. If I knew you would be this upset I would have stayed. Is that ok?"

Taehyung nodded his head.

Clara continued to rub his back. "I know it's been an emotional few weeks and I know that you always do your best to protect our family. I appreciate that so much. I know I haven't done the best job protecting you too, offering you a safe space when you come home. I want to change that."

Clara pulled back and encouraged Taehyung to look at her. "I want you to know that no matter what happens I love you and I don't regret a minute of our time together. I'm behind you. Our twins are behind you. And the little one in my belly is behind you too."

Taehyung's eyes opened wide. "Little one? You're pregnant?"

Clara gave a gentle smile. "Yes, Tae. We're going to have another baby."

"Really?" A huge smile overtook Taehyung's face. "Really?" He asked again, the excitement showing in his face.

"Oh baby girl, I'm so happy right now. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Taehyung quickly attached his lips to Clara's and caressed them sweetly with his own. Eventually pulling back to allow Clara to breathe he rested his forehead against hers. "Truly thank you Clara. I promise I'm going to take the best care of you."

"I know." Clara whispered back. "Now I just need to tell the father, will you come with me when I tell Kookie?" Clara immediately burst into giggles while she tried to keep a straight face.

"Oh you little... I'm going to show you who the daddy is, just you wait." Taehyung playfully glared as Clara couldn't help but laugh.

Taehyung pulled her close again. "I know this may be difficult considering your last pregnancy. I'd like to talk to Dr. Park soon if that's ok with you. I know you missed being able to tell people last time. I expect if we tell Dr. Park he'll have to notify the company so we should think about who else we want to share our news with first."

Clara nodded into his chest again. "Ok, but for today let's just keep it between us. Maybe we could just tell the twins?"

Taehyung's chest rumbled in laughter. Kissing the top of her head he agreed. At that moment they felt safe in their own little bubble, focused entirely on their own family and each other.

Eventually Taehyung loosened his arms and pulled away. "I don't want this moment to end but we should go. Obviously there is a whole new issue we need to deal with. And I'm sure everyone is worried after what just happened in the hallway. Is there any chance I can convince you to come to our breakfast meeting? I'd really like to be together right now."

Clara nodded her consent and went to change into fresh clothes. Within a few minutes they were walking down the hallway hand in hand to first collect the boys and then continue on to the reception suite.

The mood among the staff and members was relatively somber, still reeling from Taehyung's outburst in the hallway. Needless to say they were surprised when Taehyung and Clara came into the room chatting, seeming to not have a care in the world.

Jungkook immediately made his way to the couple. "Hyung, I'm so sorry. I saw the articles and I don't know what to say. You have to believe me that nothing has ever happened between Clara and I. I just like her as a friend."

"I know," Taehyung casually responded. "I'm sorry if I overreacted. I know neither of you would ever do anything like that."

Putting a close on the conversation, Taehyung guided Clara over to the breakfast table. Now Namjoon approached the couple and quickly closed in on Clara's other side. Resting his hand on her lower back he began to whisper in her ear. "Is everything ok? I'm not sure if you've seen the article but it was pretty rough."

Clara sighed but kept up a brave face. "I know, I saw. It's been a difficult few weeks but I know that we'll get through it." Turning toward him she offered a small smile. "If you've already eaten, would you like to hold the little tiger? I'm sure he'd be happy to see you." Clara gently inclined the boy to Namjoon inviting him to take him out of her arms.

"Breakfast looks delicious doesn't it Tae?" She asked, putting an end to her conversation with Namjoon.

Everyone was looking around confused but let it go. If Taehyung and Clara were ok then they guessed that they were too? One of the managers cleared his throat before speaking. "Well, I think everyone has seen the most recent article so we should probably discuss our communications plan."

"Clara is pregnant!" Taehyung shouted out, not able to hold the secret any longer.

Clara looked at him with wide eyes and whispered loudly. "Tae, what are you doing?"

"Clara's pregnant," he said again, more calmly this time. "Apologies for the interruption, please continue." He inclined his head toward the manager inviting him to resume the meeting.

Everyone was stunned into silence staring at the couple as Clara turned increasingly red and Taehyung couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

Soon they were surrounded by the others. Even with so much bad news it was good to have something they could celebrate together.