YOU, ME, & SHE • |KTH AU| •

sixteen

"Alright, now let me show you a different stitch..." Taehyung says, his fingers brushing against mine as he takes the needle and scarf from me. We're seated side by side at the large work table in his studio, surrounded by scraps of fabric and rolls of colorful threads.

He leans closer, sending a shiver down my spine. "Watch closely... See how I position the needle?"

I nod my head yes, and he continues, "Now watch how I glide it through the fabric, just like this."

I fix my gaze on his nimble fingers as he weaves the needle in and out of the fabric, creating an intricate pattern that dances before my eyes.

"Now, you try." He hands back the cloth and needle. My hand trembling clumsily, I pierce the needle through the silk and try to mimic his moves. But then my hand slips, making the needle veer off course and tangle the thread.

I curse under my breath, helplessly glancing up at Taehyung.

He lets out a soft chuckle. "Ah, you've stumbled upon one of my sewing pet peeves: a knot in the thread. No worries, it's an easy enough fix."

He reaches for a spare needle from the table which he uses to deftly untangle the knot.

"When the thread gets twisted like this, it can cause tension and lead to uneven stitches," He explains, his voice carrying the weight of years of experience. "Remember to keep an eye on the thread as you stitch, and give it a gentle tug every now and then to prevent tangling. I can't imagine what I hate more between that - the knot thing, I mean - and the fashion faux pas of wearing socks with sandals." He visibly shudders.

"I have a bunch of pet peeves, actually," He goes on. "People who misuse your and you're when typing. I hate this so bad it literally makes me have involuntarily eye twitches. And then there's the over-sharers who give annoyingly detailed descriptions of their bodily functions and stuff during casual conversations..."

I guffaw loudly as he goes on, dead serious: "And those who loudly slurp their drinks, turning a peaceful beverage into some impromptu orchestra performance."

He laughs with me for a bit and then he says, "What's your pet peeve? Now that I come to think of it, you know almost everything about me now, but you've never told me anything about you. Don't friends usually know more equal amounts of stuff about each other?"

"Friends?" I blurt, unsure of what I want to feel right now: happy or disappointed.

"Yeah, silly," He grins, jabbing his finger into my shoulder. "What else are we supposed to be at this point?"

Right. Okay. I'm not being friend zoned. I'm actually on the right path, the path I wanted to be on, the path towards my goal.

I grin happily at him as I brainstorm one of my most intense pet peeves.
"Well, I really hate it when people have loud and dramatic phone conversations in public places, making everyone around them unwilling participants in their personal dramas."

"Yep, that really sucks," Taehyung murmurs, nodding in understanding. He's silent for a bit, and then he says, "Hey so... Was your late grandmother your sole family member...? Don't you have any siblings, or close friends?"

I give a slow nod, a pang of guilt slicing through me. But it is what it is — it's too late for me to drop the ruse I started at the hospital.

"No, I don't have any siblings," I mumble. "But I do have a very close friend. My only friend, actually. Her name is Vanessa."

"I assume that you guys regularly text or talk on the phone, right?" Taehyung says, tilting his head. "But don't you ever feel like going to meet her? I could totally take you sometime, if you want."