COLOR ME RUINED

Sunset and You

"You!"

Taehyung regretted blurting out his words as soon as they left his mouth. He did like her, but he wasn't sure if it was love or just attraction. What he said just now could complicate things between them, and he could see it on Kinza's face-her eyes wide in shock, her lips slightly parted as if trying to find the right words.

"Huh?" was all she could whisper.

Taehyung quickly realized how much he'd messed up. He wasn't ready to jeopardize their friendship or whatever it was they had built so far.

"You?" he repeated, trying to turn it into a question, his voice a bit shaky as he tried to fix his mistake. "I mean... what about you?" He ran his hands through his hair, fidgeting nervously as if that could undo what just happened. "How would you express love to your... you know, your guy?" He averted his gaze, focusing on anything but her face.

Kinza blinked, still a little dazed. "What?" she asked, still processing.

"You know, if you had a guy... how would you express your feelings?" Taehyung clarified, his voice a bit too casual now, desperately trying to steer the conversation away from the awkward moment.

"Oh!" Kinza let out a small, relieved exhale. She felt ridiculous for jumping to such a conclusion. Of course, he didn't mean it like that. "I don't know. I've never really thought about it," she admitted, focusing on her feet as she buried them in the sand.

"C'mon now, don't be a party pooper! There must be something you're looking forward to. Like..." Taehyung trailed off teasingly.

"You know, like making a presentation with his pictures and quotes for every month's anniversary. Or maybe buying matching diaries and pens, and talking about boring stuff until both of you fall asleep," he finished, his lips puckering in a poor attempt to hold back a grin, but his flushed cheeks gave him away.

He knew he was pushing her patience, but he wanted to see how far he could go.

"You really do come up with nice ideas sometimes," Kinza replied, catching him off guard. His smirk disappeared in an instant.

"I could also get us some customized couple t-shirts and parade around town. How romantic would that be?" Kinza added, sighing dramatically and gazing up at the sky as if envisioning it.

Taehyung visibly cringed at the thought of walking around in tacky couple shirts with cheesy quotes. He was a fashion icon, after all. How could Kinza suggest something so ridiculous?

But before he could protest, he caught himself. What was he doing? Just a moment ago, he had nearly made a fool of himself, and now here he was again, lost in thoughts about being her partner.

"You scare me!" Taehyung blurted out.

Kinza turned her attention to him instantly, eyebrows raised.

He continued, "Just so you know, I was pulling your leg, and what you just described is literally every guy's nightmare. That's not how couples work!"

"Says the one who dated once!" Kinza shot back.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Taehyung exclaimed, holding his hands up in mock defense, his eyebrows scrunched up in exaggerated offense. "You're right, but cheap move! And once is better than nunce."

Despite his attempt at looking serious, his pout made him look anything but offended. Kinza fought the urge to laugh at how adorable he looked, but she had a point to make.

"I don't know why you have this image of me being boring," she defended. "It's unfair for you to underestimate me. I can be fun and romantic too, you know!"