AT Kim Enterprises Company
The grand lobby of Kim Enterprises is bustling with activity. The polished marble floors and sleek modern design reflect the richness of the building.
Taehyung, dressed in a sharp suit, stands near the reception area, his demeanor as controlled and distant as ever. Despite the usual composed exterior, there is an unmistakable tension in his posture.
Ria walks in alongside her father, Mr. Choi, her presence like a breath of fresh air in the formal setting. She looks around with curiosity and admiration.
Taehyung spots her immediately, and his heart skips a beat, an involuntary smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Taehyung's Mind Voice
"𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴-𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘳. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨?"
As Ria approaches, his gaze softens when he saw her. He straightens up, forcing himself to adopt a neutral expression, though his eyes betray a flicker of warmth.
Taehyung: "Mr. Choi , welcome. It's a pleasure to have you here. I trust you had a good journey?"
Mr. Choi smiles warmly, shaking Taehyung's hand. "Thank you, Taehyung. The trip was smooth. We're looking forward to our discussion."
Ria steps forward, her gaze meeting Taehyung's. "Hi, Mr. Kim. It's nice to see you again."
Taehyung's Mind Voice
"𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦-𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯."
"Hello, Ms. Ria. It's good to see you too. I hope you're finding everything alright."
Ria nods, her eyes sparkling with genuine interest. "Yes, everything's great. I must say, this place is impressive and... you're looking so handsome today."
Taehyung's Mind Voice:
"𝘜𝘩.. 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 .𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘪 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦? . 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘵, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺."
As they walk toward the meeting room, Taehyung notices how Ria occasionally glances around, taking in the surroundings. He catches himself smiling, a rare and fleeting expression of warmth.
Taehyung: "If you'd like, I can give you a brief tour of the facilities after the meeting. It's not often we get guests who are genuinely interested in the workings of the company."
Ria's face lights up with genuine enthusiasm. "I'd love that! It sounds fascinating."
Taehyung's Mind Voice
"𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥? 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵?. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 ?"
During the meeting, Taehyung is focused and professional, but he occasionally steals glances at Ria. Each time he sees her absorbed in the conversation, his usual cold demeanor slips more.
After the meeting, as they step out of the conference room, Taehyung takes Ria and her father on a tour of the office. He finds himself talking more freely, sharing insights about the company and even making jokes.
Taehyung: "So, if you ever need a crash course in corporate strategy, you know where to find me."
Ria chuckles, her laughter like music to his ears. "I might just take you up on that offer."
Taehyung's Mind Voice
"𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩-𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 ?𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨."
As the tour concludes, Taehyung and Ria stand by the window, looking at the cityscape. The light of the setting sun casts a warm glow on their faces.
Taehyung : "Thanks for coming by today. It was... nice to see you again."
Ria smiles softly. "I'm glad I came. It was a great experience. And thank you for the tour."
Taehyung's Mind Voice
"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘴𝘰 𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘺 𝘪𝘵."
As they say their goodbyes, Taehyung watches Ria leave, a genuine smile on his face.
For the first time, he's not sure whether he wants to keep everything under control or not.
YOU ARE READING
Darkness Between Us
Fanfiction"I thought I was content-proud of my achievements. But deep down, there was a void. An emptiness that no amount of success could fill. The loneliness was my only constant companion. My conversations were superficial, my connections fleeting. I was s...
