Fated Foes ||toptae||

46

The late morning sun bathed the campus grounds in golden light as Taehyung and his group of friends lounged outside, enjoying their free time. The laughter and banter were interrupted when Lia walked up to them, looking radiant as always, with her usual confident air.

"Taehyung!" she called, her voice drawing the attention of everyone in the group.

Taehyung turned lazily to her, raising an eyebrow. "What is it, Lia?"

"Come with me. I need your help," she said, her voice almost a command but with a playful edge.

Taehyung's friends immediately perked up, sensing an opportunity for mischief. One of them nudged Taehyung with his elbow. "Ooh, look at that, Lia personally requesting your time? What's the deal, lover boy?"

Another chimed in, "Looks like our Taehyung isn't single anymore!"

Taehyung rolled his eyes at their teasing. "You guys are idiots," he muttered, standing up and brushing imaginary dust off his pants.

Lia, ignoring the boys' teasing, grinned. "I need you to model for my clothing brand. Come on, you'll be perfect for it."

Taehyung groaned, his annoyance evident. "Do I really have to?"

"Pretty please?" Lia said, clasping her hands together and unleashing her best puppy eyes.

"Aishh, fine. Where do I need to go?" he said in defeat, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Perfect! Jiya's already there. Come on!" Lia grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward her car.

Taehyung's friends watched them leave, their eyes glinting with amusement. "Man, our boy's days of being single are over."

"If only they knew,"
- author meemee

---

The venue Lia took him to was a chic little studio filled with racks of clothes, lights, and cameras. As soon as they arrived, Jiya approached them, her expression unimpressed as she looked Taehyung up and down.

"Oh, you're here. I still don't understand, Lia unnie, what you saw in him for this shoot," Jiya said, her tone dripping with playful disdain.

Taehyung feigned offense, placing a hand dramatically over his chest. "Excuse me, I'm handsome. Don't act like I'm not the highlight of this shoot."

Lia rolled her eyes but couldn't help smiling. "Alright, alright, stop bickering. We're burning daylight here."

The photoshoot began, with Taehyung modeling a variety of outfits Lia's brand was promoting. He quickly got into the groove, effortlessly posing and showing off his natural charm. Jiya grudgingly admitted that Taehyung wasn't terrible at this.

"You're tolerable," she finally muttered.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Taehyung replied, flashing a smug grin.

Later that evening, after the shoot wrapped up, Taehyung sat down and scrolled through his phone. Smirking, he uploaded one of the pictures from the photoshoot to his Instagram. In the photo, he wore a sleek jacket and a confident expression that screamed effortless charisma.

The caption read: "Had to lend my face to Lia's genius. Check out her brand! #SupportYourFriends"

And, of course, he tagged Lia.

Within minutes, the post was flooded with likes and comments, most of them praising his looks, while a few friends poked fun at him. Lia, however, simply commented: "About time you paid me back for all those free coffees I bought you!"

Taehyung chuckled at the comment, leaning back with a satisfied grin. It had been a long day, but even he couldn't deny it had been fun.

The evening buzzed with activity on Taehyung's Instagram post. The picture of him looking effortlessly handsome in Lia's designer jacket caught the attention of hundreds, if not thousands, of his followers. Compliments rolled in, and his friends chimed in with teasing comments. Taehyung was soaking in the love, lounging on his couch with a smug grin, until something-or rather someone-was brooding elsewhere.

Jungkook sat in his dorm room, the glow of his phone casting a faint light across his otherwise dark room. He had been scrolling mindlessly through social media when the post popped up. Taehyung.

Jungkook stared at the photo longer than he'd care to admit. The caption wasn't what annoyed him-it was the tag. Lia.

His chest tightened as the comments under the post fueled the fire in his heart.

"Wow, Taehyung and Lia would make such a cute couple!" one said.
"Are they dating? They look perfect together!" another chimed in.

The words clawed at him, echoing the insecurities he had buried deep.

Jungkook tried to shake off the pang of jealousy gnawing at him. He reasoned with himself: You told him you don't love him. You kissed him, yes, but you've been ignoring him. This is your fault.

But that didn't stop the storm brewing inside him. The thought of Lia-beautiful, smart, talented Lia-spending more time with Taehyung, dragging him to photoshoots, getting closer to him... it made Jungkook feel an emotion he wasn't ready to name.

He flung his phone onto the bed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Why does it even matter?" he muttered under his breath. But deep down, he knew. It mattered because it was Taehyung.

Meanwhile, Taehyung was oblivious to the turmoil he'd unintentionally caused. Lying on his bed, he scrolled through the comments, smirking at how many people were impressed by the shoot. "They think Lia and I are dating?" he chuckled.

His phone buzzed. It was a message from Lia:
"Your followers are wild. Someone even DMed me asking if we're engaged!"

Taehyung laughed, replying:
"Tell them I'm already married to my ego."

He tossed his phone aside and closed his eyes, still grinning. Little did he know, just across campus, Jungkook was wide awake, battling a whirlwind of emotions he didn't know how to express.

My parents
Miss them 🥺😭😭😭