Just A Few Numbers Away

Chapter 74

The Fortress of Flowers

​The walk through the North Park had been quiet, the kind of comfortable silence Aen had come to cherish.

Carly was practically vibrating beside her, skipping ahead every few steps and then doubling back, her eyes darting toward the thicket of trees that hid the secluded grove.

​"Mommy, look! The music is coming from over there!" Carly pointed, her voice high with feigned surprise.

​Aen slowed her pace.

She recognized the melody instantly.

It was the piano track Yoongi had been "tinkering" with for months-the one he'd play late at night when he thought she was asleep.

But here, filtered through the rustling leaves and the golden afternoon light, it sounded different.

It didn't sound like a work-in-progress; it sounded like a finished masterpiece.

​As they rounded the final bend, Aen stopped mid-step.

​The grove had been transformed into a sanctuary.

The Lavender Hydrangeas Jimin and Taehyung had hand-picked were arranged in massive, soft clusters, creating a literal purple cloud that seemed to float just above the grass.

In the center, a small table held a vase of pure White Lotuses, their petals glowing like pearls against the deep purple carpet of scattered blossoms on the ground.

​And there, standing in the heart of the "cloud," was Yoongi.

​He wasn't wearing his usual oversized hoodie or producer's flannels.

He stood tall in a crisp black shirt, the golden hour light catching the sharp lines of his silhouette.

​"Yoon?" Aen breathed, her hand instinctively flying to the numbers on her wrist.

It wasn't pulsing with the frantic heat of a warning anymore.

It was steady, glowing with a soft, white light that felt like a warm embrace.

​Yoongi didn't say anything at first.

He just watched her, his expression a mix of terrifying vulnerability and absolute certainty.

He reached out a hand, beckoning her forward.

​"Dadhie!" Carly squealed, running toward him.

He caught her for a brief second, pressing a kiss to her forehead and whispering something in her ear that made her beam, before she skipped over to a nearby bench-where Aen now realized the other members were likely hiding in the shadows.

​Aen walked forward, her shoes silent on the bed of purple petals.

When she reached him, the scent of the lotuses was overwhelming-sweet, clean, and full of promise.

​"You weren't at the studio?" she asked, a small, tearful smile breaking through her shock.

​"I was, Jagi," Yoongi replied, his voice raspy and thick with emotion.

"Although it wasn't at HYBE. I was at a private studio-the only one that matters. I was practicing how to tell you that I don't want to live another day where you are just a 'guest' in my life."

​He took both of her hands in his.

​"A year ago, I was sitting in my room calling your phone every hour, terrified that I was losing a woman I barely even knew yet. When a stranger answered from that bar, my heart stopped. I remember finding you wasted at the counter, crying because you thought 'home' was an ocean away and that you'd drown trying to get back to it."