calm ㅣ taehyung

back to reality

셋- three

Somi was an introvert, a wallflower, a loner, take your pick. 

She had been her entire life, so she had never cared much about having many friends. Having friends was an exhausting business that never appealed to Somi, but for some reason Taehyung was an exception. There was something about his never-ending liveliness that made her feel so awake. Taehyung was like a shot of espresso, and Somi was acquiring a taste for coffee. 

But when Taehyung invited Somi over to his house, she was caught off guard. There were so many thoughts running through her head all at once. Why did he want her to come over? They had only been friends for a few days, it seemed so fast. Or maybe it wasn't fast at all - Somi didn't know what was considered a reasonable amount of time to wait until inviting a new friend to your house. Was it a date? Wait, no. Stupid question. Was she overthinking this? Yes. Also a stupid question. 

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Somi eventually replied to Taehyung's request, trying to play off as if she wasn't nervous as hell. 

The pair played their question game while they walked to his house. 

"Favorite flavor of milk?" Taehyung asked. "Strawberry," Somi replied with a small smile on her face. She didn't understand why he wanted to know such small details about her, like her favorite day of the week, her favorite scent and now her favorite milk flavor. Saturday. Cinnamon. Strawberry.

"Strawberry," Taehyung repeated while nodding, as if he were actually storing this useless piece of information in his memory. 

The question game worked both ways, obviously, so while Taehyung was learning a lot about Somi, she was also learning a lot about Taehyung. Although they had only hung out for a combined total of about 4 hours, it felt like they knew almost every little detail about each other already. Somi would silently fret that they would soon run out of questions for their game and that this would cause Taehyung to lose interest in being her friend, but she pushed this thought aside.

It was Somi's turn. "Aliens. Thoughts?" She tested. Taehyung chuckled while nodding. "Exist." He responded simply. Somi nodded approvingly. 

Taehyung slowed his pace and stopped outside the door of a modest but pretty house. One story, medium grey exterior, dark grey roof. Potted plants on either side of the white front door, which Taehyung was currently unlocking. "Home sweet home," he sang as he held the door open for Somi to go in first. She smiled at the gesture and stepped in. 

As soon as she was inside, a chubby, white Scottish Fold bounced over and rubbed against Somi's ankles. "A cat!" Somi cooed, stating the obvious. "That's Dumpling," Taehyung informed her as they both squatted down to pat the feline. "Dumpling?" Somi giggled while rubbing Dumpling's tummy. "It's because he's so fat," Taehyung whispered to her, as if Dumpling could overhear him and be offended. Somi laughed because it was true, the cat was on the tubby side. 

Taehyung brought Somi into his room, Dumpling following behind as if to chaperone the teens. Taehyung's parents were still at work, so the cat was the only supervision within the house. 

Taehyung's room was similar to the only other boys room Somi had ever set foot in - Jungkook's. Taehyung's bed was unmade; a single pillow lay somewhere within the blue sheets. The floor was relatively tidy, aside from two xBox controllers and a few discarded pieces of clothing laying here and there. There was an impressively large bookshelf opposite the bed, boasting a large collection of novels. Somi immediately walked over it to judge Taehyung's literary taste.

"You've got everything here," Somi murmured while scanning the shelf. "I'm impressed." It was like a miniature library; she made a mental note to ask to borrow a few of these from him sometime. "Thanks," Taehyung said shyly, rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned on the doorframe.

"Which is your favorite?" Somi asked curiously, glancing over at him. Taehyung immediately moved over to his bedside table and picked up a book that had been laying there, as if it had been read recently. He passed it over to Somi, his only communication being a shy smile on his face as his eyes met hers. 

Somi examined the book in her hands. It was the first Harry Potter book, its pages yellowed and dog eared, looking like it had been read a thousand times over the years. 

After seeing Taehyung's book collection that any adult would be proud to own, Somi was mildly surprised that his very favorite book was one the two of them would've first read as children. At the same time, she wasn't surprised at all, as it made perfect sense that Taehyung would adore a book like this. It fit well with his childlike personality that was growing on Somi.

She looked back up at Taehyung, a smile on her face. "I love Harry Potter," she said quietly. He smiled back down at her. "Me too," he murmured. It was quiet as the two simply smiled at each other, enjoying the moment, basking in their newfound common interest. The silence was ruined as Dumpling meowed loudly, snapping the pair back into reality. They averted their eyes from each other, Somi looking back down at the book in her hands and Taehyung glaring daggers at Dumpling. 

Taehyung cleared his throat. "So.. ready for more interrogation?" He asked jokingly, referring to their conversation in the park the other day. 

Somi knew this was coming and yet she felt unprepared. She knew they weren't going to talk about milk flavors forever, but she was worried Taehyung would delve too deep and learn too much about her. And if he learned too much, he would lose interest in being her friend and -

"...Somi? Everything okay?" Taehyung asked, looking concerned. Somi returned from her daydream and looked up at him. "I'm okay. Ready for interrogation," she jested while her stomach did nervous flips. "Let's do this."