Downpour | Kim Taehyung

chapter 17

❝just to be clear, there is a timeskip between the previous chapter and this one for around a week; same with my other updates if that wasn't clear with anyone before.❞
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"Alright, I guess these are enough," I whispered to myself as I stacked the folders I had went over on a paper tray.

The clock struck three, and I got up from my seat, stretching my arms. The cool air brushing against my bare skin.

If I were to bring Aeri with me, I'd have to leave now so I could drop by at home and fetch her. Before leaving, I approached Minji's cubicle.

"Minji, if anyone asks, please tell them I went ahead already," I requested.

"Hmm? Sure," replied Minji, not taking her eyes off her paperwork.

"Where are you going?" It was Nari who asked, and I couldn't tell if she were really just everywhere, or it was only due to the fact that Nari and Minji's work cubicles were besides each other.

I cupped my left elbow. "I'm visiting my parents."

"Oh?" Nari thoughtfully blinked at me, and then her lips rounded as she stretched, "Ohhh."

Sometimes, Nari's reactions made it seem like she was a child stuck in an adult's body.

"You're going to visit your parents?" echoed Minji, finishing something before she glanced upwards. "Why not go with Mr. Kim?"

"He's busy. I'll be with Aeri anyway," I told her, no undertones lacing my words when I said Taehyung was busy.

I was sure they all had noticed not just how Taehyung and I didn't interact much the past few days, but also how the two of us got back to our usual banters.

Not to mention, there was also Taehyung's new found daily entertainment which consisted of him ruffling my hair before he headed for his office almost everyday, randomly dropping by my work post and jokingly asking for a kiss out of nowhere with a voice that could be heard from two cubicles away from mine—if not the whole of the small department I was in, and some more of his little antics I gradually got used to. Well, not really.

All of which earned him a complaint from me in a form a facial expression or a verbal reaction. But Taehyung being Taehyung, he didn't mind.

"At least you have another person who'll be your strength from now on," stated Minji, quite thoughtfully, and Nari just nodded vigorously in agreement.

I smiled at her. Taehyung, huh? I guess he'd count as one. Maybe.

"You go now so you and Aeri don't stay out late."

"Ah, I hope they still have hydrangeas," I mumbled to myself, fishing for my phone out of my bag. "Anyway, I'll be on my way now." I sent them a small smile, waving my hand with my phone clutched on it.

~*~

It was half past five when I came back to Taehyung's residence, expecting an empty apartment, but Taehyung was already situated in the living room, watching TV with his head leaning sideways on his fist, elbows resting on the backrest of the couch.

I carefully shifted towards him, and when he noticed me, he stood up, eyeing both me and Aeri who was securely tucked in my arms.

"She fell asleep." I smiled, observing Aeri breathe steadily.