ghostly ➳ kim taehyung

nine; "tell me more about you"

❁

Yeongsu looks immaculate in his smart, navy suit and Chaewon's aware of the fact her eyes are unapologetically wide at the sight of him. Jungkook looks uneasy as Yeongsu approaches the long table that was reserved wholly for this event -- Chaewon assumes that her father's boss rented out the entire restaurant.

"Didn't you know he was coming?" Jungkook questions quietly, just loud enough for Chaewon to hear.

"I had no idea," she responds in a whisper. "He never told me. Well, I never asked I suppose."

"Don't you think it's slightly awkward that your dad's boss is your boyfriend's dad?"

"He isn't my boyfriend," Chaewon sighs, taking a sip of her drink as soon as the waiter sets it down in front of her.

Jungkook laughs, "I'm only messing around with you."

Yeongsu glances across the table, his eyes instantly locking with Chaewon's despite the tens of people situated in the surrounding chairs. She isn't sure how to act, considering his father is standing directly by his side, so looks away shyly. She doesn't miss the tiny smirk beginning to plaster itself onto his face, though.

Midway through the meal, which Chaewon and Jungkook agreed was one of the nicest they'd ever had, and that they'd both save and treat their friends to one day, Yeongsu excuses himself from his position at the opposite end of the table beside his father. He adjusts his red tie as he heads towards Chaewon's direction and the latter prays he doesn't intend on greeting her; her parents and siblings are present and they weren't aware of his existence before tonight. But of course, he does.

"Hi, Chaewon. I didn't expect to see you here," he says politely, totally disregarding Jungkook who sits uncomfortably adjacent to her. "I assume one of your parents works at my dad's firm, am I right?"

She almost frowns; he's so different. Yeongsu tonight is the antithesis of the smirking jock that she tutors.

"My dad," she responds shortly but offers a smile, nevertheless.

"Do you two know each other?" Miyeong intervenes, grinning as she leans towards her daughter holding a glass of red wine.

"Chaewon and I are friends at school."

"You seem like a very kind boy. Perhaps Chaewon should--"

"Mom, stop," she sighs, unsure and slightly scared of whatever her mother planned on announcing.

Yeongsu laughs, offering a dashing smile. "Well, I should head back now. I told my father that I was only heading to the restroom. It was nice to see you, Chaewon."

"Yeah, you too."

Miyeong slowly turns to her daughter, a knowing smile on her face. Chaewon ignores it.

❁

"This project is going to be the death of me," Mina complains loudly, leaning back into her chair.

It's been two hours and they've yet to discover anything productive about the project. There's hardly any information about their school on the internet, which isn't surprising considering only a few hundred people attend.

"Wait, click on that," Jimin says and points to a certain web address on the screen.

Chaewon obliges and hovers the cursor over the link, clicking it instantly. Within a few seconds an article dating back to 1931, the year in which the school first opened, loads onto the screen of Chaewon's laptop.

"Surprisingly, this looks useful," Mina chuckles. "Good spot, Jimin."

There's a faded, monochrome photograph of the students that first attended the school scanned into the article. It depicts an array of smiling faces that differ totally to the expressions Chaewon's greeted with each morning.

"Let's just print this photograph and stick it onto our poster or something," Mina suggests and the others nod in agreement. None of them have much clue what to do, to be honest.

"I'm so worried in case our presentation sucks," Jimin says.

"Well, it's going to so you better prepare yourself," Mina responds causing the other two to laugh.

Chaewon smiles. "At least we had fun making it, though."

❁

"Jesus, Tae, you scared me!" Chaewon sighs, placing a hand dramatically over her heart.

He chuckles and steps forward into her room. "Sorry about that. I did knock but your music is too loud."

On cue, Chaewon leans over to her stereo and turns the dial clockwise, triggering the music to become much quieter. She turns to Taehyung with a smile and is instantly taken aback once she properly looks at him.

He's dressed in a red, oversized (and modern) shirt with black jeans, a rip adorning each knee. His hair is messy but cute, tied in a small knot at the top of his head. He looks good and Chaewon wonders why his aesthetic has suddenly changed so drastically.

"You look," she begins slowly. "Like a millennial."

Taehyung laughs loudly, a familiar grin spreading across his face, causing Chaewon to also involuntarily smile. She almost frowns, wondering to herself why on earth the sight and sound of Taehyung's laugh makes her smile.

A silence washes over them and Chaewon finds herself staring at Taehyung, heart beating loudly as he does the same.

"Um," she clears her throat. "Is everything OK?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. I just thought I'd come and see you."

It turns silent again but is anything but awkward. Chaewon isn't entirely sure what's come over her but her heart is beating almost painfully against her chest.

"Taehyung," she says quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Tell me more about you," she responds almost instantly. "Please. I feel like I don't know you enough."

"Okay," he chuckles. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything."

"Well, my full name is Kim Taehyung. I'm 19. I'm homeschooled--"

"Wait, wait," she cuts him off with a small laugh. "I know all of this. Tell me about your family or something."

"Well, my mother is called Kim Jinhi, she's 38. Her and my dad had me when they were quite young. High school sweethearts, they were -- the couple that everyone was jealous of apparently. I don't see much of them, unfortunately."

As Taehyung speaks, Chaewon can't help but find herself staring at him, and for the first time, looking at him in a different way to usual.