Man-Child

Chapter 22: Beach Babes

"Minji," I heard Taehyung walking into the room as I brushed my teeth. "I found some painkillers."

"Coming," I called. I quickly wiped the toothpaste off of my mouth and grabbed my hairbrush. I didn't have much on – only shorts and a bra. Who knew? Maybe Taehyung would find it attractive.

I rushed out of the bathroom, to find Taehyung and his grandmother chatting happily away. Jack was in Taehyung's arms and his little twin brothers were sitting on my mess of a bed. Regret hit me like a huge wave at the beach as I dropped my hairbrush.

Everyone's attention turned to me. All the chatter had died down as soon they noticed I was there. My face heated up as I felt everyone looking.

"Uh... I... forgot my shirt in my bag..." I mumbled. Mrs Kim jumped up and ran to cover the boys' eyes.

"PUT ON SOME CLOTHES, WOMAN!" She screeched.

I sunk my head and placed my hands over my face. How did things get so bad so quickly?

"Here," Taehyung offered me one of his shirts. Too embarrassed to look him in the eye, I took the grey shirt. While the grandmother had her back turned to us, Taehyung grabbed my shoulder and pulled me closer. "I can see your shirt on the bathroom sink." He whispered.

Blinking in dismay, I pulled myself away from Taehyung and backed into the bathroom. The last thing I saw was a wink from him before I slammed the door shut with a huff.

My heart was beating so fast, I was sure it would break out of my chest. I was so taken aback by the situation, I had almost forgotten about my headache.

There were two knocks on the door. "Minji, hurry up. We've got a busy day."

Shaking the frown from my face, looked myself in the eye through the mirror. Get it together!

I put my shirt on and peeked out of the door. Taehyung was just outside, and behind him, his grandmother and brothers were waiting. "What do you mean?"

"We're babysitting Minguk and Taehan for the day," Taehyung said, tilting his head to the side.

"Are you two set then?" Taehyung's grandmother said from the corner of the room. She looked at us curiously. We weren't given time to reply. "Great! I'll come fetch these two around six tonight. Don't get another hangover with the kids around. Bye!" And she disappeared out of the door.

I emerged from behind the door. "Did you tell her I have a hangover?"

Taehyung glanced at his little brothers – who were staring attentively – before stepping closer to me. He lowered his voice to a whisper and said, "She's the one that sent the Champagne. I heard her talking on the phone."

"Wha... WHY?" I shouted. Taehyung staggered back from the sudden lift in volume.

"What are you two fighting about?" One of the two twins asked. I squinted as I tried seeing whose hair was darker. It was Taehan who'd asked.

"We're not fighting," Taehyung said calmly. "So... we're stuck with you for the day? What do you want to do?"

The boys looked at each other, right before shouting in unison. "Can we go to the beach?"

Taehyung looked over at me, a smile creeping onto his face. I crossed my arms over my chest. "No way! We're both sick and-"

~*~*~

"Do you guys want some ice-cream?" We walked past an ice cream parlour. As soon as I saw the small building, I took out my purse and asked the rest of the group if they wanted.

"Chocolate!" Minguk immediately yelled. His young brother followed him as he ran towards the parlour.

"I'll get it." Taehyung chuckled, pushing my purse away. He handed Jack over to me so he could get to his wallet.

I readjusted Jack's cat to keep the sun from his eyes, waiting for Taehyung to buy ice-cream for the boys. I wiggled my toes in the sand. It had been so long since the last time I've been to the beach...

"Here you go." A chocolate ice-cream cone was shoved into my face. Minguk and Taehan had already run off to splash around in the water with their treats in hand.

"Thanks." I moved Jack to one arm to take the ice-cream from Taehyung. "How'd you know I like chocolate?"

Taehyung – with strawberry ice-cream smudged over his lips – gave me a toothy grin. "You found Jack when you went out to buy chocolate milk."

I was surprised he actually remembered, but I quickly got over the surprise and let out a laugh. "Oh, yeah! That was so long ago... so much has happened..."

Jack yawned in my arms, and then woke up. He lifted his arm and stretched his hand out to me. He grabbed hold of some of my hair and tugged on it. It made the hairclip fall out and onto the sand.

I giggled at the little baby, tilting my head so Jack didn't pull too hard. "Ah, you're so cute." I cooed. Jack gurgled in return.

"Minji, look here," I turned to face Taehyung, only to realize he'd been filming it all on his phone.

"Noooo!" I yelled, hiding my face behind my ice-cream. It didn't really do a great job. "My hair is a mess! Delete it!"

Taehyung all but listened to me. In fact, he pushed the ice-cream into my face, covering my nose, lips and chin.

"You idiot!" I shouted, trying to wipe the ice-cream off with my wrist. Taehyung found it hilarious. He stuck his finger in his ice-cream and wiped it on my cheek. "Taehyung," I whined, still trying to support Jack without dropping him.

"I'll stop when you say my name." Taehyung laughed hysterically.

"No! Not this again!"

"I'm waiting."

I puffed out my cheeks, pouting in annoyance. "Tae-Tae, stop filming me."

Taehyung was laughing his ass off as he finally put his phone away. "You two are so cute though."

"Yeah, well, so are you but you don't see me constantly taking pictures of you." I blurted.

Taehyung instantly stopped what he was doing and looked at me. "What?" Oh shit...

"Uh... I uh..." I had no valid excuse so I just shoved my ice-cream into my mouth. The whole thing. Why did I do that? I don't know, it was the first thing that came to mind.

"Wait, wait, wait." Taehyung stopped me from walking away by jumping in front of me. "Did you just say... I'm cute?"

I shook my head vigorously. Although my teeth and cheeks were aching from the cold ice-cream I'd decided to stuff into my mouth, my whole face was red with humiliation. I felt my insides turning and knotting. Regret was a strong feeling I'd come to know too well.

There was a long silence. "Oh! You mean my little brothers?"

Swallowing the ice-cream, I quickly replied. "Yes! Yes. Yes... The twins. Super cute." Was Taehyung stupid enough to believe me? 

Nodding his head, Taehyung turned to walk down to the water where his brothers were. "God, you're so stupid..." I heard him mumble.

I don't know what in me thought it was a good idea, but I decided to confront him about it. Baby in hand, I jogged to where Taehyung was walking. "Excuse me?" 

"Did you not hear me?" Taehyung spun. "Do you want me to say it louder? Minji, you're one of the dumbest people I've ever met!"

"Why?" I demanded, almost aggressively. "Why am I so stupid?"

The man walked closer to me and grabbed me by the back of my neck. He pulled me towards him. I saw his lips coming closer and closer... until...

"I know you like me, Minji." He hissed in my ear. "And I'm sick of having to pretend that I'm too stupid to notice. I'm not as dumb as you."

A/N: When you're 2 days late :')