ʙᴛꜱ ᴀᴍʙᴡ ᴏɴᴇ-ꜱʜᴏᴛꜱ, ꜱᴄᴇɴᴀʀɪᴏꜱ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ | ʙᴛꜱ x ᴏᴄ

The one where they only have each other pt.1 (KTH)

The village market was busy as usual, Hope was sat in her seat, hand sewing another one of her quilts that her customers adore so much. She was working on a client's quilt for their baby that was coming soon. Her grandmother ran a fabric shop and she sold her quilts to the public at the open market.

There was a strong smell of strawberries coming near, accompanied by the hearty sound of horse hooves. Hope turns, smiling at the young man that arrived. Since they were young, and their parents ran their market businesses, they've seen each other every weekend.

Taehyung always greeted her with a boxy smile. Her mother was his teacher before she passed away, and because girls couldn't have much schooling, Hope's mother would read to Hope and Taehyung. Unlike most young women, Hope could read and write, she had Taehyung and her mother to thank for that.

He adjusts his hat, hopping out of the wagon his horse towed. His boots were always caked in dirt, and his strong hands grabbed the large crates of freshly picked strawberries with ease. Hope watched as he set up shop, unable to bite back her smile. It was no secret that the two of them liked each other. They have since they were young.

Hope always recalled those long summer days they spent together, carefree and fun. Those days were filled with so much laughter. Often times, instead of helping their parents with the market, the two would sneak off together and fill themselves up on strawberries. Their parents would find them with the worst stomach aches of their lives. It was moments such as those that inspired the hand-made patches she designed for her quilts. As a matter of fact, every quilt she's made had an element from her childhood.

Someone approached her display, staring in awe at her intricate designs. Hope sewed a capital letter of every letter of the alphabet in every color of the rainbow. People were drawn to them especially because other quilts didn't have writing on them. Hope finishes one last stitch and pushes the needle into her pin cushion. She stands and smooths her skirt to converse with the customer.

  She places the money in the money box, locking it with the key on her necklace, hidden beneath the collar of her blouse. Hope grabs her unfinished quilt and was about to pull her needle from the pin cushion when she heard a baritone voice. "Uh, excuse me, pretty lady, d'you mind selling me this one?" Hope smiles to herself, turning to see Taehyung with one of her largest quilts in hand. It was what he teasingly called her 'rainbow quilt' within the past couple of weeks she'd been working on it. He having watched from his neighboring booth.

  He smirks at her, daylight was just barely gleaming and the other weekly businesses were setting up shop. She rings him up, the two of them shyly sharing eye contact before they looked away. She folded it neatly for him and placed it in one of the hand-made bags. "Oh, and another thing," he added. "I was wondering if you could paint my new sign? The last one broke. And my handwriting isn't all that pretty..." He started to get a little flustered.

  She grinned, he knew how much Hope liked to write, she did so every chance she got. She noticed the large wooden board tucked under his arm and nodded. "I'd love to."

  He beamed, that boxy smile of his making her heart warm up. He placed the heavy board on the ground behind her selling counter and brought over the cans of acrylic paints and a paint brush.

  Before the market officially opened to the townspeople, her sign was ready: FRESH STRAWBERRIES 99¢/LB was painted in intricate letters. She also painted a couple of strawberries onto it. Taehyung gawked at it in amazement, once again floored by her knack for design. "Thank you so much, Hope. I owe you one."

  "Don't worry about it, Tae. I don't mind helping you." She waved him off, sitting in her chair and pulling her needle from it's pin cushion - which was a little pumpkin - and getting back to work. The chime of bells around the market signaled the start of the work day. He shakes his head at her response.