Taerose Oneshot Collection

11. Hades & Persephone 2

Taehyung tried to stay away. He tried to fight it. But, no matter what he did, he couldn't shake the memory of her from his mind. It was like there was an invisible elastic pulling him towards that garden. The further he tried to run away, the stronger it pulled him back to her.

For a full week he isolated himself in his kingdom. Trying to preoccupy himself with any miniscule task he could find. Shutting out every forbidden thought, every forbidden image. Pacing back and forth underground and driving himself absolutely insane as he conjured a thousand reasons to maintain his distance. She was a complete stranger, he hated the garden she lived in, he didn't want to prove Irene and Jimin right, he had duties to attend to and could not risk a distraction – there were so many excuses not to see her, and yet that's all he wanted to do.

It wasn't long before he caved in – his body suddenly transporting itself back to the secluded garden before his mind could stop it.

Even as he slowly followed the path leading towards the stream, he vowed to only admire from afar. Interacting with her was never part of his plan; he simply needed to see her again. Just to convince himself he was overreacting. That Irene and Jimin had planted unfertile seeds in his brain and that this would never grow into something... more.

Unfortunately, the Gods had other plans for the two of them.

As soon as he caught a glimpse of her in that shimmering, emerald gown, he knew it was futile. Avoiding fate was impossible, even for a God of his calibre. 

So maybe when she noticed his presence, he wasn't entirely disappointed. Maybe he stepped on the twig on purpose.

Taehyung was always the type of God who had a plan. A carefully constructed, elaborate outline for the things he did and an equally detailed timeline in which to do them. And his plans were always effective. It was part of the reason he was so feared among everyone – living and dead. He was a master manipulator. But this? This was uncharted territory and for once in his life, he was making things up as he went along. Improvising – such an ugly word, but it was his only option at the time.

He wasn't sure what he expected when the woman recognized him. Fear and disgust would have been acceptable. Instead, she met his challenging gaze with a twinkle in her own eyes. She flung a weapon at a powerful God without a second thought. And then she struck a deal with him. So many things wrong with their interaction, and yet as soon as their hands touched, everything felt right.

And now, here he was. Sitting awkwardly beside a beautiful woman named Chaeyoung, on the edge of the bridge, telling her about the outside world, recounting his own personal memories, and even describing a few places in the underworld. The entire time, she looked up at him with pure fascination – hanging onto every word he said like they were the most interesting stories she had ever heard.

"And that was how I convinced Namjoon to give up smoking."

"Wow!" Chaeyoung's eyes were so wide, Taehyung feared for their sockets. "So, if he hadn't given it up the sky would be foggy all the time?"

Okay, so maybe some of Taehyung's stories were a tad exaggerated, and he tended to tell ones that glorified himself, but she asked to be entertained. That's exactly what he was doing.

"That's right. His mood usually dictates what type of weather people up here experience. So, if you can imagine, with all the smoke he'd have to inhale to satisfy his large body, the world would be blanketed in soot and fog if I allowed his bad habits to continue."

"Kind of ironic," Chaeyoung mused, "seeing as how much you hate sunshine and yet your heroic actions allow us to have sunshine most days of the year."