Intimately Enchanted → pjm ✓

Chapter 41

Taehyung had never seen a man so beautiful before in his life. Given, that no one could possibly be more gorgeous in a room where Taehyung existed, alluring and ethereal, God's finest piece of craft. 

But these Acker siblings had these eyes...these pair of champagne eyes that looked like would drip honey any moment as if those pair of hazy orbs were to give the elixir of eternity in the form of tears. But they could also very much drown you, one dip in the lake and the marines would be clutching your ankle and pulling you downwards in the depths of blue. 

So when Tom Acker cornered him against a wall and openly flirt with him- was Taehyung supposed to breathe? He supposed not. At least, he could not.

"I know you get this a lot but- you're the most charming person I've ever met."

Taehyung raised his chin up and met the boy's eyes with his hooded ones. 

"I get that a million times per hour."

"Of course you do."

Taehyung hummed. Tom wouldn't have been too old. On the contrary, he might have been too young for Taehyung. He's Lorraine's younger brother after all. His eyes made him look mature, Taehyung thought.

"How old are you?'' He asked, leaning back on the wall.

The boy in front of him frowned. "I'm eighteen." He answered, confused, tilting his head to the side.

"You're a fetus." Taehyung cooed, which made the younger scowl. Then his frown faded and his eyes turned darker as he took a step closer. 

"Oh, yeah?"

And here's the thing-

Taehyung had still not wrapped his head around the fact that a man as breathtaking as this one was gay, interested in him and openly flirting with him. His previous encounters hadn't been much of reliable examples for him so this almost felt surreal. As if all the stars had aligned or some shit.

Now the same boy was gently grabbing his waist and tugging at it to draw him closer and Taehyung was feeling stuff he had never felt before. All the so-called confidence he had gathered up with wine seemed to disappear as Tom proved to be much more tempting.

"You stare at me from across the club all night and now I'm too young?"

Oh shit. 

He knows. 

Taehyung scoffed but he doubted that it sounded promising. Maybe it did, he didn't get the chance to know. For Tom Acker's eyes had already left his, fixating on his lips now, making them tingle. Taehyung took his lower lip between his teeth as he saw Tom lick his own. 

"Is it too early? Can I...kiss you?"

Taehyung should've learned his lesson by now, to not hasten these kinds of things, but Tom looks like one of those boys that come with a promise of showing you everything, making you feel emotions so overwhelming they're hard to name, the kind that brings heaven to you. 

So was Taehyung supposed to refuse? Perhaps yes. But instead, he found his hand gripping the silk black shirt of the boy and pulling him closer so that their bodies grazed. 

"Do it."

*

Sometimes Lorraine thought that she could always rely on the stars if she ever was to lose Jimin in order to find her way back to him. 

She'd only have to walk in their direction and then she'd find him, looking up, admiring them. 

Lorraine walked up to the edge of the yacht where Jimin was standing, looking as magnificent as ever under the moonlight, porcelain skin glowing. He looked towards her and smiled serenely, enveloping her waist by his arm and drawing her closer to him. 

"Tell me why your best friend and my brother are eating faces on the other side?"

Jimin shot her a surprised look before bursting into giggles. 

"It's too hard not to fall for these Acker siblings, I'd know, of course."

She chuckled breathlessly before falling silent, taking in the warmth of his body.

"Jimin," she said, gulping. The singer hummed in question.

"I'll...go back to my hometown for a while."

Maybe it's the way that Lorraine's body is tense against his that it took him mere seconds to catch on. "Why? What happened?"

"Someone's trying to take my parent's business. Someone...a very shitty someone." She looked down at the water, a vile taste settling at the back of her tongue as she remembered that man. "I can't let him take that away. Not because I care about that business, but because he doesn't deserve it."

"Raine," Jimin called, she looked up at him. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Lorraine thought for a moment. Thought about what a symbol of purity Jimin has been in her life. Something similar to protectiveness washed over Lorraine. No, she'd rather Jimin didn't see that side of the world. She'd rather Jimin remembers all the good things when he thinks of her.

She shook her head.

"You'll be okay then, right?" He asked, hand grazing her cheekbones tenderly.

She nodded and smiled reassuringly.

"That person... did something very bad, didn't he? To you?" He guessed, a grimace curling at his lips. "I feel like I want to punch him already."

"He broke my trust." She mumbled. She didn't want to speak about it, but this is closer to the truth. "He tried to take advantage of me. And now...Ana is dating him and that's why..."

Lorraine hadn't known innocence since then. Sometimes she felt like she never had an inner child, to begin with. She had always felt this desperate need to be in control of everything, regulate every emotion or else all hell would break over.

"What? Ana is what?"

It's betrayal.

Lorraine just nodded at Jimin's question and looked away, her chest clenching. She should've never trusted that girl. Never should've tolerated her indiscretion.

Jimin grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him again.

"Raine, if you want revenge then I'm in it. I don't care what I'm putting myself into, I'll fight for you."

Revenge.

Yeah, she thought about that a lot in the past. That's what drove her to move and be successful, work hard so she could spit on them. On their graves. But now...now she was striving for something far more precious. Something that her soul has never known yet has yearned for like a hungry beast.

"No." She shook her head. "I want a mere closure. That would be enough. I mean– it's been ten years, I can't continue to be involved in it especially when it still haunts me. I want it to stop. I wanna move on...and...be with you."

A glint of something very mournful passed through Jimin's glassy eyes.

"Okay." He whispered. "Get your closure. And then I'll make you forget about those wretched events. I'll take you far, far away from those nightmares and keep you so happy that it'll make you dizzy." 

Something was so promising about Jimin's words that Lorraine didn't have to think twice before falling for them.

Promises and trust.

They sounded like two scary words. Their weight is taken for granted, used like a coward's hidden weapon to slit throats.

Maybe they were scary, but not when they come from Jimin's mouth.

Because here's where her world starts.

Here's where the peace lies.