Hidden Beauty || Kim Taehyung

Chapter 1

[ Areum's POV ]

It was a pleasant day, sunny with cold wind blowing. Working as a cashier at a cafe to make my living hell a bit easier. It was summer break and since the school I go to was being renovated, my holidays were increased. I had gotten a job at a cafe after I left my step dad's house, not wanting to stay with a disgusting person like him. I really loved this job but the fact that people always made fun of me regarding my weight makes my job so hard eventhough I only have to stand behind a counter and take payments. I rarely get any compliments and by rarely I mean once in a blue moon kind of rarely. There were a few times where small kids would come to tell me how cute I was but before I could thank them their parents always dragged them away from me, lying to them and telling them that I would kidnap them and hurt them.

I counted the money in the machine before placing them in order. I heard the doorbell ringing indicating that someone had entered the cafe. I got ready to greet the customer when I heard a few voices talking about me. "Bro...that cashier is so fat. She looks so damn ugly." "I know right? Who would hire her? She looks like someone who would scare the customers away." After that line I heard a lot of laughing noises but they immediately stopped when a deep voice shouted, "Minho and Jinseok! Stop that! How can you talk about her like that!?"

[ Taehyung's POV ]

I entered the cafe with my friends Yuta, Jinseok, Minho and Sungjae because it was summer break. We made our way towards the cashier, wanting to order but before I could speak two voices spoke first. "Bro...that cashier is so fat. She looks so damn ugly.", Minho said. "I know right? Who would hire her? She looks like someone who would scare the customers away.", Jinseok said which was followed by Yuta and Sungjae laughing. "Minho and Jinseok! Stop that! How can you talk about her like that!?", I shouted at them.

I always hated the fact how my friends made fun of chubby girls. They only focused on slim girls which annoyed me a lot. They dont understand that the weight, looks, skin colour, religion and body shape of a person do not define what type of person they are. "Go and take a seat somewhere. I'll order for all of us.", I said. "Bro...you need to stop with this thing you have for fat chicks-", Yuta tried saying but I interrupted him. "I'm sorry but I hate how fake skinny girls act. I know that not all skinny girls are like that but at least the skinny girls I've met act fake."

They scoffed and went to find a seat. I turned to face the cashier and saw how she was looking down. That didnt stop me from noticing how she was slowly tearing up. 'She goes through so much. Keeping a smile on her face all day while facing such harsh comments must be so hard.', I thought. "Miss?", I said which immediately made her look at me. 'Wow...she's so adorable.' I noticed how her cheeks and nose were turning red, how she slightly breathed heavily while trying to control her tears. "I'm so sorry for what my friends said. Please take your time to calm down.", I said.

I waited for her to calm down and then proceeded to order for my friends and I. Her voice was so soft and sweet, I could listen to it all day long. After ordering and paying, I went to my friends. I noticed how they were sitting on the table right in front of her. I heard them passing rude comments about her which made me angry but I controlled myself. I distracted myself by looking at her, how she smiled at the customers even if they bullied her. Whenever we would make eye contact I would always smile at her but she would just look away.

[ Areum's POV ]

"Miss?", I heard a deep voice say which made me look at that guy. I tried not to cry in front of him, not wanting to go through more harsh comments. "I'm so sorry for what my friends said. Please take your time to calm down.", he said. I was shocked at what he said but took slow, deep breaths. 'He's so sweet, cute, handsome....completely out of my league. I'm happy to know that people like him still exist....people who care about the feelings of employees.', I thought. I smiled at him and took his order, his voice is so deep yet so calming. How can a guy like him exist? He's so perfect. You know the guys shown in animes? It's like he stepped right out of it.

I took the receipt and gave it to him. "Your order will be on your table in a few.", I said. "Thank you, Miss....Song Areum.", he said which shocked me. 'How does he know my name? Oh wait...I have a name tag." While working I would notice how he would look at him. It never made me feel uncomfortable because whenever we'd make eye contact he'd show his boxy smile which made my heart flutter. I kept on glancing at him, hoping he'd say bye to me but he didnt...kind of. He just looked at me and smiled before leaving with his friends. 'Bye bye, stranger.'

{ That night..... }
[ Taehyung's POV ]

'Song Areum....cute name.' This is probably the 100th time I'm thinking about her. Why is she so cute?! Can I just squish her cheeks? I wanna squeeze her to death- WAIT! NO NO NO! SHE'S TOO ADORABLE! I DONT WANT TO KILL HER. I slapped myself, trying to remove her from my mind. STOP APPEARING AND LET ME SLEEP, BABY CHEEKS! Baby cheeks? AWWWW!! I gave her a nickname already!? But it suits her so much!! Wow, I sound so stupid talking with my inner voice.

"Taehyung-ah? You aren't asleep yet?", I heard a female voice say. "Baby cheeks!?", I said and sat up straight. I noticed it was my mom....I just hope dad isn't nearby to hear what I just- "Baby cheeks!? Did you just call MY wife, Baby cheeks!?", I heard my dad shout. "I'm so sorry!! I was just...just....I dont know! Dont kill me!", I said and ran towards the washroom. "Why do I get a strong feeling that our son is falling in love?", my dad said. "NO! NO! NOPE! NOT FALLING IN LOVE! NOT AT ALL! NOPE!", I shouted.