bodyguard ; kth

25 ; second place

"go faster, taehyung! kitae, hold on!"

the wooden boat skidded along the waters. aera and kitae sat in the front as i controlled the movements of the boat. kitae's teeth involuntarily chomped down after each bump on the boat, he kept his legs braced and his life jacket on. aera, who sat behind the younger male, looked behind her shoulder and widely grinned towards me, her hair blew in the wind. i captured this moment in my heart, she looked beautiful.

"we should get back, it's getting dark."

the boat rocked as jae helped tie it for the night. the sky became foggier and darker as the moon rose higher. i stood beside jaeho as i hauled aera and kitae back onto the docks.

i turned to the teenager and said quietly, "i don't want anyone going in the boat until you've checked it over first. okay?" jae looked at me and asked, "every time?"

"every time."

he nodded and looked towards aera who scooped kitae into her arms. she looked at me and shared a smile, muttering softly, "thanks for the boat ride. i'll see you tomorrow morning."

i returned a small smile, quietly saying, "good night, aera."

"good night, taeby."

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later that night

the sounds of owls emitted through the quiet night of the forest. after everyone had fallen asleep, i remained walking around the house, locking every window and door.

"taehyung."

i flinched at the sudden sound and quickly turned my head, startled to see jiae standing behind me. she had her arms crossed as she lazily leant against the wall. a tired smile on her face as her eyes watched over me.

"you should be in bed," i muttered as i locked the last window in the living room. i exited the room, walking right past her. the older female smiled and turned around to follow me.

"i have a lot in my mind," she spoke, trailing behind me.

"what's on your mind," i asked, not particularly interested. i went to secure the final lock on the main door.

"what's going on between you and aera?" jiae asked, causing silence to break out. my muscles tensed and i stopped moving, my hand paused on the door handle.

what kind of question is that? i kept my mouth shut as i heard her laugh heartedly behind me.

"oh, come on, taehyung. one minute you guys are like magnets, never letting each other go and the next minute, you ignore each other like complete strangers," she said with an amused expression. i turned around, looking over her, "you know her every move, don't you?"

"well, as her manager it's part of my job," jiae said, shrugging over her words.

"no, it's not," i responded while walking away. i felt her footsteps close behind me.

"my life has been nothing but following aera around. i'm always just the person with the famous little sister. i'm always just second best while aera is the star in the family," jiae grunted, her smile now was replaced by a frown.

i turned around to face her, she stopped a metre away from me.

"why don't you change that, then?" i asked.

jiae scoffed like i said something funny, she replied, "you think it's that easy?"

i stayed quiet, staring at her. she grew quiet too, staring at me back. i was taken back when she moved closer to me. subconsciously, i took a step backwards but ended up hitting the wall with my back.

"although..." she spoke quietly, continuing to walk even closer, " this might not be."

what is she doing?

"jia-" i started saying but was stopped when her lips suddenly pressed against mine.

my whole body tensed as she moved her lips against mine. things quickly accelerated when she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"kiss me," jiae breathed out, urging me to respond. but i couldn't, the only thing on my mind was aera.

this isn't right.

when jiae realised that i wasn't going to kiss her back, she slowly stopped and pulled away. she looked at me, confusion clouded over her green eyes.

"i'm sorry," i whispered, knowing i hurt her. jiae dropped her hands, releasing a big sigh. when i looked at her, she surprisingly didn't look upset...she looked infuriated.

"to be honest, i'm surprised. looking at you checking each door, making sure everything was safe. a thorough guy like yourself, why stop at one sister when you could have fucked them both?"

my fists clenched in anger. my eyes looked away to the ground, i muttered, "it was a mistake. at the time, i couldn't say no."

jiae scoffed and retorted, "but you didn't stop, right? you fucked her hard, didn't you?"

at this point, my blood was boiling. i looked at her with piercing eyes and snapped, "if you think you can talk about your sister like that, you might as well fucking leave. i'll lead you the way out." i pointed my finger towards the front door.

jiae's facial expression darkened as tears started forming in her eyes.

"you're a cruel guy, taehyung. no wonder aera hates you."