The Siren's Song

Chapter 63- the day dawns with light, with hope

TAE POV:

It's nervousness, fear and the beginning of excited anticipation that doesn't let me sleep, that makes me constantly fidget, restless to lie beside Joon hyung and cuddle him when night comes.

My mind was still buzzing. With tentative wonder and disbelief. That (Y/N) wasn't romantically involved with Habaek and Mi-sun, that they weren't dating her, they weren't together. Because it meant that (Y/N) could be ours, if she returned our feelings that was. But it was more than enough to plant the seed of hope and optimism, enough to have the others in shock and wonder and joy- the house suddenly becoming even more animated and alive as everyone began brainstorming- drawing out ideas and ways to confess to her, to express our feelings to her.

Kookie, Yoongi hyung and Joon hyung seemed the most stunned- expressions slightly distracted and lost and it had taken Jin hyung to wheedle out the details about what exactly had happened at the gym. And not for the first time I regretted not joining Kookie at the gym; usually the regret came with not being able to see a sweaty, tousle-haired Kookie, t-shirt sticking to the defined ridges of his toned abdomen, this time it'd come because the three of them had ran into (Y/N), had been able to spend time with her. And there was a slightly dazed, far-off look in Kookie's eyes, as if despite it all there was something playing about in his mind.

But it had been the words Joon hyung had shared, that Mi-sun had followed them as they'd been leaving, fully believing that there was no hope, when she'd offhandedly mentioned that (Y/N) liked flowers and tended to favour soft shades before leaving. Not without having passed on a final message.

"She's got a tender bruised heart. Treat her with care. She deserves happiness, so don't ever be the reason she gets hurt."

Her words though not spoken directly to me floated through my mind, wrapped itself around my thoughts.

I think whether or not we verbally expressed it aloud, we all knew there was a tender fragility to her, there was something in her past that had caused her to be selectively mute, and we all knew that we felt too much for her to ever want to see anything but joy lighting up her features.

And it was with this that came the firm resolution to fix things, that no matter how much (Y/N) tried avoiding the matter, and stayed firmly and politely with a line between us- friends and nothing more. But I was determined to cross that line, to erase it. And I wanted to hold her close, to fulfil that longing and deeply-rooted ache of having her in my arms, of breathing in her scent and of remembering every singly moment of her being there, encased within an embrace.

I needed to make things right, the restless urge made me unable to sleep, even as the hours slipped by my eyes wouldn't shut, my body wouldn't sink into the mattress and relax.

And it was in the late hours of the night, that I pulled my phone up to check the time, eyes lingering on the photo that was my background, one that (Y/N) had taken of me.

And the sight of it propels me into movement, fingers typing away as I send her a message- about to lock it; having no expectation to get a reply so soon but eyes widening when a reply pops up.

One word.

But one word that makes my heart simultaneously plummet and soar.

And my fingers tremble as I type out a response, unconscious working quicker than my mind can process the words I've sent back.

An hour.

An hour to get ready. An hour to get my scrambled thoughts in place.

But also an hour until I see her.