Book 3 of the undone series. Kim Taehyung is the best , the best at his job at head of security for the Kim SongDae startup, best at seduction. But a forced vacation leaves him adrift and questioning his life choices and direction. Then he stumble...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He let himself in with the code and surprised her coming out of the shower.
She yelped when she saw Taehyung, giving silent thanks she had grabbed her robe.
Then she looked at him.
He was in his painting clothes and he looked like he was drenched in sweat. His face was flushed and he had a wild look in his eyes she had not seen in years - not since they had clasped hands and run from the big kids intent on harming him because he was beautiful and different.
She reached for him and he pulled away from her. Silent tears ran down his face and she was sure he had not even noticed.
“Tae,” she called, concern lacing her voice, “what on earth….”
He shook his head, cutting her off. He began to strip his clothes, ending in her bathroom door in his briefs.
“Burn them……” he said, his voice thick and unsteady,
She nodded at him, giving him a quick hug and taking the clothes away.
She hurried to her closet and rummaged through the bag her brother Namjoon kept at her place. She grabbed what Tae needed and headed back, surprised to hear the shower running and see the bathroom door open.
She peaked in and saw Tae wrapped in a towel staring at himself in the mirror. The look of loss on his face broke her heart.
She stepped in and put towels and the clean clothes in the counter. She gently touched his shoulder and he turned to her.
He was devastated. His eyes told the story as clearly as if he were rapidly spilling words. She nodded. She understood. She might not know the why, that would come. She knew. That was the only comfort that could reach him in this moment.
She whispered “I love you,” and slipped out the door, closing it behind her. She had a quick cry so she could be calm when Tae was ready for her. It killed her to see him so hurt after he had been so happy.
Dr. Oh had done this. Nothing else could have hurt him this badly. This would not end well for her. She had picked the wrong heart to break!!
That determined, Dae grabbed drinks and settled to Tae to emerge from the shower.
She lost tract of time waiting on him, spending the wait thinking of increasingly heinous ways to punish Caroline Oh. She was on a particularly promising tract of slow, undetectable poisons when she heard the bathroom door open.
Her best friend looked like a lost child in Namjoon's oversize hoodie. She opened her arms to him and he stumbled into her embrace on the couch.
He lay there, his head in her lap, her fingers threading through his hair humming his favorite song for a long time.
“SongDae?” his deep voice broke the silence.
He sat up, moving as close to her as he could. She nodded at him, giving him the encouragement and time, he needed.
“What do I do now?” he asked, his voice breaking.
She squeezed his hand and whispered “Tell me Tae.”
And he did.
He spilled three months of love and happiness and joy and grief and pain as she listened. He told her everything and she listened with her heart, encouraging him when he stumbled.
As he started on the last 24 hours, she forced herself to unclench her jaw as she felt the inside of her mouth start to bleed.
She cried with him as he finally broke down recalling the scene in the art gallery. She felt physically ill thinking about her kind, delicate, beautiful vulnerable friend watching the woman he loved betray him in such a cheap way.
She let him finish, let him talk until the words were gone and the emotions spent, as least for now.
“What do I do know?” he repeated.
It was one of her first real tests of self control not to list her top three revenge scenarios in descending order of likelihood of success.
Instead, she took a deep breath and asked. “what do you want to do?”
“Tonight is the evaluation of the show and the award of internships and intensives,” he said.
She nodded. His entire course of study would be evaluated today. Graduation depended on it, not to mention his future after college.
“I don’t want to go, “he whispered, “I c.c.can't see her.”
She took a deep breath. If he failed to show today, he would not graduate. She could not even think how he would repair that. She forced herself to allow the silence, a time for him to pause, to think.
“I have to,” he finally said, standing to pace the room. “I will not allow her to destroy four years of work. I have to do this. Come with me?” He asked, his heart in his eyes.
“Of course, I will!! Why do you think I already had my shower? Let's go and kick some ass tonight.” She practically shouted the last.
That earned her his signature smile. Her breath came just a tiny bit easier. He would be ok.
“But not literally Dae. Namjoon terrifies me. I cannot call him to bail you out of jail,” he said, half serious.
She kissed his face and playfully punched him.
“Taehyung! We have talked about this!! If I ever get arrested you call Jin and make HIM call Joon!!” she explained for not the first time.
“OK. Get up, let's style that hair….what are you going to wear?” she trailed off into her bedroom, leaving him time to gather himself privately.
He just had to get through tonight and then he could put this behind him forever. Looking back, that was the first time he used clothing as armor.
Dae breezed back into the room, casual clothes, one hand holding the phone to her ear as she talked to Jimin, the other waving her father’s black credit card in the air.
“Meet us there, tonight we are going to tear up the world!” she promised.
She tugged Tae out the door with her and once again he was swept away in her protective tow.
