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...
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“Tae, are you at the café? I am coming there right now. I need to see that you are OK. I need to see your face,” Dae cried.
Tae could hear the tears and panic in her voice.
“I am going to kill him,” he heard Jin say in the background.
He was so grateful at how deeply he loved Dae. She had someone else to take care of her now. Tears began to trickle down his face at that thought.
“Tae…..” she said, her voice quiet and still, calming him exactly as she had when they were kids, “TaeBear….I need my best friend. I need you to come back to me. Please don’t go away again. Not like last time.”
Tae closed his eyes and when he opened them again the faces of his friends were in clearer focus.
Jimin stood near the door to the bathroom, the sound of the shower echoing in the small room. JK had squatted down near him, silent, ready to catch him, ready to punch him, ready to hold him, waiting for anything he needed.
And he could hear Jin in the background talking to Hobi, relaying the news he was safe, his words a bit choked. And Dae, silently listening, straining to hear every breath he took. He could feel her emotions. He always could.
“DaeDear, stop twisting your hair and unclench your jaw,” he said.
She started to cry as she realized he knew exactly what she had been doing.
“Stop crying or Jin will kill me,” he coaxed. That earned a strangled laugh as he heard Jin's voice close to the phone growl “I am going to kill you if you make her cry again"
“Is he holding you now?” he asked and heard her hiccup in response. He knew she had shaken her head “yes", he could imagine the look on her face as she did it.
“Yes, Dae love. I am so glad you have him,” he had to take a deep breath before continuing.
“Come here, stay with me tonight. Just….come here,” she begged.
“I …..need some time. I have some things to do here and,” he trailed off at Jimin's glare as he took 2 steps toward him. There was no doubt he would drag him kicking and screaming from here if he resisted.
A glace at the evil grin on JK's face, coupled with a slow nod confirmed he would assist in every way possible. And therein was the promise it would not be pleasant.
“I have some things to do here. Then I want to go home and become human again. I will video chat you before I go to bed. I will be at work tomorrow, right on time,” he whispered, begging her without words to understand.
At her silence, he looked at Jimin. He knew the concerns and doubt he saw in his face perfectly mirrored what Dae was asking. Keeping Jimin's eye and speaking his heart to both of them, he simply said “I promise.”
It was enough for a shadow of a smile to cross Jimin's beautiful face and for sniffles to sound over the phone. He heard Jin's low whisper in the background and after a few seconds she sighed and said “ok".
“I love you SongDae, hang up now” he said, the goodbye they saved for especially hard days.
“I love you Taehyung. Hang up on 3,” she replied. “ 1….2…..love you….3.”
And they both hung up and sat staring at the phone.
Now Tae had promised, he had better get to making good on it. He stood, still shaking, and started for the shower before trying to gather his ruined clothes.
“Here,” Jimin said, “We'll find something, just go shower.”
Tae shook his head and eased into steaming room, hissing as the hot water beat down on him. He stood with his head bowed and watched as the colors of paint he scrubbed from his body met and mixed on the floor of the shower into a muddled brown.
Here in the privacy of the shower he could admit that mud was exactly how his life felt right now.
Sky's face came to mind unbidden and he lingered on the memory. She was standing next to him, on tiptoe, stretching up to him for a kiss. He let it sit there and felt the pain spread like a dull ache through him.
It was like prodding a sore tooth, he knew it would hurt like hell but he could not stop himself. She was a part of him. He was going to have to learn to live with the void, starting now.
As he stepped out of the shower, he wrapped himself in a towel and followed his nose to the heavenly aroma of food. He saw Jimin placing a plate of food and a steaming cup of something delicious smelling on the small table.
At the same time JK bounded up the stairs, throwing his gym bag at Tae's feet.
“I remembered I had my bag in the car. You can borrow these clothes,” JK offered, snagging a piece of toast and sitting crossed legged on the floor.
Tae looked at the bag in disgust and pushed it away from him with his foot.
“I would walk into that café during Sunday Brunch strip naked before I wear your dirty gym clothes,” he growled, snatching the plate out of JK's reach.
“They’re clean you ass!! And we've seen you naked…better cover that mess up or you'll scare away the customers, “Jimin laughed, beginning to feel the vise of fear ease from his chest.
“How can you eat that?? Are you not hungover? By the looks of those bottles you should be dead, not hogging all the breakfast,” JK whined.
That earned him another piece of toast from Jimin as well as the story of how much they drank while at university.
By the time Tae had dressed and finished eating they had covered years of debauchery and enjoyed a good laugh.
Jimin gathered the plates and gently looked at Tae.
“It is time to go now. Ready? Remember, the first step is the hardest,” he said.
Tae drew a deep breath and looked at these two friends. He would be ok. They would help in every way possible. He was not running away this time. He had too much to lose.
The three of them decided to take the freight elevator down and when they reached the bottom Jimin opened the door and stepped out, waiting for Tae. He followed with Jk at his back.
