《Stigma | KTH ✔》14 | Forest

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Surprised, I turn to the direction I heard his voice. It couldn't be...

"Tae?" My voice came out as a whisper. I quickly look away and dry my tears with the sleeves of my hoodie. Out of all times, he had to be here now?! Goddammit, Taehyung.

"What are you doing here? It's past midnight. It's dangerous for you to be here all alone," he scolds me as he walks closer.

"I could say the same to you too," I retort, looking at him with raised eyebrows. He rolls his eyes at my comeback, but he then sits down next to me with a sigh. "So.. what brings you here in the middle of the night, then?" I ask after a moment of silence.

"To think. And not to think," he says with a chuckle.

I snort before replying, "That makes sense, but at the same time it doesn't make sense at all."

"So, how was the movie? You're not scared?" he asks, nudging my arm. I playfully hit him with my fist.

"It was really good, too bad you missed out. It's not me you should be worried about though, I think Jin is scarred for life."

"Yeah, I wish I could have stayed. But my dad wanted me to accompany him again."

My heart sunk at his words. Why was he lying about Yuna? Of course he doesn't know that I know, but still; why wouldn't he tell me the truth?

"There'll be more movie nights like these, so don't worry. I think they even talked about doing something next weekend as well."

"I'll be there this time, no doubt."

"You're just too chicken to admit that you're actually too scared to watch horror movies," I tease, smirking at him. He arches one eyebrow at me.

"Me? Scared? Pfft, I bet you wouldn't even go into the forest alone," he retorts mockingly with a grin. I raise my eyebrow at him in a challenging manner.

"Oh really? Watch me." Is all I say as I sprint into the forest before he could react.

"Blue!! I was just kidding! Come back, goddammit!" I hear Taehyung shout in a distance. I chuckle to myself as I keep running deeper into the forest, not really thinking about where I was heading. Soon enough I felt how my legs were getting heavier, so I eventually had to stop in order to catch my breath. However when I look around me, I suddenly become aware of that I can't really see anything. I was completely surrounded by darkness and cold air.

Shit, I should've watched where I was running.

I turn around and start walking back the way I came from -- at least the way I think I came from. I wasn't particularly scared, though I still felt a slight unease towards these eerie surroundings. Quickly, however, my heartbeat picks up its pace when I hear a stick break from somewhere behind me. A gasp escapes my lips and without thinking twice I charge to the opposite direction to where I heard the sudden noise. The sound of rustling leaves and another pair of feet hitting the ground behind me got closer. I engage full-on panic mode and start running even faster. Tears almost well up in my eyes as I blindly navigate myself through the neverending forest.

Goddamn you, Taehyung! This wouldn't had happened if you hadn't challenge me!

I take a mental note to stop being so stubborn, because this was the proof that my bad personal trait will probably lead me to my own death one day.

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My legs started to get tired, causing my speed to decrease while my breathing became heavier and heavier. I throw a glance over my shoulder as I kept running to see if the person was still behind me. But I couldn't see anyone nor hear them coming closer.

Suddenly, I feel my body colliding with something hard yet slightly soft, and I feel hands grabbing onto my arms. The impact causes a scream to escape my lips and I start wriggling in attempt to break free from the unwanted contact.

"Blue! Blue, calm down it's just me!"

His voice immediately calms me down and I stop struggling. I open my eyes, that apparently were shut closed, and suddenly I am looking into Taehyung's deep brown eyes. He's still holding onto my arms, keeping me in place as we both catch our breaths.

"You idiot, why the hell would you run into the forest like that? What were you thinking?!" he exclaims in fury, breathing heavily as his eyes lock onto my own. I just stare back, and that's how we remain for a while.

Taehyung then lets out a deep sigh before biting his lower lip, his eyes never leaving mine. Suddenly I feel his arms wrap around my back, pulling me into his chest in a tight embrace. At first, I stiffen at his very unexpected action, but when my mind finally realized what he was doing; I relaxed. An unknown feeling engulfs my senses as the air between us change into something.. peculiar. I somehow feel safe, for some odd reason. This is certainly something I've never experienced before while being enveloped in someone's embrace. My heart pounded fiercely against my chest, and this time it wasn't because I was exhausted from running -- it was because of him.

But before I had time to accept his hug, he suddenly pulls himself away from me, breaking our contact. He avoids eye-contact with me, allowing his eyes to roam around our surroundings while scratching the back of his head.

My brain was still trying to process his sudden touch, which had left me numb both physically and mentally. To my bewilderment, I caught myself feeling rather disappointed when he let go -- I had actually wanted to stay in his embrace for just one more minute.

"We better get back to the park now," he eventually speaks up, letting out a short, awkward cough.

"Oh, right," I quietly squeak out, snapping out of my dazed mind. I take a look around us, trying to figure out which way to go. Eventually, our glances fall upon each other.

"So... how do we get out of here?" Taehyung finally asks.

"How should I know? You were the one following me!"

"I couldn't see where I was going! How did you plan on getting back if you didn't know where you ran off to in the first place?!"

"It's your fault we're in this mess at all!"

"I was just messing with you back then! Don't blame all this on me."

A frustrated groan rumbles in my throat as I try to get the gears in my head to start turning, despite the tiredness that gradually drapes over my senses much like a raging avalanche.

"Okay, let's just open up google maps or something," I suggest with hope in my voice, but that small twinkle of hope blew away in one single breath of wind as I notice that my phone is dead. Crap, I forgot to charge it when I got back from school.

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A hopeless sigh seeps through my lips. "My phone is dead. Take up yours."

Taehyung is for some reason looking like he's afraid that I will murder him right then and there. "Hehe, funny story.. I uh, kind of left my phone in the car," he admits, pressing the palm of his hand against his forehead.

Just great.

"Whatever, let's just walk around until we see the park again," I mutter as I start walking again, not really caring if it was the right way or not. Taehyung is quick to appear by my side, walking so close to me that our shoulders occasionally bumps into one another.

Silence falls upon us as we walk, all one could hear was our feet rustling the leaves on the ground, and the hooting from owls from somewhere in the tree-crowns above. It really seems like we're quite deep in the forest, which means that this will probably take a while.

I suddenly hear Taehyung chuckle to himself, which made me furrow my eyebrows at him while giving him a questionable look.

"It's actually pretty soothing to just walk around here. It's so calm," he murmurs with a small grin on his lips. I honestly couldn't disagree with him on that fact. We're basically all alone; just me and him (..and probably some bugs but they don't count).

There was no noise, no traffic whatsoever. Just the soothing sound of leaves rustling in the trees as a result of gusts of wind passing through. It is actually quite peaceful; the perfect reality-escape.

"It really is," I sigh dreamily. "If I wanted to hide from the world for a while, I'd probably run off into a large forest. No one would find me."

"Just be careful. There are wolves, you know," he warns me. I chuckle at his attempt to make me think that he cares about me.

"I promise I won't encounter a wolf if I ever try to escape."

I gasp suddenly when I feel my foot get stuck on something, causing my clumsy ass to lose balance and fall forward. Taehyung was quick to react, though, as I soon feel something grab my arms before I managed to painfully collide with the ground below. He's holding my body close to his own, his grip on my arms firm. My eyes are widened due to the slight shock, but immediately softens as they wander upwards to meet my rescuer's gaze. One look into his irises was all it took for me to completely relax and melt into his arms. Just like that; the air between us was suddenly charged as if we were surrounded by some sort of electricity. And this changed aura was making me want to lean into him. Subconsciously, my eyes slowly trace a path from his eyes down to his slightly parted lips, and there they remained; studying the pink fullness of his perfectly sculpted pair of flesh. A tsunami of inappropriate thoughts invades my mind, as all I could think about in this moment was his lips pressed against my own. Without thinking, I sink my teeth into the flesh of my bottom lip, feeling the warmth finding its way up my cheeks.

Much like me, I notice that his eyes had traveled downwards as well and were currently staring at my lip that was trapped underneath my teeth. Something flashes in his eyes, causing them to darken. The change of his sudden intense stare made the lower part of my stomach twist in a peculiar way -- a way I haven't really experienced before.

Oh neptune, I'm in trouble right now.

"Be careful where you walk, clumsy," Taehyung murmurs before quickly letting go of me, taking a step back. My body is instantly aching from his withdrawal, but I'm forcing myself to not let my sudden moment of weakness show.

Holy cannoli, what is he doing to me?

"Sorry," I squeak out weakly. Oh crappo. My heart is racing like it's about to win a formula 1 tournament and my entire body is burning up like it's a damn furnace. This boy is messing me up badly.

We continue our walk in silence, again. My mind didn't seem to want to let go of the image of his lips and the way he held me, which really wasn't helping in cooling my body down from the furious blush that had invaded my entire consciousness. They had looked so incredibly kissable that it made me want to throw myself off a cliff for making it so easy for him to get to me. This is going downhill way too fast for my liking. I thought that I had at least some strength to keep my emotions in check -- but oh boy, I was painfully wrong.

"Hey, do you see a faint light over there?" Taehyung suddenly exclaims, releasing me from the prison that is my thoughts. I squint my eyes slightly before letting them widen in surprise. There really is a faint light in the distance.

"Finally!" I breathe out in relief. If we had kept walking around for another hour with no luck, I literally thought that we would die out here.

The newfound hope causes us to quicken our pace in order to reach the light faster. Soon enough, the forest opens up in front of us, revealing an ever empty, but open area which is the park. Hallelujah, we escaped the forest!

"Thank fudge," Taehyung breathes when we reach the familiar pathway that leads through the park.

"But wait a second. Where are we? I don't recognize this part," I mumble unsurely as I look around us.

"We're on the other side," Taehyung sighs as he facepalm himself. "It will probably take like another half hour to walk back to your house."

I sigh heavily, not even possessing the energy to be mad. "Well, at least I know where I'm going this time," I chuckle, trying to lift the mood a bit. Then I start walking, and the only thing on my mind was how hard I was going to sleep tonight. I soon notice that Taehyung is following me, walking right beside me. Confused, I watch him as he keeps walking towards the wrong direction of his house.

"Uh, isn't your house nearby? In the opposite direction from mine?" I ask. He watches me amusingly.

"You think I'm letting you walk home by yourself in the dark?" he questions me. I shrug in response, unsure if he's just being a gentleman or simply enjoys my company. My vote is on the former.

"Does mister Kim like spending time with me? That's a shock," I tease with smirk, nudging his arm playfully. He snorts.

"I just don't want to be murdered by your parents if you in someway disappeared on the way home."

"You really think that I'd disappear? I'm not able to defend myself?"

"I've seen how capable you are of defending yourself. You'd definitely disappear."

I roll my eyes and deliver a punch his arm before quietly muttering, "Asshole.."

"What? It's just the truth- OUCH!" I pinch him through his hoodie before he could finish his sentence. "The hell was that for?!"

"See, I can defend myself," I mutter bitterly, glaring at him with fire in my eyes.

Then out of nowhere, I feel the ground beneath my feet disappear as my legs sweeps up in the air. I let out a loud screech in surprise as Taehyung suddenly lifts me up bridal-style. A playful smirk illuminates his features as he holds me close to his chest, glints of mischievousness evident in his sparkling eyes.

He leans his head towards my level, murmuring gently into my ear, "Try defending yourself now." And with that; he sprints off -- running through the dark, abandoned park. Automatically, my arms wrap around his neck in panic, afraid that I would drop to the ground if I didn't hold on. At the same time, I start kicking my feet in the air in order to make him stop as I keep yelling out, "Stop!"

However, it was to no avail as I quickly notice that he wasn't going to stop anytime soon. Though, instead of being angry with him; I actually started giggling uncontrollably while clutching onto him.

"Taeeee let me down!" I squeal, laughing loudly. "We're gonna fall!"

"You don't trust me?" he pants along with a chuckle, tightening his grip on me. His eyes avert to me for a second, meeting my own that were already locked solely on him. Under the faint light radiated by the lampposts, his eyes appeared to be glimmering like a sky full of stars. His skin was glowing like ever, causing a warm feeling to spread through my entire body just by observing this incredibly beautiful human being before me. It made me question if Taehyung really is human. Was it even possible for simple mortals like us to look so.. perfect? Not even a single flaw could be found on his perfectly sculpted features, the Universe must've invested extra care just on him.

I simply couldn't help but curving my lips into a smile while looking at him -- that's the effect he had on me. One of his eyebrows suddenly arches in a wondering manner, a small smirk playing on his lips before saying, "What is it?"

I don't answer him right away. My eyes divert from his, breaking our eye-contact, before proceeding to lean my head against his shoulder. I inhale the pleasant, soothing scent radiating from his cologne, and just like that; I was suddenly floating on cloud nine. A few seconds of silence manage to pass before I eventually mumble with a soft voice, "I trust you."

When he doesn't respond with any words, I open my eyes again and look up at him. I'm met with the breathtaking sight of Taehyung smiling his ever so beautiful rectangle smile to himself, which left my heart fluttering uncontrollably in my chest.

He eventually slows down, slow walking replaces his previous brisk pace. I'm honestly surprised over the fact that he hadn't collapsed yet, both his stamina and strength is outstanding. There's no doubt that he works out, he must be.

"Uh, Taehyung?"

"Mh?"

"You can let me down now," I chuckle.

"Oh, right." He swiftly lets me down on the ground again with a chuckle. My heart is still racing in my chest, my body already desperately craving for his touch. This was the third time I had been in Taehyung's embrace this night, and the only conclusion I can draw after that is that I didn't seem to ever want to leave his arms.

Please don't tell me that I might actually fall for him..

We eventually reach my house after laughing and talking about every random topic we could come up with within these twenty minutes, and of course he had teased me endlessly about my non-existing ability to defend myself the entire way. To my surprise, I found myself feeling a little disappointed that our time together had come to its end.

"Thank you for walking me home. I'm sorry we almost died in that forest."

He laughs softly, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it. Just promise me you won't go out on your own when it's late." I firmly nod my head in response. He flashes me a crooked, satisfied smile. "Good. Now go sleep, dummy."

"Dummy? Why dummy?" I whine, lightly pushing his arm.

"Because you're good at getting yourself into trouble."

"I always get into trouble because of you, though," I mutter, making an angry face.

"But who's the one getting you out of them?" he questions me teasingly with an arched eyebrow. I roll my eyes before turning my back against him, lazily waving my hand in the air in a farewell gesture.

"Goodnight, Taehyung. Don't let the wolves get to you on the way home."

I hear him chuckle from behind me. "No risk. Sweet dreams, Blue."

Oh, the way my name rolls off his tongue makes me feel some kind of way.

When I reach the front door, I slowly turn around to look at him one last time. He's making his way down the street, walking with his hands tucked in the pockets of his hoodie. While watching him, I suddenly acknowledge how broad his back actually is.

His back is so hot.

Stop it, brain.

Everything about him is hot, though.

STOP IT!

I furiously shake my head to release the inappropriate thoughts and finally divert my stare from him, before finally entering my house and quietly tiptoeing my way up the stairs without waking up my sleeping family. I'm shocked when I notice that it's just past two in the morning, meaning that Taehyung and I had been out for over two hours. The previous fatigue immediately kicks in as I realize this, and soon enough I'm entering the softness that is my bed -- phone plugged into the charger -- and I'm cuddling a pillow.

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