Chapter 12

Marley POV

A little hand peeled one eyelid back and a giggle rang through the room as Sophia climbed into bed between us, Tae groaning as he rolled away from where I was tucked up against him. "Wake up Mama," she said as we both stretched and blinked from the sudden wake up call. 613am was a bit early by her normal standards and Tae looked like he didn't often see those numbers on the clock, covering his face and rubbing his eyes.

"How about we leave TaeTae to sleep a bit longer and go out in the lounge to watch some cartoons?" I said, wrapping her in a hug, noticing how his arm had come up to cover his eyes.

"But TaeTae likes cartoons too," he said sleepily, mumbling into his arm.

"You can if you want but no need for both of us to get up so early."

"Just 5 more minutes then," he replied rolling onto his stomach and burying his head in the pillow as I scooped Sophia up and closed the bedroom door behind me.

KTH POV

The sound of crying woke me up, Sophia's wail making it's way through the walls. I could hear Marley's voice, comforting her as I reached for my phone to check the time. It was after 830am and I flipped the covers back, frustrated that I'd slept that long. It meant less time with Marley and we were flying out tomorrow, something I pushed to the back of my mind as I opened the bedroom door.

"Sorry to wake you, she fell and hit her knee," Marley said from where she was crouched on the floor, wiping away tears. Sophia looked up at me, pointing to which knee it was as I came close.

"Ouchie TaeTae," she said with a pout and wet eyes.

"Do you need a hug BugBug?" I asked and she shook her head, hiding her face in Marley.

"She's always a bit funny with people when she's hurt," Marley said apologetically.

"You mean she wants comfort from the person she loves most in the world? That is exactly as it should be," I answered. "I'm going to make some phone calls and then shower if that's OK. I'd like to plan what we do today and treat you, do you think you can get a babysitter for dinner tonight?"

"Oh wow, that sounds amazing, yes, I'll call Mum." Her whole faced smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners as I stared, captivated. She looked away, shy when the gaze went on for too long and I had to remind myself what I needed to do, my eyes drawn to her mouth.

"Great, lets plan to leave here around 1030am, once I've made sure everything will work I can let you know what to plan for."

"I'm up for anything," she answered. "Especially if there are dinner plans where I don't have to cook."

I laughed. "I can definitely plan for you not to cook today," and headed to the bedroom, pulling my phone out to call my manager.

Marley POV

Mum had been more than happy to have Sophia come for dinner. "Do you want her to stay the night too sweetheart?"

I thought about that for about half a second before answering. "Yes please, I can come and get her in the morning to take her to preschool from your place. Thanks mum."

"Are you going out somewhere nice with friends?"

I hesitated to tell her the truth, needing to hold my feelings close to my chest for a little longer. After all, I didn't know what it was yet. "Yes, a friend and I are going out for dinner, not sure what time we'll be finished."

She didn't pry, she'd been a rock since Matty died and Sophia loved spending time with her Nan. "Why don't you drop her off sometime this afternoon, it will give you a little longer to have some time to yourself."

"Thanks Mum, I'll take you up on that. I'm not sure what time it will be but I'll text when I know, OK?"

"Of course love, have a good day."

An hour later, Tae had showered and let me know to dress relaxed this morning as we'd be heading to the hotel but we'd be going somewhere nice for dinner. I was unsure of what to expect but feeling excited about what they day might hold.

"Will I meet some more of your friends today then?"

"Yes. I'm happy to share you a little today. They'll meet Sophia properly too if you're alright with that?"

"Sophia likes most people. She loved the other night, I wonder if she'll recognise anyone from being on stage?"

"They all thought she was gorgeous. You too," he finished with an eyebrow raise.

"You talk about me?" I asked, feeling shy.

"Of course, we have a members chat. I might've sent them photos from down by the river."

"Taehyung, you didn't?! My hair was all over the place in those!"

"If by all over the place you mean beautiful, then yes. They all approve."

"Only Namjoon has talked to me, they can't approve of me yet."

"They trust me, I have a good feel for people."

"OK, but I'm actually quite nervous." I played with my hands, a habit I'd had for years.

"Why?" he asked, pulling me close.

I leaned into his shoulder as I replied. "I want them to like me, they're important to you."

"They will Marley, don't worry. They're actually pretty relaxed guys, my best friends and family rolled into one. And Namjoon told them to behave as I care about you so hopefully they will."

My cheeks pinked at that. He cared about me, Namjoon knew it, they all knew who I was. I guess, as I stood there wrapped in his embrace, it was silly to think there wasn't something happening. I pulled away to look up at him and he kissed my nose with a smile, glancing to Sophia after he did. I appreciated that he was trying to keep things in check around her, that showed he respected my family and wanted the best for everyone. Yet another thing to love about him.

"I'll go pack my things up now to take back to the hotel when we go since, well, we're leaving tomorrow." He was still holding me close and I frowned slightly, not wanting to acknowledge his words.

Nodding instead, I stretched my head to kiss him quickly, Tae smiling into the kiss as I did. For me, it was a moment of comfort and I wanted to remind him I was still here, for the rest of the day at least. He took my hand in his as we pulled away from each other, holding it until he was so far that he had to let go. My hand formed a fist as he left the room, closing to hold his warmth inside it for as long as I possibly could.

I pottered around for a few minutes, making sure I had the bag packed for Sophia with enough clothes and snacks then, looking at the time, went to grab a sweater so we could leave. He was packing his stuff away in the bedroom when I walked in and looked up, chewing on his lip for a moment. Then, as I came close, he launched himself at me, grabbing me round the waist, cushioning my fall as I landed on the mattress. "What are you doing," I asked with a laugh as he flopped next to me.

"I just wanted to put a smile on your face," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows at me with a grin.

I moved my hair back from my face, feeling the smile stuck there, like it had been for the last few days.

"You do that without even trying," I replied, linking our fingers.

He grabbed his phone, using our fingers to tug us closer. "That smile lights up your eyes, I want a photo." I tucked in next to him, my head resting on his shoulder as he snapped some more photos of us together, this time not worrying that someone might see us together. After a few smiling selfies, he leaned in to press his lips to my cheek and I turned at the last minute to connect our mouths. He continued to snap for a few seconds then the phone fell to the side as he brought his hands to my face, gently engulfing my cheeks as the kiss deepened. It was a fierce intensity that felt all consuming and I was losing myself in the moment, in the feel of his tongue grazing mine as they moved together, savouring the taste of him.

Coming up for air, we stared at each other, momentarily lost for words as he played with my hair.

"Send me the photos," I managed.

"To you, yes but I'm definitely not sending those to the chat," he answered, pressing one last soft kiss to my lips. "Shall we head to the hotel? I think you'll enjoy this morning, I hope you do."

"The fact you've planned something for us to do together means I'll like it no matter what. Unless it involves bugs. Or blood. Or extreme heights."

"Got it, I'll cancel the bungy jump then," he joked as my eyes grew wide. "Not really, definitely no bugs or high places and I hope there will be no blood," and he grabbed my hand so we could head out for the day.

We were driving to the hotel when Tae got a call, furrowing his brow and frowning as he spoke. As he hung up he asked, "have you been on Instagram today?"

"I haven't had a chance," I replied. "Why, what's happened now?"

"Well, I may have posted some photos yesterday and management was just asking if I wanted to delete them."

I begun to panic, wondering what pictures he posted. He must've seen my expression as he quickly spoke. "It's OK, not of you, well not exactly of you. I thought it was arty, I posted a few from the river and one had part of your hair covering the picture. Apparently there is lots of talk on Instagram among ARMY. They are now saying the hair definitely matches the person in the photos at the park."

"Are you going to delete them then?"

"I don't want to. I have nothing to hide, apart from wanting to keep you safe."

"ARMY is very clever, too clever."

"I'm not really surprised by them anymore, a lot of the time their theories are very close to the truth."

He paused and I glanced at him briefly, the look on his face telling me that wasn't all.

"And?" I asked.

"Try not to panic and I didn't want to tell you but someone also took a few photos of me climbing into your car. You can't see the licence plate or who is in the drivers seat but I thought you should know."

I gripped the steering wheel with both hands and breathed deeply as his hand came up to stroke my arm. "It happens, I know it's not OK but it could be worse."

"Well that's reassuring," I said, rolling me eyes in frustration. "But nothing that shows us together where you can see our faces?"

"No but it means today, a manager will meet us and I will walk to the front of the hotel with him while you drive under the hotel and meet managers there. They will take you and Sophia up to my room. I'm going to stop and do a quick photo session out the front if there are cameras there and that should keep them away from other places so you can enter without being noticed."

He continued to rub my arm. "This is not the first time one of us has had to deal with things like that Marley, we are used to coming up with plans. My sister hasn't even been photographed yet and it's been 10 years, we are good at keeping those we love safe. Our management team is on our side too, they want us all to be happy and safe."

I blinked as I nodded, listening to Sophia chatter to herself in the back of the car, thinking her safety was the most important thing to me. He saw me glance in the rear vision mirror. "I won't let anything happen to either of you," he said, vehemently. "And I'm glad we talked about it, no secrets between us, OK?"

"That's super important to me too, no secrets. I know you can't promise that this is going to be easy. Maybe I'm just beginning to realise how hard it actually might be."

We pulled up a few blocks back from the hotel as he turned to face me, a worried look on his face. "Does that mean you don't want to continue? If it's too hard?"

"No chance of that," I smiled shyly. "You are taking over my heart, I'm willing to try all of this to see where it goes for us."

He nodded, a small smile on his face, still concerned. "Good, I don't think I could be happy if you walked away today."

I took his hand and held tight. "Ditto."

Choi Ji-ho met me at the lift with another member of staff, his eyes smiling over his mask after we'd dropped Tae, giving Sophia a high-5. She giggled and relaxed the slightly tense mood. I wondered how many times they had to do things like this, protect family members and friends. They must be very trusted friends now as well as staff since things were kept so well hidden. I'd googled, there were no confirmed relationships over the past decade for any members but that couldn't possibly be the case since they were all attractive men in their 20s so I felt a little relieved that they knew how to handle all of this when I felt so out of my depth.

Which is exactly how I continued to feel when we entered Tae's room to at least 8 people staring at me, a small welcoming party with no Tae yet. Thankfully Namjoon stood up straight away, walking over to me with a quick bow.

"Nice to see you again Marley. And to meet you little one, I'm RM."

"Aram, Aram," she repeated, earning a laugh from the room.

"And I'm JK," Jungkook told her, also standing up.

"JK hold Sophia's hand," she said, turning to me with a question.

"Yes Bug, JK was holding your hand when you were dancing on the stage."

She went up to him and took his hand again, noticing the bag of gummy snakes he'd put down when we'd walked into the room. "For Sophia?" she asked and lead him over to them as he laughed.

"We can share," he answered as he smiled at me. "She is adorable. I'm glad we can finally meet Marley, Tae messaged to say he will be here in a few minutes. He just finished taking photos out the front."

"Thank you, I hope everything went OK with that."

"Tae and cameras have always been friends," Jimin commented with a smile. "Can I get you something to drink."

"Mama, water?" Sophia asked, taking her hand out of the gummy bag and coming over to me, while I rifled in her bag for her water bottle.

"I'm fine thank you Jimin. Oh, is it OK to call you that? I'm sorry, I don't know the proper way of addressing you all. Tae mostly calls you hyung."

"If it's OK that I call you baby doll then Jimin is fine," he smirked.

J-Hope started laughing with his whole body and Jungkook joined in the laughter. Meanwhile I was feeling bewildered. Weren't the band members formal with names until they knew you? So, baby doll was probably not a normal greeting of someone you just met.

RM said something in Korean that silenced them all and then turned to me to explain. "So, Tae calls you baby doll in our chat. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know Jiminie has spilled that to you."

"Oh, oh!" I said, feeling my cheeks flush a little. "Well, maybe I should call you Jiminie Pabo then," I said, raising my eyebrow and the room erupted into laughter. He joined in the joke with a low bow and smile.

"I think we should just stick to Jimin and Marley."

"Done," I answered with a grin.

"Please, take my seat," J-Hope said, getting up and indicating for me to sit down.

"You guys are being very sweet, thank you," I answered, taking the chair.

"Well, Tae made sure to tell them all they better behave, which clearly went over the heads of some of them," RM said. "Jin and Yoongi said to say hello. They would've liked to stay and say hello in person but they needed to work on a song together."

"Hopefully I'll meet them too at some stage then," and RM nodded before standing up. Walking towards the door with a member of staff he said, "I have to head to my room myself to do some filming. I'm not sure we'll meet again before we leave but it was very nice to see you again Marley. I know it won't be the last time," and he smiled a beautiful, dimpled smile.

As he walked out of the room, Tae entered, saying a brief greeting as they passed. RM said something under his breath and Tae sighed, walking straight over to Jimin and smacking him on the arm. "Thank you hyung, you had to tell her."

"Sorry, but I'm sure she thinks it's cute," and they both turned to look at me, Tae smiling a cheesy boxy smile.

"Very cute," I answered and Jimin smirked at him.

"See, you'll probably get some extra action because of it."

"Jimin!" he said swatting him again. "I'm sorry, I need to apologise on behalf of my ex-soulmate. He doesn't seem to know when to keep his mouth closed," and he walked over to me, taking my hand.

"Who knows," I whispered in his ear. "He might be right about that."

"And you're no longer my ex-soulmate," Tae said, his teeth grazing his lip, squeezing my hand before tucking me into his chest.

"Is everything ready?" he asked the staff and they nodded.

"It's all set up for you," they answered and he turned to me.

"So, part of your day is next door. We have the whole of the 14th floor so that door leads to another suite. The hyung and I will look after Sophia and you can be spoiled for a bit."

"Sounds interesting although I'm a little confused. I thought we were hanging out together?"

"We will after but for now, it's about you. Come with me," and he turned to Sophia.

"Sophia, TaeTae will be right back. I'm sure JK will share another gummy with you," and he nodded, holding his bag out to her.

"OK TaeTae," she said, her beautiful smile lighting up as Tae took my hand.