Chapter 14

Marley POV

Room service was the best option to order in for lunch. We were too distracted by each other to make any other plans and with Sophia asleep in the bedroom, it seemed the easiest thing to do until she woke up. So we ate, leaning against the sofa, food between us on the floor as we talked and, inevitably, kissed, our hands never far from each other.

When Sophia woke from the sugar crash she had gotten from eating all the gummy snakes, she was cranky and hungry. Nibbling at some leftovers as she snuggled in, waking up fully before the normal, happy Sophia returned, we realised it was 2pm and we'd need to get moving.

"Jin and Yoongi messaged earlier. They asked if we wanted to swing by Suga's room before we leave so they can meet you. I'll grab some clothes for tonight and then we could go past on our way out?"

"Of course I'd like to meet them too. You said they were working on a song, we won't interrupt them though?"

"They're writing, not recording I think so it will be OK. I'll message them now to say we'll be there soon."

We both grabbed the things we needed so we could leave, Sophia still a bit grumbly as I put her snacks and drink away, zipping up her jacket. "We're going to go see some more of TaeTae's friends and then in the car to see Nan now Bug, you can stay and play with her today."

"And Toko?" she asked, always happy to play with our family dog.

"Yes, Toko loves it when you play with him too," I answered, making sure Tinky was not left behind. It would be a disaster if the toy wasn't there when Mum went to put her to bed tonight, likely interrupting our dinner plans which I wasn't keen to do.

Yoongi had replied that they were still only writing and we could come anytime so we walked along to his room, Jin opening the door when we knocked.

"Welcome to the crazy room," he said as we walked into dead silence, Suga waving out as he looked up from the papers in front of him.

"Oh, not going well then," Tae commented.

"I've been trying for almost an hour to find the words I want for one line and I'm losing my mind," Jin replied.

Yoongi was massaging his temples as he looked from the papers to his laptop, clicking some buttons before turning to us. "And there are only so many dad jokes I can cope with in one stretch. Nice to meet you Marley."

"You too," I answered as Sophia wriggled to be put down, walking over to Yoongi.

"What's that," she asked, pointing to a box with lots of buttons attached to his laptop.

"That adds sounds to the music," he answered with a smile.

"And what's that," she asked pointing to the microphone.

"We sing into that," he said, patiently as she leaned against his leg.

"Sophia sing?" she asked.

"Sure," he replied, taking her onto his knee and handing her the mic. Clicking a couple of buttons on his laptop he said, "you can sing whatever you want."

She put her lips right onto the microphone and breathed, hearing the breathy sounds coming through and giggling which echoed through the room. "Oooohhh, Sophia is loud," she laughed and proceeded to sing a version of a gibberish song at an ear splitting volume.

Yoongi didn't seem bothered as he just casually leaned forward, adjusting the settings and then, when Sophia took a breath, he asked, "do you want to hear it now?"

She nodded as he played back what he'd recorded of her and her eyes lit up. "Again, again," she said, singing back into the microphone.

"Do you know baby shark?" Yoongi asked, over her noise and she broke into a 3yo version of baby shark.

"This could go on for ages," I murmured to Tae.

"It's a nice break for them," he answered. "And Yoongi is surprisingly good with kids."

"Try this Sophia," Jin said and sung a few notes which she repeated back. He did it a few more times and then looked at Yoongi.

"She has perfect pitch," Yoongi said, turning to me. "You must be able to sing too then?"

I nodded a little shyly.

"I haven't heard her yet but now more than ever, I'm looking forward to it," Tae said, kissing my cheek. Yoongi suppressed a smile at the gesture, exchanging a look with Jin who was also grinning.

"You guys are cute. This little one is the actual baby doll though," Jin said laughing and Tae rolled his eyes.

"Not you too hyung."

"You should know better than to let Jimin around anyone if you have secrets," Yoongi smiled fondly. "He said in the chat that he'd accidentally let it slip. You've gotta love him."

"Do we though," Tae joked. "We should head away, we have more planned later in the day to get ready for."

"Ah yes, the dinner," Jin started to say and Tae cut him off.

"Yes, Marley knows only some of the evening so lets not spoil anything else today, OK?"

"OK Taehyungie, have fun."

"Time to go Sophia," I said, anticipating the wrestling match it would be to remove the microphone from her hand.

"No, Sophia stay," she replied, putting her mouth straight back to the mic.

"How about Sophia sings one more time and then Yoongi can send it to mama's phone and you can listen to it anytime you want?"

"KK," she answered with a smile and I mouthed a thank you to him, as he nodded in return. I was feeling pretty good that I had met all of the members now, they were welcoming, easy to talk to and the sweetest guys. Meeting his friends had been a worry but I could tick that off, hopefully I met their approval too. I wondered if I would ever get the chance to introduce him to mine.

I climbed back into the car after kissing Sophia goodbye at mums, the exit from the hotel going smoothly and undetected. I did have the constant feeling though that our good luck with not being properly seen couldn't last forever. Before we pulled away we decided to plan the rest of the afternoon, in case we decided to head somewhere on the way home.

"Do you want a surprise or to know what we are doing tonight then?" he asked, playing with my fingers.

"I love surprises but it would be nice to have an idea of how to dress. All I know so far is that there is food involved."

"Well, how about I just say I'm taking you somewhere nice for dinner. I grabbed a casual suit. Does that help?"

"It does and sounds amazing," I answered, wondering what a casual suit was and running through a checklist in my head of what I could choose to wear. I didn't have that great a selection in the first place but when standing next to Tae, whatever I picked would look drab. "What time is the reservation?"

"We're booked for 730pm."

"OK, I have a suggestion then although I know you wanted to plan today. There is this beautiful spot up in the hills that overlooks a view across the water. It really is impressive. We could go up and watch the sunset there and take in a few other sites on our way back to the restaurant? At this time of year, the sun sets at about 530pm so that gives us plenty of time."

"Your suggestions of places to go so far have been exactly what I've needed so yes, lets go there. I can't wait to do that with you."

"And, unless you want to hang around at home for the afternoon, there is a walk near my house. It's native wetlands so birds and trees specific to here. That would be pretty to do too, it would take about an hour? I know I'm filling up the day but I don't know when you'll be back again to see everything." I'd said 'when' on purpose not wanting to say 'if you'll be back.'

"I would love to walk with you. I'm guessing like the other places we've gone, there won't be many people around? Staff want me to keep them up to date in case they need to send security."

"We'll be fine. When I run the track, there are this group of cute older men who walk it and they always call out hello to me. I see them at the same time each day that I run so it must be a regular routine for them. Apart from that, I rarely see people. Maybe someone pushing a baby in a pram."

"If I was an older man and you were running past me, I'd want to talk to you too as you swept past. That's quite the picture," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Don't get too excited, I get hot really quickly when exercising so my face is always bright red. It's not a pretty picture at all."

"Everything about you is pretty so I don't believe you. Maybe one day we can 'exercise' together and I can see for myself."

He stressed the word 'exercise' and I smiled at his expression, transparent to me at least. "Not all exercise is the same."

"Oh, don't I know that for sure. Lets start with the good kind of exercise," and he smirked, biting his lip suggestively.

"Yes, walking in the Wetlands it is then," I answered with a grin, smacking his arm and he rolled his eyes with an exaggerated sigh before grinning back, slinging his arm behind the back of my seat.

We only passed one lot of people on the Wetlands track, a couple of older ladies out for a power walk. They just smiled and carried on their way as Tae stopped to take a photo of a tree, obscuring his face. Once they had passed by he took my hand again, stopping every few metres to take another photo. When three birds walked across the path in front of us, he clutched my arm in awe at how close they were.

"Wah, what are they called?"

I smiled at his reaction as he brought his phone up and snapped some more shots. "Those are Pukeko, cute huh."

"Such pretty colours."

The air was fresh, the sky clear. As we meandered along the walkway, fingers linked, I could almost forget that he was leaving tomorrow. Almost.

"I'm glad you suggested this," Tae spoke, breaking into my thoughts. "I feel so refreshed being around all this beauty. I can almost smell the earth growing, it all feels so real."

"It is definitely peaceful, I take it for granted that I can come here whenever I want. There is a viewing platform ahead. It lets you see the whole of the Wetlands. Shall we go have a look before we head back to my place?"

"Yes please," he replied, dragging me forward, his eagerness catchy and I trailed along with a laugh. There were so many sides to him that I found endearing. He could be dangerous to look at, his intensity overwhelming. And then he could brim with excitement over even the smallest of things, bringing me along for the ride. Sometimes he was transparent, his emotions readable and other times there was a mask he hid behind. That mask seemed to have dropped for me since we decided to have no secrets and I appreciated how open he truly was being.

As we looked across the native bushland, he took a few more photos of the scenery laid out in front of us, selfies of himself and of us together before tucking me in close, pressing his lips to my head, resting there. Tae seemed to have reached the conclusion that no-one would photograph us while he was in town and I was hoping that was true as he wasn't trying to hide it anymore while we were out in the open.

I turned into his embrace, smiling into his chest as he wrapped me tightly in his arms. The warmth and his scent were reassuring and I relaxed, letting the calm of the setting flood over me. Leaning back to rub up and down his arms, I felt him tense his biceps as I did, flexing them. In that moment, he was a man who, like most men, needed to feel strong and it didn't matter who he was or what he did for a living. "Check out those muscles," I said, admiringly.

"Oh, these little things," he replied cutely. "Namjoon and Jungkookie have bigger muscles than mine."

"You want me to go check theirs out to compare?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Absolutely not!"

"Yours are perfect for wrapping me in," I said, resting back in again after giving them a squeeze and seeing his face light up at the compliment. He usually appeared to have abundant confidence but I knew it sometimes hid a soul who needed a lot of assurance. From what I'd seen online, BTS were well known to be humble and sweethearts and it was true, the man before me was sweet and I was falling deeply.

"Shall we go back to mine now so we can rest a little before we go watch the sunset? I'm ready to put my feet up for a bit and warm up?"

"I'll follow wherever you want to go," he replied softly and the low timbre in his voice began to warm me already.

If it was possible to want to listen to a voice for the rest of my life, it was his and I had to gulp as we made our way back towards the car, the realisation that my future was suddenly becoming so much closer.

KTH POV

I could tell all my hyung were happy for me, Jin giving me two thumbs up behind Marley's back as we went to leave. Everything about today was cementing in my mind that once we left tomorrow, it couldn't be the end. How to define what that meant was another thing I was grappling with. I had no real way to communicate to her what being in my world meant. It could lead to a lot of heartache, especially with Sophia to take into consideration. True ARMY would be happy for us but there would be some people, and we'd seen it, who would react badly to anything to do with our personal lives and I didn't want to subject Marley to that. But I couldn't see a way around it as I was already in deep.

As I'd stood surrounded by nature with her wrapped in my arms, I could've stayed that way forever. The feeling was safe and the fact I could feel so relaxed there without someone turning up to take my photos meant I could see myself living here, if she wanted that too. But my life, my family, my work was all back in Korea and I was confused about how to make it gel together.

But when she touched me, she reached right inside and her words lifted me up. I knew if I fell, she'd be someone who would help pick me up. That was too important to not pursue. So I was going into the evening with excitement and trepidation, hoping we could both find the words to work out how to be what we each needed.