Chapter 32

Marley POV

It didn't surprise me when I saw things on Instagram about the last interview they'd filmed. I'd been back home a few days, attempting to adjust to life without him again and now I was sitting in my studio working while Sophia was at preschool. I'd stopped for what I was calling a 'Tae break', time to scroll the internet for anything to do with him in order to help fend off the pangs of missing him.

Instagram had been very helpful to ease me back into normality although the edits of some of the members made me cringe or laugh at how accurate they were. A few short video clips were now circulating of the interview; RM translating, Jungkook speaking in some especially cute English and Hobi laughing at something the interviewer had said. But as always, I was drawn to an image of Tae which I clicked on, even after I'd told myself to stay away from social media.

The video that started was playing at normal speed, Tae was sitting with his arms crossed, listening to something Jin said behind him and he turned in his chair to look at him for a minute. A red circle popped up on the screen, highlighting his shoulder and I was confused but then it was replayed at slower speed and words popped up. 'Is this a hickey on Taehyung's collarbone?' It played over and over, zooming in closer and closer, his shirt moving out the way as he turned, revealing what was in fact a mark I'd left near his throat. That had been a lot of fun, learning that he was especially sensitive to anything around his neck and I'd made use of that knowledge a number of times in those last few days. Biting my lip for a minute, I decided to chance the comment section.

- Nah that's just a shadow

- Definitely a hickey! OMG, who gave it to him?

- They do have partners you know

- Who is the lucky woman who had her lips on his neck? I'm dying just thinking about it

- *Crying face*, I wish it was me

It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting. No-one said anything nasty, just a lot of people wishing they were the one kissing his body and who could blame them? Others were saying it wasn't actually a hickey and that people needed to grow up. I clicked out of it, feeling a little bit sidetracked with the thought I had marked him and people were talking about it.

Then I saw another post, this one of the members leaving the restaurant we'd eaten in my last night and I held my breath as I could see the green top I was wearing tucked in the back of the first image. Scrolling through, there were a series as we walked and got into the car. RM first then me lagging behind but partially hidden by a few staff and members as I stepped to the side, out of the way of the cameras.

- Is that RM with his girlfriend? We all know he is dating right?

- Could be the translator

- Why would he need a translator, he speaks great English?

- But not all of them do and staff need to eat too!

- Jin and Suga were also in the same car, she's probably staff

- Doesn't she look like the woman seen with Tae?

- Do you think she's making her way through the whole band or something? Get real!

I was surprised that there were no hateful comments in that post either and relieved that again, the mask I was wearing and people around had hidden me from being identified. Although, some still persisted in accurately connecting the dots between all the images I'd been in so far and that was a concern. Thankfully they all appeared like conspiracy theorists. How long that could continue for I didn't know, Tae had mentioned that he'd managed to keep his sister away from photos the last decade so we might be lucky for a long time. And just thinking of Tae in terms of being around for a long time made my heart beat a little faster.

I had zoned back into work when a call came through and I flipped out a little before answering, the giddy feeling of hearing from him not wavering. In fact the distance was making that feeling accelerate and I had to take a breath before clicking to connect.

"Hey baby," he said loudly, his eyes close to the screen and I cracked up at the look on his face, his cheeks rosy and he had a wild look as he smiled.

"Tae, isn't it like 630am there, have you been drinking already?"

"Not exactly. I haven't been to bed yet so I guess you could say I've been drinking yesterday." He gave a cheeky grin and ran his hands through his hair, my stomach turning over a few times as I remembered the times he'd done that when he was right next to me and how it always led to some pretty intense making out. He had the sexiest hands and softest hair.

"What's the occasion?" I asked, knowing he didn't drink very much normally`.

"The awards last night, we got best group for the 4th year in a row so everyone hung out afterwards."

"I'm glad you had a good night and that you won, congratulations baby."

"I wish you'd been here to go with me Marley."

"If I had been there you know I couldn't have gone with you anyway."

"Maybe I'll just post a picture of us online and then we can be as open as we want to be."

"Tae, you know you're only saying that because you're not completely rational right now."

"I don't know what that word means but I think I need to sleep." He fell forward, chin propped onto his hands. He wiggled his eyebrows at me and I had to laugh. Tipsy Tae was adorable.

"You look like you could fall asleep there. Go to bed Tae."

"My bed is empty without you," he said pouting.

"Technically I've never been in your bed, you've always been in mine."

"That's true but we can fix that. Come to Korea."

That wasn't the first time he'd said that since I'd arrived home. He was still in Australia but they were flying home in a few days and he'd said I could go join him there, anytime. The only thing was, I'd only just gotten back home and if I went there, I wanted to go for weeks not just a few days. It wasn't the right time just yet.

"I will Tae, you know I want to, just not right now. Now go to bed."

"Ok jagiya, saranghae," he said, sleepily, his eyes drifting closed in slower and slower blinks.

"Sleep well, I love you too Tae," but I don't know if he heard, gentle, even breathing coming from where his cheek rested on his hands and I watched for a few minutes before disconnecting, marvelling this gorgeous, sweet man wanted to be mine.

"Did you end up sleeping for most of the day?" Sophia was asleep, I was in bed and Tae had called me as he'd sat down to eat his dinner.

"Well, Jungkook woke me to work out so no. He tries to work out four or five times a week and I've never understood before. But now I've started working out when he does and I get it. Helps burn off some of my excess... energy."

"You'll have to send a video from the gym one time, I'd like to see that."

"Not happening, I'm not as fit as I used to be in our trainee days. I would be all sweaty, aniyo."

An image flashed in my mind, Tae above me, his waves damp against his forehead as he fought to control his breathing. I'd seen sweaty Tae before and I definitely didn't mind seeing it again. "Oh, I don't know, I quite like that look on you," glancing down as my cheeks flushed slightly at the memory.

When I looked up, I saw he had his tongue in his cheek before he rested it at the back of his teeth. "Noted," he replied, his eyes suddenly very intense.

"Don't look at me like that. You're too far away for that to be fair," I pouted, frowning.

"Don't make comments that we can't act on then," he replied, trying to look stern but giving in with a frustrated sigh. "Back to the gym I go."

I laughed and changed the subject, knowing it could head down a track leaving us both wishing we were back in Australia together. "Did you see the pictures online?"

"The ones of you and your boyfriend Namjoon?" he asked with a smile. "Yes, as usual, it's not the end of the world, we had a laugh about it."

"Well, yes those and the interview where you can see a hickey."

"Ah, I didn't know that word in English until the photos came out and I looked it up. We call it a kiseu makeu, a kiss mark."

"That's much cuter than hickey."

"That is not the word I would use for what you were doing to my neck Marley," and I blushed at his words and the silky tone he was using.

"Stop it Taehyung!" I replied, trying to keep my cheeks from changing colour, a battle that seemed constant now that we had been lovers.

"OK but I still like it when your cheeks are pink. Is BugBug there, I'd like to say hello."

"She's fast asleep, it's late here."

"I always forget, the amount of times we fly, it's hard to keep up sometimes."

"It's OK, she's been asking about you more."

"She has?" he asked, his face lighting up. They had spoken a few times and I had been even more smitten with how he handled her. The conversations were usually short with Sophia losing interest pretty quickly since he wasn't there in person but they were always cute with Tae asking her questions and Sophia babbling away in English that must have been a challenge for him since I couldn't always tell what she was talking about myself.

"She wanted you to read her bedtime story yesterday and today she asked when your plane was coming here."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, that one did hurt," I said quietly. "Missing you."

"Hangsang jagiya."

"Well good, as long as it's not just me."

"Definitely not just you. I've been busy and that has helped but missing you could get old very quickly."

"When do you head home?"

"Last concert in Australia is tomorrow and we fly out the next day. Tonight we are having dinner then getting together to talk about some big projects we have when we get back."

"So even if I wanted to come see you then, I would be a distraction to those projects."

"You will always be a distraction but the best kind. And to be honest, there's never really a good time. I'm always working."

"Don't burn out Tae," I said, worried for him.

"I have done, many time, we all have. But when we've had breaks, we miss each other and miss working together. After all this time, I'm not sure we know how to be apart for very long."

"It's only been a few weeks and I already don't know how to be apart from you."

"I don't love that this is how it has to be for now but I don't regret anything about us so far Marley." He looked at his watch and sighed. "I have to leave in about 10 minutes, I'm sorry."

"It's OK baby, lots of little chats with you are better than none. Sleep well when you get there."

"I sleep and dream very well these days," he said with a huge, beautiful smile and I melted again.

"Until next time Tae."

"Until next time."

KTH POV

As always when we hung up, I was smiling. The buzz I got each time I saw her hadn't gone away, it had intensified especially now that we had told each other how we really felt. There was lots I wanted to tell her about the big projects we were working on but I wasn't allowed to just yet, too many things had to fall into place first. But I knew once I was allowed to tell her, that it could change the next few years for the both of us and everything in me wanted to spill it all every time we spoke. I kept it to myself for now, the realisation that it could be the answer to us being together helping me stick to the rules for once. When it was the right time to talk about it, we needed to be together and I needed to know exactly what the right thing to do and say was. So I hid this secret within myself, even though we'd said there would be none between us, hoping she'd forgive me when I was finally able to share the plans.

Double update today, chapter 33 is posted as well, enjoy :)