#theflameandthemoth

[vanilla-sky01]

The flame and The Moth

Chapter 2

You were eight years old when you moved to grandparents place. Overnight , your brother and you became orphans after both your parents passed away in an accident while returning back from a party.

People say you didn't speak for weeks after the accident. Your grandfather and brother were too immersed in their own grief to notice the shadow of the cheerful child you once were.

You were enrolled in the local school at the advice of your family doctor, hoping the company of other children would help you.

"Y/N.. sweetheart... do you need more time to finish your work? You haven't written anything.. not even your name on it?" Your math teacher said through clenched teeth, unable to get you to do anything and not having any more patience.

You stared blankly outside the window, ignoring the whispers of the other children around you. They tried to talk to you , involve you in their games.. they really did.. you were the large city girl with fashionable clothes that they only saw on TV but they gave up after a few weeks. Nobody had even heard your voice in that school and there was even a rumor that you were deaf.

Suddenly, you heard a chair being pulled across the floor and a hand grab your paper.

"Y/N , its ok if you don't know the answers. Even I don't know. Just write something. Teacher Hyorin won't get angry if we get it wrong," the boy said as he put a pencil in your hands and nodded towards the paper.

You gave him a blank look but he just gave you the most blinding smile ever and promised, "Nobody knows the answers. I asked!! Don't worry. Write something.. but just write numbers OK? Last time I drew a huge heart on the paper and teacher Hyorin looked very upset and mad!"

"Yea, she called his grandmother to school and the next day Taehyung couldn't sit properly in class because his bum hurt.." a girl in piggy tails, pitched in.

Taehyung nodded sincerely and pointed to the paper again.

Taehyung became your constant companion. He didn't expect you to talk but spent all the time talking to you.

"Y/N, look what I got for you and yoona," Taehyung ran towards you, with a wide grin as you got out of your car.

He held two bananas proudly in his hands and showed them off to you.

"My parents came from the city and bought them for me. I told my grandmother that I would share them with you and yoona."

"But I like the strawberries from your grandfather s farm more," you said and those were the first words out of your mouth in months.

Taehyung looked shocked.. not because you spoke but because you preferred the local farm grown strawberries over the city bought fruit.

"Oh ok. Then I will eat your banana and you can have all my strawberries," be said, grabbed your hand and walked into school.

You two were inseperable.

Your grandfather was relieved to see you talking and laughing again that he encouraged your friendship with him and ignored you otherwise.

Your weekends were either spent at your place or at his grandparents place.

You two loved fishing for tadpoles at the stream behind his house. You named them and called them your babies but when they grew up and didn't look so cute anymore, you gave them to Taehyung and told him that it was his turn to take care of them.

Taehyung was the first person you told when you got your periods.

You forced Taehyung to try soju with you , as fourteen year olds. Both of you hated it!

During one of your night studies , when you found trashy magazines with pictures of semi nude girls in his room and screamed, Taehyung promised you that one of his friends must have left it there and swore that he never looked inside.

Korea always had terrible typhoons. During one of the worst typhoons of the year, your grandfather wasn't home and you had somehow managed to convince your housekeeper to let you spend the night at Taehyung's place.

As the wind blew loudly and the thunder rumbled angrily outside, the both of you huddled together under your blanket reading your mangas. The storm outside seemed to go on forever and ever and you shivered in fright as the window outside started banging and shaking in its frame.

"Y/N.. its ok. I am here," Taehyung scooter closer to you and threw his arms around your shoulder , pressing you closer to his body.

Burying your face in his chest, you whimpered in fright.

"Hey... its ok,y/n.. look at me..."

As you looked up into his concerned face, you grabbed hold of his t-shirt to pull his closer to you.

An odd look crossed his face as he gazed down at you.

It didn't matter who moved towards whom.

It was your first kiss and it was clumsy and eager and hesitant and beautiful.

Your arm moved up to his neck on its own accord and pulled his down for more when you felt his hands on your waist.

Taehyung groaned loudly as he felt the warmth of your body underneath your tshirt.

And as suddenly as it started, Taehyung pulled himself away from you and put a distance between you and him.

"I.. y/n.. I.. " Taehyubf stammered , unable to out into words all the feelings rushing through him.

You gathered yourself faster than him.

"Tae.. Read..." You said , ignoring the stammering boy near you and went back to your book and your hammering heart.

That night was the start of the doom of your friendship...

After that day, you often found yourself staring at Taehyung at the oddest of times. When all the girls in your class spoke about idols and actors and six packs abs, you were fascinated with the lanky boy you grew up with whose voice had suddenly turned into a rich baritone.

But over the next few days, Taehyung changed. He started finding reasons not to spend time with you and it soon became days before you two had a proper conversation even.

When your sixteenth birthday dawned, you were miserable. And the fact that Taehyung never even looked at you the whole day in school , made it worse.

By dinner time , you couldn't wait for the day to end but your grandfather had invited his business partner , Mr Choi s family over for dinner and you sat through the whole dinner feeling dejected and wretched and spoke only when spoken to.

After the dinner, your brother tore into your room in fury .

"You could find another day to be a bitch??? Seriously?? On the one day you have behave like a good girl... and..."

You are used to your brother s temper tantrums by now.

Just as you chose to react to the death of your parents with your silence, your brother chose anger. He was always angry .. at anyone.. at everything...

You simply rolled your eyes at him and went back to preparing your bed for sleep when he suddenly yanked you away and sneered at you.

"You ungrateful bitch.. do you know how much our grandfather has to suck up to that Choi to get make this happen? After all the trouble he went through? Huh?"

You pulled your hand from him and winced.

"What arrangement?" You asked, already losing interest in whatever had your brother in such distress.

"Your fucking engagement to Choi Minho , ofcourse! Don't act like you don't know! Why would they gift you a diamond necklace for your birthday?"

Your eyes widened in shock. You hadn't even opened the gift yet.

"What??" You barely managed to whisper as you stumbled and fell on your bed, your limbs losing their energy.

"Which world are you in? Do you even notice the world around you? Or do you have eyes only on that farmer boy? Thank god , grandfather finally woke up and saw what was going on before any more damage happened..."

He ranted , hardly paying attention to the heaving breaths you were taking, unable to comprehend all that he was saying...

".... called the boys parents in town and had to ask them to keep their son away from you.. they should know better...."

"Wait..." You wheezed, "so Tae doesn't talk to me because you guys forced him to?"

You brother looked like he would slap you and he almost came close to.

"Are you even listening to yourself? You shouldn't be worried about him. You should be thinking about how to impress Choi Minho after your horrible performance today..."

"Why should I? I don't even know him.."

"Then get to know him.. spend time with him.. seduce him.. whatever... but this engagement has to happen. For both your and my good!!!"

And he stormed out of your room.

You sat in your nightgown, unable to process all the information you just received but just one thing stuck to your mind.

Taehyung hasn't been avoiding you because of the kiss. He wasn't disgusted with you..

You felt the sudden urge to go meet him. You carefully arranged your bed to make it look like you were sleeping as you slowly made your way out of the window.

"Y/N.. omg.. what are you doing here? Its so late.. " Taehyung pulled you inside the house and shut the door behind.

"Tae.. its my birthday today," you said as you stood in front of him shivering.

"I know, y/n.. I know.. Happy birthday.." he ran his long fingers through his hair and looked upset with himself, avoiding looking g at you.

" Why won't you look at me, Tae? Why won't you talk to me? Did you know what my brother told me today? Did you know that I am the last to know that I am engaged to Choi Minho?" Tears welled up in your eyes as you let the emotions of the past few days and that night night rolls over you one more time.

Taehyung could never ignore your tears.. you, maybe.. but never your tears.

"Y/N..." he grabbed you shoulders and pulled you towards him and hugged you tightly.

You sobbed your heart out, just standing there in the middle of house, hanging onto your best friend for dear life.

When you finally managed to stop your crying, you slowly unwrapped yourself away from him and looked up at him to see that Taehyung too had been crying.

This time, you made the first move.

You kissed him. No hesitation. And he returned the kiss.

The fear that he would end it caused you to pull him tighter against your body .

But Taehyung had no inclination to let you out of his hands.

Placing his hands around your torso, Taehyung gently picked you up, keeping his mouth on yours.

Stumbling through the house, he finally placed you on his bed, his body covering yours.

No words were exchanged. You both behaved in unison as you shed the barriers between your bodies.

Panting heavily above you, Taehyung scanned your face for any doubts. "Y/N.. "

"I love you , Tae,"

Taehyung entered you with one hard thrust and as your body arched up in response to the sudden intrusion, he rained a thousand kisses on your face, neck and shoulders as apology.

Taehyung was everywhere. You felt his warmth, his smell, his hardness and his heartbeat against your chest and you felt a connection to him like never before.

You both moved in unison. Heat encompassed you as moans filled the room as you both breathlessly sought to find something you didn't know.

In the end, when the release finally came, you exploded in shattering waves and held on to Taehyung as his body went stiff on you.

For a few moments, neither of you moved , trying hard to catch your breath.

The sound of a car on the gravel outside the house quickly pulled you back to reality. Quickly moving away from each other, in the dark both of you pulled on your clothes just as the banging on the doors started.

"Taehyung?? Kim taehyung??"

[vanilla-sky01]

The Flame and The Moth

Chapter 1

Stepping out of the Rolls-Royce, the first thing that caught Taehyung s attention was the huge oak tree , lit up with fairy lights for the occasion. The last time he was here, he had been tied to that very tree while your father and his thugs spent the night beating the life out of him.

And yet, here he was.. ten years later, as a honorary special guest in the same house.

Taehyung smirked and turned towards the house and buttoned up his Tom Ford suit and displayed his most famous smile which never reached his eyes to the host who approached him with an equally insincere grin on his face.

Taehyung was not the naive sixteen year old anymore. He knew that he had paid a heavy price to be where he was and one of the driving forces that kept him motivated through all the tough times was the humiliation he had gone through at this very house.

"Aigoo... how handsome you look, Taehyung shi.. if only your grandparents were still around to see you so successful and famous now," Kown Jinyoung, a formidable man, even in his sixties , took Taehyung s hand and greeted him.

Taehyung grinned his teeth together and kept the smile on his face, already enraged at his father for making him do this. Taehyung hated visiting his grandparents village after their death as it only reminded him of how much he missed them and how lonely they must have been during their last years without their favourite grandson with them.

But his father had been adamant. The Mayor of the place had visited your parents place personally and invited Taehyung and his parents for his grandson s engagement party.

Taehyung s parents couldn't attend the party as his own sister was pregnant and was due soon so they had to stay with her at her place in Seoul. Since BTS was on a break, they felt it appropriate for their eldest son to attend the party on their behalf.

Taehyung seyes wandered around the huge mansion ,taking in all the grandiose decor put up for the occasion. He had never been inside the mansion before and even now, when he owned one of the most costliest apartment in Seoul and has stayed in the best of hotels around the world, the mansion intrigued him.

"You know my grandson, Kwon Sangwoo. I believe you both attended the same high school. This is his friend, Choi Minho, his friend and the bride s brother. I will leave you here to catch up with them. I heard the Minister of Health and Welfare has just arrived," Kwon Jinyoung scurried away, leaving the three men to stand awkwardly.

"So.. Taehyung.. its been a long time. I am sure y/n will be very surprised to see you today. You both were pretty close back then," Choi Minho tried innocently to break the tension in the air.

Sangwoo stiffened beside Minho, dare not to make eye contact with the world star, snatching a flute of champagne from a waiter passing by.

"Why, think of the devil... y/n, look who is here," Minho looked at someone behind Taehying s back and waved.

Your cheeks hurt from how long you were smiling and greeting the hundred plus visitors to your brother s engagement party that when your boyfriend waved at you and beckoned you, you were relieved.

You strode towards him, politely making small bows and nods towards people you hardly knew. You were desperately waiting for thr day to end so that you could get out of your metallic Vera Wong dress and into a comfortable cashmere pajamas with a glass of wine.

It took you a minute to register the face the man standing next to Minho. It was the face of the adorable boy you grew playing chase in the garden with. It was the face of the broody teenager who suddenly realised the vast distance between his and your social status and distanced himself from you. It was also the face of the boy you gave your virginity to....

You stopped midstride causing a passing waited to bump into you, spilling a tray full of drinks on and around you.

People around you gasped in surprise and were distracted by the unfortunate event, including Minho, that nobody noticed the way Taehyung was intensely staring at you from across the room.

"Y/N, omg..your dress is completely ruined. Come on , let's go get you changed," your best friend and soon to be sister in law broke you out of your trance.

As you followed Dami out of the room, you hoped that you had just imagined the person there but you knew from the way your hair on your neck stood on its end, that you were wrong. He was here. Now. Staring at your back even as you walk away...

"Y/N, breathe... you look you just saw a ghost," Dami s concern shows on her face as she pats tissues on your wet dress.

"Dami.. I.. I saw Taehyung..." Your voice comes out as a whisper.

"Which Taehyung?" Dami responds oblivious to the turmoil inside you, rummaging through your closet for something to replace your wet dress.

Not hearing a reply, she turns around and it finally dawn on her.

"Kim Taehyung? The one you..." she stopped herself just in time .

Dami walked out of your closet and sat beside you and took your hands in hers.

"Y/N, if you don't want to come down, it's ok. Abeoji is too busy with the Minister, I will handle your brother and mine. Come down when you are feeling better , ok?"

You sat still as a statue as Dami found another Dior Haute Couture gown for you to change into incase you changed your mind.

You don't know how long you sat there like that. The boisterous laughters and cheers you heard downstairs reached your igloo of despair.

Just as you got up to change your dress, you heard scrapping sounds in the attached balcony of your bedroom.

Scooping the wet gown, you opened the balcony door slowly to find the man you most dreaded dusting his suit and straightening.

"Tae...Tae.." your voice stuck to the back of your throat and refused to come out.

"Thank god! I thought you forgot me! " Taehyung gave you his usual boxy smile and walked forward.

That smile on that face. You could almost cheat yourself into thinking nothing had changed in the ten years. That he was here to spend time with you just because he was lonely or you were.

You swallowed and continued staring at him. His brows furrowed in confusion as he walked past you into your room and whistled.

"Why are you here, Taehyung shi?" You walked inside , leaving the door behind you open.

" Taehyung shi? Seriously? Y/N, we have known each other since we were in diapers!! Aren't you glad to see me? Don't you have anything else to say?"

Taehyung removed his jacked and dropped it on the floor unceremoniously.

Guilt got the better of you. You indeed had a lot to say to him. Apologies to him for...

Your eyes automatically went to the oak tree draped in fairy lights and when you returned your eyes to him, you found him staring at the tree too.

" I almost died that day, y/n... I... "

Tears streamed down your cheeks as you sobbed openly.

"I am so sorry, Tae... I didn't know... I was ..."

"I was ready to die for you... I was ready to leave all the people I loved for you... but you didn't come, y/n... "

"Tae.. I couldn't... my dad.." You pleaded , hoping that after years you would finally get the chance to apologise to your hearts content.

"I loved you so much.. " Taehyung s eyes glittered with unshed tears.

Seeing him broken like this, you rushed to him and took his face in your hands..

"Tae, look at me. I came for you. As soon as I could. I promise... I begged your grandparents to tell me where they took you.. I visited the agency you got am offer from for months enquiring about you.. "

Taehyung placed a finger on your lips, stopping your rant and placed his forehead on yours. Gulping and hiccuping sobs filled the room and gradually died down.

Taehyung slowly bent down and his lips softly and delicately, like butterfly wings brushed against yours. Gently he sucked your lips between his and moved his hands to your waist.

You gently place your hands on his chest and push him.

"Tae.. I.. we can't," you whispered.

Taehyung stepped back and looked at you with an unreadable look on his face.

"Why not? I am no longer a farmer s grandson. There are millions of girls who would kill to be in your place," his baritone voice clearly conveyed the anger and hurt.

"I know... so you should find one of them, Tae. We were never meant to be. I am engaged to be married to Minho oppa soon. We both should.. we should forget the past and move on.." your voice choked.

"Do you love him then? I thought you didn't want to be a trophy wife like your mother? I thought you wanted to marry for love?" He challenged you.

"I do.. I am marrying for love.. I love ..."

A knock on your door stopped the heated bickering and your eyes widened in fear.

No.. no.. no.. they can't catch you and Taehying alone again...

Taehyung had a different idea in mind.. He strode towards the door and swung it open to the shocked face of your brother and Dami.

Taehyung smirked at your brother.

"Sangwoo ah.. you have the most annoying habit of interrupting y/n and me always. Atleast this time, you came when we were both still decently dressed," he taunted your brother.

Sangwoo had been fuming mad ever since he saw Taehyung enter the house and he took this moment to go on a rampage.

But years of dance training and exercise , had made Taehyung nimble on his feet as he dodged Sangwoo s hands and picked up the jacket he had dropped.

Taehyung gave you a two finger and walked towards towards balcony and effortlessly dropped himself to the ground level.

"See you around, y/n," his deep voice echoed across the lawn as he grinned from ear to ear at all the shocked spectators and jogged towards his car.

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