The bottle spun. Slowed. Landed.
Lily.
Groans. Cheers. A few dramatic gasps.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth," Lily said confidently, lifting her shot glass in a fake toast.
The girl across from her leaned forward with a cat-like grin. "If you had to kiss someone here, who would it be?"
Lily paused, just for a second. Her gaze swept the group in a lazy circle… and then stopped.
"Taehyung."
A loud chorus of "OHHHHHHHHHH!!!" exploded from the group. Someone actually slapped the floor.
Even Taehyung raised his eyebrows, smirking. "Bold."
Sera squinted, all teeth. "Why?"
Lily's grin twitched into something sheepish. She shrugged. "Well… we've kissed before."
"WHAT?!" came three different voices at once.
Lily waved her hands. "Accidentally! God. That was in college. We were sparring at the gym—"
"Oh my god. The gym?" someone repeated, already laughing.
"I slipped, okay?" Lily groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I was trying to throw a punch, I tripped, and BAM. Right into his face."
"Your face hit his face?" someone wheezed.
"My lips hit his lips," Lily muttered, looking like she wanted the earth to swallow her whole.
Meanwhile, Taehyung was practically doubled over in laughter, his hand smacking his knee. "That was hilarious. You looked like you short-circuited after it happened."
"I did! I thought I dislocated your jaw!"
"You almost knocked me unconscious."
"You liked it," she teased, throwing a chip at him.
The table roared.
Sera narrowed her eyes at them while sipping her soju. Her expression was all interestingly quiet.
And yet, beneath the noise, beneath the jokes—Taehyung was staring at Lily. That chuckle still lingering on his lips.
He remembered that night exactly.
The way she blinked at him after. The way they both froze, wide-eyed. Like two people who realized too late that maybe there was something more buried underneath all those years of friendship.
But they never spoke of it.
Until now.
A few moments later, when the tension and laughter dissipated, and the fire crackled softly outside the villa, casting gold flickers against the walls as Taehyung slipped away to take a quick call. Meanwhile, Lily had wandered back inside to heat some of the leftovers from earlier—grilled beef, a little rice, and some kimchi on the side. Her soul was already whispering comfort food.
She sat down on the patio table, the cool night wrapping around her shoulders like a hug. As the microwave beeped its final ding, she plated it and took a few bites.
But then…
A flicker.
A little glow in the dark.
Was that a firefly?!
Lily set down her fork like it owed her money and bolted after it, fumbling to grab her phone to take a photo. "Oh my god, you little glowing legend," she whispered, chasing it across the deck like a six-year-old on a sugar high.
By the time she came back—maybe two minutes later—she blinked at the sight before her.
Taehyung. Sitting comfortably. Legs crossed. Humming. Eating. Her. Food.
Her food.
A grin curved on her lips. The devil whispered: record it.
She slipped her phone out of her pocket, tapped record, and walked up with the most over-the-top gasp a human has ever gasped.
"Tae, that looks tasty, right?"
Taehyung—mid-bite, mouth full, chewing like a satisfied child, answered "Yep."
"Good. 'Cause that's not mine."
He looked at her like she'd just told him he was on trial for war crimes. His eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.
"What the FUCK—what do you mean?! Isn't this yours?!" He sputtered, rice dramatically falling from his mouth like confetti.
"That's not mine, Tae," Lily said, voice full of fake horror.
Taehyung visibly paled. "What the fuck—I thought it was yours!! Oh my god, I just ate some stranger's random food?! Bleurgh." He says as he wretched the food on the grass.
"How does it taste?" she asked, fighting the smirk tugging at her lips.
He panicked. Spit half the bite into a napkin. Grabbed a water bottle and chugged it like it owed him his life. His soul was visibly leaving his body. "What do you mean what does it taste?? It feels like I just violated my body!"
Lily folded. She couldn't take it anymore. She burst into uncontrollable laughter, clutching her stomach.
"LILIAN. I SWEAR TO GOD."
She was dead set on the grass, howling with laughter, finally cracking and showing him her recording.
He stared at the phone. Then at her. Then back at the phone.
"You are actual Satan."
"I heated that, damn you!" she cackled. "I was literally chewing it before chasing a firefly!"
Taehyung glared. Choked slightly again. Then grabbed a napkin and dabbed his mouth with the grace of a Victorian widow in distress.
"You better sleep with one eye open."
"You better remember who brings snacks to your drama shoots, Taehyung."
He narrowed his eyes, watching her still doubled over in laughter, cheeks red, tears escaping.
The bonfire glowed behind them.
The camera kept rolling.
And so did the chaos.
"You're terrible," he muttered, but his voice had softened.
She shrugged, trying to ignore the way her heart was pounding from more than just the joke.
Outside, someone called for them to come back to the fire. Taehyung brushed past her, close enough for his shoulder to graze hers. "Come on, trouble," he murmured.
Lily followed, holding onto the warmth of that single word, knowing she'd replay it later when she was alone.
***
They walked in step, letting the food they had devoured earlier settle while the mountain breeze whispered around them. It was quiet now. No laughter, no games, just gravel crunching under their feet and the occasional far-off call of crickets.
"I still can't believe you asked me to this," Lily muttered, nudging Tae with her elbow.
"Why wouldn't I? You're literally always free."
"Oh, so I wasn't first choice?"
"You know what I mean, Lily."
She chuckles, "I know. I just thought you'd take Jung Kook or Jimin. I guess they're busy?"
Tae sighed, "They are, but unlike you, you're game for anything. Like a one call away."
"It just proved that I was a second choice." She turned to the man next to her, her expression a mix of betrayal and anger.
Tae put his hand up in surrender, "I already thought there were games and we were literally the undefeated PE champions back in college." Tae laughed.
"Back when no one wanted to team up with you 'cause you were too shy to look anyone in the eye," she teased.
"Yeah, and you just picked me 'cause you didn't want to deal with the popular girls."
They found an old log bench on the edge of a quiet clearing, the stars above scattered like glitter on black velvet. They both looked up, breathing in the moment.
Then Lily asked, like she was asking about the weather, "Are you dating anyone now, Tae?"
"What? No." He blinked. "Why do you ask?"
"Just… I don't want to accidentally get you into trouble with some secret girlfriend by existing near you."
Tae chuckled, low and smooth. "You're good. Nothing like that. You?"
She scoffed. "Please. After Sean? I'm taking a vow of emotional celibacy."
"You? Hopeless romantic turned stone-hearted? Please, Lilian."
"Ew. Don't use my full name like that."
"Why? You prefer Lilith?"
She narrowed her eyes with a grin. "Want me to unleash hell, Kim Taehyung?"
"God, no. Shut up."
She laughed—light and unfiltered. The kind that still made his chest feel like a warm, cluttered attic of memories.
"Okay, okay," she said, still catching her breath. "Maybe I'll date again. But not now. Not yet. I'll just… let fate do her thing."
"You're still into that lore?"
"I just remembered what you told me before. That maybe someone out there deserves me more."
She looked at him then. Really looked.
"Do you plan on marrying?"
Tae stilled for a second. "Eventually, yeah. Someday. Why?"
"If we're both single by 50… want to be my backup groom?"
He blinked at her like she'd just handed him her resignation from reality.
"What is up with your brain, Lilian?"
"I'm serious!" she grinned. "You already know me inside out. You tolerate my chaos. You once held my hair back after I drank six shots of banana soju."
"You also kicked me in the ribs once during a spar."
"Details, Taehyung."
He laughed, shaking his head, but then she said softly, "I mean it. If the universe doesn't give us our other halves… why not us?"
For a second, he just looked at her.
Really looked at her.
Like she was a novel he never had the time to finish.
What if we were the other halves, just waiting?
Before he could respond, she gasped. "Oh my god—look! A shooting star!"
She pointed upward, eyes shut tight, palms pressed in front of her like she was praying with a smirk.
Tae didn't look at the sky.
He looked at her.
Her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. Her mouth curled into that smug, unbothered smile. Her knees bumping against his, like they always did.
He made a wish.
That she'd lower the deadline from fifty… to thirty, or early forties if she's not yet ready to settle.
Her eyes popped open. "Did you make a wish?"
"Yeah," he said simply, before slapping a mosquito off his ankle. "And now I'm wishing for bug spray."
She laughed. "Alright, alright. Time to go back before I turn into mountain mosquito buffet."
They walked back to the villa, their fingers brushing once, but not quite holding.
Both wondering if the universe had heard the things they couldn't say out loud.