Amalia's POV
Wondering why I was so easily coerced by someone I'd known less than a day, I followed Taemin across the beach and towards the parking lot where his brother's car sat just as I remembered it. We walked as casually as possible, though once we got into the car he almost instantly ducked and flipped down the sun visor, as if he was worried someone would see him... or us.
Despite the heat, we turned on the air conditioning instead of rolling the windows down since Tae felt we had more security that way. We didn't say a word to each other for the first few minutes of the journey which I didn't mind too much, as I focused my attention out of the window and watched the beautiful city pass by. Soon enough, however, a thought popped into my mind and I blurted it out without hesitation.
"I feel like one of your groupies, hanging around with you so much."
Tae scoffed, wearing a look of confusion as he focused on the road ahead. "Groupies? What makes you think I have any of those?"
"Come on, you're good-looking, talented and famous." I shrugged and rested my arm on the top of the door. "It'd be weird if you didn't."
There was a moment of silence, leaving me wondering whether he was going to respond, but after a few quick glances in my direction he finally asked, "Did you just call me good-looking and talented?"
"Yeah... why?" I was genuinely confused why he felt the need to clarify; I'd hardly said something unbelievable.
"Nothing, I just—" He looked at me once more, scratching the back of his neck. "I thought you didn't like me."
"I don't, but that doesn't mean I'll ignore the obvious truth." My tone was unintentionally blunt, words continuing to leave my mouth with little to no thought. "There's a reason you have fans all over the world."
Once again silence enveloped us, though this time there was no hint of either of us breaking it. After running my mouth without issue, words finally escaped me. I attempted to read Tae's expression, but it was difficult; I had no idea what he was feeling, though he didn't seem happy.
With a sigh, I refocused my attention back outside, relaxing a little until I spotted a hillside mansion gradually coming into view, causing me to sit upright. It was beautiful, unlike anything I'd seen before and to my surprise, and obviously Tae's relief, the area out front was empty.
"I guess they realised nobody was home and got bored," Tae mumbled, the gravel of the driveway crunching beneath the tires as we approached the garage door, which opened with the press of a button. He pulled inside and into an empty space with one smooth motion and once my eyes adjusted, I realised we were surrounded by a number of different cars, each likely costing more than I could ever hope to afford. I didn't even know the brand of half of them.
As the garage door lowered behind us, I tucked some hair behind my ear and asked, "What about your parents?"
"Huh?" The sound of the engine came to a halt as Tae pulled the keys out of the ignition. "My parents don't live here, they have their own place." I unbuckled my seatbelt and stepped out of the car, quietly following behind him as he lead me through a side door and into the main hall. His gaze lingered on me for a moment, my expression pushing him to explain further. "This is just for me... and occasionally Elijah, when he feels like living it large. Why do you look so surprised?"
"I don't know, I just... I thought your parents lived with you since I see them with you so much." It wasn't hard to picture sparkles in my eyes, like a child getting their favourite toy at Christmas. "This place is amazing."
"Right, well... they're kinda my managers. Not really — I do have an actual manager — but they're heavily invested in my career, so they tend to hang around to make sure I'm doing the right thing."
I quirked an eyebrow, continuing to marvel at everything as we made our way into the living room. "The right thing? What does that even mean? Surely they should just let you live your life—"
"They..." All of a sudden, Tae trailed off and stopped in place, standing with his back to me. Despite the hoodie and whatever else he was wearing layered over him, I could see the tension lingering in his shoulders. "The last couple of years, I haven't exactly been as 'good' as I was when I was younger. So, yeah... they're just doing what they think is right."
No words came to mind for some time as I tried to process what I'd just been told. Not only was it a lot of information all at once, but I was caught off guard by the fact that Tae had decided to open up to me all of a sudden. Even though he may not have told me his life story, what he said still felt personal, much more so than I would have expected.
The continuing silence made me shuffle awkwardly, and I soon grasped for any topic of conversation. "So, what do you do? I imagine you have a lot of parties."
"Well... yeah, that's true," Tae replied, snapping out of his trance and slowly lowering himself onto the end seat of the couch. "But honestly, most of my free time I spend working on music."
"Free time? Then when do you relax?"
"I..." He paused, seemingly having to think about his answer before giving it. "I guess I don't really. I just do what I need to."
I hesitantly sat down beside him. "Sounds like a lot of pressure."
"This is my career. It is what it is."
Just like before, he spoke so nonchalantly, almost as if it was a life he'd been resigned to; like there was no way to change it. Perhaps it was too soon for me to say such a thing, but I felt there was something more hidden behind the side of him shown to the world, something that, for whatever reason, he tried to keep hidden, and it piqued my curiosity. I always figured not many people knew the 'real' Taemin — that the version of him portrayed to the world was a persona — as it goes with most celebrities, and that feeling only grew stronger the more I talked to him. I didn't believe I'd find out much more for a while, though.
Coming back to the room, I couldn't deny the lavish decoration of the house made me feel strange and incredibly out of place, and yet I also couldn't deny how much I loved the view; every window presented a different scene, and I was amazed by every single one. I had no idea the city looked so beautiful from up above.
The two of us sat side by side, now enjoying the peace until the sound of a key in the lock echoed down the hall, causing Tae to jump to his feet and pull me with him, hurriedly trying to hide me behind the couch. I was shocked and confused, though as much as I wanted to protest or question what was happening, I stayed quiet and watched as he stood up straight and casually leaned on the back of one of the seats. My view of the front door was blocked, meaning I was clueless as to who entered the house and could only assume from the way Tae visibly relaxed at the sight of them.
"Oh, man, Eli. You scared me," he spoke with a sigh, embracing the person before motioning for me to come out of hiding. Hesitantly, I obeyed, pushing myself up from the floor and locking eyes with the stranger. I recognised them immediately; it was the guy who'd introduced him before he went on stage. His best friend. "Elijah, this is Lia. The girl I met the other night at the club."
"The one you put in the hospital, I remember." Upon hearing those words, I couldn't help smirking in Tae's direction as I remembered our earlier conversation, to which he simply rolled his eyes. "Nice to meet you, Lia."
I smiled and gave a little wave. "You too."
"Could you do me a favour and take her back to Venice Beach? I don't know if I can risk going out again today..." I noticed Tae glance at me before letting out a soft chuckle. "And I need to shower anyway."
"Sure, no problem."
After a moment's pause, I shuffled my way over to Elijah as Tae stepped to the side, running a hand through his hair. No doubt he was looking forward to getting back to some semblance of normality, whatever that was, and I was too. Hopefully, it would be easy.
Eli lead me back towards the door to the garage, and I used those few moments to think over what I'd tell my family when I got back to the beach if they'd noticed I'd gone. I didn't like lying in the first place, but I especially struggled lying to my family and Riley; they knew me so well that they knew all my little tells, and it made me nervous. Still, I'd be able to figure out some kind of excuse... I had to.
"Lia..." I paused just before stepping foot into the garage, glancing over my shoulder at the sound of my name to see Tae raise his hand in a small wave. "Take care."
The way he said it made it sound as if it was the last time we were going to see each other, and though I didn't fully understand why at that moment, I was hoping that wasn't true.