𝐌𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 || 𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐡𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐟 ||

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟔

He leaned in and kissed her softly, his hand cupping her cheek. "You know, I've always felt like fate brought us together. From the moment I saw you in that café, I just knew that there was something special between us. And now, here we are, sharing this amazing connection, this love. It's like everything in my life has been leading up to this moment."

Mahi smiled up at him, her eyes shining with tears of happiness. "I feel the same way, Taehyung. I know it might sound cheesy, but I truly believe that we were meant to be together. And I'm so grateful that you're open to learning about my culture, about who I am. It means the world to me."

She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. "You know, I could teach you more Hindi words if you'd like. Or I could show you some of our traditional dances. Or maybe we could even cook some Indian food together." Her voice trailed off, a dreamy look in her eyes.

Taehyung smiled, his gaze locked on hers. "I'd love that. Anything to learn more about you and your culture." He paused, considering her offer. "Actually, I've always been curious about the dances. They look so beautiful and graceful when I see them in movies."

Mahi's face lit up with excitement. "Oh, I could teach you some basic steps! It's not as hard as it looks, I promise. And the music is just so... joyful. It'll be fun for us to dance together." She giggled, then grew serious again. "But first, you should probably learn some more Hindi words. It'd make things easier for both of us."

Taehyung nodded in agreement. "You're right. I want to be able to communicate with you properly." He paused, thinking for a moment. "So, what should I learn first? Common phrases? Verbs?"

Mahi smiled, her fingers gently tracing the shape of a peacock feather in the air. "How about we start with basic greetings and numbers? That way, we can introduce ourselves and count to ten. And since we'll be cooking together soon, it'll be handy to know how to say 'one', 'two', and 'three' for measuring spices."

Taehyung nodded, his eyes focused on her movements. "That sounds like a good place to start. So, what do I say when I meet someone for the first time?"

Mahi grinned. "You say 'Namaste' and then bow your head a little. It's our traditional greeting. It means 'the divine in me bows to the divine in you.'" She demonstrated the gesture, her hands pressed together at her chest. "Like this."

Taehyung copied her movements, feeling a bit self-conscious but trying to do his best. "It's a beautiful greeting," he said, his voice a little shaky. "I'm sure I'll get it down with practice."

Mahi smiled warmly. "Don't worry, it takes some time for everyone. But the more you do it, the more natural it'll feel. Now, let's start with the basics. The word for 'hello' in Hindi is 'Namaste', like I said before. You can also say 'How are you?' as 'Aap kaise ho?'.

Taehyung repeated after her, his accent a little thick but understandable. He listened carefully as she continued, teaching him the words for 'good', 'fine', 'thank you', and 'you're welcome'. As they practiced together, he felt a growing sense of accomplishment.

When they moved on to numbers, Taehyung found it a bit easier. He had always been good with numbers, so memorizing the Hindi words for one through ten came naturally to him. Mahi seemed pleased with his progress and suggested they practice counting together while cooking.

As they spent more time together, Taehyung began to pick up on subtleties in Mahi's speech. There were certain sounds in Hindi that were distinct from those in Korean, and he found himself working hard to reproduce them accurately. Mahi was patient with him, gently correcting his pronunciation whenever needed.