XXXVII. RIGHT WHERE YOU LEFT ME

A little more than a month passed after Gyeoul and Yongsik's class, and Taehyung still can't stop watching their video on YouTube.

His regret was eating his insides away and he was left with this empty space inside him that only made him miss Gyeoul more. Not that they don't hang out anymore, but she was slipping through his fingers. She would always plant a beautiful garden of flowers in the darkest parts of him and it felt like those flowers were wilting with every gaze she and Yongsik shared in that video. She was bringing warmth to someone else that wasn't him.

He had no right to feel the way he was feeling. He should be happy that she was happy because that's all that mattered. So, why couldn't he?

Suddenly, his phone was snatched away.

Taehyung looked up to see Jimin closing his phone and stuffing it in between the cushion of the couch they were sitting on. He sighed, leaning over him to try and take it back, but Jimin pushed his arm back to his side and took his earbuds out, placing them on the center table. Taehyung took the opportunity to quickly get his phone from between the cushions, only to fail and earn an exasperated look from Jimin.

"I don't know how many times I have to say this," Jimin sighed, shaking his head. "I understand you're still working through your heartbreak, but what good will adding fuel to the fire do?"

"Can't I admire them for being amazing dancers?"

"That's odd. You know, usually, when people admire, they don't wear a permanent frown emoji on their face."

"I can't help it." He pursed his lips, opening his phone and looking at his lockscreen of Gyeoul since last year. "They're going on a date later, and there's this annoying voice in my head that keeps nagging me about how it could have been me instead." A humorous smile cracked on his face, "I'm pretty sure that annoying voice is you."

Jimin narrowed his eyes at him, "I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that last part." He crossed his legs, leaning on the couch with his arm stretched on the headrest behind Taehyung's shoulders. "But that voice is right. It could have been you. Hell, you still can be! Tell her how you feel before it's too late."

"Isn't it too late already? I mean, they've been going strong for a month and fifteen — no, seventeen days."

"My goodness, I wish you were being dramatic. Did you really count? I'm not even sure if Gyeoul and Yongsik know this."

"Well, she's my friend. It's only natural that I know."

Running his tongue on the inside of his cheek, Jimin quirked an eyebrow, "Okay, then how long have Jin-hyung and Hayoon-noona been together?"

"Six years," Taehyung answered with a lazy smirk.

"And how many months and days?"

"Four months and nineteen days, give or take."

Jimin pursed his lips, "I actually have no idea if that's correct, but I'm sensing some heavy bullshit so I'm choosing not to believe you." He nudged his shoulder, "Just tell her. Who do you think she's going to choose, Yongsik, the guy she keeps on rejecting for the past few months, or Taehyung, the guy she was ready to risk everything for by confessing to him? The answer's pretty obvious to me."

"And it's not obvious to me," Taehyung sighed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees and he ran his fingers through his hair. "Gyeoul tells me he's a great guy. He treats her well."

So badly did Taehyung want to be the one she told about in all her stories.

"She tells you about him?"

Taehyung winced inwardly, already knowing that his answer will only bring his friend into a new state of frustration. "Only when I ask her about her dates—"

"Goodness gracious, Kim Taehyung," Jimin breathed out, standing up and pinching the bridge of his nose. "You've brought this upon yourself, I don't feel the need to try anymore—"

Fortunately for Taehyung's ears, Jimin's nagging got cut off by a set of knocks on the door, followed by their manager's voice calling them back to the set where everyone was waiting for them.

"Look, I see where you're coming from," Jimin admitted, his shoulders drooping as he frowned at his soulmate. "But don't beat yourself over it. You can only be strong for so long."

Taehyung nodded as he stood up, "I know." He slung his arm around his shoulders and they walked back out to the set. "Thanks, Jimin."

❆

"I respect your opinion, except your opinion is wrong, way wrong. Love, Rosie, is leagues better than Wild Child."

Yongsik let out an appalled scoff, "Love, Rosie is a ridiculous movie—"

"It's not!"

"You can't be serious. Love, Rosie's plot was below average at least, and that's me being generous," he retorted, earning an over-exaggerated glare from his date. "I mean, I don't really buy into that friends-to-lovers bullshit. Surely, all their problems would have been solved if they just confessed to each other right away."

"But then there'd be no plot. Plus, it doesn't come as easy as that," Gyeoul argued. "Imagine having feelings for your best friend whom you've known since you were a child. Wouldn't you be a little scared to risk your friendship? Especially those parts where they get into relationships, it's only natural to avoid ruining what's already there because all you want for that friend is to be happy. Falling in love with your best friend is all about risks."

Yongsik raised his hand, covering his view of Gyeoul's face, "Talk to the hand, biatch, there's no changing my mind. Wild Child is better than Love, Rosie. If you really want to change my mind, then write a five thousand word essay about it."

Gyeoul feigned a heavy sigh, "This is it. This is where whatever the hell we have ends. I can't date someone who talks shit about my favorite movie."

"Just when we're about to hold hands for our next date?" Yongsik batted his eyelashes at her, but she kept a straight face. He huffed, "Okay, fine. I won't tolerate any form of Wild Child slander, even if we're dating."

She laughed, "Fine."

"Fine."

A beat of silence passed and they stopped walking.

One look at each other and they burst out laughing.

Gyeoul smiled, rocking at her feet and observing the direction they were going. "It's getting late and my phone is dead. Should we go home? I have a photoshoot tomorrow and I need to get some sleep. Makeup artists are great, but I don't want to make them work too much if I turned up looking like a zom—"

She looked up and saw his absent expression looking in another direction. The performance director's eyebrows furrowed and she looked at where he was looking. Walking out of the restaurant behind them was the same woman with faded red hair that they saw in the park last month.

Diana.

Diana's eyes widened as she saw them. Her gaze flickered between them, an unmistakable flash of sadness veiling her eyes. Without another second, Yongsik's ex-girlfriend sighed and walked away.

Yongsik turned back to Gyeoul, conflict clear in his features. "Stay here."

With that, he ran after Diana, who didn't take long to run after he started running.

And damn was she a fast runner.

"Dee, wait!" he called as he finally caught up to her. Their closing distance only motivated her to run faster. "Dee, why are you running?"

Diana suddenly stopped running, turning back and scowling at him, "Because I can't stand being countries away from you and came back for you! Meanwhile, you found yourself another girl!"

All functions in Yongsik's brain came to a stop as he heard those words. "You came back? For me?"

She kissed her teeth exasperatedly, "Yes! Holy fucking shit do I regret it." Uncontrollable tears started to fall down her cheeks and she harshly wiped them away with the back of her hand. "I left Stockholm for you, and now you got the girl of your dreams. I hope you're fucking happy."

Yongsik slowly walked up to her, gently holding her arm. "Let's sit down." He picked his head up, scanning his surroundings to figure out where they ended up. "Come on, I parked my motorcycle by a playground not far from here—"

"Fuck no! We can talk here! I'm not going anywhere else, especially not with your fucking ass, you jackass."

"You can curse me all you want, I don't care," Yongsik breathed out, dropping his hand from her arm to hold her hand. Diana pulled her hand away before he could, looking at him in utter betrayal. "Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see you leave? You left me! Now, you have the nerve to talk to me like that when it's you who broke it off!"

"And whose fault was that? Yongsik, a month before I left, you kept whining about how long-distance relationships didn't work! I lost hope because of you." She placed a hand over her forehead, laughing sarcastically, "God, I'm supposed to be studying abroad because I'm smart. When did I become so stupid that I gave up my education just to be with you again!"

Yongsik's gaze softened, "Dee, you didn't have to—"

Her sharp glare cut him off. She clenched her fists, "How long did it take you to flirt with her?" She drew in a sharp breath at his silence. "Okay, I guess I'll answer for you. It was when you were paired up for the first time in that dance class, right?"

"Yes, but—"

"Then you trended on Twitter and I saw that she was rumored to be dating V from BTS. I made myself a fool to believe those fucking baseless rumors because I wanted that assurance that she wouldn't reciprocate any of your moves. Well, turns out I was wrong."

"We were already broken up then and I had to take my mind off of you somehow. And don't you dare pin this all on me when you kept denying my calls!"

"That's because I was mad at you! Not because I stopped loving you!"

Yongsik's mouth dropped, "You still love me?"

"Yes, I'm an idiot, you twat. Now I have to bear with the thought of you two together," Diana answered, sniffling. She gulped, "I don't blame you for hitting on her. She's fucking gorgeous, and if I wasn't so hung up on you, I would have beat you to ask her out. Tell me, is your new girlfriend treating you better?"

He ran his tongue on the inside of his cheek, "How could you still love me? I don't understand."

"I don't understand either. All I know is that I'm still stupidly in love with this guy and that guy threw our year-long relationship into the drain by flirting with the first pretty girl he saw."

Diana's bottom lip quivered, more tears burning the back of her eyes. She looked down and tried to control them, but only ended up sobbing harder. Yongsik pursed his lips, coming closer to her and wrapping his arms around her smaller frame. He placed his chin on top of her head, stroking her hair as tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"Let me go," she croaked out but she made no move to push him away.

"Please, Diana," Yongsik breathed out, closing his eyes and hugging her tighter. "If anyone's stupid, it's me. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it."

"I know, but I still need to let you hear it."

"Fucking asshole."

He chuckled slightly, pulling away from her with a small smile that reached his eyes, "Let me take you home."

And he did. When Yongsik dropped her off at her apartment building, he went home.

He forgot something that night. Something important.

He forgot to go back to Gyeoul.

She was still right where he left her.

The dancer stood outside that restaurant for who knows how long. After thirty minutes of waiting, the employees inside the restaurant took pity on her and offered her a free drink. She turned that down and kept waiting outside. After an hour, the employees then offered to let her wait inside the restaurant. She turned that down and kept waiting outside. After two hours, the restaurant closed and the employees bid her a good night out of pity. They offered her their phones to make a call, but she turned that down too, saying that she'll use a nearby payphone if he still doesn't show up in an hour. She was lucky enough that the employees pointed out where the phone booth was so she didn't have to look for it.

She cursed Apple phones and their 'long-lasting' battery.

Looking at the watch on her wrist, she checked the time and saw that three hours have officially passed since Yongsik left her. She sighed, stuffing her hands in her pockets and walking off. It was already past 10 PM and every other restaurant or store nearby was already closed.

As she walked, she could feel faint drops of water fall on her head. Her eyes widened, realizing that it was raining.

"Damn it," she muttered, starting to jog to the phone booth not far away.

Call it vain or paranoid, but Gyeoul refused the phones that were offered to her earlier because she had her phone number leaked before. The last thing she wanted was for someone to leak the phone number that she was going to call. Especially since the only number she had memorized was of an idol.

The rain started to get stronger as she finally made it to the booth. She kissed her teeth, pulling out her wallet to get some spare change and pushing them to the slot right away. She didn't want to waste any time, especially when it was raining. Gyeoul blinked, mumbling the numbers under her breath as she pressed the buttons.

"Hello? Who is this?"

Gyeoul smiled slightly, "Hey, sorry for calling at a time like this. It's Gyeoul."

"It's alright, I wasn't doing anything anyway. Is everything alright? Why is the rain so loud on your end? Are you outside?"

"Yeah, well, it's a bit of a long story, but can you send a car for me?"

"Sure, where are you?"

"I'm in a phone booth in front of Smiles Stationery in Uicheok street." She looked around through the glass and peeked her head outside the booth for a moment for further details. "And I'm beside Past Over, an antique store."

She could hear Taehyung hum on the other side, "Alright, I think I know where that is. Stay where you are, I'll come get you."

"No, I called so you can book me a car service. I'll pay you on Monday."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be there in around ten minutes."

Gyeoul smiled to herself, shaking her head at him. "Thank you. Drive safe."

As he declared, Taehyung did arrive at her location in ten minutes, maybe even less. Gyeoul rubbed her sleepy eyes and squinted at the plate to make sure it was really him before moving to step out. Before she can make a full step outside the phone booth, her friend got out of the car, opened the umbrella, and waved at her with his adorable boxy smile adorning his features.

He closed the door and made his way to her, "I forgot to ask, why are you calling from a payphone?"

She got under the umbrella and they huddled closer to the middle, "My phone died."

Pulling her closer, he adjusted his hold on the umbrella so she would be more covered, not minding that his shoulder was getting wet. "That's probably a sign that you should switch to Samsung."

"Samsung would be proud that you're promoting their products without being told to," Gyeoul mused as Taehyung opened the door for her. "Except, of course, the fact that you're up to date with all the new iPhone releases."

He grinned, "Just get in the car."

Gyeoul got in the car and he closed the door. Her warm eyes followed as Taehyung jogged around the car with a childish smile on his face, making her laugh. He opened his door and got in the car, closing it back up and placing the umbrella on the floor of the backseat. Once he got settled, he sighed blissfully and ruffled his hair since it got a bit damp.

"I want to be a kid again and play in the rain without worrying about the repercussions," he admitted, laughing slightly. He leaned his head back on the headrest and faced her with a small smile, "You look like a zombie with those bags under your eyes."

Playfully rolling her eyes at him, she responded, "That deflated my ego by a hundred." Taehyung laughed, starting to drive to her house. She chewed on the inside of her cheek, feeling guilty for asking him to pick her up. "I owe you. Thanks for driving me home. Really. I would have walked to the main road to hail a cab, but it's raining hard and I can't risk getting sick in this day and age, especially with the comebacks and your anniversary coming up, and I have that photoshoot tomorrow."

He hummed, nodding his head. With a grin, he reached over to her and ruffled her already messy hair. "Get that guilty look off your face, it's no problem. I'll even make you some tea when we get home so you won't get sick." Side-eyeing her, he could see her smile slowly disappearing. "Do you mind me asking what you're doing at a phone booth at 10:30 PM? I thought Yongsik was your ride since it's your date night and all."

She inwardly grimaced at the mention of his name. "Well, he had this emergency and he had to run out."

Taehyung raised his eyebrow at her, "That sounds like a lie." The look that briefly crossed her face confirmed it for him. His smile immediately dropped and his eyes widened, "Did he leave you? At night of all times when you have no means of getting home?" He looked at her for a quick second, his eyes gentle, yet his grip on the steering wheel became tighter.

"Yes, but he had to go somewhere more important at the last minute," Gyeoul answered, giving him a smile that didn't comfort him at all. "Should we turn on the radio?"

He complied, turning on the radio but keeping the volume low so he could still talk to her. "What's more important than you?"

"A lot of things. It can be his family or his loved ones, a whole lot of things. It's nothing worth getting angry over," she replied, reaching over to him to punch his arm lightly. "It's alright."

Usually, he'd dramatically overreact when she'd do that, but he stayed still. His gaze stayed on the road, his jaw clenching every other second. Gyeoul frowned as she saw that he was unsuccessful in trying to let go of his anger. He was repressing it rather than letting it dissolve into solitude. The action would do him no good and his newfound strong feelings against Yongsik.

She placed a light hand on his arm and his grip on the steering wheel loosened, making her smile slightly. "It was a situation that he couldn't avoid and I understood that. It's an event that happens inevitably and sometimes we can't avoid those things. Overall, I'm fine, you don't have anything to worry about." Taehyung sighed, nodding his head. "What about you pull over and I'll drive?"

"I can handle it. Go to sleep," he told her, turning in her direction for a quick moment. "I'll carry you to your room if you're too tired to move."

The anger in his features grew softer, but it was still evident that he was vexed by Yongsik's actions. The least that guy can do was take her home safe and sound, but he left Gyeoul all in the rain at such a late hour to fend for herself. Taehyung hoped that his friend was telling the truth, but it still infuriated him that this 'great guy' couldn't even fulfill the bare minimum. What if she didn't have his number memorized? Just thinking of the worst-case scenario only made his blood boil.

"And risk you bumping my head into the door frame?"

"Hey! I work out a lot these days."

"Blow-drying your hair doesn't count as a workout, darling."

The idol gave her a small grin, "But it can! Tell me you never felt like your arms are going to fall off when you blow-dry your hair. I bet you can't."

Gyeoul laughed, shaking her head as she leaned on the door and looked at the light of each building they passed against the wet asphalt. Such scenery provides raw emotion even to a regular person's eyes.

But even though she wasn't looking at her friend, she knew well that he was still seething. She hummed, loud enough to gain his attention, "I really am fine, Taehyung. Yongsik had to do what he had to do and I understand that. Don't worry that much about it." Turning her head back in his direction, she smiled slightly. "And thank you for picking me up. Let's stop by a drive-thru and buy you a burger."

He smiled back at her, "I would literally help you hide a body if you asked me to, driving you home is nothing. Regarding Yongsik, I understand that he must have had his reasons, but that doesn't mean that what he did was right. He should have taken you home or hailed you a cab. These actions shouldn't be tolerated and I hope you talk to him about it."

She nodded, reaching over to him and massaging his right shoulder to alleviate whatever is left of his annoyance.

"However, I'd never say 'no' to a burger."

That made a laugh bubble out of her lips. The familiar sound finally made Taehyung break into a genuine smile, his insides growing warm at the mere dulcet melody of it. He couldn't remember if there was an instance wherein she laughed so heartily and his insides didn't turn into mush.

Gyeoul felt guilty about skirting around the truth with Taehyung, but she didn't want to tell him that they encountered Yongsik's ex because she was unsure if the topic was sensitive or not and if it'd be appropriate to share the event with others. Taehyung would only get more upset if he found out Yongsik left her for his ex. But she only felt upset an hour later when she was starting to be sure that he wouldn't come back for her.

If there was a crown for high stupidity, a small chip of it would be going to Gyeoul, just like in Mean Girls. The other piece would probably be given to Yongsik for leaving her so suddenly. She still couldn't believe that even after three hours, he still didn't come back for her. Why would he even tell her to stay? Not only that, but the fact that she saw Diana up close only fueled her curiosity. She hated how she craved the answer — not because of jealousy, but because she was just curious. 

Even after a month of going on little dates and exchanging rushed text messages, he still never talked about Diana. In fact, they never talked about anything at all. Their conversations always revolved around celebrity issues, movies, dramas, jokes, and dance. There was nothing wrong with that, but she knew nothing about him like he knew nothing about her.

But what Gyeoul didn't know, she was going to find her answer soon enough. All of the answers to the questions that plagued her mind — not only limited to her situation with Yongsik.

It was already written in the stars.

NOTE

the 'why are you running?' part is totally intentional.

i hope you enjoyed this one!