Taehyung flips through the channels trying to find something to watch while I start to give myself a manicure on the floor in front of him with my arms resting on the coffee table. The day was pretty uneventful as we had already cleaned up the entire house, went grocery shopping with Uncle Kim and ran various errands yesterday.

We were both growing bored and it seemed like Taehyung was about ready to throw the remote across the room in frustration at any minute.

"What color are you going to do this time?" He asks peeking over my shoulder at the options I had in front of me.

"I'm not really sure. Any suggestions?"

He takes a moment to pick up each bottle and examine the colors closely. Some were plain and simple such as white or light pink while others incorporated glitter or was a multi-dimensional color.

"How about this one?" He hands me a light sea blue color.

Predictable.

"Any particular reason?" I ask in almost a monotone. I assumed he would choose the blue one.

"Because it looks like the ocean and the ocean brings you peace." He lays back down on the couch behind me and places his cell phone on the coffee table.

Oh.

Well, that was actually kind of sweet. Here I am thinking he chose it just because it was a shade of blue, but in reality, he was actually putting in a little more thought to it than I gave him credit for.

"I was going to say the white one since it reminded me of the white roses above our heads when I told you I love you for the first time, but then again you were wearing a blue dress so I still went with the blue color instead."

Insert foot into mouth. Now I'm starting to feel somewhat like an asshole for thinking he was just being shallow. And over something petty to boot.

"That's really sweet baby." I turn around and place a chaste kiss on his lips before shaking up the nail polish bottle to get started.

After my nails were painted and dry and Taehyung was done being overly dramatic about the smell. I stand up and lay on top of him as if he wasn't laying there.

"Ava, my uncle is home." He chuckles as I make myself comfortable.

I shrug. "It's not like we're having sex. I'm just laying here."

"But you're squishing me." He fakes like he can't breathe while still laughing.

"Oh whatever. You don't complain other times." I start to tickle him knowing he's a little extra sensitive on his sides.

He laughs out loud as he does his best not to accidentally throw me off of the couch from his jolts and dodges.

I see his phone light up on the coffee table out of the corner of my eye and then see a notification appear on his screen.

I sit up and move the hair from my face as I calm down from laughing.

"Your phone was ringing babe. I think you might have a voicemail." I say through a labored breath.

"Check it." He nods towards the coffee table.

I grab his cell phone, enter the passcode and press play on the unopened voicemail from an unsaved number.

Background noise begins to play through the speakerphone and just as I'm about to end it thinking it was some wrong number, I hear a female's voice.

"Um...hi Taehyung. This is Ashley from the Freedom Fourth party. Sorry it's taken me so long to call. I didn't want to seem too desperate."

She begins to giggle. I, on the other hand, don't take my eyes off of the screen as if her face may suddenly appear.

"Anyway, we should get to know each other better so I was wondering when you're free. Maybe we could hook up while you're still in town. And don't worry, I won't tell Ava. Your secret is safe with me. Call me. Muah!"

And it ends.

Dead silence.

My breathing is unsteady as I think about what I just heard, but my eyes can't move away from the screen. Even when the light begins to fade, I can't look away. I can't look at him right now.

I feel a pressure in my throat and chest and a sting tearing through me.

"Ava...I don't know who that was. I don't know an Ashley and I didn't give my number to anyone." Taehyung pleads calmly as he sits up.

"But she apparently knows your number and who I am. Explain that." My voice is calm. My mind and heart not so much.

"I can't. I don't know how she got my number. I wouldn't cheat on you, Ava."

My eyes snap to him and I can't help it but my voice raises.

"You wouldn't? It sure as hell sounds like you at least thought about it or tried to! Did you warn her about me? Did you think I wouldn't fucking find out one way or another? Was I getting boring so you needed to move on to another girl to occupy your time while you're still here?" I scream at the top of my lungs. I'm not even sure if he could understand most of that.

"Baby, no! I did not give my number away to any other female! Not since I met you, not even before I met you. How can you think that about me?" Taehyung reaches out for my hand but I pull away from him and briskly walk to the bedroom.

I don't know where I'm going but I can't stay here. No man is going to make me feel trapped. No one is going to treat me so disrespectfully.

He really thought I was stupid, didn't he? Like he could just cheat on me and get away with it so easily.

I don't even care if he hadn't actually done the deed yet. Setting it up in the first place was bad enough.

As I'm throwing some items into my backpack, Taehyung bursts through the door.

"Ava! Don't go! I didn't give another girl my number. Please believe me." He grabs me and holds me into his body, his front pressed to my back as his head rests on my shoulder and his arms wrapped firmly around my arms.

"Get off of me Taehyung." I say calmly but pissed.

"No. I'm not going to let you go when I didn't do anything. I'll call her back in front of you. I'll do whatever you need me to do. Just please calm down and listen to me." He begs.

His arms stayed tightly wrapped around me and his voice was beginning to crack. He seemed scared or sad. Maybe a little bit of both. But was he scared or sad only because he got caught?

I try my hardest to shake him off, but his strength was no match for my own. I didn't care though as I continued to try to get him off of me.

"Ava, stop! Stop fighting me and at least listen to me!" He picks me up off of the ground and carries me over to a wall where he pins me to it. The position reminiscent of someone being arrested.

"Taehyung! Let. Me. Go!" I try to shake him off again.

"I'll let you go if you calm down and promise to listen to me."

Fuck it. He wants to speak, then fine. He can talk but I won't listen.

I nod.

He waits a beat before actually releasing me, staying close behind in case I try to leave again.

When I don't move or say a word, he turns me to face him.

I've done well holding myself together. Sure, I'm pissed, but I wasn't allowing myself to cry. I wasn't about to break down in front of him.

But the moment I looked at him and saw his red rimmed eyes, a dam breaks inside of me and I begin to sob uncontrollably.

I drop to the floor and bring my knees to my chest as I hold myself for comfort. For the first time since we met, I felt betrayed. I felt alone. I felt disrespected.

"Ava, jagi. Saranghaeyo. Uljima." He kneels down in front of me and tries to lift my arms but I push him off of me.

He huffs out a heavy sigh and sits down in front of me.

All the sudden I hear ringing through the speakerphone.

"Hello?"

My head pops up. Alex?

"Who is this?"

"Is an Ashley there?" Taehyung speaks up.

"Who is this?" Alex repeats himself, but Taehyung doesn't recognize the voice like I do.

"Taehyung."

"Oh!" He chuckles mischievously. "One minute."

"Ashley! For you." He yells out in the background.

"Hello?" She answers confused. "Who is this?"

"Taehyung. You called my phone earlier." He explains. His eyes trained on me.

"Oh! Taehyung...hey baby." She all the sudden sounds flirtatious. "I was wondering if you'd call back."

"I don't know how you got my number but I don't know you." He coldly responds.

"Oh, come on. You remember me."

"No. I don't." His voice was serious. "I didn't give my number to any female besides Ava since I've been here and you know I'm with her."

"I didn't ever say you gave me your number silly." She giggles.

"Who are you?" He snaps, losing his patience.

"Do you remember that girl you turned down who tried to dance with you? The one you and Ava laughed at when I gave her that dirty look? Alex's cousin? I tried to get her off of your hands for you so you wouldn't have to pretend to not be interested. I mean, she was looking a little slutty anyway. I figured you wouldn't mind passing her off to Alex."

He looks pissed. "Don't ever call me again and tell your cousin to keep an eye out for me."

"Oh, don't be like..." He hangs up before she can finish her sentence.

He quickly goes to the number and blocks it before he sets the phone down and looks at me.

"See? I told you I'd never cheat on you and that I didn't know her. I'm going to beat Alex's ass. Apparently he didn't learn his lesson the first time I knocked him out." He slowly looks up at me. My eyes hadn't left him since the beginning of the phone call.

"I'm..." I begin to talk but he shushes me with a deep kiss which I happily accepted.

He breaks away and holds my face so he can look at me. Really look at me. As if I was his whole world and he was seconds from losing me.

"Don't apologize. You thought I wronged you and had I actually done so, I would have deserved you leaving me and worse. But I just hope you'll trust me. Trust me now and trust me later. Trust that I won't stray away from you and trust that I love you. I'm yours. Forever yours."

All I can do is nod as I watch silent tears fall from his eyes. He refused to let me leave and he made sure I knew the truth. Lord only knows what lengths he would have went to if the phone call didn't play out the way it had or if Ashley, if that's even her real name, had known I was listening.

"About Alex," his jaw clenches at me even mentioning his name, "he's not worth it. He'll never have me and even though he tried it, his plan ultimately failed. We don't have a long time together. School starts soon. Let's not waste it on him."

Taehyung lets out a frustrated sigh and turns his head to look away. I know he wants to go beat his ass right now. I know he's pissed and hates him just as much, if not more than I do.

He nods and sighs once more to calm his temper. He stands up and extends his hands out for mine to help me off of the floor.

"You were going to leave me." He says in such a pitiful voice.

I nod. "I was."

"It would have been that easy for you?" His voice cracks.

"Easy? Taehyung...no. I was devastated the moment I heard the voicemail. But as much as I love you, I have to love me more. If it was true, I would have left but that wouldn't have meant that me loving you wasn't real."

He pulls me into him and wraps his arms around me as tight as he could, his tall body overshadowing my own as if I was now a part of his own little cocoon.

"I never want to hurt you." He says kissing the top of my head.

"I know." I say into his chest.

But the truth is, one day he will. He will hurt me and I will one day hurt him because that's life. As much as you love someone, eventually you will do or say something that will hurt them.

The difference is finding someone worth the pain.