༺───※ ·❆· ※───༻

Amanda

"Oh my God... Joon, you're so funny!" I laughed uncontrollably, slapping his arm playfully as we walked into our classroom.

Subconsciously, my eyes scanned around for Taehyung, and I found him sitting at my desk—our shared desk—where he abandoned me for a whole week.

Needless to say, we haven't had sex for over a week now, and I wasn't complaining because I was on my period, which ended yesterday, and Taehyung was more aware of my period cycle than I was. And today being Friday, I hoped he would talk to me before we could do our 'thing'.

He sat there with his unwavering gaze fixed on me, and I tried to avoid looking into his eyes while Namjoon and I ascended the long gallery steps up to my desk.

"Someone is back. I thought I could sit together with you," Namjoon sulked.

"Smarties like you shouldn't sit with us in the fourth row. You belong there," I dismissed him casually, flashing a smile and pointing to the first row, which was where he usually sat.

Winking, he patted my cheek and walked away to his seat. That was the first time he touched me anywhere other than probably my hand during casual handshakes, and it sent high voltage currents surging through my body. My cheeks heated up as if they were on fire.

I dropped down in my seat and turned my head slightly to look at Taehyung, who was already staring at me.

"So you decided to sit here?" I asked him casually and leaned back in my seat.

"Does it bother you? You can always move to the first row if you don't like it here," he snapped back, and I couldn't figure out the reason for his strange behavior.

"What's going on with you? You haven't contacted me for over a week now, and you're acting up today. I really don't get it," I shook my head, shifting in my seat to fully face him.

"You never contacted me as well," he shrugged and began tapping the pen on the desk, not making eye contact of any sort.

My eyes wandered from his beautiful, long fingers to his hands and up his exposed, veiny arms and to his breathtaking face that had been missing a smile for over a week now. I won't deny that I missed him.

'I definitely can't stay mad at this guy for long, can I?'

"Hey, tell me what it is. I'm ready to talk it out," I touched his hand, gently wrapping my fingers around him.

His eyes landed on our joined hands and then lifted to my face while he stopped drumming the pen against the table.

"I'm sorry, Amanda," he uttered softly and let his head drop, holding my hand inside his larger one.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked him, but before he could reply, the lecture began.

"Let's talk later, okay?" I whispered to him, and he nodded a few times, reluctantly letting go of my hand.

After two lectures, we were asked to assemble at the dissection lab for a practical observation, and, as much as I wanted to talk to Taehyung right away, Namjoon had other plans. He marched right up to my desk and almost dragged me along with him. I turned back to see Taehyung walking slowly behind us with his puppy eyes and crestfallen face. It hurt my heart, yet I made up my mind that I would surely sort things out between us.

No, it wasn't just about the sex with him. Apart from that, we were good friends, and his friendship was just as important to me as that I shared with Jungkook, Jimin and Sooya.

The rest of the day flew by, and after gathering all my stuff, I jogged out of the main building and quickly looked around for Taehyung at the usual spot where he parked his car. He stood there waiting for me, as he always did on every Friday, leaning back against his car door. I waved and sprinted up to him.

"Hey! Sorry, we couldn't catch up all day," I tried to calm down and catch my breath.

"Let's go home? And we'll talk today. No sex." He clarified in his stern, husky voice before I could question him.

I nodded and got into the passenger seat before he took over the wheels and drove us straight to his house. By now, I had come here so often that I knew the place as I knew my own house, and Taehyung never restricted me from wandering about and exploring his house whenever I was curious.

As we entered, he switched on the lights and locked the door behind us. I threw myself on the soft couch that I had fallen in love with—one that had lost its innocence being squished under our naked bodies quite a few times. Taehyung handed me a glass of water and sat down facing me.

I gulped down the water and began,

"So, tell me. What's troubling you?"

"Mandy, I want to tell you some things about me. I don't know why, but I just feel like I want to. I've never once spoken to you about my family. I feel like I want to tell you about them," he said in his deep voice and ran his fingers through his hair without making any eye contact with me.

"You told me they're living in your hometown..." I leaned back on the couch, letting it swallow my curves.

"That's not the truth," he shook his head and spoke, looking at the floor. "My dad and mom separated when I was very young. She cheated on him, and after the separation, she sent me away with my father, who has never been a father to me. He gives me loads of money to spend, study and live lavishly. But I have never once had him by my side to share things with him like every boy ever does. He has never been there for me. Never." His voice cracked a bit, and I sat upright in my seat, thinking what to say or do next.

Taehyung continued with a sad smile,

"I lived with my grandma in this house from when I was 4, until I turned 18. I've shared everything in my life with my granny, and she was the only comfort in my life," he paused to take a deep breath. "And one day, she decided not to wake up. She passed away in her sleep, and I can't even explain how depressed I felt at that moment. But… I survived. I studied hard and got into med school, and there I met you," he let out a long breath, and finally his teary eyes lifted to meet mine.

I sat up cross-legged and encouraged him to keep speaking.

"I don't know what it was after we had drunk sex, but I just felt like I wanted to spend time with you though whenever we were alone with each other, we have never spent time talking about us, our lives. Even though we just have sex, your presence helps me escape my loneliness. I might have been selfish that way, but yeah, that's what you are to me. Someone who has helped me feel better and not so lonely..." His voice trailed as he kept nodding at his own words. "You really mean a lot to me, Amanda."

I got up from my seat and went closer to him, kneeling down between his legs and resting my palms on my knees.

"Taehyung, I'm sorry. I never knew any of this. Everything apart, we are good friends first, okay? In fact, I can confidently say that you are one of my best friends. I mean, even my best friend Sooya doesn't know my period cycle," I chuckled and he chuckled, too, and I rested my elbows on his knees.

"Mandy, I'm sorry for being rude to Namjoon. Almost all my life I've been alone, and now I was having you all to myself. I know we're not a couple..."

"We don't have to be a couple to want each other's company," I interrupted, and he nodded.

"And suddenly, when Namjoon entered, I felt like he was taking you away from me. I felt so upset and angry. It was childish behavior, I know. He's your friend..."

"You're my friend, too..." I patted his thigh softly.

He nodded a few times.

"Yeah. I will try not to act up like I did that day. I really missed you a lot, you know?" He looked into my eyes and said that with a sad and cute pout.

I lifted my bottom off my heels and hugged him tight around his waist, stroking his back gently.

"I missed you, too, Taehyung. Let's make it a point to always talk it out, whatever it is okay?" I pulled away and showed him my pinky finger.

Letting out a soft chuckle, he nodded and linked his pinky finger with mine and held it tight.

༺───※ ·❆· ※───༻

"Owwwww!" I let out a painful screech when a few drops of boiling water from the kettle accidentally spilled on my pinky finger and scorched it while I was mindlessly trying to make myself a cup of tea.

I ran it under the cold tap water, dunked my finger into a bowl of ice and flopped down on the couch. Taehyung had texted me earlier that he would be late tonight since he had a minor emergency surgery that was scheduled for the evening.

I texted him back that I would leave the dinner on the table, and he read it but didn't respond. However, I set out the meal on the table along with the cutlery for him and finished my meal while watching a few music videos on TV.

After a brief shower, I got dressed and lay down in bed, and the horrible experience that I had inside the elevator today with Dr. Hana started playing on a loop inside my head.

I began talking to myself.

"Taehyung wouldn't have kissed her, right?"

"No way on earth. He's my horny bear, and he will never ever lay a finger on another woman."

"But she can't just lie to me like that...that too so confidently."

"Maybe something really happened?"

I panicked.

"Did she really touch him and kiss him? Or was she just baiting me?"

"And how dare that bitch talk about his scent and how he is in bed..."

"You did wrong, Mandy. You should've slammed her head between the elevator doors and killed her then and there."

I heard the front door clicking open.

"He's here. I'm not talking first. At least not today." I told myself and curled up inside the comforter.

Pretending to be asleep, I listened intently to all the sounds around me. Taehyung pushed open the door gently and walked into the room. He headed straight into the shower, leaving the bathroom door half open as always. I peeked open an eye and made sure he was in there by looking at the bathroom lights that were turned on. I curled back in and shut my eyes.

He walked out of the shower, got dressed and exited the room quietly.

"He will talk to me after dinner," I quietly convinced myself.

I just couldn't fall asleep because bonding over dinner was one of my favorite forms of intimacy, and my heart ached to cuddle with him and talk to him. Yet, I did nothing but silently wait for him in bed.

Almost thirty minutes passed before I heard him switch off the lights and enter the room, softly shutting the door behind him so that I wouldn't wake up. But I never slept. I was eagerly waiting for him to call out to me and talk to me as I felt the spot on the mattress next to me sink down under his weight.

He shuffled a bit and turned to one side. Hoping that he had turned to my side, I cracked open an eye and ended up getting disappointed to see him lying facing away from me.

So he doesn't want to talk.

I turned to the other side, too, and waited again. But there were absolutely no movements. My patience ended, and I sat up in bed. He still didn't turn to look at me. I squinted in the dark to check if he was still breathing and calmed down when I saw his bare and broad shoulders moving up and down in a uniform rhythm.

Throwing the comforter aside, I jumped out of bed and stormed out of the room and headed to the other bedroom opposite ours—the one where we never slept.

I curled up alone on the huge bed, feeling extremely distraught. I usually never cried, not even when we had horrible arguments and fights in the past. But today, my heart ached for him, to hold him and feel his love. Yet here he was, acting all cold and rude. A few drops of tears welled up and clouded my vision, and I quickly dismissed them while convincing myself that he probably fell asleep out of exhaustion.

If he doesn't talk tomorrow morning, then I will talk and sort things out between us. I really can't let myself miss him so much when he's right across the hall and sleeping inside the other room. After a brief struggle, I fell asleep not knowing if it was past midnight already.

 
Taehyung

May 12, 2021

Amanda has been so stubborn, and she hasn't even tried to initiate any kind of communication between us yet. As much as I love her attitude, it is killing me now. I'm the one who should be mad, but why is she avoiding me? Until breakfast ends, that is all that I can hold my patience in. But I still have to fix things before tonight since today is a Wednesday, and I just don't want to not bond with her over her extensive hair care routine.

As I sat down at the table for breakfast, fully dressed for work, I watched with keen eyes as my wife spoke to her mom over the phone while pouring out two glasses of fruit juice for us. She then brought them to the table. Amanda was dressed for work, too, and I had to fight my inner demons from staring like a pervert at her delicious cleavage that showed through the incompletely buttoned up chiffon blouse.

The blouse isn't helping my situation.

My wife brought out the plates, followed by the toast and spreads and set them all at the table before she ended the call with her mom.

Amanda didn't talk or make eye contact with me, and she didn't even ask me about last evening's surgery as she always did. She buttoned up her blouse and took a sip of the juice.

I missed her so much, but how could she not tell me something as crucial as this? She knows how much I despise him and everything that we had to go through in the past because of him.

But I, too, didn't tell her that I bumped into him at the mall, right? I didn't want to get her worried. So maybe she didn't tell me this because she didn't want to get me worried as well... Maybe.

No. That IS the reason.

I cleared my throat and watched her as her eyes slowly lifted from the food on her plate to look at me, and she quirked a brow.

"How's your mom?" I asked, leaning forward slightly and resting my elbows on the table.

Amanda tilted her head to one side and threw dirty glances at me.

"Good." She replied sternly and began eating her food.

I finished my meal in silence and put my dishes away in the sink. Checking the time on my watch, I noticed that we had a little over thirty minutes before we left for work. So, I could wait for her to talk. I made up my mind and headed to the couch, unable to stop myself from quite obviously inhaling her scent as I walked past her.

Just as I was about to sit down,
"So you won't talk?" I heard my wife's voice from behind me.

I spun around on my heels and saw her approaching me with slow and steady steps.

"Excuse me? Why won't you talk?" I crossed my arms across my stomach and raised my eyebrows at her.

She exhaled sharply and stopped a few feet away from me.

"Okay, I want to talk now."

"Not standing there." I sat down on the couch and leaned back with my legs wide open.

"I'm not going to sit on your lap." She huffed angrily.

"Fine. Don't then... Talk!" I let out a defeated sigh and flailed my arms in the air.

Amanda took a step forward and asked in a lower volume, "Did Dr. Hana touch you?"

My heart stopped beating, and my eyes froze on hers, as did my entire body. That was totally unexpected, and I knew that I had some serious explanation to do.

How does she know?

I stood up from my seat and began nervously combing my fingers through my hair.

"I-.. umm yeah. She did. But I gave her a strict warning and pushed her away."

"Did she kiss you?" She folded her arms under her chest and asked more firmly this time.

Shit! I need to find my grave.

Double update!!

Published on : 10/10/2021