༺───※ ·❆· ※───༻

Amanda's POV

"Taehyung, is this for real? I mean, wow!!" I squealed and hugged him tight.

He laughed and spun me around, holding me tight around my waist.
"Yeah, baby... for real. I'm taking you to Thailand, right after our graduation." He put me down on the floor.

"But what do I tell my mom?" I was starting to worry because I hadn't yet told my mom about our relationship, even though we had been together in different phases of the relationship for almost five years now.

"I guess it's time to tell her then, right?" Taehyung winked and dragged me down along with him to the couch.

"I guess so too... I mean, yeah, it's been quite a while. And she knows you already, and I guess she has her own doubts considering how I spent a month with you while you were recovering." I nodded to myself. "I don't think it'll be a tough call. I'll talk to her." I patted his thigh and smiled at him.

"And I'll be right there with you. Let's tell it together." Taehyung wrapped his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder lightly, and I looked at him in surprise.

"You want to be there too? Are you sure?" I turned to sit facing him.

He nodded confidently.
"Pretty sure, ramen. I'm serious about this relationship, and I want to meet your mom when you tell her about us."

And so the next day, Taehyung came home for dinner, and the three of us spent a lot of time talking and laughing over dinner. Mom liked him a lot since he was very polite and respectful, yet goofy and brainy and unbelievably handsome too.

'Truth be spoken, who wouldn't like him?'

So, after dinner, we were all seated in the living room, and I decided it was the right time to break the news to her. Of course, the fuck buddies part couldn't be discussed with her right away. But, the actual relationship part was something talkable. I cleared my throat and looked at mom and then at Taehyung who was seated facing me.

"Uhm.. mom. I have something very important to tell you." I locked gazes with her.

She nodded with a mischievous smirk.
"I think I know what it is. You can proceed anyway" she gestured for me to continue, and I looked at Taehyung in doubt before speaking again.

"I-, we, I mean Taehyung, and I are in a relationship. We really like each other, and we've been together for about 5 years now." I spoke looking at Taehyung, and then my gaze floated over to my mom.

"You've been going to college for 5 years only. So you mean you've been together from the beginning?" She was pleasantly surprised.

"Kind of...like that. Yeah. We liked each other from the start, but we confessed a while after that." I admitted, and Taehyung nodded.

Mom looked at Taehyung, and he smiled at her.
"Yeah, I really like Amanda a lot. I love her. She's been such an important person in my life, and I want to keep her close for a very long time." He spoke with his hazel orbs fixed on mine and I felt my breathing get heavier with each passing second.

Mom hummed in agreement.
"I knew that there was something going on between the two of you, and I wanted her to tell it to me first." She smiled at me and then turned to look at Taehyung. "Because Amanda has never been so close with any other boy, and I was almost sure of things when she chose to stay with you for a whole month while you were injured." Mom's eyes teared up.

She held Taehyung's hand in hers and continued while patting his hand softly,
"Amanda's father was an amazing man, and he loved her so much from the moment he held her in his arms as a wailing, fragile newborn. But he wasn't lucky enough to watch her grow and receive love from her. Amanda has never experienced the love of a father, well she has...but nothing that she can remember right now." Mom wiped her tears and held Taehyung's hand tighter.

"I really hope you give her all the love she has missed in her life. I know you will because I can see it in your eyes, the way you look at her, the way you speak to her and hold her hands....I know you will be the best man for her." She smiled big among her tears that dripped down once again.

Taehyung returned her smile with his own adorable square smile.
"I will. She has given me more love than what I have ever experienced in my entire life. Amanda has given me everything that my mom and dad never gave me. She has been with me when I was lonely, when I was injured and whenever I needed her by my side. I promise that I will take great care of her...more than what you think I can do." He spoke reassuringly, and my mom hugged him warmly, patting his back a few times.

Watching them open up about their own thoughts about me and our relationship made my own eyes tear up, yet those were tears of happiness, and I let them flow freely. We informed mom about the Thailand trip, and she permitted me to go on the trip with him and told us to have fun and be careful at the same time.

After dinner, Taehyung got ready to leave, and I walked him up to his car. His hands never left mine as we took slow steps towards his car, wanting to drag the seconds and be together for a little longer.

"Taehyung, I'm so happy right now." I tugged at his arm and clung to his bicep.

"Me too, Mandy. I'm so happy right now." He stopped in his tracks and turned his body to stand facing me, and so did I. "Thank you for everything, gorgeous. I love you a lot" he took my hand in his and planted a lingering kiss on the back of my hand.

I laced our fingers together and brought our intertwined hands to our side, stepping closer to him.
"I love you more, Taehyung" I leaned in and kissed his lips. His free hand moved to the small of my back, pulling me closer to him, as our eyes closed and lips moved together in a synchronous rhythm, matching that of our heartbeats, and I felt my heart explode with loads of love for the man that won my heart in every possible way.

༺───※ ·❆· ※───༻

A sudden loud roar of thunder startled me, causing my eyelids to fly open and almost giving me a heart attack in the process. I had drifted to sleep on the couch while I sat pondering over Officer Jin's words that kept resonating within my head.

What if the person who took him was someone he already knew?

But who could possibly do that to Taehyung? I know every person that he knows, and vice versa. I can't think of anyone who could take him away with his consent and keep him away from me for almost 48 hours now.

I sat by watching Mac and Cheese swimming about happily, chasing each other and playing without any worries, and my heart hurt thinking of all the moments I shared with Taehyung all these years — everything we had been through together right from the first day at med school when I saw him and fell for him without even realizing it, the most memorable first year student orientation that sowed the seeds for whatever we had become today and every other little memory and happy moment that I shared with him came crashing down on me like the thunder and lightning that was tearing through the night outside.

I missed his warmth, I missed his random kisses, I missed his I love yous, his adorable square smile, his Pacific deep voice that called out my name at least a hundred times every day, his fiery fingers that always held my hands making me feel loved and protected. I missed everything about him.

My tears dripped down, and I sat curled up on the couch, hugging my knees to my chest, resting my forehead on my knees. And all of a sudden, there was complete darkness around — power failure. Great!

The house too wants to mourn with me.

I scrambled around the coffee table and located my phone, only to discover that it had just about 10% of battery left. I wouldn't waste that by using the flashlight, not when the police could call me anytime.

Talk about timing.

Sighing to myself, I slowly but carefully made my way into the kitchen when suddenly a blinding bolt of lightning struck outside followed closely by a deafening clap of thunder that made me shudder and freeze on the spot. My heartbeat quickened, and I fumbled around with the drawer handles frantically trying to locate the candle.

A completely unexpected loud thud on the glass window right above the kitchen sink made my heart stop, and I let out a small scream that seemed to be echoing in the kitchen space. I was suddenly too scared to stand without a wall to my back, afraid that someone or something might attack me from behind. My eyes widened in the dark, and I began sweating as I crept with my back to one of the kitchen cabinets and moved along the cabinets, without daring to step away from them, while dragging my feet slowly across the cold floor.

More lightning and thunder episodes occurred outside, and I ran the rest of my way to the living room, bumping my toe into something on the way and throwing myself onto the couch. My thudding heart seemed like it wouldn't survive the night. I was too scared to move and decided to just sit there until the lights came back on.

The power had been gone for a long time, and I hadn't moved out of my seat on the couch. The sounds of trees and wild winds whooshing wasn't helping my current state. I sat glued to the couch, hugging my knees to my chest and waiting for Jungkook to show up since he said he would come home tonight.

In a few more minutes, there was a series of knocks on the front door, and my heart began booming loudly. Feeling thankful for the knocks that made me feel not so lonely, I mumbled a thank you to my ancestors and stumbled to my feet, literally running to the door to throw it open. Jungkook stood there fully drenched in the rain.

"Hey, Kook.. Come in. Oh my God, I'm so sorry you had to come in the rain" I apologized and pulled him inside and shut the door behind him, locking it thereafter.

"It's okay. It's nothing. Can I dry myself?" He asked in a shaky voice; his teeth were chattering because of the rain shivers.

"Yeah yeah.. Definitely." I said and led him to his bedroom, guided by the flashlight on his phone. Jungkook followed me making a squelch sound with each step he took. Somehow, those sounds made me feel safe. I wasn't alone anymore.

I opened the door of the bedroom he used and turned around to face him, and he held the flashlight at his face level.

"Kook.. There's no power. But you can take a shower and change into dry clothes. I'll wait for you in the living. But please make it quick." I told him, and he only nodded; his lips were quivering too as he hugged his soaked clothes tight against his body.

He took his mobile flashlight and went into the dark bathroom, closing the door behind him. Letting out a sigh of relief, I headed out to the living room, closing his room door behind me and returned to my spot on the couch while carefully avoiding the puddles on the floor. In a few minutes, I heard footsteps pattering down the hallway and Jungkook called out to me as he approached me so that I wouldn't be scared.

He walked up to the couch and sat down across from my seat.

"Thank you for coming, Jungkook. I don't know why, but I felt kind of scared, and I've never been alone all my life." I apologized to him.

"Hey.. it's okay. What are friends for?" He asked and let out a small chuckle.

"Did you eat something?" I asked him, and he hummed in response.

"You?" He asked, and I shook my head, which he couldn't obviously make out in the dark.

"I have no appetite." I sighed sadly.

He exhaled deeply and moved to the spot next to me on the couch. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, Jungkook spoke softly.
"What did the police say?"

I reflexively curled up to his side, wanting to feel warm and comforted, and narrated every detail that I learned today from Officer Jin. Jungkook listened intently and kept humming in response.

"Do you suspect anyone in particular?" He asked me in a serious tone.

"I don't know, Jungkook. I'm confused as hell. We can't be sure if he went with someone willingly or if there was a struggle. But given the spacing between his entry and exit, I doubt there could have been a struggle or fight." I sat up facing him. "But then again, I can't think of anyone whom he knows that could do this. Like if it were Namjoon, Taehyung would definitely not go along with him. Same goes with Hana..." I stared at the dark floor and then looked at Jungkook's big bambi eyes that were twinkling in the dark.

"I can't think of anyone too. I mean, you would definitely know all of Taehyung's contacts much better than I do. And if you can't narrow down on someone, I don't even have to try." He nodded and looked away.

I hummed deeply.
"That's true." I stretched out my legs on the coffee table and leaned back on the couch, letting my body sink down into the softness. My eyes had adjusted quite well to the darkness, and the storm outside was calming down as well. There were still some noisy winds that were whooshing about, but the lightning, thunder and rain had stopped.

"Do you know something, Kook?" I turned my head to look at him, and his eyes met mine. "Taehyung loves the rain so much." I let out a sad chuckle.

He leaned back on the couch and asked me,
"Why so?"

"Because we had our first kiss in the rain...on a very stormy evening. It is still so fresh in my mind" my voice cracked, and my tears welled up once again, and I tried to sniff them back in.

"Hey, Mandy" he took my hand in his and held it firmly. "Don't worry. Taehyung will be okay. Sometimes it's not the person that we miss, it's the memories that keep haunting us..."

I didn't know how to respond to that, but he was trying his best to comfort me despite him not being good with people or words, and I squeezed his hand, feeling grateful for his company and his efforts to comfort me.

"You really need to get some sleep, Mandy" he spoke in a soft and concerned tone.

"Yeah, I know. My head hurts real bad," I whined, and he patted my shoulders.

"Take a sleeping pill and go to bed then. I'll be right here if you ever need me, okay?" He asked, but I was too scared to sleep alone in our room. Of course, I would never consider having anyone else in bed with me, but I could at least ask Jungkook to use the sleeping bag and sleep on the floor of our room.

Would I sound arrogant? Would it be too much to ask of him?

"Umm, Jungkook... would you mind using a sleeping bag?" I asked him hesitantly, and the next thing I knew, he was tucked up inside the sleeping bag on the floor of our room, and I was curled up alone on the big bed after popping a sleeping pill.

Thankfully, the power was back and I plugged my phone to the charger and lay down in silence, unable to figure out how to sleep without Taehyung. However, the secure feeling that I had someone with me in the house, along with the effects of the pill that kicked in, calmed my nerves, and I drifted off to sleep in a short while.

From now on, the past episodes will be few, but filled with beautiful moments and memories that will hurt like hell...sorry!!
😭🤧

Published on : 10/20/2021