↳ ❝🫐 [chapter 24] ¡! ❞🥃

ANGELO IS LATE AGAIN. Lia noticed that he was an hour later than unusual and at this point, she was just tired of caring. She was tired of constantly being on his ass because it was just exhausting.

Or maybe because she was too occupied with Hoseok. She texted him throughout the day and nearly every night they'd talk over the phone. When they weren't talking over the phone, they were together, either in Lia's bed, Hoseok's, or wherever they could find themselves alone for long enough.

Whenever Hoseok came over to Lia's house. She was always sure to keep him in the blind spot of the security cameras in the living room and outside. Though, at this point, she was sure Angelo had forgotten all about them. It's been years since he last checked them. Lia wasn't sure if they were even on still, but she couldn't be too careful.

Lia sat in the kitchen, making spaghetti for dinner while she texted Hoseok. He was talking about how when he was 18, he as his friend would play tag in the middle of the street at night. They'd be in their own separate car, racing down empty streets. When the person who was it managed to force the person being chased to stop, then the person being chased was it. Hoseok would whip in front of his friend's car, forcing him to stop but also risking a crash.

Me:
You are a menace to society I stg

Hoseok:
Nothing wrong with a little danger, mama. It doesn't even have to be life threatening danger

Hoseok likes the risk as well. Maybe less than he did when he was younger, when he was younger he had no concern for his own life. He wasn't doing anything important and all he had was himself. But now a lot of people rely on him. He had people's livelihoods in his hands. If he dies, they perish with him.

It's more like- he can't afford to be a reckless idiot anymore. Not to say he doesn't do idiotic stuff, like sleeping with a suburban housewife when her husband was just on the cusp of figuring them out, but his days of playing tag in giant, one-ton vehicles that could kill him were over.

Now it was diving deeper into the crime of this city until someone comes and shoots him in the head. Great.

Lia understood that crave for something exciting, dangerous, risky. That's why she kept Hoseok around in the beginning, now, she liked him. She told herself that she wouldn't grow attached, that this was a temporary thing, but here she was, smiling like an idiot at her phone.

Lia turned off her phone when she heard the front door open. Her smile fell from her as she shoved her phone into her pocket and continued stirring the pot of noodles. "You're home." She acknowledged when Angelo walked into the kitchen.

He looked at her for a long while, his eyes not particularly angry or normal, they were just neutral. Lia raised a single brow at him. "What?"

Finally, Angelo came over and wrapped his arms around her waist, and leans over to place his head on her shoulder. "I'm sorry." He murmured softly.

She wanted to nudge him away, but she couldn't. Lia swallowed. "What is it this time?" She continued to stir. Her voice was reduced to a blank, just waiting to hear what he was apologizing for.

"Everything." He told her. "I'm sorry and I love you so, so much. I'm an idiot, the biggest idiot in the world."

Lia pulled out of Angelo's hold and went to the cabinet to grab a pot for the sauce. "Angelo- did you sleep with her again?" He leaned against the counter. At this point, she wouldn't even get mad if he said yes, it was expected at this point. You can't be disappointed if you already expected it.

Angelo took in a sharp breath, almost cringing away from the question. He was silent for a while. "Yeah- I was stressed and it was a moment of weakness. I thought you were cheating on me and I just got so angry. I was so angry I was ready to kill, Lia." He exasperated. "I needed to relieve it, but those aren't excuses and I'm so, so sorry."

Lia ran her tongue over her teeth. At least he was being honest about it now.

"You know- if it had only happened once, I would've been willing to forgive you." She told him in a quiet whisper. Angelo looked at her curiously.

Lia couldn't take her eyes from the tile of her kitchen floor. "Maybe if you were both drunk and it just happened or if it was just in a moment of weakness. If you had come to me and admitted you were wrong. I could have forgiven you. I would have."

It was the truth. Lia would have been willing to put it behind her because she loved him that much. But this back-to-back heartbreak was making her see her husband in a different light. He was a liar, a chronic cheater.

"But you bought her gifts. You bought her lingerie. You spend weeks with her at a time, leaving me here waiting loyally for you." That was the most painful part. It was the betrayal, the ignorance of her for another woman.

Lia didn't know Angelo suspected her of cheating but she avoided that topic altogether, knowing that if she lied, she'd be no better than him.

Lia grabbed the pot and came back over to the stove. "I'm tired, Lo. Just let me make dinner alone, please." She ignored the soft buzz of her phone in her back pocket, knowing that it was Hoseok texting her.

Angelo didn't pay it any mind either. Instead, he just walked away without a fight to let her be alone. Lia waited until he was upstairs to pull out her phone.

Hoseok:
Meet me at the park tomorrow mama

Lia was feeling the guilt now. The feeling that she wasn't any better than Angelo. Guilt was a pressurized feeling, pushing down on your stomach until it began to churn with distaste.

Lia had never felt guilty about this situation until right at this moment. She didn't like it, this feeling of being a bad person. She didn't know what to do, how to stop it.

What changed from now that wasn't happening earlier? Maybe that Angelo was seriously considering the possibility of her cheating. Maybe it was scaring her.

Lia went to respond to Hoseok's text. Her thumbs hover over the screen of her phone as she thinks of what to reply with. Would this be the end of her and Hoseok? She didn't want it to be but she was starting to believe that maybe he was the source of her guilt. She was becoming attached and the longer she held on, the harder it would be to let go.

That's when Lia realized that this wasn't guilt. No- this was fear. Angelo said it himself, he was ready to kill the man she was potentially sleeping with, and knowing how angry Angelo got, Lia wasn't sure if he was exaggerating or not. He's punched holes through walls before, thrown vases and glasses. Never at her but in a way to release that anger.

She was fearful for Hoseok. She was guilty because she was now willfully putting him in danger. Even if he was in a gang, she didn't want either of them to get hurt.

Me:
Hoseok...I'm really sorry but we should stop seeing each other. It's not you, really. I really do like you but I can't do this anymore.

Lia turned off her phone and put it to the side while she slowly began to cook again. She tried to ignore the constant buzzing of her phone against the counter as Hoseok spammed her phone with messages.

Hoseok:
What?

Hoseok:
Mama, are you okay?

Hoseok:
Lia

Hoseok:
Ophelia

Hoseok:
Did he do something to you? What's happening?

Hoseok was worried. It's impossible for Angelo's request and Lia's sudden retraction not to be related. He was scared that Angelo had done something to her or said something.

He'd kill him if he did. If he laid even a finger on her, Hoseok would make sure he'd feel the man's windpipe get crushed in his hand. Hoseok normally wasn't a violent person unless he had to be but when he was violent, he wanted to cause damage, draw blood if he was really upset.

Lia wasn't responding. After a while, she had put her phone on silent to remove the urge to look at the texts. Though, she did look at one.

Hoseok:
Lia is he hurting you? I'll come over if he is. Just tell me you're okay mama please.

Lia didn't know what to do. She was panicking. She didn't know if she should say something or not.

In the end, she said nothing. In hindsight, she probably should have told him not to come, but there was just so much. She was allowed to make mistakes. She was human after all.

-

It was late. Lia couldn't sleep. She was too worried that Hoseok might do what he said and come over. This could end very badly and she planned to cut in before the two men met.

She was sitting in her living room, sipping on a glass of wine with her eyes trained on the door. Angelo was a heavy sleeper so he probably wouldn't hear one or two knocks on the door. She just had to get in the way before then.

Lia truly cared for Hoseok. She was beginning to grow feelings for him over the past nearly two months, but she knew this couldn't last and the last thing she wanted was to hurt him or put him in the way of Angelo's wrath.

She was curled up in her chair, sitting, waiting with a single light on while she sips on her glass of red wine.

And then there was a knock on the door, a few firm knocks that makes Lia's heart skyrocket through her ribcage. She puts her glass down and nearly tumbles out of her chair trying to get to the door before he knocked again.

Lia was sure to check the peephole beforehand and sure enough, Hoseok stands outside her door, looking rather distressed. He's pacing on the front porch, his hair tousled from him running his fingers through it too many times.

Lia took in a deep breath and unlocked the door, pulling it open to face the problem she had created.

Hoseok stopped dead in his tracks in front of the door. When he saw Lia, he immediately marched over and began to examine her, lifting her arms, her shirt trying to see if there were any bruises or other signs she had been hurt.

"Did he hit you? Are you hurt?" He looked and sounded so worried. He was terrified that Angelo had done something to her.

"Hoseok." Lia tried to get his attention but Hoseok was too hyped up. He was only focused on beating Angelo's ass for something he didn't do.

"I'll fucking kill him if he put a hand on you. I promise." The man seethed.

"Hoseok!" Lia barked, placing her hand on his chest, pushing him back. He finally paid attention, looking down at her. The flame of wrath behind his eyes died when he looked at her. They softened looking at her. "What's happening, Lia?"

He just wanted to know what the sudden change was for. What had changed? It had to be Angelo. It couldn't be a coincidence. He had to threaten her or something.

Lia's eyes lowered. "I know you want to find some other reason for this. That I'm doing this against my will, but it just is what it is, Hoseok." She whispered. It took everything within her to hold back her tears. She didn't want to do this but she had to.

"We can't see each other anymore Hoseok. I'm sorry. I really am."

Hoseok stared at her, pushing down the lump in his throat. Why was he so broken up about this? He told himself not to get attached, that he'd have to be ready for this day, but now that day was here and he wasn't ready to let go.

The two stand in silence, only the crickets in the grass speak a word to fill their silence.

Hoseok came to realize that this was it. He had to respect her wishes and end this here. His heart ached, twisting and crushing in his chest just like Lia's, so much that it physically hurt them.

Hoseok swallowed. "And you came to this decision all on your own? He had nothing to do with it?"

She nodded. "Only me." She fiddles with her fingers while looking at Hoseok. She can see the tears that threaten to spill over in his eyes but he holds them back by sheer will. Lia doesn't have that strength as she feels a single tear roll down her cheek, then another.

She watched as Hoseok bit on his lip, chewing with conflict. "Then I'll respect your wishes." He murmured.

Lia watches as Hoseok approaches and carefully takes her face into his hands, rough and scarred but always so gentle with her.

"Thank you." He tells her. "Thank you for coming into my life. I loved every moment I spent with you and I'll miss you so so much, Ophelia."

The way he says her name makes Lia sob, sniffling at the loss of someone she cares so deeply about. Hoseok doesn't like seeing her cry, it breaks his heart into dust.

Hoseok wipes her tears with his thumbs before leaning down to press a kiss on the top of her head. "It's okay, baby." He hugs her tight. Lia clutched on to him, never wanting to let go.

They sat there for a long time. Hoseok listened to her cry against her and shed a few tears himself. He kissed her head over and over, never wanting to let go.

Maybe this was when Hoseok realized that he loved her. When he had to let her go. He wanted to stay with her forever he now understood and that terrified him. He's never loved someone before.

Seokjin was right. She's certainly his demise.

Finally, they pulled away. Hoseok's cheeks, nose, and ears were red. Lia probably would've laughed in a different situation, now all she could do was cry. She wiped her tears away, sniffling.

Lia watched Hoseok sigh and turn away from her, walking across the porch and down the stairs in front of her house.

When he reached the bottom, Hoseok turned back and smiled at her, one last wonderful, angelic smile.

"I love you." He told her.

Before Lia could say anything more, Hoseok walked off, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket.

What does he mean by that?

*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs

I'm excited to see your comments for this one. Lia and Hoseok are seperated, Hoseok confessed his love to her. And I'm curious what you guys think is gonna happen next.

Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.

사랑해

~Kay (´ . .̫ . ')