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MOVING ON
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Yi-Seo

I have to stand up for myself and my dignity, and I can’t expect Taehyung to save me like a knight in his shining armor. The truth is, I don’t need a knight to save me.

Taking in a deep breath, I turn around to look Jungkook straight in his eyes and exhale slowly before I speak with a stone-cold expression resting on my face.

“I don’t know who you are,” my words lack emotions, making his eyebrows shoot skyward, and then a smug smirk settles on his lips as he nods his head a few times, still holding tight onto my wrist.

His grip is so tight that I’m unable to feel the warmth of my fingers anymore. I wiggle my hand to free myself, but he only uses it to his benefit and pulls me closer to him. But my jet-fast reflexes make me launch my other hand into the space between us to stop my body from colliding directly with his.

The takeaway cup that is held in my hand is crushed between our chests, and the plastic lid of the slushie which has melted a little by now, pops open and a good amount of the icy drink spills onto Jungkook’s shirt, and a little bit of it spills on to mine as well.

“What the fuck?” He releases my hand and spreads his arms in disappointment, shaking out his shirt in an attempt to dry it fast.

“You could have let her go when she told you nicely,” Taehyung remarks, sneering, and this further infuriates Jungkook as seen from how his eyes shoot up to throw daggers at Taehyung, and how his stern jaw tightens further.

“Who the fuck are you, old man? And why do you talk for her?” He flips his shoulder-long hair back with one hand and fires his questions at Taehyung, taking a few steps closer to him, almost looking as if he is ready to fight dirty.

“Taehyung-ssi, let’s leave. We don’t have to talk to him,” I try to convince Taehyung to leave the spot with me at once because if this turns into a fight, then there’s no way on earth that Taehyung would win it. Jungkook is younger, much more agile, and stronger than him, and he is also swift and powerful in his practiced strikes, whereas Taehyung is aging, soft, and fragile, and a few powerful blows from Jungkook might even end his life.

“Are you her new boyfriend?” Jungkook chuckles arrogantly, pushing his tongue inside his cheek and raising his eyebrows at Taehyung.

Taehyung stands there, sipping the last bit of his juice with an obnoxious sound, totally unaffected by whatever meaningless shit that Jungkook is blabbering. By now, there is also a small gathering of about five or six violence-biased people who are standing around us, eager and ready to witness a duel between the two men and probably even some bloodshed.

“Is he your main fuck now, Yi-Seo?” Jungkook scans Taehyung from top to bottom with his sharp eyes, and his snarky question makes me cringe and writhe once again, and my insides are fuming in rage.

“Stop talking bullshit,” I snarl at him and turn my eyes to look at Taehyung, and his eyes shift to meet mine too at the exact same moment. “Let’s leave,” my words come out just above a whisper, making Jungkook cackle for no particular reason.

“Yeah, go, go, go...leave with her. Yi-Seo needs your dick right now, right, jagiya?” He speaks in a tone dripping with malice, and my hands ball up into fists upon hearing him. I can already feel hot tears building up within my eyes.

I hate feeling weak, and that’s how he has always made me feel, and I hate myself for allowing him and his senseless words to have this kind of effect on me. My eyes sting, my chest heaves, and my chin quivers, and I’m trying hard not to let the tears release from my eyes and make me seem like I’m still allowing him to control my emotions.

My vision quickly gets blurred with the rising tears, and that is when I feel a hand removing the cup of slushie from my left hand. I blink my eyes a few times, causing the tears to drip down, and then I’m able to see that Taehyung is holding the cup of slushie now in his large hand.

“You deserve better, and not something that has spilled on trash. Might as well pour it all to trash,” his intentionally uttered words are punctuated by the downpour of the slushie straight on top of Jungkook’s head, and it makes my eyes widen and freeze in horror.

Taehyung smirks devilishly and discards the two empty cups into the trash even before Jungkook could wipe down his face and comprehend what has actually happened.

“Let’s get you something better,” Taehyung comes closer to me and takes my small and trembling hand in his steady hand, holding it firm and safe, and even though I want to move, my legs are not cooperating. Everything that is happening around me is actually making my head spin, and my feet feel like blocks of concrete glued to the ground beneath.

“No, I don’t want anything,” my eyes quickly flit between Taehyung and Jungkook, and I panic when I see that Jungkook is ready to pounce and land a punch on Taehyung’s head from behind.

“WATCH OUT!” I scream, yanking Taehyung away from Jungkook’s line of aim, and he quickly ducks his head, and I do the same in a split second, both of us simultaneously escaping Jungkook’s powerful fist.

The loss of impact makes Jungkook stumble onto Taehyung’s back, but he swiftly stabilizes on his feet and positions himself ready for another blow. But then, before he could strike again, the owner and employees of the café outside which this scene is happening step out and begin yelling at us all to clear the space and leave at once. They even threaten to call the police, and a couple of the employees roughly shove Jungkook away from the spot.

With a seriously insulted look on his face, his dark eyes burn holes in the air as Jungkook walks a few steps backward before he turns around and walks away and out of sight, and only then do I heave a sigh of relief; my shoulders slumping in exhaustion.

Taehyung lets go of my hand once Jungkook isn’t in sight anymore, and the crowd around us begins to thin out, leaving us both alone on the walkway.

“Are you okay?” Taehyung checks with me in a suddenly indifferent and alien tone, his eyes are devoid of any emotions too, and I only nod my head, whispering a meek ‘yeah’ in reply to his question.

“You sure don’t want something to drink?” He questions me once again, and I shake my head in response as I fish out my car keys from the pocket of my shorts.

Taking this as the cue to leave the place, Taehyung quietly walks beside me as we both head back to my car and drive home in total silence.

Through the rear-view mirror, I fearfully keep checking if Jungkook is following us. Fortunately, he is not, but I know that he will never take this incident lightly. He was highly offended today, and it is sure to drive him into beast mode.

Jungkook was the last person I was looking forward to bumping into, and the things he spat out today weren’t even surprising because he has spoken worse things about me and degraded me, used me, and treated me worse than a worm when we were together for almost three years. But what I hated about today was how I still shed tears and got hurt upon hearing his verbal abuse.

Just thinking about the horrendous days that I spent with him makes me shudder under my skin.

It has been almost seven months since Jungkook and I broke up, and it was he who caused all the problems between us. He kept suspecting that I was giving and receiving physical benefits at my job, and he was so toxic and paranoid. So much to the extent that every time we had sex, he kept asking me afterward if he was as good as my boss. He even spied on me once to see if I was working overtime at the office or getting fucked on the desk by my boss.

Despite having unnecessarily put up with all the mental torment for three years, that one night when he spied on me totally snapped me, and it was the end of us. We had an ugly fight, the details of which I remember so vividly, the words scarring me for a lifetime. It was that very night that I finally found the courage to cut all ties with him.

Moving on from him has been really hard for me, and I’m still struggling, especially to heal from the wounds he inflicted in my mind as well as on my body when he got physically violent and abusive numerous times. I thought he might realize his mistakes and become a better person someday with all the love, forgiveness, and acceptance that I kept giving him, but when he only repeatedly kept calling me names, abusing me verbally and physically, and suspecting me of cheating when I really didn’t do anything at all, I just couldn’t hang on in that relationship that was nothing but toxic.

Today, I might have landed Taehyung in trouble too. Luckily, nobody was injured. Otherwise, I have no idea how I might have pacified myself later on. My mind is just too stunned to process everything right away.

Just as we drive into Silver Springs after verifying our key cards, I decide to apologize to Taehyung for the brawl that he had to witness without a choice.

“Taehyung-ssi, I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t expect him to show up like that,” I apologize softly as I drive down the empty road leading up to our homes, well-shaded by the canopy of huge trees on both sides that are arching inward.

“I hope you aren’t hurt,” his voice sounds warm, and it makes my tears well up once again because the truth is I am hurt, deeply hurt, and I’m struggling to heal by giving myself diversions like quitting my job and moving to a new place and trying to pursue my passion. But it always seems like I’m taking one step forward and two steps backward, and the world never knows what I’m hiding inside because I’m so good at crying in the rain to mask my tears.

“But I know you are,” Taehyung’s deep voice cuts through the silence between us once again, and this time it makes my tears slowly drip down my cheeks.

We both go back to being silent as I park my car outside my home, and then Taehyung climbs out first, followed by me. I lock my car and wait for him to say something to me after the warmth I sensed radiating from him, or at least spare me a glance or a small smile, but he does none of it and walks away towards his home, leaving me a little more broken once again due to my expectations.

But before stepping inside his home, Taehyung gives me a careless side-glance.

“Thank you for the juice,” he says, sending a small crooked smile my way before disappearing inside and softly closing the door behind him.

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Published on : 01/08/2023