╔═━──━▒ ۞ ▒━──━═╗
FLY TO MY ROOM
╚═━──━▒ ۞ ▒━──━═╝

Yi-Seo

“You can eat now,” I point to the dishes spread out in the little space that I could clear out on Taehyung’s dining table that was cluttered mostly with half-empty packets of chips and other snacks. There’s also a heavy cardboard box on one side of the table that I couldn’t move because it is filled with unused bottles of alcohol, most definitely.

“Don’t expect anything in return from me,” Taehyung comments as he loudly drags the chair back a little and sits down on it.

“I won’t,” I lower my gaze to the floor and nod my head slowly while he begins eating.

“I believe you already ate your meal?” His eyes stay glued to his food, gathering a blob of rice with his chopsticks as he speaks, but mine lift to look at the endearing sight of him falling in love with his food.

“I did,” I respond softly, a timid smile ghosting my lips.

Nodding, he continues scarfing his food like he hasn’t seen a morsel in a few days, and it actually makes me curious as to how he survives on other days.

“What do you eat on other days? I’m sure you don’t cook and do the dishes,” I shift my weight over to my other leg as I still stand there, waiting for his permission to sit down on one of the chairs.

“Why are you standing?” His eyes finally lift to look at me, and I happily pull a chair to sit down at a safe distance from him.

Seeing what I’m doing, he furrows his eyebrows. “I meant that you can leave. I can eat by myself,” he immediately goes back to his food after successfully letting me know that my presence isn’t needed or appreciated.

“Sure,” I give him a defeated smile and get ready to leave, and right at that moment, my phone rings.

Glancing at the screen of my phone, I discover that it is from some unknown phone number, and without thinking much I answer the call right away.

“Hel-”

“Jagiya?” The very familiar voice causes my blood to freeze, and my jaw drops open, as do my eyes that open wide.

“Jagiya, I know you’re still there, laughing about insulting me, but you do know that I will not remain silent about what happened yesterday,” he says coldly, and my limbs begin to tremble a little. Sensing my dead silence and still as a statue posture, Taehyung’s eyes dart in my direction.

I swallow thickly, and my mouth opens and closes, unable to answer Jungkook while my eyes stay frozen on Taehyung, who is now slowly chewing his food and leaning back in his chair with his emotionless, unwavering stare set strong on me.

“Wrong number,” my voice quivers, and my heart picks up pace, but before I could end the call, Jungkook interrupts by laughing loudly.

“Liar!” The loudness of his voice makes me flinch, and I don’t think twice before I end the call with trembling hands, clumsily dropping the phone to the floor.

“Sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll leave now,” I apologize to Taehyung without daring to look up at him as I crouch down to collect my phone from the floor. The screen of my phone has a small crack on one end, and the impact of the fall has powered my phone off, but those are the least of my concerns right now.

I dash out of his home and rush into mine, not bothering to lock the door as I run into my bedroom and crash on the floor beside my bed.

Shit! What does he mean he won’t remain silent about what happened?

Liar… that’s the word he kept screaming every time he burnt my skin, and hearing it again makes me want to throw up. I shut my ears with my hands and wince, curling up on the floor of my room.

Even though we fought dirty, Jungkook and I had a mutual breakup, and he had never once tried to trouble me after the breakup. Well, the truth is that I didn’t allow any space for him to trouble me because I changed my phone number right after the breakup, and I also moved out of my old apartment and stayed at an apparently undiscoverable location until recently.

How on earth did he find out my phone number?

Jungkook is someone who doesn’t know how to tame his temper, and insults are something that makes him feel less of a man. He would go to any extent to destroy anyone who tries to tamper with his useless ego and man-pride. I mean, he told me that he even once choked his own mother when she called him out for wasting his time and being useless.

Would he come back and hurt me again? Will he hunt me down? Will he hurt Taehyung?

Tears begin to stream down my cheeks as the images of every attack he threw on me come flashing through my mind, making me shudder, and my head snaps in terror to look at the door of my bedroom that slowly pushes open. The falling tears blur my vision, and my entire body shakes as I turn over on my back and begin crawling away from the approaching figure.

“DON’T, NO, GO AWAY!” I scream, crying in misery as I crawl backwards, covering my face with the crook of my elbow as I do so.

I know it’s Jungkook. He’s here. He’s here to kick me, hurt me, grab my hair and drag me…

“Miss Kwon, it’s me,” Taehyung’s calm and deep voice effortlessly sounds past my panic and cries, and I blink furiously, making more tears to spill.

He doesn’t say anything more, but I could see his figure going down on his knees in front of my trembling figure.

“Is something wrong?” He asks calmly.

I snatch my glasses off my face and wipe away my endless tears with my other hand before I answer him. “He’s going to find you and hurt you, he’s going to hurt me,” my voice sounds not like mine at all, and my shoulders shake with my painful cries, making my words sound muddled.

“Calm down. Nobody can hurt me, nobody can hurt you,” Taehyung’s voice is solid and confident, but that’s only because he’s totally unaware of Jungkook’s temper.

“No, no, you don’t know him. He’s a beast,” my voice, though loud, cracks and shakes, and Taehyung drags himself closer to me.

“Hey, you need to calm down, Miss Kwon…” He gently removes the glasses that I’m clutching tight in one hand and places them on the bed next to him.

“Do you want to go out of here for a while?” He asks in an attempt to help ease my nerves, and I shake my head from side to side, causing more tears to stream down my face.

“You’re going to be in trouble because of me. I know it,” I whimper again, hugging my knees to my chest and curling up against the wall behind me. I’m so messed up right now.

I watch Taehyung as he calmly sits down on the floor, resting his back against the bed, stretching one leg out in front of him and keeping his other leg bent at the knee. He rests one hand on his knee and turns his head to look at me, and I know that I look and feel like trash right now.

“Let’s talk when you calm down,” he says casually, turning his eyes away from me, and then we both go back to being completely silent; the only sounds in the room being those of my fading whimpers. The silence doesn’t seem forced, and I don’t find it odd that he’s sitting by me while I’m trying to gather myself after a crazy panic attack and breakdown. I’m in fact feeling thankful that I’m not alone now.

Fortunately, my panic attacks and nightmares aren’t as full-blown now as they used to be in the past—a clear sign of slow progress. After a few minutes, I clear my throat to talk to Taehyung, but he rises from the floor, pushing his hair out of his forehead and glancing down at me.

“Get up,” Taehyung commands, but not in an authoritative manner, and I obey by getting up from the floor and adjusting my clothes.

He hands me my glasses, and I wear them, instantly blessing my eyes with high clarity vision. Taehyung doesn’t speak anything, and he proceeds to walk out of my room, and I follow him as he walks over to my kitchen with a confident gait, straight to my fridge.

I don’t stop him or question him because he just saw me in an utterly vulnerable state a while ago, ugly crying and all, yet he didn’t even come close to me, and he rather chose to just sit by me while I pulled up myself and got my shit together. So, his intentions definitely aren’t tainted, and I believe that I can trust him. He probably is not the horny and creepy middle-aged stalker guy.

I stand by wiping my face and blowing my nose on some tissues while Taehyung is busy doing his own thing.

After rummaging through the chaos inside my fridge, he retrieves one of the two bottles of soju that Mi-Yang eonnie gave me some time ago. His eyes move to meet mine as he shuts the fridge door and gives me an impressed nod. “Here, drink some. You’ll feel better,” he extends his hand holding the bottle when he takes a few steps closer to me.

“Thanks, but I don’t drink. I’ll just have some water,” I walk past him to help myself to a glass of water.

“Are these for me then? Okay, I’ll take them,” he asks and answers on his own as he pulls out the other bottle of soju as well from inside the fridge and places both bottes on the kitchen counter.

“Sure,” I reply softly, turning around to face him.

We stand there staring at each other for a few seconds, and I want to say something to him to express my gratitude for staying by my side and not letting me breakdown all alone as I’ve usually been doing for a long time now, but my words aren’t forming properly, and I’m finding it nearly impossible to utter a single word even as simple as a thank you.

How different does it make me from him?

“I- I have to go to the library now,” I inform him hesitantly, and he nods his head in understanding.

“Sure,” he responds, making sure to pick up the two bottles of soju before he turns around to leave my home.

“Taehyung-ssi,” my voice makes him stop in his tracks, with his back to me.

“Can I talk to you after I’m done with my work at the library?” I’m talking to the back of his head, not knowing what to expect for an answer, but he surprises me by turning around and sending a faint, tired smile my way.

“That’s something I don’t hear often,” he says, turning around fully to stand facing me, holding the bottles of cold soju snug against his body.

“Expect to hear it more often,” I have no idea what takes over me when I answer him with a small smile.

“4 o’clock works?” He raises his brows, and it sounds more like a statement than a question.

“Yeah, I’ll see you at the park,” I give him a tight-lipped smile, nodding before I watch him walk away quietly.

⚜
Share your thoughts. Is the pace too slow? Or is it okay? How are you liking it?

Published on : 01/11/2023