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danger
┕━━━━ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ━━━━┙

NEWARK, NORTH AMERICA

march 23, 2017

10:31 PM
____________________

Sitting on the soft carpet that's covering the hallway floor in the hotel, my fingers are drumming anxiously against my thighs as I'm waiting for the boys to come back from their concert.

I rub my bare face harshly with my hands, before running my fingers through my tangled hair. I groan and lead my fingers inside of the over-sized beige hoodie's pocket in the front, fishing out a hair tie to remove my tangled hair from my face. Tying it up in a high ponytail I lean back against the door that I'm sitting outside.

Room 217.

I've decided to speak up to Taehyung, who still has something on me — he won't talk to me, he won't even spare me a glance.
The past days has been awful and I feel like I shouldn't be here. I feel unwelcome by him, and I just don't get why he would make me feel like this. He's my best friend out of all of the boys.

I miss him.

Exhaling a huff of air I close my eyes and lean my head back against the cool wall. I draw my knees to my body, hugging them tight. I probably look pathetic, waiting outside his room.

Shaking my head at myself, sudden footsteps nearing makes me swallow thickly before I lift my head up slowly.

"Why are you sitting here?"

Taehyung looks at my small frame, curled up outside of his door. His eyes are cold, but at the same time his brows are furrowed in worry.

"We need to talk." I say sternly before feeling the sudden emotions pressing on.

Somehow that always happens to me — one minute I'm fine, the next I'm an emotional mess. One look from him is all it takes for me to feel weak.

He sighs tiredly, licking his lips while fumbling inside of the pocket in his jacket searching for the key to his room.
His silence give me hope, making me stand up from the floor, dusting off my sweatpants.

"How long have you been out here?" He walks inside of the room, plopping down his shoulder-bag next to the entrance before throwing off his Gucci sandals.

"I don't know. 1 hour maybe."
I hesitate to walk inside, but seeing him carelessly continuing inside I mentally say fuck it and follow along, trailing after him slowly.

I close the door after me, taking in a deep breath.

"You should've just texted me. I don't want you sitting out there in a cold hallway all on your own." He says, not looking in my direction.

He opens up the small fridge, grabbing himself a cool Heineken, before placing himself in a chair at the window. He takes off the cap, leading the beer to his mouth before gulping a few times.

I crack a small smile secretly, knowing he still cares about me.

"You haven't been answering my texts for the past week, Tae." I trail off carefully, not wanting him to get angry with me.
It's like I'm walking on eggshells, not wanting to upset him more.

"I don't feel the need to talk to you every day." He raise his eyebrows, finally looking at me. I'm still standing a small distance from him at the end of the huge bed.

Ok, fuck the eggshells.

"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" I furrow my brows, almost letting out a scoff.
My eyes pierce to his and I can pratically feel my temper rising inside of me like a volcano about to outburst.

Taehyung nibbles on his bottom lip, darting his eyes to the green bottle in his hand.

I clench my jaw at his silence, closing my eyes for a second.

"Okay Taehyung — fine. You're angry about something. That's fair, but just tell me what the fuck I did. What did I do to make you despite me like this?" My voice is strained and I can feel the tears pressing on as the tension inside of the hotel room rise.

Taehyung swallows, closing his eyes in distraught.

"Answer me." I press on.

"You didn't do anything. I don't despite you." Taehyung says, his voice low and muffled. I narrow my eyes at him, trying to make eye contact with him.

"I must have done something since you won't even look at me any longer." I sigh out, grabbing a nearby wooden chair and place myself on it.

I rub my face again before looking at Taehyung once more.

He looks so small at this moment. His loose-fitted black trousers and his checkered Louis Vuitton shirt almost swallows his frame. His stage-makeup is removed, leaving all the raw, bare emotions to me.

His eyes are glossy as they finally dart up to meet my own and I let out a small sigh in relief.

"You didn't do anything, Jia. I'm the one who made a mistake." He sniffles suddenly, making him squirm around in the chair.

I furrow my brows not understanding what he's implying.

"What do you mean?" I ask, our eyes locked on each others.

A tear roll down Taehyung's cheek and there's nothing I'd rather do than to go to him, wipe away the tears and hold him close to me, telling him everything will be fine.
But the distance between us seems bigger than ever and it almost feels like I'm frozen in my own chair.

I want answers, so I keep going.

"Is it because of me and Yoongi? Do you think I'm here too much or? I can travel back to Korea if that's what you wa—"

"Just stop Jia, it's nothing like that!" Taehyung yells, leading his hands to his face in frustration.

My mouth is agape and I'm thrown off by his sudden raised voice.

"Then tell me what the fuck it is!" I yell back, standing up from my chair once again.

"I can't—" He sobs, hiding his face in his hands miserably.

My vision blurs as I watch his trembling body break down and I rush over to him, removing his hands from his face, taking them in mine.

"Tae— Please. I miss you so much."
My voice shakes as I rub my thumbs in circles on his warm hands.

Taehyung looks at me with so much sorrow in his eyes, regret, embarrassment. I can't wrap my head around what the deal is.

"It's all my fault." He says.

I roll my lips together, leading my hands to his now-reddened cheeks and wipe away the falling tears. I keep silent.

"If I could've just let you go back then I—"

I swallow, furrowing my brows at the words leaving his pink lips. What does he mean?

"When?" I ask, slowly removing my hands from his cheeks. He's sobbing, his shoulders shaking as he buries his face in his hands once again.

"Back then I— I'm the reason you're—" He stammers.

"The reason I'm what, Taehyung?" I force out my voice, scared of what he might say. I'm so scared.

"It's my fault you're not back in 2019. I forced you into 2013 and 2017. I couldn't lose you, Jia. I somehow found a way to cheat on time. To make you stay with me." He finally says, his breathing uneven.

All air is knocked out of me, a bitter feeling erupting in the pit of my stomach. I feel like screaming in anger at the words that hit me like a brick. The trust I had in Taehyung crumbles right in front of me, the hidden truth making my sight blur even more.

"I'm so sorry, Jia." Taehyung stares at my frozen body, watching how the tears glide down my rosy cheeks so effortlessly.

I clench my jaw, trying to hold the anger inside of me, that's almost about to outburst — I want to scream on the top of my lungs, but I can't. It's like my voice is gone.

"Say something, please." He continues, and that's when I lose the control.

I stand up, glancing down at Taehyung, his eyes wide in anticipation — confused, sorry, miserable.

"I fucking hate you." I grit out through my teeth, before turning around, rushing out of his room.

I run down the long hall, my body shaking and breath uneven as I reach my own room, locking myself in, sliding down the door in exasperation and anger.

I cry out loud, finally releasing the screams and anger that has been building up inside of me — climaxing as I found out that my best friend betrayed me.

He knew how much I wanted to go back home. Back to Subi, back to my mother. He saw me miserable when I saw my father, he saw my heartbreak over Yoongi.

Why would he do this to me?

Tilting my head back against the door, I screw my eyes shut, hoping to wake up from this nightmare. My shoulders shake as I realize that this isn't just a bad nightmare — this is real.

I blow out air between my lips, trying to calm myself down. My mind is running wild and the throbbing inside of my head makes me cry out in pain.

I just want to get away from here.

At that exact thought I raise my head, furrowing my brows in deep thought — my vision still blurred as the tears keep running.

I know what to do.

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─

TAEHYUNG POV

12:42 AM
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I went through 3 stages the past 2 hours.

1. Wanting to rip out all of my hair, screaming inside of my hotel room, yelling at myself for letting her go. Pacing back and forth, debating on following her or not.

2. Realizing I should give her time — time to calm down, time to breath, time to think. Sobbing on the floor at the end of my bed I cry silently, as the night sky turned dark and stars started to appear through my window.

3. Determination. Determined to gain back her trust, plead for her to forgive me.

And that's why I'm currently looking at myself in the mirror, viewing at my trembling body. I scold myself, not knowing when I decided to fuck up this bad.

But one thing keeps repeating itself inside of my head, tearing my heart into pieces.

She hates me.

She hates me.

Jia hates me.

I breathe out, closing my eyes before I turn around the doorknob to my room and head out on the silent hallway.

It's past midnight by now and everyone is asleep.

I keep hearing her voice inside of my head, her sweet, gentle voice — telling me everything will be okay, that I'm okay. But she hates me.

As I get closer to her door, I swallow thickly and furrow my brows as her door is wide open. I slowly move forward, drying away the stained tears on my cheeks with the back of my hand.

I jump as I see Yoongi come out of Jia's room, confusion pained on his face. As he sees me, his face lights up — relief flushing over him.

"Tae, you must know where Jia is! Where is she?" He asks desperately, moving closer to me.

His eyes narrows at my body as he spots my red-sprung eyes and pale face. I can feel my heartbeat skip a beat as his face expression changes into worry.

"What do you mean? She's not here?" I ask, feeling how a chill runs down my spine giving me goosebumps for a second.

I shove past Yoongi, rushing inside of Jia's room where she's nowhere to be seen.
I scan the room for every hint, and that's when I spot the familiar golden clock lying on her bed, a neat sketch-book right next to it.

And I realize immediately — Yoongi confirming it.

"She's gone."

─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─

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here's an update for you guys — hope you like this one! i wrote it in a an hour, while listening to my ultimate chill playlist pt. 2., a cup of chai latte next to me.
just what i needed. hope you guys had a nice weekend 💛
thank you for reading.

— R