Healing (KTH, featuring KNJ)

Chapter 14

It really wasn't going very well. While Clara could cook, she still wasn't fully familiar with Korean cuisine. And her nerves were making it hard for her to remember even basic Korean vocabulary. She could tell that Mrs. Kim was not impressed. And honestly she understood why. When she thought about it she really wasn't the ideal girlfriend for their superstar son. Or honestly maybe for anyone.

If it was going poorly before, it only started going worse when Mrs. Kim asked how she had ended up living in Korea, considering Clara hardly seemed to know the language and obviously didn't have any family here. Clara told her about her engagement with Namjoon's brother and how after his untimely death she simply decided to stay because it felt right. After all, her own parents in the United States had already passed, so in some ways Namjoon's parents really had started to feel like her own.

The next thing she knew Mrs. Kim was shouting for both her husband and Taehyung. Mrs. Kim spoke faster than Clara could fully understand, but it was clear that she was less than happy.

While Clara was struggling to follow along Taehyung could understand every word, and he was becoming very flustered. He hated seeing his mother treating Clara this way, he was crazy about her. But he also loved his mother and understood her shock and desire to protect him. His mother was asking if this was a joke, and kept repeating that an evil spirit follows Clara and she will only bring bad luck. Taehyung knew it might take his parents a bit to fully embrace Clara, but he never thought they might react like this.

For her part, Clara was on the verge of tears. She was mortified, and was horrified by how awkward she was making things between Taehyung and his parents. She knew how important they were to him. And now that they mentioned it, maybe she was bad luck. She wanted to run away but where could she possibly go? She barely knew what part of town she was in.

Taehyung caught sight of his younger brother coming into the kitchen to see what the shouting was about. With a quick head nod, Taehyung indicated to his brother to take Clara from the kitchen somewhere quieter. His brother gently put his hand on her arm and softly whispered to her that they should step out. Following him to the living room, she finally burst out into a cascade of tears.

Everything was going wrong and it was all her fault. If only she studied the language harder, or hadn't been so casual about allowing herself to develop feelings. She knew Taehyung was out of her league and yet she still set herself up for another heartbreak. Unsure what else to do, she quickly grabbed her phone and texted Namjoon, begging him to come and save her from any further humiliation. She couldn't imagine any end to this evening that would be good. The best she could do was accept the cold hard truth that she really never would fit in Taehyung's life, and let him begin the search for the perfect girl he deserved.

Clara: Please pick me up, I'm at Taehyung's parents house.

NJ: What do you mean, isn't Tae there with you?

Clara: Yes, but I need you to come pick me up.

Clara: Please, I had to leave.

NJ: Be there in 15

Totally confused, Namjoon called Taehyung but the call rang until it went to voicemail. What was happening? Why was Clara asking for a ride when she was with Tae, and why wasn't he answering his phone?

But as promised, Namjoon arrived at the apartment about 15 minutes later. He called Clara's number to tell her to come downstairs and was met with the sound of her crying.

"Clara, sweetheart, what is wrong? Did something happen between you and Tae?"

All he got in return was hiccups of breath as she tried to calm herself down.

With a sign he continued, "I'm almost there, just come meet me downstairs."

Sneaking past the kitchen and out the door she impatiently waited for the elevator which would take her away from this place. But as if to confirm her embarrassment, when the elevator finally stopped it was full of people. Unwilling to wait any longer she squeezed on avoiding eye contact and staring at the floor.

Finally reaching the ground floor she ran off and out the front door to Namjoon's waiting car.

"Please take me to Mom and Dad's. I need to get out of Seoul."

With another sigh, Namjoon put the car into drive and began to head to his parents. He hadn't really ever heard her call his parents Mom and Dad before, but he wasn't going to question it at the moment. Clearly she wasn't ready to talk yet. In the meantime Namjoon set his jaw and considered what could have possibly gone wrong. One thing was for sure, the next time he saw Taehyung he was definitely going to get a piece of his mind, and possibly his fist.

In the meantime Taehyung was still in the kitchen trying to calm his parents, well mostly his mother, so he could check on Clara. It was taking longer than he'd like to get back to her, but at least he knew his brother was keeping her company.

When his brother came back into the kitchen alone Taehyung's first response was confusion. "Where is Clara?" But this quickly transitioned to irritation when his brother casually responded, "Her brother picked her up, she left."

This was just going from bad to worse. He hadn't even talked to her before she left, he knew she must be terribly upset.

Taehyung finally cut off the conversation with his parents, "I have to go find Clara, we can talk more about this later." And with that he quickly slipped his shoes back on and was running to catch the elevator, phone already in hand.

First he tried to ring Clara, but she didn't answer. He knew that things were not well when she left, but he needed to talk to her to explain. So he tried Namjoon next. But Namjoon only forwarded him to voicemail. Three times in a row.

Now he knew he was in trouble.