The Red of the Rose | Taeyong

35 | Missing

In Professor Moon's class the next day, Miah found herself thinking about Taeyong. He had still not turned up to college and as much as she hated it, she was still worried about him. Doyoung snapped his fingers in front of her face.

'Write this down,' he mouthed the words. Professor Moon was giving pointers for the final exam.

'What's the matter with you?' Doyoung asked once they were outside the class.

'Uh, nothing...' Miah trailed off and the guys dropped the topic. But it only took her a moment to ask the question herself, 'Where is he? Why hasn't he come even today?'

Before anybody could even attempt to speak, Jaehyun took Miah's hand and wrote on it a number - 0127.

'This is the passcode to the apartment. I'm texting you the address. Go see him if you miss him so much because he won't be coming to college for a while,' said Jaehyun.

'I-I don't-'

'Don't miss him? Okay. Still go see him because he misses you a lot,' Jaehyun replied.

'Why would he miss me... He- even with Young-ho, he beat him up because of Serin...'

'He did not do anything for Serin. He met Young-ho because of you. He beat Young-ho up because of you, because of what those posts did to your life and not because of Serin,' Jaehyun said.

Miah spent her whole day in a daze. Her thoughts were scattered yet converged on a single point - Taeyong. At the end of her final class, she found Mark waiting for her in the corridor.

'Go home without me. I am going to go see Taeyong,' Miah told him.

Mark did not question her instead said simply, 'If you need a ride back, call me.'

~*~

Miah stood outside the studio apartment for several minutes, staring at the metal door. Taeyong was just a few metres away and all she had to do was enter the lock combination to see him, but her fingers remained rigid and unmoving. Their last meeting had left both of them crying and she did not know where to begin or what to say. But what she did know was that she missed him. Terrible as it was, it was the truth.

Sighing to herself in that empty corridor, she entered the passcode and pushed the door open and there he was, sitting at the counter on a high stool, shirtless. His body and face were covered in red and blue and he was groaning in pain with a cotton swab in hand, clearly in the middle of dressing his wounds.

But the moment Taeyong saw who had entered, he froze.

'Miah,' he said.

But Miah couldn't utter a single word. She knew Taeyong was injured but seeing him like this broke her heart. His once smiling face was covered in red and his body had marks all over it. She couldn't help but tear up at the sight. Instinctively, she rushed to him and took his face in her hands, resting her forehead against his.

'Oh, Taeyong,' she cried.

'Does it hurt?' Taeyong asked, placing his hands over hers.

The moment he spoke, Miah stiffened and retrieved her hands, taking a step backwards. She pushed her emotions down and wiped her face clean.

'Let me help you with that,' she said, picking up the cotton swab from the counter.

'This cream?' she asked, pointing to the open yellow tube.

Taeyong nodded. Miah squeezed out a generous amount onto the swab and inched closer to his face. At the first contact of the cream, Taeyong hissed in pain. It still burned. Miah's body trembled with every shudder of his but continued dabbing gently over each cut and scrape, wiping his tears every time they fell from his eyes.

The marks on his chest and abdomen were much darker and Taeyong winced every time Miah tried to touch them.

'Taeyong,' she whispered and leaned forward to press her lips onto his. It took him only a moment to kiss her back.

Miah deepened the kiss as she applied the cream on his chest, swallowing his cries in her mouth. Working her way down, she wasted no time to hold him close and applied the rest of the cream on the side of his ribs.

Taeyong's breath suddenly hitched and he gripped her waist tightly.

'Shhh... just a little more,' she breathed onto his lips and continued. Bit by bit, she covered all the sore spots on his bare body, with her lips still connected to his.

It had been so long since they last saw each other, let alone touch, and now in such close proximity, it was becoming hard to bear. Taeyong pulled Miah closer, smearing the cream on the front of her clothes. Miah too, had long forgotten why she was here or what she was doing. Her focus was now completely on Taeyong and the way his mouth tasted and how his hands felt on her.

When they parted for breath, Taeyong whispered, 'Stay.'

But Miah answered his question from earlier, 'It hurts Taeyong. It still does.'

She planted a soft kiss on his face and broke free from his grip to rush out the apartment, leaving Taeyong alone.

~*~

Doyoung came to the apartment late at night, wanting to check on Taeyong, knowing that Miah was going to visit. As he had expected, Taeyong was alone, sitting by the window in the dark.

'Want a smoke?' Doyoung asked and Taeyong hummed.

They sat in silence next to the window - Taeyong on the sill and Doyoung on the floor, sharing a cigarette between them, above the glittering lights of the sleeping city.

'What if she never comes back?' Taeyong said.

'Then that's her decision,' Doyoung replied.

'That's too honest.'

'I am not going to give you false hope.'

'But... give it time,' Doyoung added after some time.

Somewhere in the night, the phone rang and Taeyong picked it up in a daze.

'Is she still there?' Taeyong recognized the voice as Mark's.

'What?'

'Noona. She usually drops a text when she is not coming home. I called but she didn't pick up so I am calling you to check,' Mark said.

'Miah hasn't come home yet?' Taeyong asked, alarmed.

On the other side, Mark went silent.