Through Drought and Famine

4. Somehow

"Huh?"

"Your smile. You should smile more often. You look pretty when smiling."

"O-Oh." Jisoo looks down her food, a small smile escaping her lips from the compliment. She looks back at him to see him mirroring her expression. She rarely laughed or smiled around him, but when she was with her friends he would be able to see her lips curl up. Putting another rice cake in her mouth, Jisoo removes her gaze from him. "Taehyung, why did you break up with her?"

"Who?"

Jisoo rolls her eyes. Taehyung chuckles. "We're on and off I guess. I like her, but she only uses me."

She pouts at his reply and stuff her mouth. "Well you deserve someone who will give you everything they have to offer."

"And how would you know?" He asks, resting his head in his hand. "Have you been in a relationship before?" Jisoo pokes at her rice cakes.

"No," she mumbles. "But I know what I want, and no matter how beautiful that person may be, I will not let them take advantage of me." Her chopsticks point at him. "Because I'm too good of a person to let them do that to me."

Taehyung can't think of anything to respond with. He takes her words of advice into consideration.

Jisoo is happily eating her food until from the corner of her eye, she spots a black car from a far. Despite being far, she stares directly at the person in the car. Her eyes widen in horror as she sees the man in her dreams looking back at her in the eyes. His pale skin shining in the dark. She begins to choke on the food in her mouth.

"Jisoo!" Taehyung exclaims. "What's wrong?" He pats her back and hands her water.

Jisoo looks at Taehyung and says, "It's him. It's the man who took me."

"What?" Taehyung asks, confused. "Where?"

Jisoo looks back at where she saw the man. Taehyung follows her eyes, but to his dismay there's no one where she is looking. He sighs.

"H-He was there," Jisoo stutters.

Taehyung levels his eyes with hers. "Let me take you back home. You look tired." Jisoo doesn't respond and instead walks to Taehyung's car. She knew what she saw despite the time of night.

Arriving at Jisoo's front door, Taehyung's hands are tucked in the pockets of his sweatpants. His hair sweeps across his forehead due to the light wind. "Sleep well, Jisoo." He ruffles her hair, and she weakly smiles back.

"You too," she whispers before closing the door. She quietly rushes to her room and plops onto her bed. Face in her pillow, she lets her tears escape.

Jisoo definitely saw him, and he was looking back at her with his dead eyes. Paranoia eats her alive as she sits in silence, wondering if he followed her home. If he's going to break into the house and kill her in her sleep despite the many security that surround the house.

       Jisoo plays with her glass in her hand. Everyone at the party only commented on how impressive her father is and how lucky she is to be his daughter. She slaps her glass of champagne onto the table. "I'm going to the bathroom," she says.

"I'll walk you there," Taehyung tells her.

"No, stay here." She points at him like a dog.

Before he can stop her, she's already walking away in the Chanel she said that she would be wearing. The dress is stops mid-thigh. It's a baby pink that flatters her very well. He watches her leave the ballroom until he can't see her.

Jisoo looks at herself in the bathroom mirror one last time and then exists. As she walks down the hallway in order to get back to the ballroom, she hears mumbling coming out of a closed room. Curiosity kills her as she lightly places her ear against the cold door.