Art of Deceit

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CHAPTER TEN
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I walked down the hallway, my heart beating uneasily with each step I took. I walked towards the open casket, my black dress sweeping the floor behind me as I looked at the body that laid there like a ghoulish mannequin.

I looked at the white flower I had in my hand and chills ran down my spine. I heard sobs echoing from behind me as I gulped onto the air.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to the rose not really sure why I was apologising.

My heart was drowning in remorse and guilt and I couldn't understand why. I slowly placed the flower inside, but the moment it brushed against the body, it turned pitch black.

I gasp, almost falling back as I stared at it with befuddlement. I couldn't wrap my head around what I just saw. I hear footsteps behind me and my eyes dart up to see Dawn begin approach and when I look back down, the rose was white again.

This whole day just felt off and I didn't like it.

I lowered my gaze to study the picture that sat in front of the casket. My brows furrowed slightly as a sense of nostalgia washed over me. One I couldn't comprehend.

I studied every single detail of that picture for some reason and then my eyes trailed to the name that was signed off below the photo.

Kim Taehyung.

I felt an arm grab my shoulder and I flinched slightly.

"You okay?" Dawn asked and I nodded, eyes never leaving Taehyung. Someone I barely knew yet evoked so many emotions.

"You should be there for Yeona." She let out as she gestured towards Yeona who was sobbing into the palm of her hands, unable to even look at the direction of the casket.

I don't respond to Dawn as I made my way towards Yeona. I sat next to her and she looked up at me with broken eyes.

Her pain palpable and for some reason, I felt it on a deep level.

"I'm so sorry." That was the best I could say. I knew no words would be of any use at this point and if I was feeling bad, how would she be feeling?

"Thank you for being here." She said as she sniffled. I simply rubbed her arms in comfort as she wiped away her tears.

"I think I just need space right now," Yeona said abruptly, getting up and walking away from me even before I could get a word out.

I let out a deep sigh, massaging my temples as I tried calming the storm brewing in my head. I didn't know why but I was so worked up.

I barely knew Taehyung. Why was this affecting me so badly?

I decide to follow behind Yeona just to ensure she was okay.

As soon as I'm out of the house, I see Dawn talking to Jungkook who looks my way. "You okay?" Jungkook asked with worry etched into his features.

I stare at him, taken aback. We were never that close. We were in the same art class but we barely spoke to each other.

I nod my head subtly, wary of him and the way he's looking at me with worry.

As though sensing my discomfort, he turns away from me, continuing the conversation he was having with Dawn, "it was inevitable but, it's also for the best." He said and his words were like bullets as they shot through my head, a piercing pain following its wake.

I fall over, grabbing my head as I tried my best to stop everything from spinning.

"Jina!" Dawn called out as she rushed towards me. "Are you okay?" She asked and I pushed her off. I couldn't take the close proximity of her. I couldn't breathe.

With each breath I took, it sent a sharp sting through my chest. "I need to go." I said, rushing to my car. I hastily got in and started driving even though my vision blurred.

I just knew I had to drive and so I drove without a destination in mind as I felt my entire world crumble.

Why was seeing Taehyung breaking every part of me?

I lose control of the car and I ram right into a wooden sign. The airbag softens the blow to my face and my head is sent flying back, hitting the back of the seat and I groan.

I step out of my car, completely disoriented as I stared at the sign that read WOODS FIELD in red letters, now broken in two.

I go towards it slumping before it. I've never been here yet somehow I drove here. How was this happening?

Then something white catches my eye from the broken sign. I reach over, plucking a piece of paper from the broken pieces of wood and my face falls the moment I catch Taehyung's name sprawled over the note.

This was from him. And that wasn't the biggest blow to my gut. It was the fact that it was addressed to me.

I flipped the note over with shaky hands and that's when everything breaks. My heart, my soul, my entire fucking world shattered at the four words written on the paper.

I sucked in a sharp breath before my despair poured out in an onslaught of tears, every memory coming back to me, smashing into me like a sledgehammer and cracking my mind.

My tears stained the paper as I held it close to my chest, wanting to engrave the words in my heart.

As my body grew weaker, I opened up the note again, staring at the words that were the cause of my undoing. I read it out, over and over again. Just four words that held the weight of the world.

"I love you, Jina."

Art of Deceit.

E X P L A N A T I O N

Taehyung was never made for love. He was the angel of love and witnessing everyone around him fall in love made him want to experience that same feeling. He tried it with Yeona but he couldn't love her, but she loved him and this caused Taehyung to fail as the angel of love. Not only was he not allowed to be loved, he failed because she was in a onesided love when his only purpose is to bring two people together.

Since he failed, he fell and as a fallen angel, he had a darkness to him and thus this flaw of his became his shadow self. His shadow self ended up destroying Yeona.

Jina ended up like Yeona, since loving him was taking on his shadow as her own. But this time it was different. Jina was different for Taehyung and once Jina ends up in the same place with Yeona, Taehyung realises he can't function without Jina.

Because he has grown to love her.

As he slowly realises this, he chooses to take Yeona and Jina's place, leaving Jina with one last message.