"I only see you just as someone I can potentially become good friends with, Jisoo-ssi," Taehyung said as he finally looked up at Jisoo, who looked absolutely crushed. "But if you only like me in that way... I guess we can't even be friends. I'm really sorry."
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Jisoo's voice trembled slightly. "Oh."
Taehyung found himself struggling to keep his eyes on her as he continued to speak. "I know who you are, Jisoo-ssi. I know your family background and I can tell you that the two of us can never be a thing, even if I liked you. It's impossible."
Jisoo frowned. "Wait, I'm confused now. Which of these two reasons you gave me is the main reason? Are you pushing me away because you don't like me, or because you're afraid that you'll like me?"
"It doesn't matter, does it?" Taehyung lifted up his sketchbook for Jisoo to see and pointed at a pair of parallel lines he had drawn across the page. "You see these two lines here? They're just like us - they'll never meet. We belong to two completely different worlds, Kim Jisoo."
"If you say that we're parallel lines and we never meet," Jisoo argued. "But we're here together now, aren't we? Two parallel lines that meet at one point must meet at every single point."
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"We're distinct, Jisoo-ssi." Taehyung shook his head as he put down his sketchbook frustratedly. "We're way too different to be compared to equal parallel lines. Being with me is not right for you, being me might even hurt you. You have no idea what my life is like, Jisoo-ssi. And you won't want to find out, because for someone like you, my life is even worse than your wildest imaginations."
"How bad can it be?" Jisoo furrowed her eyebrows. "If you don't tell me, how would you know whether I can relate or not?"
"How bad can it be-" Taehyung repeated after her, in utter disbelief that she'd make such an offensive statement. "How bad can it be?"
But Jisoo didn't notice the scornfulness in his tone. "Yeah, how bad can it be? Just tell me what you're facing, maybe I can fix it for you."
Taehyung swallowed hard, as his insides boiled. The way she said it sounded like she was fixing a spoilt pen, or mending a lightbulb - not mending someone's life. This just confirmed every prior assumption Taehyung had made about rich people - that they thought money could solve everyone's problems.
"My situation is not as easy as you think it is-" Taehyung took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice as stable as he could, no matter how angry he was. "Don't speak so lightly of it if you're oblivious about my situation."
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"Oh, wait, no-" Jisoo shook her head frantically, her eyes widening in surprise that Taehyung would take her words in such an incorrect way. "Taehyung-ssi, I'm not oblivious about your situation at all. I can assure you that that's definitely not what I meant-"
Taehyung got up from his seat abruptly, aggressively shoving his things into his bag. "That's enough for today."
Jisoo held up her hands to stop Taehyung from leaving. "Taehyung-ssi, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"You see? I was right," Taehyung turned around and added after he had pushed past Jisoo. "Rich people like you will never understand what it's like for us. I had a tiny hope that you were different and that we could still be friends, Jisoo-ssi, but I guess I was wrong. You're just like them... and people like you, I don't want to have to a single bit to do with. I think it's best if you keep your distance from me, Jisoo-ssi. Thank you."
"Wait-" Jisoo yelled after Taehyung, before he could leave the class.
Taehyung stopped in his tracks.
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"I really didn't mean it in the way you misinterpreted it to be, Kim Taehyung." Jisoo bit her lower lip, as tears flowed down her cheeks. "And I... I still really like you."
"I still haven't asked you about why you like me?" Taehyung turned around and frowned at Jisoo, his eyes shimmering with tears. "We literally just met... you barely even know me. You keep saying you like me... but why do you even like me?"
"I know you well enough to like you, Kim Taehyung." Jisoo swallowed hard as she made her way towards Taehyung. "But you wouldn't bother, anyway."
