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"Or what?" Jisoo furrowed her eyebrows as she leaned in closer. "I didn't hear you clearly."
"All I'm saying is-" Taehyung cleared his throat loudly. "Maybe some things they do are really for your sake. Even though you don't understand it now, maybe it will actually benefit you in the long run."
"Including marrying me off to Seokjin oppa?"
Taehyung was stumped. "That..."
"Today, I told my dad that I didn't want to get married to Seokjin oppa anymore," Jisoo said, as she glanced at Taehyung, watching his expression closely. "I got into a horrible argument with him, and ran away from home."
"Oh."
"You always tell me we're really different, don't you, Kim Taehyung?" Jisoo pursed her lips. "You always think that you have a tough life because you're poor, while I don't just because I'm rich. But I face struggles in life too. Though it may not be the same, I face my own difficulties. And... I just think it'll be nice if you stopped drawing the line between us, as if we're from two completely different species. We're both human, Kim Taehyung - we can talk to each other, we can laugh together and we can just... be together. Isn't that wonderful?"
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Taehyung didn't know how to respond. She may have her own struggles, but her struggles did seem trivial compared to his. No mom, an abusive father, debt collectors pounding at their door every other day, simultaneously working five different jobs... she really had no idea. He looked away, avoiding Jisoo's eyes.
"Just think about it, okay?" Jisoo patted Taehyung on the shoulder and took out her earpieces from her pocket and offered Taehyung one side. "Wanna listen?"
Taehyung nodded as he shoved the earpiece into his ear and a familiar tune played. Taehyung's eyes lit up. "Oh- This is IU's song."
"Oh?" Jisoo smiled. "You like her too?"
Taehyung shrugged. "I just listen to her songs occasionally. I don't have mobile data, so I can't really stream her songs on the go very often."
"You don't have mobile data?" Jisoo frowned, but soon she smiled as she held up her phone. "That's alright, I do. You can use my personal hotspot, Kim Taehyung."
"How can I?" Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows. "That's free-loading."
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"Not exactly, since it's benefiting both of us," Jisoo said with a grin. "You can connect to it, I'm more than happy!"
"How does it benefit both of us?" Taehyung said with a confused frown. "You're the one paying for your own mobile data."
"Because to use my personal hotspot... you have to stick close to me!" Jisoo grinned. "Who's the one benefiting more now?"
Taehyung's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you."
"Hurry up, connect to my hotspot!" Jisoo said excitedly, hurrying Taehyung to take out his phone. "Yup! That one, 'sooya'! That's me."
"Fine-" Taehyung said with a grateful smile. "Thanks, Jisoo-ya. What's the password?"
Jisoo giggled. "KTHPB. All in caps."
"KTHPB?" Taehyung said with a disbelieving frown as he keyed the password in and clicked enter, before the hotspot sign appeared at the top right hand corner of his screen. "What does that stand for?"
"KTHPB..." Jisoo repeated with a cheeky grin. "Kim TaeHyung PaBo."
Taehyung shook his head as he focused on the lyrics of the song that played in his ears. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Just a while ago, he lay on the floor in his house, beaten and battered. But now, he could finally breathe again.
And it was all thanks to Jisoo.
"Kim Taehyung," Jisoo said after a while. "Regardless of what happens, you'll stay by my side for a long time, won't you?"
Taehyung's eyes fluttered open and he turned to glance at Jisoo, who looked up at him with her round puppy eyes. If there was one person knew how unpredictable life was, it was Taehyung. And that was why Taehyung never liked making promises - especially promises he wasn't sure he could keep.
But for some reason, regardless of how ridiculously impossible it was to keep this promise Jisoo had very so thoughtlessly proposed, Taehyung wanted to fulfil it. It had never happened before - a promise that Taehyung had so badly wanted to fulfil.
"I will-" Taehyung smiled as he nodded at Jisoo. "I'll stay by your side for a long time, Kim Jisoo."
