It Can't Be Love

Epilogue

Taehyung's POV

Huh!

I slump down on the couch after another tiring day at college. Routines are very boring. And to cap it all, Bangtan has not hung out for the last three months. Everyone is busy with life.

It has been six years since her graduation. Since the last time, I saw her in person.

I respected her request but never found another person whom I could love so intensely. It is not as if I am not trying. But she was just different. And there is no one else even remotely like her.

The girls in my class are flirting like they always did. Every year a new bunch of students comes in the scene with the same old characteristics. I have stopped looking out for any difference now.

This was what made her stand out from the crowd. She never cared about this pathetic piece of handsomeness that people call my face.

Oh no! It is not like I spent all of my free time thinking about her and missing her in these years. I don't know why, but today my mind is particularly flashing her memories in front of my eyes.

It is strange because there is no need for me to miss her. I see her every year on television, twice.

First, at the annual astrophysics festival which is aired live. And second, well, not so routinely but she does when she receives an award.

Within a short span of six years, Jiwoo has left a mark on the nation's history. Entire South Korean physicists and astronomers know about her. She is famous.

And I remain glued to the television when the festival or the award shows are aired. For the entire time. Since the last four years, Bangtan has been accompanying me during the showtime.

We all miss her.

We haven't been much in contact. She has changed her contact number. Being the dedicated astrophysicist she is, she isn't on any social networking site either.

Ting!

The message notification of my phone snaps me out of my memories. It is from an unknown number. I open it.

Hey Taehyung,
I know it took me a long time to contact you. I had your number back then but my phone got formatted and I lost it. It took me all my blood, sweat and tears to find this. I hope you are not angry. If you are still wondering who I am, let me introduce myself. 
Good morning sir. I am Park Jiwoo and I like writing.
Haha. I hope that is enough for identification.
Taehyung, I am in Seoul today. I will be happy to be able to meet you. Please let me know if you can come to The Coffee House at 5 this evening.

I drop my phone in surprise. She is here. She wants to meet me.

I quickly reply to it that I'll be there. It's 2 hours till 5. A lot of time to select a dress.

***

I walk into the cafe and the bells chime. A relatively tall girl smiles at me from the back. She is sitting on her table. 

Because it is her.

I walk up to her and she stands up instantly hugging lightly. Not as tight as we used to back then.

"Your hair has grown long," I say flashing her my signature smile as we sit down.

"Yeah. I finally decided to see how it looks like." She replies.

"I am more than happy to see you. I am ecstatic." I say.

"I am more than ecstatic."

She is not able to contain her smile. We are staring at everything else than each other's face just like we did the first time we met here.

She orders a caramel macchiato. I do the same.

"You hated that flavour, right?" I say.

"I still do. But the bad taste keeps me alert." She replies.

We sip the coffees in silence. But it is not awkward. It is as if our eyes are having a better, more meaningful conversation than our mouths can ever have.

After a few moments, I say "You are doing great. I see you on TV every year. I proudly tell everyone that you were my student."

"Oh! Thank you." She blushes.

"Though it is only the Bangtan that gets to hear me bragging."

We laugh at this.

"What about you? How have you been doing?" She asks.

"Oh! Great. Better than ever. Hormonal girls drooling over a man 10 years older than them. And quite frankly, I am enjoying their stupidity."

"Aah! Perks of having a handsome face."

We laugh again.

Moving down the memory lane, we reminiscent her days at the college. Our stupidity, hangouts, the secret meetups at the tank building. Every single one of these memories is my treasure.

We don't cry, we don't become sad.

Life is still beautiful. All we needed to do was change our perspective, a bit.

After a while, she says again "Taehyung..."

"Hmm?" I reply resting my chin on my palm and that elbow on the table, looking at her.

"I kept my promise. We met again."

I smile back at her. "I knew you would."

With this, we take another walk through the memories that remained untouched at the first stroll.

Laughter fills the evening.

And I know that I am happy in and with my life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: Hey guys! This is the final end. 

At one point, I thought maybe I can have TaeJi reunited forever here. But then, even if Jiwoo gets a transfer to observatories in Seoul, she would not be comfortable living with Taehyung on the campus, as her house will then be surrounded by her ex-professors.

This is my logic. So I did not end it that way. But I have explained an alternate idea. If you want, you may take that one as the end in which Taehyung and Jiwoo get married.

What matters is that in the end, the characters of this story are happy in their lives.

Haaa...One journey has come to its end.

Thank you for reading guys. Your support brought me this far. Please let me know your views.

Love you all!

As long as it exists, if it is true, It Can Be Love.