AMIN
Shilla kicks into my office.
It's dark— way past the time I was supposed to be home. I'm actually surprised she hadn't gone yet either.
"Are you kidding me?" She huffs, and I blink. "Amin, it's ten! I knew you were here when you didn't answer any of my calls!"
Calls?
I look down at my phone. The screen shows ten missed calls from her.
"Oh."
"You got to be serious." She sighs. "Come on. We're leaving right now."
"I can't sleep though." I say, my eyes gliding over the empty window of Taehyung's office as she leads me out. "I didn't finish."
His computer screen was still on.
He must've left just a minute ago.
"You can finish tomorrow." Shilla scolds. Then her brows raise mischievously, and she grips my wrist.
"You want a drink? It helps you relax, I promise."
I hesitate.
But then I shake my head, and her lips press into a pout.
"You love drinking too much."
"What? No, I don't." She defends. "But I actually promise. You look too stressed out these days, Amin."
And I consider it, for a few seconds.
Maybe.
So when I wave Shilla goodbye at her apartment, I don't go back to mine. I go to a restaurant, just wanting to try a drink without all the loudness of a club.
"Hello. What can I get for you tonight?"
"Just a bottle of this." I say to the waiter, pointing at the menu. "Soju, please."
"Nothing else."
_________________________
TAEHYUNG
I can feel Jungkook looking at me.
"You look down, Taehyung." He says after a while, hands in the pockets of his coat. "What happened?"
Maybe I should've said sorry to her.
I'd seen her working in her office, too busy to even notice me. And I'd lost courage to say anything.
"I think...I think I said some things I shouldn't have said."
He sighs softly. And I brush back my hair from my eyes, regretting it. I was the one who knew best— that she never liked to lean on anyone.
I wish she would, but I shouldn't have pressed.
"Well, you should apologize. To whoever you said that to."
Jungkook pauses, adjusting my coat over my shoulders. He probably already knew who I was talking about.
"Alright. Don't go anywhere." He says, when we get to the front of my house. It's something he always says, like I'd even have somewhere to go in this night.
I bite my lip.
"Jungkook, I think she gave up. Remember I told her that Noona is my girlfriend?"
"We don't ever know that. She's damn crazy." He murmurs under his breath, fixing me a look.
"Bye, Taehyung."
I wave my hand. And the moment I get inside, I tug off my coat and look at my phone.
Jungkook was right.
I needed to apologize.
Tapping at her contact, I wait as the phone rings. I'm preparing what I'd say once she picks up, but she never does.
My eyes narrow a little.
I call her again. But she doesn't answer, for all the seven times I do.
She'd never do this.
I press the green button again, mind racing. Even if she was furious at me, she'd always pick up.
I knew she was terrified of my asthma.
A frustrated growl leaves my lips when she doesn't answer. Was she still back at the company? There was no way.
I reach for my coat again.
Don't go anywhere.
I forget all about Jungkook's warning as I leave the house, to go back the way I'd just come from.
_________________________
She isn't at her office.
I'd given up on calling her, after the twenty-sixth time. She wouldn't answer.
Something wasn't right.
A dark cap covers my panicked eyes as I rush out of the company, locking the doors. Had she gone back to her apartment?
It takes me five more minutes to get there.
It's almost eleven by the time I reach her door. My fingers fly across her keypad— and the door clicks open.
I'd caught the password over her shoulder when she'd let me in before.
And the house is cold.
"Noona." I call, pulling out my phone again. Then I press her number, listening for anything.
She isn't here either.
But then the call goes through.
"Hello?"
And the moment I hear the voice on the other side, the blood drains from my face. It's a man's voice, answering her phone.
I hiss.
"Who are you?"
"I work at a restaurant." He says, and my eyes slowly widen. "I think you might want to come here, sir. The lady is completely—"
"Where is this?"
The name he tells me is familiar, and I realize I'd seen it the way here.
"Thank you."
I end the call. And my face is completely shadowed with anger.
__________________________
AMIN
"....thank you."
"No problem. We were closing soon, so I was starting to get worried."
My eyes flicker open at the voices. Someone's pulling me up, and the hand clasped around my waist is rough but gentle at the same time.
I shift my gaze up, slowly until it lands on the face.
And I sober up in a second.
"Tae...?"
He doesn't say a word. There's a cap pushed down on his head, but it doesn't hide the tension of his expression.
He pays the man at the counter.
The moment we're out of the doors, I see a Taehyung I've never seen before.
His voice is cold. And it's the first time he's ever used this tone on me.
"What in the hell, Noona."
I fall silent.
"You didn't answer a single damn call, because you were— fuck."
He growls. "You were passed out drunk. Did you know how terrified I was when a man answered your phone, Noona? And if it was someone else? I would've never forgiven myself if someone took advantage of you tonight."
I breathe.
"Taehyung..."
Twenty-eight missed calls. Seven texts.
I'd been stupid.
"Don't Taehyung me." He murmurs, voice low. "You don't understand."
His face is so pale. And I curse in my mind— I'd made him worry this much. His eyes are bloodshot under his cap.
"I'm sorry."
His features twist.
"Just...why won't you let me help you. Do you know how much this hurts me?"
My stare shifts to the ground.
"I get that you're independent." He says, breathing unevenly. "But you make me so frustrated. I love you, Noona. People who love each other help each other out."
And I look up when his voice shakes.
"It just...sometimes it just feels like you don't want me at all."
...what?
"No." I say, but he shifts away. He doesn't look sure.
My lips tighten.
And then I pull him closer, getting on my tiptoes. A small scoff leaves my lips, because I'm the complete opposite of what he's saying.
"I don't want you?" I repeat, looking into his large doe eyes.
He really said that.
"Really," I whisper, lips brushing the curve of his ear. My body's pressed up against his. "What makes you think that?"
He should be submitting.
But he doesn't, and I'm surprised to see his eyes firm up.
"You know what I mean." He says, shifting his head so that the tip of my nose touches his.
"You're not letting me in."
I stop.
He kisses me. But it's soft and sad, and he starts to break away when I wrap my hand around the back of his head.
I didn't let him in.
That was true.
I kiss him more roughly, hand shifting down to his neck. My chest warms when I feel him struggling to keep up with my pace.
And I only break away, because of his asthma.
The things I would do to him.
"I can't let you see me yet." I say, touching his bottom lip with my finger. It's swollen beautifully.
"Will you wait, baby?"
"As...As long as I know you love me." He says quietly, and I laugh. That was such an easy question.
"Of course."
"Say it, Noona."
The corner of my lips tilt in amusement. So demanding.
"I love you."