a/n: hi! so, just letting you know that there are only 8 chapters left + epilogue for this fic. to those who are still here after Waves, thank you so much! i wouldn't reach this far if it weren't for you. in fact, maybe there wouldn't even be a sequel at all.
so, from the bottom of my heart, i want to let you know how grateful i am!
anyway... this chapter makes me wanna pull my hair out,
get us another box of tissue please thank you.
♡♡♡
Standing in front of the door with bloodshot eyes and trembling knees, Jeongyeon recalls the same memory she had as she waits for it to open.
It's like déjà vu, to when she boarded the plane and dared to not look back though in the end, she still did.
She doesn't know why, but where she last stood hours ago happened to be not too far from the place she is at right now.
All she could hope for is that at least he'd let her in.
And then there's a click, the knob twists down and the door opens very slightly.
She didn't knock or ring the doorbell, she just stayed there, waiting for something, for someone.
There, with a bottle of wine in hand and a silly grin to his face is no other than Kim Taehyung. He spreads the door open, revealing a mess all over, and the scent of alcohol reeking out of the place.
Taehyung doesn't seem so unbothered himself, as he steps right back inside, waving the bottle as if inviting her to drink with him.
And it takes another minute before he notices how distraught Jeongyeon is, and he let the wine bottle roll into his couch before he rushes to her side that is somehow stuck by the front door.
"Damn, what happened? Wait... what are you doing here? Huh?"
He glances at the clock on the wall, frowning as he sees the time. Almost midnight. Taehyung looks at her curiously, scrutinizing her, trying to see anything he could find.
Jeongyeon stares blankly at him, no words would come out of her mouth until a lone tear escapes on the side of her eye, and Taehyung brings up his thumb to wipe it away.
"A fight? Is that it?"
Taehyung knows about what happened, yet even though it's killing him now to hear what went on when he wasn't around her and Jimin, he decides not to ask and lets her speak on her own accord and maybe then, he'll do something.
He doesn't wait for her to answer, and he pulls her by the wrist to the kitchen where he pours water over a glass and hands it to her. Downing it in one go, Jeongyeon is still left in silence.
That is, until Taehyung's phone rings from the living room. She stops him, eyes pleading.
"Don't tell him I'm here, please."
He simply nods then grabs his phone, as Jeongyeon continues to stare at nothing, on the dining table with an empty mind. Later, Taehyung comes back with a smile on his face, sitting across of her on the table.
"He's looking for you but I said you're not here, don't worry. Anyways, what happened huh? You know--I wasn't supposed to ask, but Jimin sounded alarmed. Worried sick. Shouldn't you guys talk instead?"
She looks up slowly, almost ready to spill it out for him to know but hesitates. Taehyung doesn't need to get involved in any of this, she thinks to herself.
"Just ask him instead, I guess. And you're right, I'm going to talk to him maybe when I'm ready."
Taehyung crosses his arms, "And when will that be? You're not thinking of staying here, are you?"
Jeongyeon scans the place, then looks at him sternly, "You need a house cleaner, Tae. I can do that myself," and Taehyung's jaw drops to the floor.
"W-what? Are you serious? N-no! You can't stay here!!! What the--"
"Hey, you're the only one I can trust right now."
"Oh--come on. I'm depressed enough now, you really want to let me drag you along? No way. Just go back home and talk to him. Whatever that is, you'll fix it."
His last sentence strikes her like lightning. Yes, there are things that can be fixed, but fixing it right away will be like patching up a wound without washing them first.
To fix something, you need to know why it broke in the first place, what you need to do so it won't be broken again the next time.
"Please?" Jeongyeon gives him that look, the same pair of eyes she had shown him back in France. She really has nowhere to be, she can't let her sister find out, and other than them and their other close friends, Taehyung knows what to do in this situation.
He always does.
"God, don't look at me like that," Taehyung rolls his eyes. "Damn, okay but tomorrow promise me you'll call him. You can't stay here for more than a week, Jeongyeon. Why? Because you have a family, a husband waiting for you. I can't be responsible for--"
"You've been responsible of me since that night, remember? You made a promise yourself," she interrupts.
"No no n-no, not the promise card. Listen--"
"Please, Kim Taehyung? It's better to stay here than elsewhere. Jimin will understand."
"No he won't. He'll come barging in my door for you, just watch. Don't be so stubborn."
"Not when he's in another's door to find someone else," she mutters lowly, but enough for him to hear. "What? What did you say?"
She gazes up, begging for him to listen, to understand; but in order for him to do that, she needs to tell him the truth.
From the night involving Mr. Hong, to the things he said to her, things he did to her, to coming back and struggling, to leaving and then finding herself back again, to the hours earlier.
She told him everything, and the reaction on Taehyung was something she would surely remember for a very long time.
Out of rage, he leaves and grabs his keys, throwing the door open as Jeongyeon catches behind him. "Taehyung! No! Where are you going?"
In that moment, the alcohol he had consumed has been long out of his system. All he could see is red. He peers over his shoulder, eyes dead set on her.
"Stay here, I'll be back."
"Where are you going? This isn't--"
"I promise, I will return. Everything will be okay, hmm?"
And then he's gone for the night.
♡♡♡
Driving over the speed limit, skipping past red lights honking and smashing his hands on the wheel, Taehyung could no longer function the way he's supposed to.
Sure, he had been in the same spot, losing his wife over that mistake he wished he could undo for her so he could still look at her the same way.
It is one thing he yearned not to let Jeongyeon experience, not again. Being one of the very few people who stood by her through the years she suffered, despite reaching the end where she chose to go right back to where she felt she belonged;
He stayed. He had her whole life in his silent prayers, his wishes, more than he could have ever offered his own self.
His pain as of the moment is nothing compared to what she looks like as she told the story.
At this point, Taehyung doesn't have a care in the world, speeding off not thinking about anything but her. He's willing to break his friendship with the one person he spent his entire childhood with, in exchange for saving Jeongyeon from the fall.
Arriving at where he knows he probably is, he steps out and runs inside, ignoring the security calling out for him. His phone has been ringing nonstop, but his focus is on going up on the elevator.
Taehyung clenches his fists tightly as he walks down the hallway, far at the end is a double door with one of it slightly open. He takes the chance to speed his steps, and pushing it inside, the first person he sees is his best friend.
And there's the man, the root of all this. Mr. Hong, with his hand right around Jimin's collar, too close to throw him to the ground. He stops, seeing another figure on the side.
Minutes before, he took the time to record everything Jeongyeon had said, and sent it to police as fast as he could. He'd never felt this adrenaline rush, this feeling.
Despite his knees turning jelly, Taehyung manages to utter words he'd been wanting to say.
"T-they're coming... the police. There's no way for you to go anymore."
Mr. Hong lets go of Jimin as he falls weak on the floor, head turned at the sound of his best friend's voice. Taehyung avoids his eyes, mind full of anger and resentment.
And then there are the authorities, screaming out the door, they enter and motions for the man to lay face down, hands behind his back while they recite the his rights.
Taehyung turns around and walks out the door, it is the end.
"Taehyung!" Jimin calls, refusing the aid from an officer. "Jeongyeon... she--"
Taehyung peers over, eyes laced with fury. "Did you really do it again?"
Jimin doesn't answer, unable to even move a muscle. He wonders if he talks, he'd understand. And of course, he would.
Taehyung trusts him more than anyone else, if anything, he's the only person he can trust with Jeongyeon. Yet his face tells him otherwise. There's guilt somewhere in his own best friend, and if that has to explain something.
It is that it is the confirmation he needed to see.
And like that, Taehyung says something just before he ends everything right there.
"It's over, Jimin. It is fucking over. Don't you dare appear in front of her ever again, you understand? I want to kill you right here but I won't. You were supposed to be there, that man? He should've been in jail by now, you should've done something! But you didn't, and you still had the guts to what, spend time with that woman? I can't fucking believe this. Now, tell me. Tell me the truth, this is your chance, though this won't guarantee you a pass to see her because she's lost so much already."
"I--I didn't do it, I swear. And there's a reason why I couldn't d-do something about him," he explains, as the police officers drag Mr. Hong down the hall leaving the two of them.
Taehyung grits his teeth, he doesn't know what to believe. "Get to the point."
"I don't have any right to tell you... but I swear, I didn't cheat. Please just listen.. I was--I was tutoring a lot of kids, it's the money... We're losing a lot financially, and the house.. I wanted to have it built as fast as possible so I could bring her out of here. Rachel, that woman, she's just helping me with the kids, she has this organization this society of parents hiring tutors for their children. It's pure business, Taehyung. You know I wouldn't do such a thing anymore."
"So who does have the right? And money? Jimin, in all these years, where was I? Our friends? You could have just asked, but you didn't. Why? Was it fun hanging around with a woman half your age? A woman with a child? Really? That's no excuse. That's full of shit, like you are being one right now."
"Taehyung, please," Jimin falls to the ground, on his knees, and Taehyung seethes in anger.
"She needed you to be there, she needed a doctor, Jimin. Oh god, I can't believe I'm the one saying this. You were out all the time, and Jiyeon, I know she's not at fault but she's not there either. You were too engrossed into giving her a perfect life, but in return, she's losing you because of that life you've been dying to give her. It's not fair, Jimin."
"Please, understand, where is she? Let me talk to her--"
"No. Not right now. Get your shit together first. I'll get going, Jimin. Be a man of your words and come back and be a friend to me and a husband to her when you're sure of everything. Don't worry about her."
Taehyung steps in the elevator, looking at him in the eyes. Jimin breaks into tears, running his hands through his hair, still on his knees.
He could have explained better, could have told him the other truth.
Taehyung goes into his car, and there, he lets it all out onto the wheel he dips his head on, sobbing uncontrollably.
And at his home, there's Jeongyeon, laying her body flat on the bed to his guest room, staring at the ceiling, hoping that if she ends up sleeping the night away;
Things will be really alright when she wakes up tomorrow.
As if everything she had been through was just a nightmare.
And that she would forget.
Maybe, just maybe.
♡♡♡
Jimin stays in the building where Jeongyeon used to have Jeongyeon make her dreams come true. Her passion and dedication in her career, he let it sink in his mind.
Walking through the extensive hallway, he stops at a couple employees organizing something inside a room. He peeks in, slightly tilting his head.
There are the posters Jeongyeon herself worked on for days at home, being ripped off, torn out and shoved into trash bags.
His heart breaks at the scene, as Jeongyeon's dreams come crashing down. All that she worked hard for in this place is swept away.
And now he's nowhere near her to encourage her, to help her. He messed up real bad.
Just as he's about to leave and get into the elevator, he hears them talk to one another, about a familiar name. He takes a glance back at the door, and eavesdrop.
"Pretty sure it'll be on the news tomorrow, I can't believe Haeun was right about him. So disgusting."
"I know, now I feel sorry for her... you know what, I heard she's pregnant that's why she quit."
"W-what? Really? And who's the father?"
"Could be Mr. Hong but I hope not. But it also could be that guy she was seen with a couple times nearby, I forgot the name but I believe Mrs. Park knew him and they were pretty close. Maybe that's the father?"
"Oh my god, it should be him. Speaking of Mrs. Park, her husband was just here. If I were him I'd kill that man. And that guy, he was here too, they should've ended that man I swear."
Unable to give any reaction to what he had just heard, Jimin leaves the premises with his head spinning. He had a lot of more questions than answers.
And he couldn't stop thinking about her.
Is it really over?
He doesn't want to think that far, but the place he suddenly remembers as he goes out the entrance to the parking lot is the same place he's supposed to be starting a brand new beginning with Jeongyeon and Jiyeon.
So, he drives away to the sea... to where he would have wanted to see his future in.
His future with her, which for now seems impossible and far-fetched.
♡♡♡