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"So...." I began, breaking the silence. Ae-Young and I were now sitting on the floor of her apartment, silently. We didn't talk much on our way here either.
Once we reached here and got in the door, she was quick to give me my umbrella. It's currently leaning against a wall, beside the door, so I don't forget it. But after that happened, she came into her living room and I followed. Since then, we both sat in silence.
"Listen, I know I've been....distant." Ae-Young replied, and I couldn't help but hum in agreement.
"Yeah you have...." I accidentally mumbled. Ae-Young clearly noticed, as she looked my way. But instead of defending herself, she just looked away, saying nothing on the matter. "But I understand."
"No you don't." Ae-Young was quick to reply. "You're just trying to make sure I don't feel bad. Which you shouldn't be."
"So what? You expect me to tell you off?" I replied, with a small chuckle, which might I add, was not returned.
Ae-Young didn't say anything, she only got up. Instead of sitting opposite her, I was now beside her. She held out her hand, looking up at me.
"I know we both need it." She quietly said, and I took her hand in mine. I instantly felt more energy, but unfortunately, it was accompanied with nothing else. Here comes the silence, again.
And there it was. She didn't say anything, and nor did I. I didn't know what to say. I hoped maybe she could start up the conversation, something like that. But instead, I was met with something different.
Almost all of a sudden, I had a heavy heart. It was like there was something bothering me. I quickly turned to Ae-Young, and I noticed tears in her eyes. Without thinking twice, I wrapped my arms around her. Something seemed to have come over me, but I didn't move when realising what I was doing.
Ae-Young seemed slightly shocked at first too, but held on tight. She sobbed lightly in my arms, hugging me tighter every few seconds. My heart ached, as I felt the pain she did. She didn't have to tell me what she was feeling, I was going through all of it with her.
"I'm sorry...." She whispered. "I've been horrible to you, to my friend....and now look at me; Crying."
"Hey, it's okay-
"No, it's not." She interrupted. "All Soomin was trying to do was help, like you are. She helped me through all the tough times I had with...."
I waited for Ae-Young to continue, but she didn't. She seemed to have stopped crying. It all stopped so suddenly, without a reason. She quickly pulled away from me, standing up.
"You can go." She stated, rather coldly. I sighed loudly, giving a single, bitter chuckle. She's putting her walls up again.
I was shocked at hearing this. It was like, all of a sudden, she had some sort of obligation to not be vulnerable with me. Frankly, after having something like this, happen so many times....I'm done with it.
I've become so tired of this behavior. I can only put up with so much of it, before it starts getting to me. So as I stood up, I knew I had to let her know this.
"Okay, stop doing this." I stated, seeing her turn back around.
"Doing what?" She replied, keeping up the cold exterior.
"That!" I basically shouted. "One minute I feel like you hate me, the next I'm like your best friend. I can't keep up."
"I didn't ask you to." She replied, after taking a few seconds to think.
"You didn't ask me to." I sighed loudly, shaking my head lightly. "Wow."
"Plus, this isn't your business. Even if I-
"Isn't my business?" I retorted, raising my voice. Now this, this is getting on my nerves. "Well maybe stop sharing it with me, if it's not my business."
"Alright, fine. That was my mistake." She replied, rolling her eyes. "But this, I didn't ask to see you today, you decided that. This mistake wasn't mine."
"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm just responsible and mature enough to realise we both needed it." I replied back, rather angrily.
"You think I need you that much?" She shouted back, as tears threatened to fall. She took a second to breathe, calm down a little, before speaking up again. "Trust me, I can go far longer without you."
"Alright then, try a week." I finally said, in reply to her cold response. "I wanted to ask if you'll go with me to shoot for our next music video. But seeing as you neither need nor like me, I guess that's off the table."
"Good, I wouldn't want to go anyways." She replied bitterly. She then turned back around, not wanting to face me. "It'll just be another mistake I'd make."
"I guess.... I'll see you in a week then." I replied, hoping she would turn back around, and take back what she said. But no. She must really mean it.
"Yeah, I guess so."
I paused for a minute, after she said that. I hoped maybe, just maybe, she would turn around, and apologise, regretting everything. But after no response, I nodded my head, giving a defeated sigh.
I walked away from her, towards the door. Hearing no objections, I put on my shoes and opened the door. I picked up my umbrella, and after looking back at Ae-Young once more, I walked out the door.
I shut it behind me, and just stayed put. I didn't have the heart to walk away just yet. I leaned my head against the door, closing my eyes, as I replayed the conversation in my head. I replayed it over, and over and over again, until it pained me to think about it any longer.
I was there for maybe a minute or two, not much more, before I heard a sudden outburst of crying. It was Ae-Young. I felt a huge pang at my heart, far worse than anything I've felt prior. I could hear her sobbing uncontrollably, and I desperately wanted to go inside to comfort her.
But I know better than to do that, by now. She doesn't want to see me. To be honest, it feels like she doesn't want anything to do with me right now. I listened closer, once I heard her mumbling to herself.
I heard her cursing herself out, followed with the feeling of pain, confusion and regret. I could hear her questioning herself, asking why she did that. Whatever that was.
Even though I felt she was being completely unreasonable back there, my heart broke for her. She seems so conflicted. I don't understand what's going on with her, and I only wish she would tell me.
I was just about to knock on the door again, because at this point, I had completely given in to her. I didn't care how mad I was at her right now. And trust me I was mad, fuming even. But at that moment, nothing else mattered, only her. I would've went on in too, had someone not shown up.
I heard footsteps behind me, and quickly they came to a hault once I had turned around. She seemed slightly shocked to see me, I wouldn't blame her, but recovered quickly.
"You're Min Yoongi, Ae-Young's soulmate...." She stated, which honestly stunned me at first. But then I realised, this must be the friend Ae-Young had been talking about. Ae-Young. I quickly turned back to the door, worried about her again, before turning back.
"Is that Ae-Young, crying?" Her friend asked. I think her name was Soomin, if I'm remembering correctly. I nodded my head lightly, looking down, not able to meet her eyes. "Is she alright?"
"We....had a fight." I uttered, being as vague as possible.
"The first, ouch." She replied light-heartedly, clearly not knowing the extent of the argument. "Sounds bad, I should probably head in, you know, check in on her."
"Yeah, please." I quickly replied, moving away from the door. "Make sure she's okay, when I'm gone."
I didn't wait for a reply, but instead just began to walk away. I watched as Soomin knocked on the door. I began to slowly walk down the stairs, but stayed close enough to see Ae-Young's door opening.
I managed to catch a glimpse of the tear-stricken Ae-Young, as she jumped into her friend's arms, sobbing quietly. It took all my might to walk away from this. But, I knew I had to.
I walked down the stairs, once again replaying the conversation in my mind. It was like putting a song on repeat, which can go one of two ways. You can either have a deeper appreciation for it, listening to the real reason behind the lyrics, with all the hidden meanings. Or, you can pick and critique it.
Right now, I'm in-between. I can't help but be hard on myself, despite deep down knowing I'm not entirely in the wrong. I can't help but feel like there must have been something I did wrong, to make Ae-Young react the way she did.
But at the same time, I know that Ae-Young's behavior wasn't as straight forward and cold as it seemed. I know there's something else to it. What what that something is, I honestly don't know.
As of right now, I can do nothing to help her. I can only hope her friend, can do that for me.
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A/N
So here's the thing about Ae-Young, the poor girl. She seems like, a bit of a bad person let's say, currently. I think you could agree. But we have to remember, she has a promise to keep, and that influence her mother has on her, it seems to be clouding her better judgement.
Let me ask you this, if you were in her position, how do you think you would have handled this? To be honest, for me, I don't think I'd have handled it much differently.... But let me know your thoughts-!
On another note, guys.....we're at 8K reads AND 400+ votes-?! Wow, this is crazy. I say it every time, but I truly cannot believe how much this has grown. Thank you all so much for the love and support~!!
I purple you, stay safe ARMY~! 💜💜