Jennie
"So you should've said that!" I counter. "I could have handled it."
Taehyung lets out a breathy laugh. "Right."
"I could!" His scepticism makes me stubborn. "I would've taken that over standing at the altar waiting for someone who never showed up!"
"Settle down." Taehyung murmurs.
I realize then, that people are looking at us. I'm making a scene. Again.
Crazy lady in aisle two. I should have never taken this assignment. I should have never left my bed. At least then I wouldn't be sitting side by side with Taehyung, having this conversation.
"Look..." Taehyung sighs. "After I left you... I went to Los Angeles."
"Good for you." I say blandly. I don't want to hear this story. I don't care. Still, maybe out of habit or politeness, I ask, "How'd that go?"
"Terrible. I couldn't even land a single audition."
"Sounds like life was really hard for you after you left me." Not that I'm preening or anything. "I'm sorry to hear that."
"The truth is... I didn't belong there." Oh no. His hand is on my thigh now. Those blue eyes look into mine intensely, and I feel that fluttering sensation in my chest. "I belong right here. With you, Jennie."
Cue dry lips, and a tight throat. I take a sip from my coffee to distract myself, but my hands are shaking, and a little a bit of the liquid dribbles over the side of the cup and onto the saucer.
"You can't just... say that." I tell him.
"I can. And I did."
"No, I mean..." I lift my hand. "You can't come crawling back to me just because your first plan didn't work the way you wanted it to. I'm not your plan B. I don't want to be the woman that you settle for, just because your pursuit for fame didn't work out."
The edge of his mouth tucks away into the corner. "Please. We were both settling."
Now my mouth is agape. "Excuse me!?"
"Jennie. Don't pretend that this is all my fault. You were so in love with the idea of being married, you would've said yes to the first person who got down on a knee for you."
"That's not true!"
Taehyung sighs and leans back in his chair, as though my inability to see things his way is positively exhausting. "You were obsessed with the idea of having a perfect wedding. You showed me your wedding dream book on our third date."
"I'm a wedding planner. Of course I have a dream book. You said that you thought it was creative."
"Yes. A creative way to rearrange your mania. Face it, buttercup. You were never in love with me. You were in love with the idea of getting married. And I was just the right pretty face at the right time."
"But you proposed..."
"Yes. Because you kept pointing out wedding bands that you liked."
My mouth falls open, but no words come out. "I... pressured you into a wedding?"
"You want to be married. You didn't get it and now... you've learned from it. It was a learning experience. For the both of us. Ok, so why don't you just take that me, leaving you at the altar was also just a learning experience?"
A learning experience. The way he says it, it's like he did me a favour by leaving me at the altar, only to come racing back into my life a year later.
Taehyung reaches out and takes my hand. A smile cuts across his mouth. "Come on. What do you say? Perhaps the second time is the charm... now that you already have this learning experience out of the way."