"Are you okay?" I ask.
He looks down at his hands rested on his lap, nibbling on his bottom lip anxiously. He looks up at me, catching my gaze.
"I'm alright." He forcefully smiles. "I'm just glad we found out before it went too far." He chuckles quietly.
"I'm really sorry, Taehyung. You deserve better than that. That wasn't fair." I sigh, patting his back gently for reassurance.
"It's okay. Really." He smiles. "I think I was just too excited, I got caught up in the fact that someone seemed interested in me. So I went with it. I know now to be careful next time." He laughs innocently, his eyes sparkling as they look into mine.
I purse my lips sympathetically and pull him in for a hug, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He hugs me back, resting his chin in the crook of my neck, his arms around my torso.
I whisper in his ear, "You're an amazing, kind, beautiful soul, Taehyung. And I promise you that any woman would be lucky to have you." I pull away, my hands gripped firmly on either side of his upper arms, forcing him to look me in the eye.
"And you are extremely handsome!" He blushes and looks away, but I shake him lightly to gain his attention back.
"You need to love yourself. Find your confidence. And don't settle for any woman who comes your way giving you a little attention. Be picky! You deserve that much." I laugh, pulling away from him and resting back into the couch.
He laughs with me, nodding his head.
"I will. Thank you, Willow." He smiles bashfully. His face falls suddenly and looks back at me. "Do you know what's happening with her? Is she going to leave us alone?" He asks.
I fidget slightly in my seat. "Uh, not exactly. My... Friend... Hasn't updated me on the situation just yet." I avoid his gaze.
"They said they'll call me." I say quickly, a little nervous laugh escaping my throat.
Taehyung hums, seeming to buy the story. I subtly pull my phone halfway out of my pocket, just enough to see the screen and check if I have any texts or missed calls from Jin, but again, nothing.
Just as I'm about to slide it back into my pocket, I feel it vibrate in my hand, and my eyes shoot down at the screen. My heart thumps violently in my chest.
Sexy Asshole: Come to my house.
Oh fuck. Here it is. The long, 3 day awaited answer. I stuff my phone away, and quickly stand up.
"I gotta go, my Dad needs me urgently." I say hastily. Taehyung looks up at me, a little surprised, but nods his head, smiling. I smile back and dart out of his house, making my way to Jin's.
It doesn't take me long to get to Jin's house. I walk up to the gate, and press the buzzer. It clicks open almost immediately and I march inside, taking long strides. My heart is pounding in my chest, blood rushing to my face in anxiety. My stomach is flipping repeatedly, wondering what the outcome is, what Jin did, what happened.
Jin is already at the glass front door by the time I reach it. His face is stoic, blank and emotionless. He barely looks at me as he opens the door. I look up at him, searching his face, but there's nothing.
"Come in." He says, barely above a whisper as he turns his back to me, walking inside.
We walk to the couches, and Jin sits in a chair opposite me, almost as if he's attempting to stay as far from me as possible.
I swallow hard, clasping my hands together tightly on my lap, my heart beating loudly in my ears.
"So? What happened?" I speak up, breaking the silence in the room.
Jin sits still in the chair, one leg rested over the other, with both of his hands gripped to the higher knee. His eyes focused on anything but me.
"She'll leave you alone." He says bluntly.
"She will? How do you know?" I ask eagerly.
"I just know."
I frown, scoffing quietly.
"How, Jin?" I ask broadly. He purses his lips in a straight line, taking a deep, uncomfortable breath
"I had to do some things I'm not proud of. But rest assured, she will not bother you from now on." He responds, almost robotic-like.
"What is this?" I snap. He looks up at me for the first time.
"What is what?"
"This." I retort, moving my arms up and down in the air, tracing his body. Gesturing towards his attitude.
"I don't know what you mean." His eyes fall from mine, looking back down at his own hands.
"Yes you do." I scoff. "You got rid of her, she's out of our lives. That's a good thing. We should be jumping for joy. But why does it seem like you've just received the worst news of your life?" I ramble.
It's silent.
Jin unhooks his leg from the other and puts it back on the ground, running a hand through his hair in frustration. I watch him, confused, my heart beginning to pang with pain.
"What is it, Jin?" I almost yell, my breath hitching slightly at the last word, a lump forming in my throat. He lets out a deep breath, gripping tightly on the arm rest with one hand.
"We can't do this anymore, Willow."
I stand from the couch.
"Can't do what?" I choke.
"You know what." His eyes still refuse to meet mine.
"No. Say it." I demand, my breathing ragged. He grips tighter on the armrest.
"This. Us. It needs to stop." He blurts out with a raised voice.
"Why?" I desperately try to hold back my tears. But my heart feels like it's being ripped out of my chest. My hands are wound tightly into balls of fists by my sides, my nails digging into the skin of my palm.
"God, Willow..." He sighs angrily. He stands from the couch and paces around the room.
He stops in the middle of the room and looks at me. My eyes are glassy, my vision blurry with unshed tears, my lips pursed as I stare at him, trying not to break down.
"This was never a good idea in the first place. You're one of my students. What we were doing was highly inappropriate...." He trails off. His face is contorted in anger and regret.
I'm looking at a man who only a short while ago confessed his love for me, who now is looking right through me, seemingly unfazed by the pain he's causing me.
"Do you understand what I've done to achieve my career? How hard I've worked, how I've shed blood, sweat and tears to get to where I am today?" He yells.
He lets out a breathy chuckle of disbelief. "And I nearly threw that all away." He sighs, sitting back down in the chair.
He pinches the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "This is why this needs to end, Willow. Everything I've ever worked for nearly became obsolete. We nearly got caught." He lets out a breath, shaking his head.
"And I can't let that happen."
I sniff back my tears and let everything sink in for a moment, before opening my mouth.
"So, it's all about you?" I quip. He looks up at me, his brows furrowed.
"Wh-" He's about to speak, but I cut him off. Bubbling, rising heat pools in my chest, threatening to explode.
"Do you not think I took a risk too? That I would not be affected if our relationship was exposed?" I tilt my head, squinting my eyes.
"What do you think would have happened if my Dad found out? That his only daughter, his last remaining family member was fucking her teacher?" I spit. "Our relationship would never be the same." His eyes burn into mine.
"And everyone at the school? I'd be a pariah. I'd be expelled, I'd have no future because no university would take me after that. They'd all assume I was doing it to get better grades." I begin to spit out angrily and rapidly.
"But I took that fucking risk because I wanted to. I didn't wake up one morning and think 'Oh yeah, I'll go fuck my literature teacher, because, why the hell not? New country, new me and all that'" I sarcastically yell.
He sighs, dropping his head.
"I fell in love with you. I didn't want to. I tried not to, but I couldn't stop it." I trail off, tears beginning to form again, anger slowly pushing itself down, and hurt and upset rising back up in its place.
"And for you to stand there, look me dead in the eye and rant on about how this all affects you, and only you?" I say shakily.
"That isn't love." I breathe painfully.
I stare at him, but he doesn't speak. He doesn't look at me. He continues to look down at the ground. I sigh and turn around towards the hall.
"Willow-" He calls me, I turn around and glare at him. And he stops himself from saying what he was going to say.
"You're a fucking asshole." I quip viciously, and I turn back around, quickly walking out of the house.
A/N: Stream Love Me Again by Tae :')