"Let go of me!" I shouted with all my might as I tried to peel his hand off me.
At that moment, he looked slightly taken aback by my outburst, so he slowly released my hand and raised his hands up in defeat. But his dark gaze still fixed on me, appraising me from head to toe, a trace of disappointment evident in his eyes.
"Where have you been, Jinhee? I've been waiting for your call..." he said calmly after he had blown out a breath. He still looked bewildered by this unexpected meeting as he cemented his gaze on me, looking at every of my features for confirmation.
"What call?" I furrowed my brows in confusion as I rubbed my skin where he just touched. It was literally burning. My heart pounded hard whenever his dark eyes burned into mine. There were too much of emotions twirling in his dark eyes. Pain. Longing. Anxiousness. And once again, disappointment.
He wrapped his face once and cupped his mouth with one hand, another hand on his waist. For a brief moment, he walked off to the corner to shut off what seemed like a camera recorder. Was he recording something before I came in?
"I thought you said I'd need to pay the price for beating out that guy, so I was waiting for any calls, hoping to see you again." He said seriously as he turned around to face me again. His voice sounded familiar, just like the deep voice that never failed to insert itself in my senses. "My company has been keeping eye on me, so I couldn't find the chance to search for you–"
"I'm sorry to say this, but are you out of your mind? You're waiting for Ray to sue you just so you can meet me?" I chuckled and shook my head in incredulousness. "And why do you think I'd want to meet you after you hurt my boyfriend?" I asked him as a matter of factly.
But after I mentioned about Ray, I saw how his expression turned even darker that I had all the urge to run away from there. He looked angry, and the image of him beating out Ray on that night flashed into my mind's feed, terrifying me as I was left alone in this room with him.
"Can we not mention about that guy?" he said, his voice reverberated darkly as his brown eyes pierced into mine.
Even though his dark aura intimidated me, I didn't know what kind of demon was possessing me because I found myself crossing my arms and taking a few steps toward him, closing our distance.
"Then I'd ask the same. Don't call me Jinhee ever again." I retorted with full of authority as I looked straight into his eyes daringly.
My words seemed to trigger the last string in him because I saw his jaw tightened and he shut his eyes out of anger. Taking a sharp intake of breath, he suddenly grabbed my shoulders and slightly shook me, as if trying to instill some sense into my mind.
"Jinhee, can we please stop with all these pretense?" he softly pleaded, his dark brown eyes turned teary because he looked like he was so done holding back his impending emotions.
"Look," I paused as I tried to remember his name but it didn't take long because a familiar sweet voice whispered at the back of my mind. It's Taehyung. Kim Taehyung.
"I'm not pretending, Kim Taehyung-ssi. I don't know what happened in the past involving you and Kim Jinhee, but do me a favor could you? Keep me out of this, because like I said, I'm Kwon Mia," I corrected him adamantly.
I didn't flinch from any of his action because I didn't want to show that I was scared of him. Even though I felt uncomfortable whenever he was near me, I held back, because I wanted to put an end in everything between us so badly. I didn't want to see him again.
For a couple of minutes, he just stared at me in disbelief. Then he backed off and sat on the bed, laughing out bitterly. "Do you know how hard I have searched for you? At that time when I woke up and had to find out you weren't by my side... Even now... Don't forget me so easily, God dammit!" He shouted out in frustration as he knocked the lampshade angrily to the ground.
Upon witnessing his violence, I found myself taking a step back in fear. His chest heaved up and down violently as he grabbed his head in distress. There was a moment of silence before he slowly looked up at me, and I saw the look of guilt was there for me, probably he noticed that I was petrified by this whole situation.
He raked his hair back before he stood up and tried to slowly approach me. "Jinhee... I'm sorry–"
"Stay away," I uttered out in a quiet voice as I repelled myself from him.
"Jinhee–"
"I told you I'm not Jinhee! I'm Kwon Mia!" I shouted out in livid because hearing his voice only frustrated me. Every single time when I heard his deep voice echoed in my head, it only drove every ounce of my sanity away. I didn't want him near me. Why couldn't he just understand that and leave me alone?
"Kwon Mia was my ex-girlfriend and she's dead."
Upon hearing that declaration from him, I snapped up to look at him in surprise. "W-what?"
"Kwon Mia was my ex-girlfriend. She died right in front of my eyes six years ago. So, forgive me if I can't accept when you said that you are Kwon Mia, because I still remember it, very vividly, how her red blood had covered my whole past," he uttered out in a serene demeanor, but overwhelming sadness was evident in his brown eyes.
Was that why his expression darkened whenever he heard my name? He looked like he had been writhing in agony for so long. The painful semblance in his sad eyes told me something—that a catastrophic event had happened to Kim Jinhee too because he looked so dead, inside and out.
"How can I believe you when you're just a mere stranger to me? I can't trust you. You're probably just trying to confuse me," I voiced out as I didn't want to beat around the bush anymore. It could just be a pure coincidence that Kwon Mia and I happened to carry the same name. I crossed my arms as I eyed him quizzically. "Besides, you don't have the proof that I was Kim Jinhee."
"The butterfly tattoo on your right shoulder,"
My heartbeat stopped when I heard that declaration from him. I tried to conceal my bewilderment, I wanted to pretend that his words didn't affect me at all, but I couldn't help repulsing myself away from him as icy chills covered down my spine, disabling my whole movement.
"Those three capitals, KTH, is my initials, Kim. Tae. Hyung. In other words, even if you don't have any memories of me, you're still mine, Kim Jinhee." He continued as the passion in his dark gaze was unwavering and intense.
For every word that he uttered out, he took a step closer to me. Now I couldn't back away anymore because he had me trapped against the door. I gulped nervously as I couldn't look anywhere else but only at his beautiful features. At that moment, I couldn't seem to locate my brain or my voice anymore. I was completely fazed by his words...or probably because of our proximity.
For a couple of minutes, I just continued looking at him in shocking silent as I couldn't believe that he knew about the butterfly tattoo on my shoulder. I had been wondering about it for the past four years, and at that moment, Taehyung was the first one to acknowledge the existence of the butterfly tattoo. For four years, it remained as an unsolved mystery, but he just simply solved it within in a second.
When I only honored his statement with silence, he slightly backed off and gave me some space to breathe. I didn't even realize I was subconsciously holding onto my breath, but when I saw him slowly unbuttoned his white dress shirt and removed it from his toned body, I let out an incredulous gasp.
"What are you trying to do–"
He didn't bother looking at my reaction as he slightly turned around and angled his shoulder towards me. "And these initials, KJH, is your name, Kim Jinhee. As long as I have this tattoo on me, my heart will only beat for you." He said genuinely as the strong emotions in his eyes were unreadable that I was momentarily stunned.
I took my time to study the blue-turquoise butterfly tattoo on his left shoulder, but the longer I looked at it, I started to feel silent panic flooding inside me. I clutched onto my chest when I felt the unpleasant sensation insisted in my stomach.
Because his tattoo looked exactly the same like mine.
This shouldn't be happening. This butterfly tattoo only proved that I was Kim Jinhee, that I was wearing a fake identity all along—that I wasn't Kwon Mia.
Despite his mercurial action and his authentic words, I struggled inhaling to gather my thoughts. I valiantly attempt to calm down and to find the right words to say. He wouldn't know about the butterfly tattoo unless I showed it to him. The subtle insecurity in his brown eyes told me that he was hoping I had that butterfly tattoo. He wasn't certain that I also had that tattoo on me.
So, I just shook my head and feigned an apologetic smile at him. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what tattoo you're talking about, Kim Taehyung-ssi. Because as far as I am aware, I don't have any tattoo on me," I blurted out in one breath and turned around to open the door, but before I could make any step forward, Taehyung was fast enough to stop me.
"Jinhee, even if you try so hard to change your appearance, your attire, it still doesn't change the fact that you are Kim Jinhee," he confronted me with a meaningful gaze. I furrowed my brows in confusion because I couldn't understand what he meant.
But the disappointment that flickered in his eyes a moment ago came across my mind. So he was upset that I was trying to change myself to not having any traits of Kim Jinhee. But how funny it was, I only had to remove the butterfly tattoo and it would completely erase every trace of Kim Jinhee on me.
"Goodbye Kim Taehyung-ssi," I said in finality as I shoved the paper bag to him and walked out of the room.
"Hyung, why did you end–"
I was startled when a familiar look of a young man appeared from the next room. When he took in my presence there, his doe-shaped eyes widened in shock.
"J-Jinhee noona??"
"Jinhee!"
Upon hearing Taehyung calling my name again, I hastily walked down the hallway to the elevator, ignoring the young man that I recognized as the youngest member of BTS.
K i m T a e h y u n g
I huffed out a frustrated sigh when I had lost Jinhee from my sight once again. Annoyed, I punched the wall next to me.
"Yah, Kim Taehyung, why are you walking around naked? Are you finally out of your mind?" I heard that familiar tone of Park Jimin yelled from behind.
I looked down and only realized that I didn't cover up myself when I was chasing after Jinhee. Indeed, I have become mad shit crazy about her that I didn't care if there were rumors about me walking around naked in this five-star hotel.
"Kim Taehyung, what are you even thinking?" Namjoon hyung came out from his room when he heard Jimin's shouting voice.
"Yah Taehyung, why did you end your V live so sudden? Our fans have blown out the app asking where the hell you went missing!" Jin hyung exclaimed in panic as he approached me with both hands on his waist.
When I turned around, I was confronted by the angry glares from my members, but I was slightly taken aback when I saw Jungkook sent me an accusing look.
"Byuntae." He muttered under his breath as he continued looking at me with a dark look.
I rolled my eyes as I walked passed them with my usual blank expression. Jungkook had probably seen Jinhee here, and with my naked self, I bet his teenage mind was having a wild imagination showdown right now.
I walked into my room, followed by others as they wondered what had happened to me. They were making too much noises that I couldn't have the space to figure out what really happened a moment ago. Jinhee was here. But it really felt like a dream... I closed my eyes and inhaled her lingering sweet fragrance inside the room.
"Jinhee was here," I said, ruffling my hair mindlessly as I sat on the bedside. What was once a chaos has now been replaced with a dead silence.
"What? Jinhee was here?"
"Did she really lose her memories?"
"What did she say?"
I just let out a sigh as they inundated me with bullets of questions. I caught my head as the unfamiliar image of Jinhee flashed into my mind. I almost couldn't recognize her, and I hated that.
"She came to deliver my orders." I pointed to the paper bag with my lips, "And she said she's Kwon Mia. It seems that... she's really forgotten about us."
"Are you really sure she's our Jinhee, Tae? I know this might sound crazy, but what if she's just another... doppelganger?" Jimin squeezed the pillow on his lap and tossed around the bed in uncertainty. He was probably thinking about Mia and Jinhee, and the thought of having another doppelganger somehow scared him.
"I wish everything can be that easy, Jimin..." I chuckled. I'd probably believe in Jimin's theory, if only I didn't witness Jinhee freaking out at the second I mentioned about our couple tattoos. "But no, I'm really sure she's Kim Jinhee."
"Chang Wook hyung had told me before that Jinhee suffered from an amnesia. She can't remember the good memories in her past. That's why she can't remember me as well. We were childhood friends, but she couldn't remember me, while I thought she was Mia all along. It's funny how everything turned out to be a mess." I shook my head as I remembered how confused Jinhee and I were when we found out about the truth.
Because of that, I declined the arranged marriage with her. Because of that, Jinhee thought she was all alone in her depressing childhood. And because of that... Jinhee found out about her doppelganger—Kwon Mia.
"But in the end, you guys still found your way back to each other, right?" Hoseok hyung beamed me a meaningful smile. I couldn't help letting out a huge smile at his words and nodded.
"Yeah. Even now, we met again at another point of life. It's like a miracle." I hung my head low and let out a chuckle.
Everything that had happened recently really had my mind blown away. After four years, I didn't expect to meet Jinhee in the high of our career. I was left speechless at how everything was planned out by something called as Fate.
"Do you guys remember what the forensic team told us about the explosion? They said the results showed that there was no trace of Jinhee's DNA in that abandoned chemical factory, neither did Ki Joon's." I reminded them about the tragic event.
Everyone was alarmed by the name of Ki Joon as their expression turned gloomy the next second. Most of their expression were painted with hatred and anger as we had been putting all the blame on Ki Joon for the explosion. The thought of Ki Joon was still alive scared the hell out of me, and I bet everyone felt the same too. But at that moment, I just wanted to focus on Jinhee. An eerie silence filled the room because the incident had indeed left a huge impact on our past.
"So all these years, you've been holding onto that hope that she'd somehow survive the explosion?" Yoongi hyung asked, a hint of amazement shone in his eyes, as though he meant to say 'you are amazing to hang onto that hope for four years.'
"Yes, hyung. Not that I was being a denial, but I wanted to hold onto that littlest hope that she's still alive. And I was really glad when she appeared right in front of us out of nowhere, it's like the higher power is trying to give us another chance. We did promise Jinhee that we would save her, right? But in the end, we couldn't." Everyone stayed muted as they understood what I meant. It seemed that the last moment with Jinhee would remain intact in our memories as long as we lived. The memory itself was mortifying.
"So, this time, we should make it right. Let's bring back her good memories... Let's save our Jinhee," I suggested as I looked at all of them with hopeful eyes. Everyone exchanged a look at my idea before they turned to me and let out the widest grin ever.
"Game on, Tae." Yoongi hyung smirked proudly at my idea.
"Oh God, everything is giving me goosebumps right now." Jin hyung rubbed his arms as he shivered.
"So, did Jinhee noona's amnesia attacked her again after the explosion? That's why she can't remember anything related to her past." Jungkook let out a small frown as he tried to analyze the situation.
"How about her name? Who gave her name as Kwon Mia? Who's she living with right now? Her boyfriend?" Namjoon hyung asked consecutively.
I gritted my teeth at hearing that 'boyfriend' word being mentioned. Namjoon hyung noticed the change in my expression and smiled apologetically. "Oops, sorry. I didn't mean to ruin your mood, Tae. But we all know that we have to deal with him someday."
"I know..." I simply said and messed up my hair in frustration. "But hyung... I have lost her once, so this time, I won't let her go again." I said as I clenched my fists determinedly.
"Did you get her phone number?" Jimin asked in slight anticipation.
But I just stared at him blankly because I didn't get anything other than a cold goodbye from Jinhee.
Then, I looked at the italic name on the delivery paper bag, and ever so slowly, I grinned so wide that it reached my ears.
"I guess Crepe Café is enough for us to find her."
A u t h o r ' s N o t e
The next seven chapters will be long and adventurous, you know the drill.
Prepare your hearts.
Much love,
ℓynie
»»———— ♡ ————««
T E A S E R
"Hi, my name is Min Yoonji, can we be friends?"
"Yeah sure... but, why are you staring at my shoulder?"