WHEN YONGNAM INITIALLY WOKE UP this morning he didn't know that he'd be sitting behind the counter of his restaurant with a near broken hand and an equally broken heart.
(forgive the cliche but the man is depressed—he can't really think of anything clever enough because, to put it simply, he's hurting)
He didn't expect a worker of his to come onto him, didn't expect an ex, a former friend to also come on to him. And what he didn't expect most of all, was his girlfriend (the beautiful, kind, loving girl of his freaking dreams) to show up.
What was currently going through his mind, you may be wondering.
(i'll tell you)
Nothing. At all.
To be quite honest, he really didn't understand anything that was currently happening.
All he knew was that the girl that he is irrevocably in love with was currently looking up at him with wide wide eyes that look like they've got the stars in them.
(from what he can tell in this barely there dim lighting—that even with the worst filter she's still the prettiest girl in the world)
His heart is pounding, pulse racing in his ears.
(he knows he's sweating buckets, knows that he is being uncharacteristically quiet and that she's still staring, eyes burning with a fire that is smothering him physically)
The next thing he knows, he's yanking Tzuyu up by her hand, pressing her into him and breathing her in.
He can feel her heartbeat thumping against his chest, thudding loud (his heart picks up the second that her hand slides down his chest—warm and soft with the heat radiating from her entire being).
"What," his voice comes out soft and full of wonder. "Are you doing here?"
She giggles against his shoulder. "What? Blown away by my beauty? Shocked I'm this attractive in real life?"
"Contrary to belief," he huffs out. "You are not that pretty."
She gasps in surprise. "You are so terrible."
"In fact," he bites his lip, arms wrapping around her shoulder, pulling her in tighter. "Why didn't you bring Sana? Now that girl, talk about wow, never seen someone that gorgeous in my entire twenty-odd years of life—" Before he can even finish the sentence, she digs her heel into his foot and he groans. "Babe, ow."
"Oh I'm sorry." She raises an eyebrow, and frowns against his shoulder, lips pulled in a thin line. "Am I suddenly babe because one Minatozaki Sana is not here?"
"Pretty sure you'd be babe if she was here okay?"
"Mm-hmm." She just snorts. "You say that now." Her arms wrap around his waist and for a moment they are still.
She's breathing him in and he's breathing her in and if he's being honest, he's more calm then he's ever been. Can't really tell if it's because of Tzuyu, or because of her scent (he briefly rolls his eyes because he sounds like a creep) but she smells like citrus and while he doesn't know how to pinpoint it, she smells like warmth, and safety and home rolled into one entity.
"I'd say it forever." His voice comes out a little pinched, with an underlaying of sincerity and just a tad bit of hurt.
"I know you would silly boy." She tsk's out, completely unfazed. And he thinks he falls in love with her a little more. "Which is good, because I'd like to hear it forever." There's a high vibrancy to her voice, and Yongnam wants to thank whatever god is out there because he knows he's difficult. He knows he can sometimes be a lot to handle, but every single time that he lets even the slightest bit of insecurity show she immediately squanders everything.
Wherein he is the mess in the relationship, and sometimes he can barely breathe but not her. No not her at all, in those moments, she thrives.
In the cheesiest way possible, he completes her, and she completes him.
He can feel himself shaking slightly, knows that she knows he's unsure of himself and what to do.
He feels her arm come up, a caress of fingers that sends a shiver up his back and he belatedly realizes that she's shaking slightly so he pulls away immediately. He's slipping his jacket off, placing it around her shoulders, and he watches her slip her arms through the piece of clothing with a small smile.
He can barely see her, squinting to get a look at her in the dim light around them. He glances up at the restaurant and pulls her close, gesturing to the building. "You want to go in? Probably be a lot warmer." He huffs out softly.
"I dunno," she's wrapping her arm around his waist, head resting in the crook of his neck and his ears begin to burn. "I'm pretty warm like this Oppa. In your arms, it feels nice."
He nervously chuckles, "why are you so good at this huh?"
She snorts. "Why are you so bad huh?"
"I resent that."
"I don't," he can feel her grin against his chest. "It just means that you can't smooth talk other girls."
"What other girls?"
She gasps sarcastically. "Right answer wow."
He just rolls his eyes and begins to push unlock the front door, pulling away from Tzuyu briefly. He steps inside hand moving to turn on the light, when she rushes into him, arms securing themselves around his neck. His automatically go to wrap around her waist, and he knows she's on her tiptoes, face nearly level with his own.
"Oppa," she's right in front of his face now, the heat from her body and the warmth of her breath are burning into him. "I'm really happy that I'm here with you."
"I, I am too, I really am."
Yongnam's heart starts racing and he knows that Tzuyu is staring up at him with wide wide eyes and all of sudden she's leaning in—
Flick.
(the lights turn on)
—and then she stops.
"Oppa, why do you..." she pulls her arms from around his neck and her eyes are flickering over his mouth. Her face creases and she nods before she looks away.
Yongnam opens his mouth. "Wha—"
"—It's okay, I get it." She moves away from him, arms wrapping around herself and his arms fall to his sides.
"Tzuyu—"
(and this is when yongnam's heart flies up and settles deeply in his throat—and a burning feeling places itself in his gut—he can feel pain begin to claw its way in his chest, taking hold of his entire being and ripping it in two)
She pushes open his front door, standing in the doorway now. "Do I mean something to you?"
She pauses, eyes staring directly into his.
(she's got a foot out the door—half of her body in the restaurant the other half outside—and yongnam's body is burning, mind reeling and thoughts racing—leaving leaving leaving she's le a v i—)
"Of course," he chokes out, completely confused by what's happening.
She just stared at him, warm starry eyes suddenly black and obsidian like a sky with nothing in it left to shine. "Are you sure?" Her voice is harsh, guarded and suddenly it's months before when she was yelling at him for talking incredibly bad about Sungjin.
"Of course I'm sure, Tzuyu what the hell." His voice is rough, laced with displeasure and he sees her lips pull further into a frown. "How could you even ask that?"
(she doesn't look convinced—even more closed off and—leaving she's leaving just like everyone l e av—)
"The evidence," she bites out and all the walls he tore down, are suddenly right back up. Her tone is brisk and upset and he's afraid he's lost. "Is real Yongnam-sshi."
"What evidence? I thought we were in a relationship? Weren't we together? Wasn't it—"
"—a way to pass the time? A complete and total waste?" He winces, heart tearing in two (and wow is this what heartbreak is? this whole feeling that breaks you the moment everything goes south).
"That's exactly what it was." she continues, and she's staring at him now, with a soulless face, eyes not mad or sad just dull and lifeless. "Just some advice, Yongnam-sshi. The next time you are with someone, and you decide to cheat, if you don't want them to know, make sure she's not wearing lipstick that stains your mouth."
She says it with a finality to her voice, and Yongnam realizes what's going on. He reaches for her arm and she immediately snaps. "Don't touch me."
His hand falls from her body immediately and he tried to speak. "Tzuyu—"
She continues walking, ignoring him completely.
(and his mind begins to run—leaving leaving leaving leaving leaving leaving—gone gone gone gone gone gone—not coming back not coming back not co m i n g
b
a
c
k
n
e
v
e
r
)
((he makes it to the kitchen and then it all goes downhill from there))
🥢
Ahyoung wakes up at 9:47 in the morning to pee.
Something that has become a natural occurrence now that she is so close to her due date, mere days away from the expected time frame of the birth of her child.
(no she won't tell you the gender quit asking goodness)
She's trying to situate herself off the bed, frowning this way and that as she tries to sit up, ankles swollen. Her hand reaches out to Mark for the briefest moment, pausing and retracting before she can shake him awake.
It takes a few minutes but she's able to wiggle her way off the bed, landing on her feet.
She grabs her phone when it vibrates more than likely just an app reminding her to breathe and what to do in case she goes into labor.
She waddles her way into the bathroom, frowning when her ankles pulse. There swollen and recently she doesn't like moving much.
Her eyes roam her stomach and she turns to the side, amazed at the bulge growing.
Her phone vibrates again and she tilts her head, reaching for the device she placed on the counter.
It's a text message from Gikwang, one that was sent around 11 but she was sure she was in bed by then.
Nam never came home just letting you know.
There's another from two but it's from Yongnam.
Safe. Restaurant. Don't worry.
And then just recently one from Bambam and one from Gikwang.
Hey, Bambam's going to Nam's place. Apparently Tzuyu surprised him but he hadn't cleaned up so he still had Kyungri's lipstick on.
Ahyoung winces at that before moving to read the message from Bambam.
I'm going to murder your brother.
She huffs a laugh before she calls Bambam.
He picks up on the second ring.
"I'm on my way to kill him."
"Can you pick me up first? I'd like to be there also."
"Why?"
"So that you listen to him and let him explain."
"There is literally no explanation for that at all—"
"—it was Kyungri, Bam-ah." He goes silent. "She was at his apartment yesterday because of Seunghoon and she did something stupid. You know how he feels about her."
"...I want to hear it from him." There's another pause. "I'll be by in twenty to get you."
"Oh goodness."
🥢
Thirty-five minutes later the two of them are in front of Yongnam's restaurant.
"Please let him explain," Ahyoung begins, rubbing her stomach as she pulls her keys out and unlocking the front door. "Before you jump to major conclusions."
Bambam's tapping his foot. "I will, I'm not a hot head. Just be happy it's me and not Jackson-Hyung because he was mad enough about it. And her members too, like I'm here as the representative for JYP basically okay?"
"Listen," Ahyoung pushes open the door, turning on the lights. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't freak on him. Oppa can be very–oh my god."
She blinks, taking in the restaurant, surveying the surroundings. While the front is clean, Ahyoung can see shattered plates and broken bottles on the counter and the floor.
"Oh no, you stupid boy." She groans before making her way towards the counter. "Oppa, are you o—Kang Yongnam, what did you do to your hand?!"
Bambam's furious demeanor slips off almost immediately and he rushes to the counter. "What, what's wrong?"
"Please don't yell." He mumbled out.
"Are you hungover? How much did you drink?"
"I dunno, like nine bottles of soju."
"By yourself! Oppa, you could die!" She shrieked out. She took a deep breath. "Bambam go to the kitchen, grab the first aid kit for me please?"
He nodded walking back and Ahyoung huffs. "Are you an idiot?"
"M'not."
"You could've fooled me. Your entire hand is red, and," she lifts it and watches as he winces. "I'm not a medical professional, but it looks like you have demolished your hand."
"I'm going to text someone, find a doctor or or something."
"Yeah see if we can get a doctor for a home visit please."
Bambam nods, fingers working on his phone rapidly. "So, how'd you fuck up?"
"Bambam." Ahyoung frowns.
He just shrugs and Yongnam snorts, lackluster, before staring at Bambam with red eyes.
"Last night, I was talking to Ahyoung and Gikwang about how I fucked up with Tzuyu. Didn't know how to tell her I wanted to meet her but just not yet because I wasn't ready. I went to leave, needed to go home and sleep it off, but while I was leaving Yuju, she, she told me she could give me everything Tzuyu couldn't."
"Wait, she knows?"
"Yeah, said she'd known for a while." He chuckles.
"She hit on you too, wow."
"Anyways, I told her to take some time off work. I didn't want to fire her because I know she needs this job. I went home and there was someone outside my place and it was Kyungri and she was crying because, well because Seunghoon finally left her. Evidentially he was cheating for months and just, up and went."
"Oh really?" Bambam prods and Yongnam just nods, looking aimlessly forward and Ahyoung cleans the counter.
"Yeah I know. I invited her inside, but I mean, she's pregnant I couldn't just leave her out there. She just, she apologized to me about everything that happened and then she just, she kissed me. I, uh, pushed her away and left, called Ahyoungie and Gikwang as soon as it happened. I think, I uh, I drove around for a while before I showed up at the restaurant. I know that I ended up there though and I saw her, I didn't know who she was at first, was terrified that it was Yuju was even more terrified that it was Kyungri but it wasn't it was Tzuyu. It was, was freaking the love of my life and I got to see her, for a few minutes and hold her and talk to her and then it just, it fell apart from there. She was gone, leaving she left. I didn't get to explain anything at all." He sniffs, wiping his face with his other hand. "I just started drinking."
"And the broken, everything?"
"Couldn't breathe, wasn't thinking, was just so angry." His voice is coming out hoarse, breath ragged.
Ahyoung attempts to sit in front of him. "I need you to breathe for me. In, out, in, out." She's caressing his arm, drawing circles on his skin to pull his concentration there. "We're having a boy ya know?"
"What?"
"The baby, it's a boy. We found out so long ago and I never told you guys but it's a boy."
Yongnam's staring at her and his breath is evening out suddenly. "Seriously?"
She nods. "You know his Korean name will be Kang, I was partial to naming him Namjoon but I think that's because I still want to marry Kim Namjoon with all my heart."
Bambam lets out a snort.
"But I want to stick with Nam because I want my baby boy to grow up, reassuring and sweet and everything that his namesake is ya know? I want him to treasure everyone he loves because his uncle is that exact way."
Yongnam's staring at her with wide eyes. "Thanks."
"I'm just telling you the truth." She grins.
Bambam sighs. "You know, you're a handful Hyung."
"Sorry Bambam. I know I promised I wouldn't hurt her and I still did."
"Well, I'm not entirely sure what to say to that ya know?" He sighed.
Ahyoung's phone buzzes and she watches as Yongnam stands. He moved to help her up, carefully not leaving his sprained hand. Bambam's phone buzzes and so does Yongnam's. There's a brief moment where it's silent and she grabs her cellphone from the counter. Yongnam places a hand against his head, blinking and groaning as the world goes a little wild.
However before she can read them, her phone begins to buzz erratically somehow receiving up to twenty texts over the span of thirty seconds.
She hears Bambam's phone hit the same tempo, multiple different noises going off, notification after notification popping up.
"Oh my god."
Yongnam blinked, frowning as Bambam moved to shut the blinds to the restaurant. "What? What's the matter?"
Bambam's eyebrows lifted and Ahyoung blinked when her phone buzzed with an incoming text from Mark.
Where are you?
She replied instantly. Oppa's restaurant.
Ahyoung gasped when he replied.
Yongnam turned, hands bracing himself against the counter and Bambam turned towards the television, turning it on before flipping through a few channels, sighing when he found the one he was looking for.
"Jinyoung-hyung told me to look at this."
Ahyoung groaned. "It's number three on Naver."
When Yongnam turned, eyes finding the television, he snapped upwards immediately. Bright as day and crystal clear, was a picture of him with his arms wrapped firmly around Tzuyu's waist, bodies close.
A caption ran across the screen.
Dispatch Reveals: TWICE Tzuyu in relationship with label-mate's brother-in-law.
Yongnam turned towards his sink and threw up.
+ well isn't this interesting.... I apologize everyone this story lost its way somewhere lmao. i will continue it and it will be finished sometime soon I promise !!!! anyways, another plug for a bts collective story I have. just a brief nods though, you need to read the epigraph cause its gonna be a little raw okay. anyways let me know what you guys think of this chapter, there's only like one or two chapters left, only because there is only so far this story can go lmao see y'all next time !!!!
bye bye 💕