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HEARTBREAK & SORROWS
❝All the promises seem to have faded in yours but the memory still lingers in mine, and it hurts so bad.❞
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KIM TAEHYUNG WAS overjoyed and elated. It had been a long time since he had felt this good. He watched the girl he admired walk away from his car with a pleasant smile on her face and nothing in the whole world could ever compare to the joy he felt at this moment.
She turned to face him and with a smile wherein she bit her lip slightly, she waved at him ecstatically. Taehyung's lips curved widely and he waved back, gesturing at her almost immediately to go back inside.
She nodded and ever so light on her feet, she almost hopped back into her home. Taehyung looked at Olivia who was walking into the house and watched her shut the door after waving him at one last time before she left.
Taehyung couldn't quite exactly phrase what he was feeling. He had never been this happy. It also had been a very long time since he had received any love from any woman. His mother left him when he was just a boy. The woman he dated never caught his eye or had his heart. However, something about Olivia shook him completely.
He associated her with winter. She was as cool as the winter breeze was. She left him shuddering and stunned. He met her at the end of fall, almost at the beginning of the cool winds rushing against the people. He saw her smile against all odds that she faced in the dim lights of the club, drinking her sorrows away. He looked through her to see how deeply wounded she was when the leaves withered away. She opened up to him when the harshest winter winds blew. She held on to him when it hit them hard. He let her be - swallowing her being completely in his warmth and affection. She let herself free completely for him to see her as everything she was when the first snow fell. Beautifully. Lightly. Gracefully.
Was it wrong of him to hope that he could steal her away from the land she was from and take her with him everywhere he went - to capture every smile of the woman he loved and to love her back every single minute of his existence?
For truth being that Taehyung knew he had to leave in another week. He had already overstayed his visit, making lame excuses to himself that he had to examine the documents and look through it carefully, that he had to mingle and interact with the citizens of Androsia to figure out whether trade agreements with this kingdom was a smart idea. In the end, they were all lame excuses he made to himself that he tried so hard to believe - excuses he made just to stay in the presence of Olivia for a little while more.
He had to wrap everything up in less than a week now. His own kingdom needed him back and he had to leave. He had a week more to pursue Olivia's best interests and hope that she'd come with him.
Taehyung drove to the place he was staying with a mind filled with love yet so much worry. He had to close the contract and make a choice to sign the contract by tomorrow. The earlier he made a decision, the better it was.
Park Jimin was at home already. Taehyung had no words to express how grateful he was to his best friend. The man travelled with him at his request and had always looked out for him. He didn't quite get why Jimin did so much for him. Either way, Taehyung knew one thing for sure. He wouldn't have been this satisfied with the life he was living had it not been for him.
"You seem awfully happy," Jimin cringed and Taehyung laughed out loud. "I'll take it that it went well."
Taehyung nodded and walked into his room, sitting at his study almost instantly. Jimin followed him out of sheer curiosity. He watched how Taehyung searched for some file. Jimin wondered what had gotten into his best friend's head. It wasn't every day that Taehyung rushed to his room searching for a file.
He took out the file with the agreement sheets and Jimin looked at him in wonder. He walked closer to Taehyung and asked him, "Are you going to sign the deal?" Jimin leaned over Taehyung's shoulder and looked at the sheets.
Taehyung flipped the page and read through the document. Jimin observed how Taehyung's face remained as stoic as it could possibly get. The room remained eerily silent. The only sound that resonated through the walls was the flipping of the pages and the breathing of the two males in the room.
"And to think I could sign the deal," Taehyung grumbled in annoyance and closed the file as soon as he was done analysing it. Jimin stood beside him folding his arms. Taehyung groaned. His head supported in his hands and he held his hair tightly wondering what to do at this moment.
"Too many flaws in the big plan, I presume," Jimin asked rhetorically. Taehyung's head perked up slightly and he glanced at Jimin. He pushed the file slightly to the edge of the table and stood up.
"Just way too many flaws. It's not even mutually benefitting to Rossa. Not even slightly. If anything, they're diplomatically asking me if I could be their saving grace. How bad is Androsia's economy at the moment honestly, if they almost demanded the whole of the profit from this deal?" Taehyung voiced out in annoyance. He couldn't get why kingdoms didn't do anything to benefit themselves in the first place from their own kingdom as they put their own men to work and strive towards excellence.
Taehyung was proud to rule Rossa. He was proud of how his men worked tirelessly. He was proud of how happy his men were and he was proud of how his people were ready to come to him with their own problems. They treated him with the reverence and love he yearned and he couldn't have asked for anything more than this.
Jimin looked at Taehyung and sat on his bed, supporting his entire body's weight on his hands as he leaned backwards slightly. He watched how Taehyung moved from one corner to another of the room. Jimin knew how much it bothered Taehyung when administration anywhere didn't reach the standards he had set up in his own big head.
"Xavier is drafting up everything for this, isn't he?" Jimin enquired.
Taehyung nodded. He clutched and unclutched his hands firmly as soon as he heard the name. Taehyung angrily muttered, "Gosh, I hate that man. I hate that man so much."
"He seems pretty much incompetent at everything he does," Jimin chuckled slightly. Taehyung sat down next to Jimin and looked at him narrowly.
"He still dated Olivia and hurt her so much." Taehyung sounded absolutely hacked off. Fidgeting with the ends of his long shirt tightly, he muttered again quite boldly, "He couldn't even take care of his woman back then. Should I have expected any better from the same man to have taken care of his kingdom?"
"He must be peeved by you," Jimin wondered. "Just stay on guard. You're on his territory. He could do anything to you."
"Why does this sound almost ominous?" Taehyung chuckled with a genuine glee on his face. "Don't jinx it for me, you imbecile."
"No, I'm just worried. Everything seems so wrong suddenly. Almost as if there is an ill air around us," Jimin glanced at Taehyung worriedly. "Promise me that I'm on your speed dial all the time and that you'll ring me almost instantly when you're in danger."
"Nothing could possibly happen to me, Jiminie. Trust me," Taehyung chuckled. However, everything Taehyung tried to cheer Jimin up was in vain. The handsome man couldn't somehow ease the uneasiness he felt within himself.
"We would have got security with us. You didn't want all formalities. Gosh, you're an idiot at times," Jimin grumbled.
"Still taller than you," Taehyung teased. Jimin's eyebrows perked up and he almost hit him hard on his shoulders. The two men did end up laughing.
Jimin seemed almost instantly nervous however, for in minutes, Taehyung received a call from an unknown number. Jimin's eyebrows widened and Taehyung looked at his phone ringing, nonchalantly.
"Is the number familiar to you?" Jimin asked, as he watched Taehyung stand up to pick up his phone that was lying on the study table.
Taehyung shook his head, "No." He picked up his phone and glanced at Jimin for a minute. Jimin gulped in anxiety and Taehyung felt a shiver run down his spine as he recollected every single word Jimin uttered to him a while back.
Taehyung answered the call, "Hello?"
"It took you a while to answer," the voice responded and Taehyung swore under his breath that it almost did sound like Xavier.
"Who is this?"
"Xavier. Or should I say, the guy whose girl you stole," the voice boomed with a certain irritation that was clearly evident.
"Is this why you called me?" Taehyung asked, equally irked at the moment.
"No. I wanted to talk about the agreement and so much more. Can we meet? I'd like to just meet you." Xavier asked formally. Jimin who had walked closer to Taehyung tried hearing the conversation as much as possible. Taehyung's firm and stern expression made Jimin wonder if anything was clearly wrong.
"It wouldn't be a problem. Message me the place. I'll meet you now if it's about the agreement," Taehyung looked up, almost as if he was sending a prayer up.
"That would be nice. Thank you," Xavier hung up. Almost instantly, Taehyung received a message from Xavier with the location map attached. Jimin peeped into Taehyung's phone and noticed the message was from the same number - it was from Xavier.
"Are you going alone?" Jimin asked, worried.
"He asked me to. So, yes." Taehyung walked to the cloth stand and took his coat. Jimin pulled Taehyung by his arm, getting him to stop on his tracks.
"What?" Jimin almost squealed. He lightly slapped Taehyung. "Did that get some sense into you? Why would you go alone just because he asked you to?"
Taehyung's eyes widened as he tried processing how Jimin just slapped him. He looked at Jimin, wide-eyed, "Did you just..."
"Yes. Yes, I did."
"I'll be alright. Also, I have you on my speed dial." Taehyung tried his best convincing Jimin. "With you in the same room, he just might not tell me everything he has to."
Eventually, Jimin did listen to him. He always did. Taehyung wore his coat properly and dangling his car keys on his fingers, he walked out the door and into his car. Taehyung gave him an ensuring smile before getting into his car. Jimin watched him nervously, with his heart almost in his mouth.
Jimin knew he had to follow Taehyung. It was crucial at this point. Xavier worried him. He knew that Xavier would call Taehyung to a secluded area only to have his way with him. However, Jimin also knew that curious Taehyung was extremely hard to convince. So, Jimin did what any best friend would do in his shoes. He decided to tail his best friend to ensure his safety, only after he gave an important person a call to discuss something of great importance at that moment. He knew just the
"Jungkook-ah. Brother. I need a favour. Send the Solarian Security Forces to Androsia instantly. In minutes, if possible. Please."
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annyeong haseyo!
are you all happy with the updates? did your girl just updated for the second time this week? yes. yes, she did. i apologize for the errors.
i wanted to write something small, quick and crucial for the building up of the next chapter. i hope it doesn't turn out anticlimactic, ah.
how was your day? tell me all about it. i hope studies and work have been treating you pretty good today.
i also decide to start watching the korean remake of suits, and god, i like it so far. are any of you watching it?
vote and comment, if you liked the chapter and drop by your feedback. i'd appreciate that. thank you. saranghae.
much love, ruth x