"Jiyong!"she called him as if she just noticed him. "Hey..."she poked his arm since he's not responding to her at all.
"You slept over at his house?"he asked her sternly.
"Well yes. But we had separate rooms so nothing happened."
Jiyong frowned and grabbed her hand before pulling her into the restaurant. He led her to the back of the locker room and crossed his arms as he leaned against one of the lockers.
"I'm sorry for worrying you. And for hanging up on you this morning," she apologized sincerely.
"That's not it Taeyeon-a. Why...didn't you call me first when you ran away from home? I could have offered you a place to stay and I thought you would call Heechul at least after something like that happened at your house..."
Taeyeon stared at him with a puzzled look plastered on her face.
"I'm not the first person you thought about..." he trailed off, starting to regret what he just said.
"I'm sorry...Baekhyun just, his name just flashed in my mind when I was panicking, so I called him first..."she said quietly. "I didn't think about what I should do next, my instinct was to call him," she continued and looked up at him, hoping that he could understand.
"I don't understand this. Aren't we your friends? You only knew the dude when he started to walk back into your life, like two months ago."
"I know I acted rashly. But I trust him."
"Didn't you say that he broke your heart two years ago? And you forgave him already?"
"It was a misunderstanding-"
"He told you that and you believed him?"
"Why are you so mad about this?"she asked him. "I apologized and I feel really bad for not picking up the phone. But I don't think that I should tell you why I forgave Baekhyun and why I am with him."
Kwon Jiyong's face dropped and he looked away as he straightened his back away from the locker. "Forget about it," he mumbled and left the locker room, leaving her alone in there feeling confused.
She heaved a heavy sigh and opened the door of her locker to grab her uniform. She probably did something wrong to Jiyong but she still doesn't know what she did wrong.
After changing into her uniform, she decided to help out in the kitchen since Jiyong is serving the customers. She felt like she should give Jiyong some space to cool down. Jiyong's older sister who is helping out in the kitchen noticed the tension between Taeyeon and her little brother.
By the end of the day, she noticed her little brother gone from his post. So while they were cleaning up the restaurant, she approached Taeyeon who is cleaning the tables.
"Taeyeon-a, I have a task for you," she said. "Carry this bucket of dishes to the back."
"Oh okay."
Taeyeon dragged the bucket to the back of the restaurant and kicked open the door with her foot. She almost jumped when she found out that Jiyong is washing the first bucket of dishes at the back.
She kept her mouth shut as she placed the bucket beside him. Jiyong didn't look up at her once as he continued to wash the dishes by hand. Taeyeon noticed his fingers were getting a bit pruny because they were exposed to water for too long. She quickly went back to the kitchen to grab a pair of gloves and handed it to Jiyong.
"Pink isn't really my color."
"Just wear it," Taeyeon grabbed his hands and helped him to put on the gloves one by one. Jiyong could only stare at her in admiration as she helped him put it on.
"I'm sorry for getting mad at you just now," he apologized, causing her to look up. "It's none of my business. Really."
"It's fine," she smiled at him. "I get that you are just trying to look out for me."
"Listen Taeyeon-a," he grabbed both of her hands when she was about to pull them away. "The truth is..I..."
"Hmm?"Taeyeon tilted her head to the right, patiently waiting for him to continue.
"I like you more than a friend. And...it's actually been four years since I started having a major crush on you," he finally confessed to her, telling her how he felt all these years trying so hard to keep it a secret from her.
Taeyeon's smile dropped a little, completely caught by surprise by that confession. She started putting all of the times Donghae and Heechul teased Jiyong about liking her in front of her. She assumed that they just love to tease Jiyong and that it was just a joke. Realization hits her when she had flashbacks of the times when Jiyong was especially good to her, not because he sees her as a little sister, but as a girl he likes.
Donghae and Heechul weren't the stupid ones, she was.
"Was that too much?"Jiyong asked when Taeyeon didn't respond. "Maybe I shouldn't have-"
"No...Oh my god..."she trailed off as she slowly turned her face to look at him directly. "I am so sorry that I didn't realise sooner."
"It's fine,"he chuckled dryly. "I know that you like someone else."
"And all of those times when I talked about him in front of you," she buried her face into her hands. She felt so guilty for not noticing and for constantly provoking his feelings with her own problems with Baekhyun. "Oh god I am so sorry."
Jiyong soothed her by patting her back gently. "It's okay, I will move on. I just need some time," he whispered gently to her as she started to cry. "Don't feel bad."
"How can you tell me to not feel bad?"she cried. "It's not okay!" She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, letting her tears sip into his shirt.
"There, there," he ran his hand up and down her upper back and rested his chin on her shoulder. "The one getting rejected here should be the one crying," he joked.
She laughed as tears streamed down her cheeks from Jiyong's joke. She started wiping away her tears as she hit Jiyong's arm to distract herself from thinking about his confession.
"I really hope that guy treats you right. You really like that a guy a lot, right?"
"Erm...yes."
"Then let us boys meet him. Have a meal and maybe drink some beer together so that we can get to know him better," he said. "We want to know what kind of guy our little sister is dating after all."
"Really? You...won't mind?"
"No. Not at all. Don't worry about me, it's time for me to move on," he chuckled.
"Okay...if you say so."
-
Taeyeon went back home after that. When she reached home, both of her parents were sitting at the living room, eyes on the tv screen although Taeyeon could see that they are just watching tv to avoid talking to each other.
"I'm back," she announced, leaving her shoes at the door step before stepping into the living room.
"Honey, let's talk," her mother looked over at her from the couch, gesturing her to join them at the couch. "Your father and I have talked about it and-" she paused and shot her husband a look. "We have decided to slowly go back to the way things were before. Both of us were so stressed over money, it nearly destroyed our family."
"And your mother and I will sleep at separate rooms at the mean time," her father said.
"I am very sorry for putting the blame on you. It is our fault, not yours," her mother apologized as she grabbed both of Taeyeon's hands. Taeyeon leaned forward to wrap her arms around her mother. Forgiveness was given without needing her to say a word.
"And I am very sorry too, to the both of you," her father said, standing up from the couch. "Forgive me?"
"Okay dad," Taeyeon sighed and went over to give her father a hug too.
Taeyeon felt a lot better now that things are kinda solved between her parents. Her phone suddenly vibrated and she grabbed her phone from her bag, expecting Baekhyun to be calling her to ask if she reached home safely.
"Hey Nana."
"Taeyeon-a, I am so sorry about yesterday. I just didn't want to disappoint my dad. And my boyfriend treated me good when he was in a good mood. Oh wait no, he's now my exboyfriend, I broke up with him during dinner. And I'm- I am-"
"Nana, calm down and take a deep breath," she grabbed her bag from the couch and mouthed 'I'm going up to talk in private' to her parents. "It's okay. I am not mad at you, but I am happy to hear that you broke up with a jerk like him."
She quickly pulled her phone away from her ear when she heard Nana burst into tears and started crying really loudly. When she saw the puzzled look on her parents' face, she quickly ran up the stairs to continue the call in private.
"Don't cry Nana," Taeyeon said as she hopped up her bed to lie down. "Be happy that you are finally free from him."
"But he's my first love and I don't know when am I ever going to get another person to love me again."
"Nana, he isn't the right guy for you. Don't be blinded by a jerk when there are so many other fishes in the sea. He's not the only guy in the world, you will found someone who deserves you eventually."
"Easy for you to say. Baekhyun is your first and I bet he's going to be your last."
"It's different for everyone. One day you will meet someone else so much better than that jerk. Don't ignore what is in front of you, believe me, you will fall in love again with the right guy."
Nana could only sob at the other end of the line, because she knew that Taeyeon was right. She shouldn't just accept the love she was given for the first time if it doesn't feel right. The signs of violence should have kept her away from him, but she was so blinded by love that it made her stay with him to bear the abuse.
"You are right Taeyeon. I am so sorry for what I said that day and what I said just now about you and Baekhyun. I can see that he's the right guy, I am happy for you," Nana finally said after she calmed down.
"Thank you Nana. The right guy will be waiting for you somewhere, just remember that we are here for you and you don't need some guy to make you feel less lonely."
"No, thank you Taeyeon-a. So, I will be seeing you on Monday?"
"Yep! And I will bake you guys a cake, so make sure your stomach has space for cake."
Nana's soft laughter could be heard from the other line, "Okay I will look forward to it!"
-
a/n : i know i know, WHEN IS BAEKHYUN GOING TO ASK HER HAND FOR MARRIAGE???
I wanted to write it in here, but Jiyong's scene took over this chapter. Plus, I wanted to solve all of the issues Taeyeon is having in this chapter so that you guys can read the fluffy confession from Baekhyun in a better mood.
Who else felt sorry for Jiyong? Honestly felt bad after writing that. But he's such a great friend,,, I wish i have someone like him by my side :")
anyone noticed that baekhyun's name was mentioned for more than three times but he's not in this chapter? xD
Question : Who else is going to Elyxion concert next Saturday? (Malaysia)