It's been a while since I hung out with both Jimin and Jungkook. I should spend more time with them, as I did promise them that I wouldn't go back to my old ways and ignore them to spend every day with Luna. I won't make the same mistake as I did when I was with Haneul, because good friends are just as important as a girlfriend is.
Leaning back against the sofa of the karaoke room with Jungkook, as Jimin stands in the centre and he sings off-key to an originally lovely song. His screechy loud singing makes Jungkook laugh as I cover my ears and wince.
"Guys, why won't you sing with me? It's boring to sing alone," Jimin pouts and plops down onto the sofa, as he gulps down a few shots of vodka. "Jungkook, it's your birthday today, so you should sing with me! Or we could call some strippers to come over and pump up the mood!"
"We won't be calling any strippers," Jungkook states and picks up a microphone and begins to sing.
A bright smile appears on Jimin's face as he excitedly sings along with Jungkook. Jungkook nudges me and raises his eyebrows. I sigh and grab a microphone to sing with them.
We sing loudly, not caring if we're out of tune and if our voices aren't in sync. We just let our singing flow and Jimin starts to dance, so Jungkook and I follow along with him, so we look like a group of weirdos trying to act cool, even though we know we sing and dance horribly. I laugh at our silliness and enjoy letting loose as I gulp down a couple shots of vodka. We're having so much fun, that we don't hear Jungkook's phone ringing.
Moments later, we're all exhausted as we lay on the sofa out of breath, but we're still chuckling from the enjoyment. I haven't done this in so long. Singing and dancing is more of Jimin's thing, rather than mine, yet this felt so relaxing, as I stop thinking about what I was doing. I just let myself have the fun I deserved to have.
Jungkook's phone pings with a notification, he looks at the screen in surprise, which quickly turns to concern as he says, "It's Coral. She called and texted me over ten times."
"Call her back," I say immediately and he's already got his phone by his ear.
Jimin and I wait impatiently for Jungkook to finish his call, as his expression changes as Coral talks to him. Jungkook's mouth is wide open as he listens to Coral, which makes me feel even more uneasy and worried.
The call soon ends and Jungkook is looking as me seriously as he bites onto his lip and sighs.
"What is it?" I ask anxiously. "Did something happen to Coral? Is everything alright?"
"It's Luna," Jungkook replies as he observes my shocked and worried reaction. "Aurora said somethings to her and made her pass out."
"What?!" I exclaim in astonishment. "Where is she?"
I'm already standing up and ruffling my hair in frustration as my mind is whirling in confusion as to what Aurora could have said to Luna to make her pass out. Aren't they good friends? What happened? Does this have something to do with Aurora staring at Luna and I?
"Calm down! She's at your apartment," Jungkook replies and I'm already dashing out the door.
"Taehyung! Wait!" Jimin yells as he and Jungkook scurry along behind me.
As soon as we get into my car and I turn on the engine, I step on the gas pedal and speed across the streets; taking the fastest route back home. My heart is beating and my hands are clammy as I tighten my grip on the steering wheel. Sweat dripping down my forehead as my breathing quickens.
"Taehyung, slow down," Jimin says worriedly. "You've had a couple of drinks just now, you shouldn't drive too quickly."
"I don't care," I say, even though I know I should listen to him, as my eyes begin to get slightly blurry. "I have to get to Luna."
I need to get to Luna. I need her to be okay.
"Jimin's right," Jungkook says. "I didn't drink as much, why not I drive?"
"Yeah, stop the car and let Jungkook drive," Jimin persuades me.
"It's fine, we're almost there anyway," I say as I try my best to focus on the road and not let the alcohol affect me.
"Please, Taehyung," Jungkook begs. "I don't want to die so young."
"It'll be fine, we're not going to die." I roll my eyes and say persistently as I step down on the gas pedal with even more force. "We're almost there."
"Taehyung!" Jimin shrieks.
Luna's a strong girl, she'll be okay. I try to persuade myself, but I need to see her myself, just to make sure. The uneasiness is crawling up my skin and it terrifies me. She has depression and anxiety, if she's triggered by anything, I don't know what she would do to herself. She cuts herself and tried killing herself once...she might do it again. I'm afraid. I can't let her hurt herself when I'm so in love with her. She deserves so much, she's so much more special than she thinks she is. She'll get over her wounds just like how I'm getting over mine. She may not forget them, as I will never forget about Haneul, but I know she'll move on. We made a pact. She won't break her promise. I just know it. She's strong and I believe in her.
---
We're completely alive when we arrive in a couple of minutes. Jimin and Jungkook jump out of the car as they puke along the sidewalk as I rush into the building and up the stairs to my apartment, not bothering to wait for my friends.
Once I reach my floor, I see Coral and Aurora by the door. Coral seems nervous as she bites her lip and paces back and forth, whilst Aurora has a guilty expression as the dread of what would happen washes over her. I walk with long strides towards them and grip onto Aurora's wrist. She's terrified and shocked as she looks at me with tears in her eyes.
"What did you do?! What did you say to her?!" I yell at her with rage as I glare at her.
No words can describe how angry I am. I couldn't control myself when I yelled at Aurora and my breathing is becoming heavier and my heart is about to leap out my chest.
Coral takes my arm and says gently, "Why don't you go inside and check on Luna first?"
I breathe in and out to ease my nerves, then open the door and rush inside. I look around and spot Luna laying unconscious on the floor by the sofa.
I carefully carry her onto the sofa and place a cushion below her head and brush her hair away from her face.
"Luna?" I say and repeat her name. "Luna, wake up. Luna? Please wake up... you're worrying me. Luna?"
I don't realise it, but tears are forming in my eyes as I kneel on the floor and nudge her gently. I keep repeating her name and pleading her to wake up as tears are about to trickle down my cheek. My hands are trembling and my lips quiver as I say her name.
Suddenly, she moves slightly and she whispers, "Tae... Taehyung?"
"Luna!" I exclaim happily and I stand up with a wide smile plastered on my face.
Relief and joy wash over me as any feeling of anxiousness and fear vanishes. I let out a sigh as I hold onto her hands and kiss them gently.
I close my eyes and let myself calm down as I mutter, "You're okay, you're okay, you're okay..."
Luna releases her hands from my grip and reaches to cup my face in her soft hands as a small smile appears on her beautiful face. She sits up slowly and I help her up, placing a pillow behind her, so she can lean back comfortably. I move myself to sit beside her.
"I'm okay," she says and squeezes my hands to assure and soothe me.
My heartbeat is slowing and my breathing is back to normal. Yet, the curiosity of what happened suddenly hits me and the anger towards Aurora comes back.
"What did Aurora say to you?" I ask firmly.
Luna bites her lip and sighs, she holds onto my hands, "It's nothing... don't worry Taehyung... I already said I'm okay."
She's lying. Her eyes have betrayed her. She's afraid. I can see the fear in her eyes. Aurora must've said something to trigger her, something to trigger her in a way that made her think back to her past.
"I'm going to talk to her," I say and stand up, but Luna stops me.
Her hand gripping onto my arm, "Please Taehyung... it's fine."
"No, it's not fine!" I shout. "Luna, you passed out because of something she said, so of course it's not fine!"
I take a breath and sigh as tears threaten to fall, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shout. It's just, I... I can't let anything bad to you... I don't want you to have the same fate as Haneul..."
"Shh..." she mummers and pulls me into an embrace.
She rests her head on my shoulder as she strokes my back. I rest my head on hers and wrap my arms around her tightly. I never want to let go, but I know I must talk to Aurora. I need to know exactly what happened and what she said.
"Just let me talk to Aurora?" I say softly. "I promise I won't yell at her and I'll talk to her calmly."
"Okay..." she replies and pulls away slowly.
"Whilst I do that, you should go lay down and rest," I say and lead her into my room.
I tuck her into my bed and make sure she's comfortable, before leaving her to go talk to Aurora.
---
Aurora and I are at the rooftop and I can tell that she's nervous as she fiddles with her fingers and looks down at her feet. I ruffle my hair in frustration and sigh as I lean against the railing and look at Aurora, trying my best to keep calm.
"I'm sorry, I really am," Aurora looks up at me and breaks the silence. "I didn't mean the things I said to her. I just... I just got out of control. I was stupid... and reckless. I let my feelings get the best of me. Luna's been so nice to me and I just wrecked our friendship and I know it's my fault, but... could you maybe... forgive me?"
I scoff, "Forgive you? Why should I do that? How do I know if you didn't mean what you said to Luna?"
"I... I...like you. I have feelings for you, Taehyung. I genuinely really like you, so I was jealous of Luna. And then I said some horrible stuff to her. I regret everything that I've said," she confesses nervously. "People do reckless stuff when they like someone..."
That I know is true. I've done some pretty reckless stuff for both Haneul and Luna. I mean I just speeded over here and risked my friends' and my own life just to get to Luna and see if everything is alright.
I sigh and ask, "When did you start having feelings for me?"
"Ever since you kissed me... accidentally," she admits and I just nod. "You don't have to say anything back to me, I don't expect you to say anything... but please forgive me?"
"You shouldn't be asking for my forgiveness, you should be asking for Luna's," I say matter-of-factly. "You should talk to her... but nor right now, she needs to rest."
Aurora nods, "I will. But... I don't know if we can be friends again...I don't know if I want that...its hard being friends with someone who likes the same guy as you do."
"Aurora... I'm going to be direct and honest with you," I say as I look into her eyes. "I don't have any feelings for you. I love Luna."
Aurora chuckles, "Really? Isn't she just a fling or a rebound?"
"What?" I say in disbelief.
"You don't really love her, do you? You're just using her to get over Haneul, right?" she says as she walks over towards me.
I move away from her and say, "Everything I feel towards Luna is genuine and real. I never treated her as if she was just a fling or a rebound. I'm really in love with her."
"You're just saying that to convince yourself," Aurora says and places her hands on the railing on either side of my body, trapping me.
She's wrong. She doesn't know me. She can't fool me. I know I love Luna, she means so much to me.
"No, I'm not," I say and push Aurora away from me and stand up straight so I'm towering over her. "Let me get this straight. You mean nothing to me, Aurora. You and I will never be a thing. It doesn't matter whether or not you have feelings for me, because I don't like you in that way, do you understand?"
"But that can change," she says and once again tries to touch me as she leans towards me, as if she's about to kiss me, yet I'm quick to move away.
She has changed. She wasn't like this when I first met her. She may have been naive then, but she was smarter than she is now. I have always seen her as a friend or a younger sister, someone that won't fall in love with me. She just didn't seem like the kind of person to be so reckless and mean. But, maybe it isn't her fault that she's acting in this way. It could be her parents. The issue between herself and her biological parents and adoptive parents is too much for her to handle. and so she's breaking. That would be the most logical reason.
She needs help. She needs to talk to someone, yet that someone will be neither me or Luna. She needs to talk to someone with no connections to herself, a stranger perhaps. In the same way Luna and I talked at the park. I could ask Jimin to talk to her? And maybe play the role of matchmaker?