Nobody's speaking inside V's car as we make our way to our flat, my eyes were glued outside but I can sense the frequent glances V has been giving me and I can hear him sighing from time to time. There's a heavy feeling within me and I'm afraid that I will cry again the moment I tried opening my mouth so I decided not to talk until we reached our destination. I'm also concerned since V's currently driving and I don't want to distract him while we're still on the road.
It seems like V is thinking the same when I felt the car stopped halfway to our flat. I looked around and noticed that V parked the car on the side near an abandoned lot and I know that he wanted to talk right now.
"Babe..." he called but I didn't move to even glance at him. "Babe, please look at me..." he repeated in a troubled voice and I willed myself not to be affected by how he sounded.
I turned my head to look at him while wearing a poker face and I instantly bite on my inner cheeks to stop myself from voicing out my concern upon seeing his pained expression.
"I-I'm sorry if I didn't t-tell you the truth as soon as p-possible... I k-knew that it'll h-hurt you once you l-learned that my parents were a-against our relationship and I d-don't want that. It m-might sound selfish but I-I got s-scared... scared that y-you might b-broke up with me." he muttered and he moved to clasp both of my hands. "I'm s-sorry, babe.. please forgive me." he pleaded.
"But you lied to m-me..." I whispered and I felt a single tear escaped my right eye. "You s-should know b-better... the t-truth hurts, yes... but I'm h-hurting more because y-you're not honest with me." I stopped talking because I felt my eyes burned with tears and I instantly looked up as an attempt to stop them from falling.
"H-How can we get through this t-together if y-you're blinding m-me with the truth?" I said and tried withdrawing my hands from V's hold so I can wipe my tears away but he's not letting go of it. "And do you t-think that my l-love for you is that s-shallow? That I'll j-just leave you and our r-relationship because of what your p-parent's think of me?" I accused him, not hiding the hurt that I'm feeling right now.
I tried pulling my hand again but his grip just tightened around it. "Will y-you please let go of m-me?" I asked, trying to stay calm while my tears continuously fall from my eyes.
"N-no..." he answered in a small voice but I can sense that he's scared. "I w-won't let you go... I won't... e-ever... let go of y-you... p-please, Tzuyu..." he added and I felt something gripped my heart tightly when his voice cracked which is a sign that he's also crying.
I tried looking at his face through my blurry vision and I know that I should be mad at him but seeing him in tears right now is a sight I wished not to see ever again. He looked so vulnerable that it made my anger vanished instantly and was replaced by an urge to console him.
"I'm not g-going anywhere... I j-just wanted to wipe t-these stupid tears." I sobbed and he surprised me when he pulled me closer to his chest, hugging me tightly as he broke down into sobs.
We cried in each other's arms for a long moment while V constantly whispered his apologies next to my ear. I'm not speaking but I'm rubbing his back to calm him. I only stopped giving soothing touches when I felt that he's not crying anymore and I, too, have managed to calm myself during that time. I took a deep breath and released myself from V's hug.
"Do you have some clean tissues in here?" I asked, voice a little hoarse from all that crying.
He pointed at the glove box of his car and I quietly fetch a box of tissues in there. I dried my face first before reaching out to do the same on V's wet cheeks. I started wiping his tears away without saying a word. He's still handsome even after crying like the way he did a while ago and I envied how his eyes didn't even puff (unlike mine) but the sides of his nose is redder than the other parts of his face.
He's also silent but I can feel that his eyes were on me. I finished drying his face already but I couldn't move away and caught myself staring at V's eyes instead. He's looking intensely at me, like he's trying to memorize every detail of my face and it made me feel conscious all of a sudden. I cleared my throat and willed myself to look away and to sit properly so we can have enough space from each other.
I sighed and decided that it's now time to talk about our issue. "About your parents..." I whispered, my eyes plastered on my lap. "I know that they are keen on not meeting me but I'm not closing myself to the possibility that I'll still meet them one day... since I have no plans on breaking up with you, either." I stated and I noticed how V's expression lightened after hearing what I said.
"But... It'll take a while before I can finally forgot that you lied to me." I added and his expression instantly turned into a sorry look.
"I understand... I'll make it up to you, I promised." he said in his deep voice and I only nodded at him.
"It's starting to get darker now, let's go." I pointed out and he agreed.
We reached the entrance of our flat after a few minutes and I was about to exit his car when I remembered something.
"Don't fight with Jimin-oppa when you get back, okay? He's not the one at fault here." I reminded him.
"Yes, babe... I'll apologize to him, too. For the way I behaved before leaving a while ago." he stated with regret in his voice.
"Good." I replied and moved so I can kiss his cheek. "Thanks for driving me here... Take care on your way back, okay?" I said before finally exiting his car, not waiting for his reply.
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The next day when I attended my arts class, I was surprised to see a bouquet of pink roses waiting for me on my desk. I looked around and found the careful but curious glances of my classmates, especially the girls, towards me. I don't know what reaction should I give so I just put my attention back to the pretty thing I'm currently holding. There's a note and I smiled after seeing that it's from my boyfriend.
Don't forget to smile... hope you'll get to make some new friends today.
- Your V
I turned the note around and noticed that something's still written at the back which says: "Day 1 of winning your trust back". So this is what he meant when he said that he'll make it up to me, huh?
I put the bouquet on the empty seat beside me since I needed my desk for my canvas. We'll be doing oil painting today and I'm a little excited since it'll now involved mixing of colors unlike yesterday's activity. My classmates are still cautious around me and I'm still mustering enough confidence so I can talk to them first.
"Do you think those flowers came from her fanboy?" I heard the girls from yesterday whispering again behind me.
"She looked happy when she read the note... maybe it came from someone she knew?" the other girl answered.
I took a deep breath and turned my head to look at them, grabbing this chance to initiate a conversation.
"Hello... I'm sorry but I can hear that you're curious about who gave me these flowers." I greeted and the two of them were visibly shocked. "These came from my boyfriend." I informed them and I saw how they looked at each other with confusion.
"A-are you t-talking to us?" the skinny girl with brown hair and is wearing thick eyeglasses asked.
"Yeah.. you're sitting at the last row, right?" I pointed out since they're the only ones sitting at the back.
The chubby girl in bob cut looked behind her before laughing awkwardly. "Y-yeah..." she agreed and I noticed from her voice that she's the fangirl of V from what I've overheard on their talk yesterday.
"May I know your names please?" I asked. "I'm Chou Tzuyu by the way..." I smiled and extended my right arm for a handshake.
They accepted my hand while introducing themselves to me. The skinny girl's name is Namhee while the other one is Sujin.
"Nice to meet you..." I said and bowed my head slightly to both of them.
"Y-yeah... you're really p-pretty up close." Sujin commented and I shyly smiled while thanking her.
Our instructor is running late and I took this time to talk about our arts class to both Namhee and Sujin. They were colleagues and both are working in a finance department of a private company. They enrolled in this class as a way to relieve their stress from work, it's somehow similar to my reason except that mine is a diversion from a traumatic experience.
"Uhm, p-pardon me for asking, Tzuyu. But... are you taking this class because of your a-accident?" Namhee inquired shyly.
I nodded at her. "Kinda.. I was advised to rest from work for a while so I'm taking this chance to try arts out of curiosity." I answered, not really telling them about my trauma.
"Oh, I see..." she replied and I'm thankful that they didn't ask any more personal questions and we instead talk about oil painting, our favorite painters, remarkable masterpieces and other stuffs related to arts.
The instructor arrived 15 minutes later and after explaining the do's and don't's and discussing some techniques, we are told to provide enough space around us so we can put our canvas stand in our respective places. Unlike yesterday where we chose random things as the subject of our sketch, we'll have the same model for our painting today.
"Aren't you curious about our model? It's actually the reason why I'm late..." Mr. Song, our instructor, informed us. "The director called me for an urgent meeting a while ago since a VIP volunteered to be our model today. We should be thankful since it'll only happen once.." he stated while he directed his eyes at me.
Okay... I'm starting to get a little nervous right now. It can't be, right? I know he wouldn't go this far just to make it up to me. He's busy and though there are only few people in this class, we are still in a public place...
Our instructor went outside for a bit and when he returned, he brought the VIP model with him. The class became silent after seeing him, the usual reaction of people who were mesmerized by his beauty, and all (even me) are obviously shocked by his unexpected presence.
"Hello, I'm Kim Taehyung and I'll be the subject of your painting for today..." he bowed and I nearly melted when he flashed a sweet smile at me.