𝑪 𝑯 𝑨 𝑷 𝑻 𝑬 𝑹 𝑭 𝑰 𝑭 𝑻 𝒀 𝑻 𝑾 𝑶
"YOU'RE DATING A FOREIGNER." Her mother acknowledged, eyes narrowing judgementally at Venus who so far has yet to say much more beyond a single word. Taehyung pulled Venus closer and nodded. "I am and I'm in love with her." He tells himself he doesn't have to prove anything to them, but now that they're here, standing in front of them, ready to tear their relationship to shreds, he feels as though his relationship is under constant attack by their glaring eyes and firm scowls.
Venus was lucky she knew what was being said. Even if she didn't, she knew she would have understood that they didn't like her. She had learned long ago you can't argue with a racist. They will always see you as lesser than no matter what you do. Usually, Venus just avoids them, but how is she meant to avoid her boyfriend's parents?
His father placed his hands over his face, sighing with disapproval. "You don't have to keep doing this, Taehyung. First your paintings and now this." "This" referring to Venus as if she isn't standing right in front of them and isn't a human being. "You don't have to keep up with this rebellious charade because you're mad about us trying to be good parents!"
The idea that they of all people were good parents was laughable. "Good parents? Good parents wouldn't think everything I'm doing is to get back at you. They would think I'm just trying to find what makes me happiest in life." Taehyung looked down at Venus, the love of his life. "She's what makes me happiest and if you were good parents as you claim to be you would accept her." After all, if they were good parents, what would he be "rebelling" for? For having a decent childhood where his parents supplied all the emotional needs of a child, gave him his privacy in life, and let him explore himself in a healthy, non-judgmental way?
"She's dark and overweight." It was a flat and blatant statement from his mother as if that was a reason for him not to be attracted to her. Both of them took great offense to this, brows furrowing in the same pissed way as if they had become one being as they yelled, "Excuse me?" "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Who's going to respect you with her on your arm? With children who look like her? You're ruining your life here, Taehyung, all for something temporary and meaningless."
"When the fuck have I ever cared about what people thought of me?" Like public judgment would deter him from doing what he wants. "So what? We can always just move somewhere else. I'm not going to let other people's opinions, especially yours, prevent me from doing what I want. I thought you learned that already." You'd think that not caring about what other people think of you would be a good trait a parent would want to see in their child. It allows them better pursuit of their happiness and freedom.
His mother came and took Taehyung by the arm, dragging him away to the foyer with a bitter glare towards Venus. "I need to speak to you privately." Taehyung let her drag him away, just to see what she would say without Venus there. What she's already said was... despicable to say the least, but Taehyung was willing to defend her until the bitter end.
Leaving Venus and his father alone in the kitchen, Venus scratched the back of her neck, awkwardly avoiding the burning glare of the man across from her who looked a little too much like Taehyung for her liking.
Away from the two of them, his mother crossed her arms and a wave of disappointment crossed through her eyes. "I'm not going to let you ruin your life like this. There's still a chance for you to redeem yourself in the public eyes. You're going to destroy yourself and our reputation." That's what this was about. Them. They're already known as the parents of the guy who paints naked bodies and is a sexual deviant. It'll be ten times worse if he married and started a family with a foreigner.
He's had to stand up to his mother one too many times before, all of them ending in the two of them not talking for an extended period of time. And then she always comes back as if nothing happened and for a moment, Taehyung forgot why he stopped talking to her. But don't worry, she always reminded him in due time.
"Of course, this is about your reputation because God knows that's the only thing you care about. You never even humored what I wanted in life or what was good for me!"
"I only ever wanted what was best for you." She insisted but nothing she was saying lined up with how she was acting. "I am your mother! I know what's best!"
"I never asked for you to do what you think was best for me! I asked you to support me in whatever I choose to do." Why can't they understand that? Their twisted perception of what was best for him. Taehyung pointed into the kitchen. "That woman is what's best for me and what makes me happy."
"She's black." She spat with bitter hatred. "She will never belong here. Are you really going to choose her over your own family?"
That was what did it, what tipped Taehyung over the edge. She can call him a disappointment how ever much she wants, but when she drags Venus into the list of his disappointments, that is where he drew the line.
"Yes! I will choose her over you at every opportunity!" Taehyung didn't mean to raise his voice, but it came out of him like a bomb had finally gone off. "I will choose her over you any day because she means the world to me. If you can't accept her then you don't deserve to be in my life. Don't expect an invite to the wedding, don't expect to ever see my children, and don't expect to ever hear from me again." He will completely disown his name if that's what it'll take for them to stop thinking they can dictate his life. He'll take Venus' last name when they get married and all their children will be De Rosa's, not Kim's. His parents will have no legacy, no grandchildren, nothing but themselves.
"How dare you!" She shrieked and in a sudden moment of blinded anger, she brought her hand across his cheek. It wasn't the first time, but what was Taehyung supposed to do? He wasn't going to hit his mother. He was just so...shocked. It's been years since she hit him so it came rather unexpectedly. "How dare you abandon your family?! Choose...that over the person who birthed you!"
Venus heard the sharp, unmistakable sound of skin meeting skin and immediately rushed into the foyer to find Taehyung with his hand over his cheek, staring at his mother while she screamed at him like some demonic banshee. She almost sensed Venus' presence as she turned on the heels of her blood-red stilettos and marched over to Venus. "You will not take my son from me!" She spat in the face of the taller woman.
"You're doing that on your own just fine." Venus snapped at her, moving to go make sure Taehyung was okay. He was still standing in the same spot, staring at the wall across from him, just...gone. She took Taehyung's hand from his face and took notice of how red his cheek was. Rage filled her to the very brink of her being. What kind of mother hits their grown child like that? Their child in general.
"Don't you ever put your hands on him again?" Venus stood between them, forcing his mother to back away as she stepped closer. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Both of you? I don't care how much you disagree with him, you do not hit your fucking child. He has enough decency not to hit to back because you're his mother, but you're not my mom so I have no problems with hitting you for him. I wish either of you would come back here and hit him again, watch what happens." Venus was disgusted. For them to ride on their high horses and look down upon her while also having the audacity to hit their kid. This couldn't have been the first time either. Venus couldn't imagine hitting a defenseless child.
"Get the hell out of my house." She pointed to the door. "Don't even think about coming back." They came uninvited anyways, they didn't need to be here, interrupting Taehyung and Venus' pleasant life with their racist foolishness.
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out," Venus called to them as they quickly rushed through the front door before things could get even more ugly for them. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving Venus and Taehyung alone in their usual silence. But it wasn't peaceful. It was stressed and full of leftover tension.
"Taehyung, are you-"
He sniffled, blinking away the tears that formed in his eyes. "I'm fine." There was always something so overwhelming, so emotionally draining about being around his parents. It wasn't even that she hit him, it was the fact that they couldn't find it in themselves to accept the one person in the world that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, that whom he would trade anything for.
Venus came over to him and placed her arms around him. She felt Taehyung place his head on top of hers and hug her as well. "I'm sorry you had to meet them." He told her. "I'm sorry for the things they said about you." The fact that he thinks he has to apologize on behalf of his parents was upsetting. He didn't do anything wrong.
Venus pulled her head away and forced Taehyung to look at her. She reached up and wiped away the stray tears that fell down his cheeks. She can't remember a time when he cried in front of her. It was humanizing. He was a person with emotions and vulnerability, with parents that made him frustrated to the point of tears. "You don't have to apologize for them, okay? You tried to keep me from them and when they did show up you defended me. You have nothing to apologize for."
Taehyung pulled her close once more. Their noses touched, brushing against each other gently. "When we get married, I'm gonna take your last name." Not "if", he said "when" like it was a fact that they would get married. Venus found his positivity charming as she slowly fell in love with him a bit more every day. "You wanna become a De Rosa?" She giggled softly. He has no idea what kind of craziness he's marrying into.
"More than anything."
*.✧ Kᴀʏs Eɴᴅɪɴɢ Nᴏᴛᴇs
Idk if this is gonna be the last chapter or the next one. I kinda wanna make the art gallery chapter the epilogue, but I can always make it the last official chapter and have the epilogue as a sort of years in the future chapter. I'll let you guys decide.
Thank you all for reading. I hope you guys enjoyed and I wish you all a wonderful day/night.
사랑해
~Kay ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ )