Love Me Again (Taehyung X Reader)

Chapter 11: "A love that I no longer remembered."

A/N: Double update.  Please read Chapter 10 first.

Y/N POV:

Late Sunday morning, I was saying goodbye to my parents. They were heading back to Spain and I let out a small sob as I realized how much I was going to miss them. Taehyung had offered to take them to the airport and my heart lightened when I realized I might get the chance to see him.

My mom looked around my apartment, making sure they had everything. I was grateful for everything they had done for me. She left me some money for groceries, even though I said I wouldn't need it. On Saturday morning, we had visited the bank and I had opened a new checking account. I had a joint checking with Taehyung but he suggested to my parents that I open a new one in my name only. It was another thing that made me realize that this life was potentially going to be my new normal. He gave my parents a stack of cash and said it was my money from the account. He had given me the equivalent of my last three paychecks. I had wanted to tell him it wasn't necessary, but I was hesitant to reach out to him.

My mom's phone rang and she answered it with a small smile. "Hi Tae," she said and my mood brightened a little. "Sure honey. We'll be right there." She disconnected the call. "Tae's waiting outside for us."

My heart shattered a little at her words. He wasn't even going to come to the door. He must not want to see me and that knowledge made my heart shatter even further.

My mom hugged me and patted my back. "We love you so much. If you need anything, anything at all, please call us," she said, her voice soft.

My dad hugged me and kissed the top of my head. "Be careful and just take it one day at a time," he said.

My mom picked up her bag and purse then tugged my dad's shirt. "Come on. Tae's waiting and we don't want to miss our flight," she said.

I walked them to the door, wanting so badly to go out and see Taehyung but I resisted. Him waiting in the car was a clear message that he wasn't ready to see me yet. I hadn't seen him since he visited me in the hospital a week ago. I hadn't even heard from him yet. I mentioned it to my dad last night and his words devastated me.

"Remember sweetie. Tae is pretty much grieving right now. He's lost the future he had planned for and everything that went along with it," my dad had said. "It must be so hard for him to see you right now and not be able to do the same things he used to do. Taehyung and you have always been affectionate. Imagine how hard it must be to see you and not be able to hug you?"

I thought about those words again. The idea that Taehyung was grieving made me miserable. It made it sound like someone had died, but in a way, I guess that's what it was like. The person he knew was no longer there so it was like death in a way. Unfortunately, there would be no closure like there would be with a death. Just a handful of uncertainties.

I picked up the phone and looked for the contact that said Jiminie and clicked the call button. He had mentioned when he came to visit me that my job would still be available. I wanted to get back to work if possible. Start trying to get back into a routine. Hopefully it would be enough to jolt my memories back. I wanted to remember. I wanted to remember so badly.

"Hello?" a sweet voice said from the other end of the line.

"Umm... Jimin? It's Y/N," I said hesitantly.

I heard an uncomfortable cough on the other end. "Uh... hi Y/N. What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice sounding polite and almost formal.

"Well I was wondering if you were serious about my job still being available," I asked. My courage I had in calling him stuttered a little at his polite tone.

Jimin was silent for a moment. "If you would like to come back to work for me, your position is still available," he finally said.

"I would like to return. Tomorrow if possible," I replied.

"Are you sure?" Jimin asked, his voice hesitant.

"I'm sure. I can't sit in this apartment and do nothing," I said.

Jimin was silent again. "If you're sure then yes. You may return tomorrow," he relented, his voice back to being polite.

My heart continued to break at his tone. "What time would you like me to be there?" I asked.

"If you could be here by 8:30, that would be good," Jimin answered.

"Okay. Um... I guess I'll see you in the morning," I replied.

"Yes. Have a good day. Goodbye," Jimin said then disconnected the call.

I looked down at the dark phone for a minute. I couldn't explain it, but his polite almost formal tone left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. I didn't remember the sweet sounding man, but there was something about his tone that felt so incredibly wrong.

I went into the kitchen to look for something for lunch. My mom had made me several meals yesterday that I could just heat up and eat. After standing in front of the fridge for a moment, I closed it. I wasn't in the mood for eating anything. I grabbed an apple out of the bowl on the counter and washed it in the sink. I grabbed a bottle of water and took both into the living room. I sat down on the couch and looked around at my new home.

Rosie had packed up all my stuff from Taehyung's house, including my books. Most I recognized, but there were a few that looked unfamiliar. I could tell from the dog-eared pages though that I had read them. I had a bad habit of folding my book pages. Reenie used to yell at me, but I could never keep track of a bookmark.

I looked at the photos again and sighed. Rosie had only packed up the photos of me and the girls or me and my parents. There were no pictures of me and Taehyung and I felt an immense wave of sadness at that. I went into my bedroom and looked around in there. It felt so impersonal and depressed me more than I wanted to admit.

I went over to the jewelry box my parents had bought me for my 18th birthday and opened it. There were several pieces that I recognized. The pearls that belonged to my maternal grandmother. The emerald earrings that belonged to my paternal grandmother. A set of white gold hoop earrings that my parents had bought me for Christmas one year. A jade beaded bracelet that I recognized as the friendship bracelets that Mina had bought for the four of us when we graduated high school.

I was about to close it when I noticed a gold bracelet with a heart dangling from it. There were two stones in the heart along with the word 'Always.' One of the stones was my birthstone. The other was a blue topaz, the birthstone for December. I went back and picked up my phone, scrolling through the messages back to December, looking for evidence about who gave me this. Sure enough on December 30, there was message to Taehyung that said Happy birthday babe. Can't wait to spend it with you tonight. I love you always! I looked back through the messages and noticed that whenever I said I love you to Taehyung, I said it the same way every time. I love you always. Clearly this was one of our things. One of our ways of showing our love for each other. I sat down on the bed with the bracelet in my hands and let the tears fall. I wondered if I would ever have the chance to feel that love that was so evident in my memories. A love that I no longer remembered.