Love Me Again (Taehyung X Reader)

Chapter 13: "Left me alone again."

Taehyung POV:

I was sitting at my desk going over one of my accounts when I heard a quiet sniffle from the receptionist area. I stood and walked to the door and noticed Jennie sitting at her desk, a distraught look on her face.

"Jennie?" I said gently. "Are you alright?"

Jennie sniffled again then straightened up, wiping the obvious tears from her face. "I'm... I'm fine Mr. Kim. Just a little bit of allergies," she replied, her voice hitching at the end.

I sighed. I knew everyone was trying to protect me, but Y/N had been a big part of all of our lives. I wanted my friends, my family to understand that it was okay to grieve, okay to be sad. I approached her desk and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright Jennie. I'm not going to fall apart if you're sad. We... we were all so close to her. It's natural to be upset," I reassured her. "You don't have to hide it from me."

Jennie wiped her tears again then blew her nose. "I... I know you and Mr. Park explained the situation, but it was still so strange. She really didn't know who I was," Jennie replied, her voice broken.

I patted her shoulder for a minute before stepping away. "I know. It's definitely shattering to see her but it not really being her," I explained.

Jennie nodded in understanding. "Um... I finalized your flight and accommodations for Japan. You'll be staying at the Hyatt Regency in Osaka," Jennie informed me. I could tell this was her way of changing the subject to get her mind off Y/N.

I nodded. "Sounds good. Thank you for getting this set up," I replied. After confirming a few more details, I headed into my office to prepare for a meeting. I looked down at the calendar and realized the meeting was to be held in the CEO's conference room. I felt a flash of panic at the realization that I would be seeing Y/N sooner than I was ready for made my heart start pounding in my chest. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing pulse. I hadn't seen her since the day I visited her, the day after she woke up. I tried to convince myself that I wanted to give her space to adjust to her new life, but to be completely honest, my reasoning was selfish. It was just too hard to be around her and not have her look at me the way she used to. It was too hard to see her and have her look at me through a stranger's eyes.

I dropped my head into my hands, rubbing my temples, trying to massage away the headache that was slowly forming. I had been hoping to avoid seeing her at least until in came back from Japan, but I could see that was not going to happen.

Jennie knocked on my door, disturbing my destructive thoughts that were starting to fill my mind. I lifted my head from my hands to catch her gaze. "If you don't need anything at the moment, I'm... I'm going to go and see if Y/N needs any help. Mr. Park asked if I could help her acclimate back into the position," Jennie explained.

I nodded my head. "Thank you for letting me know, but Jimin did tell me this morning. I'm good for now. I have a meeting up there in 15 anyways," I replied.

A look of sympathy crossed my secretary's face and I knew she was thinking the same thing that I was. That this whole situation sucked. "Can I bring you coffee or anything?" Jennie asked, her maternal instinct of always wanting to take care of someone kicking in.

I shook my head and help up my cup. "I'm on my 5th cup already. If I drink anymore, it's going to be flowing in my veins," I joked, my voice dry.

At my words, Jennie let out the first real smile I had seen all day. "You got it Mr. Kim. I'll see you in a little while," she responded then turned and headed out of the office.

I leaned back in my chair, twirling a pen between my fingers, trying to distract myself from thoughts of Y/N. I went back to my computer and spent the next 5 minutes checking emails before grabbing the folder I needed and leaving the office to head up to the conference room. It was now or never.

Y/N POV:

I sat at the desk outside Jimin's office going over the documents he had given me. He had come out of his office 10 minutes ago and handed me a sheaf of papers, asking me to review them for grammatical errors. I remember being good at grammar in college since I majored in journalism.

My mind was still filled with the thoughts of how wrong it felt when he talked to me. He was polite and cordial, but it felt wrong. There was this voice in the back of my head telling me this was not normal.

I was on the last page when Jennie entered the receptionist area. "How is everything going?" she asked politely.

"It's been going okay I think," I replied, once again getting that feeling of this being wrong. "Umm... Jimin had me going over some documents for grammatical errors," I explained.

Jennie gave me a small smile. "Mr. Park is highly intelligent and has done so well with this company, but we all know his written grammar is atrocious. That's why the two of you work... worked so well together," she replied, the sadness obvious in her sweet voice. "Umm...the department heads will be coming up here for a meeting in a few minutes."

I wasn't sure why Jennie seemed nervous, but then I remembered seeing the list of department heads. Taehyung was one of those department heads. He would be coming up here? My heart fluttered at the thought of seeing the handsome man again. I hadn't seen him in close to a week and I had not been willing to admit it, but I missed him. There was just something about him that drew me to him. I regretted my actions in the hospital the day he visited. I wonder if I had been more open with him if things would be different. If I had been more open to hearing about our life together.

There was a commotion in the hallway and then the door opened. I recognized the dark haired Hoseok from the brief encounter in my apartment. At his side was a man that looked familiar. He had blond hair that he kept pushing back from his eyes. I then remembered seeing his face in the picture with Hoseok. His hair was mint green then. They both gave me hesitant smiles, which I returned. The blond haired man let out what sounded like a disappointed sigh.

"Good morning Mr. Jung, Mr. Min," Jennie greeted the men. "The conference room is already prepared."

Hoseok rolled his eyes and gave her a genuine smile and I wished for a second he had directed that smile at me. "How long have we known you Jennie? Please just Hobi," he said, his voice filled with the obvious fondness for the older woman.

Jennie nodded in defeat. "I know. Both you and Mr. Kim have said the same thing, but I just can't help it," she said lifting her shoulders in a shrug.

Hoseok gave her another bright smile then turned to the blond man. "Come on Yoongi. Let's go get seats," he said, tugging on his sleeve. They both gave me polite nods and smiles then headed towards the conference room.

I turned when the door opened again and my heart stopped as Taehyung stepped through the door. He looked so incredibly handsome that every part of me was screaming to run to him and throw myself in his arms. He was wearing a dark grey suit over a black shirt and a white and grey printed tie. His dark blond hair was disheveled as though he had been running his fingers through it and tried to smooth it out in a hurry. His dark eyes were looking around the room, refusing to make eye contact with me and I could see the clear signs of distress and tiredness in his face.

"Um... good morning," Taehyung said to me, his voice polite.

My heart shattered at his tones. I looked down at the desk, wanting to avoid his gaze. "Good morning," I replied, my voice soft.

I didn't look up but I could hear Taehyung addressing Jennie about a flight. Flight? Was he going somewhere? Jennie promised to check on it but I didn't hear anything else. When I finally found the courage to drag my gaze up, he had already left. Left without saying anything else to me. Left me alone again.