Bound to Love You

14- I Know

"Yeah..." Taehyung hesitated but continued anyway. "Joy is..."

"I know... She's an amazing person. No wonder you fell for her," Irene laughed bitterly.

Taehyung just stared at her beautiful face which is now filled with sadness. Seeing her like that, he felt his heart being stabbed by thousands of knives. It hurt him so much seeing her in pain but, what's worse is that he caused it.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. "I know I'm the worst person in the world for hurting you when I promised to always love and protect you."

Irene looked at him with clear eyes.

"I know we can't go back to the way we were before but, I wish for you to still be in my life and me in yours. Even as just friends. I'm really sorry for everything." He continued.

'You're too important for me to lose,' the words he couldn't utter are strongly embedded in his heart and mind.

Irene just stared at him somberly.

"Tae, it's not that simple." Gentleness clear in her voice. "I still find it hard to even look at you without feeling like... " she couldn't continue.

"Sorry," Taehyung replied, smacking his head internally at his thoughtless words.

"You really need to stop saying sorry." Irene chuckled at him. "I'm afraid you'll run out of 'sorrys' before the night ends"

He laughed at her words. It was true. He rarely apologized even to his own family.

"Sorry," he said again.

Irene couldn't stop laughing as she slapped his arm. "Seriously, stop." She managed to say while trying to catch her breath.

They continued to chat until the two maknaes dragged them home as they were extremely sleepy.

On the drive home, they continued chatting while the maknaes drifted to sleep in the backseat, each on both ends of the seat; a noticeable distance between the two.

"What happened to them?" Irene asked looking at the maknaes and the purposely-place space between them. "They were being so sweet together earlier."

Taehyung glanced at the mirror to see. "I don't know. Did they fight?"

"Maybe. I mean, our girl can be pretty fiesty." Irene explained.

" 'Our girl'? Like our child?" He chuckled.

"No... Like mine and the girls'daughter," she retorted.

He laughed. It felt good good laughing with her again. He missed this feeling. 

When they arrived at the girls's dorm, Irene woke Yeri and she quickly got out and headed to the house without glancing at Jungkook who had woken up as well; his eyes followed her receding figure.

"Yeri!" Irene called out to her but she ignored it and walked in the house. "Sorry, I don't know what's wrong with her."

"It's fine. Jungkook probably did something to annoy her." Taehyung replied.

"Yah, Hyung!" Jungkook protested.

"Didn't you??" Taehyung pressed.

Jungkook didn't answer. Instead, he slumped back to his seat. Taehyung just sighed. The night was going so well.

Taehyung walked Irene to the door as they said their goodbyes.

"Thank you for sending us home," she smiled at him.

"That's all?" he asked.

"Ohh, and also for the food," she chuckled.

Taehyung just stared at her as if waiting for something else. Irene immediately understood what it was. Out of reflex, she went on her tippy toes and pressed her lips on his cheek. Before she could even comprehend what was happening, Taehyung quickly cupped her cheeks and inched his face closer to hers. He wanted it. She wanted it. They both wanted it but, it was wrong. She immediately moved away from him. Disappointment was evident on Taehyung's face but there was nothing he could do. This was his doing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that." she chuckled akwardly. "I guess old habits never die."

"Yeah," was all Taehyung could reply.

"Thanks again for giving us a ride home." she said and hurriedly opened the door. But before she could go through, a big pair of hands grabbed hers. Taehyung turned her to face him.

"Good Night Irene. See you tomorrow." He said as he stared deep into her eyes. After a while, he let go of her hand. and quickly got into his car with a smile and drove off.

Irene's cheeks flushed red almost immediately. She stood absentmindedly by the door for a couple of minutes until the cold air snapped her out it. She immediately went to her room and excitedly got ready for bed; a smile plastered on her face the entire time, when she heard someone knocking on her bedroom door. She opened it and Wendy came in. She stared at Irene for a bit and went on to sit on the edge of Irene's bed.

"You seem really giddy and happy right now. Is it because of Taehyung?" Wendy asked straight to the point.

"What?? No... Why would I??" she replied awkwardly.

"You can't hide anything from me Unnie. I know you all too well," Wendy chuckled.

Irene sighed. "Fine, maybe a bit."

Wendy smiled.

"Unnie, don't get me wrong. I'm really happy that you're almost back your old self now but...please be careful." said her caring friend. "He hurt you once, he might hurt you again."

"I know," she replied.

But, for the first time in a while, she was looking forward to tomorrow.

*a/n: really sorry for the long wait. Many things happened the past 2 months. I had to get tested for covid twice. Thank god it was negative both times but it did affect my drive to write which is why it took so long for me to write this again. Hopefully you all like it. Keep voting. Thank you.

*Also....stream Wendy's Like Water!!