[✔] lightbulb » lee taeyong & na jaemin

ch. 26

sweven: a vision seen in sleep; a dream

» author's pov // 4 years ago »

after jaemin had confessed, ara couldn't help but cringe every time he came near her. he tried to act casual, but whenever he saw taeyong, he couldn't help but stiffen and glare. ara had always glared back, grabbing taeyong's arm and walking away. he couldn't hide the pain that he felt whenever that happened, and especially the first time.

the first time he tried talking to her after his confession, he had written her a letter and bought a stuffed animal for her. finding her nowhere, he circled the school several times. after many desperate hours spent, he had finally found her...just with taeyong. he backed up; trying to get away but stepping on a pencil. it snapped, and she noticed him. a look of confusion appeared on her face, but it cleared quickly. she moved away from taeyong, lightly pushing him out of the way. walking forward to jaemin, she looked at the letter, blushed—just slightly—and gently pushed him away.

"don't talk to me, again," she said coldly, yet her face depicted an assortment of emotions. the tips of her ears were red, and her eyes were shiny.

"why?" he asked, heartbroken, once again. "i just wanted to apologize." even he knew he sounded desperate.

"my boyfriend doesn't want me talking to you," she replied stoically, as if he was a stranger. like a lightbulb, she turned off. not a single emotion could be spotted on her face.

"your boyfriend is toxic. why can't you talk to me, your best friend?" he glanced at taeyong, who was watching him from behind ara.

"because he said so. and i would do anything for him to be happy."

she shoved him again, and this time, he didn't bother arguing. stomping away, he could almost hear taeyong's silent, mocking laughter.

out of their sight, he ripped apart the letter and threw the pieces into the trash. yet, he couldn't handle throwing it away. it was cute, after all, and he had spent his own money on it. he hugged the pushed animal to his chest, which was a cute, little, fluffy cow.

he was slowly beginning to understand that ara didn't need him anymore, but when she shoved him away, no matter how lightly, it was like a slap to the face. he had to face it: ara loved taeyong, and would do anything for him. jaemin had simply disappeared from her thoughts; all the memories they made together, gone.

now at home, ara punched her pillow. she hated herself for doing this to jaemin, but taeyong was the one who clouded her thoughts. he was like a drug, and without him, she was nothing. she was simply "taeyong's girlfriend." shamelessly, it was a title she was proud of. she knew that he would treat her right.

sighing, she rolled her shoulders back. she battled with herself mentally, but her angel won. she would go and apologize to jaemin, in person.

pulling on a hoodie and some sweatpants since it was winter, she walked over to jaemin's house. he lived with his mom, obviously, but she was always gone, trying to make a living that would sustain herself and jaemin. it was a reason why jaemin's mom and ara's mom were so close: they were both single mothers raising a child and trying to make a living.

finally arriving to jaemin's neighborhood, she froze at the sight.

there he was, in front of his house. what made her freeze though, was the girl that he was dragging into his house quite roughly. the girl was trying to hug him, but he shoved her off and grabbed her arms.

it was cho miyeon, her best friend.

"miyeon?" ara whispered. miyeon had been disappearing often, saying that she was 'busy.' ara had just assumed that miyeon was studying, or possibly even getting tired of ara and her childish ways. 

the last thing she had expected was miyeon showing up at jaemin's house. was this why she was 'busy' all the time?

she didn't think that miyeon was getting tired of her, though. it showed in the way she cared for ara, even with her supposed lack of time. miyeon still left self-care packages randomly, and always bought stuff that would be sent to ara. she was the sweetest and most reliable person ara had ever been best friends with, but something about miyeon had changed.

she now had prominent dark bags under her eyes; her lovely, glowing eyes no longer seen. she no longer tried in school, when she used to be valedictorian. she either starved herself or ate everything she could get her hands on. she couldn't bother to attend school, much less dress up for school.

and the most obvious reason was because of the hidden bruises decorating the hidden parts of her body. but nobody knew about them, not even ara. ara was too in love to notice her best friend slowly dying by the hands of a male.

ara, naive to it all, turned and walked away. she didn't want to admit that it was because of jealousy.