I O U (NCT JaeYong) | Jaehyun x Taeyong

Chapter 23

A few more years passed and Taeyong was in the final year of his degree now. He came home after a whole day of classes. At the parking lot of his small apartment building, he saw Kai's car. Taeyong's face lit up as he ran to Sicheng's house.

He stood at the front door and saw the man was putting some stuff in a box. Kai was packing the belonging that he left here. Taeyong approached the latter as he observed what Kai was doing. Kai looked gloomy.

"Hyung, how long are you gonna stay this time?" Taeyong asked.

Kai placed his nicely folded cloth into the box and let out a deep sigh. He knew this time would come. The time where he needed to face the reality and accepted the painful fate. This would be his first time to feel this heartbroken.

"I'm not." Kai replied short.

"Are you leaving again? But you just came back. You've gone for 3 months."

"This time I'll never return... I'll go for good." Kai could feel his hands slightly shaking.

"I've enjoyed enough." He continued.

"Don't go. Please." Taeyong begged.

"Don't leave me alone." Taeyong grabbed Kai's hands.

Kai looked at their hands. For God's sake, Taeyong was making it harder for him. He released his hands off Taeyong's grip and stood in front of the boy, facing him. Let me be selfish for one last time. Kai thought.

"Taeyong, thank you for all the precious memories you gave me for the past few years. You showed me how it feels to be a human. You gave me the meaning of life. I'll never forget it." Kai smiled sadly.

"Why do you have to go?" Taeyong asked.

Kai caressed Taeyong's face gently. They looked at each other in the eyes. Kai then leaned forward and claimed the latter's lips. Taeyong widened his eyes as he stood there, froze. Kai broke the kiss as he looked down. They stayed like for a while without a word exchanged.

He loved Taeyong. But it didn't mean that he could be with the latter. They were not on the same page. Sometimes, if you loved someone, you needed to let them go.

"Your happiness is not with me. I've been selfish enough." Kai said.

He grabbed the box and walked out of the house. Taeyong just stood there as he stared into space, still shocked. All this time, Kai stayed by his side, but he couldn't see the latter's true feeling. Taeyong didn't know what to feel.

Taeyong didn't know how long he had been standing there. He looked around the house. Sicheng was still working. He rubbed his face as he exited the place. He locked the door and placed the key in the flowerpot beside the door. And with that, he went to his house.

"How long will that man stay this time?" Taeyong's mom asked, referring to Kai.

"He's leaving." Her son replied short.

"I wonder why you're so attached to that man? He works for the one that kidnapped you. They are bad people." His mom asked and Taeyong snapped.

"First of all, his name is Kai. And so what if they are bad people? You don't know what really happened back then. Yes, people see them as bad, villains whatsoever. But you need to know, a hero will leave their loved one to save the world. That's pure heart. But a villain will destroy the whole world if their loved one gets hurt. Now that's loyalty." His mother turned silent.

"Jaehyun destroyed the entire empire just because they bruised my arm. For me, that's true love. You married a man that tried to sell his own son to save himself. When was the last time you saw him?"