Jar Of Hearts

Chapter 16 : Revelation

     Truth be told, Beomgyu craved for his life to just pause, even for a few minutes.

     If things had slackened for a mere second, it would make every thing more spontaneous. Just long enough for him to take a long, languid breath before proceeding. Just long enough to put down the heavy baggage and roll his shoulders free of the tension.

     He wondered if things would've been easier if he’d lost his last heart years ago.

     That thought had been shot down the second he’d thought of it. He uttered his concern to Soobin only to be ridiculed and lectured for almost an hour straight.

      All in all, he deserved that sit-down. It set his mind straight, but he felt as if various other causes might outweigh his definite side. He didn’t want to think that way, but part of his unruly, degrading side never failed to remind him of the what-ifs of everything.

     To begin with, Taehyun still wasn’t wholly talking to him. He built up the same wall he hid behind when they met, hesitant and unknowing. Beomgyu tried to assure himself it was just his way of dealing with the grief, but he couldn’t swallow the guilt of not being able to be there for him to feel comfortable.

     When he strived to meet, it was shot down. When he brought him a meal, his plate was full even after. When he tried to talk about Sooyun, the conversation was shifted.

     In every instance, he felt avoided and disregarded, but he couldn’t bring himself to blame it on Taehyun. It wasn’t his fault in any way, and he pushed himself to be patient with him for as long as he needed.

      “I’ll wait for you,” he promised one night where their limbs were tangled in the sheets, the night growing in on them. He thought the younger was asleep in his arms and his voice whisked away in the air. “No matter how long, I’ll wait for you.”

     “Even until time runs out?” Taehyun had sought, and Beomgyu didn’t know what he meant by that. He didn’t say anything, and they fell into an uneasy slumber after that.

     He was playing the same cat and mouse game he’d been following at the beginning, battling the array of assumptions as they arose with Taehyun’s every questionable move. He was met with a dilemma after dilemma and he was lagging on the chase.

     But, that wasn’t even the worst part.

     No, his most critical worry was the one he was currently facing. This was the thing that made him yearn for a second to pause and rethink every little thing, to try and notice the hints and implications before this could’ve happened.

     How could he have been so blind?

     He’d been hit with reality like a punch to the face.

      Literally.

      He didn’t know what he was expecting when he left his dorm room only to see Hueningkai stride towards him with a resolute and unwelcoming look on his face. Beomgyu left the door ajar, pondering if he should invite him in despite the fire in his eyes and the trembling of his clenched fist.

     In seconds, Beomgyu heard a grunt. With a flash of pain, he was nearly knocked off his feet by the blow thrown to the left side of his face.

     Beomgyu stumbled over his footing, hand shooting to cup the tender skin as he tried to process the abrupt, jarring shift of events. He felt his eyes welling up with tears involuntarily at the pain, the sensation flooding over the whole of his face.

     Kai had just hit him. The same Kai who sat by him and hugged him without any words, the one who was always there for him despite his lack of calling for it. He’d stalked up to him without hesitation and lunged his fist at him.