𝚖𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚛 // 𝚋𝚢𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚎𝚔𝚑𝚢𝚞𝚗✔

Chapter XXII

“I still love you, Taeyeon, even after what happened to you, to me, to us; I never stop loving you,” Baekhyun said again, confessing and admitting the truth to the woman he can't seem to let go of. “There, Taeyeon, I said it.”

Taeyeon was taken aback when she heard him say the words she'd been hoping to hear from him again: he loves her. However, because she did not respond or at least say anything, Baekhyun mistook her shock for something that hurt him.

“She doesn't feel the same way I do, does she?” he asked himself, letting out a bitter chuckle to mask his disappointment at her reaction.

“Baekhyun—”

He held up his hand to stop her as he continued. “No, I'm not done yet. I have to be honest with you. I have to be honest with you… Key never chose that song, I did. You want to know why? Because every time I'm listening and singing to that song, all I could think about is you,” he said directly into her eyes, demonstrating his sincerity.

Taeyeon was too overwhelmed by what she was hearing right now to respond, but whenever she tried to tell him she felt the same way— tell him she still loved him— he wouldn't let her.

“Baekhyun, I—”

“I still feel this way towards you, Taeyeon… But I know you're scared, so am I… And I know a lot has happened to you because of our relationship, but I thought even after how many years had passed, you would still love me the same way I do, but I guess I was wrong because back there when I was singing that song for you… It's not going to work anymore… I'm sorry, Taeyeon,” he continued and ended, shaking his head in disapproval, and was about to turn around to leave the room when she stopped him.

She clutched his hand tightly, causing him to stare, as it was Taeyeon's turn to confess and admit what she needed to say. She hopes to say the right thing, something he needed to hear just as much as she did.

“Yes, it is, and it will work because we are going to make it work, Baekhyun,” she said firmly, her gaze fixed on their intertwined hands. “I'm scared, but not because of what happened back then, but because I don't want to ruin our friendship again; I wasn't sure if you still felt that way about me, so I just told you that we can be friends… But we can be more than that.”

“No, we can't,” he quietly said.

Both of their gazes were still fixed on their intertwined hands when Baekhyun abruptly lifted his free hand to reach for Taeyeon's chin as he slowly lifted her face, so he could see her.

When she heard his response, her eyes began to turn red and tears welled up in her eyes. “I still love you, Baekhyun, and I'm not saying this because of what you said, but because that's how I feel; I want to be your friend… your girlfriend… and I would like to be with you.”

“No, we can't, Taeyeon,” he repeated.

“Why the hell not?” her voice breaks as her tears begin to fall, no matter how hard she tries to hold them back.

Baekhyun knew what he did was wrong; he shouldn't have approached her, and these confessions shouldn't have happened. He assumed that even though they were just friends, everything would return to normal, but love is love. He loves her, and she loves him, but they aren't ready to confront their pasts yet.

“I'm leaving,” he said quietly, lifting his hand from her chin to wipe her tears away and smiling weakly. “I'm going back to Seoul, Taeyeon. I shouldn't have come here in the first place; I was only here to keep you away from Ravi, but I know I shouldn't have done that to you and Ravi.”

“How can you say that when I just said I wanted to be with you?” she sobbed.

“I'm saying this, so we can both avoid the mistake we made seven years ago; I was wrong to think this would still work…” he lied, still attempting to wipe away her tears.