Rose | Taennie

23.

Days passed by, as Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months.

Taehyung nervously fiddled in his car, that was currently being driven to the socialite reception party for a well known couple.

Building connections was essential, and so he couldn't refuse the party as he had the engagement and wedding, despite Jennie attending since every important clientele he could have would be available at the party.

Just making an appearance was enough to show he knew the couple, and talking around a little would build his prescience which was more than enough to set an influence.

He sighed, fixing his hair for the umpteenth time as they approached the venue.

He could already see the cameras going off at every guest who walked in.

Thankfully, over the time that had passed, the attention had passed from the Alinac/Clyde takeover, and would do so for another month before court dates progress.

The car came to a progressive halt as a hand reached out to open the door for him.

Taehyung took a small breath before switching to his signature PR ready smile as he emerged from his car and walked across the carpet, posing and waving at cameras as he was trained.

However, as his eyes struck Jennie he paused mid wave, his smile slowly fading as he took in a deep breath.

She looked as beautiful as she did any other day.

Her dress was floor length today, navy blue as a diamond necklace hung from her neck.

More than anything, he noticed her smile, the one that never failed to get him weak at the knees.

Luckily he was able to gather himself before the cameras took too much notice, as he walked in.

The past month had been nothing short of torture, not for work since he had a board he could work with.

But her.

The constant reminder of them not being together anymore, the feeling that she was miles away even though they were in the same room.

Every time he saw her and knew they couldn't be together, he would only feel the distance between them grow.

And the feeling of losing her, that is how he found out how the love he had for her only stood to grow.

He had come to terms with it yes, that the foreign feeling of love was not so foreign anymore.

And every time he'd seen her, he could only fall deeper and deeper.

Brushing off his thoughts, Taehyung smiled as he approached he couple who were getting wed, greeting them with a hug and handing over their gift to them.

Meanwhile Jennie stood at a corner of the room as she waved off another possible client, the smile slowly fading as exhaustion crept over her.

The last month had been tough. Harder than anything. Truthfully, she was getting around 4-5 hours of sleep every 48 hours along with an alarming amount of coffee every day.

It didn't help when her eyes caught sight of Taehyung.

She couldn't help the fact that everything was slowly getting too much, and in all honestly she just wanted to cry.

Seeing him reminded her of the last few months every time. Even at Rosé's housewarming, The business gala, the socialite parties and even on the news; every time was a punch to her gut, as she couldn't help her emotions going haywire.

Not being able to see him from a distance anymore, she turned as quickly as she could, stepping out onto the balcony as she stared out, wanting to take a deep breath herself.

Unfortunately enough, within moments her name was called from an alarmingly similar voice, she couldn't help but shudder at the feeling of déjà vu.

"Real familiar, huh?" He called as Jennie turned around to be faced with the one and only.

"What do you want Taehyung?" She asked him, the warmth in her tone long gone as she looked disturbed the whole time.

"What? Can't I just check in on you? After all we've been through? It's been a month Jen." He started as she flinched at the nick name.

"Don't." She tensed as her hands came around herself, unsure of the whole thing.

"Don't call me that. We're not in the same shoes as we were before." She quickly spoke, even slightly stepping back as he approached her.

"Jennie. Don't be like that.... We were so close before." He reminded as Jennie struggled to keep from crying.

"Please just, just stop Taehyung. Can't you see? It's so hard already. You can't just come in and act like this is okay. Like any of this is okay. Do you know how hard it is for me to see you? Knowing that even though I love you, I can't do anything about it? I'm helpless Taehyung. Can I just ask not to be hurt any more than I already am?" She ranted, finding it hard to breathe as she tried to walk away, but he intercepted her path, before she left.

"I'm in love with you, Jen. I can't do this. I can't just see you every where knowing I can't do anything about it. Please just... just don't leave me like that." He practically begged, as the urge to resist was long gone, her tears falling freely.

"Do you know how hard it's been? I'm managing the company myself Taehyung. I have to care for my sister too, and I feel like I want to die every time I see you. You can't just barge in here and act like this, especially when there's no way out. We're rivals Tae. Clyde and Alinac. You know I won't give it up, and you can't either. You have no one to take over. We can't be together, we're always against one another." She cried as she attempted to push past him but he caught her hand.

"Jen just listen." He tried to talk as she pushed his hand away.

"Stop trying tae." She spoke harshly as she began walking again, but he turned her around once more.

"Marry me."

Jennie froze on her spot, not believing what she heard as she looked to meet his eyes.

Desperately searching them for any sort of humour, she was left stunned as he didn't even falter.

"W-what? Tae...what?" She stuttered, unable to form sentences as he took the moment to finally speak.

"I don't care about the damn company. But you do. That's your dream Jen, and I'd be a fool if I tried to take that away. But the company isn't my dream. My dream is to be a photographer, not a CEO." He paused as he let her properly look at him, her hand growing limp in his.

"I meant what I said, I'm in love with you. I'm so crazily in love with you that I already know that I can marry you. We'll merge the companies and you can take over as CEO. I'll be there for support, but the main thing is, we'll be together. We can finally be together." He spoke, his eyes staring intensely into hers as she struggled to process her thoughts.

"No.." she strained as his hand tensed, a panicked look taking over his features.

"No? Jen just think about it, you're in love with me too. I won't pressure you, but please at least think about it?" He asked as he let go of her hand, trying to give her some space as she furiously shook her head.

"No.. I can't." She strained as she stepped back shakily.

"Marriage? I can't. I can't marry you." She wheezed as concern struck Taehyung instead, as he slowly reached for her.

"Jen? Are you okay? You're not looking too good." He spoke as she shook her head again, her eyes blinking furiously.

"No... I'm- I can't..." she spoke one last time before collapsing as a whole, as Taehyung immediately caught her before she hit the ground.

"Jen? Jennie? What the hell? Jennie? Wake up!"