Attention || Taehyung

Truth.

~ ❦ ~

Lying on my bed, my favorite place in the world, I lazily scrolled through my phone.

My pillows were perfectly fluffed, and the soft hum of the ceiling fan created a soothing background noise. The late afternoon sunlight streamed through the curtains, casting a warm, golden glow across the room.

I was about to click on yet another cat meme when my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen and felt my heart skip a beat. It was a text from him.

<Hey, it's been a while. How are you?>

I stared at the message, a mixture of curiosity and caution swirling in my mind.

It had been months since we last spoke, and our breakup was messy, to say the least. I had almost forgotten the sound of his voice, the way he would laugh at his own jokes, the way he could make me feel both incredibly happy and utterly devastated in a span of minutes.

After a few moments of hesitation, I typed back.

<Leave me alone>

<Don't be like that. Been thinking a lot about us lately. Wanted to see how you were doing>

My fingers hovered over the keyboard. What the hell was he getting at, was this just a casual check-in, or was there something more to it. I took a deep breath as the memory of our breakup replayed in my head, wondering what I could have done differently.

A moment later, my phone rang. I took a deep breath, steadied myself before picking the call.

The sudden sound jolted me from my reverie. I stared at the screen, his name glowing softly. Taking another deep breath, I steadied myself before answering.

"Hello?" My voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm sorry, for everything" He said immediately, his voice laced with regret.

I closed my eyes, letting the weight of his words sink in.

The apology I had waited months for, now hanging in the air between us. I didn't trust myself to respond, fearing my voice might betray the tumult of emotions within me. Instead, I silently ended the call, my heart pounding.

Almost immediately my phone buzzed with a new message. I was gonna ignore it until I saw Taehyung's caller tag.

<Hey, what you up to?>

An unwitting smile appeared on my lips, a mix of surprise and something else I couldn't quite identify.

<Nothing much, just laying on my bed, wbu?>

<I'm laying down too on my couch>

<That's cool>

I stared intently at my phone, waiting for a reply.

When a few minutes went by without him saying anything, I put down my phone with a sigh, feeling a bit deflated. I looked around my room, the quiet pressing in on me when I heard a ding that made me pick up my phone again.

<Can I ask you something?>

<You just did>

<Funny, I'm gonna call you>

The phone rang again almost instantly. I didn't hesitate to answer his call.

"Hey," He said softly when I answered.

"Hey" I replied simply. There was a pause, the silence between us heavy and filled with unspoken thoughts. "Right, so what was the question you wanted to ask?" I prompted, hoping to steer the conversation somewhere concrete.

"What made you cry before you came to my class?" He asked directly.

I had braced myself for a conversation about our awkward encounter at the mall, seeing him with his wife. But no, he brought up something else entirely.

"Why do you want to know?" I countered, a bit defensively.

"I don't know, it's been bothering me and I'm just curious" He admitted, his voice sincere. I took a deep breath, debating how much to reveal. There's not really much to say honestly.

"My ex-boyfriend texted me" I admit to him.

I could hear a tiny exhale over the phone. "That's it?" He sounded almost incredulous.

"Yeah, I freaked out and cried like an idiot baby" I explained, feeling a lump form in my throat.

"Was he abusive or something?" He asked, curiosity lacing his words.

"Not particularly, no. He was just busy a lot,"

"How busy can a high school boy be?" Taehyung asked, skepticism clear in his voice.

"He wasn't in high school," I clarified. "He was in his senior year of college when we met" I said, feeling the need to justify my past decisions. "He had a lot on his plate, and I guess I wasn't prepared for that. He'd cancel plans last minute, forget important dates... It made me feel unimportant, you know?"

He was quiet, perhaps unsure of what to say next. A knock on my door interrupted the moment, and I glanced up to see my mom standing there, a concerned look on her face.

I held up a finger to indicate I needed a minute.

"One second..." I said softly into my phone before I put my phone down and turned to my mom.

"Have you taken your medicine yet?" She asked, her voice gentle but firm.

"Yeah, I did earlier" I lied, forcing a smile.

"Okay..." She replied, turning to leave, but then hesitating. She moved back, her eyes searching mine. "Oh, and please remember to take them this week. I'm not gonna be here, and Dohyun is gonna be at his friend's house"

"Yeah, okay. I promise" I said, trying to sound reassuring. "Good night, Mom."

She gave me a small, weary smile. "Good night, sweetie"

As she left the room, closing the door softly behind her, I let out a long sigh. The weight of the day pressed down on me, and I glanced over at the small bottle of pills sitting on my nightstand, untouched.

I raised my phone again to press it against my ear as I reached to pick up the bottle, turning it over in my hands. "Was that your mommy?" I chuckled softly to myself at his little teasing. He always had a knack for asking questions that got right to the point.

"Yeah it was, would you like to speak to her about my spectacular grades, Mr.Kim?" I replied.

"Why do you keep calling me that, Rena?" He shot back almost immediately.

"I don't know, I just like it. Why don't you like me calling you that?" I couldn't resist poking a bit of playful banter back at him. My fingers tapping out the words of the bottle and then setting it back down with a small thud.

"It makes me feel like I'm your teacher" He explained, his response tinged with a hint of humor.

"But you are my sexy history teacher though" I teased further.

He didn't speak for a moment, and I could almost picture him processing my words on the other end of the line. "Come on, I'm sure your wife has probably said it too" I pressed on, unable to resist teasing him a little more.

The silence stretched out, and I wondered if I had crossed a line and gone too far. Taehyung was usually quick with a witty comeback or a laugh, but now he seemed unexpectedly quiet.

My heart raced a bit, unsure of how he'd respond. Just as I began to worry, I heard his voice come through the phone again. "I have to shower, so I have to get off but come to school early tomorrow, okay?" He said abruptly, breaking the tension.

"What for?" I asked, genuinely curious about his request.

"Because I said so, that's what for..." Hr trailed off, and then the line went dead as he hung up.

I set my phone down with a sigh, his sudden departure leaving me with a mix of emotions. As I lay back on my bed, I couldn't help but laugh to myself at how messy I'm making my life. What the hell am I doing?