Closer than Ever

Chapter 85 - Space to Breathe

After the show, I hustle back to my hotel room because I really need the bathroom. Tae texts to tell me that they're going to do a livestream and have a group dinner, but he wants to see me in-between.

Birdie, can you come over here to my hotel? I'm in room 930. There are so many staffs and people around that I don't think anyone will question.

OK, sure, if you think it's going to be alright. Are you going home on the tour bus with the guys, babe? I'm thinking I'll grab a night bus instead of waiting to take the train in the morning.

Are you sure? You could rest one more night in the hotel, sweet girl, if you're tired. I'm going to take the tour bus tonight.

I just want to be home with you. I can sleep on the bus in the meantime.

OK. As long as I get to see you here first! I want to hear what you thought about the show. I have to go now, but see you soon. Love you!

Love you too! You guys were amazing! 🥰 See you soon.

I realize that I'm really hungry, so I call room service and have them send up a Cobb salad. I'm not sure how long the livestream is going to last, so I shovel the food down as quickly as I can while watching the guys goof around, then start walking over to their hotel.

The livestream ends while I'm still about 10 minutes away, but I make my way up to the ninth floor as quickly as I can. I'm just about to knock when I hear Taehyung shouting inside.

"I'm not asking for your permission! I'm telling you!"

"Stop being such a needy little bastard, son. Women can smell your desperation. You're an easy mark for a woman like her!"

"You don't know her! You don't know anything about her!!"

"I know a gold-digger when I see one!" his dad yells. "Don't be an idiot! That foreign bitch is just after your money!"

Tae's voice goes deadly. "How. Dare. You. You are talking about the woman I love. I don't care if you are my father, you will keep a civil tongue in your head, or I'll have security escort you out! She has never asked me for ANYTHING! Unlike other people I could name, she has never asked me for a thing! She scolds me when I spend money on her, and tells me to give it to charity instead!"

"It's an act, son! Once you sign those papers, you'll see her true colors! She'll take you for all that you're worth! She's probably not even really pregnant. These women with their accidental pregnancies - she's just trying to trap you!"

"It's not an accidental pregnancy! This baby is planned! This baby is the start of our family, a real family, a family built on love! The kind of family you never were to me."

I lean against the wall in the hallway, unable to believe what I'm hearing, fighting to breathe.

"I'm trying to help you, Taehyung. You have no idea what these foreign women are like. How can you waste your future on such a woman?"

There's a pause, and then Tae continues in a low, measured tone. "You're trying to help me? When have you ever helped me? All you've ever done is walk away and leave me behind. I've tried so hard all my life to be a good son, a dutiful son. But you treat me like a second class citizen. Like garbage. And now you're saying these things about my bride. From today, don't contact me. I'm blocking your number and changing the code for my condo door."

"Don't be an idiot, Taehyung. That woman will marry you, take your money, and then move on to the next idol, just you wait and see! She's nothing but a whore!"

"Get out. Get the fuck out of my room. I never want to see you again. Don't you dare ask me for another cent, ever. We're done."

There's a heavy slamming sound from inside the room, and a wave of panic like I've never felt sets my body to flight. I turn and run down the hall to the staircase, blasting through the door, desperate to get away before Taehyung's father comes out into the hallway. My brain is a hissing blank of static, and my heart feels like a mass of jagged shards, ripping through my chest walls with every step. I pound down the stairs, no goal in mind except to get away from the awful things I just heard. I flag down a taxi, crying so hard that the cabbie can barely understand me when I ask to go to the bus station. I just need to be home, where it's safe, so I can think about what I heard.