Trusting (KTH)

Chapter 35

The manager gave Taehyung a short nod in acknowledgement of his request. "Why don't you sit down. I'll tell you anything you want to know."

Taehyung learned everything. The videos had been up for about two weeks. Based on the angle they thought the camera was attached to the room service cart that was left in their room. The hotel was investigating but so far had turned up nothing.

Last night the first news of it started to appear on social media. The company didn't know what people were talking about until several still images began to circulate. They were slightly less risqué in the sense that their bodies were not fully exposed, but it was still more than obvious they were having sex.

It took them several hours to find the video and several more to get it taken down. It had been viewed about 20,000 times before they found it, but in the last two hours while they were working to have the video removed the number doubled. Clearly others were finding it at the same time.

It seemed the person who took the video was a vigilante who was trying to prove that Taehyung wasn't having an affair. Obviously defending him by publishing a sex tape with his wife wasn't the ideal pathway to accomplish that but this level of nuance seemed to be lost on the individual.

As more people who know the couple and their story saw the video, chatter picked up which was once again pretty critical of Clara. It generally fell into one of two categories, either her or her body was ugly or she seemed unable to keep up with Taehyung's supposed sexual interests considering their activities in the video came across as rather vanilla and muted.

Taehyung appreciated that the managers told him everything while recognizing how intensely uncomfortable the whole situation must be for them as well. They certainly could not have enjoyed watching the footage, let alone having to talk to Taehyung about it.

As he thought about it he realized again that these men had seen the footage. They had seen his wife naked and at her most vulnerable. They would certainly never look at her the same way again no matter how hard they tried.

Taehyung was slumped over with his head in his hands when Dr. Park entered the room. "Taehyung-ah," he came over to rub his back. "How are you doing?"

Taehyung shook his head 'no', too humiliated to even look up and make eye contact.

"Taehyung-ah, you know that Clara is pregnant. This is one of the most sensitive parts of her pregnancy and stress isn't good for her right now."

Now Taehyung looked up, his sadness beginning to transition to anger. "And what do you expect me to do about it? Huh? I'm not a magician. I'm in the same situation too!"

Dr. Park quietly accepted his anger, resting his hand on his shoulder when he stopped shouting. "I know Taehyung-ah, I know. I just felt like I needed to say it. Would you like me to go check-in on Clara?"

Taehyung shook his head no. "I'll go now." He said more quietly this time. "I'll let you know if we need anything."

Before he could walk out of the room the manager grabbed his attention. "You know we have a concert tonight. I can give you until four o'clock at the very latest. We'll leave one car behind so you can come later, ok?"

Taehyung couldn't even begin to imagine making it through a whole concert pretending nothing was wrong but he understood that he had to do what he had to do. This wouldn't go away by him hiding in his room. Like all things he'd need to face this head on to get through to the other side.

Slipping back into his suite, Taehyung called out to Clara but received no response. He looked for her everywhere but couldn't find her. It was unusual to think she might have left the room, particularly considering the current situation. After a few minutes he started to hear sniffling sounding like it was coming from the closet. Opening the door he found Clara sitting in the dark entirely covered by a blanket.

"Clara dear, what are you doing?" Taehyung went out to touch the blanket to let her know he was there.

Clara immediately recoiled. "Please don't touch me."

Taehyung crouched down next to her. "Sweetheart, it's ok, it's just me." Reaching out to touch her again he pulled back when she scurried to the far end of the closet.

"Please leave me alone," she choked out through obvious tears.

"I don't think it is best to leave you alone right now sweetheart. Why don't you talk to me and we can figure it out together?"

Clara refused all of Taehyung's requests no matter how he pleaded.

"Ok, I'll leave you for now. Let me know if you need me."

When it was time for Taehyung to leave for the concert Clara was still hiding under a blanket in the closet. She'd scurried out only one time to quickly use the bathroom. Taehyung had brought her some water and snacks. She had pulled the water under the blanket with her but left the food. Taehyung had even tried to use the twins and her parents to encourage her to come out from hiding but she steadfastly refused.

He'd asked her parents to check in on her, assured her of his love, and left to go to the concert. He wasn't really sure what else to do at the moment.

He also wasn't sure what to do when he came back to the room and found all of Clara and the twins' bags packed and waiting by the doorway. Clara was finishing packing a few last things in the bathroom wearing a hoodie and a face mask, and baseball camp with the blanket still draped over her.

"Clara, what's going on? Why are your bags by the door?"

"I'm going home. I've already found a ticket for a flight that leaves mid-morning. I'm taking the boys with me."