The Verse of Us

14' [hurt road]

𓇢𓆸

As Taeyeon stirs from her sleep, the darkness of the night envelops her like a heavy blanket, suffocating and oppressive.

Her throat parched and dry, she is drawn to the quiet atmosphere of the kitchen, the soft glow of moonlight casting shadows across the floor.

As she moves through the familiar space, her body on autopilot, her mind is consumed by the echoes of her conversation with Min-joo.

"As long as you know how to distance yourself."

The weight of Min-joo's words hangs heavy in the air, a relentless barrage of painful truths that refuse to be ignored.

As she reaches for a glass of water, her hand trembling with emotion, Taeyeon can't help but feeling stabbing pain on how Baekhyun laid bare of their past to someone new.

And as she takes a sip, the cool liquid soothing her parched throat, the tears threaten to spill over, a torrent of unshed emotion held back by sheer force of will.

Slowly, she finds herself transported back in time, to a moment etched in the recesses of her memory like a scar that refuses to fade.

"What are you saying?" Baekhyun questioned as he turned his gaze to Taeyeon, trying to find a hint of lie in her eyes.

Taeyeon's eyes glistened with unshed tears, her heart heavy with the weight of his words. "Let's break up," she repeated, her voice barely above a whisper.

The pressure was palpable, a suffocating weight that bore down upon them with relentless force.

With them standing two feet from each other, Taeyeon looked down, trying to suppress the tears that threatened to fall as she gripped her palm into a fist.

"I'm sorry, Baekhyun," she begun, her voice trembling with vulnerability. "I can't do this anymore."

Baekhyun's eyes stared at her in disbelief, his heart clenching with the weight of her words. He reached out, his hand trembling as he tries to hold her back from slipping away.

"But we've made it this far," he pled, his voice tinged with desperation as he repeated, "I know that you're struggling but we've made this far."

Taeyeon shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes. "What's the point of making this far but never reach the end?" her voice choked with emotion. "With things going on lately, it's even more exhausting when I think about us."

A flicker of disappointment flashed across Baekhyun's face, his ego wounded by the realization that Taeyeon could easily abandon him. His pride bristled at the thought of being kept in the dark.

"Am I a burden to you?" Baekhyun's voice was steady, but the anger simmered just below the surface, a coiled serpent ready to strike. "It's hard for me too."

His words hung heavy in the air, thick with pain and hurt.

"It's not the same," Taeyeon's voice wavered, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "You never know what it feels like to receive death threats every day."

"You don't get to judge what burdens I face," he bit out, the words laced with a bitter edge. For a moment, his frustration boiled over, the pent-up hurt spilling forth like a dam breached by the weight of his emotions.

If she thinks she suffered more than him, then she's wrong. Everyday, he had to think about his career, risking the dream he had only built for five years.

"You may not see it, but I've worked so hard to protect you. I got scolded a lot every time I skipped meeting just to see you. I had my practice separate from others, adjusting every schedule I can just so I can see you." Baekhyun trembled as he speaks, "And now you're asking for a break up? Just because you can't fight them, you decide to abandon me?"

Taeyeon felt the weight of his words bearing down upon her like a suffocating blanket. Her tears, once silent witnesses to her pain, now flowed freely, cascading down her cheeks in an unstoppable torrent.

But as Baekhyun's gaze bore into her, searching for solace in the depths of her sorrow, Taeyeon found herself unable to reply, unable to express the love that still burned bright within her battered heart.

"Go," he said, his voice cold and distant as he loosen his grip, "If that's what you want, then I won't stand in your way."

Taeyeon's breath catches in her throat, her chest tightening with the weight of unspoken sorrow. His last words remain clear in her head.

She should've known from the start that they were never meant to be together. 

He deserves someone better.

And if that someone is Min-joo, she'll let him go.

After a moment, she grabs her phone in her pajama's pocket, sending a text to her manager knowing that she have to put a stop to everything before it gets worse.

"I have finished the lyrics and I would like to have a private recording session. Please don't ask me anything."

𓇢𓆸

• to be continued.•