LOST STARS

Chapter 12

In a few minutes, he was approaching the driveway to the guesthouse where Yoongi and his family were. The scale of where Yoongi belonged versus where he was coming from suddenly seemed very daunting, but he did not let this deter him. He parked his bicycle on the stand and carefully wrapped the umbrella back into a closed cane lookalike. Tucking it under his arm and brushing his hair to the back, Taehyung walked up the stairs, half a floor, to the living room. His damp, ragged clothes were not the best first impression for a family like Yoongi's but Taehyung didn't know any better. The smile on his face and the determination kept growing with each step.

The sight of Yoongi's clueless father welcomed him, as he entered after a polite knock. He hadn't seen or noticed Taehyung and the sight of this drenched visitor made his brows frown in question. Taehyung stood in front of them, hands shaking out of nervousness and not fear. He pointed to himself and stuttered, "Aehyun" at the moment of his hands signing his name simultaneously.

To his right side, behind the glass pane, diving the living area from another sitting space, Yoongi emerged from the shadows of the curtain, which still danced behind him. Yoongi's presence suddenly felt like a warm embrace in the cold rain that washed up against the glass panes of the guesthouse. Their eyes met, and a sudden gush of emotions burst inside Taehyung. Yoongi's face had emotions too, but opposite emotions. There was a surprise, mixed with fear and suddenly the realization dawned on him. The corners of his mouth gave a hesitant smile, which looked more like a wince.

Taehyung's heart sank and his chest tightened a bit at this sight, he was in two minds: whether to talk to Yoongi's father standing in front of him or lurch towards Yoongi to ask him why he looked like he was in pain.

Better senses prevailed (or so he thought) as he turned towards Yoongi's father, With a folded letter in hand, he extended it towards the man. The paper suddenly felt heavy, weighed like the entirety of Taehyung's unspoken love for Yoongi and his own promises.

Just as Yoongi's father moved after a couple of seconds of hesitation, a swift figure intervened. Before his hands could touch the paper, Yoongi's mother, because of her intuition of what it could be, stepped forward and whisked it away. As her eyes locked with Aehyun's there was a silent conversation that happened between the concerns and questions unasked.

Taehyung stood there, powerless, motionless, and confused. As she held the letter tightly in her grasp, his once broad smile and soaring confidence now sank.

A silent exchange between Aehyun and Yoongi made the air vibrate between them. Time went still as the moment stood there, where only they could talk, and no one else could hear. A feeling of Damocles' sword clearly hung there.

Then it happened. The sword fell.

She showed up. Right next to Yoongi. Her arm was tightly locked with Yoongi's. She was absolutely beautiful and she seemed to fit perfectly there - in Yoongi's life. It was clear right away that this was the woman Yoongi wore the ring for, the woman Yoongi was going to marry.

Taehyung's heart clenched, a pool of feelings churning inside him. He could see his own pain in Yoongi's eyes clearly. Lips quivering, not able to yell the love they held out loud.

She smiled, having no idea that she had walked into a silent storm. Her presence was a stark reminder of the path that had not been taken and a choice that had been made.

With a sudden change in energy and demeanour, Taehyung leaped forward, an air of panic and desperation surrounding him. His fingers closed around the paper as he snatched it from Yoongi's mother's hand. His heartfelt confession crumpled under his grasp, a physical manifestation of the dreams he dared to see. Yoongi's father, perplexed at what just happened, turned to his wife for some answers to clear this confusion.