𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧 | ᵏᵗʰ ✓

chapter 6

"so, explain to me. why aren't you eating anything?" taehyung asked, taking a sip of the bright red noodle soup.

val fiddled with her hands and tried to avoid the subject. she shrugged.

taehyung frowned and searched her face for any clues but failed due to her mask covering half her face. val caught him looking at her and gave an excuse,"i'm not hungry, i ate earlier."

val looked at the ground and expected taehyung to leave her alone when all of a sudden, the boy came close to her and sniffed her jacket.

"you smell like ramen, so you ate it before you came here? wow, you're something else. stealing someone else's food," taehyung teased, a smirk playing on his lips.

"i already apologized, what else do you want me to do?" val said, her voice wavering.

"well since you haven't bought me anything meaning you broke our promise, how about..." taehyung thought for a second,"a kiss?"

val choked on her own spit,"i'm sorry, what?"

taehyung spun the noodles inside the cup and looked at her,"you heard me."

a sudden rage filled val and she got off her seat,"what do you even take me for? i'm a stranger and you're a stranger as well. how am i supposed to kiss someone i met like 10 minutes ago?"

"woah, calm your shit, i was kidding." he held out his hands as a sign of innocence.

val scoffed and grabbed her hat that she took off a couple of minutes ago,"i'm leaving. i would love it if you could erase my number as- actually, how the fuck did you get my number?"

"people, power, popularity," he stated, holding out three fingers with a cheshire grin.

"well whoever you are, taehyung, i hope you don't ever encounter yourself with me. it's bad for me," val spat out with disgust.

"so... see you next saturday?" taehyung asked, finishing the last of his ramen.

wiping his lips with his hand, he grabbed a chocolate bar off the shelf, payed for it, and threw it at val, which she failed to catch.

"eat it, you look like you need it. i just noticed this but you're skinny as fuck," taehyung furrowed his eyebrows, leaning back on the window sill table.

this is getting too close for comfort, val thought as she gritted her teeth. she looked at the fallen chocolate bar and back at taehyung who was impatiently waiting for her to pick up the damn dessert. val felt horrible on the inside but she knew she couldn't pick up a chocolate bar much less eat it. and so she did the most dramatic thing that a protagonist would do: she turned her back, walked out the door, and left the boy there with the chocolate bar, still on the floor.

-

val didn't turn back for she feared he would be following her. however, the urge for her to stop and look behind her shoulder was too strong and she caved in. val looked back strangely anticipating for him to be there only to find no one. typical, she shouldn't have even hoped. she felt a frown tugging at the corner of her lips when all of a sudden some guy screams at her going,"boo!"

val squealed and like what every normal human being would usually do, she kicked him where it hurts.

"ow, holy shit! that fucking hurts, ow.." a familiar voice groaned in pain, holding where val kicked.

val opened her eyes to see taehyung, rolling on the floor, clutching where it hurt. val knew she should've apologized and help him up but instead, she couldn't help it and broke out in giggles. without the help of val, taehyung stood up on his own and huffed.

"you were supposed to help me up, you hoe," he informed, wiping the dirt away from his jeans.

val sheepishly smiled and stopped laughing,"sorry, but you shouldn't scare someone like that. i have a very sharp sense of defense."

"i can tell," taehyung murmured shoving his hands in his pockets,"oh, by the way, you forgot this."

taehyung shuffled around his huge pocket and finally showed her the chocolate bar that he had bought for her to eat. val suddenly felt both horrible for leaving it and also sick to the stomach.

"oh. sorry, um. i'm allergic to chocolate," val made a safe excuse.

taehyung scoffed and crossed his arms,"as if! who can be allergic to chocolate? that's almost impossible. c'mon just say you don't want it if you don't want it."

"n-no. i want it."

what the fuck is she saying?

"then here. god, you take such a long time to choose. so picky..." he muttered, handing the dessert to val.

val had no clue what she was doing but she immediately started ripping the wrapper and as soon as the smell rose to her nose, she jerked her hand away from her face.

"okay, you have a serious problem. what are you doing? you unwrapped it, now all you have to do is eat it!" taehyung grew impatient, walked up to val, and guided the chocolate bar into her mouth.

val's mouth exploded with different flavors. she could taste the sugar melting in her mouth and she really didn't know how to react. it was all so familiar to her; the way it made her feel. val was about to swallow her first bite when she remembered the past. her past self. the way she used to be ugly and so fat. val shook her head and the piece of chocolate that was still in her mouth tasted like shit now. her stomach was refusing it and she had no choice but to spit it out on the ground.

after she did, val coughed about three times before wiping her mouth and sneaked a glance at taehyung who was now crossing his arms with a blank face.

"i can explain, see i told you i was allergic to-"

"hi anna."