Promises {Taeyong}

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, I awoke with a funny feeling manifesting in my stomach. It was the kind of sick feeling you get when you know something bad will happen. It scared me, especially since Taeyong slept in my dorm last night. He wasn't there when I woke up, neither was Hana.

There was no class today, meaning I had all day to lie around the dorm without anything to do. Hansol was busy and Taeyong wasn't replying. This only made my stomach churn. Something didn't feel right and it made it impossible to focus on anything other than my own thoughts. I felt isolated and it was slowly suffocating me.

A knock at the door made me jump with fear and I grabbed a bottle of water for defense. I gulp hard and try to calm my nerves as I shuffle towards the door. My hand shakes as I twist the doorknob and swing the door open, yelling a war cry as I raise the bottle, ready to attack.

Hana screams with me and I finally drop the water bottle. "What the fuck are you doing?" She screams, pushing past me and flopping down on the sofa.

"I thought you were an intruder." I whisper timidly.

"And you were gonna fight me with a water bottle? Real smart." She rolls her eyes, causing my blood to boil slightly but I manage to calm my anger.

She mutters something under her breath and gives me a glare that could kill. "What did you just say?" I ask, my eyebrows knitting together with concern. The way she was acting didn't help the strange feeling on my stomach. In fact, she was making it worse.

Hana smiles at me with the kind of sickly sweet smile that made me want to throw up. She was trying too hard to look innocent and I couldn't help but feel as though she was hiding something from me. She couldn't be, right? I'm just being paranoid.

"I didn't say anything." She says through gritted teeth. "You're just hearing things. Did you even get any sleep last night?" A shrill giggle falls from her lips as she looks at me strangely. The strange feeling in my stomach spread through every limb in my body. My legs threatened to buckle underneath me. She couldn't know about last night, right? She stayed at that house last night.

My fear of appearing weak became too great so I excused myself to my bedroom and sank to the floor, hands in my hair. I was frustrated. It felt like the world was keeping a secret from me and refused to let me know. I must just be feeling paranoid.

My phone buzzed beside me. Even that was enough to make me jump. It felt like I was constantly standing on the edge of a cliff and even the slightest push was enough to send me falling. I picked up my phone and stared at the text.

Batman: Dinner?

Batgirl: Sure. Where?

Batman: Meet me at the cafeteria. My hangover is way too bad for me to go further.

Batgirl: Haha, alright. See you.

Even a couple messages from Taeyong was enough to calm this unidentifiable feeling that was building in my stomach. I knew he would calm me and I couldn't wait to see him. I grabbed my bag and ran out the apartment, ignoring Hana as she asked where I was off too. This world was suffocating me right now and I needed Taeyong to help me breathe.

As soon as I saw Taeyong, it felt as though a weight had lifted off my heart. I ran to him and allowed him to envelope me in his arms. We were in public and knew we shouldn't be affectionate but neither of us could help ourselves.

However, part of me wished I had never let him hold me. It felt...wrong. Very wrong. He felt reluctant. When I first laid eyes on him sitting at the cafeteria table, my heart felt as light as a feather. Now that I felt his stiff embrace, the weight in my chest came crashing back down 10 times harder than it had before.

We slowly sat down and I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. He wouldn't stop staring at me. It wasn't a loving, affectionate gaze but it was almost as though he was trying to figure me out. Taeyong was never like this with me and it was scaring me.

"Why are you staring at me?" I questioned. He smiled. It was fake.

"Sorry. What do you want to eat?" We ordered and ate in silence. It wasn't awkward but it was uncomfortable. I had hoped he would allow me to breathe but he made my suffering worse. It was as though he reached into my chest and squeezed my lungs. I felt like I was drowning.

About halfway through the meal, a loud voice sounded throughout the hall. Hana was stood on a table waving sheets of paper around and yelling. Hansol was stood on the ground beside her, arms folded, staring at the ground. Taeyong walked over to her and I followed.

"Ah! Speak of the devil and she will appear!" Hana yelled, staring straight at me. At this point, she had attracted the attention of the entire hall. I shuffled uncomfortably under all of their stares.

"Hana, what are you on about?" I question. She proudly presents photos of me and Taeyong and me and Hansol. All of them look incriminating. They look as though we're kissing or flirting. Hansol continues to stare at the ground, even though I know he can sense my eyes on him. Taeyong crosses his arms and turns to me.

"Tell me it's not true." He growls. I gaze at him sadly, no words are forming in my mind. I can't say anything. "You're unbelieveable." He shakes his head.

Hana smirks. "Song Jihyo. The girl you all know to be an innocent college student, right? Well, she has been trying to steal my boyfriend and has been flirting with Hansol. She's a slut."

My eyes begin to well with tears and I violently blink them away in an attempt to keep them restrained. I cannot cry. I don't want to appear weak. The whole hall was whispering to themselves and it makes me feel embarrassed.

With no other option left, I run from the cafeteria and up the stairs till I reach the roof. I push the door open and run onto the roof, the cold air stinging my face as I allow the tears to flow. I was right to have that strange feeling and I was right to be cautious of Hana this whole time.

But Taeyong can't seriously believe her, right? How can he? I feel betrayed. My legs buckle underneath me and I lay down on the hard stone ground. Rain begins to fall from the sky and splatter on my face. Up above, I see birds flying around. One of them is falling behind, it's too slow.

It parts from the others and begins flying in circles on it's own. It's isolated. Memories from Santorini flash in my mind. Memories of lying on the sand next to Taeyong as he rambled on about some story of birds getting isolated from their families and wandering around till they die.

At first, I didn't believe it. I remember telling Taeyong it was bullshit. However, now that I was lying here, feeling so isolated from everyone with nowhere to go, it didn't seem so unbelievable as I had first imagined.

I was alone.