Losing Kim Taehyung

fourteen

You might get my heart broken
into a tiny million pieces,
but it'll be worth it.
You will always be worth it.

————————

"You only want to talk to me when your mom's mad at you," I heard dad said through my iPad screen. I was tying my hair to a high ponytail, sitting in front of my dressing table with the iPad placed over the edge of the table.

"What are you saying, dad? I just want to talk to you." I told him, still checking myself out in the mirror.

"Really? The last time you called me, you and your mom had a huge argument." He recalled, "I'm always the one who calls you first, Areum." Dad's right. I only called him whenever mom and I weren't in good terms at all. I suddenly felt bad.

I looked at the screen after I finished my hair, "I'm sorry, dad. I promise to call you next time—"

"Hi, Areum!" I stopped talking when my dad's Italian fiancee, Stella passed by, and saw me through the videocall. She was wearing a black tank top, and she bent over to say hi; her cleavage was exposed for a quick ten seconds.

"Hi, Stella!" I waved my hand, and smiled. Dad wanted me to call her auntie or mom or something like that, but they weren't married just yet and Stella just wanted me to call her by her name. She said it made her feel young, and it sounded friendlier.

"We miss you, baby! It had been two years since we visited there. Aren't you and your mom going to come over this coming Christmas vacation?" Stella asked, pouting.

"I still don't know with mom. But maybe, we'll just spend the Christmas here for now, Stella. Sorry."

"It's okay, baby." She said. Mom and Stella weren't really enemies or mad at each other, but they weren't friends either. They were just like strangers who says hi to each other whenever they meet.

"Maybe we'll visit you soon." Dad commented after, "Anyways, don't you have classes for today?"

My eyes widened to what dad said then I looked at my wristwatch to see I was already fifteen minutes late in the first period. "Shit," I mumbled, too quiet that they didn't hear it. "Well, I gotta go, dad! Bye, Stella! Talk to you soon! Love you guys!" I said, not even pausing to every word. I didn't wait for them to respond, and just ended the videocall.

Mom already left early for work, and I hadn't seen her leave. I just heard the sound of her car's engine started, and it woke me up from my deep sleep. When I got downstairs, she was already gone. There were still bread toasts in the kitchen table, so I just took two and left the house. Once a taxi cab stopped in front, I immediately got inside, ate the toasts there, and the cab drove me to school.

As soon as I reached the school, I hurriedly run along the hallways and stopped in the corridor to see Taehyung leaning against the wall with his hands on his pockets. "Taehyung!" I called his name when I was a few meters away from him. He looked at my direction, and started to walk towards me. As soon as he reached where I stood, he grasped my wrist, and dragged me outside the school. "Why weren't you in class?" I asked, staring at his back.

"Because you weren't there." He said as he loosened his grip. "Since we're both not in class, let's just get outta here!" He glanced to see me at the back as he continued to hold me. "Anyway, you look good with your hair tie like that." He gave me an approved smile, and shifted his attention in front of him again. "But don't do it often, okay? I still want to see your hair down."