how many secrets can you keep? || taelice

5

T A E H Y U N G
NOV. 16, 2016, AAA 2016

"Yo, my man!" Baekhyun jokingly said as he gave me a man-hug. We both laughed at his silliness, although my smile failed to reach my eyes.

"You've been really busy lately, huh?" He asked me and I just nodded at him. I don't really feel like talking at all today. Especially since she's gonna be here. I couldn't even sleep a wink last night.

Baek told me that they had to go already to their waiting room so we said goodbye to each other. I looked at my members to see them socializing with other celebrities. Some celebrities walked past me and greeted me but I just bowed back to them.

Suddenly, J-Hope bumped me and said, "Look," he pointed to the entrance of the building and there I saw a tall blond lady who outshone everyone that's near her. She looked at our direction and I couldn't stop staring at her.

She's really changed, I can tell. Based on the way she carries herself, it's obvious that she's become more confident - different from the shy girl that I've known before.

"Finally we can see them," Hobi whispered right next to me. Everyone has been waiting for BlackPink to appear on events ever since they debuted. We've never seen them talk once before, except for their appearance on Weekly Idol that my members eagerly watched during our free time while fanboying over them.

They were walking over to our direction when suddenly it felt like everything was in slow motion. Our eyes met for a while but she quickly looked away.

Does she still remember me?

I heard their manager introducing them and naming them one by one, but I just fixed my eyes on Lisa. I couldn't even bow to them. Our eyes met again but she quickly looked at Jungkook and shook his hands.

God knows how much I missed her. My Pokpak and I knew each other since we were kids, she always called me 'Hyung' jokingly partly because of my name and partly because she was really boyish before and I was older than her.

Will she still call me Hyung?

She was smiling to everyone that she shook hands with. Her eyes were shining and her smile was genuine. I wanted to approach her and hug her, but I couldn't. It just wasn't right.

When I realized that I was the only one she haven't talked to yet, I went to her and her genuine smile seemed to shaken up a bit but she still smiled politely at me afterwards. With a little bit of hope that she might remember me - even though I know that the outcome might be bad - I held out my hand.

Her soft hands slowly took it and she introduced herself with the sweetest voice.

"I'm V," I replied.

I stared at her eyes, hoping that she might say my name - my real name. But that hope crashed down when she looked away and pulled out her hand.

My gaze dropped at my hand when she started greeting other people confidently, and my heart started sinking deeper and deeper.

Ah, she doesn't remember me.

The thought made me sad and angry at the same time. I was angry at myself for hoping. I was sad because all I wanted to do was to hug her but I didn't have the right. I wanted to hit myself right there and then.

I came back to reality when someone suddenly put an arm around my shoulders. I looked to see who it was.

"Let's go to the waiting room," Jimin smiled at me and I just nodded at him with tears threatening to form in my eyes.

***

"They look even more beautiful up close," I heard Jungkook say beside me while getting his makeup retouched.

I wanted to say something but I decided to keep my mouth shut to avoid causing any trouble.

Jimin approached me and sat beside me. He stared at me for a moment and said in a whisper, "Why didn't you tell her your real name?"

I got startled by his question for a second but I smiled bitterly after coming to a realization.

"She's already happy without me, will I be the reason for that happiness to fade away again?" I told him calmly and it seemed like he sympathized with me. He didn't say anything but he just patted my shoulder.

This is what I like about Jimin. He doesn't try to cheer me up, he just becomes sad with me instead. He's one of those people who understand that they don't understand.

After a few minutes, we walked out of the waiting room to get to our seats when it was almost time for the awarding.

I saw Black Pink sitting behind our seats, and my heart started to beat fast again. But instead of showing my emotions, I just put on my poker face and chose the seat that was just in front of Lisa.

I could hear them talking to each other and hearing her voice again somehow made me happy.

They were all laughing and her laugh was like music to my ears. I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

A/N:

I am deeply sorry if the the past chapters have been really depressing and boring. But this is just the beginning of the story so I think the fun and normal chapters will come out after 1 or 2 chapters more. :)