Wild Thoughts | Taehyung | ✓

Forty Four

The camcorder stopped playing, the screen fizzing into a grey chaos before snapping shut.

I was sure tears lined my eyes as Mrs. Kim put the object back where it belonged, closing the drawer shut.

She straightened, fixing her fur coat before turning to me.

A smile appeared on her lips.

A smile you would pass at an unfortunate family on a funeral. A smile you would offer the one whose heart you were about to break.

A smile to portray everything but it's original purpose. To show a lifetime worth of pain.

The woman picked up a picture frame from the desk.

"I did go to Busan that night," she got out, running a loving hand over the glass. "It was the 27th of December. Three days before his birthday.

"I had asked his mother to help me throw a surprise party for him. Little did I know I was receiving a surprise of my own."

Her eyes lowered to her feet, clamping her lips together. I could tell she was gonna cry.

I spoke up. "When...when did he realise that it was all...a lie?"

Mrs. Kim didn't look at me. "His funeral. The only good thing that came out of Taekyeon's death was that I had a proper talk with Taehyung.

"Of course, he was a child when Taekyeon started to brainwash him, but the prejudice stayed for a damn long time."

The woman gripped her arm tightly. I could see her knees shaking, ever so slightly next to the table.

"So...he doesn't believe it anymore."

"No." she took a deep breath. "But it had a grave impact."

She turned to the picture-littered wall, examining Taehyung's growth in these stills.

I stepped beside her. "He doesn't hate you, Mrs. Kim."

Her shoulders slumped. "I don't know."

"I'm being serious." I looked to her. "You can't despise your mother over little inconveniences. He'll come round."

"You're not just a little inconvenience to him, Sora," she insisted.

She went up to the wall, unpinning the picture of Taehyung in the towel.

Walking up to me, she held the picture out. "You're all he has now."

I looked up at her, catching the sorrow in her eyes.

She gestured to the picture. "Go back to Seoul. You don't need to be stuck here anymore."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why so sudden?"

The deal.

"What about the deal we made?" I blurted out. "I still need to finish that."
A wonderful smile graced the woman's lips, like the first shine of sunlight after a downpour of rain. "Oh, Sora.

"Do you really think that after all this, I'd still refuse you?"

She took my hand, turning my palm upwards. Placing the picture, she closed in my fingers.

"However harsh Taehyung's words were, they were the truth."

A sigh. "A part of my son died the night Taekyeon said all those things about me. It was because of his obsession.

"I can't let myself fall into the same black hole."

She squeezed my hand.

"So go back home. Keep modelling. Do whatever you want with him.