𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧 | ᵏᵗʰ ✓

chapter 36

"why am i here?" valencia whispered to herself as she found herself sitting in one of the chairs of the convenience store.

the one where she first met kim taehyung. the place where everything had started. as she stared out of the window blankly, she was brought back to reality once she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"miss, if you're not going to buy anything, i'm afraid i'm going to have to escort you out of the store. this seat is for customers who have bought something from here," the store worker said, a stiff smile on his face.

"o-oh, sorry. i'll buy something right now."

valencia hopped off the chair and then looked around. she passed the drinks, the simple everyday utensils, the snacks, and then finally arrived at the section full with different kinds of ramen. staring and taking in all the packages, val reminisced the time when she used to enjoy eating noodles so much. with her friends in middle school, she would always eat ramen after school along with other snacks. people would tease her for knowing every single cup noodle brand and even bought her ramen for her birthday. that's how much she loved noodles. of course, she knew they were bad for them. at that time, she balanced her intake of noodles along with other healthy foods. how normal she was back in the past.

"you still owe me ramen."

taken aback at the unexpected voice, valencia gasped and swung herself around. there, stood kim taehyung with a shy smile on his face. a mixture of feelings churned inside of val as she saw his face. while she wanted to hug him, she also wanted to beat the shit out of him. he caused her so much suffering yet he also comforted her when she was at her worst. she couldn't ignore that. deciding just to escape her way, val was about to leave the store before she felt a grasp on her wrist pull her back to her previous spot. her face was inches away from taehyung's and she knew that there was still a part inside of her that gave in.

"buy me."

with a piercing glare, valencia flicked her wrist hard to break away from taehyung's grip and took out her wallet. taehyung chose his favorite ramen and then scanned for another one. grinning to himself as he succeeded in his mission, he brought them to the counter. valencia didn't even care to look at what he bought and gave the worker her card. after the payment was made and the card was returned back to her, val turned on her heels to leave.

"wait!"

she stopped, not facing back.

"could you wait for me while i finish? please?"

"and why should i?" val scoffed.

"because, this is probably the last time i'm going to see you and i know i'm not in the position to ask for favors but, please?"

val was reluctant but she finally pulled out a chair next to him and sat in it, staring straight outside. she crossed her arms.

"it's just until you finish eating."

taehyung nodded and then got to work. when the noodles were done, taehyung brought them back to the table and slid one in front of val. she dropped her attention to the cup of hot ramen and then to taehyung.

'how did he know...?'

"i heard it was your favorite before everything happened. you might get bored if you just keep staring out the window," taehyung said with a lopsided grin before handing her a pair of wooden chopsticks.

val, without an expression just took the chopsticks and then looked at the food in front of her. the smell was still the smell she loved in the past. the packaging was the same and the thickness of the noodles was the same as well. she couldn't help but smile, feeling nostalgic. right beside her, taehyung caught that sight and almost choked on his mouthful of noodles. she was so beautiful right there.