She's Off Limits ¦ taerose

Chapter 49

Taehyung was walking back to his office when he bumped into a woman. He was about to apologize when the woman walked past him without giving him a glance. He followed her with his gaze. She seemed like she was in a hurry. Then she suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking to her left and right.

Is she lost?

He was still deciding whether to approach her or not when she suddenly turned back, facing Taehyung.

Areum?!

Areum looked surprised as much as Taehyung was at the moment. She quickly turned her back at Taehyung and wiped off something on her face. From where Taehyung was standing, Areum’s movements made her seem like she was wiping off tears on her face. Then she faced Taehyung once again with a faint smile on her face.

As she was walking towards him, Taehyung was zooming in on Areum’s face. He was trying to see if she was actually crying like he suspected. And he may be right when he saw remnants of tears at the corner of her eyes.

She cleared her throat before speaking. “Hi. Um, what are you doing here?”

“I should be the one asking you that. I work here.” He answered.

“Oh!” Her eyes went round the same way her mouth did. “I . . . did not know that. Wow! It’s a small world, isn’t it?” She said, trying to sound less awkward.

“It is. So what are you doing here?”

Areum paused when she was about to answer to peek behind Taehyung. What she saw brought different kind of emotions on her face. And curiosity took over Taehyung when he followed her gaze. Areum was wearing an unreadable expression on her face as she stared at Taehyung’s colleague, Song Taeil.

When Taeil noticed Taehyung and Areum were looking at him, Areum quickly moved closer towards Taehyung and bent her head down. It became clear to Taehyung that she was trying to hide. And it was quite easy for her to hide because Taehyung was a couple of inches taller than her. Plus, she was petite so hiding behind his figure was no problem at all.

Taeil gave Taehyung a short nod as a greeting before walking away, leaving Taehyung and Areum still standing awkwardly in front of each other. Taehyung looked down at Areum who was looking down at the floor. It’s been a minute since Taeil left but neither of them moved an inch.

Taehyung decided to break the silence between him and Areum by clearing his throat. Then he wordlessly dragged her to his office without any objections from her at all.

When they got inside, he asked her to sit on the couch but she refused. Then he stared at her, not knowing what to say. And in the next second, she burst into tears.

Taehyung stood rooted on the spot. He was shocked to see Areum in that state. She was crying hard with both hands covering her face. Then he slowly approached her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

They stayed in that position for a few minutes before she encircled her arms around his waist. Her sobs lessened as he tried to comfort her by rubbing his hand up and down her back. Then he bent down to whisper in her ear.

“Hush now. Everything will be alright.”

Areum loosened their hug to look up to Taehyung. Then she moved her hands over his chest. And in an instant she was already clutching Taehyung’s shirt. He was taken aback at the way she was looking at him. The pain clouding her eyes was something he couldn’t fathom.

“But you promised me.” She spoke in a hoarse whisper. Then she clenched her fists and weakly hit his chest. “You said you love me more than her. Then why are you holding back now? Is it because of her condition?” Areum cried before pushing Taehyung away.