Fleeting Moments With You

015

I think I have been alive for long to witness various unbelievable moments but I never thought that most of these unlikely experiences would involve the same girl over and over again. First, I never expected to fall for a girl in just a span of three days. Second, that girl suddenly appeared in my life again as my neighbour. Third – and probably the weirdest and most frustrating one – she made love to me only to deny remembering it the next day and even taking me into a police station in accusation of rape. I couldn't help but just feel mad as I curiously stared at her while she was arguing with a police officer.

"Miss Kim, you said that you just woke up naked at Mr. Park's room without remembering spending the night with him. Mr. Park admitted having an intercourse with you but stated that you are in a relationship with him."

"But I don't even remember knowing this guy!" Dahyun yelled while pointing at me and I could just gape at her statement.

"However, Mr. Park said that you two have been in a relationship for almost two weeks now and had become your neighbor for almost two months," the police officer sighed.

"So you're just letting him go because of that?" Dahyun frowned.

"Miss Kim, there are no signs showing that you are physically forced to do such act. You don't have wounds or bruises or scars. We have also inspected both of your houses and saw no sign of struggle that happened. No weapons as well. Other neighbors reportedly did not hear any suspicious screams or witness suspicious actions too."

"Officer, I could be a rape victim! Don't you know how big of a deal that is?" she cried.

"I do, Miss Kim, and if you really want to file a case, we can still entertain it but I must warn you that false accusations of rape is also a big deal and could incur sanctions," the officer retorted.

"Officer!" Dahyun screamed and slammed her fists on the table, startling both I and the officer but even before the police officer could reprimand her action, her name echoed in the station.

"Kim Dahyun!"

Slowly, our heads turned towards the source who was a man dressed in grey denim shirt paired with black pants. I squinted trying to remember why the face was so familiar. However, the questions spinning on my head was immediately answered when Dahyun whispered, "Taehyung oppa."

And slowly, my mind recalled the image displayed in one of her frames.

Now, I remember.

He was the boy whose arms were wrapped around young Dahyun's shoulders in the picture. He was the man who Dahyun termed as 'the one who stole her heart.'

Fortunately, he was also our saviour from the mess we have created in the police station.

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"How dare you invite this stranger in my house?!" Dahyun complained as she pointed at me sitting by her dining table.

"We have to make up for the inconvenience you've brought him, Da," Taehyung just calmly replied. He then turned to me and asked, "I'm making coffee. How would you like yours? Black or with cream?"

"With lots of cream. Thank you," I smiled nonchalantly and this seemed to infuriate Dahyun more.

With loud stomps, she walked nearer towards Taehyung as she shouted, "Do you even know this guy?!"

"Yes. We're friends," Taehyung replied as he put down a cup of coffee in front of me and added, "Here you go."

"Friends? What's his name then?" Dahyun asked as he followed Taehyung around.

From the way he stared at me for a short while, I knew that Taehyung was taken aback by the question. However, with sheepishly fixing his hair at the back of his neck, he turned to Dahyun and stated, "Well. We're still in the getting-to-know-you stage."

"Oppa!" Dahyun yelled at the top of her lungs.

My brain was already functioning fast on how to calm Dahyun down, but I guess it was not my job when Taehyung's around. I could only watch as Taehyung took my girl's hand and wordlessly dragged her onto the living room. He made her sit down on the couch and I could only stare as she took both of her hands, grasped them softly as he kneeled in front of her. Their voices then were so soft that they almost didn't reach my ears.

"I know you're very confused but there's no better person who could explain your situation right now but yourself," Taehyung said.

"How?" Dahyun calmly asked this time.

Taehyung sighed before saying, "For now, just do me a favor and wait here without doing anything bad to that man over there which includes prohibiting yourself from throwing deathly gazes at him, okay?"

Dahyun grumbled and rolled her eyes before answering, "Fine."

She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her gaze on the ground as Taehyung went inside her room. When Taehyung came out there was a familiar small black notebook in one of his hands. He gave it to Dahyun and said, "Read this quietly."

"What's this?" Dahyun asked despite receiving it.

"It's what you wrote for yourself," Taehyung said with a wink but Dahyun's facial reaction said that she was not buying it. Grumbling, Taehyung added, "Just read through it first. Quietly."

Throwing one last doubtful glance at Taehyung, Dahyun then began reading through the little black notebook and Taehyung on the other hand, approached me with a smile on his lips. He extended his hand as he said, "I'm sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Kim Taehyung."

"Park Jimin," I accepted the handshake and added, "There's no need for an apology."

"No way. A thousand apologies would never make up for the ruckus you've been involved with today because of Dahyun," Taehyung chuckled as he shook his head dismissively.

I just smiled. He was probably right but it was too shameful and possibly disrespectful of me if I affirm it. He just smiled back at me. Taehyung was definitely a person who emits a friendly aura.

"Now, where did I put my own cup of coffee? Ah! There it is," he talked to himself. He then, took a seat in front of me and asked, "So what exactly is your relationship with Da?"

"Last time I checked, she's my girlfriend," I answered.

"Ohh," Taehyung just nodded back with an unreadable expression.

"And you?" I fired back.

"Hmmm?" he snapped his gaze back towards me.

"What's your relationship with Dahyun?" I clarified and I could even hear the fear in my own voice.

But then Taehyung beamed and replied, "Best friend. Childhood friend. Closest to a boyfriend that Dahyun had before. I survived fifteen years of dealing with a crazy girl. Basically, it had been fifteen years of fondness with each other."

"I've been in love but I've never been in a relationship before."

I swallowed the lump that was building inside my throat.

Fifteen years.

How could a sum of three days of being travel buddies, almost two months as friends and almost two weeks in an official relationship battle with fifteen years of moments with a man whom Dahyun had already fallen in love with? How could a short-lived romance go against an enduring relationship? How could I be the only one in Dahyun's heart when she had clearly talked to me about her lingering feelings for this man?

As insecurities swallowed me whole, I found myself becoming the third wheel in my girlfriend's love life.

Suppressing the pain in my heart, I just mindlessly stirred my coffee.