The Rejection Hotline | k.th

Chapter 30

One Week Later

"God you're glowing Jiyeon," I told myself as I looked at myself in the mirror.

After last weekends magical ending, it felt like Taehyung had resolved all of our unspoken issues. I was reminded why I loved him so much.

And as he promised, today we were going on a date with the kids. Just the four of us.

I was feeling really happy. I mean I had been really happy since I started dating Taehyung but especially now, I just couldn't stop smiling.

"Alright madam, it's time to go bond with your favorite people. Don't tell Hana I said that."

I happily skipped out into the cool spring sunlight, basking in its glory as I waltzed down the road as if I was in some sort of musical.

I hopped on the soonest available bus to Taehyung's house. Maybe I was a little too excited, but I wanted to ride this train all the way. After a whole year of Hana telling me that I deserved to be happy and find love again, I was starting to understand it now. He helped me understand.

Love is like a blossoming flower. It starts out small. A mere bud. Maybe you just became friends with someone. Maybe it's a budding romance. But it's in its infancy. No one knows what'll happen. From there, many things can happen. Sometimes, the bud immediately withers away and dies. Maybe you broke off that friendship or maybe the budding romance was as far as you'd ever get with your feelings. But sometimes that bud can bloom into something. One of two things. The bud could open up slowly and slowly, you think you're going to see a beautiful flower right? But when it opens up, you see the meanest plant there is. It tries to bite you. It hurts you. And then there are the buds that bloom and bloom and bloom into the most vibrant of flowers. The ones that draw you in right away and hold you in a trance. It's a beautiful love that one. The one everyone is envious of. But like all living things, flowers too run their course of life before shriveling up and die after laying their seedlings. A love too can experience this. Maybe sooner or maybe later. Each love has its own cycle of life.

The question is, where does love deviate from the life of a flower?

As I got off of the bus, I was met with the fresh smell of the spring bloom, filling me with a sense of calm and serenity.

I peacefully walked up the familiar road to the house that I had often found myself coming to.

I was giddy. But there was also this lingering feeling of something utterly dreadful. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I was feeling slightly suspicious of something.

I approached the house, walking up to the front door to knock. But I happened to notice that the window was open.

Unconsciously, I approached it, hoping to just pop my head in and say hi.

But when I saw what I did, my throat went dry and no words could fall from my parted lips.

Kangmin and Kanghee watched on with a mix of shock and horror on their faces, unsure of what to say or do.

What did I see exactly?

Kim Taehyung, my boyfriend, making out with Lim Eunjae, his ex-fiancée. The person he promised was his yesterday. The person he told me paled in comparison to me.

I wasn't one to get upset easily. Especially over stuff like this. After reading several romance novels and TV shows, I always found it stupid how the person who caught the other wouldn't even allow an explanation.

I would've been inclined to continue that mentality if I saw Taehyung try to push her off. But he didn't. He stood there, kissing her back.

I tried to convince myself of the obvious which was that she forced himself on him. And the reason that he wasn't pushing her off was because of a natural fight or flight response that his body initiated.