blossom//k.t.

twenty six

"what the fuck did you do aera?" taehyung yelled, peeling his eyes off rumi who furiously walked away from him, and now looking at the girl who had her arms crossed with a huge smirk on her face.

"i just let your girlfriend know what she deserved to know" she almost purred out and taehyung's breath started getting shallow as his anger started taking over his body, he took a shaky breath in to control himself which didn't help at all.

"which is what exactly?" he gritted out and aera carelessly shrugged her shoulders.

"you never told her that you were vante?" aera mused, while stepping closer to taehyung and he paled, shaking his head.

"don't you trust her to know who you really are? are you that scared of her finding out a broken, hidden version of yourself? aren't you tired of running away, of hiding away? i always knew you were a coward but i thought you liked rumi enough to let her know" aera taunted him, every word dripping with venom and every word uttered to stab at his heart, his insecurities all slipping out of her mouth in a mantra and taehyung felt buzzed in all the wrong ways.

aera, no matter how much of a bitch she could be, she had to at least remember how insecure taehyung was when it came to vante, he used vante as a veil that would keep him safe from criticism, from judgmental, narrowed eyes, loud hushed whispers about how he could be better, he didn't have to deal with any of it because of vante. and there were many nights he would spend talking to her about it, she would empathize, calm him down, give him encouragement, she wouldn't just dump all that away and tell rumi his most intimate secret and mock him like this, right?

"you wouldn't do that, you're not that despicable" taehyung said in disbelief, willing to brush past her taunts and getting to the actual problem, even if her words hurt him, his heart developed a faint ache and aera brought her hand up to caress his cheek which he flinched away from, her touch was icy, and after a very long time, unfamiliar. completely unfamiliar.

"you, of all people, know how despicable i can get" she whispered and taehyung stepped away from her, frustratedly running his hands through his hair as he looked at aera in utter disgust and disbelief.

"why would you do that aera? why can't you leave me alone? why did you cheat on me all that time ago? what did i ever do to you?" he rapidly questioned the woman in front of him who started to fumble around, her confidence dropping from a meteor to the ground, her hand jerking back to her body, as if she was recoiling from his presence, the smugness that was plastered on her face was nowhere in sight as she looked at anything but him, not knowing how to answer, taehyung understood that he hit a nerve with that and took this as a cue to continue, his mind already overflowing with the many words he wanted her to know about and body bursting with all that he's held in for so long.

"when you cheated on me, i didn't say anything, i left you so you could be with whoever you liked, whoever made you happy because that's what mattered to me back then, your happiness. why can't you do the same? it took me such a fucking long time to get over it, and now, i know none of it was my fault, i did the best i could, i put myself on the line because you were too selfish, all you did was care about yourself" taehyung's tone increased with every word he spoke, getting incredibly upset as aera guiltily looked away, she didn't expect taehyung to open up and talk about their relationship, especially how it ended and even if she was 'despicable', she couldn't escape the sick feeling in her throat as he expressed how the breakup ruined him.

"you knew i was coming to the apartment that day, you read my message and you still had the audacity to have someone else over. i'm sick of you, sick of everything about you. that day wrecked me, i can't look at sunflowers the same way because you've ruined them for me, they were my favorite but now whenever i look at them, all i think about are the marks all over your neck, you ruined my life then and you're doing that now too, you don't get to waltz in whenever you want and then tell my girlfriend about something that you know i hide from everyone in my life, you also ruined my chance to ever properly tell her, are you happy now?" he huffed out, finally telling her everything he's always wanted to, and he surprisingly felt light, even if the looming fear of rumi never talking to him again clouded his mind.

as for aera, this was more of a reality-check, life really wasn't the rom-com she treated it as, she was realizing the weight of her words, her mistakes, on other people's lives, how her carelessness would stain them, she was so obsessed with getting together with taehyung again because even if she tried to ruin him in every way she could, it was because of the ever-lasting guilt she felt since the first time she cheated on him. she remembers how scared she was of losing taehyung, because she did love him, she really did but love fades, our mind is not as made up as we think it is, it sways, makes you do stupid things and she hated that she dragged taehyung in the mud instead of making up her mind.

but she was too late.

we all are, at some point.

she was too late, the damage was done, her actions have stained taehyung's professional and personal lives over and over again, to the point of saturation, and even if she felt sick to her stomach, she also knew that this was all her doing.

taehyung saw the guilt painted on her face, she was finally feeling the weight of her actions, and boy, was it heavy but at this point, taehyung didn't care how hurt she was, he's gone through pretty much hell and back trying to hide vante from rumi, and now all that effort was dust because of aera.

"are you going to say anything at all?" silence was all that he got from her at that question.

"aera, i don't like you anymore, i never will, you've fucked me over too many times for me to even consider forgiving you so can you please leave me alone from now on?" taehyung's voice was stern but also desperate, he needed aera to tell him vocally that she wouldn't bother him anymore, she's messed up enough for him, she's left enough for him to clean up, he didn't have the energy to deal with her anymore, he needed that confirmation to at least feel the slightest bit of peace.

aera sensed his desperation, only feeling worse about herself but she figured there was, just like taehyung had said, nothing to save or fix anymore, not on her part, so she decided she would at least give him what he wants now.

"ok, you won't see me around anymore taehyung" aera muttered, head still hung in shame, barely loud enough for taehyung to hear but he did, sighing in relief and looking at her with slight pity as he saw her eyes lining up with tears.

had he gone too far?

well, he wouldn't have if she didn't take it this far.

taehyung slowly nodded at the quivering girl, taking one last look at her face, and then turning to walk away, wondering about how he could fix anything at all and also scolding himself for not being the first one to let rumi know.

"i'm sorry" aera mumbled, body shaking with sobs as waves of disappointment and hate for herself hit her at once, but no one was around to hear.

on the other side of the city, another heart-broken girl was shaking with anger.

the feeling of betrayal dancing in every nerve of her body, agitating her further. rumi didn't even talk to celeste about it, she felt too helpless as her thoughts ran far ahead and she couldn't catch up, each one of them always being a step ahead, overwhelming her in every way possible. she felt dumber than she ever did her entire life, she didn't understand why she never questioned taehyung not talking about himself at all, she just figured that he took his time to open up but she didn't expect him to be harboring a secret like that.

she didn't understand how she truly felt about this either, vante was someone she really admired, and now vante had a name and face, a name and face that she was too intimate with, a name and face that she wouldn't have guessed or expected in a million years and it was only now that she realized how much an identity can change something.

but she was also so helplessly in awe at how talented taehyung was, her heart bursting into flames of pride when she wasn't feeling upset, this put taehyung on a pedestal for her, and she didn't know if she liked that, maybe because she could never live up to that pedestal.

the night felt dead to her, the only thing alive right now was her confused mind and her beating heart, and she was just grateful that she didn't lose both of them, as of yet.