CHAPTER XXVIII

**YERIN**

“Taehyung-oppa…he wasn’t always this aloof,” Yuna began as soon as she saw that I was already settled in my seat at the playground’s bench.

The metals that made up the bench was cold from the chilly night air it’s exposed to and it honestly kept me from focusing on the topic on hand, but I didn’t show the other two how bothered I was by it since they seem quite okay with the cool touch of the seat on our skin. That is judging by the way they look so comfortable as they sat like we weren’t outside in this ten-degree atmosphere.

“The first time I met him, he was so cheery and outgoing,” Eunha added while staring distantly ahead as if the moment she was talking about was happening right in front of her. I reckoned the change in Taehyung must have really been drastic to them who have been with him for a long time before his ex-girlfriend made him the way he is now.

I saw Yuna nod her head for a few times before a small and sad smile graced her lips. She must also be reminiscing the memories of bubbly Taehyung. Her eyes were reflecting longing and I’m sure as one of his closest friends, Yuna must have also went through a lot after seeing Taehyung close himself up to the world around him. It must have been difficult. She must have felt awful, not being able to reach out enough to help him during those moments. I know. I could feel it from her gaze.

“He really was a ball of sunshine. In fact, I think Jungkook got his playful ways from him,” she muttered while staring at the same view as Eunha’s. There was no one in front of us. The playground was quiet and there is nothing special to look at straight ahead as only bushes surrounded the place, but my two companions seem to be engrossed by the view in front. They were staring as if some miracle would happen and Taehyung would go back to himself if they stare hard enough.

I was at the side with Yuna at the center and I’m glad I refused when they offered to have me sit in the middle. Two women sitting beside me, staring at nothingness with melancholic eyes, would have been unpleasant and difficult for me to bear.

“He liked ruffling our hairs before even though we hated having to fix it all the time,” Eunha said, almost whispering.

I thinned my lips and rolled my eyes. Okay, are we here to mourn over the old Taehyung they lost or are we here to converse and enlighten me on what really happened in the past?

I cleared my throat to grab both their attentions, but they just sighed in unison and slumped their shoulders together like it was some sort of dance routine they needed to be in sync with.

For the second time around, my eyes moved around in a circle at the scene. I don’t have time to be dealing with this right now. Taehyung would probably nag at me for taking so long in making him the dinner I promised. The last thing I want is a whiny alien to ruin my night.

“Aren’t we here to inform me of what happened that caused Taehyung to be the alien that he is now?”

“Oh, right!” Yuna exclaimed when she finally listened to me and stopped whatever reverie it is she was having. “The story…I forgot about that. Where was I again?”

I willed myself not to sound sarcastic but when I answered, I really couldn’t help myself. My tone ended up sounding like a mock.

“Uhmm…the beginning?”

A blush spread across Yuna’s cheeks at the reply and I regretted saying it that way although she really didn’t mind it though. What embarrassed her, as I could tell, was the fact that she got carried away by her recollection of memories that she forgot what we were really here for.

“Sorry about that,” she apologized. I gave her a smile to say it’s okay before I gestured for her to go on with the storytelling. My entire system is already itching to know Taehyung’s past even if I may not directly show it to Yuna and Eunha. I’m actually getting all giddy and excited inside. I’ve been keeping myself patient all this time despite wanting so bad to ask anyone about what happened to Taehyung before and now that I’m finally getting my chance, I feel like a child who’s so eager to blow her birthday candles for a wish. Yes, the metaphor is weird but when was I never weird?

“We just can’t help ourselves but feel lonely,” Eunha stated, giving the same apologetic look over to me. I flashed her the same smile I gave to Yuna and she immediately reciprocated it with her own. Hers still looked gloomy though.

“It’s okay. I understand,” I said with utter sincerity. Seeing how these two are acting at bringing up such a sensitive topic, I just felt like I need to be more open-minded than usual. I know that their side of the entire story will be different from Taehyung’s. I have thought about that from the start, ever since I began to ponder on the entirety of all these drama in my newly-found friends’ lives. That’s why I can say that I already prepared myself for this…for hearing one of the many sides of the story.

“Thank you,” Yuna said in behalf of her and her best friend. They both tried to reciprocate my genuine smile, but the sadness was still there, so I grinned for them instead, to show them that they need not push it.

“You’re always welcome,” I replied, keeping the same sprightly expression to lighten the mood among the three of us.

“Okay, now I’m ready to spill the beans. I think I should start at the beginning of Taehyung-oppa’s senior year in high school. We were first year students then, Eunha and I,” Yuna began as she glanced over to her best friend who was now sitting quietly and rather attentively than before.

I kept my mouth shut to have her go on. She got the message.

“Jungkook and I were already dating that time.”

I glanced at Eunha for a second, but her face remained the same. If she was affected by that statement even by just a little, she hid it well. I guess after years of doing the same thing over and over again, she mastered the art of pretending.

I returned my gaze to Yuna once more when she continued, completely unaware of how her previous statement left a blow to her best friend sitting beside her.

“Based on my estimate, we’ve been friends with Taehyung-oppa for around two years, right? We met him for the first time during our last year in middle school while he was in his first year in high school,” Yuna said, turning to Eunha for confirmation. When she got a nod from her best friend, she went back to her previous position of looking ahead. I’m not a psychologist but I could tell Yuna wasn’t facing me on purpose. Whatever reason it is that she was doing that, I know it’s something related to the retelling of the past. She was either hiding something from me or she’s ashamed of something I don’t know yet.

“It was right around mid-September during his senior year in high school when he met her, his ex-girlfriend…Irene-unnie.”

So, her name’s Irene. That’s such a pretty name. I’m no psychic but I could tell she must be as pretty as her name is, I thought and quite oddly enough, despite knowing how she made Taehyung suffer for leaving him, I felt no hatred nor despise for her. I even feel this want of getting to know and befriend her. This just goes to say how weird of a person I really am. Here is everyone hating on her while I’m here, wanting to be her friend. Sometimes, I wonder if I’m normal.

“She’s four years his senior so at that time, she was already in her fourth year of college. She was also in Gyeongjin University so them, meeting up every now and then, wasn’t all that hard.”

“What course was she taking up?” I finally asked out of curiosity.

“Business management. She came from a family of tycoons as well. As a matter of fact, Jungkook’s parents and hers are business partners. That became a plus for Taehyung to appeal to her family.”

My mouth formed and ‘o’ and I nodded despite not knowing what to do with the facts.

“Anyway, enough with that. Let me continue,” she stated while shuffling in her seat to straighten her form properly. “Well, as you might imagine, Taehyung was really dedicated to her. She was his first proper relationship as his previous ones were mostly just one-time dating. They were really sweet whenever they’re together and you could see that Irene-unnie was also taking him seriously. Actually, I even thought they’d end up marrying each other.”

I don’t know why but I felt a pang in my chest hearing the last part. It’s probably just aching for their ruined love story, right?

I hope so.

“But of course, life happened. Unnie graduated college while Taehyung-oppa finished high school, and with unnie finally being capable of taking full part in their family’s business, she was offered the opportunity to go abroad, to the States where she is to run their company’s branch there.”

The story’s still hazy but I think I have an idea on where this is all going. After watching countless dramas before, I know where things like this will end although I can’t imagine that what I watch on television really do happen in real life. And there I thought those scenes were impossible and nothing but fictional. I have just been proven wrong.

“She was in a conflict then. She was so confused to the point that she even asked Eunha and I for help.”

“And?” I said, raising a brow to will her to go on.

It was Eunha who answered instead.

“We were teenagers then. Romantic relationships appealed to us the most, so we told her to fight for their relationship. Taehyung-oppa didn’t want to part with her after all as he knew they would never make it if ever unnie does leave. We told her to stay and that she should make her parents understand.”

“Why didn’t it work out then?”

Somehow, I’m getting more and more pulled into the story that I found myself wanting to quench this curiosity boiling inside of me.

“Her father saw no reason to keep their relationship since that was also the time when Taehyung-oppa got into a scandal after a night of drinking caused by the problems he was having with his relationship. He got into a fight with some thugs outside a club and to say it ruined the image he created for unnie’s family would be understating it. They no longer approved of him then. They saw him as trouble although I honestly think it wasn’t reason enough. They just wanted to convince unnie to go abroad and the incident with Taehyung-oppa just aided them in their motives,” Yuna answered. There was bitterness in her voice as she talked about the family of Irene-unnie. It wouldn’t take a fool to know that she hated them for hating on Taehyung who was only troubled then.

“They were taking advantage of the situation at that time,” Eunha seconded and somehow, hearing all these from them, I also felt like a bit of hatred for Irene-unnie’s family is beginning to come to me, but I know I’m in no position to be feeling this way, so I shoved the sensation aside.

“Exactly. They got so persistent on making Irene-unnie see Taehyung-oppa as a bad guy that eventually, unnie fell for it. She went out with me to talk about her changing mind and quite honestly, I wanted to yell at her for it. I saw how Taehyung-oppa was suffering because of her. She ended her communication with him despite his efforts to reach out and talk to her. He did everything just to see her, but she refused to meet him personally. And there she was, telling me that she was already considering going to the States and pursuing her family’s plans. If we weren’t in public, I would have slapped her out of fury.”

Yuna snickered at the memory and I saw her clench her fists while Eunha reached out to pat her best friend on the back to calm her down. I, on the other hand, did nothing but watch and wait for her to continue. She did after a while, when she regained her composure.

“Ever since that time she told me all of that, I avoided her. I was so angry at her for deciding that way. I know she must have had her reasons, but I felt pity for Taehyung-oppa more than her. If you’ve seen the way he was drinking himself to sleep every night, whispering her name over and over again while tears streamed down his face, you’d understand me. It was probably the worst nights Jungkook and I had to endure.”

Creating an image of what Yuna described, I felt my heart ache. Yes, I may not like Taehyung that much but seeing him in such a vulnerable state, even if it’s just in my imagination, isn’t something I could bear. Plus, the fact that he was still kind and innocent then is definitely not helping it.

“I told the rest about what happened…Jungkook, Eunha, Jimin-oppa, and everyone else in the group who was concerned over Taehyung-oppa and when they heard about Irene-unnie’s decision…”

Yuna went silent. I turned to her. Her head was already hanging low and I could see that she was trying hard not to cry. Yuna was a tough girl but I guess all these is too much for her to handle.

I joined Eunha in rubbing soothing circles to her back, but she sat back up not a few seconds later, determined to continue amidst the sobs that were already escaping her lips and the tears that were slowly rolling down her cheeks.

“We knew that we had to permanently remove her from Taehyung-oppa’s life. We knew she had to go, and so we…we…”

“We all encouraged Taehyung-oppa to let her go,” Eunha finished her best friend’s statement as the latter