CHAPTER XXXIX

**YERIN**

I felt my feet glued to the floor. I wanted to do something more than to just gape and watch as Irene approach me, but my body is currently not listening to me at all. It’s just here, standing frozen. This is probably one of those rare moments in my life wherein I could say that I hate myself.

“Yerin-ssi?” she asked when she reached the spot directly in front of me. Her voice sounded mellow although it did hint that bit of uncertainty on whether she got the right person or not. I must have not looked like the person she expected me to be.

Wait…

Come to think of it…how does she even know me?

My brow raised but I tried my best not to appear rude, so I threw in a smile which would have made me look like an idiot.

What a great way to make a first impression, Yerin.

“I’m sorry. You must be thinking how I know your name,” she said like she just read my mind, “I met with Jungkook recently and he told me about you.”

“Oh.”

“I hope you don’t mind if I try to get to know you. I mean I’ve been away for years. I just want to catch up on things,” she explained before heaving a breath, “especially about Taehyung.”

She smiled bitterly as she broke eye contact with me. It isn’t hard to tell how much she probably still cared for Taehyung which got me questioning. Am I being a hindrance to their happy ending? Was I wrong all along? Does Taehyung not need my help? Maybe so. Irene could be that one puzzle piece that could complete the whole picture and make things right.

For whatever soul possessed me, I found myself taking a step closer and reaching for her hand. The gesture shocked her, but she soon relaxed to my touch and forced a friendly smile to which I responded with my own.

“I’m sorry if⸺”

She didn’t let me finish as she shook her head and squeezed my hand. “It’s okay. I understand the situation. You don’t have to apologize for anything. What Taehyung and I had before, it’s all in the past. I left him. In fact, I hurt him. I don’t have the right to claim him now that I’m back. I’m just glad he got to find someone who could make him happy.”

“Happy my …That jerk’s mood swings recently just kicked in and I don’t even know how to get rid of it.”

I beamed. “I guess it’s safe to say that we can be friends then.”

“I don’t see why not.”

~~~~~

I know I really shouldn’t be doing this. I really shouldn’t be inviting Irene inside my house (the house Taehyung got for me) but I did. If Yuna and the others find out, they’re sure to have my head but I know that as long as I keep my mouth shut, no one will know…right?

“Make yourself feel at home,” I told Irene while throwing my bag to a corner, “Do you want some tea or are you a juice kind of girl?”

“Tea would be good. Thank you.”

I made my way to the kitchen and immediately began steeping tea for Irene and I. Green tea is all I have as of now. I hope she’s okay with this. I mean rich people drink grander and more expensive kind of teas, right?

I rested my chin on my arms that lay on the countertop as I waited for the tea to be ready. I almost started getting lost in my thoughts when the short ring of my phone in the pocket of my coat disrupted my wandering mind.

I hurriedly fished the device out as a part of me is greatly hoping it could be Taehyung. I frowned when I saw that it was only Rowoon, sending me a text to let me know that he got home safe.

“That’s great. Don’t forget to eat dinner,” I texted him back before shoving my phone back to my pocket right after putting it on silent mode.

“Who needs Taehyung?” I told myself and huffed. If he wants to play the ‘I don’t know anyone named Yerin’ game, then fine. So be it. Let’s just see once he starts talking to me again. He’s sure to get a cold shoulder from me.

“Yerin-ssi?”

I flinched, startled at Irene’s sudden appearance. I rotated my chair to her direction as I quickly hid all the irritation from my face and replaced it with my friendliest look. Pretty girls like her don’t deserve the sour mood that’s meant for people like Taehyung.

“I’m sorry. I got lost in thoughts. The tea’s ready,” I said as I scrambled to pour some of the green tea into the cups I prepared. I walked over to Irene and carefully handed her drink as she settled to take one of the seats on the dining table.

“I must have scared you. I just wanted to check how you were doing. You were pretty quiet in here. I thought you fell asleep.”

I chuckled. Honestly, Irene doesn’t seem so bad after all. She actually appears to be nice and not to mention really attractive.

“I tend to have this habit of spacing out,” I said, taking the seat opposite hers.

She gently took a sip from cup before placing it down carefully on the table to take a look at me. “I saw your notes on the table, by the way. I assume you want to bake perfect cookies?”

My cheeks instantly flushed beet red. I forgot that I left those frustrating motivational messages on the center table⸺ notes I wrote for myself regarding my aim to bake Taehyung the best cookies, unlike the burnt ones I gave him before.

I scratched the back of my head and looked away, embarrassed. “Ah, yeah. About that…

Irene’s laughter suddenly echoed across the room and I didn’t know on whether to feel embarrassed even more or feel relieved, not until when she spoke that I managed to go with the latter.

“I’ve been baking for years now. Maybe I could offer you some help.”

My eyes lit up and I felt a thousand angels singing in my ears. Did she really just volunteered to teach my sorry how to bake cookies?

I must have looked way too excited than how I intend to be because Irene let out another short laugh which made my cheeks redden even more.

“I’m a disaster in the kitchen.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure you’re not that bad. We could start tonight if you want or if you’re tired, maybe you could pay me a visit at my home tomorrow. I’ll even teach you how to make Taehyung’s favorite fudge brownies.”

I know I should decline but after hearing her last statement, I couldn’t help but be interested. In my mind, I’m thinking that maybe, if I give Taehyung some of my baked goods, he will stop ignoring me.

I internally smiled at the thought but frowned a second later when I remembered how I told myself a while ago that I’ll be returning Taehyung’s favor of pretending that I don’t exist. Sometimes, I just hate myself for casually making up irrational decisions that I couldn’t back away from because I’m just that steadfast with everything I say and do.

Maybe I could give the brownies secretly. Taehyung has a lot of fans in school. He won’t even know it’s from me.

“I remembered I still have to work on an essay for World History,” I reasoned about baking tonight. It isn’t a lie, but I sure am not going to work on it right now. I still have to watch the latest episode of ‘Running Man’ tonight.

Irene nodded understandingly and again, gave me her sweetest smile. “That’s alright. We can maybe do it tomorrow at my place. I’ll just let you save my number, so you can tell me on whether you’re pushing through with the plan or not. I mean there are some professors at Gyungjin that gives sudden school works that are due the next day. If you’ll be busy, don’t worry about me. I’ll just be waiting for whenever we can spend time together again.”

Hearing her makes me question all the things I’ve placed into my mind. She’s just so sweet. I don’t see how someone like her could be bad. I mean yes, she did hurt Taehyung by leaving him, but maybe she also regretted it. Maybe, she has her reasons that the others failed to see or have failed to acknowledge. She even took the time, effort, and courage to see me despite knowing that I’m (supposedly) Taehyung’s current girlfriend. That’s not an easy thing to do especially when things have been left unresolved between Taehyung and her. Still, she did it.

“I’ll be in touch,” I said which made her clap her hands in glee.

“That’s great. I’ll be looking forward to baking with you.”

Oh, don’t even bother…

I faked a smile even if the only thing I want to do is to roll my eyes at myself for thinking that there’s really nothing to look forward to. I’m the worst baker there is. I’ll just be a nuisance in the kitchen, but Irene seems to not know that yet. It’s either that or she’s being too kind to pretend that she’s really okay with having me baking in her kitchen.

“If you don’t mind, how about we share some things about one another? I’d like to know you more, Yerin-ssi.”

*****

“Woah, fancy meeting you here. I thought you quit being this club’s official .”

Taehyung rolled his eyes at Jungkook and nodded his head as a simple greeting toward his girlfriend who stood beside him. It’s not like he took a year off from visiting the club room. For Pete’s sake, he was just gone for a few weeks, with a certain girl being the reason for his absence. His friends are just way exaggerating the situation.

“Where’s unnie?”

Taehyung resisted rolling his eyes for the second time. He knew this was coming. Of course, Yuna was going to ask about Yerin. She is way too predictable. The only problem for him is that he could never lie to her. He can try but it’s like the girl has got a built-in lie detector in her system.

Alas, he opted for his only safe choice: Shrug his shoulders while avoiding eye contact.

“Aw, c’mon, Yuna. Let hyung live. He just wants to spend some loving time with us today. I’m sure noona is at home by now.”

Taehyung released the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was glad Jungkook was an idiot for not noticing his slightly panicked state upon having Yerin brought up in the conversation. He can’t say the same for Yuna though. Despite letting the topic go, he could still feel her gaze lingering toward him and it is definitely giving him the idea that she’s still not done with him.

“Of course, she is,” Yuna said, her voice sounding suspicious, still, “You sent her home, right?”

He gave a little nod despite the hesitation to do so but he thought that if he wants to stop her from prying deeper, he has no other choice but to hide the truth. It may not be a good idea but it’s the best one there is. He saw the way Yuna’s eyes narrowed into slits and it was enough to tell him she wasn’t satisfied with the answer she got. He’s just secretly praying Jungkook wouldn’t end up leaving him alone with her even for just a minute.

“Oh, mom’s calling. I’ll be back,” Jungkook said immediately after the short silence of Taehyung’s thinking and Yuna’s continuous suspicion.

And there goes his chance…If he couldn’t get any unluckier…

Taehyung averted Yuna’s gaze but it’s like the more he turns his face away, the more he could feel the burn of her stare.

“You didn’t send her home, did you?” Yuna’s voice was stern, like venom coated her every word. Taehyung shouldn’t be scared but he is and that scares him even more. Out of all the kinds of Yuna that he encountered so far in his life, this ‘Don’t with me Yuna’ is definitely at the top of his do-not-encounter list.

“Honestly?”

“Honestly.”

“No.”

Yuna took in a huge exhale which Taehyung found to be very much resembling those calm moments before a storm. He knows what’s about to come and that he barely has the time to prepare himself.

“I can’t believe they ran out of banana milk,” Jungkook’s voice echoed across the room, signaling his return but even before he could come closer to the other two, Yuna’s voice intervened.

“Jungkook, I’d like a moment to speak with Taehyung-oppa, please.”

Jungkook stopped on his tracks and without a word, bobbed his head before making a beeline for the door.

“What’s wrong this time?”

“Nothing.”

Yuna snickered. “You mean to tell me that you suddenly left Yerin-unnie alone because nothing happened? I’m not that stupid so you better start talking,” she said in the most authoritative voice she could muster, “I’m not doing this⸺ sticking my nose into your problem with unnie⸺ because I feel like I could help you. I’ve given up on that a long time ago after you shut us out completely. Rather, I’m doing this because I care about unnie and a bright girl like her doesn’t deserve being treated like trash by someone like you.”

“Then you shouldn’t have agreed to choose her for this silly game in the first place,” he replied. It was not in his intention to sound accusing but he is aware that if he doesn’t fight back with words, he might end up spilling his hidden thoughts, the ones he decided to keep a secret from the world.

“In case you forgot, the decision was entirely yours that time. Even if I chose someone else, you would have still gone for unnie anyway,” she spat back, setting aside all the formality she often gives him, “Had I known you’d treat her poorly, I would have kept her away from you.”

Taehyung let out a smothered laugh, “She’s all yours then.”

Yuna narrowed her eyes and took in a heavy breath, “What is wrong with you? I thought you’re slowly changing. I thought we’re going to have the Taehyung we once knew.”

“Things don’t work that way, Yuna,” he said, standing up, “Sometimes, what’s forgotten needs to stay forgotten. The Taehyung all of you are looking for is long dead, buried in the past I would never bother to dig up.”

He left her without waiting for a reply, making his way out within seconds. He’s sure he heard Jungkook calling him out, asking for what happened, but he drowned his voice out with his thoughts. It was only when he was assured that he’s along that he let himself stop in his tracks and just stare at a distance before giving a biter laugh at himself.

“Way to go, Taehyung. What a way to things up,” he muttered as he walked to the nearest wall and slid down his frame all the way to sit on the floor. He bent one leg up and rested his elbow while his other hand supported his weight as he leaned back slightly.

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