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     chapter sixteen      survive with him or die alone.

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With the faucet running, Arang cupped her hands underneath the water and continued to wash her face. She had been in the restroom for fifteen minutes now and she still had to remove the eggshells from her hair. Her mind flashed back to the most humiliating moment in her life and she cringed. Today was almost just as bad. If it hadn’t been for Taehyung, who knows how worse it could have gotten.  For once, since she’s met him, Arang was actually glad that he didn’t leave her alone. After she was presentable, the girl exited the ladies’ room.

She made her way to the director’s office, where she and Taehyung were instructed to wait. Her hands were still trembling and she hid them behind her back. The boy was already inside and just as she was about to ask him if he was alright, he scowled at her. “My hair was ruined because of you.” He snapped, his voice laced with irritation.

“Excuse me?” Arang scoffed in disbelief. So much for checking up on him. And just like that the small speck of concern she had for him disappeared. “No one asked you to jump in.” She rebutted.

“If I didn’t, do you realize how bad I’d look as a boyfriend?” Taehyung retorted as he got up and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Trust me I would have been more than happy to leave you to fend for yourself but then the employees in the lobby started staring at me. So of course I had to play along or else it would have been highly suspicious when they found out about our relationship.”

Her eyes rounded once she realized what he was saying.  Arang nearly face-palmed herself. She couldn’t believe it. She should have known it was all an act. It was too good to be true. How could she forget what kind of Taehyung was? He couldn’t even offer his seat to the elderly out of his own freewill. What made her think that he would save her because he wanted to?

How could she even think that for a second Kim Taehyung had the capability to be a gentleman?  “Of course it was all pretend,” she laughed bitterly. “Because someone like you never does anything unless it benefits you in some way. Do you think you’ll be boyfriend of the year because of what you did?”

“Try boyfriend of the century.” He boasted. “What other idol out there would do that for their fake girlfriend? Ah how embarrassing. Now photos of me covered in yolk and you in flour are going to be all over the internet. Next thing you know people are going to call us the batter couple.”

“Even after all of this you’re still worried about your image? Can you get any shallower?” Arang questioned as she took a seat on the couch. She didn’t want to show it but her pride was pretty hurt after she realized Taehyung helped her just to help his own image. She didn’t want him to figure it out though and tried her best to remain normal.

“I don’t know what world you’re living in but in this world how you look means everything. What do you think the world will be more interested in? An ugly duckling or a dazzling and beautiful swan?” Taehyung reasoned logically with a quirked brow. When the girl didn’t say anything, he smirked in triumph. “Exactly. Whether you want to believe or not pretty people always come out on top. That’s why you should start taking better care of yourself.”

When he was done with his little monologue, Arang clapped and nodded her head. “Spoken like a true plastic surgery advocate. Tell me, what did you get done? Your chin? Eyes? Ah, I know”—she snaps her fingers and pointed at his eyes and then his nose—“you got the K-pop combo, didn’t you? You received work on your eyes and your nose.”

Taehyung’s nostrils immediately flared in anger at her absurd accusation. “For your information I am a natural born beauty.” He announced proudly.

“That’s what they all say,” she shrugged. “Whatever helps you sleep better at night.”

“I’m being serious here. You can go through all of my childhood pictures if you want. You’ll see that I look the same.” Taehyung stated

“No thanks, I’ll pass.” Arang rejected. “But I guess what you said is true. That’s the sad thing about this world we live in. We think what’s pleasing to the eye must be a good thing while what isn’t attractive is bad. That’s not always the case though. I hate when people misjudge somebody else solely based on how they look. It’s not fair. Let’s take you for example. Are you appealing to the human eye? I guess so since you have an army of fangirls who are definitely crazy over you. Are you a good person? From what I’ve experienced, not really. Do you get what I’m trying to say?”

Taehyung tilted his head to the left then to the right and blinked twice. “You think I’m appealing?”

Arang felt like a ton of bricks had just been dumped on her as she stared at him with hanging open. “Were you not listening to me? That wasn’t my point.” She frowned.

“All I care about is you calling me attractive.” He took a step toward Arang and smirked at her. “Sorry to break it to you though, you don’t meet my standards,” he gestured to her face and continued. “Maybe if you got some work done I’d possibly reconsider.”

“Like I care about your opinion,” Arang answered flatly. “And don’t worry. You don’t meet my standards either.”

“Oh please, I meet everybody’s standards.” Taehyung disagreed.

“Not mine. I want someone who is actually human.” She declared, obviously implying that Taehyung was not from the same specie as her.

“I should have let those girls shred you to pieces when you were out there.”