"Sora's Diary: 

A Twisted Tale of Love"

Entry :: {29}

Days passed and today marked the second week of Hyeri’s stay at their apartment. Sora hated how she was not getting much attention from Taehyung lately. It had gotten to the point where she felt like shoving the other girl out of the house as it seems like Taehyung would rather have her around. But Sora couldn’t blame Hyeri entirely as she just got back to school due to her family’s coaxing and that allowed Hyeri to see Taehyung around more often.

Sora turned to the LED clock and took her leave from class. She really had to meet Taehyung in his office before he leaves.

“Sorry, he just left about half an hour ago.” A staff told her.

Sora was totally upset that he seemed to have forgotten that she’d end class around the time he’d be dismissed from work. She thanked the staff and walked out of the campus.

It was an important day… a very very important day to her. Sora swiped her finger to the next window and tapped on the calender function in her phone.

Happy 20^th Kim Sohee & Kim Taehee!

It was a reminder to her own self as she had been forgetting this precious day for the past three years. As Taehyung wasn’t around, she thought that nobody could throw her a great birthday celebration any longer. But it wasn’t the case until last year when she realised the strong presence of her family who always stood by her.

Sora checked out the cheerful comments that she received from some kind people on Facebook. Many wished her a Happy Birthday and some thoughtful souls even included her late twin sister, Taehee, in their wishes. Sora smiled to herself, thinking that if only Taehee were here with her right now, they’d be looking forward to a big surprise from their lovely parents and brother.

She replied to a few people as she said her thanks and took small steps after alighting the bus. She walked on and on until she saw their apartment in her sight. Sora held the straps of her bag tightly and pause her tracks. She stood there thinking whether Taehyung could remember this day of hers.

Three years ago, he’d throw her a big celebration, just the two of them. Whatever she never had, he’d give it to her and that made her love for him grow unconditionally. Because of that, she thought that his future spouse would be the luckiest woman on Earth to have him.

The sky started to gloom and Sora hurriedly make her way up her floor.

It sounded like some laughter that’s now familiar to her ears. Sora was hoping that maybe she’d see some pretty embellishments like how Taehyung would prepare for her four years ago as she turned 16. With her fist clenched tightly, she unlocked the barrier and stepped in nervously.

“It’ll get messy, don’t do that!” Hyeri ran away from Taehyung as the guy tried caking her face with some of the cream he had on his fingertips. They were laughing throughout and this was the second time they didn’t notice Sora’s presence. Sora didn’t know whether she’s just too sensitive to have kept all of their mistakes in details. Ever since Hyeri showed up, she had been more possessive over whatever that was hers and that includes Taehyung.

“Sohee, you said you’d be back by 8?” Only now Taehyung notice her, standing in surprise.

Hyeri’s laughter faded and she approached Sora slowly with a mixing bowl she had in her hands. The kitchen was ultimately in a mess after the ‘fun’ they had and Sora couldn’t help but to just look down at the splattered frosting and cream that stained the floor.

“We thought you’d be back later so we just started on the cake and- Sohee! What’s wrong with you?!” Hyeri shrieked the moment the mixing bowl clashed onto the floor and more of its useful content spilled on her dress.

Sora heaved in anger, not regretting venting her bottled feelings on that item. Her sudden change of mood made Taehyung rush to Hyeri’s side to ask her whether she was okay.

“What was that for? We’re trying to make you a cake for your birthday, why would you be angry over that?” Taehyung reasoned. But it boilsed Sora even more. He’s so dense to not have thought about her feelings thoroughly. All she ever wanted was to spend some time with him but he couldn’t see it at all. Taehyung couldn’t tell that he had spent much more time with Hyeri than with Sora.

“Think about it, V. Ever since she arrived. Think about it.” Sora’s voice trembled and she hurriedly walked out of the front door before she could show her upset self to them. Taehyung caught up with her but she pulled her wrist aggressively from his grip and warned him not to follow her.

She ran down the stairs with her solid shoes that clanged against the stairs. It definitely let Taehyung guess that she was unhappy with something. With Hyeri.

Sora walked briskly to the lobby and being the horrible day it was, it rained heavily. She had no umbrella with her nor was she coated with a sweater that could keep her warm. But Sora didn’t want to stay in that building either. She walked out hesitantly and let the cold rain drops hit her skin. She was shivering as she jaywalked to the opposite side of the street, looking for shelter.

She jogged and made a turn to her left only to see that black car with its headlights on. She knew it was wrong for her to decide this but she ran up and knocked on the window. The door was unlocked and she opened it before letting herself in.

The both of them just sat in there silently with Sora pulling down the hem of her dress awfully as she was drenched.

“Send me home. Please.” Sora requested and the guy sighed under his breath, putting his hands on the stirring wheel to take this girl to her destined place.

With no music or radio on to alleviate the awkwardness, Sora still liked that silence. It let her hear his breathing and the little sounds that came from his slight movements. It had been so long since she heard them.

“W..What were you doing there?” She asked. But he just kept his eyes on the road, not intending to answer her question. Sora knew that it was so wrong. There was a reason as to why he told her that they couldn’t meet each other anymore and she didn’t want to cross that line that he finally decided on.

She then understood that he wouldn’t speak to her and just sat silently in her seat until she reached home.

The white residence stood under the rain and he granted for permission to enter the land. It was then the only time that Sora managed to hear his intoxicating voice. He turned the car around the roundabout and they were under the shelter, linked to the doors of her home.

“Thank you…” She muttered as she stepped out of the car. She pressed the bell hesitantly and waited for a response. Meanwhile, she just hopped that he would stay there until someone receives the doors for her.

It wasn’t long when the door opened and Himchan poked his head out.

“Sohee??” His pitch went terribly wrong furthermore when he saw the car that sent his sister home.

“Himchan-ah, Sohee came home?” Mrs Kim’s voice could be heard behind him. She appeared in Sora’s sight and looked at her daughter unbelievably as she was soaking wet.

“Daehyun-ah, it’s a surprise that you came too! Come in, come in. Let’s all celebrate together!” Mrs Kim invited him in after Himchan told her about Daehyun’s presence too. But Daehyun shook his head politely and rejected her offer with a smile even though he’d love to spend the evening there. “Just come in, honey. The weather isn’t getting any better anyway.” Daehyun looked at the dark grey sky that worsened along with its torrential rain. Yes, it didn’t look like it’d get better anytime sooner.

Himchan accompanied him out of the car and winked at him mischievously as they walked together into the house. Mrs Kim handed Sora over to the housemaids as they prepared a warm bath for her. Meanwhile, the boys sat at the living room with Mrs Kim rushing all the delivery calls to send over some worthy meals for her daughter’s last minute birthday celebration.

“How the hell did you end up sending her back home? Did I not read your letter to her correctly? I’m sure that it said this will be the last time you’ll be hearing from me.” Himchan smirked and tapped his fingers on the couch to wait for a silly answer from him.

“I was around that area after picking up some cardboards that mother needed. So I stayed there for a while and got reminded of her birthday. I was about to make a move but then she came. I couldn’t just leave her there in the rain… Thank god she came up to me shamelessly and ordered me to send her home.” Daehyun huffed a laughter and so did Himchan.

“Wait, you read my letter to her?”

“Bro, chill… You were a lot more cheesier and insincere with Ara the other time. This is basically nothing to my eyes.” Himchan chortled as he knew how embarrassed Daehyun was at that point of time.

“I don’t think I can join you for dinner. You know mother…” Daehyun reluctantly spoke. Himchan fell in silence as he knew about the threat Mrs Jung imposed on him. It was a hard to escape seeing that Mrs Kim didn’t know a thing about this and it might just make Daehyun seem rude to walk away during Sora’s birthday because even though he was already set to get married in a few months’ time, he was still Sora’s friend. At least that’s what Mrs Kim thought.

Mrs Kim jogged to the front door and received the food that was delivered. She gave an extra tip to the delivery man for being punctual despite the heavy downpour.

“Kids! The foods are here, come over!” She hollered as the housemaids helped her set the table. They were in the midst of setting things up when Sora finally made her way down.

“Sorry honey, we thought you’d be at your apartment with Taehyung so we didn’t prepare you anything. I feel so terrible right now my poor daughter have to spend her birthday this way aigoo…” Mrs Kim babbled until the table was entirely well and Sora had to keep on saying that it wasn’t a problem at all as it wasn’t the worse birthday ever. At least this was the first birthday in three years that she got to celebrate it with Daehyun.

It felt totally out of place for Daehyun as he sat there stiffly opposite from where Sora was and he toyed with his food instead of eating.

“What happened just now honey? Why were you all drenched and why aren’t you at your apartment?” Mrs Kim then remembered this question that itched her mind the moment she found Sora at their front door.

“Nothing… No one’s at home and I had no umbrella with me and there were some dogs barking in the building. I was scared so I made a run.” She couldn’t look at her mother in the eyes as she explained herself. Her naïve mother believed whatever she said but Daehyun didn’t buy it at all.

Such a bad liar, Sohee.

He was there himself and from where he stopped the car, he saw moving figures in the living room of their apartment. There was definitely somebody in the house but he couldn’t reckon the other woman figure behind those opaque curtains. Just their figures and he could tell that there were two persons in that place.

“By the way Daehyun, why would your mother make you run an errand to buy some cardboards?” Himchan asked. But Daehyun didn’t know either. He just did as what he was told. As they were at the topic, Sora then remembered of the piled boxes that were placed at the corner of their store room. She almost forgot to ask her mother what were those boxes for.

“Oh yeah, I need to ask Naomi about that. She needed a place to put them somewhere so I put them at the store of your apartment before you moved in. Daehyun-ah, will you ask for me whether your mother still needs it?” Daehyun nodded as he shoved some noodles into his mouth.

Himchan left his seat for a moment as he finished his meal. The foods were almost finishing but it wasn’t the case for Sora. She wanted to eat slower to have Daehyun around longer. She had a tinge of feeling that she’d bawl her eyes out the moment he walks out of the doors.

“Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you...” Himchan sang as he placed the cake on the dining table and a tiara on Sora’s head. It was the 20^th birthday but she still liked it. Pampering her like a two years old certainly made her feel young again.

Sora’s eyes were pilling some tears that she was holding back and just as she was about to blow the candles, she saw the soft smile that was plastered on Daehyun’s face. It was the best moment ever, she thought. Mrs Kim prompted her to make a wish and she did.

Can we stay like this forever? Please? It sounded decent but she pretty much see herself begging on her knees to keep this moment till the day her hair turns grey.

“Your brother wanted to send this over to your house. Good thing you came here earlier before he could leave. Happy Birthday Sohee,” Mrs Kim planted a kiss on her forehead. That was when Sora pulled her in for a hug and Himchan shamelessly invited himself in for a hug as well, squeezing them in his embrace.

Daehyun just looked on with his hands overlapping each other, his fingers as he felt so foreign to this scene. It was a lovely picture that he was seeing but he had never been able to feel this kind of love before. The way the family hugged in front of him made him feel overwhelmed but sadly it could never happen to him.

“What would you like for your birthday honey?”

Sora broke away from her mother as her eyes fell on Daehyun. 

She stuck her hands out with her palms open. “Give me some money. Someone has to clean his car because of the mess I made.”

Daehyun’s eyes widened as he rejected her kind thought. “It’s okay, it’s just a little wet. It’ll dry up in no time.” He smiled at Mrs Kim but was too nervous to give Sora a glance. He thought that he should take his leave now after he awkwardly wished her a Happy Birthday.

Mrs Kim thanked him for being there and told Himchan to walk him over to the front door. As Himchan knew that this was the only time that Sora could see him, he left the two alone and let Sora run his task.

Daehyun had to make some hastened steps to the doors but he couldn’t. He walked as slow as Sora in silence as there wasn’t a thing that had to be said. He purposely took small steps behind this girl as he missed seeing her straight-cut hair that fell gently slightly below her shoulders. They said love can be suffocating if you spend your life dedicating your time to the one you love but Daehyun couldn’t agree with that. He was so sure that he’d love her till eternity as he thought that his love for her grew even more day by day that he could forget whatever promise he had kept in his hands.

“Thank you for the ride and maybe I’ll see you around in 7 months’ time?”

Daehyun only then realised that they were at the doorsteps. He solemnly gave her a nod and trudged down the steps to the door of his car. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. It was her birthday and probably the last birthday that he could ever spend with her. Daehyun thought he should spare a life of asking her a question that was bugging him.

“Taehyung. Is he making you any happier now?”

Sora literally froze. That would make it the first time that they’re talking after the tiring effort they had made to ignore each other today.

“I believe you saw what happened. You don’t have to ask when you could assume something from it.”

“Well I certainly have to ask something when all I saw was another woman in that apartment that had you running out of the place that was meant for only you and Taehyung.”

It wasn’t what Sora meant. She didn’t know that he noticed another woman in that house.

“Y..you don’t have to know this much… Goodbye now, please return home safely.” She walked up the doorsteps and reached the doors. Daehyun looked down in defeat but he couldn’t push himself to make her reveal the story behind her current life or else it’d defeat the purpose of him bidding goodbye if he’s the one pushing through her walls.

He lowered his head and settled in his car. Daehyun looked at the small gift that he had prepared for her at the back seat of his car. He wasn’t intending to pass it to her personally but earlier on, he thought that he could slid it into their mailbox since he was around the neighbourhood.

Daehyun regrettably took his leave as he drove off at his own pace. He looked at the girl through the rear view mirror with so many questions to be asked. Sora wasn’t moving either as she waited for him to pass through the gates before she thought of entering the house. The lonely gaze from her made him weak. His hands fidgeted as he was indecisive whether or not to make a turn.

Just a few meters away from the gates, he swerved to the right and made a turn around the roundabout again.

Sora’s puzzled face was evident and she walked down the steps to ask whether he had forgotten something inside. Daehyun halted the car right under the shelter and hastened to get out of the car. The fear in Sora’s eyes could be seen since Daehyun walked up to her with a mean streak that came out of nowhere.

“Daehyun-ah,” She gasped when he held her shoulders and pushed her up back into the house.

He aggressively shoved his head sideward to have a full grasp of her lips and travelled his hands to her cheeks. Sora felt that her cheeks were dampened with his moist cheeks that were covered in tears.

“Sohee-ah, have Daehyun left already- Ooouuwww okayyyy…” Himchan who happened to pass by the short hallway saw the scene and he scampered to the living room after closing the doors to give them some privacy.

His lips and tongue lingered around hers and they lost track of the time they spent there expressing their longing for each other.

As Daehyun pulled away from her, he looked down to meet her eyes with his hands still securing her face.

“So that’s our last kiss?” Sora breathed out her minimal voice as their lips were just an inch away from each other. Daehyun didn’t want to confirm that. It’d not only hurt her but him as well. He pulled her in for a hug and wrapped his arms around hers more tightly.

“It was so hard to leave especially on a special day like this.” He whispered.

“The moment I knew you were going to have dinner with us, I already thought that it was the best birthday ever.” She giggled. Daehyun loved that sound of hers. He hoped to hear more of that but he was already more than thankful for being able to hear it today, on her birthday.

“You should get going.” Sora pulled herself away and led him back to the doors.

Daehyun her back for the last time and sent her a forehead kiss before he took his leave.

“Goodbye now.”

“Goodbye.” They bid.