You know how they say that you never really know what you have until it’s gone?

Pretty popular saying right?

That indeed is my life right now. How I begin to explain it?

Let’s start with Nina.

Who is Nina? 

Nina is the girl in the back of the class. The girl you barely notice

She kept to herself and was quiet and shy but she was kind

The girl who loved to read and would fawn over books

Loved art and cooked very well

The girl who would tie her hair up in a messy bun coz it was easier to do things that way

She was the girl I’d run to when I needed help with homework

The girl I’d call when I needed advice

The girl who would shake her head with a sigh when I did something stupid

But would still be there to help me anyway

The girl who always had that joyful glint her eyes when she smiled at me

Nina is the girl who’s heart I broke so many times

Nina is my best friend

And I’m in love with her.

“Yo!” Taehyung called out and ruffled Nina’s hair as he sat next to her during History class.

“Woke up late huh?” she replied while scribbling down on her notebook

“Oh you know me all to well.”

She said nothing and just shook her head as she smiled

“So hey I was thinking should I take Gayoon to that club that everyone’s hyping about? She likes EDM.”

Nina’s pen stopped moving and she bit her lip

“Hey, were you listening?”

She looked up at him “You should, she’ll like that” Nina said with a smile. Taehyung could have sworn that he saw shades of sadness in her eyes. She looked down again and continued to scribble on her notebook.

I should have known then

It took about 5 rings till she picked up the phone

“Yo! “ Taehyung said in his usual manner

“Hey Taehyung, what’s up?”

The new coffee shop that you talked about last week the one near the park? Do you wanna go on Saturday?

“Really? Of course! That would be great! I love coffee shops.”

Taehyung chuckled “I know you do. Hence me taking you, meet you there at 4?”

“Alright I’ll see you then!”

Saturday

She’s pretty hot huh?  Jimin said pointing out to a girl that walked past

Taehyung nodded

“Which reminds me, weren’t you dating that Gayoon chick from Poosan High?”

“Nah that didn’t really work out, so meh”

“So since you’re a free agent again, lets go meet up the boys. Namjoon-hyung said he’ll bring some girls over.” 

6:45pm. Her coffee had turned cold

The sky was now inky black

She sighed and finally decided to leave

Smoothing out the dress she carefully picked, she decided to walk home

“Oppa you have such  nice hair.” A girl said as she was twirling Taehyung’s hair, her arm resting on his shoulders

Truthfully he didn’t like how close he was to her but he shrugged it off. For some reason he felt that something was off. A small beep signaling an hour change brought Taehyung’s attention to his digital watch

7:00 pm. Saturday… Saturday

! He totally forgot about the coffee shop and right when he was about leave

She walked past.  Nina stopped momentarily when she saw him. She didn’t say anything she gave him the softest of smiles but her eyes didn’t seem to connect with it. It was b with sadness. She walked away.

Taehyung was stunned. He couldn’t move or do anything. Nina in that very moment looked unbelievably beautiful. The way her hair fell gracefully down her back and the way it danced in the gentle breeze. The way she looked in that pretty dress. How lovely she seemed right then and there. He started to wonder why he’d never really noticed that before. 

“Woah, wasn’t that Nina? Dang she’s actually very pretty” Hoseok said from behind

“I’ve always thought so, she’s just rather shy.” Jin agreed

Taehyung felt like . She must have waited there for hours.  He knew he had to make up for it. He had tried to chase her down but he was too stunned to move that it took him a little bit of time to do something. By the time he traced her steps she was nowhere to be seen.  He tried to call her, but she wouldn’t pick up. He sent her messages, they remain unread.

Sunday

Taehyung woke up to Soonsim his nose. Grabbing his phone from his nightstand, he expected a reply from her. She always sent out a reply even if it was late. But this time he had messages from everyone but her. He tried calling her again. It led him to voicemail.

He had wanted to go over to her house but he remembered that she usually went over to her grandparent’s house during Sundays. He spent the day with his family. His mind however kept wandering over to her.

Taehyung felt so guilty. He looked back at times that he would blow her off to go hang out with friends.  He would make some stupid excuse and she would just say it was ok and maybe next time. But this time she didn’t.

Taehyung was never the type to rush to school. In fact he made it a point to be fashionably late. But this time he surprised himself as well as his mother when he walked out of the house to go to school early. The first period bell had already rang but the seat next to him remained empty. Where was she?During lunch Taehyung tried to distract himself but doing the same antics he dud with Jungkook and Jimin. Still deep inside he felt a little off.

Waltzing back to History, he expected an empty seat but there she was in her usual spot, hair in a messy bun held together by a chopstick. She was scribbling on her notebook when he sat beside her. Nina looked up and smiled, the sudden movement dislodge the chopstick from her hair, her auburn tresses fell softly down her back. The smell of vanilla wafted him.

“About last Saturday, I’m so sorry” Taehyung started out

She shook her head and smiled “Don’t worry about it, It’s ok, you have things you needed to do.”

Taehyung furrowed his brow, he was expecting to have an earful, but she didn’t say anything.

“Look, I messed up at least let me make up for it this weekend? And this time I’ll show up, I promise!” He offered.

“No really it’s ok, you really don’t have too. I have plans this weekend too.” She said before standing up and walking over to the teacher’s table to hand in her homework.

For the rest of the week Nina went about her usual self. He on the other hand felt different. Things he didn’t notice or didn’t really pay that much mind to, about her before seemed to stand out to him more. Like how she would always smell like vanilla or like how she would bite her lip when she concentrated. But there was something that was different about her this time. Somehow she felt a little distant. Her smiles no longer had that joyful glint to them, they were now the same smile she had that Saturday evening. He hated that smile.

Weekend came and decided to spend it with the guys. The venue of their hangout was the park. Still Taehyung couldn’t shake off that odd feeling and couldn’t stop thinking about her. He still felt bad for standing her up.  He was too caught up in his thoughts but when Yoongi mentioned her name he was shaken out of it.

True enough there she was standing a few meters from them. But she was not alone.  A hand reached out from in front of her and tucked in a strand of hair behind her ear. That hand belong to a rather tall, attractive guy a little bit older than her .