“I broke up with Chungha because I like you, Seulgi.”

Seulgi blinked her eyes rapidly, they’d begun to sting after being widened for too long. But if you were in the same shocked state as her, you’d want to widen your eyes in surprise for eternity too. 

What was happening? Did her ears process his words right?

“Taeyong likes me? Lee Taeyong likes me?” were the only thoughts running around her head at the moment.

“I like you, Seulgi,” she heard him repeat and finally snapped out of her thoughts.

She looked carefully at him. “S-since when?” she asked.

“After you confessed to me,” he told her. “Back in May.”

Seulgi broked their eye contact and looked down at her hands while she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. A small moment of silence formed in the room and Seulgi could feel his stare on her.

“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted quietly.

“Do you-” Taeyong hesitated. “Do you still like me, Seulgi?”

Yes. Yes she still did. More than he could imagine.

“I do,” she confessed. “But-”

“But?” he interrupted, a frown appearing on his face.

Seulgi felt herself stand up as a reflex. “I don’t know, Yong.” What was she supposed to say when she struggled to even think?

“I don’t think-”

“Well, what about what I think?” he cut her off, pointing at himself. “You can’t just keep on running away from these situations, Seulgi.”

“I’m not running away, Taeyong,” she defended herself while crossing her arms.

“Then what are you doing right now?” he asked, looking at her up and down.

“I-”

“You’re denying your feelings and thinking about ghosting me again. You’re neglecting my feelings for you and you’re going to walk out that door and pretend like none of this happened. You’re going to treat me like a ing stranger again.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is! I know you, Seul. That’s how I know it’s true.”

“Alright!” she hissed softly and sat back down by the table. “Look, I’m staying!” she then said.

“That’s not the point,” he muttered and crossed his arms.

“Taeyong,” she sighed.

“I know what I did before…” she trailed off. “It hurt you, and it was immature and disrespectful of me to just ignore you for months.”

“Yeah, and you’re doing the same thing now,” he mumbled, clearly pissed off.

“I’m not going to ignore you but I think we both need some time alone and process everything,” she stated and lowered her gaze as she saw his bitter and disappointed look.

“Besides, you just broke up with Chungha. I believe you need more space and time to figure out everything,” she added.

“I know what I want,” he said. “And what I want is you.”

Seulgi felt taken aback at the last sentence and she could feel her heart beating faster, as if it wanted to get out of her chest.

Taeyong wanted her.

She tried to slow her breathing as millions of thoughts rushed through her head. In some way he always managed to get her head spinning around. Sure, she had liked Taeyong for months but always told herself nothing could ever happen between them. But now he broke up wit