kiwi | kim taehyung

[46] new messages!

[continuation of the last part.]

"hm?" i mutter, trying to look bored.

taehyung propped his phone up against a pillow. his brows came together in brief thought, which i notice he did a lot, especially on tests.

with a moment's glance at me, he soon answered in a wavering voice, "whether it touches at 360 or 270... wouldn't that make it in phase still?"

"but then wouldn't that make it in phase still—" i mocked, "shut up."

he giggled. i giggled.

taehyung looked a little surprised that i was finally joining in with him, but the smile stayed on his face. i decided to stop being so pressed for a little while and just chill with him for a minute.

literally. a minute.

because no sooner than i had unwound from my pissy mood, i could see taehyung's bedroom door flying open, and the honey-haired pretty face storming in.

taehyung stopped laughing, so i did too. she looked up from her phone. i swore those five seconds were the longest of my life; where her face contorted into a look of rage and the tension turned into anxiety. without a word, i let my jaw fall.

"taehyung, are you--"

her voice was already rising and venomous.

"ahsung."

the tension was thick and no one knew what her next move would be. but the venom in her lovely doe eyes was a big giveaway, and so i braced for impact.

but surprisingly, she seemed calm when she said it.

"is that her?"

and her eyes fell on taehyung's glowing phone, on me.

she was so pretty.

her eyes were wide and twinkled like dew, and her face was just the right balance of innocence and maturity. sure, some of it was given to her by makeup, but i could only dream of having such perfect eyebrows and clear skin. ahsung, as ugly as my conscience painted her portrait to be, was a doll.

i was angry at her and at taehyung and a little bit at myself. but even as her face began to contort and twist out of pique, i still thought she was beautiful. maybe taehyung thought the same.

because he was so fixated on her and her presence that he lost all of his words. my jaw clenched and an unknown, yet undesirable emotion began to course through me. he was too nonchalant when he turned back to me.

"look, i'm gonna mute you for a second, areum."

the words almost came out of my mouth before he dropped his phone flat on the bed, and i was left to stare at the lighting on the roof. i didn't know what i was going to say, not even one bit. my mind was so trapped on this moment and the question of how it would unfold that i could barely even formulate a sentence. so even though he was gone, i muttered to the ceiling in a huff,

"whatever."

everything from there was just a snowball downhill.

"taehyung, are you videochatting her again?"

he didn't put me on mute?

"we're just studying."

"ow!" he yelped.

i heard two more heavy-handed lashes, then his hushed voice.

"jagi, stop hitting me!"

her blows resonated in my ears like the crack of a whip. each one made me flinch, but none more than his groans and shouts could. the image of taehyung holding her back — or even just taking the beating — became vivid in my mind. as painful as it was to hear, it was still nowhere near the stings and scratches and bruises or whatever else he was getting now.

"ahsung, relax! relax!"

"you always fucking pick her! you retard, i'm your girlfriend not her! how many times do i have to tell you?"

he kept shouting at her to stop. except at one point, it became less of a demand and more of a plea. i noticed she wasn't slowing down. was he even fighting back anymore? was he defending himself?

i felt my eyes growing warm with tears and the sensation of ahsung's hand with each crack as if it were my own skin she had struck. i put a hand to my mouth to suppress my tongue. it was too much for me. but shutting my phone off was not an option. i needed to know what was to become of him.

but at my loss for words, i could only shut my eyes and wait for the end. if i spoke anyway, i risked exposing myself. to him and to ahsung.

her words were so venomous. i wondered how she could say half of the things she said to him — someone she was supposedly in a relationship with.

"you stupid son of a bitch!"

"do you know how to listen? is there a fucking screw loose in your head?!"

"let me go! you're— fuck! —you're hurting me!"

"you fucking idiot, can't you take a hint? she doesn't even want someone as dim-witted as you! i'm the only one who puts up with you!"

i guess i heard his body hit a wall. i guess i heard her palm against his cheek.

the world froze.

"ahsung... "

and now, in place of her fist, she used her words to deliver the final blows.

i drew my hand away from my mouth, pushing hair out of my face. a headache was coming on strong, the more she spoke the worse it hurt, in my heart and head i felt it all, the weight of his secret, the final pieces to the puzzle aligning in retrospect, and the regret for not seeing the signs before.

"stop it!"

my voice alone made the yelling stop and the world stand still. regret, or one of its many cousins, washed over me. but my teary eyes and tightening chest couldn't be silenced anymore.

"you didn't hang up?"

i clenched my fist. her voice was too soft.

it would have been almost unbelievable, if i knew no better, for her to have been so rampant with the way she could switch her tone of voice. soft and sweet, just like any other girl's.

she was anything but.

her footfalls neared. with each step she took closer to me, i could practically feel the temperature of my blood soaring. where there used to be pity for her, i only felt strong feelings of hatred. and when taehyung's phone was in her hands and i was finally able to look into the eyes of the hellcat i loved to hate, i could only push two words past my gritted teeth.

"you bitch."

CALL ENDED
2:46:08

+

o wow i hate this chapter

when you had to use the r word for the sake of character development even though you hate it and your mom raised you better but ya ahsung is an ableist piece of shit is this really surprising to any of us.

additionally someone asked me why areum sounds so random in her thoughts sometimes and i would say that its because i wanted to make her thought process less calculated and more realistic but the reality of it is i just ate ten pixy sticks and i'm bouncing off the walls.