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46. TAXI タクシー
JIMIN REGARDED THE younger boy's hunched form carefully, tilting his head one way. "i'm not going to chastise you for it because it's honestly pointless seeing as you've realised your own mistakes. but you have to rectify it, if you ever want her back." he raked a hand through his silky tresses, voice soft.
jungkook nodded. he threw his head back, a sigh leaving his parted lips. "i really fucked up. i'm a dumbass." he ran his hands over his face. namjoon nodded his agreement. "i have to talk to her." he straightened, muttering to himself.
"jungkook, she's set to leave for new york." jimin told him softly. "what?" the youngest boy let out breathlessly. "yeah," namjoon nodded slowly. "hodan told me the same thing." he clasped his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. "i... i didn't know." jungkook's gaze was casted downwards.
"kiddo, if you want to see her and set things straight, you need to get going." jimin advised. "huh?" jungkook looked at him in confusion. he wanted to talk to her as soon as possible but he need a little time to get his thoughts in order so he wouldn't stick his foot in his mouth again.
"she's leaving today." he expatiated. "what?!" jungkook jumped on his feet, eyes wide. his phone slid to the ground with the action but he didn't even notice. "you should have led with that!" he ran his hands through his hair carelessly.
"well, if your ass didn't run off every fucking time we tried to talk to you, you'd have known days ago." namjoon accused with a chastising scowl on his face. jungkook pressed his lips together, gaze moving away from his friends in guilt.
"i have to go." he made a beeline for the door. yanking it open, he barely shut it after him as he raced down the hallway.
"dude, your phone!" namjoon yelled after him. "fuck!" jungkook groaned, turning and running back to his friends' apartment door. "thanks, hyung." he grabbed the phone, twisting around and running again. "be careful, kid!" jimin peeked out behind namjoon.
"yeah," jungkook waved without glancing back. he heard jimin sigh before their door was shut. getting to lia was the most important thing on his mind at the moment.
he pushed the button to the elevator, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for it to come up. he was about to opt for the stairs when the doors dinged open. "finally," he muttered, hurrying inside. pushing the button for the lobby repeatedly, he watched the doors shut.
once they opened again, he bolted out of the elevator and the apartment building. luckily, a taxi cab had just pulled up in front and was dropping someone off. without thinking twice, he rushed to the cab. "you might have to make a few stops."
the drive felt like torture. it seemed longer than he remembered. did it always take this long to get to lia's home? perhaps because he was the most desperate he'd ever been in his life, but time seemed to move too fast and the car too slow.
"we're here, sir." the driver announced when the taxi cab pulled up in front of lia's home. "i'll be back." he said and ran out of the car to the house, nearly tripping over himself twice.
jungkook banged on the door like he was being chased by hellhounds. "calm down, please! i'm coming!" he heard valeria's voice on the other side. her footfalls followed before the door finally opened.
she looked very surprised to see him. his manic look probably took her aback as well. "jungkook," she gasped, taking in his countenance. "aaliyah... aaliyah," was all he could say. valeria blinked, momentarily confused. "you're too late." she looked at him with sad eyes.
"val! val!" small voices called excitedly from the living room. she glanced back, distracted. "play nice, guys! i'll be back in a jiffy." she yelled over her shoulder. "okies!" the twins chorused, giggling almost mischievously.
sighing, she turned back to jungkook. "you really hurt her, jungkook." she told him, voice low. his eyes shut briefly in shame. "i know," he mumbled. "but i'm hoping to fix it." he ruffled his hair with his hand.
valeria stared at him with narrowed eyes for a moment before letting out another sigh. "charlie and darryl went with our parents to drop her off at mitchell airport a while ago. if you hurry, you just might catch her but i can't guarantee that you will."
jungkook sighed deeply in relief. "thank you so much, val. i owe you one." he briefly held her hand in both of his before spinning around and running back to the cab.
carelessly throwing himself into the back seat, he looked at the driver, who was waiting for his instructions, through the rearview mirror. "mitchell airport, please."
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fun fact: i worked on this chapter backwards. i literally wrote it from bottom paragraph up. and idek why. anyways, four more chapters to go!
