"Love is like a cough, it can never be hidden."
<I'm Not Okay - Chen>
"And Chaeyoung-ie saem said to Hyeyoung-ie... 'Good job, Hyeyoung-ah!'" Hyeyoung recounted happily. "And Hyeyoung-ie was really happy... because Chaeyoung-ie saem said that Hyeyoung-ie's artwork was the best in class-"
"Hold on, Hyeyoung-ie-" Jennie put a hand on Hyeyoung's shoulder, asking her to pause for a while as she stared at Taehyung. "Kim Taehyung, are you even listening to her?"
Taehyung was staring blankly at the wall in front of him, his head still in a complete whirl.
"Taehyung-oppa...? Are you listening?"
Taehyung had way too much on his mind. Within the past few weeks, he had mustered up the courage to confess to Jisoo, got butterflies in his stomach thinking about his future with her, gotten rejected a few days later, almost completely forgotten who she was, and tried to reconcile with her... only to get rejected all over again, for the second time. He was evidently heartbroken, of course - but he was also confused, and bewildered, and surprised, and in denial... all at the same time.
Needless to say, he was experiencing a whirlwind of emotions that were at the verge of sweeping him off his feet.
"Hello? Kim Taehyung!"
It wasn't easy. In fact, it was a hard pill to swallow, for Taehyung - and for anyone else, for that matter. And Taehyung was having a hard time coping with it, he wasn't going to act all tough anymore - there was no point.
"Ya!"
Taehyung felt someone prod him in the arm and was instantly brought back to reality. "Huh?"
"What's going on?" Jennie folded her arms as she frowned at Taehyung. "Hyeyoung-ie has been so excited all day, begging me to bring her hear as soin as possible so that she could tell you all about her graduation... why aren't you listening to her?"
"Huh? Oh-" Taehyung shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the unnecessary thoughts. "You're right, I'm sorry. I... I was distracted for a while. I should have paid more attention, I'm really sorry. Appa is terribly sorry, Hyeyoung-ah... please continue."
Hyeyoung turned to Jennie with a little pout. "Hyeyoung-ie wants to go to the toilet."
"Hey, no-" Taehyung could sense that Hyeyoung was upset. "Hyeyoung-ah-"
"You're in trouble-" Jennie gave Taehyung the look as she carried Hyeyoung down from the bed. "She's mad at you again."
Taehyung was at a loss of what to do. "Hyeyoung-ah, look, I-"
"We'll talk when we come back-" Jennie led Hyeyoung by her hand towards the door. "In the meantime, you better reflect on what you did."
Taehyung sighed loudly, as Jennie and Hyeyoung left the room, leaving him all alone with his thoughts once more. And staring at the blank ceiling, Taehyung still couldn't wrap his mind around the whole situation.
Everything that had happened was so, so weird.
Why was it that he had forgotten Jisoo, of all people? Initially, he had thought that it was because he had only gotten to know her recently... but the same could be said about the nurses who took care of him at his ward, the hospital counter staff, so many new doctors, the cleaner aunties and uncles... everyone was new to him too, but yet... he didn't forget a single one of them.
