"We can't be together but I can't lose you too," his once soothing voice sounded pained.
"You're right, we can't be together." she agreed as her heart broke along with her soul.
"Not right now," he added.
She was in his arms, warm against the win...
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The night slowed down and the cold snow outside had finally come to a stop. It was fairly warm inside the BTS lounge, the interior had changed and was replaced with modern recreational games and relaxation spots.
The staff had gotten rid of the old claw crane and jukebox in the corner and was replaced with a huge flat screen TV and popcorn dispenser instead. Areum used to enjoy hitting the claw crane for stealing all her coins but never did she ever get a small stuffed toy out of it—until Jin opened it up for her and took out a small 'RJ' plushy from BT21 to put in her car. That was three or four years ago.
Areum found herself staring on the same spot where the claw crane used to rest while she chewed on her pizza.
The members have been nice enough to invite Seung Jae for dinner, each of them spoke a lot with Seung Jae to avoid making him feel out of place—except Jungkook, he's never spoken a word since Areum brought Seung Jae in.
Jin and Namjoon were the talkative ones though, always asking about Seung Jae's interests to get to know him not just as a friend of Areum's but also as a person.
Taehyung and Jimin were the ones who asked controversial questions about Seung Jae and Areum, which was probably the same reason why she was already so done with their dinner and resorted to get lost in her own head, wondering where all the BT21 plushies inside the claw crane went—just where exactly did the staff put it?
She should ask one of the staff about it. Right. They'll know where it was stored and maybe she could take it home. Ah, yes. Nothing better than an impossible claw machine at home. Pilates and the gym don't work well on her anger these days.
Maybe she could steal the jukebox too. Her mother would love to listen to old songs in it, perhaps even inspire her to start playing her cello and harp again. Her mother's melodies in old tapes used to be her lullabies when she was little.
She could feel Jungkook's gaze fixed on her and only herself. Truth was, her day and night was supposed to be hers and Seung Jae's only.
He called her again last night to ask her to spend a whole day with him the next day doing whatever she liked. It's her day. Seung Jae said he had something to tell her at the end of their day, but Areum assumed it was just his way to console her from what had happened with Ik Sun—the patient they have lost.
And in addition, she had thought long and hard about what she wanted to tell Seung Jae too. He liked her for years now, he did everything to please her and had always been on her side to remind her she deserved recognition too.
She had grown more balanced and stable in her lonely years with great help from Seung Jae. He deserved to hear what she had to say, at least.
"I heard you have an IQ of 148, so do I." Areum turned to Seung Jae as he brought up Namjoon's IQ score.
