#33 - Last chance

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Author's POV

Tara feels guilty. Guilty because she wanted to step out of this cubicle and and out of the bathrooms. Guilty because she wanted to go with Jin back to the resort.

But deep down, she knows she can't.

With everything that's happened, how can she go back? His parents despise her and will never accept the relationship. She figures they both need to accept it now.

As herself and Aera slowly walk back to the common room, they walk in silence. Both are digesting everything that just happened in the last 10 minutes.

"You should've seen the look on his face, Tara. It was hard to see." Aera breaks the silence.

Tara gulps. "I already made a choice, so I don't see why he came back in the first place. Like he said: I've wasted his time."

"You know he didn't mean it like that." Aera frowns as the enter the common room.

They sit down at a table, and not long after three distressed and annoyed sixth formers burst into the room.

"Boy scouts? Us?! Why are we the boy scouts?!"

Aera and Tara watch them in slight concern.

They spot the two of them and rush over. "We just got called boy scouts by these three little midgets!" Namjoon complains.

"Three little midgets?" Aera repeats.

Hoseok nods, leaning on the side of the table. "And musketeers. And they had the audacity to say our fashion sense was terrible! You should've seen the look on Yoongi hyung's face."

"Wait, who was this?" Tara questions.

"They're also known as Jin's apparent cousins, who you probably know of." Yoongi then explains, sitting in a chair opposite her.

Tara instantly nods in understanding, as she does know who he's referring too. And she isn't surprised they reacted that way to Yoongi, Hoseok and Namjoon.

"We just saw Jin in reception by the way, but he barely acknowledged us and left before we could speak to him. Why was he here?" Yoongi then asks.

Tara goes silent, fiddling with her hands on top of the table.

Aera notices and clears her throat. "He uh...came to see Tara."

Yoongi blinks, then remembering the situation the two of them are in. "Why?"

"To take her back to the resort."

Hoseok's lips part and his eyes flicker to Tara staring hard at the table. "And you said...no?"

Tara gives a single nod.

Namjoon nods to himself a little from understanding. "That's why he looked annoyed." He recalls.

Tara can sense the three boys exchange looks with each other among the silence surrounding them. She expected this to happen: awkwardness every time Jin is mentioned.

And she hates it. Jin is their best friend, and Aera's friend too. There's no denying that he'll be mentioned all the time, and be accompanied by them too. She'll have to get used to it.

Tara is too lost in her thoughts to notice the common room door slam open.

The others however do, and spin their heads around in alarm to see who it is. And when they do, they all become quiet from shock.

"Uh, we're all seeing who I think we're seeing too right?" Aera clarifies in a whisper.

"Sadly, yes." Hoseok whispers back, folding his arms across his chest and standing up straight from leaning back on the table.

She ignores the whispers spoken and looks thrown at her, and her eyes are fixed on someone. With a determined look she storms over to the table and slams her hands on the surface, right in front of Tara.

Tara flinches a little and lifts her gaze. When she sees who it is, her eyebrows slightly furrow.

The girl's eyes narrow. "Get up."

Scoffing, Tara stares up at her. "What are you-"

"I said get up!" Chunhei says louder, removing her hands from the table and standing up straight.

Aera becomes more confused by the second. Glancing at Hoseok beside her and Yoongi opposite, she warily tilts her head. "Why are you here?"

"I knew he wouldn't be able to convince you so I followed him in my car incase I was right, and it turns out I was!" Chunhei ignores Aera and carrys on speaking to Tara.

Namjoon blinks. "Since when did you have a car?"

Chunhei sighs and turns her head to him. "Since when were you involved in this conversation?"

Scoffing, Namjoon becomes flustered and awkwardly shuffles on his feet. "It was only a question." He mumbles with a pout.

"Wait, how do you know all about this? I thought you were on holiday?" Yoongi's lost voice speaks up.

Chunhei's eyes flicker to Yoongi. "My sister is the one getting married to Jin's brother."

Yoongi's eyes widen. "You've been at the same resort as the two of them this whole time?"

Chunhei nods. "Yep."

Tara stands to her feet. "Chunhei please leave me alone. You got what you wanted: mine and Jin's arrows will change and point to other people. If you wish hard enough his arrow might just point at you."

"I don't want it to point at me!" Chunhei fires back. "Look, Jin's arrow is meant to point at you. It always has been and it always will be. And if you give up on him now that may not happen ever again."

"In what world would you ever want me to be with Jin? You've hated us together the moment you found out our arrows pointed to each other!"

"Please Tara, I've always known something would happen between the two of you. The amount of times you've argued and bickered in our lesson you would've thought you were married! It was clear from the start that your arrows would point to each other and the only people that couldn't see that was you two!"

Chunhei sighs and speaks in a calmer tone. "Yes, I wanted Jin's arrow to point at me. And yes, when I found out it pointed at you I was insanely jealous. Until I saw how well you matched together at the resort."

Tara becomes quiet, listening to Chunhei trying to reason with her.

"And then I realised: no-one is ever going to be better for Jin than you Tara, no matter who his arrow leads him to."

Tara's eyes flicker to the ground, millions of thoughts running through her mind.

"Remember on Sunday when I said about why we shouldn't let arrows dictate our life choices, and we should just be able to find our soulmates on our own?"

She hesitantly nods.

Chunhei's head tilts. "I think you need to take that into consideration."

For as long as anyone can remember, the arrows have always chosen your soulmate. No-one has ever not listened to them before.

And for Tara to do it now? She doesn't know what consequences could follow if she chooses to ignore it.

"So what's it gonna be?" Chunhei exhales, looking at Tara with expectant eyes. "Are you coming or not?"

The others stand in an agonising silence, waiting desperately for Tara to say her answer.

But what they didn't know is that she made her decision before Chunhei even asked the question.

For Life - Kim Seokjin ✔︎Where stories live. Discover now