You're My Biggest Mistake

Chapter 17

Byun Baekhyun's Point of View

Things have quieted down, but the Internet is still focusing on burning Taeyeon and me down.

FLASHBACK

I ran to our manager, who had done my favor, and asked, "Did you see Taeyeon? How was she?"

"I didn't see her. I gave it to her brother, and he said he'll make sure Taeyeon receives it," he smiled with pity at me.

+=+=+=+=+=+

I wonder if she's okay now?

I haven't received a single text from Taeyeon thanking me for the herbal tea I made, or responding to what I wrote in the letter; and I've been waiting, staring at my phone for a couple of days.

We're on standby in the waiting room of Music Bank to perform <Overdose>.

"Baekhyun!" called Chanyeol. Using the code name we made for Taeyeon, he said with a surprised face, "I overheard from another room that Ttaeng has been staying with Seohyun's parents for a week now," because he and I believed she was with her parents all this time.

Is that why I wasn't receiving any text from her? 'Cause she didn't even know I gave her something?

"Didn't she tell you she'd be staying with her parents?" asked Sehun.

Junmyeon elbowed both guys, signing they read the room, as I drown myself in my own thoughts.

I don't understand her need to lie and say she's staying somewhere other than where she truly is. I'm not going to stop her from doing anything she wants, but it makes me look like a fool when I don't know what my girlfriend is up to.

Patting my right shoulder, Junmyeon reassured me, "We're not going to trust hearsay, Baekhyun, and I know you're better than that."

I hope no one noticed that I was distracted the whole performance while listening to all the hateful words they threw like: "Traitor," "Liar," "Leave," etc.

When we arrived in our dorm, I immediately disguised myself as an "ordinary person" and decided to visit Taeyeon at the said house she's been staying in.

Everyone might think that I'm being careless because, despite everyone opposing our relationship, I still have the guts to see Taeyeon in person. I do fear that someone might see us and go on the Internet, fueling the fire, but I fear losing Taeyeon more.

I rang the bell, and Taeyeon was the one who answered, "How may I help you?"

I took off my hoodie and my cap and said, "I think you need some explaining to do..."

She allowed me in, and I saw how much weight she had lost.  She looks stressed and sleep-deprived, but that irked me rather than it pained me.

We sat down in the living room, and I remained silent, waiting for her to explain, but all I earned from her was an apology.

"Sorry I lied," she uttered with her head down.

My heart dropped at her words. It feels like I'm not doing anything but make her feel bad, and it kills me every time.

I stared down at her fiddling with her fingers. I noticed how bad her skin was as she kept scratching and trying to peel it off. Some of her fingers are even bleeding, while some are dry from the endless rubbing against one another.

"Have you been eating properly? You've lost some weight," I clenched my jaw and shut my eyes tight out of frustration as I—as usual—tried to change the topic and act clueless. The more I stay in questions that will have to hear her explanation, the more I will have to hear her say "sorry," and I won't allow it.

Her lips formed a smile as she thought of a little joke after nodding, "They feed me like their own daughter. I might actually let them adopt me and live here."

"You look like you've been skipping your meals though," I mumbled under my breath.

"There's no way! They prepare feast after feast here that forces me to push my diet the next day," she giggled to which I could only sigh.

This is another one of her lies so that I won't get worried, isn't it?

I looked up at her with every inch of seriousness in me and asked, "Have you talked to your brother?"

I wanted to know if she received any of what I gave her. For a moment, she looked nervous but regained her poise back and said, "Right, the herbal tea was good. Thank you."

As my eyes kept landing on her hands, which were red and dry, I got up to sit beside her. I held her hands and scanned how awful her skin has become. I sighed, "What'd you do to your precious skin?"

I remembered having a hand cream in my bag, so I applied it to her hands myself. I squirted a decent amount of the hand cream and started massaging her hands gently.

Only our hands stroking could be heard as silence fell over the room. We were so close that we could almost feel each other's breaths and hear our hearts beat. Our feelings were mutual in ignoring the tension we were feeling at the moment because not once did we break the ice and fall into the trap of "Are-we-about-to-kiss-right-now?" air.

I looked up just to see her crying, so I got worried. She cried even more after hearing me ask her with a soft voice, "Why?"

"It's not my fault for falling in love, Baekhyun. I also want to go on dates and feel my heart flutter as everyone around my age does. Why are they terrorizing me? This is ludicrous," she complains while her whole body shakes from anxiety.

My eyes well up at the sight of her having a mental breakdown. I reached out for a hug and never said a word.

She dug her face into my chest and sobbed, "Everyone wishes for the same thing—for me to be out of sight. What should I do?"

I held both her shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes, "What do you mean what should you do? You don't need to do anything. You don't even need to pay them any of your attention 'cause they're not worth it. Taeyeon, only think about yourself as you go through life."

She shook her head as she tries to catch her breath, "It's overwhelming."

I was alarmed at her current state and all I can think of was to make sure her well-being was safe.

Guess I won't be able to ask her about the letter she never mentioned...?

-:-:-:-:-:-:

[I keep seeing my people, but I'm not hearing my people...

Someone, please leave comments on this story too. I wanna hear some comments, concerns, and complaints. I wanna know if any of you cherish or detest my work. I wanna hear contrasting opinions and presumed continuations y'all imagine. I wanna know if I'm doing good or if I'm doomed.

You know, I can only grow with the words you throw!]