Remnants of the Heart | Kim Taehyung

23: émietter

ACT 2 — SCENE 14
THEY CRUMBLE.

          THE SMELL of freshly grilled chicken and barbeque sauce has Seojung's stomach growling in hunger. The girl had taken a seat at the table by the window almost half an hour ago, and it has been ten minutes since the waitress brought over the meals she ordered and seven minutes seen Jeongguk texted that he was on his way. It's so unlike him to be running late, especially since he's the one who proposed the idea of going out for a dinner date.

As much as she hates admitting to her defeat, Arai was right when she said she and Jeongguk are slowly losing their grip on each other. How had she not realize sooner that her boyfriend was slipping away from her fingertips as the days go by? Though they still see each other quite often, it's as if neither is a part of each other's lives anymore, and that's really what saddens Seojung the most as she had lived for more than a year being used to Jeongguk's constant presence at any hour of the day. Misses his annoying complaints of her never having any good snacks at home, his tendency to hog the blanket whenever he sleeps over and misses waking up with arms wrapped around her waist.

It's the kind of feeling where hearing his voice through the speakers of her phone or seeing his smile on a computer screen can't fix. Nothing else she can do but sit and wait, bite her lip and pushes down the guilt of not trying hard enough. Insecurities and worries flood the girl's mind and cloud her thoughts with the possibilities of Jeongguk feeling the way she hopes he wouldn't feel. Though she has had been in relationships before Jeongguk, the boy is really her first love, in a way, and losing him would be like losing a part of her she never knew she needed.

The anxious girl taps her painted nails on the wooden table as she counts the seconds with Jeongguk not walking through the doors pass by. Hopes that he at least gets here before their meals go cold. Could it be possible that he had forgotten? Possible that he's standing her up on purpose to make a point?

Seojung reaches for her phone out of sheer frustration and begins to dial Jeongguk's number that she has come to know by heart, couldn't be bothered to open her contacts and scroll down to his name. But before she can even go through with the call, the door opens with a small chime of a bell, and a smile is immediately plastered on her face when she looks up to find her boyfriend's familiar brown hair.

"Sorry for making you wait. Dance practice ran a little late." Jeongguk drops his duffel bag on the floor. Seojung leans forward and plants a soft kiss on his lips that he didn't expect before she lets him sit down.

"It's okay." She smiles, suddenly not minding that she had been sitting here for more than twenty minutes. Jeongguk's here now. That's all that matters.

It's when they start to catch up that Seojung realizes just how much she has missed of Jeongguk's life despite still being around him most of the time. Other than the dance thing with Hoseok, he has recently joined the photography club and has been performing at cafes to make extra money when he has free time. She's delighted to hear this, knowing how shy he gets when it comes to singing in public. Only wishes that he had told her sooner so she could attend his first show. And as for her, there hasn't really been a lot going on in her life except for the search for her mother, so her stories are shorter and plainer compared to Jeongguk's.

When Jeongguk has finished his meal and Seojung halfway through hers, she notices something's not right. Jeongguk's too quiet. He's not normally this passive when she's around. There's always something he'd be boasting about or a tale he wants to tell. He's not even putting effort into keeping a conversation going and just stares at his now empty plate. Seojung can see the absence in his eyes, tells her that despite him being here now in front of her, his mind is somewhere far away. It couldn't be just because he's tired from dance practice. Seojung knows him better than that, knows him better than anyone, so it makes sense how quick she is to figure out that something is wrong with her boyfriend.