모태솔로 (모솔)
/mo-tae-so-lo/
a person who has never had any girl/boyfriend since birth
_
aera is known as her school's 모대솔로, and she needs taehyung's help to change that.
disclaimer : you do not need to know korean to read this book, translations will b...
"... i was gonna say career in dancing." jimin replied, scratching his neck awkwardly.
aera almost blushed. "haha whoops!"
taehyung was intrigued by his reply. "so you can't date if you have a dance career?"
jimin smiles sheepishly,"nooo... you can, but i'd like to focus on my career first... but maybe in a few months..." he replied, glancing at aera quickly as he said the last bit.
"hoho, it's cos oppa is at the peak of his career!" she teased, oblivious to his feelings about her.
taehyung who had been sitting against the mirror next to her suddenly shifted his body weight and leaned his head on her shoulder. "hopefully i'll get there someday too!"
"of course you will!" aera insisted. "and i'll support you all the way!"
taehyung smiled and swooped her in for a back hug, thanking her for the third time that day.
jimin looked at the two of them with a raised eyebrow. "so... how do you too know each other?"
"ah... tae is..." aera began, still determining the pros and cons of letting jimin know about their fake relationship.
"her boyfriend." the man in question replied with utmost confidence, even daring to sport a smirk.
aera's eyes flashed and she discreetly pinched taehyung hardly on his thigh while smiling at jimin. "창난이야! don't believe him hahahahaha!"
jimin laughed even though it clearly wasn't funny. and taehyung forced a smile, and secretly poked aera in her side, giving her a "wtf" look when she turned to face him.
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returning his look with an "shut up" look of her own, aera exclaimed "oh dear, it's so late! we should get going! but thanks for having us oppa!!" she quickly pulled taehyung to his feet, and swiftly waved goodbye to jimin, exiting the studio before either guy could fully process what was going on.
outside the studio, she slapped taehyung on his stomach. "how could you tell jimin that we are dating?!"
he crossed his arms and responded, "why not? is it not the truth? why are you so angry..."
aera tried to calm down, but it was of no use. being too tired to fight, she just swallowed her words and told him, "how would you feel if your friend asked you to sneak her boyfriend into your- tsk. you know what taehyung?whatever, i don't care."
"what?! no! let's talk about this now! i don't understand rara. what did i do to upset you so much?"
"look it's fine, tomorrow okay?" she pleaded, but taehyung wasn't having it.
"you called me by my full name rara. what happened to taetae."
aera didn't know how to respond. it hadn't even been intentional but he was perceptive enough to notice. it made her feel unconventionally surprised in a good way that he was so serious about their fight and that he paid so much attention to the finer details. it showed that he cared...
but still, she couldn't believe he told jimin they were dating! she felt so embarrassed and scared of what jimin would think. he must've thought she was shameless, trying to ask him to help her "boyfriend" for free.
she sighed, wanting to rip her hair out in frustration. "just- forget it. tomorrow tae." she tried to hold herself back, knowing that her exhaustion and frustration would cause her to say things she didn't mean. so she decided to walk away first, but taehyung grabbed her arm and stopped her from leaving.
"tell me." he insisted, and aera couldn't help but feel the irritation bubble inside her. the exhaustion from today's events and the frustration at not knowing what to do with jimin accumulated within her, before it burst.
"YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHY IM MAD? i'm upset, because you told jimin we were dating when we are FAKE dating, and now i don't know what he thinks of me. i-"
"why does it matter what he thinks? do you like him? then why didn't you ask him to date you instead?" taehyung interrupted, clearly upset by her answer. his demeanour had changed, his jaw visibly clenching as he uttered the last words.
aera tried to reply, but taehyung wasn't finished, "oh right, cause his career is more important than you are." he said, in a low tone, bite evident in his words.
shock rushed over aera, quickly followed by the feeling of hurt.
the sweet and loveable taehyung from barely half an hour before has morphed into the stranger she met that day in the convenience store for the first time.
although jimin prioritising his career over her was true, she didn't really mind it because he wasn't her top priority either. but, the fact that taehyung said those words to hurt her, made her inhale sharply.
"yah... don't cross the line." she retorted weakly.
he scoffed, and aera could see that his walls were up. taetae was gone, and a colder and meaner taehyung stood in his place. "oh wow, did i hit a sore spot? are you sad that jimin doesn't fancy a loser like you? he's so lucky that he doesn't have to deal with your shit every day."
his harsh words felt like a slap in the face. everything about jimin didn't matter to her, she didn't even like jimin! the one she liked was the person throwing these harsh words at her. the one who was causing tears to well up in her eyes.
deep down inside, she knew that he didn't think she was a loser, and he didn't mind dealing with her everyday... that he just said those words out of spite... but the small insecure part of her latched onto his words, making her believe they were genuine. although she knew she should've handled it a different way, by being a bigger person and walking away or just not saying anything...
she wanted him to hurt too.
"wowwww, if that's what you think then why didn't you say so earlier? i'm sick and tired of your shit too. but since it's mutual, fine! 해어지자! i don't need you anyway." she clenched her fist tighter with every word that fell out of her mouth, regret seeping into her bones.
taehyung swallowed. and there was a tense silence.
she turned around sharply and quickly wiped the tears that threatened to fall, before walking off.
"... wrong way idiot." taehyung called after her.
"why do you care?! i'm taking the long way." she gruffly replied as she continued to trudge on, not really know where she was going. she wanted to turn back, but her pride wouldn't let her.
she stubbornly continued to walk forward but stopped when she heard footsteps. "stop following me." she said, without looking back and she continued walking again.
but the footsteps continued, causing her to turn back and glare
-at him. who was glaring right back at her.
"it's late. and dangerous, and you get lost easily." taehyung huffed, hands stuffed in his pockets. he hesitantly look a step closer towards her and jerked his head in the direction pointing back to their homes.
"just go home. now." he muttered, pulling her by her sleeve when she didn't move.
they walked home in silence, with taehyung staring at the road in front and aera staring at his back.
both of them wishing they could turn back time, and retract the words they didn't mean.
