i hate u, i love u (Taehyung ff)

Re-encounter

4 years later, Taehyung's POV
He walked into the dark living room & turned on the light.
"I'm home." He said to no one.
Sighing, he undid his tie & opened the fridge. There was nothing inside, only a half-empty beer can & a piece of dried bread.
He closed the fridge & staggered to the living room, throwing himself on the couch.
I miss her. He thought.
But then he quickly squashed that thought & rise from his seat to go back to his bedroom.
On his way, he passed your bedroom. Hesitantly, he pushed the door open & stepped inside.
Your smell was completely gone now, unlike the first few days after you had left. He had slept in your room, on your bed, while hugging your clothes during those difficult days. He had missed you so much, & still did, but he was too proud to admit it.
He'd even gone to your workplace to look for you, but your manager said you'd quitted. Jin had quitted too.
How is she doing now?
Stop thinking about her! It's none of your business!
He shook his head & got out of your room.
You can't lie to yourself Tae. You still love her, don't you?
He collapsed onto his bed & closed his eyes.
Yes, I do.

"Kim sajang, what do you think about the plan?"
"It's much better than the last. I think we can just move forward with this draft. Have you talked to all of the tenants & building owners in the area?" Taehyung asked without looking up from the map in his hands.
"We have, but..." The project manager said hesitantly as he exchanged glances with his colleagues.
"But what?" That got Taehyung's attention. He raised his head & frowned.
"T-There's this one old apartment building, the owner doesn't want to sell it to us because he pities the tenants. Most of them are from out of town & have little to no money, so he feels bad if he has to chase them out of the building." The project manager said.
"Well, offer him more money then. We're still under our budget, we can afford it." Taehyung's frown got deeper, making his subordinates restless.
"W-We've tried, b-but.."
"Huhhh... Can't you do one thing right?! Are you going to let one old building come in the way of our plan?!" He snapped & punched the table. These days he'd become even more ferocious than before. Anything could make him explode in fury.
His subordinates stood frozen, nobody dared to say anything.
"Give me the address! You really can't rely on anyone these days. I'll show you how it's done." He snatched the piece of paper with the building address on it from the manager & read it.
"S-sajangnim, d-do you want me to accompany you?" The manager asked in fear.
"Don't. I don't need you to further ruin my mood. Give me the papers." He grabbed the envelope & stomped out the door.

"Is this the building?" Taehyung stared at the rundown three-storied building in front of him. Its wall was grayish brown & had cracks all over. Rusts covered the metal window rails. Its ceiling looked like it could be blown over by the tiniest gust of wind.
"Jeez, there are actually people living in it?" He muttered under his breath in disgust.
"Sir, do you want to get off here?" His driver asked.
"No. Let's go around first. I want to see the neighborhood."
He was mindlessly staring out the window when he saw a group of children, seemingly from a nearby preschool, guided by their teachers to a small playground.
"Stop here." He said to his driver & got off the car.
He stood at one corner of the playground, watching the children play. A small smile lifted the corners of his lips.
What the fuck Kim Taehyung? Since when do you like children? They're messy, loud & chaotic.
The smile on his face was wiped away in an instant when he realized what he was doing.
He was about to leave, but a loud cry attracted his attention.
"Sonsaengnimmmm, Yebin pushed meee!" A little boy cried out loud as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. The teacher frantically came to his side to calm him down.
"Beomgyu said my dad's in jail because he's a criminal!" The much smaller girl exclaimed angrily.
"Beomgyu ya, that's not a nice thing to say." The teacher chastised the boy.
"But I heard all of you teachers also said that." Beomgyu stubbornly stomped his feet.
"B-Beomgyu ya, w-when did we ever say that? Don't lie. Yebin ah, that's not true. Let's just forget about this ok? Do you want to play on the slide? I'll accompany you." The teacher was obviously feeling guilty & tried to change the topic.
"I hate you! I hate everyone of you!" The little girl screamed at them & ran away.
"Yebin ah! Yebin ah!" The teacher tried to catch her but the boy was hanging onto her sleeves so she couldn't move fast enough.
Taehyung saw all that happening & quickly ran after the girl.
"Damn, she's fast." He ran & looked up & down the street. Finally, he found her crying on a bench at a quiet corner of the neighborhood park.
He slowly sat down beside her & pretended to look at the trees, while stealing occasional glances at her. Her tiny shoulders shivered as she sobbed into her knees.
"What are you looking at?" She asked.
"Are you talking to me?" He was surprised by her sudden question.
"Well duhhh.." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand & stared at him with her big round eyes.
"Ajusshi, do I know you?"
"Mmm.. I don't think so." The little girl had really captivated him. Somehow, she looked familiar, like he'd seen her before.
"That's what I thought. Goodbye then. Eomma told me not to talk to strangers." She jumped off the bench & walked away.
Taehyung was baffled by her sassiness.
This little girl sure is something.
He chuckled inwardly & quietly followed her from behind. Apparently, she was walking back towards her preschool. After seeing her getting into the school yard safely, Taehyung was ready to leave.
"Ajusshi!" She suddenly called him.
"Huh?" He turned back around.
"You seem like a nice guy. I'll see you again!" She smiled & waved at him before walking into the building.
He stood there motionless for a few moments. Warmth spread from his heart to all over his body.
"I'll see you again Yebin ah." He muttered under his breath & walked away with a smile on his face.

He didn't exactly know why, but he went back to Yebin's preschool again the following day. Seeing her made him happy & temporarily forget about the mess in his life.
"Ajusshi! You're back!" Yebin cheerfully ran to the playground fence when she saw Taehyung approaching.
"I had something to do in the neighborhood, so I figured I could come & see you." Her smile, like a ray of sunshine, melted his cold heart.
"Liar. I know you specifically come to see me."
"You got me." He chuckled at her confidence.
"Look what I brought you." He moved his hands from his back & showed her a cute teddy bear that he bought at the department store yesterday.
"Woahhh! So pretty! But..." She was about to retrieve the bear from Taehyung's hands, but then she retracted her tiny hands.
"Why? You don't like it?" He began to question his choice.
"No, I love it. But eomma told me not to take anything from strangers. She'll scold me if she finds out." She pouted.
"Ahhh, I see." Somehow he was disappointed as well.
"Ah! Ajusshi! There's a way!" Her eyes lit up in an instant.
"Annyeong haseyo. Kim Yebin imnida. Nice to meet you. What's your name?" She extended her hand towards him & asked.
"Oh, Kim Taehyung imnida. Nice to meet you Yebin ah." He took her hand & shook it gently. Her hand felt so small in his big hand.
"There. Now that we've introduced ourselves, we're friends, right? So, I can say to eomma that a friend gave the teddy bear to me." She grinned & opened her palms at him.
Damn, she's smarter than me.
"Woah, Yebin ah, you're so smart." Chuckling, he handed the teddy bear to her which she hugged right away.
"Thank you. My mom always says that I'm too smart for my own good. She says I get it from my appa." She said as she stroked the bear's soft fur.
"He must be really intelligent then."
"Honestly, I've never met him. He was already gone when I was born & eomma never tells me anything about him. But I believe that he's a great man & one day he'll come back home." She said innocently.
Taehyung's heart broke for her, because he knew in such situation the one who was gone would never come back.
"I believe he will. In the meantime, you need to be a good girl ok?" His heart clenched at his own white lie.
"Nee ajusshi. Thank you very much for the bear, I love it so much!" She looked up & flashed him a wide smile.
"Ajusshi needs to go now. I'll see you again soon Yebin ah." He said as he ruffled her soft hair.
"Annyeong ajusshi!" She waved at him until he turned the corner.
He was walking down the street with a faint smile still decorating his lips when he touched something in his right hand pocket.
"Shit, I forgot to give her this." He fished out the little bow hairpin he bought along with the teddy bear from his pocket & ran back to Yebin's preschool.
The corners of his lips lifted when he saw her tiny back in the playground.
"Ye-" He was about to call her, but something stopped him.
"Eomma!" Yebin suddenly stood up & ran towards the other end of the playground, right into a woman's embrace.
The pin he was holding dropped to the ground as he saw who the woman was.
It was you.