Coco wished she could take a brush and place charcoal clouds in the sky as easily as she could on a canvas.
She watched as the sun began to set, saying its last goodbye from behind the valleys. The sky was absent of clouds and colored a single shade of tan orange before it blends into a yale blue.
She needed a break from the long day she was having. It all seemed to happen quickly, her head hurting from having fallen asleep mid-cry; yet, as she watched the sun set behind the valley, allowing a dark shade of blue to settle against the sky, the day was ending too slowly.
She didn't feel like talking to anyone, but she still replied to everyone with a lie no one believed.
Coco found herself in a bubbly bath, scrolling through instagram. Her feed—which was once filled with bright smiles, vegan dishes and relationships— was filled with the same blurry photos of herself with Taehyung at the convenience store.
That's the photo Kali was talking about.
Closing the app, she entered twitter. Her usual feed of insensitive memes, dark and hurt words was now filled with posts about her by fans that continued to trend the single word RAMEN globally. It was their way of sharing tweets about Taehyung and herself without actually using their names.
After becoming annoyed with the amount of tweets she saw about herself, she shut her phone off, setting it on the dry surface of the bath. Looking out the window, she noticed the darkened sky, and shortly after the clouds begin to pour a rain shower.
She recalled the words she saw about herself: girlfriend, backstage girl, friend, irrelevant. The words were prickling her heart, and tears slipped from her eyes as the only word she recognized was fool.
The sound of thunder made her jolt, the bath water crashing against the walls before it wet her phone and pulled it into the water.
Coco only scoffed, shutting her eyes in defeat as she listens to the rain hitting her windows, her apartment becoming colder.
*
"No," She answered, coldly.
Taehyung paused, staring directly into her eyes for a hint of warmth and affection that she always carried toward him. He found none.
"No," He repeated, looking away as his fingers tapped against the table.
Bangshik took in a deep breath, closing the heavy manila folder under his laced fingers. "Alright," he breathed out. "This is a lot easier than we thought, then."
BigHit was quick to act. The photos had gone out yesterday, and it was early in the morning the next day as Taehyung and Coco sat in a conference room with Bangshik.
"There is no need to a release a statement given that the two of you have just told me that you are not in a relationship," Bangshik paused, feeling useless in the tension. "From here my only job is to protect the two of you from defamation."
"I'm okay," Coco spoke, meeting Bangshik's eyes. She had meet him a few times among conferences for the projects she was working on. He was a good man and she held much respect for him, thus, her eyes were soft when she spoke to him. "This will blow over shortly."
"Not if the two of you continue to see each other publicly—"
"There is no need to worry. We will not," Coco interjected. "I will continue my work here as I promised in the contract, and when the project is finished I will leave and there will no longer be a need to meet with Taehyung."
The words slipped from her lips like butter, there was no stutter or hint of emotion. Like venom, her words stung Taehyung who kept his gaze on his lap with tearful eyes.
"Right," Bangshik cleared his throat, nodding his head silently. "Well, I guess our meeting is over. If there is anything you need from me, please, ask."
"Thank you," Coco bowed respectfully, allowing him to leave the conference room before them. Once he was gone, she gathered her things.
Her heels clicked against the floor, hand gripping around the door knob before she came to a halt at the sound of Taehyung's voice.
"Coco, please."
"No," She sighed, shutting her eyes as she faced the door. "I can't, Taehyung."
"I can't leave without fixing the mess I've made."
Fix.
Coco scoffed, eyes fluttering open as she swiftly turned on her heel. Her eyes were stinging, red and glossed with tears as she met Taehyung's eyes.
"Fix?" Her tone sounding unbelieving before she chuckles dryly. "Go ahead," she nodded her head encouragingly, tears spilling over the brim of her waterline. " Fix what you've broken before you leave for your tour tomorrow. Fix the mess, Taehyung. Fix me."
Taehyung's lips parted and shut, words fleeting his mind as his emotions were everywhere. Feeling too much, his emotions were sharp, intense; too much. He was drowning in emotion, unspoken words he deemed too much too soon. He was suffocating, and he swallowed the words he wanted to say. He was speechless.
"Goodbye, Taehyung."
*
