Idol Next Door

11

It was half past 9 in the evening when Taehyung arrived at the complex from an extremely tiring day. Before pressing in his passcode, he eyed the unit next to his and remembered the devastating news from TWICE that was all over the news. He decided to check up on his neighbor.

After a few knocks on Dahyun's door, there was still no response. He thought that maybe she was asleep and opted to talk to her tomorrow, but then he decided to go up the rooftop, guessing that the girl might be there.

And he was right.

It was dim but Taehyung could see Dahyun sitting on her usual spot at the bench. Her arms hugged her knees close to her chest, her favourite sitting position. There was a blanket wrapped around her body and her hair swayed to the wind. It was the usual Dahyun who hung out at the roof garden during sleepless nights, staring in awe at the yellow nightlights of the busy city of Seoul. Only this time, the atmosphere was rather gloomy.

As he slowly walked over to the girl, he heard her talking to someone on the phone. He heard how she was mumbling comforting words to the person on the phone, which he heard was Sana.

When the call ended, Dahyun put down her phone while beads of liquid from her eyes raced down her cheeks. She bit her lip, trying to surpress her tears like how she usually surpresses all frustration and worry inside her heart.

"Don't cry. You need to be strong, Dahyun-ah," she murmured to herself, hugging her knees closer to her chest as more tears escaped from her eyes. But he quickly wiped it as soon as she heard someone sigh behind her.

Dahyun turned her head to look at the male with a cynical look on her face. "How long have you been there?"

"Are you okay?" Taehyung asked back instead of answering her question. "You are crying."

"I'm fine and I am not crying," she denied as she flashed him a wide smile while rubbing her glassy eyes. "The wind just blew too strong, it hurt my eyes."

"There's not even any wind," he snorted at her lame excuse as he sat beside her, leaving a small space in between them. "You know, you shoud stop doing that."

"Do what?"

"Pretending. Stop pretending that you're fine and hide it all with a smile."

Dahyun's smile faded as he thought about what he said. She looked away, refusing to meet his gaze for tears were starting to accumulate upon her eyelids once again. She chewed on her lip to prevent them from falling. She can't cry. She can't be weak.

Taehyung sighed upon seeing her suppressing her tears. He gently patted her back as he spoke softly, "It's okay to cry sometimes. Don't hold it back. You don't have to pretend you're fine when you're with me."

Dahyun's efforts of trying to hold back her tears all became useless after hearing Taehyung's words. It was not long when she buried her face on her knees and sobbed, crying her heart out.

Dahyun was always secretive. She was secretive of her personal life and especially her feelings. She wasn't the type to open up to anyone, even her members, not because she doesn't trust them enough but because she doesn't want to add up to their problems. She was used to keeping her problems and emotions to herself so as not to burden other people.

She was sensitive and easily gets hurt but was good at controlling her emotions, thus she rarely cried. She always convinced herself to be strong. But apparently, Dahyun had been strong for too long.

She did a pretty good job in bottling up her frustrations, anxieties, and worries, not until Taehyung unscrewed the cap and now all those pent-up emotions had burst out, letting lose through tears.

She was at her weak, vulnerable state. A side of hers that she never wants anyone to see. Even her members whom she's been with for roughly half a decade. Ironically, though, her neighbor whom she just met a month ago was witnessing it all right now.

Taehyung stayed by her side, holding a tissue box and water all ready, whenever she would need them.

Dahyun's sobs subsided after nearly an hour. She somehow felt relieved, like a burden was taken off from her heart. Taehyung handed her a tissue to which she received muttering a faint 'thank you'. He also made her drink the water he prepared. Taehyung didn't speak and allowed silence to linger over them for a while until Dahyun's breathing started to regulate.

"We saw Mina-unnie pass out earlier after our performance at Inkigayo," Dahyun spoke, breaking the silence, making Taehyung turn his head to her. "She has anxiety disorder. She's been experiencing symptoms since last month and she didn't tell us. We are all worried. She also can't participate on our upcoming activities," Dahyun paused and sighed before continuing, "Sana-unnie was not handling it well. She called and told me she could not sleep. She was crying and I was not there to comfort her."

"All will be okay soon," were the only words Taehyung could utter to comfort Dahyun. He understood that it must be hard for the girls right now, learning that one of their members had been experiencing a mental illness.

"I'm sorry," Dahyun suddenly muttered.

"For what?" He glanced at her.

"For breaking down in front of you. For being an inconvenience tonight. I know you're tired from work but instead of sleeping, you're here with me. I'm sorry."

Taehyung frowned. "Why are you like that? Saying sorry for unneccessary things, thinking of yourself as an inconvenience, and always telling everybody that you're fine while masking your pain with a smile," he said candidly.

Dahyun peered down at her toes as she explained softly, "I know people around me probably have worse problems than mine. I don't want to be a burden. I don't want to add up to their problems. Besides, I'm able to handle things by myself. I need to remain strong for my members. "

"You don't need to be strong all the time. We all have moments when we're not as strong as we thought we were and expect ourselves to be. Allow yourself to be weak once in a while," he said sincerely, making Dahyun smile faintly.

"Now wipe your tears, you look ugly," he added jokingly, trying to lift up the mood.

"Yah. You just said nice things to me seconds ago and now you're teasing me again," Dahyun frowned but after she looked at her unkempt face from the reflection of her phone, she couldn't agree more to Taehyung's statement. Her eyes were swollen, her nose was red, and her cheeks were puffy. Her hair was like a bird's nest as well.

"I do look ugly," she said.

Taehyung chuckled and glanced at his watch, seeing that it was now 2AM. "You should go back to your flat and rest," he told her.

"No, I'd like to stay a little bit longer," Dahyun declined. "You're the one who should rest, I bet you're tired."

He did not speak and just stayed by her side. They were enveloped in silence again, until Dahyun called, "Kim Taehyung."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for being there."

Taehyung gave her a warm smile. "Don't mention it. Isn't that what friends are for?"

Dahyun returned his smile. Somehow Taehyung's comforting words and presence lightened her heart. Indeed, she has found a good, reliable friend who appreciates her at her best and stood by her at her worst.