⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

"I miss you." I sighed, my back resting against my mattress as I gazed at the ceiling.

"I miss you too." Taehyung said over the phone, "but I really want to finalise the annulment first before I see you. My lawyer said it could be bad if they found out about the affair and we'll have to file for a divorce instead." He groaned slightly.

"How much longer till I get to see you then?"

"4 weeks, tops?" He let out, his voice a little strained.

"4 weeks?" I almost yell as I jolt up on my bed. "It's already been 2 weeks since I've seen you." I pout, fingers playing with my cotton bedding.

"I know," He sighed, "it's taking a little longer. But, hey. You'll be able to focus on school now." He said and I snapped.

"You weren't a distraction to begin with." I flop back onto the bed, body bouncing against the mattress.

"How's everything at home?" He asked after a bit of silence.

"The same," I sighed, rubbing the sides of my forehead. "Aera's barely spoken a word to me since the funeral. My father's finally going back to work though, so that's a good sign. Right?" I asked, not really sure of what I should read into the situation.

"Mmhmm," he hummed with agreement. "That's great. Has he spoken anything about your mum?"

"Not much since that day." I explained and he keeps silent for a bit.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" I questioned back.

"How are you?" He asked and I took in a deep breath.

"Hm," and I breathed out, "I'm okay I guess?" I turned to the side, burying my face into the pillow.

"I regret taking a gap year," I sighed. "The syllabus changed and it's getting hard to catch up with everything."

"If you need help, I'm here! You could always ask me." Taehyung chimed cheerily.

"Not for these 4 weeks." I murmured under my breath and he sighed.

"I'm sorry." He voice went drastically soft. "And that's my fault-"

"No, no. Taehyung don't go there." I quickly stop him, feeling guilty for even using it against him. "Everything's finally working out, we'll just have to be patient." I said and he remained quiet.

"You should sleep, you have a morning class tomorrow." His voice still low and soft. I could sense the change in his emotion just from his tone.

"Taehyung, I-"

"Areum, I'm serious. You should sleep and get well rested for tomorrow." He said and I simply gave in, knowing it'd be impossible to get him to speak now.

"Okay," I exhaled. "I love you."

"I love you." He let out, guilt evident in his voice as he hung up.

I threw my phone to the side of my bed as I ran my fingers through my hair, wishing for everything to fall into place soon.

『⋅∘➶∘⋅』

"Come on, don't be like that." Nani nudged me with her arm.

"No, I'm serious. Look at you. You're almost halfway through your third year while I'm here just starting on my second." I voiced out, trying to show her how I made a mistake of taking a gap year.

"Areum," She stopped from walking, holding either sides of me as she stared into my eyes. "We had this talk before you took a break. You told me you needed that gap year to figure yourself out." She started knocking some sense into me and I nodded.

"It's just weird you know. Seeing everyone being a step ahead of me." I sighed, walking further and I halt the moment I see someone walk past.

Jaesun simply nodded my way in acknowledgment as he carried on walking forward, not spouting a word.

"What was that about?" Nani questioned and I shrugged.

"We left things in a weird way the last time we spoke." I looked at her and she pursed her lips with a nod. "It's fine, he'll be graduating in a few months and I won't have to see him anymore." As I say, Nani's eyes widened as she remembered something.

"Do you remember last year, when we got drunk at my place?" She asked and I chuckled.

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"That day you told me your little sob story about this boy. What happened?" She reminded me and I froze.

"Um," I licked my lips, "it's actually working out." I say, receiving a surprised look from Nani.

"I still want to know who this mystery guy is." Nani spoke as we continued walking through the campus.

"Taehyung." I let out bluntly and she came to an abrupt stop, almost falling over. "I'm just kidding." I quickly say, trying to undo the mess I had created. Her reaction caught me off guard.

"Ha, you got me there." She shoved me lightly, shaking her head. "Aera told me about the annulment so I actually believed it." She patted her chest lightly as though trying to calm herself.

"Would it be that bad though? If it actually was Taehyung?" I asked and she looked at me, shock crossing her face.

"Of course. Remember when he used to flirt with you even while he was with Aera? And then he broke her on the day of their wedding and- just tell me you and Taehyung's never going to happen, Areum." She said and I gulped.

"You're only hearing one side of the story. I spoke to Taehyung-"

"You're still talking to him?" Nani looked at me with disbelief. "Even after what he did to Aera?"

"He's still a friend." I felt the tension between us grow.

"Well, Aera's your sister." She let out bluntly, mouth slacked as she had a hard time processing my words.

"I know but Taehyung was just-" and I was interrupted by a scoff.

"Aera was right, you are on his side." She narrowed her eyes slightly at me, looking at me with disapproval.

"What? You guys talked about me?"

"I have to get to class." She simply shook her head, walking away from me.

I stood there, watching her leave as thoughts raged through my mind.

『⋅∘➶∘⋅』

"I just don't understand why everyone's so against us." I almost yell over the phone.

"Areum, maybe we should speak later. You're driving, right?" Taehyung asked with concern.

"It's fine, you're on speaker." I gripped onto the steering wheel, driving off the expressway.

"I just hate how no one's on our side. After conquering Mount Aera we still have to conquer all these stupid little— oh my god!" I jammed my foot onto the brake, my body jerking violently as I came to a halt.

"Areum?" Taehyung's voice was now muffled as my phone flew from the dashboard to the ground.

"Oh my god." I run my hand through my hair, getting the little strands out of my face as I got a clear view of the accident I had missed by a few seconds.

Two cars piled up against each other, windshields shattered with glass shards lying all over the ground. Smoke drifting out of their smashed hoods.

"Areum!" Taehyung's voice gradually becoming louder each second I remained silent. It snapped me out of my momentary shock and I was brought back to reality.

I unbuckled my seatbelt that was practically digging through my skin and bent over, retrieving my phone.

"I'm okay." I breathed out as I tried reaching for the phone that was under the seat. And as though it was taken as a joke by the universe, a car drove right into the rear of my car, causing my head to hit against whatever's in front of me sickeningly.

"What was that? Areum!" His voice being the last thing I hear as I was consumed by darkness.

. . .

A/N: I swear she doesn't get amnesia. also she passes out too much. also sorry for the cliche accident scene sjsjsks.