She became ice cold because of him.

Because he caused her to break her own heart.

“I love you,” he said. “You know that, right. That I love you.”

She felt a tear roll down her cheek.

“Nothing can change that, you don’t have to worry.”

But all she could do was stay still.

Now wasn’t the time to cry, she thought as she wiped that tear off. Son Naeun was in the bar of the hotel she was staying at. It was surprising, to her, even, since she isn’t a fan of drinking yet she found the place relaxing. She needed some alone time, and there was barely anyone there.

    “Naeun-ah,” he called as he entered the MBC Rooftop. They were both there for group promotions. “I miss you.”

    He came into her embrace and sniffed in her scent. “A lot, I missed you a lot.”

    As they pulled back, she smiled. “I miss you too.”

She felt safe in this atmosphere. This is a hotel that is low-key known to serve celebrities and those that are wealthy, so she didn’t need to worry about reporters and such. Yet still, she had on a black cap and a facemask that is now resting on her chin.

    He pulled her into his embrace. “I don’t want to go, to leave you. Ever.”

    “But I need to go,” she said as she pulled away. “Prerecording and rehearsal check is about to start.”

    He frowned.

    “Stop acting like the baby that you are, we are working,” she said seriously but she could not help but smile.

    “Fine, but I’ll see you after, right?” he checked, still clinging onto her.

    “Of course.”

    Before she could leave, he pulled her in for a quick peck which caused her to blush.

    “See you,” she said as she hurriedly turned away to go back down to her dressing room.

She was back in Korea but she decided to rest at the hotel first before returning to her dorm, which her members understood. They knew that she needed some alone time. She put down her shot glass, drinking a little had already caused a headache for her.

When she looked back up, she saw someone sitting at a table across the room. He too had on a black cap and mask but when their eyes met, she knew there was no mistaking who he was.

The last time that she had seen him was months ago, she doesn’t remember how many because without him, the months had gone by really long. Other than that, she had not seen him nor heard of him ever since.

She didn’t know how to feel. So, even though she wasn’t planning to, she took another shot and she saw that he had taken his mask off. He still looks the same. Of course he does, it’s not like it’s been years.

    “Naeun-ah?” he snapped her back to reality.

    “Sorry,” was all she could muster out.

    “It’s okay, I know you’ve been tired, preparing for your comeback. But what I said before, you don’t have to worry,” he gave her a smile.

She her phone to check the time, 1:43 a.m. it read. She was wondering what he was doing here, she could’ve sworn that he wasn’t supposed to be back yet. Tuning herself back into the world, she heard her phone ding with a text message. From him.

That caught her off guard. She looked back at him and saw that his eyes were glued onto her so, after much debate, she opened the message.

Naeun-ah. I miss you.

Before she could even reply back, he sent another text.

Can we talk?

When she looked closer at him, she can tell that he already had had a few drinks before coming down.

She waved over the bartender.

“Bill this to room 215,” she told him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said before she stood up and walked over to the elevator. Before she even could, someone already pressed the ‘up’ button and she already knew who.

“Naeun-ah,” he said as he pushed floor 7 once they entered the elevator. They were alone.

“How much have you had?” she sighed out.

“Only a few…” he trailed off but she knew what he meant.

“What room are you?” she questioned, her tone cold. He had never heard her voice this way before.

“213.”

“I’ll be over in 5 minutes,” she said as she exited the elevator, going to the room at the right end of the hall.

She didn’t know what to do. Of course she knew this day would come but she didn’t expect it to be this soon. She thought that she was prepared for him but the minute she saw him, she melted. She tossed her bag along with her facemask on the couch and went to the sink to splash some water on her face, getting ready to face the battle between her mind and her heart.

She opened the door expecting him to be there, to be waiting for her. But instead, she heard the shower running and was left facing tons of empty cans.

She heaved out another sigh. She noticed that she had been sighing a lot lately, ever since.

She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose, to calm herself down when she heard the water turn off. When she heard his footsteps coming nearer, she opened her eyes.

Though the room was dimly lit, she could still tell that as soon as he entered, he only had on sweatpants and a towel around his neck, drying his hair.

“Sit down,” he invited her to the couch. But she stood still.

“Make this quick,” she stated.

And once again, he caught her off guard for he had unexpectedly pulled her in for a hug.

“Can we stay like this, for just a few seconds?” Without waiting for her reply, he had already buried his head in the crane of her neck, taking in her scent. “I miss this. I miss you.”

And once again, she melted. But all she could do was stay still.

    She heaved out a sigh and now had a cold expression on her face. That caused his smile to falter.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, being as clueless as ever.

“I can’t,” was all she said.

“We can’t,” she said as she pushed him back after a few seconds. Even though she missed him so badly, she couldn’t let herself let him in again.

“Naeun-ah,” her said as he her cheek, but she flinched away.

“You’re drunk,” she moved back a few steps.

“But I’m still sane.”

“What did you want to talk about?” she asked.

“Why are you so cold?” he wondered.

“Hmm?” he still wasn’t sure what was happening but he had never seen her like that.

“I can’t do this anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“This. Us.”

That made her freeze.

“You were never like this. When you were happy. When you were with me,” he merely whispered.

“But I wasn’t happy.” She was still emotionless.

“I know you, Son Naeun.”

“No, you thought you knew me, but you never did.”

“Naeun-ah, what’s going on?” he asked as he tried to pull her closer.

“I can’t be with you anymore,” she replied while shaking her head. “I can’t do us anymore.”

“But,” Taemin tried to talk to her.

“But I love you. I loved you with all of my heart. And you knew that. And I knew you.”

She was quiet and still frozen. Yet, no matter how much he knew Son Naeun, Taemin could not depict what was on her face.

She wasn't listening, though.

“Let’s break up.” Her face was now emotionless.

She closed her eyes.

She was trying her best to avoid eye contact but when she caught a glimpse of his eyes, she could see the hurt and confusion in them.

And before she knew it, she felt a tear rolling down her cheek.

“I think it’s the best for us, Trust me.”

She had hurt him.

More than she had expected. She could feel the pain through his voice and could still read straight through him.

She felt Taemin reach out and wipe away the teardrop, surprised at how he was able to see so well.

“Stop,” she sighed out. “You can’t do this anymore.”

“Naeun-ah.” He turned her face to look into her eyes, his hands still on her cheeks, forcing her to look into his eyes.

He broke her, once again.

And she left. While he was there frozen.

And just like before, she ran away.

 

Except this time, he followed her.

 

She stormed out of his room to her own room, locking the door behind her, heaving out another sigh. She could feel the tears starting to well in her eyes.

“Naeun-ah,” she heard a gentle voice through the door. “Please let me in.”

“Go back.”

“I know why you broke up with me, but you’re wrong. I know you, Naeun. I know why. But that isn’t a problem. It’s not to me,” he tried to convince her.

She was confused.

“It’s all in your head.”

But he was wrong, she knew it wasn’t in her head.

She knew that he deserves more.

She knew that he loves her more than she could ever love him.

 

---

Okay, so I guess I'm back maybe?? But anyways, I wrote this definitely around a year ago or so, I don't even remember. I was skeptical on the ending and wasn't sure if I wanted it to end that way, which was why I've never published it yet. And also I could not find the right timing to publish it so I'm sorry. But anywho, I hope to be back with maybe a Kaistal or a Jenbin? But I don't know. I also might make some based off of songs so we'll see how everything goes. But thank you for reading this!