Taehyung opened his eyes at the sound of something falling. He took some time to remember where he was.
He remembered last night. Though Ashley said it's for one hour, it turned out none of them wanted to leave. When they finally came back, it was almost midnight. Ashley invited him in for some snacks and he probably dozed off afterward. He was in her bed now. Where was she???

He looked around only to see Ashley sitting on her chair, sleeping. Keeping her head on a book on the desk. Her hand probably knocked down a book from the piles of books in front of her sound of which woke him up. Did she just spend her whole night studying? Or was just sleeping there?

Taehyung smiled a little. He went to get freshen up and went downstairs. He made toast and eggs, poured orange juice, cereals, and glasses of milk.

After finishing serving, he went upstairs again and picked up the book Ashley knocked down earlier. He placed the book on the table and knelt beside her. He was about to call her when he noticed a deep scar on her shoulder. Her T-shirt was displaced a little and exposed a big part of her shoulder on the side.
It was a clean-cut mark, healed but not gone totally. He stared at it for some time, feeling of a blind rage was fuming inside him slowly.
He touched the mark so delicately as if he could make it vanish with his mere touch.

Ashley jerked up and opened her eyes full of fears. He instantly grabbed her one wrist, "shhhhh...... it's ok, it's just me."

Her eyes relaxed in realization and moved along his other hand touching her scar. Her eyes shot back to meet his. She didn't say anything. But her eyes yelled everything she is holding inside. Taehyung just stared at her eyes slowly filling with shadows and pain. Ashley wasn't saying anything but she wanted him to say something, anything. But he didn't.

"Tae....."

"I made breakfast. Come. There is still time before your class, study after."

"Oh!" Ashley's eyes widened, "I still have to finish these!" she almost cried in frustration, "I just spent the whole night sleeping!"

"You can do it!" Taehyung smiled encouragingly, "let's eat now."

"Yeah," Ashley groaned, got up, and went to freshen up. She came down and joined him on the kitchen table.

"Did you sleep or study the whole night?"

" Wanted to study, ended up sleeping." Pouted Ashley.

" Or you could have joined me in the bed." Winked Taehyung just to receive a kick on his knee under the table.

Taehyung rubbed the knee, " Whoa whoa lady, keep you Bruce Lee mood off the table! I meant to sleep, gosh, what were you thinking?"

Ashley tried to kick him once again painted in all red.

"You, finish your breakfast and get the hell out of here. They'll release Mr. Kim today," Ashley glared at him.

"Eager to brush me off, huh?" Taehyung grinned.

" I am trying to concentrate on my study here, and you sir, are a big big distraction."

"Oh yeah?" Taehyung smirked mischievously leaning in. Ashley pushed him back with an index on his forehead. "Finish it up."

"Yeah yeah, got that. Loud and clear!" Taehyung pouted and got up finishing his food and went into the kitchen to do the dishes. He shouted from the kitchen,
" I'll do the dishes, you go ahead."

Ashley came into the kitchen to give him the dishes and hummed a happy thank you for seeing him cleaning the dishes with so much concentration as if his class grades depend on it.
She gave a small peck on his cheek and ran upstairs.

Taehyung went upstairs again to say goodbye. He wanted to stay for longer, but staying wasn't gonna melt her today with her test ahead.

Ashley noticed Taehyung suddenly being stilled in her peripheral vision. She moved her head towards him to see what happened.
He was looking at the acceptance letter from Harvard in his hand. He had the whole bundle in his hand with Baylor, Cambridge, Jhon Hopkins, UCL, Tufts, and Vanderbilt.

She remembered she had shoved those letters inside a book. And out of all the books on the shelf, he had to take that particular one out? And why did she kept those letters anyway? She smiled, SNU was incredible, she loved it here.
Her sense of satisfaction disappeared sensing the grimace expression on Taehyung's face.

"Tae....what happened?" Her voice filled with concern.

"What is this, Ash?" Taehyung's voice was deeper than usual.

"What?" She asked carefully, trying to grip on what he was asking, "letters?"

"Did you intentionally dropped this opportunity? For me?" his voice was filled with traces of what?...guilt?

"No!!....it was just a choice, Tae. SNU is very good in the game!" Ashley got up from her seat and walked towards him, "It's no big deal."

Taehyung looked at her with hurt in his eyes. Ashley was a bit confused, Why was he acting like this suddenly?

Taehyung calmly put back those letters in the book and shoved that on the shelf.
"We need to talk."

Ashley looked at him with questions in her eyes.
Taehyung took a sharp breath in,
"Why did you do it? Why did you turn these down?"

"I told you, this was a choice."

"But you did apply there in the first place. You planned on going there," Taehyung's voice was getting even deeper.

"I don't know where are you going with this!" Ashley's smile now completely disappeared.

"You've turned down your dream, for me!" Taehyung looked into her eyes. There were some inexplicit emotions in there.

"It's not like I dropped out or something, Tae. It's not like I quit being a doctor or stopped doing what I love. So what's your point?" Ashley's voice was now laced with a hint of insecurities.

"Yes I came here, you were a big reason. But you are not the only reason here!" That was a lie and she knew it.

"And how does that make me look?" Ashley sensed a tint of anger in his voice.

"Are...are you mad at me?" she was out of words.

"How does that make me look, Ash?? Answer me. I look like a jerk who is dragging you down, keeping you from your dream. "

"Thats not true!" Ashley protested.

Taehyung chose to ignore the hurtful glance her eyes were shooting.

"You even left your home to come here," Taehyung tried to bury his annoyance with the anger.

Ashley looked at him with shock.
"You...don't want me here?" her voice was barely audible.

"You know that's not the case here," Taehyung greeted his teeth.

"Then what is the case here? Enlighten me please!" Ashley's voice was rising from the ground again.

"You've left your friends, your dream, your home behind for me. And what did I do? Showing off the toxic masculinity to see you go down to ashes only thinking about me, and me doing nothing?"

"Damn it, Tae!" Ashley's voice was now merely a whisper, "Don't you get it? I don't have a home, I never had any home. "

"Ash...." Taehyung started.

"I get it Tae. What I was afraid of was right all along. "

"You don't get it. Not at all. How can I  forget that maybe I am the reason you are stuck here when you were supposed to fly? How do you expect me to not feel guilty now that I know it?" Taehyung was neglecting how her expression changed with each word he was saying.

"Tae, please...."

"I need to go," Taehyung took the keys from the nightstand and stormed out.

Ashley stood there for some moments more, with silly numbness taking over her mind, The old friend of hers to curtain over the pain to protect her weak self.

She stared at her chair for some moments, came back to take a seat, and looked at her book with deep concentration. She is strong, she has to be strong. Again.

Taehyung drove aimlessly until he ended up in front of his house, the one in which his parents lived now.

He hugged the little furball jumped on his lap the moment he went in.
He sat on the living room couch in front of some meaningless games on TV.

" Is it you, honey bear?" Mrs. Kim shouted from the kitchen.
She came out wiping her hands on her apron.

"Jeong Gyu and Eun Jin went to the hospital. They'll release your father today," She sat beside him just to notice the unreadable expression on her son's face.

"What happened?" Her voice was concerned.

"Nothing," Taehyung tried to smile hugging Yeontan close, surprisingly that puppy was quite calm today and was enjoying Taehyung's affection relaxingly.

"Is it about that doctor?"

Taehyung looked at her in surprise.

"Come on! He didn't stop telling about you twos the whole night. You know your father." Mrs. Kim smiled sweetly.
"I must say, I am very happy, son. I can tell, knowing all along who we were, she didn't for once tried to impressed us. She is a great girl."

Taehyung just hummed in response.

"So, what happened?"

"Nothing, eomma!" Taehyung sighed.
"Don't worry."

"You care about your life, boy? Spill it already!" Mrs. Kim shot a glare at him, "You already owe me for not telling me the story first."

Taehyung leaned against the backrest letting the puppy go wherever it was heading.

"We had an argument," Taehyung sighed, "sort of."

"You should work it off. Both of you," she dismissed.

"You even don't know the cause!" Taehyung said bitterly, the feeling of being guilty coming rushing again.
She was about to say that it doesn't matter. But seeing his expression she decided to step in.

"What is the cause? Wanna share?"

"She was accepted in the most famous medical universities in the world, even Harvard. And she chose SNU."

"And the problem is?"

"Harvard, eomma!" Taehyung groaned in frustration, "I feel like I  am dragging her down. She came here for me. She sacrificed her dream and here I am seeing her do all this. Leaving her country, her everything behind, and me doing nothing. I feel so selfish."

Mrs. Kim watched her son sighed in frustration affectionately.

"Why are you smiling?" Taehyung frowned.

"You are so silly, boy," she smiled again.

"Did you even think that not you, she was being selfish here? You guys are so blind and so overhyped about your pity selves!" She rolled her eyes,
" Typical men!"

She looked at the confused look her son was giving her.

"It's not you for whom she came here honey bear, she came for herself. She came not to make you happy, but to be happy herself. She came not because she needed, but because she wanted and choose to," she smiled sarcastically,
"how pity you men never understand what goes on in a girl's mind."

"But eomma..."

"What?" She glared at Taehyung, "did you ever think that the choice is up to her? If she chooses SNU or Korea, then that's it! It's not your choice to make and she knows it too. She made her choice and now you are pushing it? Yes she made her choice, and you are a big part of it, now argue about it just to make her regret her decision and prove her wrong that she chose the right thing."

"What?"

"She came all the way here just to find out what? That you are not happy about it and she is undesired here? You'll push her further away if you don't get your thoughts straight boy. You've just made her lonelier than she already is in a totally unknown country!" Mrs. Kim was now wearing an expressionless face.

"But eomma, I feel guilty."

"And I am beyond happy that you think like that, that you don't want to hold her back! I am proud of you for you doing that. But this time, it's not about you, son, try to fit in her shoes."

"I have to go," Taehyung suddenly got up.

"Invite her for dinner one day!" She shouted to her son who just disappeared behind the front door and smiled.

Taehyung entered the passcode with unsteady fingers and went in. He went straight upstairs. Ashley was sitting on her chair with a book still opened in front of her, stared down at it with deep concentration. He saw her stuck on the same page with what he left her. Surely she has not been reading since he left, just sitting there blankly.

Taehyung went straight up to her and hugged her from the back tightly, wishing to never let her down again.
He felt Ashley's tensed body trembled in his arms as silent tears made their way finally. Ashley sobbed painfully as Taehyung held her there.

"I.... I'll go. I'll go to Harvard, or my home if you don't want me here," she finally spoke, "sorry for coming here being all needy, I was right. It was way too excess."

"No!" Taehyung hugged her even tighter and rested his head in the crook of her neck, "you are not going anywhere. Not anymore."

"I'll go," Ashley closed her eyes taking the decision.

Taehyung knelt and turned her chair facing himself. His heart clenched at the sight of her wet cheeks.
He wiped the never-ending tears from her eyes.
" God, you don't know how much I  love to see you, touch you, how much I'd love to have you with me every single second I spend here!"

"Tae..."

" I love you." He closed the distance between their lips. "There, I said it." He smiled nervously with insecurity taking over his eyes. "You don't have to...."

" I love you too." Ashley closed her eyes savoring the moment,
"Gosh, how much I wish I didn't just say it just now. You've hurt me Tae. A lot." She furiously tried to wipe her eyes.

Taehyung kissed her again, deep enough to let her know that he was sorry, he was happy, he contended and he was going to be there no matter what happens.