Eyes, sharp, red-rimmed, and brimming with unshed tears, staring into hers with uncontrolled rage. There are hands clasped painfully around her throat, she can feel them trembling as they tighten.

Her head feels heavy as she struggles to grasp what little air she can. Her hands are weakly shoving at the person before her to no avail. Her eyes feel so heavy.

She tries to mouth the word 'stop'. 'Why are you doing this?' she wants to beg.

🥀

The image of Jungkook being strangled by Taehyung makes her mind go foggy, the room melts as it spins. She wants to puke, falling to her knees, she covers her ears and screams, begging for it to stop with her eyes shut tightly.

There is a brief moment where the room settles and she can make out muffled screaming. Opening her eyes, she finds herself in a familiar setting. Taehyung's bedroom.

Except it's different, it's painfully familiar. It's his bedroom from the days in high school when she was alive. This was a memory, it had to be, she thinks as she tries to touch one of the posters on his wall. Looking around her heart hurts at the memories they all shared in this room, from Taehyung, Jungkook, and her watching movies and doing homework to playing video games until the early hours of dawn.

Why was she here? The last thing she recalls is the two fighting in the living room. Panic flares in her gut as she makes to rush out of the room only to find the doorknob already twisting. The door is pulled open to reveal a baby-faced Taehyung with his familiar bowl-cut hair. Behind him, she finds him tugging along- herself. Her living self.

She wants to cry at the sight of herself so lively and young, full of dreams, and ambitions.

Taehyung looks nervous as he closes the door, he's dressed in a suit and he's anxiously twisting at the tie as he leans against the edge of his bed.

Living Eun Hye gives him a confused look, "what's wrong Tae? What did you need to talk about?".

Taehyung loosens his tie as he clears his throat, "H-Hye I need to tell you something, I've been hiding it for a while, and- well since we're all heading off to college soon I need you to know...".

She wrinkles her eyebrows tilting her head at him, "what is it?".

"I- have feelings for you. I mean, I love you", he says face tinged pink as he looks at the ground.

She watches her own face gawk in shock before quickly recovering, "what?".

He looks up, expression determined as he says it again, "I love you, I always have".

She doesn't remember this at all, why doesn't she remember?

"Taehyung" she watches herself walk over to him hesitantly, "you know I'm dating Jungkook right?".

This catches her off guard, she was with Jungkook? Jungkook was telling the truth? Where is he?

She sees the irritation on his face, "I loved you first before he ever did".

Eun Hye is at a loss for words as she shakes her head, "Look, you're my best friend and I love you too-" she watches his face light up in hope before deflating at her next words. "but I love you as my best friend. I can't be anything more to you, I'm sorry Tae".

"Why Jungkook?" he asks not meeting her eyes.

"I just, I guess I've always loved him but I don't want this to change anything between us Taehyung you mean so much to me, so much to us".

Taehyung doesn't reply and Eun Hye sighs, "let's just go back to the party okay? They're all waiting for us, we can talk about this anoth-"

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE HIM!?" he shouts so suddenly living Eun Hye and herself flinch.

"Taeh-"

"Stop saying my name like that, like you pity me! I hate it!"

"What's wrong with you?" she yells back.

"I just don't understand why you had to choose him, I mean what does he have that I don't? My parents are loaded and I can give you anything you want!".

The looks of disgust that crosses her face has him recoiling in pain, "what the fuck Taehyung? I don't care about what you have. Why are you being like this? This isn't like you".

"Why are YOU being like this!? Can't you see I love you?? Jungkook can't give you anything!"

"I don't need him to give me anything, I love him for him" she yells back.

She stares in shock at the scene before her, Jungkook had been telling the truth, Taehyung had confessed and she had rejected him. But then does that mean- she looks over to see the pair arguing. She can see herself getting scared, recoiling into herself as Taehyung get more and more agitated.

"No- no please don't let it be true" she whispers, tears gathering in her eyes as she watches herself trying to leave the room. Taehyung doesn't let her, merely grabs ahold of her hand as she shrieks for him to let go.

He ignores her, pleading desperately for her to love him. In her final attempt, she yells the words that cause him to freeze, "I DONT LOVE YOU, I NEVER WILL!!".

Rage pours into his expression as he grabs her and throws her onto the bed, she can barely manage a scream before his hands are wrapped around her throat.

Eun Hye watches in pure horror as she is strangled to death by Taehyung, her Taehyung.

She watches every gasp for breath, every teardrop until her hands fall limp and she was merely nothing but a corpse. Tears fall from her own eyes as she mourns the loss of her life, her future.

Above her, Taehyung recoils in shock, falling from the bed as though burned. He can only stare at her lifeless body. Hatred gathers in her heart as she stares at his figure, she thinks back to every memory they shared. The lies he spewed while they were together, the kisses they exchanged, she shutters in disgust. Jungkook was right.

There's a sharp intake of air from behind her and as she turns around, there stands Ae Jin, eyes wide in horror. "What have you done!!!?" she shouts rushing towards her now deceased body, feeling for a pulse. "You killed her!!" she says grabbing Taehyung's frozen form and pulling him to his feet. "Why did you do it!!?".

"M-Mom, I-I love her" is all he can manage. The woman looks horrified as she backs away.

"Eun Hye? Taehyung?" another voice calls, a painfully familiar one, from the hallway outside.

She can't see it, she doesn't want to see it, the moment Jungkook sees her lifeless body.

Ae Jin holds Taehyung's crying face, reassuring her son that she wouldn't allow anything to happen to him. "Mother will handle everything," she says as she kisses his head before climbing atop her body and poising her hands over her neck. How could she cover for her murderous son and let him get away with it?

Another gasp fills the air and this one makes her stomach sink in despair. Looking over her shoulder, she sees Jungkook standing by the door, skin pale and eyes wide open in shock.

"H-Hye?" he calls and she wants to answer him so badly.

The sight of him triggers something in her head and suddenly like a cauldron of unstable potions spilling over, she's hit with memories. Memories she had never seen before, memories she never knew existed, of them.

Of Jungkook confessing to her under the old wisteria tree behind the school, Jungkook holding her hand as they walked to school every morning, him wrapping his scarf around her neck on cold winter days, their first kiss shared at the beach under the glowing sun as it set. All of her memories she had one thought she shared with Taehyung were actually with Jungkook. Her heart sinks as she watches their beautiful moments pass before her eyes. Tears gather in her eyes as she falls to her knees sobbing.

How could she forget? How could she ever forget her beloved?

Rubbing at her eyes, she sniffles, chest aching. The horrid eyes she had vague memories of before, were not of Ae Jin killing her but of Taehyung. The unnerving eyes belonged to him.

Looking up, she finds herself back in the living room in the present day. Jungkook is fighting off Taehyung whose eyes are just as filled with rage as they were back then. It sends a shiver up her spine.

Anger courses through her body as she stands shakily. "You-" she says voice weak but still heard as they both look at her, "you fucking murderer!!!" she screams as she lunges at Taehyung, knocking him off of the other and onto the floor. His head thwacks against the floor painfully as she lifts her fist to punch him.

She succeeds in landing one on his nose, satisfied by the crack it makes as he groans in pain. Before she can land another, he grabs her wrists stopping her as he looks up at her incredulously. His nose is dripping blood.

"Hye, what are you doing?" he says as though he were the most innocent person on the planet. It makes her stomach sour in anger as tears spill from her eyes, "you sick fucking liar" she sobs as she pulls from his grip, shoving her body away from him. He has the audacity to look hurt.

Her back hits something soft, Jungkook already has a hand rubbing her back soothingly as he wipes the blood from his lips. She turns, desperate in her actions, and stares into his eyes. Throwing her arms around him she cries even harder, "I'm sorry I forgot everything!! I didn't mean to!!". His arms are warm against her back as he rests his chin in the crook of her neck. She missed him so much.

"You remember?" He asks, out of breath and sounding relieved. She nods.

"I love you so much," she says, relaxing in his arms.

"What?" comes Taehyung's cold voice, she thinks back to his face the moment he murdered her.

Turning to face him, she takes Jungkook's hand in hers. "I said I love him, I always have and I always will".

Taehyung looks pained as he stands, "but you said you loved me". She doesn't like his calm and collected expression.

"You lied to me," she says, standing and pulling Jungkook with her. "You're a murderer, you killed me," she says shakily as Jungkook squeezes her hand reassuringly. "You strangled me to death and you let your mother take the fall for it".