As Jin walked Tia home, he considered her. She was clearly smitten with Tae, if he had read the situation accurately. But how did she know Tae? Was she just an ARMY who had fallen for Tae from a distance? Or was there more to this story? He decided the only way to find out was to ask.
“How do you know Tae?”
Alarmed, Tia glanced sideways at Jin. Should she change the subject? Perhaps overinflate the pain she was feeling in her ankle? Or should she simply tell him the truth?
As she hobbled along, she took a deep breath. After blowing it out through stiff lips, she responded, “I met him in Paris.”
Jin glanced sharply at her. “Paris? When?”
“Seven weeks ago.”
“Ah. The night he was mobbed.”
“Yes.”
“But…he never mentioned you.” Jin instantly saw how his words had cut her to the quick.
“Of course not. I meant nothing to him. It’s obvious. He doesn’t even remember me.”
Jin looked down at her. “No. There’s more to this story than you’re telling me.” He shook his head. “I don’t think Tae would have forgotten you. I mean, he’s the member of BTS who wants into look in each ARMY’s eyes so that he’ll always remember them.” He stopped and gazed down into her fiery eyes. “Did he look into your eyes?” There was no way Tae had forgotten those eyes. No way. Little golden flames were leaping in them. Even Jin would not forget her unusual eyes.
“He did.”
“Tell me your story from start to finish. How did you meet him?”
“I rescued him.”
“What?!” Shocked, Jin stared at her, his mouth hanging open like he was starring in some YouTube video in which the guys had pranked him.
She nodded. “It’s true. I was riding my motorcycle down the street when I saw a mob chasing some poor guy. Tae turned out to be the guy. I stopped my motorcycle and told him to jump on. Then I drove him to safety.”
“Wow. But that’s it? Then he left?”
She shook her head. “No. Then we ate dinner together by the fountain. A group of boys was roughhousing and knocked him into the fountain, so I bought him some dry clothes. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower. We spent a couple hours together that night. Well…probably closer to four.”
Jin stared down at her. “He didn’t forget you. There’s no way.”
She glanced up at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, he didn’t tell any of us that story. And that’s not like him. That’s a great story! So why on earth would he keep it from us? Unless…”
Why did she feel her heart rising? She punched it back down by reminding herself of Tae with his arm around Julieta. Now she felt sick to her stomach.
“Unless?” she whispered.
“Unless he felt something for you and wanted to keep you all to himself.”
She shook her head back and forth. “It doesn’t matter,” she muttered to herself. “Clearly, he feels nothing for me now.” Then a tiny sob broke through her voice as she finished, “He likes my sister now.”
She cleared her throat and stood up straighter. If Julieta truly loved him, Tia would never stand in her way. Julieta deserved all the happiness in the world. If Tae was the one who could finally pull her from the pit she’d fallen into when their parents died, then Tia would bless their relationship. She’d have to move back to Argentina to hide from her feelings for Tae. But she would be determined to be happy for her sister.
“My plan backfired,” Jin murmured.
Tia glanced up at him. “What do you mean?”
“You were right. I should have trusted what you knew of your sister. She was very angry with me that I planned a surprise for her birthday.”
“You told her?” She was quite surprised.
“She thought I was in love with you!” Eyes wide, he stared, horrified, down at her.
Well, that wasn’t very comforting. Both of these guys seemed to be in love with her sister. What exactly was wrong with Tia?
“What? Why?”
“Because she was under the impression that I’d asked you out on a date.” Jin glanced sideways at her. “Which, of course, is what we wanted her to think, so she wouldn’t guess our real intent, but it was a stupid plan. I should have realized it would backfire. So I confessed the whole plan to her. That was an even bigger mistake. Now she hates me because I didn’t respect her choice to not celebrate her birthday. She was so angry with me, Tia.” Jin’s heart was clearly broken, his voice wavering. “She clearly plans to never speak to me again.” He stopped and stared off into space. “She was so cold. She called me ‘Mr. Kim.’” His voice broke on his family name.
“Ah. That’s just Julieta. When she gets angry, she can’t handle it. It’s because she’s never dealt with our parents’ deaths. She just keeps shoving it deeper down inside her. Give her some time, Jin. She’ll come around.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think so. Not this time. She’s clearly moved on. She’s seeking comfort from someone else.” His best friend. One of them, anyway.
Tia sighed. “That was strange. I’ve never seen any guy with his arm around her before. Not even Santiago when they were dating. She always kept him at arms’ length.”
This was interesting. “She did?”
“Yeah. I think it’s because our parents died. Julieta used to be warm-blooded. Fiery. Passionate. But when they died, her flame went out. She’s been cold ever since. Frozen.
“She was just beginning to like Santiago. Just showing interest in him. And then Mamá and Papá died. And suddenly, she didn’t care about anything anymore. Only school and the company. She felt like she had to work hard to make Papá proud. He’d left her a legacy, and she had to take care of it.
“And of me too, of course. I became her responsibility. She felt like she had to be both mamá and papá to me. I know she did. And Jin, she’s taken such good care of me! Always!” Tears flooded her eyes. “That’s why, if she loves Tae, I will let her have him!” She looked up at him, begging him, “So please, promise me you won’t ever tell Julieta that I love him! She doesn’t need to know that we ever met before. She would feel it necessary to deny her own happiness to see me happy, if she knew. And I can’t let her do that. Not anymore. She already gave up part of her childhood the day Mamá and Papá left us. I will not see her also give up a lifetime of happiness for me.”
Jin glanced down at the remarkable girl next to him. But he didn’t promise her anything.
