Love me ♡

chapter 22

Next day~

"Taehyung-shi, are you sick? you look tired?" Aera asked as they were closing up the studio.

"No, I'm fine." Taehyung answered. 

"Do you need help with anything else?" Aera asked when she saw Taehyung resting his head on the table and sighing. 

"No. You may leave." 

"Okay then" she walked out.

He was not sick but he was distracted. He ran into Jungkook last night. The boy looked completely different. His hair was longer and was blonde, he looked like he grew taller. He sighed, he knew he would run into Jungkook one day or another, if he really wanted to avoid him, he should have moved away.

"Taehyung-shi?" she called again. 

"What is it? did you forget something?" he asked without lifting his head from the table.

"No...um--Jungkook's here."

Taehyung's shot up at the sound of the boy's name. 

"Hello." Jungkook nodded.

"I'll leave you two to it" Aera bowed and left the room.

Seeing Jungkook up close felt different. It has only been a year and a half but Taehyung could see the change in him. The hair, the height, the style, none of the changes mattered when he looked into the eyes. The eyes were much different. It was like looking into a stranger's eyes. 

A stranger who had lost the light in their eyes.

Was it because of Taehyung?

"What are you doing here? we agreed not to see each other ever again" Taehyung said, his voice as cold as always.

"I left to forget all about you. Since my entire personality revolved around you and liking you, it took me a long time to get over you. " Jungkook stepped closer and Taehyung backed away, "but I don't understand why you haven't moved on."

"What are you talking about?" Taehyung looked up to meet Jungkook's eyes. They were not the same height anymore, Jungkook was towering over him.

Jungkook grabbed Taehyung's hand, "you're not wearing it now?"

Taehyung pulled away his hand, "what?"

"The Ring that I gave you. Jimin posted a picture with you and Yoongi. You had the ring on your finger. Did you think I wouldn't come find you if you had your ring on? You had it on because you are still not over me? is that it?" Jungkook asked, his voice filled with smugness.

Taehyung pushed him away, "If I still wanted a relationship with you I wouldn't have broken up with you in the first place." He picked up his bag and took out the ring box, "I didn't ask for a ring. You're the one who gave it to me and left. If you want it, take it and go" he grabbed his jacket and his bag and reached for the door, "and don't come see me again. I have nothing more to say to you."

Jungkook grabbed his hand, his eyes a new shade of dark, "Are you afraid I'll follow you around and ask you to marry me?" he turned him around so Taehyung was facing him and placed a hand on the back of his neck, "well hyung, I just feel so fucking horny seeing you after such a long time. "

"what..."

"Let's be friends" Jungkook brushed his thumb against Taehyung's lips, "Friends with benefits. I know you are good at it."

Taehyung didn't reply. 

"I have zero feelings for you. You say you don't have feelings for me either. So what do you say? we both get what we want"

"wow, you lost your mind" Taehyung scoffed. 

"You don't get to say that" Jungkook smirked, "C'mon you're the one who said you can have sex with just a friend. so why not?"

"Fuck you." Taehyung muttered, "fucking bullshit." he walked away. 

-------

The new Year's passed and Taehyung successfully avoided Jungkook but he just couldn't help but feeling guilty. He even promised to draw a potriat for Jungkook but he never did it. Small things like that kept popping up in his head.

'meet me @the studio. 8 pm.' he sent out a text to Jungkook.

A part of him wondered if Jungkook would show up.

But in the end, Jungkook did show up. sharp at 8.

"I thought you blocked me" Jungkook said as he took a seat opposite to  Taehyung. "I guess you keep changing your mind."

Taehyung had his eyes focused on his feet, not daring to look into Jungkook's eyes. "Jungkook, I asked to see you because I wanted to tell you something, even though it's probably too late."

Jungkook nodded.

"You asked me why I had that ring on....I found the ring in your bag when we went to Jeju...I know it's too late to say this now but when I saw the box my mind went blank. I didn't know what to do. If you had given me that ring, I wouldn't have been able to refuse. I wanted to be with you.Whenever I wanted something badly, things didn't turn out well."

when Jungkook didn't say anything, Taehyung continued, "I don't regret our time together. You made me happy and I feel lucky and thankful that you loved me. I didn't want you to get hurt because of me. We would have hurt each other if we had stayed together. I was cold and harsh to you so that you would hate me. I knew you wouldn't give up otherwise. The ring...I couldn't bring myself to throw it away because my feelings were real."

Taehyung sighed, he couldn't read Jungkook's expression. "Jungkook, I know there's no way to apologize for what I did and I know how difficult it was for you. It's my fault so you don't have to waste your time trying to hurt me back. I'm already hurting everyday. I want you to move on from me, find someone who would keep your smile alive. The smile that I fell for."

Jungkook stood from his seat and walked towards Taehyung, "your feelings were real? and so I'm supposed to forget everything you did to me? Sincerity gets you nowhere, you thought me that. I loved you with all my heart so don't tell me you did it for me"

Jungkook was now standing right in front of Taehyung, he leaned down and placed his hands on Taehyung's shoulders, "No. You ran away because you were scared of getting hurt. The story you made up to justify your actions is really something else."

"Jungkook..."

"If you are really that sorry. Give me something I want." Jungkook gently touched Taehyung's jaw, " Be my friend and do anything I ask. Don't worry hyung, it's okay if it's not love right. What do you say?"

"Will it make you feel better?"

"Depends on how well you do."

"Okay"

Thoughts?