Remnants of the Heart | Kim Taehyung

21: accepte

ACT 2 – SCENE 12
HE ACCEPTS.

        TAEHYUNG SEES Jeongguk before Jeongguk sees him. The younger is stepping out of the coffee shop right across the street when Taehyung recognizes that fluff of black hair. With a coffee cup in one hand and a duffel bag in the other, he walks with long strides seeming like he's in a rush to get somewhere. Taehyung ditches the dog he was previously playing with to run across the street, following Jeongguk before he loses track of him. It's a good thing that the streets aren't crowded this afternoon, but why does Jeongguk have to walk so fast?

"Jeongguk!" Taehyung calls to the younger, smiling when the boy immediately looks back. He slows down to let Taehyung catch up but doesn't stop walking.

"Hey, hyung," the younger greets with no emotion in his voice.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah. Dance practice."

"I see. Let's hang out after. Overwatch at my place? Or yours, I don't mind." Taehyung has been wanting to spend time with the younger the past few months, but it has really been hard to get him to do anything as he's always busy whenever Taehyung asks.

"I have to catch up on homework."

"Alright. What about we go bowling tomorrow? I suck so you'll have no trouble in beating me."

"Sounds great, but I can't tomorrow. I have to stay late after classes."

"We could have drinks tomorrow night instead—"

"I'm busy."

"What's your problem with me?" Taehyung blurts out. The frustration has gotten the best of him before he even realized that it was building in the first place.

"My problem with you," Jeongguk says with a laugh, "my problem with you is that you do nothing but get in the way of people's relationships."

"I don't like the way you handle things. I don't like that you meddle with people's feelings and whenever something bad happens out of that, you avoid it and act like it's not your fault."

"The things people tell you can just be nothing but exaggerations. You know that, right?"

"I do, but just the idea of you being alone with my girlfriend already puts me on edge... I feel like I can't trust you, hyung. I can't trust you when you're around her. You're a threat and it makes me feel insecure."

"So you've given up on me before you actually know me?" It's not his intention to sound so weak and fragile, but it really hurts him how there are people out there with assumptions that paint bad pictures of himself inside their heads. If only he had the ability to erase any ill-fitting thoughts, any bad impression he might've left on the people he wants to be friends with, maybe things wouldn't be as hard or ugly as they are now. Wishes that it's as easy as picking up an eraser and erasing the mistakes he makes everytime he draws or simply tearing a page from his sketchbook and starting over everytime he's not satisfied with what he creates.

"I don't need to know you to know what you're like or the things you do," Jeongguk says it almost like he's saying sorry.

Taehyung doesn't know what the pity in Jeongguk's eyes is for. Perhaps is for how he can't be helped but turn out like this, be the heartbreaker that he is. He's starting to believe that it's not just him alone anymore, that maybe a curse had been bested upon him ever since he ruined the only thing that mattered to him the most in life. Maybe this is his punishment, being stuck labeled as the town's player and notorious for coming in between relationships. Maybe this is why he can't bring himself to go beyond meaningless hookups and one-night stands.

It's more than just fear. It's the paranoia that eats him up whenever he thinks about exposing every crevice of his heart to someone again—someone that he actually cares about—because the last time he did such things had been the point where his life started to go downhill. He doesn't want to hurt again, but also doesn't want the people around him to hurt too, whether it's because of him or not.

"There's really no way for me to make you change your mind, huh?" It'd be useless for Taehyung to ask Jeongguk for a second chance when the younger didn't even give a chance to begin with. Thinks it's unfair that he's so quick to judge and decide that way. Jeongguk struck him as someone who stands strong with his opinion, so it would be useless for Taehyung to put effort into finding his way around the boy's firm opinion. All he wants is to be friends, but desperation is not something Taehyung wants others to see him wearing, so maybe the best thing he can do is give up and let go.

"I don't think so." The roar of the engines rushing past them does nothing to silence the crack of Taehyung's heart.

With every ounce of dignity he still has, Taehyung musters up the strength to mask the disappointment and hurt in his voice. "I'm sorry that you feel that way. For what it's worth, I'm going away for a week soon so if you wish to have a peaceful time with your girlfriend, then this would be the perfect time for it."

Taehyung turns around and walks away feeling like he just lost something when he and Jeongguk hadn't had anything in the first place. He doesn't think about where he's going but his feet manages to take him back to his apartment building. Instead of using the elevator to get to his floor, the boy takes the stairs and goes up to the rooftop instead.

It's been a while since he had gone up here. He takes a seat in the chair he brought up here long ago that somehow hasn't been moved by anyone. There's something so serene about being up here. The atmosphere feels different even though it's just him being several stories up than usual. He uses this time to dwell on what Jeongguk said but tries not to let it get to him because he accepts that the younger has a point.

Jeongguk has every right to feel discomfort whenever Taehyung's around Seojung. It's such a bad timing how he's just now starting to feel something for her. He can't help how his heart starts to race whenever she smiles now or looks at her for longer than necessary whenever she's unaware of his presence in the room. It's nothing significant, just a small crush that's starting to brew that will hopefully die down after a couple of hookups and nights spent with soju on his bedroom floor.

Taehyung sighs and stands up, remembering that he still needs to pack for tomorrow's trip back home. His brother's birthday is next week, and to make up for the times Taehyung neglected him for the past years and as an apology for leaving him behind with his parents, he promised to spend the whole week at home. At this point, he couldn't care less that he's going to miss a week's worth of classes. His parents didn't seem to be bothered by it when he had brought it up over the phone a few days ago, so he sees no problem at all.

Thinks that maybe it would be best for him not to contact Seojung for as long as he's away. He needs to distance himself and let her spend time with her boyfriend.

But before any of that, he's going to pay her visit first.

—
a hella short chapter i know.... this was actually supposed to be included in the last chap but i took too long to write this part so i published half of it because i didn't want to make you guys wait too long. things are coming to an end for act 2! three more chapters to go woooo

what do you guys think of taehyung and jungkook in this chapter? was jungkook's attitude towards taehyung reasonable?

as always, sorry for any mistakes and i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter <3 (pls note that it's currently 3 am and i totally stayed up just to finish this bitch so yes, this was very rushed)

love and kisses,
mara