Seven Soul Ties

Whiskey

I almost dozed off as I heard the door open.

I was sitting in the semi-dark like a real creep, but eh. I figured he would run away if he saw me, so it made sense.

Taehyung walked in, clearly looking around for his possessions. I had placed it on the coffee table next to the big couch, so it didn't take long for him to locate.

I let out a small sigh of relief as I realized he was alone.

Before I could give myself the chance to hesitate, I made my way to Taehyung, clutching the bottle so tightly my knuckles had gone white.

He had his back turned to me, lingering there before taking a slight step towards the door.

Head hanging low, I saw the brightness of the screen lighting up as he was checking the notifications on his phone.

"Tae..." I started, my voice coming out a mere shadow of a sound. I really didn't know how this was going to turn out.

My voice startled him, freezing him in place.

Eventually he turned around, and before he could say anything I handed him the bottled apology.

He looked down at it, then up at me – face blank.

"Can I?" I raised my shoulders, cocking my head to the side.

I probably looked as awkward as I felt, because Taehyung burst into humourless laughter.

"Are you having a spasm or something?"

Jeez, thanks.

"Uh, no...I was just trying to be cute." I said truthfully. I felt shy and out of place all of a sudden.

Clearly he didn't get my reference to the question that he had kept asking during our passionate game of hokey pokey.

"You can't try and look cute when you're referencing a sex comment, Laine." He had gone expressionless again, his voice an unreadable monotone.

Ah, so he got it.

My victory was short-lived as I met his gaze. He did not seem amused.

An awkward silence followed for what felt like an eternity before he finally spoke again.

"What do you want from me?" He looked tired – drained almost; he had a sad expression on his face, eyes glassy.

The entire setting felt wrong. We were standing around, centered in middle of the glam room, with Taehyung awkwardly holding his phone in one hand; the whiskey in the other. His demeanor was not a welcoming one. I stood a few inches away from him, limbs dangling freely at my sides, looking at my shoes.

"Tae...I-I don't know how to say it...but...look, I'm sorry, okay?" I tugged at my sleeve nervously, refusing to look at him.

The silence was deafening.

Did he leave?

No, I could see his Yeezy-clad feet from my dropped gaze. They moved toward me, and suddenly I felt arms enveloping me.

He tried to hug me as tight as possible whilst still managing to hold on to the bottle and cellphone, so he ended up hugging me with his arms – hands never touching me.

I snuggled into the nape of his neck, taking in his comforting scent. The scent that lingered on the Puma tracksuit I changed into after... The scent that comforted me in the booth of the bar when I felt like life had no meaning.

I felt stupid as tears spilled over, wetting his Gucci blazer that I had hand-picked for him, but I didn't care. For once I didn't want to overthink or hide what I was feeling; I wanted to show emotion.