Worst Behavior

38. goodbye

"I will, sir."

A couple moments pass by, and his father's presence seems to linger; like he's watching him even though he already left and shut the door behind him. His father is probably expecting him to do right and make up for his sins while getting ready for work, but the first thing Jeongguk does when he's gone does the complete opposite.

He goes right to Taehyung without thinking.

Boxes. A whole assortment of them, big and small, clutter Taehyung's bedroom when Jeongguk lifts the window open and slides beneath it. In fact, the first thing his feet bump into is boxes of Taehyung's stuff.

"You're not supposed to be here," He whips his head up to where Taehyung stands. The older has his arms pressed over his chest and this crease between his two eyebrows. His voice is also empty like his room. Emotions packed away for good.

"You didn't tell me you were packing."

"I didn't want to worry you."

Jeongguk ignores him and steps over another box. He glances at it for a second, noticing it says trash and inside of it is tattered football gear. Jeongguk frowns, stepping back and crouching down to pick up the jersey that's now ruined and ripped apart. It wasn't like that before, Jeongguk notes.

"When did this happen?" Jeongguk runs his fingers over Taehyung's jersey number— the number 30. His frown deepens when his thumb slips through a hole that stretches across his last name.

"A few days ago," Taehyung ambles over to his bed where more boxes sit not quite filled yet. On the sides in Taehyung's neat handwriting says the basics— clothes and personal belongings.

"Did Jason do it?" Jeongguk asks, glancing at the pile, which contains broken cleats, a snapped neck support, and pieces of ripped apart shoulder pads. All of it looks expensive but now, it's worth nothing.

"Yeah. It was him," Taehyung nods, biting the inside of his cheek and turning his head to avoid the younger's questioning stare.

"T-this is horrible, Tae," Jeongguk gets up to his feet, his brows now furrowing. Taehyung says nothing, continuing to fold shirts and pants. "Did you do anything? I knew your teammates were trouble but this, t-this is messed up—."

"—Doesn't matter anymore. What's done is done," Taehyung throws a trophy into the trash box a little too roughly it crashes into the other objects, causing Jeongguk to flinch at the sudden noise.

Something's wrong with Taehyung to the point he can't even look Jeongguk in the eye properly. He observes the older take a step back from his bed, eyes squeezing shut and breathing shallowing.

Jeongguk doesn't understand what's the sudden change. Last night when they were in each other's arms, Taehyung had peppered his face with kisses and declared his love for him over and over again. Jeongguk's laughter could have been heard from the next few houses over because he was just so damn happy to be with him. To finally be in his arms.

What has changed? Jeongguk doesn't know. Their happiness is fragile; that's for a fact. Anything can break it, ruin it, and take it away from them because people like them don't deserve happiness. People like them have to work for it, and the second they experience it, it's gone all over again.