What have I done?
The bar they're at is situated at the top of one of Taehyung's hotels. It's a wide open space, glowing a light blue, and everything about it is clean, luxurious, modern. It's a far cry from some of the places Jeongguk's been to, but he supposes that bars made for rowdy college kids and bars meant for Seoul's elite would have different tones.
The lull of the soft music is making Jeongguk groggy and he half blames the alcohol. Whenever he drinks, the burning rage and discontent inside him becomes more diluted, and he can relax. Which is why he doesn't do it often anymore. In college it had been a nice reprieve-- forgetting. But now, in front of Taehyung, he needs to keep his walls up.
He's been nursing his fourth glass of whiskey and all that's left now is the ice at the bottom and he wonders how long he's been staring at it. All he knows for sure is that melting ice is fascinating and he could watch it all day. Something about the natural process of a solid turning into a liquid is beautiful-- entropy, nature's inevitable bias towards chaos and--
"Jeongguk." He turns his head slowly to see Taehyung sliding into a seat next to him. He leans back in his chair, arm slung over the back, and raises an eyebrow.
Taehyung blinks in surprise, because Jeongguk is running his gaze over him lazily, no malice in his eyes. He's wary for a bit, because it's the first time Jeongguk doesn't look like he's going to smite him on the spot, but those eyes paired with the scene earlier that night makes him feel more confident.
Plus, he's drunk.
And he keeps repeating the scene over and over again, wondering if it was some sort of bizarre hallucination, because does Jeongguk know? Why did he speak up for me?
It goes against everything Taehyung had thought. He was more than sure Jeongguk hated him, and would continue to hate him for the rest of eternity, but...
Jeongguk had defended him. And Taehyung's not thinking straight enough to try and understand why, but one thing is clear-- Jeongguk probably doesn't hate him as much as he says he does. Or maybe Taehyung had just worn him down and he doesn't hate Taehyung as much as he used to.Either way, there's a warmth in Taehyung's chest, a bright, giddy feeling because there's hope.
"Can I buy you a drink?" he asks. He'd stopped from drinking himself silly while the event planner was present, but Hoseok was currently walking the man to the car and there's no one around.
"Why?" Jeongguk asks, voice blunt. Taehyung flushes hot with embarrassment, but Jeongguk's not trying to antagonize him.
"I just..." Taehyung gulps. "I wanted to say thank you."
Jeongguk frowns, eyebrows furrowing together and Taehyung can imagine his brain trying to fit the pieces together, but it's a slow process, and Taehyung figures Jeongguk has probably been drinking more than he himself has.
"For... stopping the yacht thing from happening," Taehyung explains. Jeongguk's mouth opens into an 'oh' and he shrugs.
"It's nothing."
Taehyung shakes his head vehemently, reaching out to grasp Jeongguk's wrist without thinking. "No, it's not nothing. I... don't know what I would have done if I ended up having to get on that yacht."
Jeongguk's staring at Taehyung's long fingers, curled around his hand. There's a warm pulse coming from the contact and it's not altogether bad. So he doesn't pull away. It feels nice, doesn't it?
"Why didn't you say anything?" Jeongguk asks, after a pause.
"I... didn't know how. I couldn't find... the words. I guess. I panicked," Taehyung frowns, staring at his own lap in discontent. Just then, the bartender places two clear shots of vodka in front of them.
