METANOIA | TK

Chapter Eight

"Oh, I shouldn't drink wine on the first..." The other trails off his words, his eyebrows furrowing as he stops himself from continuing, Jeongguk realizing the other is getting shy only when he starts avoiding his eyes.

Jeongguk might not date a lot but he's used to being confident whenever he meets new people due to his line of work so he smiles, tilting his head to the side as he meets Taehyung's eyes.

"Date?" He resumes, finding the rosiness that appears on Taehyung's face at his words quite lovely. "You can have a glass or two, I'm not the type that judges people at first sight, unlike someone I know." He adds, making sure to have a grin spread on his face so that Taehyung can understand he's just teasing him.

"Auch, you hit a nerve. I'll have a glass then, it's been a lengthy and exasperating day." They both smile, glad that the thick atmosphere is gone with Jeongguk's slightly terrible joke.

They chat for a while, Taehyung telling him about the mass of clients he had at the restaurant before coming there, mentioning that his legs were aching so much that he could lay in bed for a week and never get bored of it. He tells him stories about his coworkers and Jeongguk finds himself laughing out loud at his words, something he thinks he enjoys a lot. He's comfortable around the other but that might be because Taehyung does all the talking, looking way more relaxed than Jeongguk, even if he's not that shy anymore.

When the waiter comes again, leaving a bottle of wine that Jeongguk has ordered on the table, Taehyung leans closer.

He rests his cheek on his palm, his hazel eyes peering at Taehyung in a way that makes his skin shudder — it's charming, the way Taehyung looks at him like he's a piece of art he keeps admiring. "So, rich boy, you just ordered a bottle of wine and I know that one's expensive. Are you a mafia leader?" He murmurs, acting like someone might come and arrest them any second if they heard his question.

Jeongguk finds himself leaning closer and following the other's lead as well. "Yes, but please don't tell anyone."

They start laughing at that, the other sipping from his glass from time to time before putting it down and staring at Jeongguk with a sweet smile and curious eyes.

"Are you a businessman?" He asks, the smile never leaving his face. "Because you're certainly not a mafia leader."

Jeongguk raises a brow, tilting his head to the side before digging his fork in his pasta. "What makes you think I'm not? I could be." Jeongguk frowns, making sure his expression is as serious as it could be — perfect for a supposed mafia leader. "I might have guns hidden under my shirt and men waiting for me outside and all that stuff."

"You blushed when I called you gentleman, Jeongguk."

He ends up smiling at that, chuckling when he realizes his demeanor is gone. "You caught me."

"So what do you do?"

Jeongguk isn't sure he wants Taehyung to know what his job is since people tend to act differently whenever jobs are involved, thinking that someone might be inferior or superior to them. He thinks those thoughts are meaningless but some people are like that. He still decides to tell him, realizing that Taehyung might just be different since he doesn't seem like he cares about such things. He's been talking and joking freely for an hour and Jeongguk hopes the mention of his job won't change his behavior.

"I'm an architect so I pretty much just design buildings and other things." He shrugs, truly feeling like his job isn't that thrilling.

Taehyung's mouth opens at that, his eyes going wide with what Jeongguk thinks might be excitement. He doesn't consider his job interesting or exciting at all but Taehyung seems delighted to hear about it.