"There's a lot that I know, but you two don't." The man smiled sadly, looking over to his friend once again. Taehyung's eyes couldn't help but flick up to him every minute, hoping he'd twitch a finger or two.
"How-"I choked, "H-How..."
"I've been suspecting it for a while now." He answered, brushing his messy bangs away from his brown eyes. "As if you've been unconsciously dropping hints for me, and I'm not bad at connecting the dots."
"For how long?" I whispered, almost unsure if I should question him.
"Since the day we visited the park." He turns to me, eyes raking over my face, maybe trying to study my emotions. Mouth agape, I stared at him incredulously, "It-it's quite a while."
"You just confirmed my doubts when you burst out crying outside for a person who's supposed to be a stranger to you." I looked back into his eyes, the brown irises reflecting the dim light of the sickly room, glossed, and red eyes. I had never seen him so out of it, so unusual for the always presentable Kim Taehyung.
"I'm sorry..." I breathed out, a water droplet escaping the corner of my eye. He sighed, shaking his head in denial, "You're both at fault, it will not matter if you apologize to us instead of him, and by that, I don't mean that you're the only one who should be apologetic." He glanced at the white bed again, "He too needs to."
"Why are you putting so much effort into this?" The words dissipated into the air as soon as they left my lips, the annoying beeps of the monitor making me feel nauseous.
"Because, if it's not me then who will?" He smiled slightly, pulling his knees up to his chest, resting his arms on his knees. I stared at him blankly, lips morphing into a bitter smile. A thousand questions rang at the back of my head, but the situation constrained my throat, who would be happy being interrogated when someone close to them is in jeopardy. But, one more question wouldn't hurt...
"Tae," I mumbled, picking at the cup noodles in my hands. He hummed, staring at the ceiling, head resting against the wall. "Would you... still, help me even if I wasn't someone close to Jimin?"
He flinched at the mention of the name, "Yes." Taehyung started.
"I would've done anything to solve this if you weren't Cathy, and I still will continue trying."
I chuckled humorlessly, "What are you so nice for?"
"I don't know, what are you so aggressive for?"
I shrugged, "Bullying."
"Same here."
My eyes widened, head snapping to look at Taehyung's side profile, a calm smile resting on his lips. "No way..."
"Yes way," He laughed softly, "Yeah, I was bullied. Not as bad as you guys—it was pretty intense– I was mentally abused—verbally." Taehyung sighed contently, the memories playing vividly in his mind, however, the grown-up wasn't traumatized by his past anymore. "I was good at suppressing emotions, trying to act all toughed up and bearing everything like it was supposed to be; I started believing it was my fate. Eventually, my parents found out about the not-so-disciplined students. So, I changed schools."
I listened intently, it was not every day you meet someone who understands you and has experienced the miserable things as yours. "Then, I met this idiot." He pointed to Jimin, tears falling from his eyes, the liquid expressing his gratefulness and his worried heart. "Do you know what he was like when I first met him?" He turned his head towards me and I shook my head in denial.
"He was always like, 'You're so annoying', 'Get lost, don't you have anything else to do?', 'Stop bothering me!' and so on." He chuckled. My mouth fell agape, I didn't remember Jimin talking like this to anyone, always carrying the inferior aura that wasn't healthy for him.
"You can't believe it right?" He asked softly, scanning my facial expression. "Neither did I do when the sudden 'angel' like Jimin appeared in front of me? I remember that day, I got punished by my teacher, well earned a slap for that one." He stated, embarrassed. "Well, what do expect from a high schooler? At least to shed a tear or two, but I didn't, accepted it like usual," He paused, "And believe me when I say it wasn't even a valid reason to punish students."
"What was it?"
"I drank water between the class, and she declared that I wasn't paying attention—lucky for her, my grades weren't the greatest— and punished me. I was told that the teacher will be speaking with my parents regarding my behavior, and the dumb me was ready for lectures I was going to face. I stood outside the class for the whole day, swallowing up my tears, because I didn't want anyone to see my weak self."
He grinned, tears raining on his cheeks as he looked up to his mate, "Then he comes to me at recess, asking what happened and whatnot. I didn't reply, continuously trying to pursue him that I'm fine while I was literally peeing myself at the thought of what my teacher will say to my parents. He saw me sniffling, trying to wipe the tears of my misery discreetly."
"And that was when he got super angry, scolding me about how I was pretending and that I shouldn't be culpable in the first place. Earned a punch from him too for trying to be a tough man and stating the 'Real men don't cry' saying. He then countered me with, 'Look at yourself! You don't even have chest hair. 'Real men don't cry' shit. The person who said this is most probably the one who escaped from an asylum.' Now, all the worry left me, totally engrossed in his rambling."
Taehyung laughed, recalling his not-so-ideal past most joyously, "He threatened me that if I followed the same mindset, he'll throw me outside our classroom's window. He is still the person whom I first go to when I feel like crying, or if my emotions get too much for me to handle. Jimin knows how to provide comfort like home. He was always worried if I'm still bottling up my feelings, or if I try doing anything silly. He promised that he wouldn't leave my side until I accepted them—my emotions—and see, he doesn't plan on leaving any soon."
I smiled, feeling somewhat proud that Jimin was the one who taught Taehyung that. Their bond was unearthly as if they were connected from the start, destined to meet each other and to rely on each other; as if their story was written in the most beautiful words. Taehyung and Jimin were born to be themselves, to help themselves out with someone to watch them progress and compliment at every point of life.
"And you're the one who taught him that didn't you?" He asked, shuffling into a more comfortable position. "Huh?"
"He told me that too, he told me everything about both of you. After you left Jimin closed him up once again, and that too for months, he was always distant, not interested in his classmate even a little bit," He pointed to himself. "He told me how you were the one who was able to make him realize how dangerous toxic masculinity is, and that lending a helping hand can change someone for good."
"It took him quite a while to open up to me, but all it needed was a slap from my homeroom teacher for him to come running like a madman if I was okay or if I've eaten anything. If only I would've known, would've gotten it sooner." He shrugged.
I laughed, "You're weird."
"So are you." He stated.
Silence wrapped around us lost in bittersweet memories of our pasts. Taehyung...I knew nothing about him, and I knew nothing about Jimin too. They both have known each other for way longer than I ever did. "Are you...planning on staying here till the week?" I questioned
"No." He shook his head.
"Oh...you're planning on going earlier then? I mean, it's okay I can-"
"No." Taehyung sighed, "I'm not going to Italy."
"But-"
"I want to stay until Jimin wakes up, he owes me a punch, dead square on the jaw." He gritted his teeth, feeling agitated by the immature ways of Jimin.
"Tae, I can-"
I was interrupted the moment his phone started ringing.
A/N: Hey guys, I'm sorry I'm not uploading enough. My health is really down the drain rn. I'm on bed rest, you can say. I wasn't planning to write this and publish this today itself. I didn't even plan on touching this until I got better, but today I intentionally opened Wattpad for some reason and saw some of the notifications indicating a follow or vote or this book added to reading lists. And I'm very grateful for your support, I didn't even think that this book would have any readers, not to mention my trashy storytelling, I suck at it. But, I'll try to be better, for those who support me, and hopefully will continue supporting me. I'm thankful for all my readers, doesn't matter if they're silent readers, I'm happy you're finding even the tiniest bit of interest in my story. I'll try updating whenever I feel a bit better. Thank you all, please bear with me.