TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
YOU:
are you home alone
TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
well i'm not with anyone
YOU:
gimme ur address
TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
ew no you creep i'm still mad at you
YOU:
i have apology pizza
TAEDDY BEAR:
362 eonjuro street black sedan in the driveway right down the block from the froyo place with the pink smiley face on its sign
YOU:
lmao alright bet
YOU:
that's actually not very far from my friend's house
YOU:
but yeah be there in 15
TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
ooOH SHE COMIN IN CLUTCH
TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
WAIT
TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
GARLIC CRUST OR DOUBLE STUFFED
YOU:
garlic crust
TAEDDY BEAR 🐻💖:
LIT LIT LIT LIT LIT LIT
YOU:
lmao bye
YOU:
hey i'm here open the door
taehyung's house looked very different than the way i'd pictured it all along. just as he said, a black sedan was parked in the driveway, but he didn't mention that it was an audi.
he got money.
the lawn was trimmed to perfection, with a small flower bed on either side of the doorstep, and there were solar panels atop the roof. his house looked like a dream compared to my parents' two bedroom apartment.
leaning on the door, i had to say, was pretty agonizing. i was not one to admit to my wrongs, but after much thought, i realize what i said to taehyung was uncalled for. i never thought it would bother him as much as it did; he always took the joke well whenever i poked fun at it.
it was just so easy to forget that he had real, serious feelings when all we ever did was joke around. maybe next time i should be more careful.
speaking of careful, i also should have been paying attention to the door, which swung open so instantly that i nearly toppled face first onto the wooden floors inside. okay, maybe i'm dragging it, but i really almost dropped the pizza, and that would have been tragic.
regaining my balance was a relatively simple thing to do, but gettting taehyung to quit snickering was another story. i rolled my eyes and looked away from him, his sweatpants, bedhead, his sweatpants, and the very sad attempt of a man-bun atop his head.
"hey taehyung." i choked out. my brain was so utterly repulsed at the idea of apologizing to someone that i ended up giving a too-sarcastic smile.
it's a habit.
but taehyung, completely undeterred by my resting bitch face, beamed his squircle smile at me and waved profusely.
"you're here!" he began, radiating his joyous aura onto me as we stood on opposite sides of the doorway. i nearly cracked a smile.
he leaned in and placed a hand on my back while i awkwardly waited for the hug to end. i wished he'd stop touching me. he smelled like so much sweat and morning — with hints of fading evergreen-scented deordorant — even though it was about six in the evening.
"hey, ari!" his deep voice seemed to crack from excitement, not from my arrival, but from the pizza box he'd been eyeing all along, "and hellooooo large pie. how you zoin'?"
the box was out of my hands in seconds and he squealed, practically vibrating from the elation.
"you're so awkward," i shook my head. his contagious smile finally latched onto me for good. too bad he wasn't paying attention.
by the time i'd spoken, he was already swinging around the wall, chanting "pizza! pizza! pizza!" and letting out a hideous disney villain sort of laugh.
again, i had to shake my head as i removed my shoes. leaving them aside at the doormat, i followed and shoved my father's car keys into the pockets of my aviator jacket.
i took my bun down as i walked, just to look at least a bit presentable in case his parents decided to make a surprise appearance halfway through our meal. in retrospect, the whole tie dye shirt, joggers, and adidas flip flops look probably wasn't the best fit i could have put together today.
maybe it wasn't so bad for the occasion though. after all, it would just be taehyung and i if everything went according to plan.
"jungkook, look! areum brought pizza for me!"
and there goes my plan.
as i rounded the corner, i was met with the sight of an equally messy looking jungkook on the sofa. his eyes were trained on the large plasma screen on the far wall to my left as he tried desperately for first place in mariokart. he muttered a mindless hello to me while taehyung sat down and tossed the pizza aside to the coffee table. my lips twisted to the side of my face uncomfortably.
"you cheater, you unpaused the game!" taehyung whined, trying to mess with his friend's controller. jungkook leaned away, still in his own world.
sighing, i threw myself into the separate armchair to watch them play. my toes wiggled out of conscious boredom and i sprawled out across the seat, picking my phone out of my pocket. i couldn't even use it for anything; it was more of a crutch, since taehyung hadn't yet connected me to the wifi and my data plan was all used up for the next five days.
i just really didn't want to look this awkward.
"ha! i win!"
"fuck you and your red shells, okay?"
"don't be mad at me because you aren't about the drift life, kiddo," taehyung ruffled jungkook's hair. jungkook kicked him away with a smile, but the teasing continued, and so another game of mariokart began.
except twenty seconds into their race, taehyung quit his bickering.
"ooh!" he sang, springing up from the couch, grabbing his crotch and running out of the room, singing, "oh boy gotta pee gotta pee gotta pee!"
a fucking toddler, i swear.
i then turned to jungkook, shooting a semi-fake smirk his way as i clasped my hands together.
"hey, kid. what're," i chuckled, for theatric purposes, "what're you doing here?"
"just cooling and playing video games and stuff."
another fake laugh weaseled past my lips so fast, i almost cursed myself for being so shady.
"why?"
"just because."
"when did you get here?"
"ten minutes ago maybe?"
his squinting eyes seeming extra suspicious of me. i thought i saw a trace of a grin, so i decided to cut things short, though i was lowkey highkey in the mood to pry — as always.
"mmm, okay." i mirrored the narrowing of his eyes and returned my gaze to my phone, "no further questioning."
"hey, why'd you bring pizza all of a sudden? you know that's my job." jungkook joked, once again unpausing the game. i sighed and looked at him, then away again.
"i felt bad about what i said to him in the group chat. about being a fuckboy, i mean."
i decided on the truth. lying would only bite me in the ass with the kind of friends we all were, and honestly, i was getting sick of them all pulling receipts on me. so the conversation ended there for a second.
how long does it take to pee?
seriously, what is taehyung doing in there? knowing him he's probably playing i-spy with himself. i can see it now.
"i spy with my little eye, something white."
"is it the toilet?"
"how'd you know?"
"ah, we're so smart."
such an odd boy. for him though, i think odd works.
"is this chicken and bacon?"
my eyes went to jungkook, reaching for the pizza box on the coffee table. in the video game, yoshi crossed the finish line, so he gave a petty smile at his win.
i raised my brow and replied, chuckling, "it is."
"well, feel free to share, the cockblock is here!"
"not so fast." i somehow managed to snatch the box out of his reach with my big toe. "one, this is for taehyung. and two, it's not cockblocking if i'm not trying to get with him."
"sure it isn't."
and jungkook's eyes rolled in such a perfect circle that i was more in awe than offended by the disrespect. but nonetheless, i bit back, "i saw that."
"okay? am i supposed to be scared or something?" he scoffed.
i threw a pillow at him and the ricochet almost broke a picture frame, which he seriously scolded me for, but did the picture frame break? no. so i don't know who he thought he was talking to.
taehyung, finally back from the bathroom, grabbed the pizza box instantly after his return. he threw himself onto my lap in the armchair and i smelled so much armpit i thought i might die. and then he had the nerve to wrap an arm around me, and get jungkook to join until i finally gave up my struggling and let them sit on my lap like those two overgrown girlfriends you always see at taking pictures with santa claus because they think they're cute and trendy, even though they really aren't.
the only thing that could soothe the scent of unshowered boy sweat dancing around my nose was the smell of apology pizza as taehyung finally cracked the box open.
"oh it's so lit."
oh shit he rite.
jungkook and i watched with watering mouths as he enjoyed the first slice, which seemed to make him uncomfortable. it only made sense that he felt prompted to ask — a string of cheese hanging from his lip —
"you guys want some?"
he didn't have to ask us twice.
jungkook passed me a slice and took one for his own. he didn't even wait so much as a second before he was digging in, but i had to take mine all in and prepare for the worst. i shook my head,
"i'm gonna shit myself so bad."
taehyung cocked a brow.
"why?"
"you didn't know? i'm lactose!"