An Extra Beat of Love

13. Tantrum-thrower

Jeongguk had felt guilty when he first mentioned it to his friends, but he didn't feel too guilty anymore as he watched all of them interact with Taehyung like he was their younger brother. 

On their way to his parents' house that evening, he had asked them what their thoughts on Taehyung were. 

"I like him. Why?" Namjoon and Yoongi answered right away. "What do you think of adding him into our circle?" he asked without answering their question. "I thought he was already part of it? Why, though?" Seokjin asked. 

Hoseok, who hadn't met Taehyung yet, didn't make any comment. He just sat and listened to them talk. 

"Just...nothing. Just wanted to ask," Jeongguk said, knowing fully well that that small break that he had unintentionally given would make them ask him for more details. As expected, they did. 

He took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "Last week, he mentioned something about being new to having people consider him as a friend. I found it odd, really. Like, how the hell does a person live for twenty-six years without making a single friend?" he asked. 

"That's odd," even Hoseok agreed. 

"Yeah, but then, later that day, I found out that he takes a lot of tablets. Like crazy, really. A lot, lot. And I also know for a fact that he wasn't exactly in a financially well-to-do position before his mother passed away. It just made me think that maybe he was just not in a situation to make any friends.

I don't know, it isn't my position to make a comment on it, but it just made me feel really bad for him, you know? I am not offering pity friendship of course, because I came to know about him not having friends after I told him that I consider him as a friend. And I don't want you to offer pity friendship as well, so I just wanted to confirm what you think of him," Jeongguk explained. 

Everyone stayed silent for a while, taking in the information and digesting it the best they could. 

After a while, Seokjin spoke up. "As I said, I thought he was already a part of our group the second you mentioned that he was your friend. I liked him when I came to your house that day. I can't say I consider him as a friend as well, because we didn't actually interact with him last week, but part of the reason why I accepted tonight's dinner invite so readily was because I wanted to get to know him more," he said. 

"Ohh?"

"Yupp. Namjoon said the same thing when I first told him about the dinner," Seokjin said. 

"Ohh??" Jeongguk looked at Namjoon from his rearview mirror. 

Namjoon gave him a brisk nod. "He just seemed like a nice guy and you said he was your friend, so I thought this could be a nice opportunity to get to know him more," he said. 

"Wow. Nice," Jeongguk said. He hadn't expected that.

"Moreover, Hana seems to be very comfortable with him. That kinda makes him a part of our group even if he wasn't your friend, right?" Yoongi pointed out. 

"Right," Hoseok agreed to that. 

"Where did he live before coming to your parents' house, by the way?" Namjoon asked. "Daegu," Jeongguk answered. "Apparently he went there today," he continued. 

"Ohh? Then who's gonna cook dinner?" Seokjin asked. 

"Oh, no, he's back. Just some personal work, apparently," Jeongguk said. 

"That's crazy!! He traveled all the way from Ilsan to Daegu and back on the same day??!" Namjoon asked, horror coloring his voice. 

"Yeah."