An Extra Beat of Love

14. But...?

Jeongguk had always been the type to get crushes easily. May it be his ex-girlfriend, Kim Soohyeon, or his present crush (something that he realized out of the blue the previous night), Kim Taehyung. 

He never took a long time to fall for people. It had taken about three and a half days for him to fall for Soohyeon. But once he did fall for someone, it took a lot of time for him to get over them. 

He was also sure that if not for the fact that all of his friends were couples, he would have definitely fallen for one of them. But what could he do? It was just very easy for him to fall in love.

Then again, Taehyung had a charm of his own. 

He didn't understand what it was about Taehyung that attracted people like that, but his daughter fell flat for him, his parents fell flat for him, his friends fell flat for him, even Hoseok, who had met him for the first time the previous night, fell flat for him. Hell, he himself fell flat for him.

He felt like a high-schooler all over again, waking up with the first thought being Taehyung, walking out of the bedroom with the thought of seeing him, finding him making omelets in the kitchen with his hair pulled into a small, tight bun, and feeling his heart flip twice at the sight. 

"Oh, hyung, good morning," he wished and settled on the opposite counter after Taehyung wished him back with a grin. "Your hair looks good," he said. "Thank you," Taehyung said. 

The grin never left either of their faces. 

"What are your plans for the day, hyung?" Jeongguk asked, grabbing a cold coffee can for himself from the fridge. 

"Umm....I gotta go out. I'll cook lunch and then leave. I'll be back to cook dinner, don't worry," Taehyung said. "What? Cooking doesn't matter. Where are you going?" Jeongguk asked. 

Taehyung didn't answer. For some reason, he had a feeling that Jeongguk would offer to drive him if he came to know that he was going to Seoul. He didn't want to inconvenience him that way.

"Hyung....?" Jeongguk asked, standing right behind him. 

Taehyung jumped, startling out of his thoughts. "Ahh...umm...Seoul," he blurted out before he could stop himself. 

"Ohh? Why?" 

"Umm...some personal work...." 

"Hmm...." Jeongguk took a sip of his coffee, "how are you gonna go?" 

"The bus," Taehyung mumbled and flipped the omelet on the pan. 

"I'll take you wherever you wanna go."

There it was. The thing that Taehyung thought might happen. 

Sure, he didn't want to inconvenience Jeongguk, but a small part of him wanted to accept the ride. Would Jeongguk offer to drive him to Seoul if it was inconvenient for him? What if he was just offering it out of formality?

"No, no, Jeongguk-ah, it's okay. I can go by myself," Taehyung said, hoping in a small corner of his enlarged heart that Jeongguk would insist. 

He had spent the whole night awake just like he did most of the nights and the previous day's exhaustion hadn't left his body yet. 

He wanted to be selfish just for once and let Jeongguk drive him to Seoul. At least the journey would be a little less uncomfortable and hopefully a little less exhausting.

"Nonsense," Jeongguk snapped at him. "I'll drive you to Seoul. We can maybe have lunch at some restaurant after your work," he said. 

"What? No. I can't afford that," Taehyung mumbled.