masquerade//pjm

thirty-eight

an// sorry for not posting yesterday! i started a short term internship and i completely forgot! this chapter is long and is a bit dry in the beginning but its so worth is please stay till the end!!! also, don't forget to vote and comment! it helps others reach this book too :) i love you all so much <3

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"You still came!" Taehyung wrapped his arms around you and you waved bye to Jin as he drove off. You let Tae hug you for a moment and took in his scent. "You okay?'

"Are you okay?" you asked back. "What happened with t/ex and her grandma?"

Taehyung walked you into the school and navigated through many groups of people to get to where your school's team was setting up. The robotics tournament was in yet another gymnasium and you guys were set up in a corner, far right of the entrance.

"She's okay now-- her heart rate was speeding up faster than usual so she called me to help her get to the hospital."

"Did you drive her?" Tae led you to the bleachers to take a seat.

"We called an ambulance-- I think t/ex was just panicking too much to think straight and called me. There's no way I could've transported her grandmother in my mom's honda, y/n." You smiled.

"How'd it go with her though?" You leaned in. "Is she alright now?"

"Yeah, I think she's stable. She doesn't have that, you know, that much longer anyway so I think she's just going to be in the hospital for her last few days."

"Oh, man."

"I think it's for the best-- she's in a lot of pain and it'll be better for her if she goes." You nodded slowly. "And the timing is okay as well-- t/ex can focus on school since she's leaving soon anyway. It'll be hard but everything happens for a reason, right?"

"Yeah," you sighed. You guys sat in silence for a moment. You looked up at Tae as he fiddled with his fingers. He was wearing his glasses instead of his contacts. "Tae?"

"Hm?"

"You okay? What happened with her?" He sat back against the seats behind you guys. "Did you guys talk?" You turned to face him and he looked at you. Your face was in a much better condition than it was the night prior-- make-up free and less puffy. Still puffy but it was much better.

"We were in the waiting room once her grandmother was taken in. And just before we got the clear that she was okay, t/ex, well," he paused to sigh, "she said we should end things for good."

"Oh, Tae."

"She said it'd be for the best because--" he took in a deep breath before continuing, "-- she'd been really happy, apparently, since we broke up. Better, I guess? She said she had all this free time now to do things for herself and to focus on her grandma and school and time to talk to her parents overseas and-- I don't know. I guess she was just happier without me."

"Tae--"

"I guess it makes sense though, right? We've been together for so so long that like, I guess I didn't know how to be without her either. We spent a lot of time together so now that we aren't, we both have so much free time." He paused to pick at the rip in his jeans. "It's been like that for me too-- I get to do my work and I have so much time too. I started working out like crazy and it's been great. And Yeontan and I go on so many more walks since I'm done my homework by the time he has to go anyway."

"Awh."

"And she said she missed me and that, I don't know, it was kind of cliche but, that she'd always love me and that it was nice that we were each other's first everything but it's time to move on." You nodded slowly. "I guess I'm just really glad that she's doing okay. She'll be off to university next year anyway so I guess it'll be a lot easier to move on than it has been this past month."