just friends//kth

thirty-six

You managed to avoid Tae for the majority of the week the experiments were conducted. You had practically been promoted to being Jin's assistant and anytime you weren't with him, you were with Jungkook. He was being the best anchor, always there for you any time you felt like being sad over Taehyung and the loss of your-- friendship? Could you even call it that?

"Noona, come over."

"I'm fine, Jungkook."

"My gut's telling me that you're on your third glass of wine, aren't you?" You stared at the bottle to your left. Fifth.

"Jungkook."

"You come over here or I'll have to sleep with the receptionist of your dorm again to get in."

Or

"My hyung said you weren't having fun on your date, noona, what happened?"

"Hm?"

"Earth to noona."

"Yes, Jungkook, I'm here."

"Okay, let's go to an arcade and eat chicken wings."

But you weren't lucky enough to stay away from Taehyung for long.

One of the final days of the experiment was when you finally had to face him. And after having gotten used to seeing him without making conversation, it was hard to really speak.

Washing your hands slowly, you made sure to lather the soap as much as possible, staring at yourself in the mirror. It was then that the door opened.

You gasped and turned towards it and the person who'd entered covered his eyes. "Oh, sorry— the door was marked as vacant; you didn't switch it to occupied."

Stupid bathroom.

You didn't say anything as you stared at Taehyungs long fingers, clasped over his eyes. "Sorry," he said again when you didn't respond.

He turned to leave but managed to hit his nose against the doorframe, making you gasp yet again. He groaned, hand moving from his eyes to his nose in pain.

"Shit."

"You're bleeding."

Tae's eyes opened at the sound of your voice to meet your gaze. He hadn't realized it was you. You locked eyes and held your gaze with his for a moment. Blood was left dripping and he only broke the eye contact when it hit his lip.

"Oh—"

"Uh—"

You turned to pull the lever for a stream of paper towels as he fully entered the bathroom, closing the door shut behind him. You waited as he switched the tab to occupied.

"Thanks."

Your fingers grazed as he took the paper towels to his nose and just pinched, trying to stop the nose bleed.

"Do you think it's broken?"

He shrugged but shook his head, turning to the mirror. You made eye contact through it and you turned away quickly, grabbing your purse.

Throwing it over your shoulder and grabbing the paper towel Jungkook had asked for the clean the water he'd spilled, you began to head for the door.

Tae grabbed your wrist.

"Y/N, wait."

You paused when his hand didn't let go, not turning but not leaving either. He didn't say anything until he swore, making you turn.

His nose was bleeding uncontrollably and you sighed at the sight of the bloody paper towels. He tossed it into the garbage and hit the lever for another. There was only one left.