Can't Say No

Coming Together

MONTH 11

Taehyung had been acting weird this week. He was distant, reserved. His smiles were hard to come by. He wasn't unkind or rude, just distracted and sad. It was consuming you to the point of distraction while you were at work. You were staring at your computer screen, thinking about him and trying to motivate yourself to work when someone came up behind you.

"Good morning Y/N." It made you start in surprise and when you looked around to see who it was, you jumped to your feet and gave the man a quick bow. It was the owner of the company, Taehyung's father. 

He waved off your bow with a slight smile, "How is Taehyung doing? He hasn't been into work this week." 

You weren't sure what to say, how do you tell his father that Tae hasn't been himself and he isn't talking to you about it? When you don't say anything, he just nods as if he knows what's going on.

"This week is always hard on him. Please take good care of him! If you need to take any time off, I've already cleared it with your manager." Taehyung's father bowed to you then patted your shoulder and walked away. This week is always hard on him? What did that mean? What was going on?

You grabbed your phone and went to the breakroom. You settled down at a table in the far corner and dialed Jin. It rang a couple of times, but then he picked up.

"Hey Y/N, what a pleasant surprise!" His voice does wonders to calm your troubled nerves. You take a deep breath to expel your anxiety.

"Hey Jin, do you have a minute? I had a question about Tae," You can't stop your teeth from nibbling on your bottom lip nervously.

"Sure, I have some time, what's up? Is everything alright?" This was one of the things you loved most about Taehyung's friends, they were always ready at the drop of a hat to help  each other out. Their love for Taehyung was stunning, beautiful, and refreshing.

"He's been acting weird this week, he's been sad and distant. He's not talking to me about it either." You tapped your fingers on the table and resisted the urge to start pacing the room, you didn't want to draw attention to yourself.

"Acting weird? Sad?" Jin sounded distracted and you could hear shuffling on the other end of the line, "Oh..." The shuffling stopped and Jin's tone of voice seemed full of foreboding, "This week is the anniversary of his mother's death, Y/N."

You sucked in a breath. You of course knew all about his mother. She had died five years ago after a long fight against a medical condition that couldn't be cured. You knew by the way that Tae talked about her that he loved her and her death still ate him up.

"Why didn't he tell me?" You whispered. You felt guilty and like the worst girlfriend in the world for not knowing. 

"Tae is an emotional person and sometimes I think he gets so wrapped in his emotions that he doesn't feel like he can express them. He kind of gets trapped by them and needs help getting out." Jin's were gentle and kind, but they still made you feel like shit. 

"What can I do to help him?" It came out almost like a plea and you would have felt embarrassed if it was anyone but Jin.

"I have an idea." 

Later that night you have two packed bags in the back of Tae's car as you drove with him in the passenger seat napping. He hadn't been sleeping well the past couple of days do he didn't really fight it when you told him to nap as you drove. 

You were kind of glad that he was asleep, because then he wouldn't ask any questions. But maybe he wouldn't have asked any questions anyways. He hadn't asked any questions as you packed two bags and told him you were both going away for the weekend, he just followed you like a zombie mixed with a little lost puppy.