SHOOT YOUR SHOT ;; TAEKOOK

21 + 22

Taehyung was in hell. Thursday evening hell to be precise.

Mrs. Black, the wife of his boss, was in such a state of hysterics that he'd been giving serious thought to calling 911 for the past thirty minutes.

Taehyung didn't know what to do. She kept bursting into random fits of tears and pulling him in for hugs. And the only thing that he could think to do was pat her head and say 'there, there' as he inwardly cringed from the physical contact.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she had dragged every Zeha's employee out for dinner, stuffed a bright pink 'Good Luck!' sash over Taehyung's head and had forced him to sit through two rather painful hours of gift giving, storytelling and best wish sentiments.

Taehyung had been loaded down with a brown leather Quicksilver satchel shoulder bag, a lightweight cream hooded parka, a set of navy home printed pyjama's with 'WATCH OUT COLUMBIA!' written in bold white lettering on the front of the top and a grouped collection of $250.00.

Taehyung's face could no longer recognise the tingling sensation of his blush, for it had now become a permanent fixture.

Outwardly, he tried his very best to appear grateful and somewhat saddened. Inside he was joining his would-be murder victim in a fresh round of 'who can have the more severe panic attack'. He was winning.

It was unbelievably thoughtful of them. They were throwing him a goodbye party and wishing him well. They'd even said how proud of him they were. Proud. For the love of God, what was he supposed to say to that?

Taehyung didn't understand it! The emotional heights of the evening could rival Mrs. Black's six inch stilettos.

Taehyung felt ill.

And everyone seemed to want to cuddle... repeatedly. They all wanted a piece of Taehyung before he shipped off to New York, probably never to return again.

Every touch burned his skin and the effort to control his grimace with a cheerful smile was taking a great deal out of him.

But on the plus side, he was officially no longer a Zeha's employee. It was the silver lining.

Taehyung honestly hadn't thought that the evening could become any more excruciating than it already was. He was wrong.

Ron Black eventually walked through the doors carting a cake the size of Texas – complete with sparklers – with the words 'you will be missed Taehyung!' scrawled messily onto it.

Ron was Mrs. Black's son and Taehyung and he had... well, their history was awkward at best.

Ron and Taehyung had always been on relatively friendly terms at school, though they ran in different cliques.

Well, he hadn't ever really had a clique, it was just Jimin and him.

They had been affectionately labelled the 'virgin twins' by some of the more intellectual beings in Ron's gang.

Because of Taehyung's job at his family's store, Ron had always been pleasant towards him. His motley crew had repulsed him though.

People always say things like 'kids are cruel' and having known Ron's friends these last few years he was inclined to agree. They were just awful.

They had set their mean eyes on Jimin and Taehyung three years ago and the taunting had never stopped.

But Ron had always been different... much kinder.