before we meet again

3 days

*A/N: Part titles indicate the count of days since Jimin came back home.

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Yoongi and Taehyung have been busy for several hours at opposite ends of the art cafe they run together.

It was a busy day. They had not established a dialogue other than saying 'good morning' to each other.

At the first chance he finds, Yoongi throws himself into the kitchen section on the inside, leaving the door to close recklessly by itself.

Meanwhile, Taehyung was busy carefully pouring the fresh cream over the steenth coffee he prepared today.

"We have plenty of employees to make coffee, you know?" Yoongi says as he directly approaches him.

Taehyung smiles lightly, "I told you don't have to employ anyone for this."

"But I did and I pay them, let them do their job."

"I love making coffee, stop messing around with me."

Yoongi folds his arms across his chest as he leans his hips against the counter in front of them both.

"By the way, Jungkook wanted to organize a homecoming party for Jimin and I said he can do it at our place," he says quickly, probably trying to rip the band-aid off.

Taehyung's gaze finds his friend's face with a sudden surprise and he loses control of his hand for a moment, muttering a curse as the heavy cream pours into the coffee.

He hits the cream coffee pot hard on the counter and grabs the coffee cup, heads to the sink saying nothing but curses, quickly pouring the liquid then hurriedly reaching out to the shelf to get a new cup to warm up but he didn't realize that Yoongi's hand was coming after him. He grabs Taehyung's wrist hard and stops him.

"Tae,"

"Hyung, people are waiting for orders, I have to do it quickly."

"The people can fucking wait," Yoongi says, he tightens his hold and lowers Taehyung's hand.

Then he calls out the name of one of his employees. The employees had a seriousness with Yoongi, although not much with Taehyung, and their ears are sensitive to his voice literally like a wolf. That's why it only takes a few seconds or so for the person he's calling to come in.

"Keep preparing the orders, please," he says, and without waiting for a response from the employee, he pulls Taehyung by the wrist and starts dragging him towards the exit at the back of the kitchen.

When they went out, the fresh air Taehyung inhaled made him feel like his lungs are burning, he quickly freed his hand from Yoongi's.

"The orders-"

"Answer what I said."

Taehyung locks his gaze on Yoongi's face, his eyes darker than ever. The fatigue that he had not felt even while running all day had taken over his entire body in a single second when he heard a single name.

"What do you want me to say? You didn't even bother to ask me anyway."

"Would you say no if I asked?"

Taehyung shrugs without saying anything. Of course he wouldn't. In their so many years of friendship, he has not been able to say no to either Jungkook or Jimin.

"Your behaviors concerning me, Taehyung," Yoongi reaches out and touches his shoulder, but he is not even sure if he felt it, "I thought you were over the things happened between you two."

"Don't talk about this," Taehyung feels helpless when it comes to their past, "Please."

"Jimin is our friend, Tae, there's nothing wrong with having a celebration for our frie-"

"Hyung," Taehyung interrupts, unable to stand it any longer, "He is your friend."

Taehyung's hands, which still look trembling, reach behind him suddenly, quickly undoing the knot of his apron at his waist.

"I lost him," he says, clumsily folding the apron in a way he normally wouldn't, then presses the piece of cloth to his friend's chest, staring at his face for just one more second, "For ever more."

And he leaves everything that has been broken where they are, untouched, and walks away.

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