Friendships Desires and Secrets

Unwanted Goodbyes

After Tara came back, Yoongi blushed and took a large swallow of whiskey. Jimin had been talking quickly to Taehyung and got quiet when she sat down, winking at her and moving food closer to her. "You should eat." He smiled sideways sweetly and filled her plate with BBQ and other meats. She stared at the food wide eyed and desperately wanted to decline. She looked to Yoongi for help, but he was facing JK.  She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite.

Across the table, Alex laughed out loud as Namjoon jumped up, beer spilling off the table and splattering on the floor. The waitress that had been hovering out of notice, rushed over and started mopping it up with a towel. Namjoon grabbed some napkins and squatting down, began helping and apologizing profusely. He wobbled and fell back, sitting down hard. This made Alex double over, laughing so hard that her side stitched.

"Do you want me to bring the whiskey down there dear?" She spouted playfully down at him.

"Not unless we're planning on spending the night here." He chuckled, attempting to get up, but sat back down. Alex stood to help him as the waitress finished and walked away. She extended both her hands to him. He accepted and she pulled his large frame upright. He wavered slightly and looked down at her. She instantly felt panic and sat down, her hands vibrating with electricity.

"Sit before you fall man." She chided him without looking back up and he nodded, sitting. 

Tara had watched the whole thing with slightly blurry vision, and wondered what Alex was thinking. He was into her, and she was being so cool towards him. Maybe Alex was misreading his signals, but one good hard look at her friend and Tara knew exactly what was going on. Much like herself, Alex was getting in her own head, and getting in her own way.

As soon as Namjoon was back in his seat and settled, he looked back at Alex, "What were we talking about?"

"Na Tae-joo." She responded. "His poetry as an influential source."

"Oh! Ya ya ya... so like I was saying, I just thought that even now, there is an importance in his work. Fuck, I mean there is always value in writings as long as we are gaining something positive from it. His way of expression is easy to digest," He took a drink then quickly added, "for me anyway."

Alex nodded. "Not unlike Hemmingway, but I feel like for all the surface interpretation of them, Na has a deeper meaning if you search for it. At least in some of his work."

"But wouldn't most poetry connoisseurs say that about any poet they studied and had an appreciation for, even if those deeper interpretations aren't there. Deeper meanings can always be found if you look too long." He spooned soup into his mouth and scratched his arm. "That is really applicable to the over-study of any subject."

Tara could see that Namjoon really liked having someone intellectual to talk to. She emptied her glass and suddenly it was full again. Yoongi smiled crookedly at her as he poured, almost missing the glass. Tara nodded at him and smiled back. She glanced at her watch and was stunned that it was almost 1am. "I think we should call cabs." She said to Yoongi but loud enough where Alex could hear her.

Alex turned from Namjoon to Tara and said "Hu?"

Tara poked her watch to which Alex nodded, and looking back at Namjoon said, "I don't want this night to end, but we should probably get going."

"Do you work tomorrow?" He asked, his forehead wrinkling up.

"Well, no, but it will take me most of the day to recover. The university won't take kindly to me unrested and unwell."

"The university on Jungdon?"

"Yes! Have you been there?" 

"Umm, not recently, but JK is going to be accepting a teaching position there when he gets back from service."