Enchanted

two

"It's Thursday night. You know what that means?"

Taehyung groaned. "No."

"Yes."

"No, please. I'm so tired, I just got back. I need to rest."

But Seokjin wasn't listening, and thirty minutes later, he and Hobi had forced Taehyung into exchanging his ratty home clothes for clothes that made him look substantially more attractive, and fit the dress code. He had ended up laughing as Seokjin brushed his hair like he was five and styled it messily with mousse. Hobi lathered his face with brightening cream and almost smothered him in cologne, but they got him out of the house and into Jin's Evoque and he drove them to their destination: a low-key bar in Soho.

Jin parked in the nearby structure and they walked down the block, talking together while Taehyung stifled his yawns. He really just wanted to curl up in bed and sleep, but he had missed his friends and lot and knew they needed to blow off steam from their intensive studies, (Taehyung had tried to comprehend one of Jin's assignments on anatomy and there was absolutely nothing he understood on the page except for the word 'elbow,') so he shoved his tiredness away as much as he could and was present with them.

They sat in one of the empty booths, and Jin ordered them all strawberry daiquiris and a shot of tequila for him and Hobi - thankfully not for Taehyung as well - and Taehyung decided an espresso martini was next, he needed the hit of caffeine if he was going to keep up with the other two.

As they drank, Hobi and Jin bemoaned their studies, told hilarious anecdotes about how shitty some of their classmates are, about an accidental lube mistake by a professor, and told Taehyung he was so lucky not to be studying. He didn't mind when they commented on things like that, but part of him wished he'd gone to college, just for the experience. He'd run head first into modelling instead, giving himself a schedule so intense that he barely had a moment to himself or to go home - which was his goal. But nowadays... sometimes he found himself thinking of studying. Design, maybe. Something to make him feel like the people who loved Vantae weren't being provided clothes by a hack with no real, learned skill.

Taehyung's tolerance for alcohol was abysmal in comparison to Jin and Hobi, who were on their second drinks while he still nursed his first, enjoying the sweetness of it too much to rush and keep up with them. But when he lifted his head and looked across the room at the movement he'd caught in his peripherals, he wished he was drowning in his eighth glass.

"That's just great," he muttered under his breath with a sigh.

"What's up, Tae?" Hobi asked.

Taehyung gestured with his head to the side, where Jimin, Jungkook, and Yoongi were sitting in their own booth and staring at them. Jungkook with a dark gaze, glaring at the three of them together.

"Well fuck," Jin said, and then he laughed. "Wow. You have the worst luck, Taehyung."

Taehyung drained his glass when he saw Jimin stand. He was gesturing for Jungkook and Yoongi to follow him over to their table.

"Slow down there, cowboy," Hobi frowned.

Taehyung stood. "I'm going to order another drink. You want anything?"

Hobi and Jin shared a glance and shook their heads.

"We'll order when we're ready," Jin said with a small smile.

He was glad they understood he needed a moment alone. But he should have known that Jimin wouldn't know, or care. After he'd introduced Jungkook and Yoongi to the table, he made his way over to Taehyung with a smile on his face. He rolled his eyes skyward to the soft lighting of the ceiling. He really was too tired for this.