Does He Know?

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______one week later

Jeongguk flinched when he heard a loud jarring bang ring through the dormroom.

Blinking rapidly, Jeongguk leaned away from the boiling pot of water he was stirring with, glancing over at Taehyung's closed bedroom door, wondering if he should inspect what that loud noise was. Clicking his tongue silently, Jeongguk decided against speaking as Taehyung probably wouldn't care of even respond to him. Living with such a quiet, monotone-looking person was...different, but not difficult. It just meant a lot of awkward stares when they both coincidentally entered the kitchen, and lack of communication.

Jeongguk just couldn't grasp who Taehyung was, he was so quiet, never seen a smile once graze his lips or a blink of emotion in his sharp eyes besides embarrassment that one time. The male was often gone, busy with his classes, and Jeongguk assumes Taehyung always studies by the constant sound of papers rustling coming from his bedroom. (It's really quiet, okay? It's not hard to hear what the male is doing.)

Biting his bottom lip, Jeongguk focused on preparing his lunch, a pot of delicious ramen mixed with fresh veggies and flavored side dishes, he had his first shift tonight at the hospital and he wanted to treat himself to a good lunch before just thriving on snacks throughout the night.

Jeongguk couldn't believe his first week of college had already passed, and now it was time for his part-time job to begin; his classes weren't too bad, so Jeongguk wasn't feeling too worried with the homework he received, he would have plenty of time to do them when he had the time during his shift.

If I can't make friends here, I hope I can make friends at the hospital... Jeongguk mused to himself, faintly remembering how nice the nurses were to him and his aunt when she had gotten into a small accident and they had to stay the night at the hospital.

The sound of Taehyung's door opening made Jeongguk's hands jerk a little in surprise, causing him to spill the ramen powder a bit. Jeongguk couldn't help himself, he glanced over at Taehyung's tall figure, seeing the male grimacing as he held his hand with his other hand, a blotch of red striking worry into Jeongguk's heart.

Taehyung swiftly moved into the kitchen, opening one of the cabinets that Jeongguk deemed the medical space by the way they both put bandages and other useful products in there. Taehyung didn't speak a word as he hastily wrapped a bandage around his finger, and Jeongguk frowned when he noticed Taehyung hadn't wiped the blood off his finger first.

"Are you okay?" Jeongguk had to ask, his voice frail and a bit hoarse from not using it all day except when he asked questions in class.

Taehyung glanced at his dormmate, not really giving him an answer with his expression so Jeongguk held back his sigh and stumbled his words. "I-I thought to ask since I heard a loud noise in your room,"

"Oh," Taehyung replied, voice deep and emotionless. "I just dropped a hammer. I was hanging something up."

"Ah..." Jeongguk hummed dryly, heart-lurching a bit as he watched Taehyung start to walk off once he threw his trash away. "Y-You should clean your wound,"

Taehyung paused his movements. "What?"

Jeongguk cleared his throat, why was he so awkward and just couldn't talk to his dormmate? It was so simple. "You should clean your wound before putting a bandage on, you don't want the old blood blocking your wound from healing properly."

A little furrow coated Taehyung's thich eyebrows. "You a nurse, or something?"

Should I feel insulted by that? "N-No, I help nurses with vitals. I-I studied basics with my aunt and work shifts at the hospital," Jeongguk tried to explain.