Sirenic Menace

⑧But I'm So Much More

 
A brume of dark melancholy dangled around Taehyung’s existence since the moment he opened his eyes, and it grew thicker and thicker throughout the day as Jay didn’t make a single effort to talk to him.

They didn’t exchange a word, not even a glance, although Taehyung’s eyes lingered on him often.

Jungkook was in a similar state; he felt a new type of dejection grip him that robbed him of his ability to focus on anything else. Even Ji Hoo seemed to be secondary in his mangled thoughts. He had no shred of agony about if Yoongi found him yesterday, or if Namjoon did at noon.

The protagonist of the mess that was his thoughts was Taehyung, his sulky mood, which bothered Jungkook more than he believed, and his absurd longing for him.

It shouldn’t be this way. Jungkook was supposed to push him away by being a jerk and not give a shit about him anymore. He never thought that glancing at Taehyung’s tenacious pout would awaken a newfound urge to wipe it away and replace it with his boxy smile.

What the hell was happening to him, seriously? Jungkook, who slept with another guy every other day, barely exchanging their names first, was now so hung up on the same man he was on the threshold of going berserk.

It didn’t make sense, no matter how much he reflected on it.

🥀

After returning from their lunch and sightseeing, the three friends gathered in Jimin’s bed to relax for a few hours before their night out. They had their backs propped against the wall and their phones close to them to answer to the spontaneous messages they received from their family.

“Ugh, I swear my father doesn’t want me to have a good time. Ever.” Jimin slapped his phone on the mattress, his jaw clenched tight.

Taehyung aimed a tight-lipped, sympathetic smile at him. “He’s pestering you about work, huh?”

“Yes. Like, I’m on vacation. Don’t talk to me about work, old man!”

The two giggled at Jimin’s gripe, and Hoseok gave a squeeze on his shoulder. “I feel you. My father keeps telling me how busy he is and that he needs me back.”

“I think I’m lucky that I don’t work under my father,” Taehyung said. “He hasn’t contacted me at all since I left. He was kind of against this trip. He had said I don’t need a vacation. I could be dead, and he would have no idea.”

“Don’t say this,” Jimin uttered. “I bet he asks your mother about you. Maybe there’s a gap between you two, but he cares for you. He’s your father.”

Taehyung sucked in a chest-swelling breath and smiled sadly to himself as he released the air with a deep sigh. “He never acted like one. But I guess it’s my fault as well. I couldn’t be the son he wanted.”

A flutter of rage spiraled up Jungkook’s form at the sound of his words. Oh, how much he wanted to tell him he was an idiot for believing something like that. But he could only hope his friends would do that for him.

“You shouldn’t feel guilty for being yourself,” Hoseok let out in a soft tune. “What your father wants you to be is nothing like what you want to be.”

Well said, Jungkook thought, sighing mildly.

“You’re right. It just saddens me sometimes when I think about it.”

“We know,” Jimin smiled, offering him an encouraging look. “By the way, did you see that creepy guy again, Tae? I forgot to ask.”

“No. Do you think I scared him off?”