Sky Full of Stars | Taekook

6. I Hate It Here

"So, do you have a buyer or not?"

It was Taehyung's turn to ask, a grumpy scowl on his face, slouched down against in the chair opposite Namjoon. It was a cliché to have a gallery full of director's chairs, he thought.

Namjoon scrunched his mouth to the side to keep from laughing.

"It's not funny," Taehyung lobbed across the room, "I fail to see the humor in any of this."

Yoongi put a hand to his forearm, "Tae, he's laughing 'cause I said the same thing to him the other day," he murmured, leaning over to create some proximity.

"Almost verbatim," Namjoon added, clearing his throat to eradicate any traces of amusement.

Taehyung motioned for him to get on with it, flipping his hand in annoyance.

"Fine, fine," Namjoon threw his hands up with a chuckle, "I just felt like it was important to bring the three of us together to make sure this is what you really want," he explained, his tone landing somewhere between apologetic and expectant.

Taehyung could feel their eyes on him; Yoongi's careful side eye and Namjoon's more direct, focused gaze.

"I'm not sure why you're asking me that. The answer is yes. I wouldn't be here asking you to do this if I weren't sure. Seriously? This is so banal," he scoffed, trying to let it roll off his back.

Yoongi let his eyes drift to Namjoon, "You have someone or no?" He gently nodded, trying to prevent an eruption.

It took a millisecond too long for Namjoon to speak. Long enough for Taehyung to raise a cantankerous brow.

He was about to open his mouth with an expertly placed expletive when a Namjoon sighed.

"Yeah, I do. But I wanted to make sure it's the right time," he conceded, looking at Yoongi, and then to Taehyung, who narrowed his eyes.

He crossed his arms, clad in a navy Henley and tan jacket, "The right time is any time I say it is," he seethed, exhaling with a sense of heartburn squeezing at his insides.

"And the right time is now because I fucking said so. It's basically my whole life's work," he added with more than a hint of scorn.

Yoongi rested a carefully placed hand back on Taehyung's forearm. A subtle but clear message to cool it.

"Tae, I'm sorry, it's just that we've been here before where you say now, now, now and then as we're signing papers and arranging shipments, you call it off."

Namjoon pulsed his eyebrows up for emphasis, palms open, "Sorry," he added once more, feeling four eyes land on him like lead weights.

For a moment, it seemed like nothing would happen. Like maybe he hadn't said anything and like Taehyung wasn't really in the process of turning beet red.

The silence was deafening, and went on for so long that Yoongi's eyes began darting from Taehyung to Namjoon with increasing trepidation.

He finally let his eyes rest on Namjoon, who was looking back at him with a great deal of dread.

Yoongi went to put a hand on Taehyung's shoulder when the younger stopped him, catching his wrist without a second look.

Taehyung shook his head, wiping both palms down his face before waving his hands in front of his chest absentmindedly.

"It's fine," he quietly sighed, "It's fine. But it's also now. I need to move onto something new."

Namjoon gave a slow nod, "If you're sure, I can get this moving," he agreed, tapping his pen on the desk.