Age of Death (Taennie)

21

The following Monday, i quit my job. I'd worry about money later. On that moment, the weight off of my shoulders was worth more than any paycheck would ever be.

Dad was angry for about a day. The next morning, I was up bright and early with a spring in my step, and he stopped calling me irresponsible right then. He'd tell me later that he'd decided that he like seeing me smile.

Haneul and I went shopping that afternoon, after his shift ended. We bought pink hair dye and hair bleach at the closest store, and then he grabbed me a bottle of vodka while I went to browse in the pet store next door.

Eventually, I found a turtle small enough to be easy to take care of but large enough that if Jennie ever officially adopted it, Kuma wouldn't eat it. I didn't buy it. Yet.

We drove back to my house afterward, the grocery bag in the back seat of Haneul's car.

"Vodka, pink hair dye, and bleach," he said after a long bout of silence. "Do i want to know?"

"I'll tell you sometime," i promised him.

He dropped me off to jennie's and then left, I knocked on her door with the bag in my hand. When Mr. Kim answered, i subtly tried to hide its contents.

"Hey there, Taehyung. Let me grab Jennie."

He disappeared inside for a moment, and I bounced up and down on the balls of my feet. When the door opened again, it was Jennie. "Hey!"

"My dad and Chahee are going out to dinner and staying over at her place tonight," i explained. "So we'd have the whole place to ourselves if you wanted to stay the night."

She grinned. "I'd love to. Just let me check with my parents."

She held up one finger and ducked back inside. We're both an adult but we both still need our parents approvals, all the time. I heard the sound of muted voice for a few moments, and then she was back. "let me go grab some clothes."

"I'll meet you at my house!" I called after her, and turned away to jog back toward the road.

"Kum!" She shouted abruptly, sounding concerned, and a moment later out he came, bounding across the front yard and into the luckily empty road. Jennie came sprinting after him while I cringe at them.

"Sorry, i didn't mean to leave the door open!"

"It's cool. I'll see you in a few!" She called back. I kept walking once I was sure she'd caught her dog, laughing quietly to myself.

My house was empty when i got home, as expected. I set the bag down on the dining room table and emptied it, then surveyed the the contents, the bottle of vodka, which was way too large for just the two of us to get anywhere close to finishing alone, hair bleach, and the temporary dye.

While Jennie showed up with a bag of clothes in her arms, i grabbed the bottle with one hand and the dye with the other, then presented her with both. "Ta-da!"

It took her a second to register what exactly she was looking at, but when she had, she burst into laughter. "Oh my god. You're such a cheeseball. That's pink hair dye!"

"It's temporary," i assured her. "It says it'll be out within a week."

"Oh my god." She shifted her gaze to the bottle of vodka. "Is that vodka?"

"Haneul helped me."

She took the bottle from me and eyes it curiously. Then she arched an eyebrow at me. "So the two of us are going to get drunk alone in your bedroom together? That's a terrible idea. Let's do it, c'mon."

She ran for the stairs and took them two at a time, and i grabbed the bleach, a two-liter soda out of the fridge, and two glasses from the kitchen cabinet before i followed her up.

She was waiting in my room, digging through the clothes she brought, and as i walked inside, she turned away from me and took her shirt off without any warning, then unhooked her bra. I blinked a couple of times and then averted my gaze, embarrassed, as I put the items in my hands onto my bed.

"We should do the dye first before the vodka, probably," she joked as she pulled on a new shirt. "Otherwise I'm gonna end up looking like Barbie threw up on my hair."

I walked to my own dresser when I heard her changing her pants, and shyly followed her lead. "Okay."

"You know, I didn't tell you yesterday how awesome I think is that you quit your job," she told me when we were both in pajamas. "Do you feel better?" I nodded.

"I thought you would. You're always so wound up. Anything that gets rid of some tension and helps you loosen up at this point is good for you." She glanced toward the bottle of vodka lying on my bed. "Well, in moderation. Come here."

She beckoned me with one finger, and i felt strangely akin to an ant under a magnifying glass as i came closer.

I stopped with a foot of space between us, and she stepped in closer and reached out to gather my hair in her hands. She left a shorter strand free in the front and tied the rest of my shirt off, then eyed me appraisingly for a moment before she tugged lightly on the one free strand of hair. "I want this one dyed on me."

"It's right in front," I pointed out.

"I'll find one that'll be under the rest of my hair once we let it down." She said, and then brush my hair.

"So you need my help?" I asked her. "I've actually never done this."

"I just need you to tell me if it looks okay, and to grab me tin foil. The rest I can handle," she explained.

Half an hour later, i found myself sitting in the bathroom with Jennie, who had a strand of her hair wrapped up in tin foil.

"Tell me your theorieson alien life while we wait," i suggested, and she rolled her eyes at me, grinning.

"You're such an ass. Except for when you're really sweet." She paused. "Just so you know, you don't have to buy me a turtle."

I frowned and reached for my phone which I'd left on the bathroom counter. I scrolled through my pictures until I'd found my most recent one, and then turned the phone around to show her. "Her name is Nini."

Her mouth dropped open and she covered it with her hand to smother a tiny squeal. "She's so cute! You didn't!"

"I just browsed. Just in case," I admitted.

"Tae, you seriously don't have to do all of this," she told me. "I mean, to be totally honest, if I'd had any idea you were thinking about something like this I would've just left all of the other things out and told you to kiss me." She let out a sigh as she watched me, and I looked away, shrugging.

"Well, that one's happening, too." I paused. "After the alcohol consumption."

That broke the tention, thankfully, and she laughed and shook her head emphatically. "No! I'll kill you if you come anywhere near me."

"You say that now, but we'll see how you feel in an hour," I said, but I didn't really mean it.