YOU, ME, & SHE • |KTH AU| •

twenty-five

"What the hell!" Jimin yells as Taehyung all but sprints over and grabs my hand, pulling me off the bed.

I can only stare at him as he angrily tightens my robe. Every part of me has gone numb. Distantly I register that I should feel something, do something, but I'm frozen solid, a statue of incredulity.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, man??" Jimin growls, fixing Taehyung with a scathing glare.

"Putting a stop to this bullshit," Taehyung says, glaring daggers in return.

Jimin lets a huff of disbelief, sliding off the bed and stepping up to us. "What right do you even have to do what you're doing here? Let go of her hand right now." He reaches for me, but Taehyung bats his hand away.

"Don't fucking touch her."

This is when I snap out of it. It has finally happened. I finally have his attention again. But I don't feel glad or triumphant. I'm bitter, hurt and furious. Why did it have to come to this? How could he make me resort to this?

I wrench my hand from his. "Screw you, Taehyung," I shove him from me. "How dare you?! How dare you-" He clamps a hand over my mouth, cutting off my tirade.

"Shut your mouth and let me deal with Jimin."

Oh, hell no.

I slap his hand off me, reach down for the flesh below his ribs and pinch him hard.

"Ow!" He cries out, rubbing the area.

"Get out," I hiss, pointing him to the door. "How's it any of your business what Jimin and I do behind closed doors?? Who are you to try and stop two adults from having fun?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Jimin mutters, still glowering at Taehyung.

Taehyung's eyes flash with fury, then he grabs my hand and starts dragging towards bathroom door.

"Let go, you bastard!" I shriek.

"I need to speak privately with you!" He yells back. He opens the door, shoves me inside and then locks it behind us.

"Why can't you see," He hisses in my face. "that I'm just trying to protect you?! By fooling around with Jimin, you're only setting yourself up for heartbreak later. I know he may seem nice and charming and shit, but it's all just a ruse. He's going to fucking ruin you, Narae. I don't want that to happen to you."

I shake my head furiously. "I'm not naive; I know what Jimin's like. I know that he's not perfect but neither am I - we all have fucking flaws. Jimin's my friend, okay, and I like him just the way he is, and I enjoy his company," I grit my teeth. "You've some nerve, just barging in and acting like you care about me when you've been snubbing me for days. What's up with that, anyway - slighting me, acting like I don't exist?? I thought we're friends, Taehyung." I hate the way my voice cracks at the end, but I force myself to look right into his eyes.

He stares back, his gaze softening. And then he looks away.

"Don't have anything to say for yourself?" I challenge, watching as he runs his hand through his hair over and over. What is he thinking?

"I'm out of here," I murmur, turning to the door.

"Narae..." He says softly, but I ignore him and open the door. He sighs and strides past me, glancing at Jimin who's still standing by the bed.

"We need to talk."

Jimin takes a swig from his soju bottle. "We sure do." And they stride out of the room together.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

"I won't let you ruin her." Taehyung says the moment they are shut away in a separate room down the hall.

"How can you say that?" Jimin demands with exasperation.

"Because that's what you do, Jimin. You're a fucking womanizer."

"Dude, listen, I wouldn't even dream of doing that to Narae. She's not- she's special; I care about her a lot. And what you did back there was really fucked up, you had no right to barge in on us like that. Had it been Iseul you'd seen me with, then what you did would've been justifiable. But Narae is not your little sister, Taehyung. She's independent and free to make her own choices."

"She's my friend," Taehyung says firmly. "It's my job as her friend to look out for her. To try and protect her from threats like you. I refuse to just stand around and watch while she jeopardizes herself."

Jimin narrows his eyes. "Is that really all this is about?"

Taehyung pins him with a deadly glare. "What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"You know exactly what."

"I love my girlfriend," Taehyung spits out. "I care about Narae as a friend, nothing more."

Jimin says nothing.

"I don't care if you don't believe me," Taehyung continues coldly. "But I won't tolerate it if you keep on fooling around with Narae. Stay the fuck away from her." With that, he turns and marches out of the room.

Jimin watches the door slam shut, a solemn, thoughtful look on his face.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°

Jimin stays for dinner, which is a very tense affair of a meal.

Taehyung and I glare at each other endlessly. Jimin keeps staring at me, then at Taehyung, then back at me. Iseul, Hyejin and Jennie won't take their eyes off the three of us, clearly wondering what's going on. After I finish rearranging my food on my plate, I excuse myself and dash up to my room before any of them can ask any questions.

_______________________________________

The next day when I call Jimin to check up on him, it goes straight to voicemail. Must be busy, I think to myself. I decide to give it a few hours before trying again later.

When I call back that evening, the phone rings and rings with no answer. Now I'm starting to feel a tiny twinge of worry. Something isn't right. I leave a casual message saying to call me back when he gets a chance.

The next morning, same thing. Straight to voicemail. By now my stomach is in knots. He can't be ignoring me, can he...? I shoot off another text asking if he's okay, but there's no reply.

Another full day goes by without a word from Jimin. I'm really freaking out now. Why's he doing this? What's going on??

After a week of radio silence, I'm half-crazed. Unable to take the panic anymore, I call him one last time, intending to drive over to his place if he doesn't answer.

As the phone rings, I pace around my room, chewing my fingernails nervously.

Finally, on the last ring, he picks up. "Jimin! Oh my gosh, where have you been?" I burst out in a rush. "I've been so worried, why haven't you been answering?"

"I've just been busy," Jimin replies, tone flat and bored.

"Too busy to return a single call?" I say hoarsely, dread pooling in my gut. "What's going on, Jimin?"

A beat of silence, then a heavy sigh.

"You know, I'm really mad at myself... Like, how could I not have seen it before..?"

I swallow thickly. "See what? What're you talking about?"

He sighs again, further igniting my anxiety. "You're devious, you know that? Cunning and two-faced as fuck."

"Jimin, I can explain..." I whimper.

"Save it. I'm done being your pawn in your twisted games to snare Taehyung. You'll have to get him without me as your fucking tool." And then the line goes dead.

A/N: Damn... 😧
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