Till Death Do Us Part ||Taekook||

Chapter #56 Happy Valentine's

The following days after my outing with Jin were tense. Still, I didn't hear back from Jimin and Yoongi made no effort to contact me. I could make the clear assumption he, too, was pissed off. I know I would be if a friend of mine almost wrecked my brother's career. 

Hell, what if he believed the article? He might think Namjoon and I actually have something between us. Taehyung easily became suffocated with work. I hadn't seen him around the house, and when I did, he was strictly in work mode. Even a house fire couldn't bring him out of it.

I finally got the guts to text Hobi. As promised, I wanted to pull myself together. Even if the peace agreement between Taehyung was false or temporary, for once I had spare time to think about more than just his impending demise.

Returning to work was far harder than I thought it would be. Yoongi wasn't there. When I asked Hobi about him, I found out he requested a shift change. He'd work later in the night, serving drinks to VIP's. The news practically ripped a hole in my chest. I sent Yoongi a message. One he read, but purposely ignored. I'd be lying if I said that didn't hurt me. Before confronting him I wanted to get the facts straight. I wanted to have myself put together and prepared to withstand whatever cruel words he'd spew.

For now, I needed to leave it be. Same held true for Jimin. I wasn't in the right mind to cradle my friendships. I needed to figure out when everything seemed to get so off track. When did I become so self-centered in my problems? When did I begin to forget to respond to their messages? I needed time to muster up a proper response to my negligence. Until then I did the only thing I knew how to. I worked.

The days at the bar blended together and soon enough I returned to my familiar routine. I'd come home in the middle of the night, sleep, then waste away until I'd leave for work once more. Mrs. Uim seemed to forgive most of my doings. She still doesn't speak to me with the same delicacy and grace as once before, but at the very least she mustered a few passing comments. It was enough to give me hope of reconciliation.

Today started no differently. I spent my morning hidden away in the gym before resuming the pattern of commuting to work. The evening seemed to fade into another scramble of clients I would forget by the dawn of tomorrow. Ever since Yoongi no longer shared my presence, the job seemed more of a chore than ever. I tried my best to entertain the customers, but it all felt so forced. It wasn't until the night neared to a close that the universe seemed to gift me with a small dose of gratitude.

My eyes caught a familiar face sauntering to the counter. The mood became sour. I swallowed hard, my hands becoming clammy in a matter of seconds. I offered him a bitter smile, one he graciously returned.

"Jungkook." He greeted me endearingly. I nodded, my head hung low. As much as I wanted to avoid the obvious, I knew it would be foolish of me to neglect the elephant in the room.

"Have you been alright?" I uttered straightforwardly.

"Alright?" He repeated, flustered by my blunt approach. He chuckled nervously.

"Ah, you mean that. Yeah, I've been fine. You handled it rather quickly so the consequences were rather minimal. I know it wasn't your fault, nor did you mean for any harm. I'm fine, so it's best we just move past the matter." He spoke passively. I tapped my fingers against the counter, unsure how to respond to such neutrality to a topic that's caused me to lose sleep for days. I worried if I pushed any further I'd hear the truth, perhaps he'd sever the short lived relationship we've built. I was too big of a coward to risk anything.

"A drink?" I offered. He looked relieved that I chose to change the topic. He nodded with a smile.

"A beer would be great." He grinned.