Garnet | KTH

27. Arrow

Unedited.

Juliana's POV

My eyes fluttered open tiredly, to the expectation of seeing a clear path to the wall in front of me, but instead I saw a face; a handsome one sleeping peacefully. I wanted to scramble and run out of embarrassment and disgust, much like last time. But I could feel myself smile a bit.

That's when Taehyung shifted slightly, as he ran his fingers through his black locks, a bit of his red hair peeking out from the top of his scalp. He groaned quietly, and his eyes opened to look down at me.

I gasped, pulling away a bit. "Sorry,"

Taehyung gave a crooked smile, "for what?"

"For dragging you here." I whispered nervously. I'd never been this way around him before — awkward and weird. I hated it. I desperately wanted to roast this guy.

Taehyung shook his head, scooting closer. I scooted back. "You didn't drag me here. I came here by choice."

My eyebrows furrowed, somewhat suspicious. I didn't believe him — I refused to think he actually cared about me, for his behaviour before proved otherwise. It was all too sudden, and I needed to know the truth.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked gently, but my voice remained firm.

Taehyung looked taken aback at my question, his eyes narrowing with hurt. "What do you mean?"

"You've never been kind to me before — why now? How do I know you're not doing this just to get out of here?" I whispered, insecurity laced in my tone.

Taehyung sat up, eyebrows furrowed. "How can you say this when I helped you? When I told you about my mother?" His eyes looked hurt, but he tried to hold it back. "You seriously think I'm like one of them?"

I look down to avoid his gaze, regretting every negative thought in my mind. I never would've expected that response from him. I never expected him to be so open and raw.

Taehyung scoffed at my lack of response, "I may have been a dickhead to you at first, but that was because I was ignorant. Don't mix that up with who I am — because I'm not who I was."

He huffed at my silence, because I had nothing to say... I couldn't form words. To accept that he cared about me seemed surreal and it made my mind twist further in on itself.

Before I could get a word out, Taehyung got up and left the room.

***

Awkwardness was an understatement in this case.

Every time I saw him, I didn't know what to say. So, I avoided him.

It broke my heart to see Taehyung so hurt — and I felt guilty for causing it. He wouldn't even glance at me. To be honest, I hated that it affected me so much. Usually, I would've shrugged it off and ignored it, assuming his actions to be childish.

But I genuinely cared about Taehyung's feelings. I shouldn't have. I shouldn't have felt the guilt and empathy rise in my chest. But I felt it. I didn't deserve his kindness like he offered. I was too stuck in my own head to even notice that he truly cared.

As the day went on like normal, but I stayed in my room for majority of the day, not willing to face what I caused to Taehyung. That's when I heard a knock on the door, and I mumbled a quiet 'come in'.

Inside stepped Namjoon, who gently closed the door behind him. "Hey," he said and I returned his greeting with a small smile.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and Taehyung, but you two have been in your rooms all day and it's strange." Namjoon said gently, as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I was just asking if you were okay, because Tae clearly isn't."