Deceit || Kang Taehyun [ON HOLD]

10 ➟ Composure

Taehyun's eyes glazed over the screen in front of him, the gnawing feeling of unease far too palpable to ignore, yet too unjustified to act on.

He had been instructed by Soobin to help Jieun find Jake, and he never considered himself a rather intuitive person, but his gut seemed to have a predicisive bias against believing her story; or front.

Someone knocked on his door, making him instinctively swivel around to face it.

"Come in."

Rina's head peeked from the slit between the door frame and the door, already smiling. The slit widened to reveal Jieun just behind her, her eyes already scanning the interior of his room.

Rina stepped inside, Jieun at her heel. Taehyun pushed himself up from his chair, approaching the pair with his analyzing stare running over Jieun.

"Is that my hoodie?"

At the accusation, Rina quickly looked over at Jieun, instantly noticing the similarities between one of Taehyun's favourite hoodies and hers, but still easily being able to tell that Jieun's was in a smaller size.

"I brought this."

Jieun didn't seem too interested in whether Taehyun believed her or not, no sign of tensity in her relaxed stance. If anything, she seemed a little annoyed at the assumption that she would even care enough to steal from him.

Taehyun's eyes narrowed at Jieun for a second before returning to Rina.

"I'm supposed to find Enhypen for her?"

Rina nodded, suppressing the need to gulp the dryness out of her mouth, induced by the uncomfortable tension she had been caught in between. She almost felt scared of having to leave the two alone.

That didn't stop her from retreating from Taehyun's room, gently nudging the taller girl inside as she pulled the door from its ajar position, chirping a sweet reminder to call her, should either of them need anything.

With the click of the door sliding into place, the room was plummeted into an icy atmosphere, neither Jieun nor Taehyun willing to move from their positions near the door. The latter kept his cold glare on Jieun, unnoticing of how uncharacteristically confrontational this was of him.

Eventually, Jieun crossed her arms and cocked her head to the side, seemingly irritated with Taehyun's stalling.

"You gonna help me or what?"

Despite the lack of depth in Jieun's tone, the monotony was just as threatening as that of someone who was armed and dangerous.

Maybe that was just it. Maybe it was Jieun's intimidating presence that Taehyun found himself struggling to trust, and it had nothing to do with any ulterior motives she may or may not have.

Reluctantly, he stepped backwards with the release of a breath he didn't know he was holding. He walked towards his setup with dragging footsteps, Jieun following just behind him.