Royal Ace Lounge

⑱Can I?

 
Taehyung stood frozen solid, gazing hazily at the wall. His anxiety felt like a mantle that girdled his chest, squeezing it dangerously. A suffocating constriction clutched at his throat that almost made it hard to breathe.

Through the blur of his torpor, he perceived the doors were about to close, and he lunged forward mechanically, stopping them with a quaky hand. He dragged his feet out of the elevator and stared at the single door. He couldn’t bring himself to knock.

So he stayed there for a while, his body tense to the point of shaking, his breath spewing from him at a brisk, fitful tempo.

He shouldn’t feel this way — the thought of talking to Jungkook shouldn’t make him feel this way. It was just his boss, anyway. If Jungkook wanted to fire him, he could simply beg him to keep his job. If he wanted to yell at him, Taehyung could handle it and apologize until his anger would diminish.

Although his anxiousness still blazed in his core, his reasonable thoughts assuaged a part of it. The constriction in his throat wore off, and his chest felt a dram lighter. He regained mastery over his previously glaciated body, and he drew his fist up to knock on the door.

He flinched just slightly when a click sounded and dropped his head at the presence of Jungkook on the other side. He hadn’t built up his bravery enough to look at him yet.

Jungkook saw everything at once; the tightness of his expression, the rigidity of his form, his refusal to meet his eyes. He didn’t comment on his uneasy behavior. “Come in.”

Taehyung trudged past him and stood there, not knowing what to do. He heard the door closing and discerned Jungkook took his seat on the long couch a few moments later.

“Sit, Taehyung.”

Taehyung individuated a tinge of gentleness in his voice and the way he spoke. Was it the calm before the storm? Why else would Jungkook talk to him in that delicate manner?

“Taehyung.”

At the call of his name, Taehyung registered he had sustained his stillness more than he should have. He coerced his legs to move towards the armchair, but Jungkook’s voice, that rang with that soothing softness again, immobilized him.

“Sit here.”

Taehyung lifted his head enough to see where Jungkook wanted him to sit, and he blinked a couple of times in a daze as he stared at his hand that tapped the empty spot next to him. He complied with his wish despite his surprise. He left a good amount of space between them as he sat with his hands clutched together and his head still bowed.

“Why are you so tense?”

Taehyung cleared his throat, knowing it would sound gravelly by his extended silence. “I’m just surprised that you asked to see me. Will you... fire me again?”

A moderate crease bloomed between Jungkook’s brows. “Why would I do that?”

“Because I crossed the line tonight and meddled in something I shouldn’t have.” There was a questioning notion in his tone, as if unsure about why Jungkook had to ask that.

The single crease on his forehead multiplied at his explanation, creating a pattern of little vertical lines. “Taehyung. Did you come here thinking I would yell at you about what you did?”

Taehyung dared to cast him a glance. Even with the brief duration his gaze had on him, he managed to espy a calmness in his countenance instead of the apathetic veneer he regularly wore. It puzzled him. “Well, yeah.”

“No, Taehyung. I wanted to thank you.”

Taehyung’s sullen eyes expanded, and his brain tarried to make sense of the words he said. Jungkook wanted to thank him? His regard crawled to him and dropped anchor, still swirling in a pool of surprise. “Thank me?”