Invisible Affection | Taejin

13. Friend? Friends? Maybe More?

Taehyung had never known what it was like to break a bone, and now that he had a fractured wrist, he understood how fortunate he had been to have never gone through difficulties and such pain. He'd found it hard to get things done how he wanted. The hardest part for him was finishing his assignments because it took him much longer to type things out. 

Although most of his professors were understanding and gave him extra time to finish his work, he chose not to take advantage of the extension because he had always worked hard to turn in his assignments on time and, if possible, ahead of time. He believed that if he turned them in any later, he would fall behind on other assignments.

As he stood in the kitchen, attempting to make himself something to eat, he began to regret his actions since they were time-consuming, given that everything took longer. However, given that he had been eating instant ramen for several nights, he wanted something different and craved a home-cooked dinner. While washing the rice to put in the rice cooker, he noticed Jin chatting, but when he glanced up, he didn't see him and assumed he had just come home and was heading to his room.

After a few moments of setting the rice to cook and carefully transferring the marinated meat into a simmering pot on the stovetop, Jin strolled into the kitchen. He went to the stove, curious to see what Taehyung was doing.

"Hey," Taehyung greeted as he attentively tended to the meat sizzling on the stove.

"I'm starving. How much longer till it's ready?" Jin asked, vaulting onto the kitchen counter near Taehyung's cooking station.

Although Taehyung wanted to caution him about sitting there, he chose to remain silent, understanding that Jin might not appreciate it. "It should be around another thirty minutes before everything's ready. Can you hold out until then?"

Jin let out a resigned sigh, "Guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?"

"Sorry for not starting the meal earlier. I had some assignments to finish, and I reviewed the one you sent me. I'm not sure if you saw my comments on it."

"I did. After I make the changes, can I send it to my professor?" Jin asked, wanting to know. Taehyung nodded in response, "Yes, once you make the changes, you can send it to my professor. It should be fine. You did a great job."

"Well, with a tutor who's an A student, I'd hope I would do well."

Taehyung's face lit up with a smile as he listened to Jin's words, but he remained focused on adding vegetables to the sizzling meat in the pan.

"Jimin and Hoseok have arranged a weekend trip for me, taking advantage of the long holiday weekend," Jin mentioned, watching Taehyung cook. He noticed Taehyung struggling to lift a bowl and asked, "Do you need help with that?"

"No, I've got it. You look tired; I'm sure you want to rest," Taehyung smiled.

"Despite what you might think, I actually know how to cook. Although we had a personal chef while I was growing up, my father enjoyed cooking for my mom, and I learned a lot from him. I don't have much interest in it, but I have the skills."

Taehyung turned to Jin, a warm smile on his face. "That's great, and I never doubted your cooking abilities. I try not to judge people when I lack information."

"I can tell," Jin said with a sigh. "Anyway, going back to what I said earlier, Jimin and Hoseok want to take me away for the weekend. It's really nice that they're making an effort to do something special for me. I was starting to worry if they cared about me, considering it's been a while since they've done something like this."

"That's great; I'm glad they're doing that for you. You deserve good things," Taehyung said.

"I know," Jin responded as he agreed with Taehyung's response. "I told them that you would be coming with me. I figured since you don't have work this weekend, it wouldn't be a problem for you to come."