Unwrapping Taehyung

Chapter Nine

Taehyung

"NO WAY, MAN! Not Jungkook!" I said anxiously.

Namjoon gave me his most exasperated glare. "Why? What's the big deal? I thought you two made peace."

"We made 'I don't want to hit him when I see him in the halls peace.' Not 'I want to take him home for Christmas peace'. Christ!"

Namjoon looked at me blankly, waiting for me to make sense. I tried to find the words. "Come on, Namjoon. He's from Paris. What do you think he's gonna make of our farm, huh? It's embarrassing."

"Our home is embarrassing to you?" Namjoon asked with a frown.

"No! Not to, like, normal people." I knew that wasn't really the problem. But I couldn't even put into words why this was so wrong. I tried a different tack. "Look, Christmas is our downtime. I want it to be relaxed, just us. I don't want the frat house shit there."

"Tae, Jungkook is just a guy. No one says you have to be all uptight around him except you. You put that on yourself."

"What are you trying to do anyway, Namjoon? I mean, seriously? You've been pushing this guy down my throat for months. You said if I did the Christmas party, I'd be off the hook for the year. Now this?"

Namjoon folded his arms, his face getting pink at the temples the way it did when he was angry, which was almost never. "Taehyung, believe it or not, and I know this is a news flash, but not everything is about you. Jungkook was upset because he was dumped at the last minute by his parents, and he didn't have anywhere to go for Christmas, so I invited him. I would have done the same with anyone in the house."

"Right," I muttered.

"Seriously. How would you feel if Mom and Dad called up today and said 'Sorry but Christmas is off. We have something else we want to do instead.'" I had nothing to say to that. "And he's a freshman and not from around here. He has no family, and everyone else already has plans. I don't want him spending his first Christmas away from home all by himself on a deserted campus."

"Yeah, poor Jungkook," I muttered. "Doesn't get to fly to Greece for Christmas Break. Boohoo." Even as I said it, I wished I could take it back. I sounded like an ass.

Namjoon looked at me with his you-just-really-disappointed-me look. I hated that look. "Sometimes, I don't recognize you," Namjoon said softly. "Where's the little kid who used to invite people in the grocery store to come home with us because they looked 'hungry' or 'sad'? Man, where is your compassion?"

Oh, fuck me. I supposed it really would suck for Jungkook to hang out on campus by himself over Christmas. And there was no way I could tell Namjoon the real problem, that I was trying to avoid Jungkook because... because he made me feel confused and out of control, and I didn't need that shit.

"Besides, you always hang with Bogum, so you won't even be around that much," Namjoon added.

That was true. I didn't have to spend much time at the house. "Fine. Ho ho ho! Just... he's your invite. He's your responsibility."

"No problem," Namjoon said with a cocky tone.

"What does that mean?"I asked dubiously.

"It means I have absolutely no problem hanging around with Jungkook. Your loss." Namjoon patted my shoulder and walked away. For some reason, that didn't make me feel any better.