HATE TO LOVE YOU || TAEKOOK || JIKOOK || MAFIA AU

[𝓔𝓬𝓬𝓮𝓭𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓲𝓪𝓼𝓽]⁴⁴

"Are you sure you're actually walking down the street with me?" Baek asked, a bit puzzled by Tae's sudden choice to leave the car in the parking lot and walk alongside him, especially when Tae usually preferred to drive.

"I might even stay at your place tonight. Is that an issue?" Tae replied, raising an eyebrow as he turned to face Baekhyun, whose expression shifted to surprise as he echoed incredulously, "You're going to stay at mine? With me?"

Baek was visibly shocked, but before he could say more, Taehyung let out a sigh, shaking his head.

"Sometimes, you really make me concern for you, when you don't get the sarcasm, Baek," Tae said as he shot Baek a narrowed gaze. Then he continued walking, hands in his pockets and eyes ahead as they turned onto a clean, quiet street leading toward Baekhyun's apartment, just past the college gates.

Baek made a small "oh" sound, realizing he'd misunderstood, and nodded to himself before falling into step beside Tae, his own hands tucked in his jacket pockets.

Their walk was purely silent as they moved halfway down the street, the cool breeze brushing against their faces.

Blowing Tae's now grown out dark brown bangs, a change that Baek secretly loved as the best comeback ever. His gaze eventually wandered to Tae's side profile, tracing his cheekbones and jawline ever so gently, a stare that did not go unnoticed.

Yet today, Tae didn't seem in the mood to call him out for staring. Normally, he'd tell Baek to stop, but today was different.

Even taehyung was gloomy almost everyday, but it seemed like he didn't have the energy to hide it at all.

Baek had tried to engage him several times throughout the day at college, but Tae had seemed distant, almost lost in thoughts, his eyes dim and his lips chapped, with a redness to his nose. The glow that once used to brighten his face had faded over the past year, yet, to Baek, he was still the most beautiful.

But something in Tae's demeanor took Baek back to a year ago, stirring an uneasy feeling. He wanted to brush off the thought, but he couldn't shake the sense that Tae might have been crying.

The idea was completely unsettling, maybe more because he'd never seen Tae shed even a tear before. Tae was always the strong, cool, yet lost one since few months.

Still, he couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that whatever had made Tae cry must have been significant, not trivial. Because that just wasn't like taehyung. Tae wouldn't cry over something small, it was definite.

"What's going on? You seem dull, Peach. please don't try to deny it, because we both know you've been quiet all day," Baek said, voicing his thoughts, not minding even if Tae didn't open up fully, maybe he'd at least say something or anything about it. Because his silence was saddening.

Tae swallowed, fighting down another storm of emotions that had been threatening to overflow all day. And For the first time, he turned to look in his eyes.

A faint, sad smile barely lifted his lips as he spoke. "Isn't it normal?" he asked.

Hearing him, something dropped inside Baek at the deep sadness in his tone.

"It's rare for me to feel... normal, isn't it?"
Baek's eyes softened.

"I fear it's true. No matter how much I want you to share whatever it is, with me, I know I'll be pushed away again." Baek replied with the obvious concern etching on his face but a drop of his tone at the end of the sentence did something to taehyung.

"I don't push you away," Tae whispered, slowing down in his tracks, but in the quiet of the street, Baek heard him clearly.

"You do, Tae. You haven't been yourself lately. You don't yell at me, you don't argue with me, you don't tease me, you don't advice me, you don't fight me over small things. You don't even stop me from calling you 'Peach.' Even though I'd keep calling you that anyway, still..." Baek rambled, his emotions spilling over, until-