Speeding Into Trouble || Taekook

14

It had been a week since that night at the Han River Bridge, but Taehyung's mind wouldn't let him rest.

He lay sprawled across his bed, staring up at the ceiling, the events of that night replaying over and over again in his head like a broken record.

Why the hell can't I stop thinking about him?

His fingers tugged at the strands of his hair in frustration as memories of Jeongguk flooded his mind.

The way he had looked-his face twisted with anger and something else-when he'd thought Taehyung was about to jump. Why did he care so much?

"He was fucking furious," Taehyung muttered under his breath, running his hands over his face.

His mind kept circling back to that look, the raw emotion in Jeongguk's eyes. Why did it matter to him if I jumped? He doesn't even like me...

But then why did he save me?

The question gnawed at him, refusing to let go. Jeongguk could have easily walked away, could have left him bleeding and bruised on that cold road.

But he didn't.

Instead, he had dragged Taehyung to his apartment, patched him up, and even offered to drop him home. All without expecting anything in return.

"Why the fuck would he do that?!" Taehyung asked himself aloud, his voice rising in the quiet room.

He threw a pillow across the room in frustration, watching it hit the wall with a soft thud. He doesn't owe me anything. He hates my guts, so why the fuck was he so damn...

His mind drifted to that moment-Jeongguk gently cleaning his wounds, his usual cocky smirk replaced by something softer, almost... gentle. Gentle???

Taehyung groaned, burying his face in his hands. "He's not fucking gentle! He's a cocky bastard with a smart mouth, and I hate him. I fucking hate him."

But even as he said the words, they felt hollow. The image of Jeongguk carefully wrapping the bandage around his hand flashed in his mind.

He remembered the way Jeongguk's fingers had brushed against his skin, so damn careful, like he was afraid of hurting him more than he already was.

Taehyung gritted his teeth, rolling onto his side and hugging a pillow close. "Goddamn it, Jeon Jeongguk, why are you messing with my fucking head?" he growled into the pillow.

He clenched his eyes shut, trying to push the thoughts away, but they kept coming. The way Jeongguk had looked at him when he'd said he'd drop him home.

Taehyung could almost hear the smirk in his voice when he said, "Go ahead, walk home alone, but don't come crying back if you can't find a ride."

He didn't have to say that. He didn't have to take me back at all.

Taehyung's heart hammered in his chest as he squeezed the pillow tighter.

"Why the fuck do you even care, Jeon? You've said a thousand shitty things to me. You've humiliated me every chance you get. So why... why didn't you just leave me there?"

Maybe he's not as much of an asshole as I thought.

"No, no, no," Taehyung muttered furiously to himself, shaking his head as if that would shake the thoughts away.

"Don't even go there. He is an asshole. He's an arrogant prick who loves messing with me. That's all there is to it. He didn't mean anything by it. He doesn't care."

But then his mind drifted back to that moment on the bridge, to the panic in Jeongguk's voice.

He sat up, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "Fuck!" he cursed, pacing around the room.