Man-Child

Chapter 12: Fools

"Urg... How many more boxes?"

I dropped the last cardboard box next to the coffee table with a huff and put my hands on my hips, glaring at Taehyung. "That was your last box," I growled.

Taehyung – who was very comfortable lying on the couch - held up his arm with the cast on and jerked his chin towards it. "I have a broken arm."

Whenever I looked at him, my attention was drawn to the stitches on his cheek. At first glance, he looked in bad shape, but he was perfectly fine. He was just milking the situation as much as possible.

"You ran in front of a car!"

"I thought it was Jack!"

"You're such an idiot," I muttered, walking to the crib in the corner of the room. "Who's room should we put him in?" I asked, picking up Jack. I took him to the kitchen, holding him on my hip.

"I'm not here during the night, so you can keep him in my room." I put the baby formula in the microwave to heat it up for Jack "That way you might be able to sleep better."

"Won't he bother you when you sleep at day?"

"No, I don't mind him." The microwave's bell rung and signalled that the milk was ready. I grabbed the milk, tested the temperature, and then gave the bottle to Jack. Taehyung's phone rang. It was on the counter. "Mind bringing me that?"

I looked at my hands. One was supporting a baby and the other was feeding it. "Um..."

"Who's calling?"

I looked at the caller. "I think it's your mom..."

"Leave it!" Taehyung screeched, jumping up and over the wrong side of the couch. "Don't answer! She cannot know!"

I jumped out of Taehyung's way as he launched for his phone. "I wasn't planning on answering it." I rolled my eyes.

Taehyung shushed me, put a smile on his face, and then answered the phone in an annoyingly cheerful voice. "Hi, Mom!"

I frowned at him. "What-"

Taehyung motioned for me to be quiet. I sighed and took Jack to the couch to feed him there. "Is Grandma there as well?" He looked concerned when we made eye contact. "I'll see if I can... No, I can't talk now. I'm on my way to work... Bye, love you!"

"What was that about?" I questioned, shifting Jack around when I felt my arm getting sore.

"Uh..." Taehyung took his seat on the couch across from me. "My mom organized a little family holiday and she wants me to go."

I knew chaos would unfold if I asked. Nothing good could possibly have come from those few words I spoke. "Why don't you go?"

"Because it is Hawaii."

I closed my eyes and threw my head back. "Of course it is..." I sighed. Before Taehyung could ask, I replied. "I knew it would be somewhere far away from here and I would be stuck with Jack and me... I knew it."

"Oh come on. How could you know that?"

"Things are just never normal and simple when it involves you." I opened my eyes a bit and looked at Taehyung. He was intensely looking back at me. "Dude...stop staring."

"I'm not 'Dude'."

"Taehyung, we've been over this."

"That's not my name."

Jack was done with his milk, so I got up and left Taehyung to himself. "I'll be in my room if you need me." I put Jack in his crib and walked to my room with the double bed.

My old pink suitcase was on the bed and two more boxes were on the floor. All my clothes, shoes and personal belongings were in there. I zipped open my suitcase. I groaned at the sight of all the clothes and shoes I would have to hang up and flopped down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

My mom's voice rang in the back of my head, scolding me on living with a man without being married. 'It's a sin, Minji! What's wrong with you? You'll get pregnant!'

I scoffed at the memories and turned to my side. It wasn't wrong. We were roommates. That was how people lived to afford rent. Everyone did it.

"Min-Min!" Taehyung shouted from the hallway.

I quickly sat up. "Are you alri-" Taehyung flung himself onto my bed, possibly breaking it in the process. I yelped in surprise. "Taehyung, what the hell is wrong with you?"

Taehyung towered over me on all fours... well one arm was in a cast so...

His hair fell down around his face. I didn't have much of a choice but look at him and wait for his next move. Not that looking at him was a bad thing...

"Moo." He mooed. He. Mooed.

I tried to keep a straight face. I honestly tried my best. But when Taehyung squished my face together I couldn't keep my laughter contained.

"Taehyung, what are you?" I laughed, hitting his chest.

"I'm a cow." A smile tugged at Taehyung's lips. "Moo."

It was one of the weirdest situations I'd ever been in, but I couldn't get myself together to push Taehyung off. "Why is this... so funny?" I wheezed with laughter.

Taehyung finally cracked and laughed along. "Ever heard of that thing that the more you like a person, the easier it is for them to make you laugh?"

"Of course I like you a lot, or else this whole roommate thing would've failed."

Taehyung stopped laughing instantly. I realized what I had said when I saw Taehyung staring down at me with a perplexed expression.

"No! That's not how I meant it!" Killmekillmekillme. "I mean I don't like-like you."

Lies! It took a fool to think that I had no feelings for Taehyung. And I was a fool until that moment. I was an oblivious idiot in denial.

I felt my face burning up. I covered my face with my hands. "You know what I mean..."

Taehyung pried my hands away from my face. His face was a lot closer to mine than it was a few seconds ago.

What was he doing? He's not going to kiss me, is he?

Taehyung leaned closer, still holding my hands next to my face. "Moo." He whispered, and then jumped off the bed in a fit of laughter.

Taehyung left me shocked and dismayed. What? What? WHAT did I just do? If Taehyung hadn't been such a... Taehyung... then he would've seen right through my pathetic lie.

"Why are you so quiet?" Taehyung crawled closer and rested his head on the side of the bed. I turned my head to look at him.

"Did you fall on your face?" I noticed the cut that Taehyung had on his cheek was bleeding. The same cut he got from the car accident that needed stitches. Which he opened three times that month because he kept scratching at it.

Taehyung lifted his hand to touch the cut. "No, don't." I grabbed his wrist, stopping him from getting his hand close to his cheek. "It's bleeding again, don't touch it."

"Where's the first aid kit?" Taehyung asked.

"It's in one of the boxes in the living room." I got up from the bed and pulled Taehyung up as well. "Let's go find it, then."

Who was the real fool? Taehyung for not realizing how painfully obvious I made it that I had feelings for him. Or was it me, for making it painfully obvious?

A/N: Yes...it's a day late... apologies... And I also realised I forgot to name the previous chapter so I did that.