innocence. || Vkook

XIII

A strong headache has made Taehyung wake up. The feeling was that strong it felt like he took more than 10 shots of tequila. It was one of those shit mornings that usually forecast the shitness of the rest of the day.

He lit a cigarette and sat next to the window. Taehyung noticed he reduced smoking, as his ashtray wasn't as full as it usually gets in the mornings, considering before he started working it was a norm for him to stay up all night, sometimes even up to 7 am.

After he had got a job, some of the old habits have vanished. Fatigue and psychological exhaustion caused by excessive working made him sleep longer than usual and, consequently, it made him smoke less.

Since it was 11:30 am and he got at least 5 hours and a half of sleep, he decided to treat himself with three cigarettes in a row.

Taehyung wasn't the type of person that counted the number of smoked cigarettes. He would smoke anytime he  felt like doing it.

He took the last smoke and threw the cigarette stub outside the window. As always, it fell between the curb and street and started rolling downhill.

When he was about to close his window, he heard a familiar voice coming from the outside. As he turned around, he saw Hoseok waving to him and calling his name.

"Unlock the door, you asshole!" - Hoseok said and threw a very small rock on the Taehyung's window, which made the boy roll his eyes, but he couldn't get mad at one of his best friends.

"Shh, you moron, Yena's sleeping!" - Taehyung grumbled over the window.

He came outside of his room and saw mother preparing the coffee in the kitchen. Her dark eye bags were so prominent it was obvious she was feeling no different than her son.

Still, she managed to keep a smile on her face and greeted her son cheerfully.

"Taehyung-ie, good morning. I'm making myself a coffee, do you want some as well?" - Yena said with a smile.

As in general Taehyung ignored his mother and just walked passed her in order to open the door.

As soon as Taehyung opened the door, Hoseok grabbed younger's hand and hugged him.

"Heey pretty boy, long time no see!" Hoseok said it with a smile that could light up a whole planet even brighter than a sun itself "You little trash, you didn't even call me once when I was out of Seoul, shame on you."

Hoseok's humble eyes and bright smile were so soft even those a bit harsh words simply couldn't sound harsh when being said by such a heartwarming person.

"Um, well.. you know, I started working and, yeah..." - Taehyung felt ashamed because he knew it was indeed halfhearted he hadn't called Hoseok at all.

"It's alright, TaeTae." - Hoseok smiled and petted Taehyung's messy hair.

"Hey Hosoek darling, I haven't seen you for so long, you're even prettier that you used to be. Would you like a coffee maybe?" - Yena was astonished when she saw her son's childhood friend.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Kim." - Hoseok couldn't even finish his sentence because Taehyung's already started pulling the boy by his sleeve, marching to the boy's room.

Taehyung threw Hoseok on his bed and closed the door. Hoseok was confused a bit, but it was more than clear his friend wasn't in the best mood.

"Taehyung-ie, what's the matter? You seem very down today, did something happen?" - Hoseok asked with a concern and curiosity in his voice.

Taehyung exhaled and looked at the floor. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell the truth. Even if he decides to tell what is on his mind, would Hoseok even understand?

There was also a bigger problem with deciding what he would say first. Is the fact that he lost a very kind girlfriend a bigger problem than him potentially *liking* a boy? Taehyung didn't know the answer. So he simply decided to make up a "new" problem.

"Well, I kinda worried that I might get expelled. I missed so many classes and geography professor told me I shouldn't count on passing this semester. - Taehyung was a good liar. He could make up a lie at any moment and at that same moment make it seem like it is the number one thing in the world that bothered him.

"Holly spirits Taehyung-ie, for a second I thought you were about to tell me some girl bumped you or that you've desperately fallen for someone!" - Hoseok said through relief and kicked his friend in the biceps.

Taehyung gulped unnoticeably and moved his head in the window's direction. His face got pale because his friend literally read his mind but wasn't even conscious of it.

"Hah, yeah..." - Taehyung said through nervous laugh and stretched his head.

Hoseok was that kind of friend that liked to goof around, a person who would always make you smile when they sense even a bit of sadness in their friend's voice.

But in times when he isn't that energetic, Hoseok would prefer to chill and watch movies until he falls asleep.
And that's exactly what he did.

Yena came into Taehyung's room carrying a mug with coffee and a class of fresh orange juice.

"There you go, Hoseok." - Taehyung's mum got sober from the last night and at the moment her hangover passes, she becomes the brightest person ever.

"Oh, thank you Mrs. Kim, I couldn't even ask for a coffee because this bad boy dragged me into his room so fast." - Hoseok said through laughter and took the glass and I mug.

"Oh, Taehyung's been in his own world for quite some time, don't mind him. I hope you still prefer very sweet coffee because I put two big tea spoons of sugar."

"No worries, Mrs. Kim, you know I'm a sugar addict."

The two were laughing together as two happiest mother and son in this world, while Taehyung felt like he was about to throw up, but not only because he was a born hater, but mostly because he got an urge to tell everything what was lying on his heart. Unfortunately, he simply couldn't.

Although he loved his childhood friend, he thought Hosoek was not that kind of person who would truly understand his thoughts and understanding was something the boy desperately needed at that moment.

Hoseok played some action movie on Netflix and fell asleep not even after 10 minutes.

Taehyung was left alone with his friend's head on his shoulder. He couldn't concentrate on the movie. He wasn't even trying. He felt anxiety in his guts because his head turned into a complete mess.