𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

𝖮 𝖮 𝟥

⊹ chapter three ⊹

the group broke off one or two at a time, heading home as the sun began to set, leaving only taehyung and jimin behind. the two of them watched one last movie, the uncomfortable silence in the air between them threatening to suffocate them.

it was when jimin was cleaning up the popcorn tae had thrown earlier that he felt eyes burning a hole into his back. fed up with this— silent treatment? or whatever it was, jimin huffed out a sigh, throwing a handful of popcorn into the bag harder than necessary. "what?" he snapped, not bothering to turn his head and actually look at him.

taehyung straightened up from where he was kneeling, letting the trash bag in his hand slump against the table with a crinkle. "why are you treating him like that? you're always so nice to everyone, but you're being so mean to jeongguk."

hearing his name, jeongguk cracked his door open, gnawing on his bottom lip as he rested against the inner doorframe to listen to their conversation.

"because i didn't even ask for him! he shows up like a new stray dog that gets dumped on a random stranger's doorstep, barging into my life and getting into everything, messing it up— all because you ordered him. it's stressing me out."

taehyung's jaw worked, his teeth grinding together. "even so, that's no reason to treat him this badly. he has feelings too, you know. if you wanna take it out on someone, take it out on me. like you said, i'm the one who ordered him. he didn't ask to come here and be treated like a problem."

jimin snorted humorlessly, finally turning his head to meet taehyung's narrowing gaze. "him? have feelings? taehyung, he's made of metal. metal doesn't have feelings. even if he did, they aren't real. they're programmed— coded into him. what part of that do you not understand?!" he threw his hand into the air.

taehyung's eyes blazed like someone doused them in gasoline and threw a lit match. his lips were pressed into a thin line, fists balled up by his sides, nails biting into the soft flesh of his palms— sure to leave little crescents marks behind later. he had only known jeongguk for a few days, but he was already fond and protective of him; it was hard not to be when he was so sweet. maybe it was because taehyung was the one who truly designed him, even if it was with someone else in mind.

taehyung scoffed at him. "what did i tell you? he learns emotions from you— us. all of us. and they're real; he can and will feel everything we do! he may not be human yet, but he will be. you know, most people don't buy them because it's a risk. sure, they might be custom made to your liking and programmed to love you at the start, but once they're human, they can choose. if they want to stay with you, they stay. if they want to leave and forge their own life alone, they'll leave. some people didn't like that. they wanted a companion that stayed programmed with no true autonomy— no chance or choice to leave them. they wanted guaranteed, unconditional, permanent love, even if it meant their companion never learned real emotions. jeongguk's a quick learner, though, and you said you would try! i get that you didn't ask for him, but you're being such an asshole."

"i said i'd give it two weeks, i never said i would try. why do you care so much, anyway? if you've taken such a liking to him, why don't you keep him? you might've created him for me, but you're still the one who made him— you take him." jimin huffed, snatching the drink cans up and roughly shoving them in the trash.

jeongguk's bottom lip wobbled. unwanted, his head whispered cruelly. he didn't want to listen to any more of this; it made his chest feel like someone punched a hole through it. he placed one hand on the doorknob, twisting it as far as it would go, then placed the other hand on the door. slowly pressing it closed, he carefully turned the knob back until it silently clicked into place. only then did he let go.