Coward | kth

31

31 | Pinot Noir
[ A/N: I want y'all to vote and comment the shit out of the next few chapters ]

I study Taehyung's face, trying to find any sign of that he is joking, but there is none. Quite the opposite, actually. There is a tiny wrinkle appearing between his thick brows, outlining the destress he is in. The corners on both sides of his mouth are hanging strikingly low, which arises an immediate empathy in myself. Seriously, this sight makes me want to pull Taehyung into a tight hug and only let him go when every single one of his concerns has vanished.

"Come in."

Taehyung forces himself to grant me a tiny smile, but it only happens to be of a short duration. Hereby I can see how much effort it takes him to show me a happy gesture when he actually feels like the universe is especially cruel on him. I don't expect him caring for a polite gesture right now, but the fact that he still does tells a lot about his persona.

"Make yourself home", I say, gesturing at the dining table with my hand, "Can I get you something? Perhaps something to drink?"

"Do you have wine?", Taehyung questions with an apologetic smile.

I grin, "Wine it is."

Attempting to not make Taehyung wait for too long, I jog downstairs into our basement. Arriving in front of our small wine cabinet, I tip  my index finger against my chin and read the labels of the different wine bottles. To be honest, I am not an expert in that area as my only experience when it comes to wine is the four dollar tetra pack from the store at the end of the street. Its effect on me in the past I mostly don't manage to recall.

Still, in the end I am pretty proud of the decision I make: A breakup isn't sweet, it's of the most bitter kind. And so is the bottle of red Pinot Noir that I carry upstairs in my hands a few moments later.

When I enter the living room again, Taehyung has braced his elbow onto the table, his chin laying on his hand. He doesn't look as lifeless anymore, but rather as if a lot of thoughts are rushing through his mind and he doesn't know where to start ordering them.

"Voila", I grab his attention with attempting my best french pronunciation, "Pinot Noir."

The bottle I present between my hands as if it is a product I am desperately trying to sell. At my words Taehyung looks up and smirks, "You sound so sophisticated."

Filling our wine glasses with more of the red liquid than what normally is provided, I snort in amusement, "I know right?"

Afterwards, when both our glasses are almost filled brimful, I let myself fall onto the chair opposite of the brown haired man. I observe him how he shakes his glass a bit, watching the wine create a little storm.

Suddenly Taehyung wheezes, collecting himself after trailing off to a different dimension. His rosé lips immediately transform into a smile and he clinks glasses with me, emptying his own in few gulps.

It's understandable to me that Taehyung tries to drink away his sorrow. I mean, it's a common thing to do and I would probably do the same in his situation. After a breakup, the bitterness of your own life overthrows the one of the wine, making yourself immune to the extravagant taste.

However, as Taehyung is visiting me right now, my life turns out to be rather sweet. So for me, although I just take a sip, the bitter taste is more than noticeable, making me even grimace as it spreads through my mouth.

Time passes as we sit there in silence, refilling our glasses over and over again until the bottle is empty. I observe Taehyung while he slowly spins his glass between his fingers, but I am sure he notices my gaze on him. By now, the songs playing on the radio have changed from poppy to r&bish, from Ariana Grande to Frank Ocean, from empowering to soothing. I close my eyes, feeling the melody with all of my senses. It flows through my veins and swirls in my head. It makes my fingers softly drum on the table surface.