Ambivalent

41

Taehyung's POV

"Tae, aren't you going to get out of bed?" Jimin asked me as he stared at me just lying there, looking up at the ceiling. I felt dead on the inside.

I didn't say anything and just kept on staring.

"What happened Tae?" He got on the bed with me and reached forward to touch my cheek with his soft, gentle hand. "You can tell me honey."

He stared at me and sighed. "You told me you don't feel sick anymore, but you called in at work. So what happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered.

He got closer to me and frowned. "I won't leave you home alone if you don't tell me."

I looked at him with some confusion and anger. "Why not?"

"Because I don't want you feeling bad by yourself." His hands played with my hair as he spoke. "If you tell me then I can help you feel better, but if I don't know... well then the best I can do for you is not leave you alone."

I wanted to object, but I realized I didn't want to be alone either. The thought of just staying in this room all day and thinking about what happened sounded torturous.

"I'd stay here with you, but I have some important business at the shelter." Jimin stood up and slowly pulled me up to a sitting position. "Come on now. Let's go. It'll be a good distraction. You can talk to some of the kids while you wait for me."

I stayed sitting for a while and rubbed my tired eyes that were puffy from crying.

I slowly stood up and went to shower and get ready. We ate breakfast and then went to the shelter.

I hadn't been here before, and it was an interesting sight. It was a really big building and it had a big rainbow in the glass doors. We walked in and everyone greeted Jimin with warm smiles.

I looked around what seemed like a waiting area and a desk, although I wasn't sure what it was for.

"This is my best friend Tae," Jimin said to an older woman sitting down in the desk with a computer in front of her.

"Is this the one you won't shut about?" she asked as she smiled and waved at me. She exuded motherly warmth.

"Yea," he said with a smile.

"Oh I see why you like him," she said as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "He's beautiful."

Jimin nodded. "He's gorgeous," he said as he squeezed my cheek. I smiled at him and let myself take in the moment. This was so much better than being miserable at home.

"This is Jiwoo," Jimin said to me. "She's the one that makes sure that there's records kept of everyone that comes here."

"I'm basically the secretary," she said.

Jimin shook his head. "She's being modest. She does a lot of things for this place. Pretty much keeps it running."

She smiled at him and I could sense the deep affection between them. It dawned on me then how little I knew about what Jimin did with his time when he wasn't with me.

He showed me around the place. He showed me where his office was.

"I'm pretty much in charge of all of the financial stuff. I have to keep on buying supplies and right now I'm working on opening up another place like this in another town." He looked so in his element here. It was weird to see it for the first time.

"This is Yongsun. She's takes care of a lot of the younger kids," he said as he introduced me a pretty woman who smiled at me. "Yongsun, this is Tae."