Bittersweet

32

The flurry of performances for your comeback slowly came to an end just as Soo Jin was discharged from the hospital. The doctors had warned her that she'd occasionally still experience a few symptoms of a concussion, like dizziness, fatigue, but the concussion itself wouldn't recur unless she hit her head again.

Days after the accident, you were allowed to see the security tape for the mic sabotage. Guilt and anger overwhelmed you when you saw that Soo Jin was blameless. It had been Eunji. You couldn't imagine why Eunji would do such a thing. But before you could ask to speak with her, you were told that she'd been sacked as a background dancer, and Big Hit was preparing to sue her.

Your heart hammered at the news. What would happen if Big Hit ever found out about what you did with Soo Jin's shoe? Your next thought was incredible sadness on Eunji's behalf. Though she had sabotaged something so incredibly important to you, you'd known her since you joined college. You'd been the youngest there and while everyone else had set you apart from them, Eunji, who was almost two years older than you, had extended a welcoming hand.

You knew Eunji didn't have enough money to survive Big Hit's demand for compensation. However, you knew you couldn't do anything. You'd punished the wrong person when it wasn't your place to do so, and you couldn't protect the wrong person either.

A soft knock snapped you out of your thoughts. You looked up at the now open door, surprised to see the familiar silhouette.

"Eunji?"

-----------------------------

Jimin sat in silence next to Taehyung. Jimin had been eyeing Taehyung's hot chocolate the whole time, waiting for him to be done with his rant.

"...and I know I shouldn't blame her, she's been so stressed lately and I don't even know for sure if she was the one who did it, and then Soo Jin, she-"

Jimin tore his eyes away from the now cold mug of hot chocolate to see Taehyung on the verge of tears again. Jimin was quick to extend an arm to awkwardly pat his shoulder. The only thing keeping him going was the fact that Namjoon would have been a thousand times worse in the same situation.

"Tae-tae, before you start on the same rant again, what happened to Soo Jin was an accident. What Soo Jin did on the other hand, wasn't. I know it's not hard to move on, but she's so clearly into someone else. Maybe she couldn't bring herself to tell you in person, and thought that if she did it while she was sick, you'd maybe be less mad about it. After all, she probably blames Y/N and this whole rivalry between them started because of both of them liking you and an unfortunate thing that she did."

Taehyung opened his mouth to reply, but before he could utter even a single syllable, Jimin cut him off.

"I don't care about what you said to Y/N, okay? If you really feel bad about it, go talk to her. She's been crying her eyes out because she thinks you hate her. Every time someone tries to talk to her, even Ji Woo, she'll burst into tears and cry about how she didn't want Soo Jin to get hurt."

Jimin felt bad for hiding part of the truth from Taehyung; the fact that you did in fact mean for Soo Jin to fall; but you did always insist that you never wanted her to get hurt. Jimin very well knew that if Taehyung ever found out that you had tampered with Soo Jin's heels, he would never forgive you. Knowing that it made Taehyung really happy to talk to you and tell you his impossibly ridiculous theories, Jimin was prepared to let himself hide a few details from his best friend. After all, he was doing it for the both of you to be happier.

Jimin observed the now quiet Taehyung for a while before gesturing to the hot chocolate.

"Y/N made that, you know. The first time she sent it with Hoseok-hyung, and this time she sent it with me. Next thing you know, Suga-hyung will be awkwardly passing you hot chocolate that she made. You need to go talk to her."