In the middle vmk

TWENTY THREE

The familair sound of utensils on ceramic echoed through the dining room as Jimin was blabbing away to his heart's content. He had been asked about his current situation, since Jungkook had told his parents that he was going to college but was also working two part time jobs. Jimin was rambling on about how much he needed to earn to pay for his college expenses.

Taehyung had heard this story already. Jimin was a real talker when they were working, so Taehyung was forced to listen to his rambles about life.

The blue haired male sighed, staring at his half empty plate. The food was delicious, but it had been awhile since he had a decent meal. He was scared that if he ate too much, his stomach wouldn't be able to handle it. Or that his addiction would kick in again.

"And what about you, Taehyung?"

His mind was floating somewhere in an abyss of doubt, until it got reeled back in by a tentative hand landing on his leg. He looked down and then at the person whose hand was resting on his thigh. Jungkook was giving him a look, which he didn't quite understand until he noticed the silence around the table.

His mouth ran dry at all the eyes staring at him with questioning looks. "Uh- sorry, I wasn't-"

"It's okay Taehyung", Jungkook's mother smiled, "I was just wondering what you do in life? Do you also go to college?"

Taehyung gulped and straightened his back, "No, I couldn't afford to go to college sadly". He paused for a moment, gauging the reactions. He then proceeded. "My family isn't the wealthiest so I never dreamt of taking my studies further. I moved to the big city in order to try and make money for my family".

Those were lies, blatant, utter lies. But it made Jungkook's mom smile in something between pity and pride and it made Jungkook's dad nod in understanding. He probably sounded like a lovely son to have, one that cared for his family and worked hard every day. It made his stomach churn.

"I'm sorry to hear that Taehyung".

It's not like they needed to know the truth. He met them for the first and hopefully last time, so he'd rather make them believe his lies than disappoint them with the truth.

He caught the look in Jimin's eyes but quickly diverted his own, not wanting the deceit to show through his gaze. He proceeded to eat, digging through the paella and begging his stomach not to explode by all the food.

Through the remainder of dinner he finally began to notice that Jungkook's hand had left, leaving a cold spot on his thigh. The younger boy was telling them about how he had bought popcorn and crisps at the convenience store earlier for their Disney night that would happen later that week.

It had taken a lot of convincing, since Taehyung was a stubborn guy who really had something against movies in general. They then decided to do their movie night at Jungkook's house since he had all the Disney movies (obviously) but also because his parents would be out tomorrow, leaving him alone at home. Something he wasn't too fond of.

When everyone was done eating, and Taehyung's stomach was churning with more than just guilt, Jungkook took his friends upstairs. His mother had told him that dessert would be ready in a small half hour, so they'd have time to chat and explore the house.

"Welcome to my room", Jungkook smiled, opening the door for the two men. Jimin was the first one to stroll in, his jaw already going slack by the soft and pastel aesthetic evident in the room. Even though he hadn't really expected Jungkook to be a black and white kind of guy, he hadn't expected all the different colors attacking his vision at once.

"This is-", he began, his eyes taking it all in.

"Like a rainbow threw up in here", Taehyung continued, sauntering in.

Jimin shot him a glare, "No, that's not what I was going to say". He turned to Jungkook who had made himself comfortable on his bed, the boy seemingly not really caring about what Taehyung had said. The boy smiled at him once he noticed Jimin looking at him.

"Well, it was what I was going to say", the blue haired male shrugged, leaning against the desk. His eyes stood bored as he scanned the different posters stuck on the walls, not really knowing any of them.

"It looks really pretty", Jimin smiled, trailing his hand along the pretty dark blue curtains, "Hey, this is the same color as your hair".

Taehyung sneered, "Don't compare my beautiful hair to some curtains alright".

"Then don't pick such ridiculous hair color next time", Jimin said with a roll of his eyes. He placed himself next to Jungkook who was holding a plushie in his hand. "I didn't know they made otter plushies".

Jungkook looked up, his hands still fumbling with the plushie's limbs, "Grandma made it because she know favorite animal is otter".

"That's very cute", Jimin smiled, the younger smiling along with him.

While they were chatting, Taehyung, who had been staring at a family photo on the younger's desk, began to notice his stomach acting funny. "Oh god", he mumbled, cupping a hand over his mouth. His body was rejecting the huge amount of food he had eaten, not used to the amount in comparison to what it had gotten over the last couple of weeks.

"Jungkook", he spoke out hastily, seeing both boys' turn their heads, "Bathroom. Where?"

The youngest jumped up, seeing how pale Taehyung suddenly looked and ran towards the door, "Follow", he said before running through the hallway and stopped before the last door on the left.

Taehyung barged inside the clean white bathroom, immediately flinging himself towards the toilet bowl. He was embarrassed, so incredibly humiliated, but he couldn't stop his body from retching until all the food he had eaten was out of his system.

Jungkook had closed the door behind him, leaving Taehyung in privacy, something the male appreciated. He felt his body heaving and his throat burned by the sour acids. As he panted above the white bowl, he could hear the door click open.

"I got you glass with water", Jungkook said with a soft voice, placing the glass on the bathroom sink, "I'll be in room with Jimin hyung. Take time if you need".

He shuffled out of the bathroom again, feeling bad for seeing his hyung so fragile. He had wanted to help, but knew what kind of person Taehyung was, even in the short amount of time they had spent together. He knew the older wouldn't want him taking care of him. Taehyung liked having things in control and being cared for would probably feel degrading to him.

"How is he?", Jimin asked when Jungkook closed the bedroom door behind him. The younger shrugged, "Do not know. He look sick".

The boy then gasped, "You think parents food did this?"

Jimin's eyes widened when he noticed the boy's panic, "No! That can't be. Otherwise we would all be cuddling the toilet bowl by now".

Jungkook laughed at that, "I do not cuddle toilet much".

"Well good. It's very unhygienic". The air was light again but Jimin could only wonder what could be wrong with the blue haired male. Taehyung hadn't looked sick at all during dinner, a bit stressed maybe, but that was it.

"It's probably best not to tell your parents about this", Jimin spoke up, "It would only embarrass Taehyung even more and your parents would worry if it was their food, which I don't think it is".

Jungkook nodded in agreement. "Okay, I do not want embarrass hyung more".

Which was a good plan. Because Taehyung, even though he was fine again and his stomach was empty, was dying of embarrassment in the bathroom. He didn't know if he could ever face his friends again.

"Good going Taehyung. Your main task of the evening: not embarrass yourself, has failed already".

Chapter is a bit too short to my liking but my parents are going to start watching Toy Story 3 and I wanna watch too :(