Bittersweet

33

Taehyung blinked, then blinked again. Your group members were fluttering around you, gushing over your new hair. Even from across the long table, Taehyung could see your gray eyes. Contacts? He watched you carefully as you took your seat, your attention immediately captured by the menu.

He decided in his mind, while staring at the menu, that your hair color suited you. It reminded him of the ocean. Taehyung smiled to himself. It struck him that you were like an ocean in many ways. Calm and undisturbed on the outside, but incredibly deep and full of surprises on the inside.

Taehyung felt a pang in his heart as he realized that you were avoiding him on purpose. He could see the dampness in your eyes. Was it because of him or because of the foreign feeling of contacts in your eyes?

Jimin slung an arm across Taehyung's shoulders. Taehyung blinked blankly him, pulled out of his thoughts. Jimin leaned in closer.

"Hey, Soo Jin just walked in and you looked like you were about to cry, so..."

Taehyung sighed, feeling slightly better about himself. He no longer felt horrible every time he saw Soo Jin.

"Actually, it wasn't about Soo Jin, it wa-"

"Alright, alright, everyone's here!"

Jimin patted Taehyung on the back apologetically, turning to Namjoon, who had started talking about the proposal that had brought them together for lunch in the first place. Namjoon pushed his glasses further up on his nose.

"So, we were thinking about a collaboration. I'm not sure if we'll actually be able to release it or not, but I wanted for us to work on something together so that we have something to remember each other with. I think it would be best for everyone to try and collaborate with one person at least, and two of the girls can work with two of us each, because there's seven of us and only 5 of you. How does that sound?"

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

"..does that sound?"

Your heart beat raced. You really, really wanted to dance with Hoseok, and what could be more exciting than an official collaboration? Your eyes met Hoseok from across the table and you both grinned each other. You knew you were both thinking the exact same thing.

"I'll pair up with Y/N."

Your smile faltered slightly. That wasn't Hoseok's voice. You turned to see Taehyung staring directly at you, his chocolate eyes melting with melancholy. You felt an odd feeling in the pit of your stomach at his declaration.

"B-but I..."

Taehyung kept his gaze steady, his expression unflinching.

"But what?"

You glanced at Hoseok, unsure of what to do. Hoseok's eyes reflected back your own confusion as he shrugged slightly at you. You focused your gaze back on Taehyung.

"You want to pair up with me? You've literally ignored me for the longest time and now you want to pair up? I don't get it."

The others went completely silent, nervously staring back and forth between the two of you. Taehyung clicked his tongue, clearly irritated.

"And you deserved the silent treatment. Or did you already forget what happened?"

Your mouth gaped in disbelief. You could feel the pressure of tears in your eyes, but you blinked them away.

"Taehyung. I've spent every waking moment since then trying to apologize to you. Did you forget all the times you slammed the door in my face without letting me talk to you at all? You've made it clear that you can't stand to be around me. All I'm asking for is an explanation for why you've suddenly had a change in heart."