DROPLETS || YOONMIN

Chapter 3

I stare at my hand remembering the heat that was torching them just some minutes before. It was gone yet again.

I can't look at it any longer. I clench my hand into a furious fist as I let my head fall loosely.

I could feel my pointy nails slowly breaking my hard skin, but in response, I squeezed it with more strength.

Warm long fingers were taking a hold of my tightened hand. That chamomile fragrance again.

«Let it go, Jimin-ah» Taehyung was slowly and cautiously unmaking my fist.

I could feel a hot yet cold liquid racing to be freed faster and faster. It stung.

Taehyung called my name again and only then did I look at him. I wish I hadn't done that.

That same expression. Grief. Apprehension. Sadness.

But there was one emotion overshadowing the others: concern. His eyes knew it all.

There was no need to voice my thoughts. He was aware of the recurring storm inside my head.

He placed his hand lightly on my shoulder, and I was soothed by it. I felt as If I was enveloped by a warm, invisible blanket.

How could I not consider my actions now, now that I could see how profoundly they affected him too.

«I'm so-» Taehyung wasn't having any of my pointless apologies.

«Let's go!» He got a hold of my forearm and started to drag me away. Away from the store and distant from my overworked mind.

I wanted to stop him and tell him that I couldn't leave the store like that, but I let him do whatever he wished with me.

It's Taehyung we're talking about after all. He's so hard-headed that if he were to run against a rock it would break. I'm being sarcastic obviously, but he truly tried to do that once.

Let's just say that it didn't end well.

While he was still hauling me to some unknown location, I let my eyes wander around.

The fading light of that claret velvety sky outlined the houses hammered along the rather deep river.

In the twilight, the bare field of dry grass was tinted sepia. The flowing water was changing from a soft turquoise to a darkening charcoal blue.

I was once again unconscious of how the world was rolling whilst my body was still living in it.

However, without intending to, I often ended up being the spectator watching from the sidelines.

«Sit down here» Taehyung tugged me by the arm, and we both sat down on the grass near the river.

He opened his pack of candies and offered them to me without uttering a word. With timid fingers, I picked up a blue gummy bear and started chewing on it.

I stared once again at his side profile. He has always had those long and black eyelashes

They would flutter up and down rapidly whenever he's focusing too much on something.

He wasn't looking at me, he was mad. He was trying so hard not to show it, but his pursed lips gave him away.

Talking about being obvious...

I scoffed while stretching myself out on the grass.

«What now?»

«You're so obvious» I reached out for the pack of candies that he was holding in his hand.

He was so spaced out that he was too slow to react.

«Thief. They're mine!» He turned his body towards me, but his gaze was still cast down.

You want to be stubborn eh? Two can play the game.

«NO» I stuck my tongue out and ate another gummy bear.

«That was the last red one! You brat!» Our eyes finally met.

«You're finally looking at me»
I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding.

I could see Taehyung trying to form a sentence, but it looked as if the words were stuck in his throat.

I raised my hand and ruffled his flaming hair for a while. For real, why did he had to dye it red out of all colours? It suited him though.

I let my hand move faster and soon his hair was reduced to a mess.

«Stop it» He tried to pry my hand off, but I let the other hand add to the fun.

I started playing with his face next by pushing his cheeks together, squishing his lips and poking him all over with my fingers.

I could see him trying to hold his laughter and it was sadly working.

I couldn't let my efforts go to waste. It was time to use my secret weapon.

Tickle it is then.

The laugh came from my best friend like a newly sprung leak. His form started shaking and his face was the realistic depiction of glee.

My mouth twitched upwards, and I was soon cackling with him.

We threw ourselves back on the grass with giggles still escaping our lips.

Our bodies looked like starfishes out of the sea. Or were we fallen stars?

I wonder.

All too soon the prestigious chill of the night made itself known. It was starting to get dark.

«You know that I'm gonna get fired for sure, right?»

Taehyung wasn't answering my question. Had I offended him?

«Taehyung, I didn't even like that job. I can find another one quickly. It's not a big deal. Okay?» I sat up rapidly.

And for the first time in a while, I was met with a blank face. I might be afraid of many things, but an expressionless Taehyung is what I dreaded the most.

The feeling of uneasiness was growing in the pit of my stomach. I could've never been ready for the words that left his lips at that time.

«If in 10 years you're still living here, doing some cheap and unsatisfactory job, you'd better find another best friend then»

To be continued...

Min Yoongi is going to appear soon.