Real Life

㉔Have You?

 
Nothing was going well between the seven boys. Jungkook pretended he was fine and refused to talk about what happened. He still hadn’t shared a word with Seokjin, not even a glance. He partly talked with Taehyung, but mostly about their classes. It was painfully awkward between the two, and no one made an effort to figure out why.

It was Saturday, and as usual, there was a party. Jimin, Yoongi, Namjoon, and Hoseok gladly stated they wanted to go. They convinced Taehyung rather fast, since he craved to drink. After about an hour of begging, Seokjin said yes too. And Jungkook... He sharply dismissed Jimin’s pleads.

And there they were, one hour before the party, outside of Jungkook’s front door.

“Jungkook, you can just join us. You don’t have to talk about anything!” Jimin begged once again.

Jungkook, sitting beside the door with his third beer in his hand, sighed. “Just go already.”

“We’ve been here over an hour, Kook. It’s getting tiring,” Yoongi said.

“Then just leave!” Jungkook remained still at the silence that followed, and he placed his ear against the door in his attempt to pick up on their whispers.

“Taehyung, please say something. Of course, he won’t listen to Seokjin, and you’re the only one who hasn’t said anything,” Jimin said.

“And why do you think he’ll listen to me?”

“Well, you do have a special bond or something, don’t you?” Namjoon asked.

“Apparently we have nothing at all,” Taehyung murmured as a vile bitterness threatened to drown him. He approached the door nonetheless. “Kookie. We’re not leaving without you.”

There was a moment of quietness as Jungkook sipped his beer. “Why do you even want me to come?”

“Because I want you to have a good time. Talk about random things and forget about everything. Just for tonight.”

A suffocating current of emotions surged up his chest that took form into overwhelming tears. “I don’t want to come,” he said, his voice quivering as the wetness spilled from his eyes.

Each muscle in Taehyung’s body tensed at the sound of his broken voice. He glanced back at the others. “Go to the party. I’ll meet you there later.”

“I don’t want to leave him like this,” Jimin trailed off.

“I got him. Don’t worry.” Taehyung gave a reassuring nod, and they shuffled away a moment later. “Kook, I’m the only one here. Can you open the door?” The response he received was muffled sobs, and a spike shot through his heart, as if it fractured. “Fuck, Jungkook... Just open the door!”

But no matter how much time he waited, nothing happened. Taehyung’s head hung in despondency. “Why are you pushing me away? Why are you shutting me out? Don’t you get it that I like you? Hell, I have fucking fallen for you.”

Jungkook’s weeping piped down, and his red, puffy eyes grew double their size. He remained frozen stiff for a moment, then he was propelled to his feet by a consuming anxiety. “What?”

“Are you playing dumb or did you really not hear what I said?”

“You said you’ve never fallen for anyone.”