The New Year's Kiss \\ pjm x kth

Part 3 - A Kiss

Taehyung's shoes crunched in the snow as made his way to his first class of the day.

"I'm dying, Tae. Tell my mother I love her." Namjoon's raspy voice echoed over the phone.

"Shut up, traitor. I hate you. Get your ass over here." Taehyung angrily retaliated.

"I just told you that I'm dying. Have you no sympathy?"

"No. I don't. When I was sick I still went to class."

"Yeah but you were failing the class." Namjoon added, followed by a laugh that quickly transitioned into a wet cough that made Taehyung pull the phone away from his ear for a moment, grimacing at the disgusting sound.

"Alright, alright. Stay home, just for the love of god please stop doing that." Taehyung whined.

"Don't complain so much. Yoongi's in that class too."

"Well he's. Not. Here." Taehyung said, gripping his phone a little too tightly..

"Why does it matter so much?"

"Because you know the hall is always so empty on Fridays! You and Yoongi are the only people I know in the class and I don't want it to be just me and, like, three other strangers."

"Well, you're not supposed to talk to them, though. It is a class, after all."

"You're actually good at socializing, you don't understand." Taehyung sighed.

"Actually, I might not be as good as I think. Jimin texted me a while after we left the café to tell me that something came up and he couldn't come, but I feel like it was a lie."

"Why do you care so much? Everyone lies to get out of plans. You would be surprised at how many times I've lied to avoid hanging out with you guys."

"I'm just going to ignore that last part. I care because I really want to be friends with him, I can't explain it. It's platonic pining, Tae."

Taehyung left a beat of silence between them that Namjoon could easily interpret even though they weren't speaking face to face.

"PLATONIC pining. Don't go projecting yourself onto me." Namjoon laughed.

"I'm not projecting! I'm just-" Taehyung cut himself off when he saw the time on his phone screen "Oh shit I'm gonna be late, I gotta run. Don't die." He hung up before Namjoon could bid goodbye as well.

-   -   -   -

"Late again, I see." Scolded the professor.

"Almost! Almost....late..." Taehyung heaved, bent over with his hands on his knees, exhausted from running "But I'm here!"

The professor gestured for him to "take a seat already". He took a quick half-second glance around the room at the very few students that were there, the familiar silver-haired boy catching his eye once again.

"You have got to be kidding." Taehyung thought. The stranger seemed to be tired of seeing him around as well.

Jimin was thinking the same thing he had been in the coffee shop just a few days prior to this encounter. He knew he recognized Taehyung, and he knew there was some sort of weird tension, and he couldn't help but feel it was because of something he did. He had been wracking his brain, trying to remember, but he just couldn't.
He could remember Hajoon, his (ex) boyfriend had broken up with him, he knew he got upset and started drinking, and then...he made his way outside....and....someone might have bumped into him...and....

He really had no idea, and it almost gave him a headache trying to remember. But he knew it would come to him at some point. It had been on the tip of his tongue for days. He unconsciously brought his hand up to his lips and traced over the same place he had been for the past few days, not realizing what a huge hint that was to what had happened.