The New Year's Kiss \\ pjm x kth

Part 9 - Maturity

Jimin was drained. Physically, not so much, but mentally it was a completely different story. All these people, all this noise...

He was naturally extroverted, but a situation like this was all too familiar. It was like going back to the location where you had a severe accident, or realizing it was the anniversary of you and the ex you haven't quite gotten over yet. All parties like this blended together in his mind at some point, but he knew how to wait things out, at least.

When Taehyung came and told him it was finally time to leave, he felt physically lighter. He couldn't tell for sure, but it seemed like Taehyung was trying to leave as subtly as possible, maybe even sneaking out. Jimin supposed his hate for Hwayoung was much more than he imagined, and it was.

Something as simple as seeing her face or hearing her voice gave Taehyung an unpleasant shiver. She didn't appear to be the most intimidating, but she had something on Taehyung that had heavy meaning to him. She was much more intelligent than she let on, but Taehyung was really the only one that knew that. He always liked to be rid of her as fast as he could.

The trip back home was...strange, to say the least. Jimin was definitely acting different, Taehyung decided. Then again, he hadn't really known Jimin for very long, but something just seemed off.

"Maybe something at the party upset him? Maybe he's mad at me for dragging him along? Maybe he's just tired?" Taehyung wracked his brain trying to think up excuses for Jimin to be upset. He didn't know Jimin very well, he kept reminding himself. Better to just butt out and not stick his nose in Jimin's life, right?

Wrong, apparently.

"...Are you okay?" Taehyung said, so quiet that Jimin could barely hear it over the noise the car was making.

"I'm fine." Jimin smiled. His eyes seemed to have a sort of glaze over them. It was a subtle difference, but enough to make Taehyung worry.

Though Taehyung's inner self was telling him something was clearly wrong, he shoved it to the back of his mind and merely chalked it up to "He must be tired."

Taehyung bit his lip and fiddled with his fingers. He ran his hand through his hair a bit, and tugged at a single lose thread attached to his pants. He wanted to ask Jimin something.

"...Jimin?" He said. He wasn't sure what he wanted to ask, he hoped it would come to him before his next breath. He was about to speak, when a group of men crowded onto the car. They were loud, rowdy, clearly drunk, and annoying above all else. To Taehyung, this group was just like every other obnoxious group he would see on the underground, but to Jimin it was so much more.

"Ugh..." Jimin groaned. Taehyung let out a similar groan in response, assuming Jimin was just doing it to express his distaste they shared of the obnoxious group of friends.

Jimin turned his head away slightly, almost trying to use his hair to hide himself, though it was too short. He pressed his hand to his face, trying to make it seem like he was just a random person resting his head on his hand. Taehyung was about to discretely ask him if he knew these people, but wasn't able to before one of the obnoxious men started talking.

"Hey! Look who it is!" He slurred. Jimin closed his eyes tightly for a second, trying to muster up the strength for what he knew was going to be a horrible interaction.

"Who's this, huh? Is it your new boy toy?" They all laughed with the one who was talking, following who clearly seemed to be the "leader" of whatever the hell kind of group dynamic this was. It took Taehyung a moment before realizing they were talking about him.

"No. Just a friend." Jimin quietly replied, clearly on edge. Taehyung couldn't help but feel that Jimin was under an attack of some sort.

The group all glanced at each other after Jimin's response, then burst out laughing. Taehyung gave Jimin a confused expression, while Jimin just shrugged and rolled his eyes.