Our Yesterdays and Tomorrows

When It All Falls Away

Notes:

T/N: KOREAN VOCABULARY LESSON!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Here are the new words we used this chapter!

lCheo dwaetNa?: (Busan dialect) 'Are you crazy?'

lEunDa: (Busan dialect) 'No!'

~oooOooo~

"Using you?" Jungkook asked in disbelief, his temper flaring once more. "How-- When did we ever use you?"

"When didn't you?" Taehyung shot back as he straightened his spine.

"That isn't an answer, Taehyung-ah," Jimin said softly as he tried to diffuse the quickly escalating situation.

"When was the last time you came to me just because you wanted to?" Taehyung asked. "Without wanting something from me other than--" Taehyung cut himself off at that, not wanting to expose the most intimate details of their relationship to the outside ears that were trapped in their prison.

"When was the last time you came and talked to me?" Jimin asked. "To us?"

"You two were too busy with each other to pay any attention to me," Taehyung glowered.

"We were never too busy for you, Taehyung... nev-"

"You were always gone," Taehyung cut in, "You and Jungkook were always doing something else with someone else."

"We were working, Taehyung-ah," Jimin implored, wishing he had made more of an effort to talk with Taehyung about this when it happened.

He tried - tried checking in with him, tried to tell him how much he missed him, but Taehyung always blew it off as nothing, swore he was ok with everything. Jimin should have known better - in fact, subconsciously, he did. At that moment Jimin remembered every tug at his preoccupied mind telling him to text Taehyung while he was on a break, to send him a video, to bring home something he might like - nothing big, just maybe some japchae or a picture of something cool he saw while he was in transit. But he didn't. Jimin was too deep in his own head, too worried about how he would look dancing next to someone as good as Taemin, whether his performance would hurt or help BTS. He missed all of the signs that Taehyung was having a hard time dealing with the separation. It went over his head that, when he came home sweaty and tired, it was only Jungkook with whom he sat talking and recounting his day because he had been out rehearsing too. Jimin didn't notice that Taehyung was keeping everything bottled up and putting on a happy face like he always did. Shit, he missed it all...

"Ae-in, it didn't mean anything, I swear," Jimin tried, feeling like it might be too little too late, but knowing that he needed to say it.

"No, I'm sure it didn't, not when you two had each other to count on," Taehyung snapped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jungkook asked, bristling as confusion clouded his mind.

"You forgot my birthday," Taehyung said quietly as he blinked away his pain and diverted his gaze.

~oooOooo~

FLASHBACK

In the weeks leading up to the festival Jungkook and Jimin had pushed so hard, practiced so much, that they really had lost track of time - of days. It never occurred to them that they would - could - miss something as important as this. But when Namjoon gave the camera a wink and shouted 'Happy Birthday, V!' the both of them realized how badly they had messed up.