Love Affair | kth

5

Eventually, Jin plopped down into the seat across from you; Hobi pulled up his own chair. As they got comfortable, the three of you spiralled into loops of casual conversation which, somehow, transitioned into gossip about other people in the grade. Namjoon got a girlfriend over the summer, apparently. You haven't had a chance to speak properly with him since the end of the last school year. He seemed pretty busy. He got a new haircut too: a suave-looking undercut that complimented his dimples perfectly. He looked really cool. You decided you should find the time to tell him, and catch up.

"Namjoon seems kind of different this year," Hobi remarked, his eyes wide with perking interest. "Is he a changed man?"

"Ahh, probably," Jin said. "That kind of thing changes a man, yes."

"It's not his first girlfriend though, is it?"

"Namjoon? I don't know," Jin slumped back into his seat, shrugging his shoulders carelessly. "No one knows what's going on with that guy, man. He hardly talks to us, anyway. He's not really my friend."

"He talks to [...]," Hobi gestured to you. "And Taehyung."

Taehyung. Jin glanced over at you suddenly. There was something immediately different about his eyes, but, he quickly averted his gaze, as though he was trying to hide it. You found you didn't have the willpower to push him.

"Right, right. Taehyung," Jin was nodding, peering down at something under the table. He asked, "Where is Taehyung again, anyway?"

"Oh, right now?" Hobi shrugged his shoulders. It looked painful. "He's ... somewhere. Being artistic. I'm not too sure—I think he might be in the BH Theatre."

"Ahh, Taehyung," Jin dragged out the word; it felt stiff. You realised you hadn't really been breathing, because you'd forgotten exactly how. Your stomach felt hollow and ached with a brewing cold you'd learned to live with, these recent days. "He's so artistic, you know? He spends too much time on this stuff. He's always spending a lot of time on art."

"On art, all the time," Hobi agreed. "He's very serious about it."

"I say—" Jin raised his hand suddenly, dramatically, like he was about to chop the table in half. You and Hobi watched him speculatively as he, as expected, suddenly swiped his hand through the air and made light contact with the table "—I say he should spend more time with people."

Hobi nodded, a gentle dip of theatrics, "Yes.."

"Yeah, okay," you said. It felt like you hadn't spoken in ages. You knew the other two had felt it too, because when you spoke, their faces turned slightly towards you. You knew that, they were probably trying not to tiptoe around you, but the fact that they were so aware of not doing this just proved that they were tiptoeing around you ... you wondered if there was some way you could convey this to them without leaving the air dry and awkward. You thought through it for a minute. There was no way.

"[...]!" Jin shouted suddenly, and you flinched to look at him. He was waving his hand in mad gestures again. Hobi started at the sudden bark of Jin's voice, then turned and burst out in silent laughter. He fell forward onto the table, before swinging back up. Jin still held your gaze.

"What?" You demanded, eyebrows arched.

"You don't talk! Why aren't you talking?" He was interrogating you.