BLACK ON BLACK | TK

Chapter Thirteen

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***

"But did you see the flares in the sky?
Were you blinded by the light?
Did you feel the smoke in your eyes?
Did you, did you?
Did you see the sparks filled with hope?
You are not alone
'Cause someone's out there, sending out flares."

Taehyung was perched on his chair, blankly staring at his canvas, when his phone started ringing from someplace in his house. He's been painting for a few hours and Taehyung's mind was all over the place so it took a while for him to find his phone, which had eventually stopped ringing. It was Jimin the one calling so, after finally calming down the mess that was his mind, Taehyung dialed his friend.

Of course, Jimin answered after the first two seconds, his voice overly excited as he spoke into the speaker. "Tae, what are you up to?"

"Uh, I'm painting." He answered as he turned back around in order to go back to his abandoned canvas, sitting on the chair in the same position before picking up another brush.

Jimin hummed in understanding.  "Ah, I see. Would you like to hang out later? I mean, you don't have the right to recline but I wanted to seem polite."

Taehyung looked at the painting in front of him, the image of a man standing in front of the ocean, then sighed, knowing that he couldn't refuse Jimin's request since the other was stubborn.

"Sure."

***

Taehyung agreed to hang out with Jimin but he didn't think that the others would come as well since his friend didn't mention anything. They were all there, including Jeongguk, who simply offered him a nod of acknowledgement before he resumed his conversation with Namjoon. 

He sat next to Jimin at the terrace they were currently at with Muse and Onyx laying down near his feet, Yoongi immediately starting to pet Muse's head with an awe struck face.  Taehyung chuckled at the sight, letting the other play with Muse as his eyes went to the other side of the table, where the others were seated. Namjoon and Jeongguk were talking about the boy's new tattoo and Taehyung couldn't help but frown when he heard some of the older man's words.

"Gguk, your tattoo isn't even healed yet and it's not even halfway done. I'd suggest you stay put for a while and keep any needles away from your skin. Your body's trying to heal the current tattoo and getting another one would lower your immune system, making it heal harder and not as good as usual."

Jeongguk sighed at that, exhaling a cloud of smoke from the cigarette he was holding between his fingers. "I know all that. I got my license first out of all of us so I'm basically the most experienced here. I just feel like I could manage another one."

Namjoon didn't answer him, simply letting a sigh fall out of his lips before turning his attention towards Seokjin. When Taehyung turned around, Jeongguk was already looking at him, no frown present on his face but no smile either.  He was simply smoking while watching him and Taehyung felt his cheeks suddenly warm up.

Wanting to avoid the awkwardness and the intense stare of the other, Taehyung turned his attention back to Yoongi who, in the meantime, had grabbed Jimin by the waist and was talking to him, both of them smiling broadly.  He smiled as he noticed them, realizing that Namjoon and Seokjin had done the same thing, which left him and Jeongguk free to talk to each other.