the rules of love and war.

04

"Hey, you okay?" Taehyung asked as we sat down at our tables for dinner. We had just come from a comedy club in a nearby town and I'm pretty sure that if Taehyung was completely oblivious before, now he was completely paranoid. I hadn't laughed once, as I usually did, nor was I able to talk like a normal being. Any time he spoke to me, I always tensed up, jumped and then proceed to ask him why he was interrogating me.

So much for keeping cool...

"Yeah, I'm good. Why do you ask? Am I doing something wrong? Do I look sick?"

I'm officially the most stupid girl on Earth.

"Of course not." Taehyung laughed, grabbing my hands lightly from across the table. "You look beautiful as always. And you're doing nothing wrong. Though you've been a little bit jumpy all night; anything I need to know?"

"No, never," I replied maybe a little too quickly, "I'm perfectly okay. Thanks for asking." I smiled. "And you look quite spiffy yourself, I have to say."

Taehyung smiled at me as we both fell into a comfortable silence. But the entire time we didn't talk, the only thing I could think about was how I was essentially cheating on my boyfriend. Though it wasn't exactly voluntary cheating... it was still cheating and in the worst way possible. I was going on a date with the one guy in the whole entire world that my boyfriend hates more than anything. And to make matters worse, I was doing it so that he would stop bullying Taehyung; it essentially made it seem like Taehyung was unable to fight his own battles without the help of his girlfriend.

This plan was sounding worse with every passing moment.

"And so now I'm just grateful for the fact that you've been by my side this entire time."

Oh shit.

I blinked a few times, staring at the now expecting-a-response Kim Taehyung. I must have been zoning out for quite some time, considering how he had just finished what seemed like a really intense monologue...

"Well, I'm always here for you." I smiled nervously, hoping he hadn't asked any questions. But based on the smile I received, I could only guess that my response was sufficient. "Anyway, so let's order!" I laughed shakily. I wanted to smack my forehead a million times for the number of stupid things I've already done. This date was probably the most awkward thing ever, even more so than our first date.

I'm absolutely humiliated.

"Listen, Lisa, I don't know if anything I just said actually registered with you." Taehyung said after the waiter had left with our orders. "I apologize for this whole... mess with Jeon. I never wanted to drag you into it and I hope one day, I'll be able to explain it to you. I want to. But I can only tell you when we come to an understanding."

I nodded, though I clearly understood none of his logic. How could they come to an understanding if all they did was attack each other? No words (asides from punkass, I'll fuck you up, screw off, and the likes) were being thrown back and forth. I guess this was his way of saying 'think all you want, but I'll never tell you'.

"He just never listens, you know? He just starts all this shit and doesn't care who it affects."

"Well, have you ever actually tried talking to him? From what I've seen, you've only ever tried to punch him in the face."

Silence immediately fell over our table as I sat there, kicking myself in the face. Why in the world did I just have to screw this up... I was so close to finishing the night and I just had to mess everything up with one stupid little comment.

"I'm sorry, what?"

I looked down at my plate, hoping that I could disappear into the floor and never be seen again.

"I can still see you Lisa. You're not exactly melting away."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." I groaned, throwing my face into my hands. Maybe if I put on a dramatic show, he'd let me off lightly... "I know I promised never to meddle, but what if you just talked to him, no violence, no curses, nothing. He might be willing to compromise with you; you'll never know until you try."

"Yeah, like he'd ever go for that." He scoffed, throwing his napkin down on the table.

"I don't know, maybe he would go for it if you actually attempted being nice to him."

"Being nice?" Taehyung laughed dryly. "Jeon Jungkook is not one to be nice. All he does is fuck people over so that he can get ahead. Plus, I can't give that bastard the satisfaction of winning. I started this; I'm going to fucking end it."

Wait a moment, he started this?

"You started this? I always assumed it was him; what did you do that made him this pissed off at you?"

"I told you Lisa. It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Tonight was supposed to be about us, and now you've brought him into this. What are you, obsessed with him?" he sneered.

"What?" I hissed, leaning forward. Where was this sudden immaturity rising from? "Taehyung, what's going on? Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? You were totally fine two minutes ago. And plus, no I did not bring him into this, you did. Don't put the blame on me."

"Are we really going to do this now? This was our night, our three year anniversary and you're gonna do this. I see how it is."

"Taehyung, stop this. This is getting insane." I reached out to grab his hands, but he merely pulled away. "Taehyung. What are you doing?"

"Why are you so obsessed with what's going on between Jungkook and I anyway? It's not like it's affecting our relationship in anyway. What goes on with us two has nothing to do with me and Jungkook."

"But it does affect us, Taehyung." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I hated having this discussion with him. With everything else in life, he was highly accepting but for some reason, with Jungkook, he just couldn't accept that I was being affected by his arguments, and not just me. His other friends were worried about him. He just couldn't see it. "Every time you choose to retaliate, every bruise you get, every time you push me away when we reach this discussion... can't you see that you're letting Jungkook ruin our relationship?"

Something inside him somehow seemed to snap as it seemed his entire ego deflated. His shoulders loosened up as he let out a breath that he had apparently been holding this entire time. "Shit..." he muttered, as if suddenly just realized that he was wrong. "I don't think you understand what I'm saying." So maybe he didn't realize it. "My life with Jungkook does not involve you. You don't belong in that part of my life. I don't want you get involved with him, directly or not. It's all too complicated."

"So uncomplicate it for me then, please." I suddenly snapped. Taehyung was being an idiotic asshole for no apparent reason. Sure, we had argued about Jeon Jungkook before, but never had it gotten to this point. "Tell me what's going on between you guys so that I can finally understand. Once I understand, you can trust me to stay out of 'that part' of your life."

"Lisa, please, can you let this go." He groaned. "I'm sorry for bringing it up; you really don't have to go into this whole spiel again about wanting to know. Can we just please get back to dinner?"

"Fine by me." I threw my hands up in the air in mock surrender. "You were the one throwing a hissy fit about it in the first place, not me. So don't put this one on me."

Needless to say, that comfortable silence we fell into only ten minutes ago was now quite the opposite of that. For some reason, I thought Taehyung would never find out about my eventual date with Jungkook. But seeing how he honed in on Jungkook practically every day and how I didn't trust Mingyu, Yugeom or any of the other guys in Jungkook's crew, I figured Taehyung would find out about it eventually.

And when that day came, all hell would break loose.