Enhanced || JJK

VIII. Be There

"Tae, Tae, what are you doing? Take it down a notch... I'm not a kid and he's telling the truth, I came up to him..." I said putting myself in between them and facing Tae, to calm him down.
"Are you serious? Did you hit your head?" Tae was shocked and he had every right to be. Up until the night before I was complaining about Jungkook annoying me and now I was the one going up to him to talk. It didn't make sense.
"Can we talk about it somewhere else?" I whispered to him, not wanting Jungkook to know that I talk about him behind his back. He would have given me such a hard time for it.
"Okay, let's go home..." Tae agreed and I was relieved. At least for a moment.
"Wait, we were talking... Also, I can walk you home, I'm going the same way..." Jungkook interrupted. I didn't understand why he had gotten so serious. Usually all he does is laugh at me or sulk if I don't respond. I had never seen him so serious, except for the glasses episode. But that time I couldn't actually see him, so it was my first time looking at his face frowning.

"You're a persistent one, I'll give you that... Let's go, Lulu, my car is parked right there..." Tae said indicating his car, which already stood out from the other cars. With the little money he had made from selling one of his paintings, he decided to buy an old car and paint it as if it was a blank canvas waiting for a masterpiece to be painted on it. And the result was indeed a masterpiece, after all Tae did it, but as a side effect it really stood out.
Jungkook stayed silent.
"We'll see each other tomorrow anyway..." I told him before leaving with Tae.
He nodded and left.

"You were too harsh..." I said to Tae once we were in the car and he was driving me to my house.
"Excuse me?! Am I crazy or are you defending him right now? Do you have some sort of Stockholm Syndrome?" He asked, confused by my attitude.
"No, I'm just saying, there was no need to get all 'alpha mode' on him... I can handle him if I need to..."
"Well, then I imagine the reason you went there to talk to him was to tell him he's been a pain in the ass since elementary school... Am I right?" He said, clearly being sarcastic.
I stayed silent.
"There you have it... This is why I went all 'alpha mode' as you said... 'Cause I know you won't tell him, you'll always try to see the good person behind the beast... You've spent too much time watching old Disney movies, my friend..."
"That's not true! I mean, the part about watching first-generation Disney movies yes, they're so vintage, gotta love them! But the part about me not telling him, well you're wrong... This morning I told him to stop annoying me!" I proudly admitted, to prove to him that I was able to protect myself without his help.
"And I bet you went to apologize..."
My eyes went wide. It's at times like these that I don't like having a friend who knows me better than anyone else.
"It's fine, I won't get mad... I know that it doesn't feel good to say to someone something harsh even if they deserve it... Can you just try to think a bit more about your feelings than other people's? That's all I'm asking..."
"I'll try..." I said pouting, still feeling like I had just been scolded.

"What are your parents up to, these days?" He asked after a brief pause, changing subject to make me feel better probably.
"You know, usual stuff, running the shop, coming back home, fighting about dumb stuff, then making up over dinner and talking about you..." I said dramatically.
"Ah, my two favourite parents, I wish I was their son..." He tried to hide his sadness behind a smile.
"Come on Tae, you can't hate your parents forever..."
"I don't hate them, I just can't stand their way of living... I hate how it's all just about money and appearance... They keep asking me to go to their stupid dinners with rich people and say that if I don't go it will look bad and people will talk... I hate their shallowness..."
"I know, I understand it... But they love you..."
"They just love the fact that their little experiment turned out well and that now they have a handsome son to show off... I swear as soon as I get a job and some money of my own I'll leave that house..."
He looked so hurt and I couldn't do anything about it, it was so upsetting.
In the meantime we had arrived to my house and he parked in front of it.
"Hey, why don't you come inside and stay until my parents come back from the shop? They always talk about how much they miss you, I'm sure they'll be happy to see you and probably ask you to stay for dinner..." I asked him, trying to do the only thing I could do for him in that situation: be there for him and distract him from what was hurting him.
"You sure you won't get jealous because your parents like me more?"
"I'm already used to it, you parent-snatcher!"
We laughed and got inside the house, spending the rest of the afternoon chatting and watching funny videos.

"Luna, we're home!" My mom's voice interrupted our laughs.
"Mom, I'm with Tae in my room..." I yelled to let her know where I was.
After a few seconds she appeared at my bedroom's door.
"Hi Taehyung!" She greeted him happily.
"Hi Mrs Moon!"
"Mom, I'm here too!" I tried to get her attention.
"Yeah, I know, I see you everyday, Luna..." She joked. Or at least I hoped she was joking.
"Oh, hi son, how have you been doing?" My dad came to my room too.
"Hi Mr Moon, I've been doing well, thank you... A bit busy, since graduation is getting closer..." Tae answered politely.
"Oh yeah, I know, for Luna it's the same, we barely see her..." My dad said with a melancholic expression.
"Ah, Taehyung, did you notice we put your last painting on the wall in front of the front door?" My mom asked.
"Oh, yeah, I noticed it as soon as I came in... I'm really glad you liked it!"
"Of course we did! It's so beautiful and welcoming, perfect for the hallway!"

My parents loved Tae's paintings and he loved to gift his art to them, they've been collecting his pieces since middle school and now our house is basically Tae's personal gallery. There are his paintings on the walls, his sculptures on the shelves and any type of art he ever made scattered around the house. I was glad that at least my parents appreciated him for his real talent, since he didn't feel like his own parents did.
As predicted, my mom then invited him to dinner and my dad started making his special dish, saying that he couldn't refuse such a treat. So Tae stayed for dinner, but he would have stayed even without any type of persuasion.

After dinner, we all said bye to him and told him to drive safety and to text me once he got home. He did and we all went to bed feeling a little bit happier. Even if I invite Tae over to make him feel better and forget about his problems, it actually makes all of us happier. For one, because, of course, I get to spend time with my best friend, but also because my parents don't fight when he's there and my dad always cooks his special dish for him. The atmosphere in the house becomes instantly brighter and this all because of Tae. He has this ability to light up a room just with his smile, but I'm not talking about the appearance of it, just the positivity he's able to emanate through it. It's difficult to explain, but whatever he has on the outside, whatever his parents enhanced, it's really nothing with respect to what he is inside, the real natural beauty.