Time

Taehyung ignored him, gaze locked on Jisoo. "He's bothering you."

"No," she snapped. "He's not."

The lie was thin.

Taehyung took a step closer. "Then why are you yelling at me instead of him?"

Silence.

Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"He's my friend," she said tightly.

The word felt wrong the moment it left her mouth.

Taehyung's brows knit together. "Your... what?"

"My friend," she repeated. "So just-leave it."

He laughed once, sharp and incredulous. "Since when do you have a friend like this?"

The guy's face darkened. "Watch your mouth."

Taehyung finally turned to him, eyes cold. "Or what?"

"Tae-!" Jisoo hissed.

Taehyung looked back at her, stunned now-not angry, not yet, just genuinely shaken. "You never mentioned him. Not once."

"I don't owe you explanations," she said, voice trembling with something dangerously close to panic.

"That's not what this is," Taehyung said quietly. "This is about him."

The guy scoffed. "You don't know anything about her."

Taehyung's jaw tightened. "I know more than you, enough to see when she's uncomfortable."