"This is the shitiest ice cream flavor I've ever tasted!" Jungkook grumbles into the cone, the cream smears on the top lip when he pouts at it.

"Yet you keep eating it." Namjoon barely spares a glance, before cursing back into the phone screen that spits out explosion noises in the game he was playing.

"You're not eating the nuggets though. Are they bad?"

"No, they're yum." He cringes at another lick. "I'm saving them for Tae."

"Oh? Did you guys make up?"

Jungkook's eyes freeze on the ice cream he holds. There's explosion noise again and he isn't very sure it's from the phone this time.

"Um.. Kook?"

Maybe if he continues to unblinkingly stare at the cone, Namjoon might take him for a statue and forget about this.

"Yoohoo?" he blinks back when there are fingers snapping in front of his eyes. "I asked if you two are back together 'cause–"

"NO!" He presses in his yell when he attracts a couple of head turns. "I mean, no. We aren't."

"Well, it'll all be okay." he gets back to his game. "To me, this isn't even a 'break up'."

Jungkook pauses again. "What? What- wha- why do you think that?"

"Well, for starters, you two literally live together. You obviously didn't cheat, so this is just a misunderstanding. All you need to do is sit down and talk and boom! Back to groping each other's crotches under the canteen table."

"Hey! We don't– I don't– oh fuck off!" is all he can come up with in reddening embarrassment.

How are they struggling so damn hard for this oafish plan, yet here are people not even believing there's trouble between them? Jungkook sighs.

If he needs Taehyung by his side (read: rolling on top of him on the bed) again, he needs to redeem himself.

And maybe he can start by actually not jeopardizing this plan anymore. By actual logical reasonable believable excuses on this.

"I wish it was that easy. We've had issues for a long time now, him and I. It got to an ugly point before he.. Broke up. It was mostly mutual, if I look at it now."

Namjoon gapes at him, while his hands robotically exit out of the game. He keeps the phone aside, eyes insolently stripping Jungkook's glass demeanor to dissect the truth. "Wait, really?"

Jungkook nods and licks the ice cream again, now sadly.

"But I figured it's solvable since you guys still live together and all–"

"Taehyung's been staying at his brother's lately. He only comes to the dorm to change and take his stuff."

The intensity of his own words hits Jungkook harder than he would fathom. The fact that this is the first out of all the chaos, which isn't a lie. It hurls inside his gut in an agonizing plunge. He finds himself reeling back, slumping on the backrest of the crummy chair.

"Hey!" Namjoon is quickly jumping to slump an arm over his shoulder and collect Jungkook to his chest. "Stop pouting, you're turning all red!"

Jungkook lets Namjoon brush the bangs out of his face with a smile as soft as the waves skimming on the shore.

"You can't convince me of any other theory than the fact that you two are literally made for each other. So chill out! And we won't wanna trigger your stress-diarrhea, we all know how that goes!"

Jungkook cannot help but chuckle with a faint hit on his best friend's chest, then softly falling into the awkwardly twisted hug.

He closes his eyes and wishes for all this shit to be over soon so he and his made-for-him can go back to the same (read: back to groping each other's crotches under the canteen table).

If only his eyes were open, he would notice how longingly Taehyung stands at the doorway of the cafetaria; watching him and Namjoon destress in each other's arms, looking like the most psychologically-compatible-knocking-shells.

If only his eyes were open, he would see Taehyung turn his back and walk away while texting Yoongi to pick him up again today.

********

"Hey.. um, can you drop me at mom's today?"

The moment he enters the backseat, he completely disregards the breathlessly making out couple, and proceeds to tap Yoongi's shoulder till he breaks the kiss off with an annoyed tick.
"I said, drop me at mom's."

"Uh, first off–" Yoongi buckles Hoseok's seatbelt for him, before doing the same for himself. "Can you not tap me when I literally have my tongue down my boyfriend's throat?"

Hoseok swats an offended slam on his thigh, and turns to give a succoring smile to Taehyung. The angel he is, Yoongi must have danced naked in a summon circle of a cult to bag a boyfriend like that, Taehyung thinks.

"Secondly, don't say 'dropping off' at mom's like it's on our way. They literally live a 40 minute drive away!"

Hoseok keeps a nervous glance on Taehyung before turning to persuade Yoongi "Come on, we can use a long drive–"

"If I 'drop him off', I will also have to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn and drive back to 'pick him up' for college because– oh, he's the tiny-winey baby with his underwear and introvert problems.. BooHoo!"

"Don't be mean, babe! I'm sure that's not true!"

Hoseok inquisitively turns and watches Taehyung shrug proudly and mutter– "Well, it kinda is."

As Yoongi starts to drive, the car filled with music and lover chit-chats, Taehyung feels his chest heavier than ever. He has never been good at handling stress to begin with, on top of that a self-inflicted one is ribbon to his emblem.

The trees and people skate right off the car window that his eyes flicker to, he finds himself not appreciating the breeze like he usually would. The view feels distant when the heart is empty but heavy at the same time.

The feeling of knowing the wrongness of the direction your thoughts flee to, yet, like a chain-smoker in rehab, the satisfaction in pain of destruction lets one think more in it.

"-eahyung! Yo, TAE!!"

He flinches back to reality with Yoongi hitting a car towel on his head. "What?"

"Can you come back to earth. Or you can be a guest if you plan to sleep in the car, but you're not getting to turn the AC on!"

Taehyung looks outside and realizes they're at Yoongi's already, only with both of them peaking at him from front with contrastingly feather gaze and dagger glare.

Deciding he's done for the negativity of the day,  he silently puts his earbuds back in the bag and zips it up.

"This is frustrating! Can't you tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing happened." He sling the bag on his back.

"Jeez, you're insufferable lately! No wonder Jungkook throws you out of the dorm so often these days!"

Taehyung is too detrimental in his head that he has no retort to this (except the middle finger he flicks) before stepping out and slamming the door shut.

"Why the fuck did you have to be so insensitive? Didn't I tell you what happened?"

"He needs to talk to me!"

"Yeah well, try it in a nicer way next time, maybe it'll happen!" Hoseok slings his bag on his back too. "Christ! No wonder your name rhymes with foongi!"

"What the fuck is foongi?"

"Y'know those gross things that infect your toes and eat skin?"

"Fungi?" Yoongi isn't sure what is more of the inducing factor in the incoming migraine.

"Thank god you're a dance major."

"Yeah! Because I'm bloody good at it." Even in a jaw locked in anger, Hoseok doesn't forget to comb back his hair in the rear view mirror.

"No, because you're bloody bad at every other subject."

Yoongi guesses he deserved the second door slam too.

==============================

And this is how Day 4 ended!!
Today has been a productive day

I have stopped promising dates for updates because, well, adulting sucks the life out of me.

extra EXTRA thank you for sparing your time