Chapter four:
Hot Cocoa is Coffee
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"Hey, are you alright?"

"NO!" The male screamed, taking another step back.

"Okay..." Jungkook said, his eyebrows creasing. "But no matter how you feel, you're not getting the key till you're done."

"I'm sorry." Taehyung said, after finally getting back to his senses. "I just remembered something unpleasant."

"Sure you did."

Feeling that he'd explained just about everything, Jungkook turned to leave.

"Ah. I'm Jungkook, by the way. If you didn't already catch that." The male muttered before going downstairs to see what Namjoon was up to.

Taehyung still stood there in the same place, unmoving. He had absolutely no idea what he was to do. If what Joon had said to him was true then he dreaded every single event that would take place from then on. Being brought into such a disconsolate state, the thought of him having just left his home and everything behind suddenly flooded into his mind.

The male was scared, in all honesty. Scared of what awaited him. Scared of having to live with such a crank. Scared of never being able to live freely because of the one thing that he once did.

At least he had Namjoon around him for the time being. Though the male would've never admitted it himself, he was forever thankful for whatever his friend had done for him. For every little sacrifice he'd made for him.

Brushing the depressing thoughts aside and hoping for good things in the future, the male headed downstairs as well.

"I'll be seeing you soon then." He heard his friend say upon making it halfway down. His paced walking immediately switching to full-on sprinting down the stairs.

"JOON!"

"Oh, Tae! I was just about to leave and-"

The male was interrupted with Taehyung's body crashing onto his own, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. Taehyung himself was confused as to why he'd reacted like that so suddenly. It's just that the thought of not having a familiar face around in such a new place scared him.

"Joon... You were going to leave without a proper goodbye?" The male said, his voice cracking slightly.

"Uh... Tae I- I didn't think-" releasing a sigh to compose himself the male continued, "I'm sorry, Tae." He said, letting his hands brush the hair of the childlike male clinging onto him. "I should've realised that you'd need help getting used to this place. I was in a hurry to meet someone and I forgo- I'm sorry."

Finally releasing the other from the hug, Taehyung cracked a smile over to the male. "Thank you for helping me."

The older let out a soft chuckle, shoving his hands into his pocket. Looking down at the ground as he kicked a pebble, the male simply shrugged.

"Least I could do." He said with a smile. "Listen, I've got to go cause someone's waiting for me. But I promise to come around tomorrow to visit. I've already explained to Jungkook everything he needs to know. I've told him about your favourite foods, how to wash your comfy blankie. I bought a spot in his freezer to store Goldy's carcass. I even made him promise to protect you from donkeys incase they come close."

"Blankie needs to be washed with strawberry bubble-bath soap." The male repeated, making sure that that was the top priority.

"Yes. He knows. And I've given him your meds and the time schedule so just listen to him when he tells you, okay?"

"M-My... Meds?"

The older almost slapped himself for forgetting to mention it to him. "Yeah. I got you checked while you were passed out after last night's... you-know-what. Not much external injury but some small internal damage. Don't worry about it."

"I thought you said that there was some sort of deep shit internal bleeding and-"

Namjoon shot the male a fierce look, making sure that he made no mention of Taehyung's injury to him. The male would cry himself to death had he found out what had actually happened.

"Welp. I better get going then." Softly ruffling Tae's hair, the male smiled at him. "Bye, Tae."

The male smiled, and waved. Trying his best not to cry. 'You'll be seeing him tomorrow. You'll be seeing him tomorrow.' He mentally repeated to himself, as he watched the other leave.

It was only until the car had disappeared down the street that Taehyung let the tears fall.

"What the- The fuck you crying about?"

Taehyung cried. He cried out all the pent up feelings that he'd been hiding from his friend so that he wouldn't have to worry about him. He bawled his eyes out, right there. In front of the store.

The younger male, or at least he presumed he was, turned on his heels and headed back in. Leaving poor Taehyung to himself, bawling his eyes out.

The fear of this sudden change in environment and the frustration from having to depend on Namjoon for everything pouring out; an unpleasant mixture of guilt and fright.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Came an exasperated shout from inside the store, the other coming back out to where the male stood crying.

He grabbed a hold of his arm, pulling him inside. Taehyung continued to cry as the other pulled him up the stairs and into the studio. He was sat on a couch and left there to wail in agony on his own. Or at least that's what he'd presumed before he noticed the footsteps return.

Jungkook placed a coffee mug on the table before him. Taehyung, quite taken aback by the gesture, looked at him with wide eyes. Or at least as wide as he could open them, for they were swollen red from all the crying he'd just done. His breathing slowly calmed down, hiccups now gone.

"Sad Tae gets coffee." The male bluntly stated. Taehyung's simply stared at him, bewildered by what he was doing. "I mean- that's what Joon told me to tell you when- You know what? Screw this shit. Just drink the fucking coffee." The male ordered, placing his own mug on the glass table before throwing himself on the couch beside Taehyung.

"So... What's your deal?"

"I've got no deal." The male said, reaching out for the jug to take a sip of his coffee.

"Everyone's got a deal. That's what makes them human."

"Well, since you insist, my deal if that I'm a broke, jobless shit who's got no deal."

Jungkook stared at the other, plainly, not even the least bit amused by the conversation they were having. The silence in the room growing awkward, Taehyung decided to take a sip of his coffee. Almost as soon as he'd taken the sip, Taehyung spat the contents back out.

"What the hell is this!?"

"It's coffee, shitrag." Jungkook stated, as a matter of factly.

"No. This not coffee. It's some bitter something. I know the real taste of coffee cause that's what Joon and I drank together when I turned eighteen. It's been four years since that day and I'll be damned if I didn't know the taste of pure coffee."

"Oh yeah? And what the hell does that taste like?" Jungkook asked, trying not to be weirded out by the fact that he'd had his first cup of coffee at eighteen.

"It's slightly, only a smidge bitter, and has the taste of chocolate." Taehyung stated smugly.

"Hot Cocoa, you mean."

"What? No! What is that even? How can you not know what real coffee tastes like!? Are you an idiot or something?"

"That's rich coming from you."

Without another word, Jungkook got up and disappeared into the house, only to return a few minutes later with another coffee mug in his hands. "Here. Try this."

Saying so, the male placed the mug into Tae's hands. Still skeptical about the drink, the male took a weary sip from the mug.

"Now that's what I call, real coffee." Tae said so with a smirk.

"Sure. Whatever you want." Jungkook said, lifting his brows at the other's stupidity as he took a sip of his 'bitter something' that was totally not coffee.

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And... Done! Hope you all liked it. I'll be updating more. Soon. I hope.

Until the next chapter, then.

Author T

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