He hated it; hated the uneasy feeling flooding through him at the moment; hated the permanent frown stuck on his face; hated that things weren't 'okay' between him and Jeongguk.

So far, the closest that they had gotten to an argument was probably the time Taehyung got upset because the raven-head skipped his breakfast. 

Seriously, they never get mad at each other... as unbelievable as that sounded. 

But maybe it was inevitable. Every couple needed to have at least one big fight every now and then right?

The thing that annoyed Taehyung the most as he walked into his work building was the fact that he and Jeongguk wouldn't have had that little disagreement this morning if it weren't for Jil-su. He was just so mad thinking who the hell that blond man was to stir up trouble in his relationship with Jeongguk.

If the past had taught Taehyung anything, it was to stop being so fucking naïve all the time. Thinking back to all those times he stayed silent and helpless, it made him feel annoyed with himself. 

So right now with a determined mindset and the slightly under-control anger that boiled inside him, Taehyung tossed his belongings onto his work desk first before marching in the direction of Mr Han's office. 

He really didn't want to see that arrogant Jil-su again so his plan was to demand that his boss assign him to another job. Honestly at this point, Taehyung didn't mind going back to reporting those lame stories again. Reporting about the existence of unicorns was better than interviewing that blond.

Mr Han's office was right there. Taehyung was about to reach it when someone blocked his way. Soon, he was looking back at a shorter male in a white work shirt that had been tucked into his loose high-waisted pants; he was practically swimming in his clothes and seriously looked malnourished.

This guy, who Taehyung had seen around the office a few times but never spoke to before, was a journalist just like him. His name was Ki-woo and he was the same age as Taehyung but just... very short.

"Hey Taehyung, where you headed to?" His cheery voice chirped.

"Uh..." The brunet furrowed his brows wondering why Ki-woo was suddenly interacting with him after they've barely acknowledged each other's presence for the longest time. Nonetheless, he replied him back politely. "I was just going to meet Mr Han."

The other man nodded before smiling excitedly. "I heard that you got to interview Seo Jil-su. That's a major upgrade for you. I'm so jealous." He smiled wider, it almost looked forced.

For a moment, Taehyung was stuck staring at Ki-woo. Why was he smiling so much?  "Thanks... but uh- you can have this interview if you want. I'm actually on my way to tell Mr Han to get somebody else to deal with Mr Seo."

Ki-woo's expression turned into a surprised one. "Why?"

"I just don't want to." Taehyung lied. He wasn't about to spill everything that Jil-su had said and done to him. 

"Okay... but," The other man gave him a nervous smile. "Maybe I'll get this interview then? I'm a huge fan of his." He said in a joking manner.

After a few seconds of weighing the consequences of sentencing another poor victim to deal with that devil, Jil-su, Taehyung smiled back. "Well you can have it if you want."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh." 

Was Taehyung a bad person for doing this? Should he had warned Ki-woo beforehand? Well, the short man will learn the swimmer's true colors eventually so... 

"I should go meet Mr Han now."

Ki-woo nodded rapidly. "Yeah yeah, sure. I'll see you around then."

"Okay." Taehyung smiled again as he watched the mop of the man's black hair bounce away with each step he took. 

That was... weird.

But Taehyung didn't have time to dwell on that thought. He turned his head to the front again, eyeing his boss' office door. He wanted to get this over with. So with a deep breath, he walked into Mr Han's office after knocking on the door a few times.

There, the older man sat behind piles of stacked papers. There were so many paper towers, they almost blocked Mr Han entirely. The sound of the keyboard keys clicking filled the air as the man was busy typing something onto his computer. Taehyung also noticed the five empty cups of coffee that littered his boss' desk.

"Who is that- oh Taehyung. What can I do for you?"

Get straight to the point.

"Mr Han, I don't want to interview Seo Jil-su anymore. Can you please get me another job to do? I'll take anything." 

Right away, the sound of the keyboard keys clicking stopped. 

Mr Han got up from his chair. "You want to what?"

"I..." Taehyung trailed off wondering if he should've been more subtle because the look his boss was giving him right now scared him a little. Still with some bravery, he spoke out, "I don't want to meet Mr Seo again."

"Why?"

"Uh because..." He racked through his brain thinking of something to say. He really didn't want to tell his boss that the swimmer had called him a slut. It was embarrassing. "He's just hard to work with."

"In what way?" Mr Han crossed his arms over his chest.

The brunet internally groaned. "He doesn't cooperate to answer any of the questions I ask him, he gets emotional out of the blue and hates me for some reason."

Mr Han sighed before walking out from behind his desk to come and stand in front of the younger man. "Taehyung, I know this is your first big assignment and maybe you're nervous. I get it-"

"What no. I don't-"

"No listen to me. Every journalist goes through these struggles. But are you sure you want to give up this great opportunity just because you can't get along with Mr Seo?"

If Mr Han wasn't Taehyung's boss, he'd be shooting daggers at the older man by now. He wanted to get along with the swimmer. It's Jil-su who doesn't like him. And then all of his previous encounters with the blond entered his head and once again, Taehyung thought of the small argument he had with Jeongguk.

The look on the raven-head's face when he found out what Jil-su had called the brunet.

No.

He needed to be firm.

"Mr Han," Taehyung stood up straighter. "I'd rather follow a dog around all day and write a ten thousand word report on its activities that day than spend a single second with Seo Jil-su."

The brunet watched his boss' eyes widened in shock. But Mr Han's attention wasn't directed at him. No. It was aimed at something or rather someone behind Taehyung. 

And then a voice spoke out from behind him, making him freeze.

"Ouch."

Some footsteps clicked against the ground and soon the devil himself stood next to Taehyung. "That was harsh Princess but I probably deserved that."

What the hell was he doing here?!

"Mr Seo!" Mr Han did a bow. "What are you doing here?"

Taehyung watched his boss' actions and couldn't help but roll his eyes. He had his arms crossed over his chest and faced to the side looking at anywhere except the man next to him. 

Instead of answering directly to Mr Han, Jil-su went to stand in front of a stubborn Taehyung who was now literally staring at the ground because he still insisted on not looking at the other. 

A short chuckle emitted from the swimmer at his childish act. "You left this at the hotel."

Jil-su held out Taehyung's file with the interview papers inside them. Without so much as a 'thank you', the brunet simply snatched the file out of the other man's hands and turned around. He was ready to leave the office when Mr Han called out to him.

"Mr Seo, I'm so sorry." Mr Han quickly muttered out before rushing over to Taehyung. He gripped the younger man's elbow and whisper-shouted to him. 

"What are you doing?! Apologize to him right now."

Before Taehyung could respond to that, a voice piped up from behind them.

"No it's fine. He doesn't need to apologize to me."

As soon as Jil-su said that, with a conflicted mind, the brown-haired male turned around on his own finally facing the swimmer for the first time today. His anger had shimmered down a tad bit. He certainly hadn't expect Jil-su to say that at all.

Mr Han chuckled lightly. "What are you saying Mr Seo? Taehyung is clearly being rude here-"

The blond kept his eyes locked onto Taehyung as he replied. "I did overstep some boundaries and insulted Taehyung the last time we met. So I should be the one apologizing here."

Two things had shocked the brunet at this moment. One, Jil-su had called him Taehyung for the first time since they'd met and two, he apologized.

He fucking apologized.

It was hard to stay mad at him now. As much as Taehyung hated it, it was in his nature to forgive anyone who apologizes to him. Weighing the options in his head, he realized that Jil-su had only insulted him with a word. 

And now thinking about it, he was the one who slapped the man.

Just forgive him already so you'll never have to see him again.

With a soft sigh leaving his lips, Taehyung held Jil-su's gaze. He was about to speak but the swimmer beat him to it. He also noticed the man had taken a step closer to him as he spoke.

"I'm sorry Princess," He started which had Taehyung rolling his eyes. Great, Princess was back again. And then Jil-su continued with, "I would really like it if we could put this behind us and start over."

What the heck?! Taehyung almost choked on his own saliva.

Jil-su smiled politely which really didn't suit him (considering he was the spawn of Satan and all). "I'll do the interview with you properly this time. No more messing around, I promise."

Suddenly, the whole situation changed. Why was he insisting on getting Taehyung to forgive him? There were so many other journalists here that could do this job. Taehyung had expected to walk in here and tell Mr Han to get him off this interview with Jil-su but now... everything just became more complicated.

Honestly, it felt nice to hear the apology. It did put the brunet's mind at ease a little knowing that he hadn't done anything wrong for the other man to hate him. Maybe Jil-su was just having a bad day when he said those things. 

Still, should he agree to this? But what about Jeongguk? He looked pretty upset this morning and he clearly didn't like his hyung meeting Jil-su.

Although, it would be pretty mean for him to not accept the blond's apology. 

The atmosphere in the office was getting a bit awkward with Jil-su and Mr Han both anxiously waiting for his reply. Taehyung hated this. Anxiety weighed down on him and the raven-head entered his mind again.

He remembered promising Jeongguk that he'd handle this. And running away from Jil-su wasn't a solution; it wasn't handling it. It was being a coward.

Okay, the man apologized. So forgive him and move on. Don't make a big deal out of it.

So...

"Fine."

As soon as that word left him, Jil-su thanked him and smirked back.

Ugh. 

He was already regretting this.