"remind you that what's today?" taehyung furrows his eyebrows in confusion.

i step beside the payphone and grab ahold of the gift bag resting on it, "that it's dansae's birthday today?" he parts his lips to say something but i interject, "and why aren't you at his party?"

he tugs on yoongi's jacket and looks down, too sad for my liking, "that's whom i'm waiting for soo yeong ah~."

i place my almost empty beverage on the payphone and step toward taehyung- my mind knows something is wrong now. i hold either of his arms, "how long have you been out here?" my voice becomes sterner.

he's hesitant but i squeeze his arms lightly and he finally speaks in a soft tone, "it's probably been about... two and a half hours now." the colour from my face runs and i stare at him shock.

"two and a half hours!" i repeat feeling anger, hurt, pity, frustration and every other emotion relevant to this situation. "omo! taehyung ah~... you waited out here in the cold because of him!" i shake taehyung. "i'm not going to spare him taehyung ah~!"

"soo yeong ah~" taehyung suddenly hugs me, "calm down." he ruffles my hair lightly.

"taehyung ah~," i breathe gripping onto yoongi's jacket. "how many times did you call him?"

"soo yeo-"

"taehyung, just answer." i interject.

he sighs, "honestly i don't know soo yeong ah~." he releases his grip on me, his face no longer holding the happiness we've shared a few minutes ago.

i pull out my smartphone, "you're waiting for him to call back because you've spent all your coins trying to call him, didn't you?" he nods, causing me to mentally kick dansae although he deserves more than just a kick. "let me call up jungkook." taehyung nods.

i dial up guk's number but it goes to voice mail. i try again but i get the same result. so i proceed to call up jimin and to our dismay it also goes onto voice mail, "they're aren't answering." i heave a frustrated sigh.

taehyung looks at me disheartened, "can we try calling dansae from your smartphone?" he suggests so i hand him the phone.

taehyung dails up dansae's cell and i stare at him in anticipation as he holds the phone to his ear. after a few seconds of waiting i see taehyung's face light up with a little smile, seeing as dansae finally answered his phone.

"dansae, it's me taehyung." he speaks into the receiver, "i've purchased a gift certificate for you. where can i find you?" he turns to face me. i smile lightly at him, hoping to give him some reassurance but internally i'm breaking on the inside.

i had a feeling that dansae was going to do something horrible but this is far beyond that. how and why would he ever do such a thing to such a wonderful human being. dansae definitely doesn't have any morals or values in his life.

he doesn't deserve taehyung as a friend either. i'm so mad right now but all i can do is be here for taehyung as his support, he has to find a way to deal with this in his own.

"ah, okay okay," taehyung replies to whatever dansae had told him and hangs up. i immediately look up at taehyung for answers.

he hands me back my smartphone, "he said to come this game room. i don't think it's far from here." he tugs on my arm pulling me with him.

we walk for about ten minutes before arriving to the said game room. taehyung looks at me and i hand him the gift bag, "i think you should wait here, i don't want dansae telling you anything." he lighty touches my arm. i give him a small smile and a nod of my head.

even if i do go with taehyung. i'll probably murder dansae on the spot. okay, i think that's a bit too harsh, the most i'll probably do is punch him or kick him again but then again i don't want to cause any more tension for taehyung because i know he's hurt and bothered by this situation.

i wait outside for a minute or so then i see taehyung walk out and his face holds even more saddness than before and it's breaking my heart.

taehyung walks straight passed me but not without grabbing my hand and dragging me along with me him. i stare at his back but then hear sniffles come from him so i immediately try to catch up with him.

"taehyung ah~?" my voice is soft yet audible but he doesn't respond so i run in front of him only to see streams of tears lining his face, "taehyung ah~, i know this is a sad situation but dansae's always been insensitive and it's most certainly not your responsibility on how people perceive you in their state of mind!"

he doesn't say anything, rather, only the sound of soft breaths and sniffles can be heard from him and seeing taehyung in this state is doing more than just breaking my heart now— it's killing me both inside and out.

so, without thinking i quicky wrap my arms around him, giving him a tight hug. his soft sobs are all i can hear now and tighten my grip on him. slowly yet surely, i feel his arms drape around my body and he hugs me back, even tighter. my head leans against his chest and i can feel his heart beat increase with each passing second.

the silence around us was filled with soft sniffles which comes from taehyung. i run my hands up and down his back in order to sooth him because having a friend humiliate you and treat you like you're inferior to them is never something one would want to experience.

friends are the people you put all your trust and faith in, so being stabbed in the back by one of them is probably worse than heartbreak, and the only way to heal that pain of losing someone (even if it's not by death) is with time or as seokjin oppa said; by making friends and experiencing new things. taehyung doesn't need dansae because he has people around him that actually care about him.

"taehyung ah~" i rest my chin on his chest and look up at him. i see him biting his lip and the tears are beginning to stain his cheeks.

"taehyung ah~, i know you're hurting now but please, i can't see you like this. i'm trying to fight back my own tears." i release my grip from him and wipe his cheeks dry. they're so soft but that's the least of my concerns. "please be strong taehyung ah~."

he let's out a little laugh through his fading sobs, "don't cry because of me soo yeong ah~."

i purse my lips at him, "i will cry for you taehyung ah~ and i could catch a cold out here with you but here i am, i also sat with you on the ice cold pavement. i let you tease me because it made you smile and do you know why i did all that?" i ask feeling taehyung's hands near my waist and he stares at me with watery eyes, "it's because i care about you!" i hug him again and he stands frozen under my embrace.

"soo yeong ah~" his finally voices. "and i'm glad that you've become apart of my life and i hope you stay there but if it's possible, can you stay there a little longer, tell me about forever." he rests his head on mine and i feel his hands on my back.

"i'll always be there for you. always." i smile. "but remember having me in your life means jungkook and jimin will be there too." i feel his chest rise and fall as he chuckles lightly, "i don't mind it at all," we both pull away from each other, "and it's getting late, let's get you home." he says softly.

he drapes an arm over my shoulder, making me walk beside him, "taehyung ah~," he looks down at me. "make sure you join jimin, jungkook and i for lunch on monday." he looks at me surprised. "because seokjin oppa is going to send extra food!" my mouth waters just thinking of oppa's food. his surprised face forms a toothy smile, "i will but that's only if they don't mind..." i look at him appalled, "of course they won't mind, they love you taehyung ah~!" i state the obvious and he looks away shyly.

"yahh!" i wrap my arms around his body, standing in front of him trying to get a look at his face, "why are you so shy all of sudden. i didn't know mr. kim taehyung can get so flustered." i laugh and he pouts looking ahead of us.

"soo yeong ah~..." he whines but suddenly i feel his hands on my back and he lifts me a little of the ground. a gasp escapes my lips then he throws me over his shoulder, "yahh! what are you doing? put me down! taetae ah~!"

he laughs beside me and resumes walking, "taehyung ah~! my sweater is riding up, stop!" i flail my legs and wrap my arms around his waist so i don't fall.

he holds my legs halting my flailing. "aish! i see something soo yeong ah~." he yells excitedly, completey ignoring my cries. he begins to jog, "don't ignore me taehyung ah~! once i'm down i'm going to bite you!" he still ignores me.

just what did he see?

taehyung squats to the ground, letting go of my legs making me stand upright. i adjust my sweater and look down at him with a questionable expression but all he does is looks back up at me with his boxy smile while holding out his hands above him.

"sit down! sit down!" he motions with a chuckle.

a/n: what do you guys think taehyung saw?

~author-nim 💜