delicate | K.TH

15

AMIN

Shilla kicks into my office.

It's dark— way past the time I was supposed to be home. I'm actually surprised she hadn't gone yet either.

"Are you kidding me?" She huffs, and I blink. "Amin, it's ten! I knew you were here when you didn't answer any of my calls!"

Calls?

I look down at my phone. The screen shows ten missed calls from her.

"Oh."

"You got to be serious." She sighs. "Come on. We're leaving right now."

"I can't sleep though." I say, my eyes gliding over the empty window of Taehyung's office as she leads me out. "I didn't finish."

His computer screen was still on.

He must've left just a minute ago.

"You can finish tomorrow." Shilla scolds. Then her brows raise mischievously, and she grips my wrist.

"You want a drink? It helps you relax, I promise."

I hesitate.

But then I shake my head, and her lips press into a pout.

"You love drinking too much."

"What? No, I don't." She defends. "But I actually promise. You look too stressed out these days, Amin."

And I consider it, for a few seconds.

Maybe.

So when I wave Shilla goodbye at her apartment, I don't go back to mine. I go to a restaurant, just wanting to try a drink without all the loudness of a club.

"Hello. What can I get for you tonight?"

"Just a bottle of this." I say to the waiter, pointing at the menu. "Soju, please."

"Nothing else."

_________________________

TAEHYUNG

I can feel Jungkook looking at me.

"You look down, Taehyung." He says after a while, hands in the pockets of his coat. "What happened?"

Maybe I should've said sorry to her.

I'd seen her working in her office, too busy to even notice me. And I'd lost courage to say anything.

"I think...I think I said some things I shouldn't have said."

He sighs softly. And I brush back my hair from my eyes, regretting it. I was the one who knew best— that she never liked to lean on anyone.

I wish she would, but I shouldn't have pressed.

"Well, you should apologize. To whoever you said that to."

Jungkook pauses, adjusting my coat over my shoulders. He probably already knew who I was talking about.

"Alright. Don't go anywhere." He says, when we get to the front of my house. It's something he always says, like I'd even have somewhere to go in this night.

I bite my lip.

"Jungkook, I think she gave up. Remember I told her that Noona is my girlfriend?"