Chasing Fire | VKOOK

19. Closed Doors And Open Conversations

│C H A P T E R  1 9│

"Ah, speak of the devil- and he shall appear." Jeongguk muttered meekly in hopes of lifting the agonizing silence that was surrounding the trio. He wanted to bury himself a hole in the ground and bury himself alive, just so he could avoid the look Taehyung was giving him. His secret was out for the devil himself to know.

Jimin was horrified. The look on Taehyung's face proved that the commotion and the reveal was completely unexpected. Jimin, simply, didn't know what to do. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that there was a possibility that their friendship wouldn't be the same again.

"Is it true?" the devil questioned once again and the duo immediately glanced away in unison. Taehyung was confused. He merely wanted answers and neither of them was giving any. He didn't want them to feel uneasy or embarrassed but the flushed cheeks and the fiddling of the two, said otherwise.

Jimin answered the question by picking up his feet as he walked past the devil up the stairs. A distant echo of a door closing reached the devil's ears and he sighed. He wanted to reach out for him, tell him to stay and explain but he knew this must be overwhelming for him and so he didn't.

Taehyung looked at Jeongguk.

The ever growing silence showed Taehyung's need for answers and Jeongguk decided to deliver.

"Yes, Taehyung." he said, dropping his gaze, simultaneously holding his breath as he awaited the devil's response. Taehyung was shocked beyond belief. He knew the younger flirted with him from time to time but he truly had feelings for him?

And Jimin? The person who's been with me through thick and thin, had feelings for me? All this time?

How am I so oblivious?

"You're not gonna say anything?" Jeongguk spoke. He didn't know what he preferred more. Taehyung's honest response or nothing at all. He felt his heart clench, nevertheless. Taehyung looked dazed.

He simply just wanted a midnight snack. A cinnamon roll to be more precise.

"I'm sorry." Taehyung apologized. "I-it's a lot to take in."

Jeongguk's face fell in sorrow and he felt a wave of regret coarse through his veins. Oh lord, did he regret it. He just wanted to go to his room and overthink this entire conversation. And maybe cry himself to sleep. But inevitably he'll have to face Taehyung sometime in the future. Just not now.

"I'm gonna go to bed." Jeongguk announced. And suddenly, Taehyung was left there, in the middle of the hall with a million questions racing through his mind. He was helpless. And very hungry.

Jeongguk rushed to his room, closed the door before leaning his forehead on it simultaneously. His mind was utter chaos. All circling around the primal emotion of regret. What was that reaction? He couldn't read Taehyung and that bothered him beyond words. Jeongguk was the one of those people who overthought everything, overfelt and well in Jeongguk's case, overspoke.

"Out of all the people in the world, why you?" Jeongguk muttered to himself as he furrowed his eyebrows. The look on Taehyung's face tattooed itself onto his mind and he was unaware of the fact that he was walking past his door, glancing at it for a split second as he sighed.

He twisted and turned all night trying to wipe off the image from his mind but to no avail. The entirety of the night his mind displayed a list of all the trials and tribulations of the night before. Eventually he fell asleep as his dreams averted to directions revolving around fish and murder. (he has his reasons, don't ask why)

Jeongguk woke up with a start as he looked around the room. It took him just a second for the events of the past night to sink in and he groaned into his pillow. He could feel the awkwardness and the tense of the dining hall seeping through the crack of his door as he peeped outside.