rivals | taejin

XX

Taehyung rested his back against the stone wall, waiting for the head of blonde hair to show up in sight. He bit his lip nervously, hoping Seokjin would understand what he was going to say. He knew it was unbelievable and that it would probably take some time for Seokjin to take in, but he'd accept that rather than having Seokjin think he hates him.

When he finally saw him coming out the dorm building, he immediately ran up to him, stopping him by a hold on his wrist.

He was met with a confused expression, "Taehyung?" he asked, looking at his hand and pushing it away. "What are you doing here?"

"Can we please talk?" Taehyung asked, his hand pulling at the end of his shirt.

"I don't think there's anything for us to talk about...plus I need to go to class." he said, looking to the side. "Bye."

"No, please, Seokjin!" Taehyung said loudly, holding him by the shoulder this time. "I really need to explain some things to you. Please give me some of your time."

Seokjin stayed silent for a few moments, quietly speaking up after, "We can meet up at the rose garden after school. I have an exam I can't miss right now. This is the only chance i'm giving you."

Taehyung let go of his shoulder, "Okay, thank you, Seokjin."

Seokjin didn't look back but gave him a small nod, walking away from him. Taehyung looked at his retreating figure with hopeful eyes before taking the opposite direction to his own class.

***

Taehyung tapped his foot nervously on the floor. He looked down at his watch; school ended in five minutes. He only had morning classes that day, so he'd been waiting there for a few hours. He didn't have anything better to do anyway. Before coming here, he even decided to shower and change his clothes. He knew his visual didn't matter to Seokjin, but he wanted to feel better about himself anyway.

He was so distracted he didn't notice Seokjin walking over to him. Seokjin tapped on his shoulder, making him flinch in shock.

"Oh you're finally here."

"Yeah..."Seokjin mumbled.

"Great!" Taehyung says, taking the others hand and taking him to sit at a nearby bench under the shade. He took a deep breath and turned to Seokjin, who took his backpack off and set it on his side. "Let me explain everything to you."

"Let me begin from the very beginning. When my mom, or Athena, called me to take a visit some time back, I was given a potion in some drink she had offered me. That drink, wherever it came from i'm not sure, but it gave her control of certain aspects of my body. The ones she got from the very beginning was what I said. She controlled what I said to anyone and everyone.

And since it was the first time I experienced the effects of the elixir, her power was strong over me for a period of time. Which is what made me explode when I saw you a few days after that. I want to apologize for that. I was being controlled...but I don't want to use that as an excuse. I seriously hurt you multiple times and it was never my intention to do so. I never wanted or want to hurt you.

After that day, I was met with her messenger. Delphine. She was in my room when I woke almost every day. I was forced to take more doses of the said elixir from before. They would threaten me with things they would do not only to you, but also Jimin. She knows he and I have a close friendship, and used that against me. You and Jimin found that out, I suppose. Yesterday, I met up with them at her house again.

I went to tell her that I was no longer gonna be allowed to be controlled by them. They didn't take it lightly, just as I thought. The eye of the storm is approaching me...," he paused, fisting his hand, "but I will fight them as hard as I can. I want victory and nothing less." he stopped, not daring to look at Seokjin in fear of receiving a disgusted look and a slap to the face. But then again, Seokjin wasn't like that. So he threw those thoughts away and turned to him.

Seokjin wasn't even looking at him, he was looking down at his fiddling fingers. His eyes were even closed. He sucked in a deep breath and looked back up at Taehyung. "Taehyung...I—" he stopped, looking in between the almond eyes that looked at him.

"Why did you let them manipulate you for so long?" he whispered, not really comprehending what was Taehyung's reason.

Taehyung was slightly surprised. 'I'm not about to confess to him like this....'

"B-Because...I didn't want the feud between our bloodline to continue. My mother's anger was going to get passed down onto me. I wasn't going to be able to make choices of my own. And, your mother was innocent. She didn't and doesn't deserve what happened to her. The pain my mom caused her. And that pain was going to be passed down onto you, too. I didn't want that to happen."

'Well, that's half of it...nice save.'

"I...suppose I understand. Uhm...thank you for
that. Now, we can fight together against her, right?" Seokjin asked, leaning closer slightly.

Taehyung tried to stop the blush that crossed his cheeks. "I-If you're willing to help...then that'd be greatly appreciated. But don't feel obligated to. I was just telling you the truth of the matter."

Seokjin nodded, the blush on the other's cheeks noticeable. "Thank you for that." He got up after, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Well, if that's all, i'll get going now. I promised Hobi we'd study together for our test tomorrow."

"Yes, i'll let you get to your things now. And thank you for listening." Taehyung nodded, following suit and standing up.

"I guess i'll be seeing you around." Seokjin said, smiling slightly before walking away.

Taehyung watched his figure disappear inside the dorms, his heartbeat beating a million times faster than normal. "Now I know what this feeling means." He said, putting his hand on top of his chest.

"I'm in love with Seokjin."

•••

this is a story that is comforting and relaxing for me to write, so i'm happy you all enjoy it as well ☺️💕💕💕

(i hadn't realized it's been almost 2 months since the last update, i'm sorry for that 😭)