Abscond| KTH

•Chapter 8•

It was 6 pm, and the library was mostly empty, with a few students scattered across the tables. One girl tried spinning her pen on her fingers, dropping it with a clatter and earning an annoyed hiss from the boy a few seats away.

I looked back at the books in front of me. Although I loved what I was studying, many of the texts we were assigned were less than interesting. After thirty minutes of studying, my eyelids were heavy, and I struggled to stay awake.

Suddenly, the chair beside me was being pulled out. A faint surge of annoyance went through me at this person's decision to ignore all the free seats and sit right beside me.

Without looking up, I continued reading, trying not to doze off. A minute later, the person beside me still hadn't opened up any books, and I could feel their gaze on me. I finally tilted my head to notice Taehyung looking back at me with an amused expression on his face.

His chocolate brown hair fell over his forehead, and he was dressed in jeans and a navy-blue sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up. Despite knowing him for weeks, I was still struck by how good-looking he was.

"What are you doing?" I whisper-shouted. "Were you gonna say something?"

"I was admiring," he whispered back, resting his chin on his hands, his elbow propped on the table.

"Shut up." Flustered by his words, I laughed, turning back to my books.

"Do you usually ignore people like that?" Taehyung asked.

"Yes. Now go away, I'm studying."

"You seem to get a lot of studying done with your eyes closed."

I sighed, closing my books and turning to face him. There was no way I was getting anything done now. "Okay, what is it?" I started packing my things, putting the books into my bag in an orderly manner, tallest at the back. Satisfied with the arrangement, I stood up, Taehyung following suit.

"Let's go," he grinned.

"Okay." We exited the library, and the cold autumn air hit my face. The sky was growing darker, and we both started walking towards the car park.

"Aren't you gonna ask me where we're going?" Taehyung raised an eyebrow, falling into step beside me.

"Jungkook's at my place with Haewon, so I'm all yours for tonight." I shrugged.

Taehyung's steps faltered for a second, eyebrows shooting up higher. He quickly recovered, and a smirk spread across his face.

"No, wait! That came out wrong," I groaned, covering my face with my hands.

"I like the sound of tha-"

"-no, stop, shut up," I whined, "where's your car?" Spotting the black sedan, I began jogging towards it.

"Wait up!" The wind carried the sound of Taehyung's laughter as he hurried after me to catch up.

*

Taehyung let me select the music, and then we stayed silent for the rest of the car ride-something that was normal now.

This was the first time the two of us were hanging out outside campus after that first date. Since then, I had learned a lot more about the boy sitting next to me. He had told me about his love for art, and we both shared the same taste in music, excited to show each other something new we had discovered.

Oddly, we hadn't spoken much about our families, and I appreciated that. Having a dead brother and being a runaway wasn't exactly something I wanted to announce to the world. Not even Haewon and Namjoon knew.

I remembered it clear as day, the gunshot wound, the eerie silence of the house, leaving in the dead of the night.

Finally, the song came to a halt and so did the car, shaking me out of my reverie. "We're here," Taehyung announced.

"A convenience store?"

"I thought we could finally watch that movie you've been talking about," he said, grinning, "we need snacks." I mirrored his grin and told him it was a great idea.

The store was mostly empty, and the aisles were stacked neatly with different foods. I grabbed some caramel popcorn while Taehyung went for butter. Ten more minutes, and we were out of the shop with a couple of bags full of food, more than we needed for two people.

Stashing the food in the backseat, Taehyung began driving to his apartment. The realization that this was the first time I was going to his house dawned on me, and my knee bounced up and down nervously.

Taehyung suddenly placed his hand on my thigh, stilling my leg.

"Stop doing that, are you okay?" His eyes were on the road.

I hummed a yes and swatted his hand away, making him chuckle. "How long till we get there?"

"About five minutes."

Sure enough, five minutes later, the car was parked and we were making our way to the fourth floor of the building.