✔RIVALS || TAEKOOK || 18+

(32) 𝕥ꫝⅈ𝕣𝕥ꪗ-𝕥᭙ꪮ

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"Is there a smile under that poker face or are you just not enjoying this as much as I thought you would?" Taehyung asks Jimin.

He put their favorite show on, hoping it would cheer Jimin up (it always does), but he's barely smiled the entire episode. Hell, he's barely smiled this entire week. It's like he's numb to positive emotions now.

"No, I am. I just...I'm sorry. I don't think I have it in me to pretend right now."

"We don't have to watch it if you're not in the mood. We can do something else..."

"Tae, I appreciate what you're doing but...the harder you try to make me feel better, the more pressure I feel to get better."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's okay!" Jimin shakes his head profusely, "You didn't do anything wrong, I just...I need time." He sighs, struggling to find the right words, "Just...let me not be okay for a while. It doesn't make you a bad friend. I think I'd feel a lot better if we could take the focus off of me. I feel like an incurable patient. It's exhausting."

"I didn't realize you felt that way. It's just that...I wasn't there for you last time, not in the way you needed me to be. I wanted this time to be different. I want to help in any way I can."

"You are helping. You just being here is enough, Tae. You don't have to bend over backward to make me feel better." He chuckles, "Besides, wasn't it you who told me I needed to let myself feel it in order to get through it?"

"Yeah, I did. I guess I've just been overcompensating." Taehyung sighs.

"Let's just focus on you, catch up a bit. So much has changed since last year, I mean, you have a boyfriend for crying out loud."

"Are you sure? I thought it would be insensitive considering what happened between you and..." Taehyung trails off.

"You don't have to feel guilty about being in a happy relationship, Tae. I'm happy for you. I want to share that happiness with you. Who else are you going to dish out every detail to? I'm dying to know all the goodies." Jimin props his head up on the heel of his hand, staring at Taehyung attentively.

The corners of Taehyung's mouth tug upward, "You know, it's funny. I feel like there isn't much to tell before I met Jungkook. Everything just seemed to change once he was in the picture.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before him, my life just felt like it was all laid out and set in stone. My father had a vision for my future and I had no choice but to carry it out because I was too afraid to stand up to him. I had to suppress my true desires in order to satisfy him. Every day was the same. Every day was miserable. I was just my father's pawn. Nothing more. Nothing less. But then Jungkook came along and...everything began to change. He made me question my sexuality, encouraged me to face my fear, and challenge my father's authority. I mean, if it weren't for him, I'd probably be spending the rest of my life married to a woman I don't love, and to a job I have no passion for." Taehyung explains.

He told Jimin about his arranged marriage several nights ago, and Jimin was shocked to say the least. It's still difficult to grasp how the chancellor, a man he used to respect dearly, managed to change so drastically in the span of a year.