A Beautiful Enigma (VMIN FF)

Phone

// Warning: Episode of self-harm. //

The boisterous sounds of people chattering away, cutlery grazing against dishes and distant noise of television playing in the background, continues to peak as the evening progresses.

At the dining table, Jimin was stealing side glances at the boy who has his heart. Taehyung sat beside him, his lips curled in full concentration as his hand glides effortlessly over the smooth paper of his sketch pad. Though he was flanked by people on all sides, he was still deep in his own world. Like he was on a different plane of existence.

At some point, Jimin had pulled Tae's headphones out from the backpack he carried with him and nestled it inside his curly and fluffy hair, over his ears. Taehyung hummed in satisfaction and pulled a phone out and played a track from his playlist. Jimin looked with wide eyes. He wasn't aware that the younger even owned a phone. It never crossed his mind as to how Tae was listening to music. Since the headphones were wireless he never really saw it connected to any external device.

He poked at his arm to gain his attention.

"TaeTae?", he called a little louder, because his voice kept drowning with all the chatter around them.

Tae nodded to show that he was listening.

"You have a phone?", Jimin asked, he was seriously surprised that it never occurred to him to ask for the other's phone number. Whenever he had to talk to Tae, he simply contacted Namjoon, who handed the phone to his little brother.

Tae nodded his head again, as he drew a line across the page, from the left to right.

"Why didn't you tell me?", frankly Jimin was hurt. A lump formed in his throat and before realizing, his voice was already faltering. It wasn't a big deal, he agrees but somehow it felt as if Taehyung was keeping it a secret or didn't consider him important enough to share his phone number with. All this time, they could have easily communicated without Jimin having to go through additional step of contacting Namjoon first.

"TaeTae p-phone", Tae picked up his phone and extended it towards the older. Jimin took the phone and just stared between it and Taehyung, not knowing what to make of it. The phone itself was old but what was interesting was the phone case. It was leather, but had been painted over with abstract patterns in different shades of blue with little stars and a moon added at bottom, right corner.

"Why didn't you tell me TaeTae? Why didn't you give me your number?", Jimin's voice was cracking as his grip around the phone tightened.

Tae shook his head, swaying a little. He could sense the shift in Jimin's voice.

"What do you mean no?", Jimin couldn't help but feel irritated. All this effort for nothing? When they could easily stay in touch. Do I mean nothing to him?

Tae stood up abruptly gaining everyone's attention; his two hands up by the side of his head as if he was a criminal surrendering himself. His fingertips on both hands rubbed against each other. He started shifting his weight back and forth between his two feet, body swinging left and right in the process.

Then it happened. Out of the blue. No one saw it coming.

Tae started hurting himself. With his two hands, which were still raised in the air, he started hitting the top of his head repeatedly, murmuring gibberish.

Distress calls in his own language perhaps.

The headphones lifted off his head and dangled off his shoulder. His beautiful soft curls now disheveled from all the attacks he launched on himself.

Everyone stood frozen around the room, stuck mid-action. Jimin looked thunderstruck. Stupefied.

How could I do this? I pushed him over the edge. Why couldn't I be more mature about it? How could I let such an insignificant thing come between us?