inked metaphor |tk ✔️

chapter thirteen.

-chapter thirteen-

a few days later, taehyung found himself sat in the studio, working on a few more designs while he waited for jeongguk to show up. thinking of the ravenette, taehyung was glad that they were now civil with one another. after spending the night at the younger's apartment, taehyung dared even consider them friends.

but looking up at the clock on the wall, he frowned. jeongguk was running late again -a common occurrence since he'd started working at inked metaphor. he sighed, nibbling on his bottom lip as he examined his design, frustration gnawing at him when he wasn't satisfied with what he'd drawn.

just as he picked up his pencil, the door was opened, jeongguk stumbling inside with a groan. "gguk?" taehyung frowned at his state, the younger's clothes messy and hair dishevelled. "what's wrong... oh."

it was then that taehyung noticed the hickeys on jeongguk's neck, the messy hair and dishevelled clothes. now he knew why the younger was late again.

he frowned, mouth slamming shut as he looked back at his book. he didn't spare jeongguk another glance, only listening as the ravenette got himself ready for the day ahead. what jeongguk did wasn't any of his business. how Jeongguk spent his nights wasn't any of his business.

so why did it feel... wrong when he saw all the hickeys on jeongguk's neck?

"you're late." taehyung pointed out, not looking up. "again."

"so?" jeongguk shrugged, dropping into his own seat, his design book on his lap. "i'm here now, blueberry." he looked over at the blue haired man, his brow rose. "were you waiting for me?"

"why would i wait for you?" taehyung tightened his grip on his pencil, but kept his gaze on the paper infront of him. "i mean, it's only expected that you'd be late after sleeping around the night before work-"

"seriously?" jeongguk scoffed, brows raised incredulously as he grabbed his backpack to retrieve his penicls. "why do you care what i do?"

"why wouldn't i?" taehyung snapped, finally looking up. his eyes fell to the younger's marked up throat and he looked down once again, a dull ache forming his chest. "w-we're friends and-"

"we're barely friends." jeongguk snapped, throwing his backpack down before rubbing the side of his face aggressively. "what i do isn't any of your bussiness. just stay out of it."

listening to the other's snarky words, taehyung sighs. frankly, he's tired of being treated like shit, honestly, when he's just trying to be nice. he thought that since the other day, they were finally friends. jeongguk had let him stay at his apartment, and they had a good time. but obviously it was one sided.

"you know what?" the blue haired man sighed, looking up with a frown as he stood from his stool, jeongguk's lips slamming shut. "don't talk to me until you've decided if you actually want me in your life or not. you're nice to me one second, and then horrible the next. i'm tired of it."

jeongguk gulped, an unpleasant feeling arising in his gut as he watched the elder head towards the door. "w-wait!" he scrambled, grabbing taehyung's arm, before recoiling as if he'd been burned. "t-taehyung... i didn't mean it like-"

taehyung turned around, irritation evident. "wait for what? i'm... i'm tired of this, jeongguk. you either like me, or you don't." taehyung gently replied. "just... stop treating me like shit, okay? i was just worried because you sleep around a lot, and you're always late. i know you're not doing okay. but i guess it's not my place to worry, right?"

"w-wait no, i'm sorry, i just-" jeongguk gulped, watching as the blue haired man left the room, his book and pencil's in his arms. "b-blueberry?"

the sound of the door shutting was his only response. "i'm..." jeongguk's chest heaved, an unpleasant feeling making his lips twitch downwards. he rose his hand to his neck, biting his lip and his eyes watering as he felt the marks that littered his skin.

oh.

oh.

why was he so stupid?

"i'm sorry."

-

"hey -woah, what's up?" yoongi asked, looking up from his phone to give the bluenette a curious gaze as he put a cigarette between his lips. "what did gguk do? you look like you're about to cry. he's barely been in for 10 minutes-"

"what didn't he do?" taehyung laughed bitterly, lighting up his cig before looking at the elder. "i thought he'd be nicer now, especially after the other day, but obviously that was too much to ask."

"hey, he's been through a lot," yoongi sighed, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "so please just give him time to-"

"and you think i haven't?" taehyung scoffed, amused as he took a drag of his own cigarette. "being a decent person isn't too much to ask, shitty past or not. i'm tired of trying only to get nothing back in return. if he can't stop treating me like shit then there's nothing i can do. i'm done, hyung."

yoongi was surprised. had jeongguk really worn taehyung down this much? as far as he knew, the two were on good terms since he took tae home the other day.

so what went wrong?

"what happened?" he asked slowly, watching as the blue haired flicked his cigarette stub away with a sigh. "this is pent up irritation... so what happened today?"

"nothing." taehyung shrugged, defeated. "i was waiting for him... i wanted to show him a design i'd been working on. but when he came in half an hour late, he..." he trailed off, his brows furrowing as he looked up at yoongi. "i don't know how and i don't know why... but think i like him, hyung. and when he came in all disheveled with hickeys on his neck it just felt shit, you know?"

yoongi wasn't surprised at all, not really. jeongguk and taehyung had been bickering since they met. it was obviously that over time it'd be less dislike and more bantering.

but taehyung developing feelings?

he has to admit, he never saw that coming, if he was honest. "the thing about jeongguk, is he's complicated. he's so complicated, taehyung. he does what he wants and doesn't bother to check on those around him."

"obviously." taehyung knew this. he stayed silent, frowning at the pavement as he ran his tongue piercing over his teeth. "why does he sleep around like this?"

"his ex boyfriend died a year ago." yoongi muttered, tossing his own cig away. "his coping mechanism is sleeping around and getting drunk. he distracts himself from his grief, tae. he's just scared of committing to someone again."

"ah." taehyung stood up from where he leaned on the wall, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he began to make his way back inside. "so i guess he won't stop anytime soon," he looked back at the elder, smiling though it didn't reach his eyes. "i shouldn't get my hopes up, right?"

yoongi shook his head, feeling sympathy. "sorry, kid."

----

This is a Top Taehyung story, believe it or not. But Jeongguk has a sharp personality.

Remember, tops aren't always mean and cold, and bottoms aren't always soft and shy.

Gguk is slowly trying to move on from his ex, but old habits die hard.

-TaesThickThighs