𝘾𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙢𝙚 || 𝙏𝙖𝙚𝙝𝙮𝙪𝙣𝙜

chapter 7 : Silent treatment

Taehyung pov:

"Come on, spill it – why'd you gobble down that fiery food?" I shifted my gaze to Amara, who had stationed herself next to my hospital bed. Imagine this: the whole hospital scene, not exactly a walk in the park. My little stunt had set Amara off on a stormy course, and trust me, that was just the beginning. Jungkook and Amara had hustled me to the hospital in a rush. The stinging from the needles and my skin feeling like it was peeling off had eased up a bit, but the doctor slammed me with a no-talking rule for the next couple of hours, fearing I'd wreck my vocal cords.

Amara sprang into action as soon as the doctor made an exit. There she stood, giving me that look, her hands planted on her hips like a mom about to unleash some truths.

"I'm putting it real nice – come clean about why you pulled that crazy move, or I'll go solo on this." I glanced around, searching for a quick escape route, but my eyes locked onto Jungkook. He was chilling by the wall, arms crossed, the poster boy for nonchalance. So, I threw him a puppy-eyes  look, silently begging for backup.

"Amara, love, Taehyung's on vocal rest," he finally chimed in, sidling up to Amara with a twinkle in his eye. Oh boy, the love-struck Romeo. I almost rolled my eyes – talk about being smitten.

"Yeah, Kook, I get that, but Tae can drop me a line, right?" I figured zipping my lips would be my savior, but I was heading straight into a one-way street to trouble town. Jungkook saw it all coming; that lip of his tugged up, and I swear, the guy was soaking in my discomfort.

Amara whipped out her phone from her bag, fingers dancing like a detective on a case. Then, she passed it over to me, her eyes locked onto mine.

"Write down your side of the story," she ordered. I snagged the phone and went on a brainstorm spree for a decent fib. No way was I spilling the beans on the real reason – that I was boiling over with envy and tried to scorch my competition with spice. So, what could I cook up?"Amara, just hear me out. I saw that jerk wolfing on Alice ,  So, I added a little spice to his life. But your sharp sister saw through my act and twisted it back on me.After a quick mental marathon, I punched in my tale and handed back the phone, my heart hammering like crazy.

"Really, Tae?" she shot back, narrowing her eyes at me. My throat went dry; did my bluff just crash and burn? Could this day get any worse?

"You could've spat it out, Tae! Seriously, why'd you have to swallow the flameball?" Hold up. I scratched my head, totally baffled.

"I mean, even if the waiter  messed up and turned your order into a hot mess – a spicy surprise you didn't ask for – you still shouldn't have chowed down. Risky move." I watched as her stern expression softened into something gentler. A sigh of relief sneaked out of me; my little white lie had saved the day. Right then, I grabbed her phone, typed like my life depended on it, and handed it back, my nerves unraveling as she read.

"Why keep Alice in the dark? She deserves to know," she questioned, her eyebrows knitting together. I shook my head, swiped her phone, and punched in a fresh message. Amara gave me this puzzled look, and even Jungkook, who'd been in stealth mode the whole time, just shrugged. Back to Amara's screen it went.

"She'll blow a gasket if she catches wind of this. You know how scary she gets when she's in a mood. Come on, baby bear, spare me the drama." A heavy exhale breezed out of her, her hands kneading her temples. I waited, every tick of the clock feeling like an eternity, until finally, she typed back, "Okay, bro, I'll zip it." Cue my triumphant smile – my baby bear had my back.

…

Amara and Jungkook gave me a ride; it was already past 7 pm. I hadn't gone back to the office, but why would I? Even though she left me in the car without a second thought, no call, nothing. I don't want to say it, but this tiny ache in my heart tells me something else. Maybe I shouldn't be mad at her. It was my mess-up from the start. I took out my phone and found nothing – no text asking where I was or why I hadn't gone back to the office. Maybe she felt okay with me not being around. It hurts a bit to figure out I don't have much of a place in her world.