Exchange student - one year ᵗᵃᵉᵏᵒᵒᵏ

15

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Jungkook lay on the couch all day, his eyelids heavy as lead as he desperately tried to recover from his hangover. His stomach felt like it had started a full-blown rebellion against him and his head just wouldn't stop buzzing. He had even put his cell phone on silent, as Jimin was constantly bombarding him with messages. But Jungkook had neither the strength nor the motivation to respond.
The only thing he managed to do was run a series on his laptop, but he didn't really notice anything as he kept dozing off. Time passed him by without him really noticing how the episodes went by.
However, since he noticed that Taehyung was probably studying, he forced himself to put on headphones, even though his buzzing head protested against it. The music or sound from the laptop was muted, and he hoped that would be enough to not disturb Taehyung any further.

Meanwhile, Taehyung had sat down on the floor, his books and laptop spread out on the coffee table in front of him. He had originally tried to work in the living room, but his host parents, who were also in the room, almost drove him to despair. Their constant distractions and questions robbed him of all concentration. That's why he had retreated to the room he shared with his host brother, who looked like he was going to die at any moment anyway. At least he was quiet and kept away from unnecessary small talk.
Bored, he rested his head on his left hand while he scribbled notes in his notebook with his right hand. Occasionally, he let the cursor on his laptop move across the screen or turned a page in his textbook. The silence in the room was broken only by the soft click of his keyboard and the occasional rustling of the pages in his book.

Jungkook could almost see the hours on the couch passing in slow motion as his hangover finally subsided and he began to feel better. The nausea slowly subsided and the throbbing pain in his head eased. He had been lying there for hours, motionless and exhausted. He finally decided to get up and stretched extensively to get rid of the stiffness in his limbs. At that moment, his eyes fell on Taehyung, who was still hunched over his books.
Jungkook had already noticed how diligent his exchange partner was. But he hadn't dared to approach him yet because Taehyung seemed so incredibly focused. Nevertheless, Jungkook's curiosity slowly began to get the better of him and he carefully leaned over Taehyung's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the books.
"You're studying medicine too?" Jungkook asked in surprise, his eyes full of interest. Taehyung flinched, startled because he was so engrossed in his work that he hadn't even noticed the blond move. "Sorry," Jungkook said immediately and retreated a little.
The older one turned to the blond and looked up at him. "I'm studying it too, but I'm only in my second semester, and to be honest, I'm not trying nearly as hard as you are," the blond simply rambled on.

Taehyung turned his gaze back to his books and sighed heavily. "I have no other choice," the dark-haired man murmured softly. Jungkook was curious as to what his roommate meant by that and pressed his lips together, wondering if he should ask Taehyung what he meant or not.
Finally, Jungkook broke the silence again. "What do you mean by that? Don't you want this at all?" Taehyung put the pen down, sighed deeply and rubbed his temple tiredly. The blonde immediately swallowed hard when he saw her reaction. "You don't really care," Taehyung began, but he continued anyway, "Some people have obligations to their family."
Surprised that he had received a comparatively open answer from him, Jungkook looked at him with an expression of confusion. He scratched his head in embarrassment and replied quietly, "Is that so?" The blond didn't know the sense of duty that the dark-haired man was referring to. He himself studied medicine because it was his own desire, even if his own motivation had waned a little recently.

Taehyung let his gaze rest on the pages of his book as he continued to speak, more to himself than to the blond. "Sometimes we get caught in situations where we have to do things we don't really want to do, but we do them anyway because we have to." His words had a tinge of bitterness and his gaze was lost in the distance for a moment, as if he was reminiscing.
Jungkook felt an uncomfortable lump form in his stomach as he listened to Taehyung's words. It was hard to give up your dreams and desires because of obligations, but Taehyung had no choice but to do what his father asked of him. "That sounds really hard," the younger one said softly. "My parents always encouraged me to go my own way and make my own decisions," Jungkook added. He thought of the support he had received from his family and felt guilty and privileged at the same time.
Taehyung smiled slightly, but it was a sad smile. "You're really blessed, Jungkook. Not everyone has such freedom."
At that, Taehyung shook his head and picked up his pen again. "Whatever. Don't bother me anymore," he said and immersed himself in studying again.
Jungkook sighed slightly and remained silent. The atmosphere changed abruptly and became heavier. Jungkook didn't know Taehyung's family situation, but it still made him sad to hear something like that coming out of his mouth.

Jungkook cleared his throat slightly and stood up. "Are you hungry? I'll make myself something to eat and I can bring you something too," the blonde suggested to change the subject. Taehyung seemed to think about it for a moment and finally nodded in agreement. "Would be nice."
The younger one smiled, not thinking the older one agreed, and made his way to the kitchen. While he was busy in the kitchen putting together ingredients for a simple dish, he let his mind wander to Taehyung's situation.
He thought about how hard it must be for Taehyung to give up his own dreams and be forced to do what others asked of him, even if he didn't know the exact background. It made him sad to think that not everyone had the freedom to live their lives according to their own ideas.
While he prepared the food, Jungkook tried to imagine what it must feel like to be in Taehyung's shoes. Would he himself be like Taehyung is now? Somehow, this situation awakened the urge in Jungkook to find out more about his exchange partner.

Finally, Jungkook returned to Taehyung with a plate full of food. He placed the plate in front of the older one. He sat down across from Taehyung and tried to lighten the atmosphere. "I hope you like it," he said with a smile. "It's nothing special, but it should be good."
Taehyung nodded and took a cautious bite. At that moment, Jungkook's heart was pounding wildly with excitement and tension as he waited impatiently to know what Taehyung thought of it. "So?" he asked eagerly, as he couldn't wait to hear the older man's opinion.
"It's okay," said the older one and continued eating. Jungkook snorted in disappointment and began to eat himself, even though he had made such an effort.

An hour passed and Jungkook found himself in front of his PC with the headset on his head. His fingers were literally hammering on the keyboard as he played. The screen showed a shooter, and honestly, he was terrible at it. Every time he died in the game, he cursed quietly to himself. Jungkook was very careful not to get too loud so as not to disturb Taehyung who was still engrossed in his books.
He was a little envious of his exchange partner because he was studying even though he didn't feel like it. The blond couldn't do that, he could only study when he really felt the need to. But that rarely happened, so he had little hope of passing the next exam.
From the corner of his eye, Jungkook saw that Taehyung was watching him and that made him nervous.
Was he being too loud?
Was the clicking of the mouse and the noise of his keyboard distracting?
Or was it the quiet swearing that he couldn't control?
Should he turn it off and go back to watching a series so as not to disturb Taehyung and be quiet again?
So many questions flashed through his mind as he realized he was being looked at.

Jungkook could feel the insecurity rising in him as he tried to focus on the game while thinking about why Taehyung was watching him. And somehow, Jungkook was dying more and more as he became incredibly nervous about watching.
A shy glance towards Taehyung made Jungkook realize that he was still following his actions closely, but without any visible signs of anger or resentment. Still, the self-doubt continued to gnaw at him. Was he really so bad at the game that Taehyung couldn't help but watch? Jungkook's heart began to beat faster as he looked directly into his roommate's dark eyes. He really wondered what was going on in Taehyung's head.

Finally, he gave up and decided to end the game. He took off his headset and turned to fully face Taehyung in his swivel chair. "Sorry for disturbing you," Jungkook murmured softly, his gaze fixed on the floor.
Taehyung waved it off unimpressed and replied calmly, "It's fascinating." The blond looked at Taehyung in confusion and became even more nervous. "What exactly do you mean?" he finally dared to ask, his uncertainty clearly audible in his voice. "That I'm bad at gambling? I already know that."
The dark-haired one propped his head on his hand and looked at the blond intensely.
His eyes literally pierced Jungkooks as he calmly replied: "Yes, you really are bad." A tentative smile played around his lips as he continued, "Aside from liking men and putting makeup on your face, you seem completely normal."
Jungkook furrowed his eyebrows in surprise and looked at Taehyung in confusion. "Maybe it's because I'm normal," he replied somewhat sarcastically. "Maybe you're just the one who's not normal. Ever thought of that?" the blonde young man added bitingly.

Taehyung wasn't fazed by Jungkook's sarcastic reply. His gaze barely changed as he continued to look at Jungkook. "Yeah, maybe," the older man replied calmly.
Jungkook swallowed hard and continued to look at him uncertainly. "Why do you hate gays so much?" he bravely dared to ask the question that had plagued him since day one.

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