On-Way Passage || ᴠᴍɪɴ

Chapter 29

Jimin was frightened out of his mind.

While he’d believed that Taehyung was lying to him, there had always been a sliver of doubt in his mind that Taehyung wasn’t lying—after all, Taehyung even knew he had several moles on his ass, didn’t he?

Jimin avoided Taehyung completely after he got off work that afternoon, and at dinner time. He brought home takeout and locked himself in his room as soon as he could, turning on his laptop to binge-watch TV shows while eating dinner.

Jimin had yet to hear Taehyung return home after he finished eating, so he quickly disposed of his takeout boxes in the kitchen rubbish bin and ducked back into his room.

As Jimin reached over to lock the door, a thought suddenly crossed his mind; if he and Taehyung had done everything, then how could they possibly sleep in separate rooms? So. Taehyung had to be lying. Thinking like this provided him with a great deal of comfort, giving him the conviction to keep denying Taehyung’s remarks. 

The next morning, Jimin stepped out of the house without waiting until Taehyung got out of bed.

He held off until noon to eat at the company. Jimin carried his lunch tray to the table where his lab co-workers sat, when all of a sudden, while he was eating and casually chatting with them, Taehyung brought his meal tray over and sat down at their table.

The entire table was suddenly, deafeningly quiet. The sudden silence wasn’t limited to their table, but also the tables around it.

Because the seat next to Jimin was already occupied, Taehyung settled down on the only empty seat at the table, which happened to be two seats away from him.

The lab staff who sat between them was a female beta named Dong Ha-rin. The second Taehyung sat down on her left, her senses were immediately assaulted by a subtle pressure, making the hand holding her chopsticks tremble.

She hesitated slightly, wanting to ask Jimin, who was sitting at her right, if he would like to swap places with her, but Taehyung had already opened his mouth, and her lips flew shut as she forced her head down.

“Come home for dinner tonight,” Taehyung said.

The entire table waited for Jimin’s response in silence, yet Jimin merely kept eating and said nothing.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Ha-rin stealthily elbowed Jimin as he was lifting a piece of vegetable to his mouth. He lifted his head and looked towards Taehyung. “You’re talking to me?”

Taehyung stared back with an icy face.

“And here I thought you were talking to Ha-rin,” said Jimin.

The pressure Ha-rin sensed grew increasingly heavy. She lost her appetite completely, and picked up her tray as she stood up.

Jimin looked up and asked, “You’re done?”

Ha-rin nodded. “I’m on a diet.” She then immediately rushed off with her tray, seeking a remote corner to finish her meal.

There was no longer anyone separating Taehyung and Jimin.

And yet, nobody imagined that not even five seconds later, another male alpha from Jimin’s lab carried his meal tray over and planted his ass on the seat between them.

The male alpha’s name was Mo Yeong-su, and he’d always had an airy disposition. He’d only seen Taehyung’s back while he was walking over to their table and didn’t recognise him, nor did he catch the meaningful stares the others shot his way. It wasn’t until he sat down that he realised the atmosphere around the table had become even more awkward.