Behind My Back ✓ tk

T W E N T Y E I G H T

»»CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT««
HE'LL STEAL YOUR FRIENDS

A WEEK LATER

THE birds chirped happily and fluttered their wings as a yawning 18 year old boy made his way to a nearby coffee house in the early morning. He wasn't sure why he was up this early when he didn't even have any classes today – seeing it was a Saturday morning – but the urgent message he had gotten at around 7 am had made him get out of his bed with a lot of grumpy grumbles that made Taehyung stir in his sleep.

The coffee house was small but cozy, low jazz music filled the atmosphere and happy laughter mixed itself in the noise. A little bell rang when Jeongguk stepped foot inside the caffeine scented place, alarming a group of friends that their sixth and last member had shown up.

"Jeonggukie!", a loud voice yelled, cutting through the relaxing atmosphere in the café. The said boy found the source of the noise and frowned as he saw all of Taehyung's friends sitting around a table, all stirring their warm drinks. "We already ordered for you. I hope you like coffee", Hoseok smiled, urging the youngest to take a seat next to him, "You didn't tell Tae where you were going right?"

Jeongguk shook his head, confusion still written on his face, as he took a seat around the table. "No, it said so in your text. Don't tell Taehyung. So I didn't. He wasn't even awake so I had luckily no explaining to do".

"Good", Hoseok nodded before sliding a cup of steaming hot coffee towards the youngest, "Because what we'll be discussing is top secret". The rest of the table nodded, except for Yoongi who was fast asleep with his head tucked between his arms.

Jeongguk frowned and added a sugar cube into his coffee, "So what's this all about? Your serious faces are creeping me out".

"Well Gguk, as you may not know, it's almost your roommate's birthday", Jimin spoke up, throwing his arm around the younger's shoulder, "And we thought you might wanna add some money into the group's share so we could all buy a gift together".

The ravenhead gasped, "When's his birthday? He never told me when it was".

"It's in two weeks and we always make sure to buy the best presents for each other. So we should try finding a present as soon as possible", Namjoon replied before quickly diving underneath the table to pick up the teaspoon he just dropped.

"And since you're his roommate and you guys seem like good friends we thought you might want to give him a great present too", Jin butted in, "And you know us too so...".

"You're practically already accepted into our friend group", Hoseok stated, giving the other a shoulder bump, "And we could totally decorate your room with flags and banners since you two share a room".

Jeongguk didn't know what to say. He just got informed he was accepted into their friend group. Plus the fact his roommate's birthday is soon and he really wanted to give Taehyung something nice because they were friends.

"So what do you say?", Jimin urged, shaking the younger to startle him out of his daze.

Jeongguk smiled, "Sure. I won't know what else to buy him anyway. Probably a tiara or something".

"That's an idea for the birthday crown!", Namjoon piped up, making all the rest chuckle.

Hoseok clapped his hands in joy, "This is going to be a great birthday I can feel it!"

In all the busy conversations and laughter, a phone started ringing. The youngest patted around in his jacket in search of the annoying thing that was blaring out loud music.

"It's Taehyung", he whispered in panic as the familiar name flashed on his screen. He quickly accepted the call before anyone could stop him – not that the rest was paying attention -  and stammered out an awkward 'hello'.

"Where are you?", a deep voice, thick with sleep asked from the other end of the line. Jeongguk sat up straight and started fumbling with his shirt, alarmed about what he should say or not.

"I-uh I'm in a coffee shop s-since I was craving coffee and wanted a refreshing morning walk", the younger replied, biting his lip in anticipation of what the other would say.

"You don't even like coffee that much", Taehyung replied, suspicion laced in his voice. It was true. Jeongguk didn't like the bitter taste of coffee and the watery substance. He'd much rather drink hot chocolate than what he was drinking now, but he had been too awkward to tell Hoseok the truth.

"I thought I'd try it out again. I really want to like drinking coffee", the younger lied, hoping Taehyung would believe his petty lies.

Though Taehyung wasn't fully convinced he let it slide since something else was bothering him. Specifically the voices heard in the background.

"Is that Hoseok I hear? And Namjoon?", he asked slowly, picking up their laughter. He could even hear Yoongi whining something in the distance, telling the rest to shut up so he could sleep.

Jeongguk let out an awkward laugh and coughed, "Y-Yeah, I uh ran into them here. What a coincidence right?"

"Yeah... what a coincidence", Taehyung replied, feeling something bad stir in the pit of his stomach, "I'll talk to you later".

Before Jeongguk could reply something the call had ended, resulting in him frowning at the device.

That was weird.

Hopefully Taehyung didn't suspect a thing.