BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 48: hiding behind a mask

<OST: Tell me about your day - Kwon Jin Ah>

"Jungkook-ah! Hold on-"

Jieun stopped in her tracks and turned around. They were heading towards the car together with Seokjin as Taehyung came running towards them, a gold medal in hand, with a silver one around his neck.

"Jungkook-ah-" Taehyung bent down and caught his breath for a while, before holding out the gold medal towards him. "You forgot to take this."

Jungkook barely even glanced in his direction. "You can keep it. It should be yours, anyway."

"I already told you earlier that I tripped-"

"You didn't trip, Kim Taehyung-" Jungkook growled. "I was watching your every move - you slowed down at the last minute. And that's precisely why I won."

Seokjin hurriedly went to start the engine, not wanting to interfere. Jieun's eyes darted between the two, not knowing to help.

"That's- That's not true-" Taehyung shook his head. "You would have won either way."

"Lies-" Jungkook glared at Taehyung like he was his worst enemy on earth - which, he probably was. "You know what disgusts me the most, Kim Taehyung? Number one, betrayers. Number two, liars. Number three, people who don't give their all just because of sympathy. All of which, you are. So you jolly well take the stupid medal and get out of my face."

Taehyung pursed his lips as he looked down at the medal. He glanced up once more, this time looking at Jieun, as if asking for her help.

"Um- Um, I-" Jieun stammered, avoiding eye contact with Taehyung. "I'll go wait in the car! The two of you can take your time to talk!"

"No, you stay here-" Jungkook ordered Jieun. "I have nothing more to say to him. You can talk to him if you want."

Jungkook boarded the car and slammed the door loudly behind him, leaving Taehyung and Jieun out in the open.

"Jieun-ssi, we meet again-" Taehyung let out a soft sad chuckle. "I'm really sorry... that you always have to be the one caught between us."

"It's okay, Taehyung-ssi-" Jieun said with a small smile. "I'm glad to see you again. I saw your post thanking me for your makeup the last time."

"Oh, you did?" Taehyung forced a laugh, but Jieun could really tell that he wasn't in the mood to do so. "That's nice. I meant it, when I said I'd like you to do my makeup again sometime."

"Anytime, Taehyung-ssi-" Jieun said with a smile. "I gave you my number the last time, so you have anything you need, feel free to contact me."

"Thank you so much, Jieun-ssi..." Taehyung flashed her a grateful smile. "I'm glad that you aren't distancing from me because of JK... there are plenty of people who, after finding out that we aren't on good terms, end up choosing between me or him. And that's definitely not I want, since I intend to reconcile with him one day. That's why I'm grateful for people like you and Jennie."

"Ah... Jennie-ssi-" Jieun pursed her lips as she recalled the dating news between him and Jennie. "Right... you know her..."

"You don't have to be so careful, Jieun-ssi." Taehyung ruffled his hair a little. "I know you saw our dating news - everyone did."

Jieun cleared her throat awkwardly. "Right."

"We're friends," Taehyung said simply. "Just friends. I won't steal someone else's girlfriend, especially not Jungkook's... I already have way too much I owe him..."

Jieun nodded slowly, even though she still had no idea what had happened between the two of them.

"What am I going on about?" Taehyung laughed as he held out the gold medal towards Jieun. "Anyway, Jieun-ssi, please make sure you hand this to JK for me, alright? Thank you so much for listening - I've said way too much today."