Touch Of The Poor

⑮How Pathetic Am I?

  
Jeongguk was a wreck. Not because of what Taehyung said to him that day. It was nothing new to him, although it did hurt greatly to hear these words from him. He was a wreck because he had pushed him away. He didn't mean a word he said that day, but he had to say all these things so he could hate him.

Inguk was right. Their worlds were too different, and Taehyung was indeed too precious. He shouldn't interact with him at all. Jeongguk was no good for him, and he knew it.

The fact that he hadn't spoken at all to the black-haired boy for a week now bothered him more than he thought. He went to the cafe for his takeout every day, though. Every time Taehyung noticed him, he immediately called Inguk and stepped away from the bar. And his behavior stung him more and more as the days rolled by.

But he couldn't say anything because he had brought this to himself.

He had hurt Taehyung on purpose so he would stay away from him, and Taehyung did. He didn't even glance at him in the past week as far as he knew. And all the younger wanted to do was wipe his pout off his face and replace it with a smile. Nothing suited him better than that.

He wasn't talking much to anyone, really. He had closed up to himself throughout, and no one could reach him. His hyungs tried to talk to him about what happened, but he didn't want to listen. He talked to them only about work-related things.

He was more bothered by the situation rather than sad. And although he had managed to do what he had to do, it wasn't what he wanted. And for the first time in his life, he didn't try to get what he wanted, which was to interact with Taehyung and make him smile. Maybe annoy him a little bit as well. But he didn't try anything because he didn't want to hurt him again.

  

Taehyung wasn't doing that well either. After what Jeongguk said to him, he didn't want to see him ever again. He was beyond mad at him, and honestly, he thought his fury would never go away. Although it did rather fast, and instead, he found himself regretting what he had said to him.

As Taehyung mused over what happened for hours, for some reason, he found it hard to believe that was the only reason Jeongguk wanted to help him. He was harsh, he was an asshole, but he was never planning on asking credit for making Inguk give him his money back as a bonus.

That day, Taehyung had asked what could he get from helping him out with his whole plan about the bonus thing, but Jeongguk talked about the time he found out that he had paid off his hospital bill. He didn't actually answer his question.

Taehyung wasn't supposed to know that the bonus Inguk would give him was actually his money back from Jeongguk. So what could Jeongguk gain from this if Taehyung wasn't supposed to know that in the first place?

Something didn't seem right.

Even though he wanted to talk to him, he was scared. Scared that Jeongguk hated him after everything he said to him. So he avoided him at all costs because he couldn't stand the idea of getting yelled at by him again.

Inguk, of course, could see how Taehyung's behavior changed in the past week. He didn't talk much, he barely smiled, and he seemed zoned out most of the time. He felt bad because he was the one who told Jeongguk not to interact with him at all. But, to be honest, he didn't believe that Jeongguk would listen to him.

Jeongguk never listened to anyone.

🥀

Taehyung had one hour left to finish his shift. He didn't get much sleep the night before, and he could barely keep his eyes open by now. He just wanted to go home and drop dead in his bed, but he still had one hour.