When Taehyung comes home late one night after class, exhausted and wanting nothing but a long shower, he receives the shock of a lifetime.
Lying on the couch, mumbling some incoherent nonsense and still holding onto a bottle of soju, is Jungkook.
And scrambling through the cupboards to find some spare cups, is Freya.
Taehyung steps into the apartment, mouth agape and eyes wide. Freya is the first to notice him, and drops the cup she finds in the process. Both pairs of eyes follow the cup as it shatters into pieces across the kitchen floor, and to Taehyung's surprise, Freya's eyes brim with tears.
"I'm sorry -" she stammers, dropping to her knees in an attempt to clean up. "I just wasn't expecting you to come back so soon."
Taehyung glances at Jungkook's limp body on the couch then drops his bags and joins Freya in the kitchen. She looks up at him through hesitant eyes, ones that Taehyung knows all too well. "You'll need a broom. Don't cut yourself." he tells her, but goes to fetch the broom and clean up the broken glass himself.
Freya stands, biting her bottom lip in the process, watching him clean up. "Irene called me after class. She said she found him throwing up on the street." she says, "Told me to take him home."
Taehyung's gaze shifts towards Jungkook. Why didn't Irene call him? Irene could be annoyed angry, absolutely infuriated at Taehyung, but Freya didn't deserve any of this.
"Why - why didn't she take Jungkook home instead?"
"She..." she trails off, refusing to make eye contact.
"She didn't want to see me, did she?"
Freya only shakes her head in response. She finishes grabbing a new glass of water for Jungkook before heading to the sofa. Taehyung trails behind her, watches as she kneels in front of Jungkook and hands him a couple tablets. "You'll feel much worse in the morning if you don't take them, trust me." she hesitates, then adds. "And don't go around spilling things that make no sense."
Jungkook grunts in his drunken slumber, chucking the tablets on the table and turning away from her. It was the third time already this week that Jungkook has come home drunk, and this time, he couldn't even get home himself. Taehyung wishes everything could go back to before Freya, but he knows that there was nothing he could do to prevent her from coming to him.
"I'll take care of him." Taehyung says to Freya. "You can go home."
Freya gets up, grabs her bag and phone off the table, then turns to him. "Taehyung." she says, giving his name with so much care that Taehyung almost lets out a sigh. "Can I kiss you?"
The words hit him like a train-wreck. "W-what?" he whispers, unable to the control the quiver in his voice. His body is shaking despite the house's warmth, so much so that Freya reaches out to grab his arm.
Her eyes find his in the darkness, her hands burn against his skin, her voice so homely in Taehyung's ears. "Can I...kiss you?" she whispers again, closer this time.
Taehyung manages a shake of his head. "No."
"Do you want to?"
"Yes." Taehyung whispers.
Freya looks away, biting so hard on her lip it could bleed. Taehyung knows she's perplexed because she knits her eyebrows together. "Why can't you?"
"Because..." Taehyung is suffocating. "Because."
Freya's laugh is humorless and broken. "Because I'll die, won't I?" she glances at Jungkook. "You know, drunk people usually say what's really on their mind. I wouldn't even believe Jungkook, but everything that's happened is telling me that your twisted story is more than just a story."
"Freya."
There are tears in Freya's eyes, and Taehyung hates it. "It's fine, you know? Just leave me out of the loop and let me feel heartbroken because I really thought you hated me. I just die when we kiss, right? Then just - don't kiss me."
He waits for her to continue. "I saw those polaroids of me on your wall. You're hurting - God, aren't we all - but you don't have to."
"I'm not sure what you're saying..." he trails off, but he does.
"Love doesn't need to revolve around kissing, Taehyung. I'm okay without it, and if you are too, then we can make us work."
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holy shit things are finally comin round for this freya and tae
leave some love!! also write on my wall hahahah its really fun https://www.yourworldoftext.com/~endearment/ and i love reading your messages c;
