Taehyung hasn't seen Jeongguk since their talk in the garden. Taehyung also hasn't left his and Jimin's dorm in almost a week, causing the older to get impatient.

"Taehyung, please for the love of me and your health GET OUT OF BED!" Jimin threw Taehyung's blanket on the ground and stared at his friend. He was curled in a ball on his side, most of his face covered by the pillow and his arms. His hair was disheveled, sticking to the pillow in little tuffs. He looked so small and helpless, Jimin wanted to cry. He didn't think Jeongguk's rejection would hit him this hard. "Hey, Tae? TaeTae" Jimin sing songed his name the way Taehyung likes it and he slowly pulled his arms down from his face. His eyes were red and puffy, bags formed under them. His cheeks were red and puffy as well and dry tear streaks lay in its wake. "Taehyunnie.....you need to get out of bed. You haven't eaten anything in couple days. You must be hungry, right?" Taehyung slowly nodded, his eyes still adjusting to the bright light curtesy of the sunrise shinning through the uncovered window.

"Of course you are. Take my hand, I'll help you up." Jimin extended his hand and Taehyung just stared at it for a bit before putting his own frail hand in Jimin's. Taehyung got up slowly from his fetal position and his legs wobbled when he stood. Jimin gave him a reassuring smile and lead his friend to the kitchen.

"I'll make you some ramen, is that okay?" Jimin was talking to Taehyung like a small child that lost their mommy at the store. Taehyung nodded as he took a sit on one of the barstools. Jimin made himself busy with cooking, adding an egg and some sausage in the bowl. He put the steaming bowl in front of Taehyung and grabbed a water from the fridge. Taehyung stared at the bowl and slowly reached for the chopsticks next to him. He started eating slowly but Jimin was just glad he was eating. Some color came back to his cheeks as Taehyung scarfed down the whole thing in under five minutes.

"Damn Tae, new record."

Taehyung smiled like a little kid and finished off his water before looks at Jimin for guidance.

"Now go take a shower and get dressed. I'm going to take you somewhere nice." Taehyung's cheeks hurt from smiling so widely after having a frown on them for the past few days. He didn't even think of him, didn't think of the rejection or the way his heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest or how his lungs were being squished so hard he thought he'd suffocate.

He undressed in the bathroom and hopped under the steaming spray of water. He spent a long time washing his hair and body since they felt kinda gross after being under a blanket for so long. Once he was done he dressed in his favorite bunny sweater and some jeans. He walked back into the living area and saw Jimin on his phone already dressed to go out.

"Where are we going?" Taehyung's voice was hoarse and he was surprised it didn't crack.

Jimin looked up and smiled brightly, "It's a surprise!"

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Jimin lead Taehyung all over the campus and the busy streets of Seoul until the younger was complaining of his feet hurting. "We're almost there. You'll live."

"Doubtful."

"Ah look we're here!" Jimin pointed at a movie theater in front of them and smiled blindingly at his friend.

"The movies? Seriously? I just spent like a week in a dark room."

"Would you still be complaining if I told you I got tickets to see that new anime movie you've been talking nonstop about for months?"

Taehyung face lit up immediately. "Seriously? You got tickets? I thought it was sold out weeks ago! Thank you so much Jimin!" The younger squeezed his friend into a bone crushing hug before pulling back and grabbing a ticket from his hand. "Let's go!"

The movie was amazing but Jimin didn't get to enjoy much. It was hard to focus on what was going on when Taehyung was constantly tugging at his arm when his favorite character came onscreen or when a dramatic scene came on. But Jimin put up with it, anything to see his best friend happy again.

Taehyung was practically beaming when they left the theater. He hadn't let go of his ticket the whole time and Jimin was surprised he didn't lose it when he was jumping around.

"Now where are we going?"

"Well sadly I have class right now. But you're free to watch movies at home until my class is over."

"Oh class I totally forgot." When Taehyung was mopping he didn't even realize he was missing important classes. If he missed another he was sure to be kicked out. "It's okay I have to go to my classes too. . We should go home before we're late."

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Turns out Taehyung missed some important information for an upcoming test and was responsible to get notes from another student so he wouldn't fail. Unfortunately the only other student he knew in that class was him. Taehyung caught sight of him when he was trying to leave and thought about going to him to ask for notes. He could just ask his roommate Hoseok but that might be awkward. He was positive Jeongguk told him about that night. Taehyung didn't have time to make up his mind as a hand touched his shoulder. Taehyung looked back hesitantly and saw him. Taehyung's heart cracked slightly at the sight of the younger. Jeongguk didn't look as affected by that night as Taehyung was. And that hurt more.

"Hey, Taehyung." Jeongguk withdrew his hand and smiled lightly at the fragile boy.

"Hi, Jeongguk." Taehyung swallowed the lump in his throat and looked almost afraid of him.

"I noticed you missed a class and I was wondering if you needed to copy my notes."

Taehyung didn't know if he should focus on the fact Jeongguk noticed he was gone or the fact he cared about Taehyung's grade in the class.

"Oh, uh, sure." Taehyung forced a small smile but in his mind thoughts were running a mile a minute. He wanted Jimin to tell him what to do but sadly the boy was on the other side of the campus.

"Cool. Are you free now?" Jeongguk sounded uncertain. Taehyung wondered if he should be petty and turn him down but he wanted to get this ache out of his chest as fats as he could so he nodded his head instead. Jeongguk smiled and Taehyung felt his stomach do a flip.

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They sat at the opposite ends of a table in the back of a popular coffee shop students go to often in between classes. Taehyung was quietly copying down Jeongguk's notes and did his best at not looking up to see Jeongguk. Jeongguk on the other hand made no effort to hide the fact he was staring directly at Taehyung, watching the way he wrote like he was hypnotized. Taehyung felt the tense gaze and lifted is head lightly in hope Jeongguk would stop but the younger didn't. He continued to stare at Taehyung even when their eyes met. Taehyung's face contorted into a small frown and he reached for his cup of tea before Jeongguk put his hand on his and stopped him. Taehyung's eyes stared widely at his hand on top of his. He looked back at Jeongguk, he felt himself shaking slightly and his heart rate pick up. Taehyung sat there frozen until Jeongguk finally spoke.

"You've been avoiding me since that night." His voice sounded serious. Taehyung almost wanted to scoff. Of course he's been avoiding him, it's not like being rejected in the gardens, one of the most romantic places on campus, was humiliating not to mention he was sure all of his friends knew. "I miss you."

Taehyung felt his heart skip a beat at that. He felt himself get slightly angry at the words. "You miss me?" His words held no venom but it was all there waiting at the tip of his tongue. Jeongguk simply nodded like this was a business meeting and he was agreeing on something his boss said.

"You haven't answered any of my calls or texts and you refused to hang out with me. I haven't seen you in a week. I want my friend back." Jeongguk sounded sincere but Taehyung couldn't help but roll his eyes at the statement.

"We're not friends Jeongguk."

Jeongguk looked hurt. He pulled his hand off of Taehyung's and honestly Taehyung forgot it was there. "Why not?"

"Because-" Taehyung didn't know if he wanted to spill what he's been thinking about for the past week in a coffee shop surrounded by other patrons but he guesses it's now or never. "Because I don't want that."

"What do you mean? You don't want to be my friend?"

"I can't- I can't just be friends with you Jeongguk. It doesn't work like that?" Jeongguk tilted his head in confusion so Taehyung continued. "I don't feel content with just being your friend. A few months ago yeah but my feelings for you now are not what they were when we first met. When Jimin introduced us I thought you were going to be a really cool guy to hang out with and you were. But then I started seeing you as something more. More than the guy who lets me copy his notes when I sleep in class, more than the guy who always offered to pay for me when I forgot my money. More than the friend who would stay up watching anime with me when you stayed over. More than the friend I played video games with on weekends and you would let me win. I don't see you as a friend I wanted to hang out with occasionally."

"What do you see me as?" His voice was cautious. Jeongguk was shocked at his hyung's words. He didn't know the brunette felt so strongly about him.

"It doesn't matter. You don't feel the same." Taehyung sounded deflated, like all the air was pushed out of his lungs. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders when he told Jeongguk everything but he didn't know if he had the energy to continue and get hurt anymore. He wasn't sure his heart was ready for a second rejection.

"Tell me. I want to know so I can fix it and we can be friends again."

"Are you deaf?!" Taehyung's outburst earned them some stares by other students but they ignored them. Jeongguk leaned further into his seat. "You can't 'fix' this! You can't just undo everything that's built up over the past few months and make everything back to how it was when we first met! It doesn't work like that Jeongguk. You don't get it, you're not the one feeling any of this. I just told you why we can't return to being friends again. And I'm sorry I told you how I felt. I know now it was selfish and I should have thought about how you would react before I blurted my feelings. But I can't take back what I said and I can't take away that night or the memories from it. I'm sorry Jeongguk but all we'll ever be now is classmates." Taehyung took a deep breath. His heart slowed down and he tried not to focus on what he just said or how his stomach felt it was up to his chest. He didn't even bother to look at Jeongguk's reaction when he went back to copying notes.

After a long silence Jeongguk said, "I don't want to be just classmates with you, Taehyung. I want to be something more." Taehyung kept his head down and continued writing. "Taehyung, I-I think we can be more." Jeongguk's voice was small at the end and Taehyung slowly looked back up at the boy.

"What do you mean, Jeongguk?"

"I think.......I think I can be more than friends with you?" He didn't mean it to sound like a question or for his voice to squeak. And he definitely wasn't expecting Taehyung's reaction.

"Is this a joke? You're kidding right? Jeongguk, look at me!" Taehyung was furious. Why wasn't the younger just accept the fact they couldn't be friends anymore? Jeongguk looked hesitantly at the almost red-faced boy glaring at him. "Jeon Jeongguk, I am not forcing you into anything that will make you uncomfortable and I am certainly not letting this drag on any longer. I'm tired of feeling hurt and I don't want to feel this burn in my chest when I see you. I don't want my heart to squeeze every time you speak. You can't fix this, Jeongguk. Do you understand?"

After another long silence Taehyung added, "Why do you want to stay friends with me anyways? Haven't I driven you away?"

It was Jeongguk's turn to scoff. "Nothing you can do will ever drive me away, Taehyung. I like you too much. Not in that way but I want to be your friend. I want us to be friends after college and be the best man at your wedding and have playdates with our kids and I want to be in the same nursing home with you playing mario kart until our hearts give out! I want to stay by your side through thick and thin. Please let me at least do that."

Taehyung thought for a moment. "You have a weird idea of friendship." Their laughter lightened the tension between them but not for long. They were back to staring at each other with heated gazes in under a minute. "I don't want that, Jeongguk."

"Then what do you want? Tell me! I'll make it happen!" Jeongguk was pleading at this point.

"No. Jeongguk you can't whole-heartedly give me what I want. I want to grow old with you two but in a different way. I want to hold your hand during graduation and meet your parents and kiss you after you get your diploma. I don't want you to be my best man I want you to be the groom at my wedding. I want to play with our kids in a big house and go to school meetings and discuss finances as we lie in bed with a big fluffy dog at our feet. The nursing home thing stays the same though cause it sounds awesome. But don't you see? I want more than friendship. I want to be your boyfriend, your husband, your soulmate. But Jeongguk, you don't. And I've accepted that. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be."

Jeongguk looked back at the now cold cup of coffee by his side and sighed. He slid out of the booth, placing a few dollars on the table before mumbling, "You can return my notes to Hoseok." And with those last words he was out of the coffee shop, leaving Taehyung alone to try to understand what the just happened.