“TAEHYUNG!” Yoongi in another breath as his fist hits hard against the wall separating their rooms. “Turn that down!”

The incessant thumping that has been seeping through the walls of the apartment since eleven at night has caused a headache to form in the front of Yoongi’s head. Usually he would put up with it, but then again Taehyung is usually hardly ever home and so Yoongi would be able to study in peace.

But tonight, the night before Yoongi’s biggest exam of the year that he can’t afford to fail, Taehyung decided to stay in. And unfortunately for him, Taehyung’s version of a quiet night at home is to thump out music through his tiny speakers until Yoongi goes insane.

He looks down at his fist, now a shade of red and sighs in frustration. Yes he could go next door and yell at Tae some more, but what would that achieve? Tae would apologise and Yoongi would feel bad even though it’s Tae’s fault.

If there’s one thing he can’t stand is a guilty Taehyung.

So instead he shoves his head phones over his ears and sits himself back down in his chair, soon Tae will grow tired and the music will stop.

This thought kept Yoongi going until 3am when the pounding became too much. He would be grouchy at this time of morning at the best of times, but now Tae’s crossed the line.

He shoves his chair back and stomps to his door, throwing it open and allowing the wood to slam against the wall. Tae will know he’s mad. He pounds on the door next to his harshly, and waits. Can he not hear over the music? Pissed, Yoongi wrenches the door open, ready to tear Taehyung a new one when he notices the empty room. He blinks slowly; thinking that his lack of sleep is causing him to see things, because there is absolutely no way Taehyung would leave and not turn his music off.

Absolutely no ing way.

In the minutes that Yoongi stands there blinking, Taehyung does not appear.

With a huff he storms into the room, pulls the damn plug of the speakers out of the wall and retreats back to his room where he takes one look at the pile of books on his desk compared to the comfy inviting bed and opts for the latter, no question.

As his heavy eyes begin to shut his mind is full of questions centring on why Tae went out without telling him, where he went and who he’s with.

He’s uncertain about a lot of things, but the one thing he’s sure of is that tomorrow he’s going to kill Taehyung.

~~.~~

“You failed?”

Yoongi stares at Taehyung’s face as he speaks the words he never wanted to hear. He can’t help but be mad at his roommate for his hand in his misfortune, but he can’t blame it all on him either. After all he’s the one that left it to the last minute to study. Still, he feels better blaming someone other than himself.

“Yes,” He replies, with a soft voice staring down at his hands as if he’s embarrassed.

“What happened?” Tae asks, moving closer in an effort to provide some sort of comfort. “I mean, wasn’t this the test that you couldn’t fail. That you had to pass in order to complete the year.”

He shouldn’t be mad, but the longer Tae sits here seemingly unaware that he did anything wrong drives him insane. He tries to contain himself, because there is no sense in yelling at Tae, because honestly it’s just how he is, Yoongi knows this.

But still.

“You left.”

Tae’s brow furrows in confusion as he leans back slightly. “I left?”

He huffs already done with the conversation. He failed and there is no amount of talking that will ever be able to fix that. Still he has to answer him.

“I tried to study. But your music was turned up so damn loud and I couldn’t concentrate. I went to tell you to turn it off but you weren’t even here.”

Tae’s eyes widen as realisation hits him. He leans forward towards Yoongi again with an apology on his lips. “Oh . Yoongi I’m so sorry. Jungkook called me and I rushed out to meet him and I completely forgot. I meant to come back that night, but things happened.”

When Yoongi just stares at him, having no words to respond with, Tae looks down with guilt sitting heavy in his stomach.

“I owe you, okay? I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

Yoongi nods, because it’s not like he hasn’t heard that before.

~~.~~

Yoongi makes it through the rest of the week in a disconnected state. He’s tried to come to terms with the fact that he’ll have to retake the whole unit, but he can’t seem to quite grasp it yet.

The fact that he waited so long to go to Tae’s room to stop the racket, no the fact that he left it so late to start studying in the first place, angers him. But it’s much easier to be angry at someone else than himself.

He sighs as he taps his pen against his notepad, waiting for any inspiration that still has the desire to hit him. The creative part of his mind has been shut off since he got his failed test back, and he’s not sure how to start it back up again.

He ends up shoving his notepad into this backpack and gets his headphones out; placing them over his ears he hopes that at least he might be able to drown everything out for a few hours. He sits watching as the sky turns into hues of pinks and purples before eventually shifting to black.

As the chill in the air seeps through his jacket he heaves himself up, beginning the short walk back to his apartment, unprepared for whatever may face him.

 

“Yoongi!” Tae shouts as soon as he hears the door handle rattle with the turn of a key. He jumps around the kitchen bench to meet him face to face with a huge grin. Yoongi looks up at him, his face showing no reaction to the noise.

“What?” He doesn’t feel the least inclined to humour Taehyung tonight.

A mischievous glint shines in Tae’s eyes and Yoongi is suddenly sick to his stomach worried about what it behind it. “I told you I’d make it up to you, remember?”

Yoongi does, but he nods reluctantly because he can’t remember a time when Tae has actually come through on a promise, and that causes his nausea to sit heavy in his stomach.

“So…” Tae rounds the bench again and pulls something out from one of the bottom cabinets, Yoongi watches on wearingly. “I got you a bottle of vodka!”

The bottle hangs proudly from his hand like a trophy matching his triumphant grin.

Yoongi stares at him, trying to figure out just exactly what Tae is implying. Of course he already knows, it’s not as if he’s never done the same thing before when he’s felt down over something. Yet he feels slightly disappointed that he was expecting a little bit more from Tae, but he knows that’s his own fault.

So he smiles back, because he knows Tae means well, and grabs the bottle from his hand.

“You staying?” He asks, as a sort of challenge, to with Tae nods instantly. He knows he would never turn down a drink.

 

He’s not at all surprised to see that Tae isn’t holding back. The second Yoongi showed that he was interested in what Tae was offering to him, the younger had the bottle pressed against his lips, chugging the liquid as if it were water. Yoongi watches on impressed, almost as much as he’s worried.

Were they not drinking because Yoongi is the one that needed to? Or perhaps is Taehyung’s guilt driving him to do it.

Honestly Yoongi not entirely sure, because as much as he wishes he knew Tae, in reality he really doesn’t.

So instead he grabs the bottle from his hands and takes a large drink from it, cringing as the liquor burns its way down his throat, to sit heavy in his stomach. This is exactly what he needed.

 

They end up on the couch, their legs tucked up under themselves as they pass the bottle, no reason for them to get glasses. It’s only the two of them.

Yoongi watches as Tae’s cheeks become flushed and he giggles every so often for no reason other than to laugh. Yoongi honestly thought he could hold his liquor better than this. Tae looks back at him and grins, a strange feeling sits in his stomach, he doesn’t remember a time when the two of them have done something like this. And that has him feeling closer to Yoongi than he ever has before.

And then his eyes widen as he remembers why they’re doing this in the first place and his guilt returns. He holds the bottle in his lap and stares at Yoongi with a serious expression.

“Yoongi.”

Yoongi raises his eyebrow, waiting for Tae to continue. He looks embarrassed before he continues.

“I’m sorry about making you fail.”

Yoongi’s eyes widen in astonishment at the words, he’d never expected Tae to apologise to him to sincerely. He can’t help but feel bad, because really it’s not Tae’s fault, Yoongi’s the one who should have taken responsibility for his own education. And while it’s a setback to fail the exam, it’s not the end of the world.

“It’s okay, Taehyung.”

Tae lunges forward suddenly, causing Yoongi to lean back, unaware of what he’s doing. The bottle leans dangerously before Tae rights his hands and holds it steady, staring Yoongi straight in the eyes.

“No it’s not okay,” He declares with a loud voice and Yoongi’s not sure where this s heading. “I should have been more careful. I shouldn’t have just rushed out to meet Jungkook and given no thought to my actions.” He looks down as if embarrassed. “I should have thought of you, Yoongi.”

Yoongi’s breath catches in his throat and he hopes Tae didn’t notice it. Because Tae is too close and Yoongi’s sure that he has no idea about the affect he has on him. He knows he should be focusing on the fact that Tae feels guilty, but he’s more interested in the name he mentioned instead.

With a steadying breath he asks. “Why have you never introduced me to your friends?”

Tae leans back slightly, confused by the question. “I-,” He begins, scratching his head as he stales for time.

Yoongi thinks that he catches on. “Are you embarrassed of me?”

“What? Of course I’m not!”

“Then why?” He knows he sounds desperate, but the alcohol is causing his tongue to speak without his consent and he’s come this far already, so there’s really no sense in turning back. The least he can do is find out why.

Tae looks as if he’s struggling to find the right words and Yoongi lets out a huff.

“I mean, are we really just roommates?”

The question confuses Tae. Because as innocent as it sounds, he feels as though the real meaning behind Yoongi’s words is a lot heavier and he’s not prepared to answer it.

“We’re friends.” He doesn’t miss the way Yoongi’s eyes darken.  “But you’re different to them. I can go out with them and have a great time because that is what they’re into. And I can stay here with you, because that’s what you prefer. I didn’t think you’d be interested in meeting them.”

“You’re never here.”

Tae is astonished by Yoongi’s sulky tone. “What are you trying to say?”

Yoongi knows that this conversation has gotten way too risky, but his hazy mind compels him to carry on, because what does his drunken self-have to lose? Absolutely nothing.

His sober, right minded self however. Absolutely everything.

“I want you here with me.”

“Yoongi, I am here with you.”

“No, I-,” Yoongi has never been good at expressing himself in these kinds of situations, even when drunk. So instead he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He leans forward just enough for his lips to press against Tae’s even as everything inside of him screams not to.

He’s surprised when Tae kisses him back for a second before pulling back abruptly as if Yoongi shocked him.

The bottle falls out of Tae’s fingers and splashes over the floor, but neither of them realise. Both too shocked over what occurred to look away from each other. The unease in Yoongi’s stomach threatens to swallow him whole if he doesn’t get out of here. The look in Tae’s eyes already tells him that he just made a huge mistake.

He pushes himself off the couch in a huff; just being near Tae is suffocating.

“Yoongi, I-,”

He doesn’t stay to hear the words.