Side note for y'all who were here before this chapter was posted: I changed their meet up time to 3:00 b/c it makes more sense with everything that happens in the story. If you found this fic after, and that's already the time you read, then never don't mind about a thing ~ Enjoy :)

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Sighing deeply and wishing he could blink away the intense headache that was grinding in his temples, Taehyung began to make his way to the coffee shop. It was 2:45 on a cloudy Thursday, a little over a week after he'd met Jungkook, and the air was colder than he was used to. They had decided they'd meet up every day except on weekends, and carried through with it for over a week now, but the younger boy still seemed jumpy and timid a lot of the time. Taehyung wondered what it would take for him to open up completely.

He pushed the door open slowly, his feet faltering slightly as he entered a few minutes later. He sat down at their table, resting his elbows on the surface and raising his hands up in a fruitless attempt to soothe the relentless pain in his head. It had been a while since he'd had one of those days, but the next one had rolled in out of the blue.

A soft, discontented whine escaped his lips. Why he came here instead of going home to lay down, he didn't really know. But here he was, and hell if he was going to get up and try to walk there right now.

He didn't even notice when Jungkook slipped into his usual seat across the table. "Hi, Taehyung," the shy voice offered cautiously.

He tried to quickly wipe the grimace off of his lips, putting his hands back down. "Hi," he replied, wishing he could pull off a convincing smile. Jungkook looked concerned. "Are you okay?" he murmured worriedly. "You look like you're in pain."

Taehyung shook his hurting head. "It's not that bad," he lied, eyes trailing to the window. But Jungkook pressed on; he could see right through him. "You should go home and rest. We can hang out tomorrow," he told him slowly.

He shut his eyes, knowing he couldn't lie to him, and returned his fingers to his temples, rubbing circles into them. "No. I don't want to try to walk around more with this. It's getting worse," Taehyung confessed, voice slipping into a pained tone. "Can we stay here until it goes away?"

"Yeah," Jungkook confirmed gently. "I'll stay. Do you want me to order you something?" he offered, gesturing to the counter. An apologetic look was in Taehyung's eyes as they opened again. "Would you? That'd be awesome. Thanks, Kookie."

Jungkook stood, nodding with hot cheeks from the nickname. He stepped up to the end of the short line at the counter, new thoughts lacing through each other. 

Sympathy was a completely new feeling to him. He never felt sorry for anyone. It was strange, being there, wishing he could take Taehyung's pain away.

Even so, it gave him a little bit of satisfaction. It showed that he was growing as a person. Feeling that way towards someone made him feel a little more human. He felt less like a monster in disguise amongst another species. Like maybe he could belong here.

When it was his turn, he muttered out his usual order, followed by Taehyung's. Come to think of it, when had he memorized Taehyung's order? At some point in the past week, he'd done it subconsciously. Just the thought made his cheeks go red, his gaze flicking away as he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt and bit his lip.

Unfortunately for him, the barista took it as a hint that he liked her. She had a light smirk on her face when she handed him the two cups, and after he paid she slipped him a small strip of paper. He gave her a confused look, but she just shrugged smugly.

He shuffled back to their table, cups in hand. Slipping into his seat, he let a smile grace his lips, pushing the coffee to Taehyung. "Thank you so much," he murmured graciously, accepting it with one hand and with the other pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

"No, you don't have to pay me back," Jungkook found himself assuring the older man. They were silent for a moment, exchanging looks of understanding. "You're really too sweet," Taehyung said finally, taking a sip of the hot drink. He sighed in satisfaction, a small smile crossing his lips.

His eyelids perked just slightly when he realized something. "You memorized my order," he noted, half to himself. Jungkook nodded shyly, biting his bottom lip again.

"I'm flattered, truly," Taehyung remarked sarcastically, a small smirk settling into his expression as his eyebrows rose. Jungkook was about to respond (or at least attempt to) when the wince returned to Taehyung's face, and he softly whimpered in pain.

"Sorry," the elder mumbled. Jungkook felt a strange urge start to burn in his brain. He wanted to to reach out, comfort his hurting friend. He wanted to let his aching head rest on his shoulder, whisper consoling things into his ear. He tried to shake the feeling away, but it remained.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked. Taehyung had a look of disappointment hanging from him. "I wanted to be fun and happy for you, like I usually am," he replied, eyes squeezed shut again. Jungkook truly didn't know how to respond, so he didn't.

Minutes passed, and he remembered the little strip of paper he'd been given. He pulled it out, unfolding it as he took a long drink of his coffee. He sighed deeply as he realized that she had given him her phone number.

"What is it?" Taehyung asked, startling him though his voice was quiet. He shook his head, standing up and going to throw the small piece of paper away. He looked over towards the counter as he heard the sound of it hit the rest of the contents in the can. Apparently, he was void of luck that day. She caught sight of him throwing it away, and she had a strange look on her face.

He was almost positive she was hurt, and yet he couldn't bring himself to really feel bad. This was what he was used to.

He swiveled his direction away from her, returning to the table and parking himself back in his seat. "Sorry. Everyone always tries to flirt with me," he muttered, annoyed. It wasn't a lie. It really got on his nerves; he just wanted to tell everyone that he wasn't interested.

"Well, then. I see I've befriended Mr. Popular," Taehyung teased lightly, leaning forward and resting his chin in his arms, staring up at his companion. "Apparently," Jungkook responded, copying the action so their eyes were level.

They just stared at each other for a while. No need to talk. Occasionally, Taehyung's face would twist in another pained grimace, then fade a little. People came in and out, but they remained.

After a long while, Taehyung whispered contentedly, "I feel better now." Jungkook smiled. "I'm glad."

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Whoa this was finished faster than usual. I love writing this story so much tbh.

Okay so this chapter is kinda bittersweet. I really like it though. Idk. It was really enjoyable to write, and I feel really proud of it. I hope you like it too. c: Love you all <3 See you soon! :)