You sat across from your best friend in a small ice cream shop, smiling down at your dessert. Kim Taehyung had been your friend since elementary school, when you decided that you wanted his plastic, toy dinosaur at recess. Since then, the two of you had been practically inseparable. You two had even planned out how you would get into the same college.

Your expressions did not go unnoticed by the boy across from you. Taking another bite of the cold treat, he put his spoon down. "What are you smiling about?" he asked, returning your smile and offering a soft laugh. Even though it surprised you that he had noticed, you knew you shouldn't be. After being friends for so long, it would have been nearly impossible for him to not notice.

His voice caused you to look up at your friend, your smile fading only in the slightest. "Hm?" you hummed before realizing what he had asked. "Oh...I-it's nothing..."

Taehyung laughed again and pressed the issue further. Now he knew there was something important that you just weren't telling him. "Yah! You're lying! What is it? You have to tell me! Remember, I am your best friend."

Letting out a sigh, you rolled your eyes, knowing he wouldn't drop the matter until you told him. "Okay. Okay. I'll tell you," you said. "So...do you...do you remember that guy? InSu? The one I was talking about a couple weeks ago?"

Suddenly, you felt so awkward. Sure you and Taehyung were friends, but you didn't normally discuss boys with him. That was something you did with your friend JiEun. Despite your reluctance to do so, you kept going. "Well...today...after fourth period he asked me if I wanted to...um...he asked if I wanted to go out with him."

Your friend looked at you blankly, and for the first time ever, you couldn't tell what was going through his head.

"I said yes," you added in such a quiet tone that you weren't sure he would hear you.

His reaction, though, proved he had. The look of content that he once had faded into one of disappointment. Taehyung was quick to push it away, though. He didn't want to worry you or to ruin the moment. You had talked about InSu before, and he didn't want to upset you. "Good for you!" the boy exclaimed, trying to sound happy for you.

His attempt definitely didn't go unnoticed by you, and it definitely raised a red flag. His words and tone had been so out of character for your friend. For reasons that were unknown to you, Taehyung was upset by the news.

"Tae," you said, trying to grab his attention. His gaze was currently directed at his shoes. "What's wrong? Should I have said no? Do you know something I don't?"

Of course he knew something, but that something was not information that he wanted to share with you. "No," he answered, starting to gather up his belongings. "Hey, I have...a thing that I need to get to. I'll see you tomorrow!"

The boy flashed you his signature smile as he retreated from the shop, leaving you calling after him.

I screwed up, you told yourself. I royally screwed up.

----

You did not see Taehyung the next day, despite his remark he left you with. In fact, he wasn't even in school for the next few days. In the short time between every class you searched for him. During lunch, you wandered the halls, munching on a small pack of pretzels as you continued to look for him.

He was nowhere, though. And he didn't bother with answering his phone.

The worst part about that, though, was the fact you knew he was getting your calls. He was just choosing to ignore them.

The phone would ring once, twice, and a third time before you were greeted by an automated voice telling you to either leave a message or to hang up and try again later.

Friday provided you with a distraction though, as you had your first date with InSu. This was good for two reasons. One was that your mind was off Taehyung for a short while, and the second being the fact that you had been trying to get InSu to notice you since your freshman year.

The night started out with a movie, which had been his choice and something you really couldn’t get into. You liked it, but you wouldn’t be rushing out to go buy it as soon as it came out for sale. Seeing as it was still nice out when the two of you left the theatre, you walked through the city, looking in various shops. Then, you happened to stumble upon the ice cream shop that you frequented with Taehyung.

“InSu,” you said, stopping and pulling him towards the door. For some reason, you wanted to be in there. The shop had always provided you with comfort, as you had been going there for years. You didn’t know exactly what you wanted comfort from, though. A smile spreading across your feature, you continued on. “Let’s get ice cream.”

Your date agreed, pulling his black, leather wallet out from his back pocket. “Alright,” he murmured, shrugging of your sudden enthusiasm with a smile of his own.

The little bell above the door signaled your arrival and all of the current occupants of the store quickly glanced to see who had entered. This is when you met the eyes of a certain someone.

A somber looking Taehyung sat at the high-topped table the two of you normally occupied.

“Tae...hyung.” His name tumbled passed your lips and InSu followed your gaze with his own eyes.

“Do you know him?” the boy asked you walking towards the counter. You didn’t follow him though. Instead, you stepped cautiously towards your best friend, who, in return, gathered his trash and once again fled the shop. You were about to chase after him, but you figured it could wait.

He was already upset with you. You didn’t need InSu to feel the same. “Yeah...but...it’s nothing,” you dismissed his question politely. “What are you going to get?”

----

The rest of the night went by completely uneventful, but you couldn’t seem to get Taehyung’s face out of your mind. When he saw you with InSu, he looked completely betrayed; like a puppy that you had cared for but then put out on the street. There was definitely something wrong with him, and that’s why you stood outside his front door, waiting for his mother to send him out to talk to you.

You had to figure this out.

“Do you need something.”

His voice got you to whip around to face the door again. There he stood, looking bored, but also as if he were trying to suppress the annoyance he felt.

“Tae...” His name came out as a whisper as you suddenly had to fight the urge to run in the direction of your own home.

“I asked if you needed anything, (Y/N),” he spat. You weren’t able to remember the last time he was this mad at you.

The most likely reason being that he never was this mad at you.

“I-I just wanted to talk to you,” you said, fidgeting with the hem of the sweatshirt you had changed into after your date. “You’ve been avoiding me and I just w-”

He cut you off.

“I don’t think I should be around you right now.”

His voice wavered a bit and your heart broke. He was trying so hard to stay calm, cool, and collected but he was failing.

At your lack of response, he prompted you with a question.

“Why did you bring him to our place? Are you trying to hurt me more?”

A wave of confusion washed over you. “W-what do you mean, Taehyung? I never meant to hurt you, and if I did I’m sorry, but I swear it was never my intention.”

Without missing a beat, he said, “Then why did you bring him there? That’s our spot. It has always been our spot. Does that mean nothing to you? Does our friendship mean anything  to you?”

His accusations had you completely taken aback. Of course he meant the world to you. “Taehyung what has-”

He cut you off again. This time with his lips.

You were left speechless, but that didn’t stop you from kissing him back. It felt so wrong, but at the same time, you had a voice telling you to keep going.

Taehyung was the one to break it after a few seconds.

“I like you, (Y/N),” he whimpered. You couldn’t see them, but you knew that there were tears welling up in his eyes. “I like you a lot. Seeing you with that...that kid just makes me angry. And if you stay with him, I just don’t think I can be around you for a while. I can’t handle that.”

You wrapped your arms around him carefully as he buried his face in your hair. “I’m so sorry, Tae. I never meant to hurt you. Please...please don’t cry.”

It took a couple moments, but the boy straightened himself out and forced his tears to disappear. “Do you think you can accept me? Do you think you can give me a chance?”

A silence full of tension settled between the two of you. Deep in thought, you bit your lip. There had been a few times when you had believe that you had a rush on your best friend, but you had always tried to ignore them, wanting to preserve your friendship.

“To be honest, Taehyung, I don’t know,” you answered, bringing your eyes up to meet his.

You saw his face fall as he seemed to lose every last bit of hope.

You forced yourself to continue.

“But...but I’m willing to try to see if we could work out.”

And that was the start of something beautiful.