Taehyung stares over at you, blinking. You gulp as he remains quiet after saying that single word.

The mere silence causes you to immediately reach for your drink.

"So, you have a crush on me?" he questions, clarifying. You nod your head while drinking the soju before pulling the bottle away from your lips.

"Yes, but if you don't feel the same way, it's totally fine. We can just forget I even said anything and take a break from one another until I get over this crush and go back to being friends." You nervously say, feeling yourself starting to slightly sweat as you grow anxious. He stares over at you, visibly worried as he sees you drinking the soju bottle so quickly.

After all, you are almost finished with it already.

"Whoa, Y/N." he states, holding his hands out in front of you. "Slow down a little." You bite onto your lower lip, beginning to use your teeth to pull at a dry spot on your lower lip.

"Okay." You say quietly. He parts his lips for a second before closing his mouth once more. He glances away from you to look down at his lap.

"Let's talk about this one thing at a time." He states. You nod. "So, your crush on me started when we kissed? Am I understanding that correctly?" You shrug.

"Subconsciously? Yes. Consciously? No." he tilts his head to the side, indicating you need to clarify. "I loved the kiss. It was a good kiss. However, I still thought I liked Lucas at the time so deep down, yes. On the surface level, no." He nods.

"Well, I agree. It was a good kiss." He responds. "I would normally never be clumsy enough to trigger the alarm on my bike. However, clearly that kiss was good enough to make me clumsy for a moment." He says while laughing softly.

You smile softly as he laughs.

"Okay... so we both liked it." You clarify, causing him to nod his head.

"Next, when we were pretending, you know we were pretending but wish we weren't?" he questions. You nod your head.

"Every time you put your arm around me or winked at me or started flirting with me, there were moments that I forgot I was acting." You respond. He nods his head.

"I'm going to be honest, Y/N. And I know I'm a very blunt person, but I'm going to make sure I don't hurt you here." he states before making eye contact with you. "That entire thing was acting to me." he states, causing your heart to sink deep into your chest. Your stomach drops and the warmth in your stomach from the alcohol is now causing your stomach to get upset as you grow embarrassed.

"Okay..." you state.

"Now, again, I did like the kiss and I don't want you doubting that. You're a good kisser, beautiful, a sweetheart, and you're so easy to talk to." He states. "But I haven't thought about you in that way." He states.

"Oh." You say, voice coming out quiet and weak. He stares over at you, eyes softening. "I guess I was just being delusional. I thought you weren't acting either but that was dumb of me to assume." You state.

"Not dumb. You're never dumb." He immediately. "Delusional... a little. However, when you like someone you tend to overthink every interaction you have with them, so I don't blame you." He states, reaching his hand forward. He hesitates for a moment before gently resting his hand on your shoulder.

"So, you liked the kiss but don't like me?" you question. He takes a deep breath before nodding his head.

"I figured I'd be honest with you about it." He states. You nod before taking a deep breath.

"So... did I ruin our friendship with this?" you state. He immediately shakes his head, not hesitating.

"No, not at all." He sympathetically states. "I'm glad you told me actually. It would've made it worse if you didn't tell me I think."

"Yeah because then my crush would've kept getting bigger and bigger and by the time I would've told you, it would've been harder for me to take the rejection." You state. He nods his head.

"Exactly. I'm glad you came to me." he states. "This is why we're good friends, Y/N. We're good at communicating." You nod before letting out a soft laugh.

The alcohol is now making you even more comfortable talking to Taehyung now that he now knows.

It doesn't help that you didn't eat before this so the alcohol will make you more of a lightweight drinker than normal.

"It's kinda funny actually." You say while starting to giggle. Your face starts to feel hot as you laugh.

"What is?" Taehyung questions, eyeing you as he laughs softly at the sound of your laugh.

"In a way... you just became my bad date bodyguard again." You say while giggling. "You prevented me from going on a date with you and being rejected." You laugh. He stares over at you, tilting his head to the side as he licks his lips.

While you're starting to giggle due to being slightly tipsy, he licks his lips before taking a deep breath.

"Yeah... you could say that." He states.

While you continue to giggle to yourself about this thought, Taehyung stares over at you before reaching for his own bottle of soju, taking a sip.

"Hey." You two hear. Glancing up, you see Seulgi and Sunmi standing there with Sunmi's boyfriend. "Did you two get a chance to talk?" Seulgi questions. Taehyung glances over at you before nodding his head.

"Yeah. She told me about her crush on me." he states. Seulgi nods her head.

"So, are you two together now?" she questions. Taehyung lets out a sound of nervous laughter. He then shakes his head.

"Oh... uh, no." This causes Seulgi's eyes to widen. Sunmi had already started drinking and was slightly tipsy, leaning against her boyfriend as the two have a separate conversation. "I don't feel the same way." After overhearing Taehyung saying this second sentence, Sunmi's eyes widen as she snaps her head to look in his direction.

"What?!" Sunmi questions. "What do you mean you don't feel the same way?" Seulgi physically cringes at the loud tone Sunmi is currently using. She merely places her hand on Sunmi's shoulder.

"Honey, sh." She states before looking back at Taehyung. "What she said... but less loud." She states.

"I don't feel the same." He shrugs.

"Are you kidding? We've seen how you two interact with one another. I'm not blind." Sunmi states, lowering her voice a little.

What a good friend Sunmi is. After hearing you might be getting rejected, she sobered up in an instant.

"Sunmi, if he says he doesn't feel the same way, then he doesn't." Seulgi sighs while looking over at her. Sunmi's shoulders slump a little.

"But I wanted her to be happy." She says while looking over at you.

"Trust me, I did too." Seulgi mumbles to herself.

You, still tipsy, are listening to the conversation but are numbed from the alcohol so nothing they're saying right now is affecting you. You merely smile up at the two.

"I'm okay." You state. Seulgi looks over at you as you speak before looking back at Taehyung.

She stares at him for a moment, doubting what he's telling you.

However, seeing as how you're tipsy and this is a public setting, she knows when to let things go. She doesn't say anything.

"Okay. Well, please tell me you two are at least good." Seulgi states.

"Yeah, you're still going to be friends right?" Sunmi questions.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes." Taehyung states before looking over at you. "Y/N has become an important person to me. I don't want to not be friends with her just because of a crush. I'll just probably give her some space for a bit until she gets over her crush on me." he states.

"Are you okay with that, Y/N?" Sunmi questions. You nod and grin happily up at them.

"Works for me!" you say eagerly before leaning back on the chair you're sitting on. "I feel relieved now that I'm not hiding this from you." You say while looking over at Taehyung. He gives you a small grin.

"Um... please keep an eye on her." Seulgi states while pointing down at you. "She can't drink anymore unless she eats something." Taehyung nods.

"Yes, ma'am." He states before looking over at you. "Hey, Y/N, do you want any chips or do you want me to take you somewhere to get some food? Anything you want." He states.

As he says this, you look up as you think for a moment.

"I want something with carbs." You state.

"Carbs it is..." Taehyung drifts off before looking up at Seulgi. "What exactly does she normally eat while drunk?" he questions.

"Anything with bread should have carbs." Seulgi states.

"How about some pizza?" Taehyung questions while looking over at you. You widen your eyes and nod your head quickly.

"Yes, please." You say as your eyes sparkle at the thought of food. Taehyung laughs as he sees your face before looking up at Seulgi.

"Okay, pizza it is." He states. You clap happily before looking over at Seulgi.

"Did you drink?" she questions Taehyung.

"A little bit, yeah. I'll just call us an Uber." He states before getting up. He then holds his hand out to you to help you get up. Once you're on your feet and stable, he leads the way towards the house. You two enter the frat house once more before making your way towards the front door.

"Hey. Taehyung, is it?" a male voice is now speaking up. When Taehyung turns, he sees Lucas staring at you two. This causes him to grip tightly onto your hand.

"What's up?" Taehyung questions.

"You two are leaving already?"

"Yeah. Y/N wants something to eat so I'm going to treat her to something nice to eat." Taehyung says before he releases your hand from his. He instead wraps his arm around your waist to make sure Lucas doesn't try to talk to you while you're tipsy.

"Hi Lucas." You say while waving over at him. As you wave, you lean against him. He waves back.

"Wow... she's a lightweight." Lucas states. "Do her friends know you're leaving with her while she's tipsy?" Lucas questions.

"Yes, we do." Seulgi suddenly speaks up from out of nowhere. Lucas glances over at her.

"You do realize she's tipsy and you're letting her leave with a guy, right? That's not safe." Lucas states.

"We trust him but thank you for your concern." Seulgi states. "Besides, we're leaving soon. We'll meet you two at the nearest pizza place." She says while looking over at Taehyung. Taehyung nods his head.

"As long as you make sure she's safe. We already had a lawsuit with our frat house during the last party. If we have one more, we'll be forced to shut our frat down." Lucas states.

"Wow, and here I thought you were worried about little me." you state, the alcohol still making you speak your mind. "You're more worried about a frat house than you would be if I really was in danger." You state while rolling your eyes at him.

Lucas stares over at you for a second before shaking his head.

"You turned me down, remember? After I asked you to go with me instead of Yuqi." He states.

"You what?" you hear a female voice now speaking up. Lucas's eyes widen as he realizes Yuqi was about to come over.

"I thought they were messing with me when I heard rumors about that." She states. "You're a dick." She states before tossing her drink in his direction. He flinches at the cold beverage on him before immediately shaking his head.

"Okay, now I'm forcing you to leave." He states. "Take your tipsy girlfriend and her little friends out of here." He tells Taehyung.

Taehyung gives him a bitter smile before nodding his head.

"Gladly." He states before guiding you out of the house while Seulgi, Sunmi, and her boyfriend follow behind the two of you.

*****
Okay, I left you all waiting for long enough now so I decided to post a day ahead of schedule!

And I know, a disappointing chapter but don't worry, we're only halfway done.

I purple you and hope you all are doing well!
Kim 💜