"You're late!",Jin complained with his adorable whiny voice and grabbed the grocery shopping-bags from Taehyung's hands.

He slouched his way towards the kitchen,putting the bags upon the counter as he opened the pantry.

"Yeah you're too late Taehyung! JinJin was feeling bored even with me...me !",Ken chimed, amused.

"I swear I'm never gonna forgive you for snatching my bestfriend from me...",he fake-grumbled,bringing a faint smile on the younger's lips.

"Shut up Kenny.",Jin snapped, which only made his bestfriend laugh even harder.

"Thank you for staying,hyung...",Taehyung muttered quietly while taking the seat beside Ken on the couch.

The older shrugged."He is my bestfriend, Taehyung...",he whispered, cautious so that Jin couldn't hear them.

"I can't even imagine him taking such drastic step-"

"Kenny,would you have some hot chocolate?",Jin's voice rang all the way from the kitchen.

"Ani,JinJin... I guess I should go back now.",Ken chided, strolling towards the kitchen with lazy steps.

"Can't you just listen to me once in a while?",Jin set three mugs on the counter and yelped as his friend grabbed one of the mugs and put it back on the rack.

"Can't.",he chuckled at the other's mad face."Cause I don't know about you,but I have got a hot date tonight.She is a new trainee jn the company and I saw her dancing on some TXT choreo the other day.JinJin,you won't believe,her facial expressions, her gestures, her thi-"

Jin rolled his eyes."Spare me,I don't need any details!"

"Thank you!",the other scoffed, leaning against the counter, keeping his back towards the living area.

"Tell him,Jinjin.",he said in a hushed tone, startling Jin.

Jin shook his head a little,glancing at the boy who seemed to be too engrossed in his phone.

"He'd eventually get to know, what's wrong with you?!"

Jin gestured Ken to hush up, glancing at Taehyung one more time with a frown.

"I know he would. But I'm not ready to tell him. I don't think I'd be ready to tell him anytime soon."

"Do you think it would be nice if he hears the truth from someone else?",Ken reasoned.

He tsked at Jin's silence."This isn't right, Jin... This is absolutely unfair! Everybody else in the world knows about this except him! That's seriously not done."

Taehyung, on the other end of the living area,was staring at his phone's screen blankly.

The words that Jimin told him throughout a lengthy phone call when he was in the shopping mall,were messing with his mind mercilessly.

"TaeTae...",his bestfriend had informed him in a small voice."Jin-hyung has left the company..."

He looked up and smiled at Ken as the older bid goodbye to him.

"Yes,its confirmed. Even I couldn't believe it. But its a fact Tae..."

"I learned about it today only..."

"A few days ago.I don't know specifically but... He had a meeting with Pd-nim before New Year. He resigned that very day."

The boy gulped hard,shuffling with the device in his hand when Jin put two mug full of hot chocolate on the coffee table infront of the couch and slumped down next to him.

He let out a small sigh and looked at the elder with a forced smile and Jin smiled back at him.

Or... Did he? Wasn't his smile fake too?

Taehyung trained his eyes towards the TV-screen,which was showing some soap commercial.

None of them dared to touch the beverages. The younger clenched his jaws as he sensed his hyung's gaze lingering upon him.

"Who told you?",finally, the older broke the silence.

Taehyung gulped once again."About what?",he retorted.

"You know what I'm talking about,Tae...",Jin said in a stern tone.

The younger smiled bitterly,his eyes still avoiding the older's.

"Sejin-ssi? Did you call him?"

"It doesn't matter,hyung.",the younger huffed, his voice wavering unintentionally.

"Ofcourse it does! Because I need to learn how far you can go to know something that I clearly don't want you to know!",Jin grabbed one of the mugs and went towards the kitchen.

"How far I can go?! Hyung, listen to your own words! How far can you go to hide a truth from me? And its not just a mere truth,it's a serious matter. The whole world knows but I don't.",Taehyung raised his voice a little.

The older drained the hot chocolate in the kitchen sink and washed the mug with shaking hands.

"I can't believe this. What- What's the point of all of this, hyung? Why are you even trying to hide things from me?!",Taehyung demanded, striding towards the older but Jin stopped him.

"Please.",the older raised his hand."Stop,please."

He didn't want the younger to touch him.Not now.Because he was feeling worthless and disgusted all over again.

Dr Byun has advised him to talk to someone whenever such thoughts occur in his mind. But,whom was he supposed to talk to? He has blocked that way on his own.

"I need to take a shower.",he muttered,walking past Taehyung.

"Hyung, please...",the younger pleaded.He couldn't pretend to be alright with everything anymore.

Jin clenched his eyes shut and ignored his plea as he shuffled towards their bedroom,closing the door behind him hastily.

"...don't push me away. Please...",the younger whispered,taking a deep sigh while looking at the closed door of their bedroom.

--------------

"We should talk about it...",Taehyung muttered meekly,staring at his hyung with his pleading eyes as the older was busy in preparing the bed.

"Hyung...",he insisted."How many times are we going to ignore this? Hyung,we... We really need to talk about it."

"I don't think we do...",the older replied nonchalantly.

Taehyung frowned.

"So we are going to leave it the way it is? It... It just doesn't matter to you how much I'm getting hurt by all of this?!",his voice broke.

"What am I to you?!",he demanded,which caused the older to freeze in his spot.

"Hyung,I'm not a kid! I do deserve to know what's bothering you,right? I do,right?"

"Answer me!",he gripped the older's wrist and turned him around,only to loosen his grip as Jin winced at the touch.

The younger forgot what he was supposed to say.

"W-what's wrong?",he clutched Jin's arm firmly while the older tried his best to free his hand.

"Nothing.",Jin mumbled, his eyes looking everywhere but the younger.

Taehyung gulped.He gently pulled up the sleeve of Jin's pajama shirt and almost immediately left the older's hand with a defeated sigh.

Jin stood infront of him,motionless.

"Why?...",Taehyung whispered tiredly,his voice sounding weak like a scared little child.

"Why hyung? Why?!"

-#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#---#--#-

Sorry for the late update.

Health hasn't been really well lately.

And yes,I edited this chapter.Because tbh,I was rushing too much.

And this series is very near to my heart.So,I thought, it would be unfair to rush things.

So,yeah...

Anyways,opinions... Anyone?

And thanks a lot coffeelove222 , You know why... 😊

Stay healthy and happy and yes...

Purple Ya! ^_^💜