Upon arriving home, you take your work clothes off and immediately get into the shower and turn the knob to make the shower water as hot as possible.

Maybe this water will burn away my stress.

You stay in the shower for a bit before getting out and changing into sweatpants and a cropped t-shirt. Deciding to go for a drive and drive to the nearest smoothie place near your house. Upon arriving, you stare up at the menu, trying to figure out what to get before you glance down at the person waiting at the counter. Sighing, you realize that this is the same place you had first met Taehyung.

"Y/N. What can I get you?" Taehyung asks while leaning on the counter. Today, he's wearing a white apron on top of a pair of black jeans and a tight, white V-neck underneath.

"Hey, Taehyung," you state before you point up at the menu. "Can I get a mango smoothie please?" he nods his head before he turns his back to you, telling the other worker in the back what to start making. Turning back to you, he waits as you insert your card in the card reader.

"So, how are you and Jimin?" he asks while your receipt is printing out. You roll your eyes at the mention of his name, causing Taehyung to lift an eyebrow. "Not too good, I'm guessing?"

"We had an argument." You bluntly state before stepping aside as you stand by the "pick up order" area. Taehyung glances at the door. Upon noticing that you're the only customer, he steps over to the other side of the counter near where you're standing.

"You two gonna be okay?" he questions while fiddling with the straws, glancing down at the colors through the paper and organizing them by color. You lick your lips as you shrug your shoulders. This causes Taehyung to immediately drop the straws he's holding.

"I don't know," you state helplessly before watching as the other worker tries coming out from the back to give you your order. Taehyung stops him and hands you the smoothie himself as he leans against the counter while staring at you as you place a straw into the smoothie.

"I've known Jimin for a long time, he's my best friend." Taehyung states before he sighs softly. "Tell me, Y/N, has Jimin been... rushing... things lately? And has he stopped dancing altogether?" he questions. This causes you to quirk an eyebrow as you place the smoothie onto the counter. Taehyung stares up at you, a stare that's intimidating enough to make you confess every lie you've told since you were born.

"I... um..."

How long have these two been friends?

"Your stuttering is enough of an answer." He states before he glances up at the clock. "Listen, I get off work right now. Want to sit with me here for a while so I can help with the... er... problem?" he asks. You glance up at the clock.

4:38 PM.

What the hell. I have nowhere else to be anyway.

"Sure, I have some time to kill." You state before walking over to the nearest table and plopping onto one of the chairs. Taehyung sits across from you as he folds his fingers, his arms resting on the table.

"I've noticed Jimin talking about you... a lot lately." He bluntly states. "And by 'a lot,' I mean he talks about you just as much, if not more than, his old dance partner." He states while arching an eyebrow. You immediately face palm yourself and shake your head.

"I'm nothing like her."

"Never said you were," he responds before his coworker sets a smoothie onto the table for him. He takes a sip before licking his lips and looking up at you. "What I am saying is this: if you haven't noticed, Jimin isn't exactly the most... normal... boyfriend." He states.

"Yeah, he's moving so fast that I can't keep up with him. That on top of my jealousy isn't exactly making this relationship good for both of us." You state before taking a sip.

"I heard about the family dinner." He states before softly laughing. "But not much else. What else did he do?"

"I don't know," you state before reaching a hand down and pointing at the necklace he got you. "Got me this for our anniversary only a few months into the relationship without reminding me of our anniversary, set up that dinner with all of our friends, told me he wanted to have a baby when we were there for the birth of Jennie and Namjoon's baby, set up that damn dinner with his parents that made me have an anxiety attack in the bathroom of the restaurant, and the whipped cream on top is this stupid argument over Jungkook." You take a deep breath after finishing your long rant about Jimin's actions since you've been dating. This causes Taehyung to press his lips together to prevent himself from laughing. You widen your eyes, ready to scold him for laughing at you.

"Hey, hey, I'm not laughing at you, swear." He states while holding his hands up in defeat. "I just... I'm surprised you haven't dumped him yet." He cracks a smile before laughing as he leans back in his chair. You feel your shoulders relax at the sound of his laugh along with seeing Taehyung smiling for the first time since you walked in.

"I... I just don't know what to do at this point," you state before taking another sip of your smoothie.

"So, this argument was about Jungkook?" he asks while arching an eyebrow. You nod your head and he tilts his head to the side as he leans back in his chair. "What did Jungkook do now?"

"Jimin's coworker Sowon was all over Jimin and a while ago I told him to tell her that he has a girlfriend, isn't interested in her, and that it's inappropriate to be doing that at a workplace," you state before shrugging your shoulders. "She was all over him today and Jungkook needed help with a report, I helped him, Jimin yelled at Sowon and finally wasn't afraid to tell her to fuck off, Jimin and I argue over Sowon and Jungkook, Jimin goes to Jungkook and starts confronting him asking why he's always bothering me at work, I defended Jungkook, and that brings me here." You take another deep breath, yet another rant getting off of your chest as you lean back in the chair, crossing your arms. Taehyung merely stares at you before blinking.

You watch as he nods his head slowly, processing the load of events that you spilled his way.

"Well," he takes a deep breath. "I hate to say this, but I told you so." You widen your eyes at his words as his remain normal, merely blinking at your reaction.

"What do you mean you 'told me so?'" you do finger quotations around those words before leaning forward on the table.

"I told you at the restaurant, remember?" he licks his lips. "I told you Jungkook was gonna cause problems. I knew it when he gave you the basket."

"None of the other problems have anything to do with Jungkook."

"Yes, but they do have to do with Jimin," he states before rolling his eyes. "He's told you his story. He told you he wanted to give that girl his everything, didn't he? Since that dance partner of his hurt him, every single girl he's been with has dumped him for this exact reason."

"What?" Taehyung lifts an eyebrow, unamused by how slowly you're following along.

"Y/N, Jimin's rushing things because he's broken," he states before sipping from his smoothie, letting out a soft "ahh" as he swallows. "Another reason he's rushing things is because Jungkook is always in the picture of this relationship of yours." He gestures towards you as he holds his smoothie in one hand, leaning back in his chair.

"But Jungkook-"

"Jungkook has had a crush on you since you joined the company. He's liked you for, what, a year now?" he questions before he looks over at you and sets his smoothie onto the table again. "Y/N, you've heard Jimin's story. There was a boyfriend and he was the other guy. To Jimin, the thought of having another guy in the picture at all makes him uncomfortable." He takes one last sip of his smoothie before he places the empty cup onto the table, leaning forward.

"But Jungkook didn't even do anything. He hasn't even talked to me outside of work since the whole 'thank you' basket thing anyways. Other than that, we only talk about work related stuff."

"And you think Jimin isn't trying to do that with Sowon?" he questions before blinking up at you. "Jimin's a nice guy. He'd rather be hurt himself than hurt someone else because he knows how it feels. He probably tells Sowon to back off whenever they try working together but was just too nice about it. That doesn't mean he's actively trying to make you jealous. He's just trying not to look like an asshole in front of anyone."

"Well, if that's the case, he's already made himself look like an asshole," you state while rolling your eyes. "To me and to Jungkook. The worst part is that this office party is tomorrow and attendance is mandatory, so I have to put up with all of this bullshit at that party tomorrow." Taehyung shrugs before he glances over at the clock on the wall. Slowly standing up, he picks up the cup lying on the table.

"Well, I have to start heading home now," he starts before walking over and tossing his cup into the recycle bin before walking over to you as he picks up his apron that he had taken off during your rant earlier. "Just do whatever feels right to you. You do need to remember something though: Jungkook likes you. It doesn't matter if he's not actively trying to do anything. When you two came in here, I could sense it right away. He stares at you as if you're-..." he cuts himself off, eyes widening as he almost reveals one of his friend's embarrassing celebrity crushes. This causes you to arch an eyebrow.

"As if I'm what?" you ask. He shakes his head immediately before he points in your direction.

"Forget I even said that." He mumbles before he starts speaking again. "I know you think Jungkook is nice, but keep in mind, we call him the golden maknae for a reason. He gets whatever he wants when he wants it. Just... don't be so rash when it comes to what you do with Jimin. He's a sensitive guy and has been through a lot. I'm sure you have too but just try talking to him calmly before resorting to anything rash." He tosses his apron over his shoulder and makes his way towards the exit.

"Thanks, Taehyung." You wave over at him pathetically as he glances back at you from the door. The sight you see surprises you. The second time he smiles tonight. His eyes squint a little as he smiles and his mouth forms that boxy shape it had earlier.

"Don't thank me, just figure things out with Jimin." He states before walking out of the building, saluting you as he walks out. You laugh and watch as he stuffs one hand in the pocket of his jeans while the other holds onto the apron as he hangs it loosely from his shoulder.

He could be a model.

***
I had an anxiety attack two days ago and it was pretty bad. I've been helping others in my personal life with their issues but no one has been helping me with mine. It's a curse being kind hearted sometimes. I would drop anything to help my friends but not all of them would do the same and it's just irritating to see. Not to mention the fact that my anxiety is such a "burden" to a certain family member who decided to yell at me in the midst of my anxiety attack to the point where I was struggling to breathe properly.

I guess everything going on was so much for me. The racism, the virus, the death in the family that happened in May, my stress with this job I've been wanting and might not be getting, my family members needing me to console them, and a few more things that just caused me to fucking lose it. I broke down and cried for like 2 hours straight. And only 1 of my friends answered me in the midst of my anxiety attack. I tried calling 5 people. Only 1 answered.

I always put others first. You need help with school? I drop what I'm doing to help. You need some emotional support? I drop what I'm doing to help. You need advice? I drop what I'm doing to help my friends. But no one does the same for me. In other words, being a good person is fucking difficult sometimes and I can't do it right now.

That being said, I have taken it upon myself to not check the news due to the fucking virus being the only thing being mentioned nowadays. I'm overwhelmed with it and I'm overwhelmed at the hateful people in this world who are going out of their way to harass people for their skin color. I'm disgusted by it. I want to be a good ally and a good support system or BLM. For me to be able to help, I need to take a few days to not watch the news just to think of more ways to be a helpful ally.

I just needed to rant. I'm not going to take a break from writing because that's my one escape from everything I just ranted about. That and music. So for the next few updates, I might not add much at the end of my chapters. This is mostly because I'm going to just try to relax and take a break from the news. I will still be posting chapters but my end notes won't be as informative as they have been because I'm just struggling to keep myself together right now and I'm sorry about that.

I love all of you. Don't get to the point I ended up at please. If you're stressed or struggling right now and you're one problem away from snapping, talk to someone so you don't snap the way I did. The last thing I want is for any of you to go through the shit I had to two days ago.

I love all of you. Stay safe, stay healthy, talk to someone if you're not mentally healthy right now. Don't let it bottle up inside.

- Kim