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Taehyung's face had blanched at his girlfriend's words.
"Those cigarettes weren't from a friend of mine. They were from Jongin." She had said in a broken voice, hands trembling and tears rolling down her cheeks.
Taehyung couldn't remember what had happened after that. Everything was a blur of tears. He had a memory of running somewhere and calling Jeongguk before breaking down and crying his eyes out. He felt trapped in his own mind, breathing heavily and screaming something that resembled her name.
His phone vibrated against his pants pocket as he took in where he was.
He had somehow run to The Spot. He and Jeongguk would ditch class together in high school and head here- a small opening in the middle of a forest of buildings and businesses. Together they would laugh, rant, and just feel connected in the way he only did with Jeongguk.
Taehyung had brought her here too.
Taehyung's lungs burned, his eyes hurt from crying, and he felt blood on his hands from digging his nails into his palms. The scarring mixture of sadness and rage he had suppressed began to rise again as his breath left him. Memories of her flickered through his mind, playing like old home movies. His birthday, the first time they went to the fair and- and the first time he had asked about the cigarettes.
"Oh," she had said, leading him to her bedroom, "they're just from a friend of mine. I'll throw them away later."
How oblivious had he been?
Hummm. Hummm.
Taehyung's phone threw him back into reality. His hands were shaking like an earthquake as he pulled it out of his pocket, recognizing the user ID immediately and holding it up to his ear.
"Jeongukkie... Guk... she..." Taehyung sobbed into the receiver. Jeongguk was there, whether physically or not, and when Jeongguk was there, everything was okay. Everything was okay. Jeongguk made Taehyung okay.
"Tae, I need you to listen to me." Jeongguk's voice was stern but not unkind. Taehyung could imagine Jeongguk opening his eyes wide like always does when he's getting his attention. "Tell me exactly where you are, Tae. Okay? Can you do that?"
Taehyung nodded even though he knew Jeongguk couldn't see him. "Yeah," he said shakily, "yeah. I'm- I'm at The Spot, Gukkie."
"Take deep breaths. Breathe with me." Taehyung breathed in and out, in and out. Jeongguk made Taehyung okay.
Loud, fast footsteps made their way toward Taehyung. "I'm almost there, Tae," Taehyung heard Jeongguk say from the phone. His tears had calmed down, the blood on his hands had dried, but his cheeks were still red and his breath was still staggered.
"Gukkie?" Taehyung asked timidly.
Jeongguk rounded the corner into The Spot. "Right here. C'mere," Jeongguk said, opening his arms and throwing himself onto Taehyung.
Taehyung bawled into Jeongguk's shoulder. He didn't know how long he had been crying, all he knew was the hand rubbing into his back made him feel loved. Jeongguk whispered reassurances into Taehyung's ear until his tears had died down again.
Pulling back from their tight embrace, Jeongguk placed one of his hands in Taehyung's. "Wanna head to my apartment?" he said, rubbing small circles into Taehyung's hand and back.
Taehyung nodded solemnly, not able to speak much from how hoarse his voice was. He looked up when Jeongguk placed a jacket around his shoulders. If he wasn't so filled and yet empty of emotion, he would have smiled in thanks.
The two walked the short length to Jeongguk's place with their hands still intertwined. Jeongguk had tried to move so they could walk easier, but Taehyung simply gripped Jeongguk's hand harder. He needed something to ground himself to.
"You don't have to go into detail, but does this have to do with your girlfriend?" Jeongguk asked.
A nod.
Silence.
"She- she cheated on me. With Jongin." Taehyung said weakly, tears threatening to spill over.
Another silence.
"It's not easy. To deal with a breakup, especially if she cheated on you. You don't have to make any decisions right now, Tae. There's time. You're allowed time." Taehyung could hear Jeongguk's voice crack, and looked up to see his eyes teary. "They say nothing heals the past like time."
The two had made their way to the front of Jeongguk's apartment building. Taehyung took an unsteady breath. "It's- it's not even because he was a friend of mine. Well, I guess it is in a way. I've just- I feel so betrayed."
Jeongguk squeezed Taehyung's hand before releasing it and wrapping him in a tight hug.
"It'll be alright."