Boss With Love (Kim Taehyung)
FOURTEEN

Like an empty house. That was the first impression Jeon Jungkook felt as soon as he entered the house. The atmosphere is so quiet. Not even a single light had been turned on yet, but it was now eight in the evening.

"Is there no one at home?" thought. But it wasn't Yoo Ra he meant. He knew where his sister was now. Every time you go out on a date, Yoo Ra will be home at nine at the earliest. Nor Jimin, because the man just came home after driving him to the front of the fence. What Jungkook meant was Kim Taehyung. Where did his Daepyeonim go?

After putting two boxes of dinner — that Jimin bought on the way home last— to the dining table, Jungkook then stepped out of the kitchen. He wondered where Taehyung was now. The man was invisible in the living room, the living room, even in the kitchen.

"Is he sleeping? It could be, right? Maybe he overslept and didn't turn on the house lights." The question remained in Jungkook's head until he opened the door to his room and did not find Taehyung there.

"Are you probably in the shower?" Although the possibility is small, Jungkook still takes his steps towards the bathroom. "Hyeong, are you inside?" He knocked and called Taehyung repeatedly but there was no answer from inside. And it made him panic, thinking maybe Taehyung fell or slipped inside. It was the thought that made him turn the door knob and push it in haste. As soon as he saw the bathroom empty, Jungkook suddenly relieved. Bad thoughts do not happen.

Unfortunately, another suspicion came as soon as Taehyung was not seen anywhere. "Maybe his grandfather's men found him hiding here and dragged him home? His grandfather must not have approved of his granddaughter's forbidden relationship."

Jungkook's thoughts become more real as he searches Yoo Ra's room and the guest room, but doesn't find Taehyung there.

"Yes my. It's bad!" Jungkook muttered, pulling the phone out of his pants pocket. He should call Jimin. The man had bought dinner for her and Taehyung, so he must not have known that his girlfriend was missing.

"Come, Hyeong. Lift your... " Jungkook circulated an anxious look while waiting for Jimin to pick up his phone. It was then that accidentally that his pair of manics saw the back door slightly open. He hastily turned off the phone and got closer to it.

"Hyeong, are you there?" whispered Jungkook while pushing the door wider. Although the taillight has not been turned on, but the moonlight is enough light for Jungkook to find the figure of Kim Taehyung. The man was sitting alone between an ornamental wooden chair and table, under a medium-sized zelkova tree, Yoo Ra's favorite tree.

"Hyoung." Call Jungkook slowly, as soon as you are next to Taehyung.

The man was surprised to realize Jungkook's presence, but then he hurriedly smiled. "Oh, you've come home apparently."

"Yes. Just new. What's Hyeong doing here?"

"I... " Taehyung seemed to think. Although he himself was not sure of the reason, but he still answered. "So, I was just looking for a fresh breeze. Then I found this little garden."

"Fresh wind? But it's night now. Comein, Hyeong. You must not have had dinner."

"You go first. I still want to be here. Can I borrow your garden for a second?"

Jungkook did not answer. He was still standing in his place, watching Taehyung who tonight looked different. Although the surrounding conditions were not too bright, but he could see Taehyung's smile seemed forced. The man seemed to be hiding his sadness. There must be something that takes his mind. Butwhat?

"Hyeong needs friends? If so, I don't mind accompanying you here."

"You? Not tired, though? you just got home from work."

"No really. Actually, I've had a lot of headaches lately. Maybe I need some fresh air, too."

"Did an internship at my company make you that depressed?"

"I didn't say that. But... Sorry before, Hyeong. If you can be honest, internships at HOJIN HILL do require extra energy. It's harder than working as a clown advertising brochure spreader."

Jungkook was honest. But his way of conveying that seemed funny actually made Taehyung laugh, instead of being offended. It didn't seem like a bad idea to let Jungkook join him. He did need someone to restore his shattered mood. He then shifted his body, making room for Jungkook to sit next to him. "You ever been an advertising clown?"

"Early, first. In the first year of university. Moments where I needed a lot of money, and realized that education wasn't as cheap as I imagined."

"Aren't you a scholarship student other than Yeo Jin Goo?" Taehyung sure read about it on the intern profile a few days ago.

"Yes that's right. But scholarship students like me still need other funds to do tasks whose processing costs are not covered by the campus. And it's not a little. I also don't want to keep putting my weight on Yoo Ra Noona's shoulders. He's been having a lot of trouble all this time."

Jungkook's face turned sad when he talked about Yoo Ra. Taehyung did too. His heart was pinched, causing a pain that he could not describe with words as soon as Yoo Ra's name was called. Jeon Yoo Ra, the girl made him realize one thing. That heartbreak is still the same. Still so torturous.

"But you know where the funny thing is, Hyeong?" jungkook's voice sounded excited again. The young man then made a gesture of fouling his own ears. "I was caught by Noona. He dragged me home and pulled my ear like this. There were a lot of people watching and laughing at us. It was the most shameful thing in my entire life up to this moment. I was already a student back then, but Noona treated me like a seven-year-old. Not to mention when he got home, he kicked my ass hard while nagging all night. I was only able to sleep after stuffing my ears with cotton. I also have to sleep on my stomach because my tailbone feels like it's going to break."

"Your brother doesn't let you work part time?" tanya Taehyung in between her small laugh. Okay, Taehyung just found out that listening to the outpouring of hearts of others can change his mood for the better. Or is it just Jungkook who can change the discussion about Yoo Ra to be this light?

"Yes. Noona doesn't like to see me work part time. He wants me to concentrate on my studies." Jungkook will continue his story when suddenly the phone in his pants pocket shakes. "From Jimin Hyeong" he said, showing Taehyung the phone screen.

Jungkook immediately rubbed the green symbol on his phone after he saw Taehyung nodding as a welcome code.

"Yes, Hyeong? ..... Oh, it's okay, I was just freaking out. I thought Taehyung Hyeong went missing earlier, sorry." Jungkook glanced at Taehyung while grimacing, scratching his nape. " ..... Nope, no. I've found her. She's right next to me, you want to talk to her?"

Taehyung was getting ready to take a call from Jimin. I can't wait to teach that man a lesson for leaving him in the living room this afternoon without giving any explanation. But he had to be disappointed when Jungkook said — "..... Oh, so..... All right, I'll tell you later." — then disconnect the phone.

"Jimin Hyeong is a bit of a hassle right now. Said he'd call you later." Jungkook said as he put his phone back in his pants pocket.

In Taehyung's heart. He knew very well that Jimin was just looking for an excuse to run away. "Leave it. He's just avoiding me."

Jungkook did not know for sure what the word 'avoid' meant just now. But he can draw the conclusion that Taehyung and Jimin are having a problem. The couple may be fighting.

"*So this is why Jimin Hyeong didn't stop by first and went straight home?!"

"This is the reason Taehyung Hyeong suddenly needed a breath of fresh air."

"Had to be alone here. It turns out they were both fighting*."

"You want me to show you something amazing, Hyeong?" jungkook asked finally, having just been busy with his own thoughts. His humanity side made him feel the need to comfort Taehyung who now looks sad. At least, he wanted to try to take the man's mind off Park Jimin for a while.

"Wait a minute." Jungkook left Taehyung who was still astonished.

Shortly after Jungkook left, Taehyung was immediately startled by four large lights in every corner of the park that suddenly lit up. Furthermore, small decorative lights on the high wall that surrounds the park also lit up. The little lights traveled all the way to the branches of the zelkova tree above her head. Flickering alternately sprinkled a bright white color, as if it were replacing the task of a star that did not appear One tonight. For a moment Taehyung felt like a teenager who had just gotten a birthday surprise or something. So laughable. But somehow Taehyung likes it. He was still looking up, watching the green leaves on it that now look bright.

"Good, right?" Jungkook is back. Sitting next to Taehyung while taking a look at the state of the garden which is now becoming so different one hundred and eighty degrees from before.

"good. But you obviously didn't make it." Taehyung answered which greeted the little naughtiness of the young man beside him.

"My mother and sister. Two of the greatest women in the world made it."

Taehyung likes it. Though she was by no means the melancholic type who liked such things, it turned out that her subconscious seemed to have guessed that there was a touch of Yoo Ra's hand in it. Taehyung snorted miserably. Feeling more and more his sanity is thinning.

There was silence surrounding the two in a few moments, Jungkook enjoying the atmosphere with a big smile on his lips and Taehyung who was busy staring at the young Jeon with various feelings raging in the chest.

"Your mother... Where is it?" Taehyung feels like drowning himself in a mud pit right now. Of the many questions that were in his brain, why should that question be what he finally said? He felt like a bad person who had just made a new scratch on top of someone's old wound. He knows exactly where Jungkook and Yoo Ra's mother is now, it's one of the pieces of information Jimin gave before he made Yoo Ra's home a hideout. He knew the truth but his mouth impudently brought it up.

"My mom is dead." Beyond a doubt, Jungkook answered him lightly. It was as if there was no burden whatsoever that he was bearing on the passing of his mother. Or, just Jungkook who is good at covering up his feelings?

"Sorry."

"It's okay, Hyeong. It's been a long time."

"Are you not sad?" another stupid question, and Taehyung wants to make his mouth right now.

"Sad, of course. To this day, the sadness has not disappeared. The mother's departure was the beginning of a storm that managed to ruin everything. I can't possibly forget what hardships we had to go through after mom left. We're like chicks losing their mothers. Exactly like that." Obviously Jungkook was at length with a small laugh that he pinned at the end of the sentence. Laughter that was more like the house he used to hide his true feelings.

A very clear feeling for Taehyung to translate. He knows what it's like to be Jungkook or Yoo Ra. Although not exactly the same, at least Taehyung was once in their position. Losing a parent is not an easy thing to do. Even for Taehyung. He had to have some pretty rough days after both his parents died. One thing Taehyung was grateful for after the difficult time passed was the grandfather who was finally able to return to receive his presence after a long time. But anyway, he is still more fortunate than the Jeon brothers who until now are still a kara.

That reason also made Taehyung decide to no longer discuss the past in his chat with Jungkook. The young man may still need more time to come to terms with the past.

"What time does your brother usually come home after leaving... Her fiance?" Taehyung just found out that calling the word 'engagement' can be this heavy. It seems he chose the wrong topic.

"Hm, it's usually nine at the fastest. Maybe he took a little longer because the last few weeks they hadn't met."

"Why?"

"My sister-in-law's candidates are too busy with her work."

"Employer?" I don't know why that question just came out. It sounds like Taehyung is comparing Yoo Ra's fiancee to her. Or, he is making himself the best standard, a successful man that should be chosen by any girl, including Jeon Yoo Ra.

"No, Hyeong. He's a doctor."

"Doctor..."

"Surgical specialist."

"Specialist?"

"Yes." Yeah." As if he could read what Taehyung was thinking, Jungkook added, "Not old, Hyeong. He's still young. Just a few years older than you."

Taehyung nodded in understanding. It was indeed that sighting that Taehyung saw this afternoon. Yoo Ra's fiancee's face is indeed invisible, but from her posture and the way she treats Yoo Ra, Taehyung can judge that the man is not too old. After all, there are many smart people who during school follow an acceleration program. Perhaps Yoo Ra's fiancee was one of them, which didn't take long to earn a specialist doctor's degree at a young age.

Taehyung also did not ask where Jungkook knew how old he was. His name and grandfather often appear on the internet, business magazines, or television. Perhaps Jungkook had seen a biography of him in one of those media.

"Sounds like the perfect sister-in-law."

"Perfect?" jungkook's laughter exploded upon hearing Taehyung's opinion just now about his future sister-in-law. For him, Kim Seokjin was too 'ridiculous' to bear the title of 'perfect'. Although deep in his heart he really admired that figure.

"Why? Guess wrong?"

"No, no... It's not that." Jungkook said in between his laughter. "He is handsome, well-established, and has a lot of good qualities that make him deserve to be called a dream man. But to be 'perfect', it felt too overwhelming. He's ridiculous, Hyeong. really." Jungkook started to hold his stomach which hurt from laughing too much. "Sometimes he's like a five-year-old trapped in a man's body. Very childish. Not to mention his hobby that likes to make jokes. Unfortunately, none of the jokes are funny. If those miraculous traits recur, he can be very troublesome."

Taehyung smilingly looked at Jungkook who started rubbing the corner of his watery eyes from mostly laughing. "You seem to know your future sister-in-law very well."

"To be precise, we know everything about him. Like he knows everything about us."

"You must have told each other a lot."

"No Hyeong. We understand each other not through stories. But because we experienced everything together."

"wait. You mean, youguys... "

"Yes. Ten years. That's a long time to understand each other, right?"

To be continued...