"Life is too ironic to fully understand.
It takes sadness to know what happiness is.
Noise to appreciate silence.
And absence to value presence."
In which a Kleptomaniac, Sadist, and Nerdy College Student find each other in the dead of night.
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"Step inside, wouldn't you like to give my demons atry?"
Taehyung was full on sprinting now. He knew his footsteps could be heard throughout the dark alleyways, alerting anyone that he was around. However, he couldn't care less at the moment. His only thought was to get away from the psychotic couple he met in the alley.
Finally rounding the corner to his house, Taehyung made a beeline for the door. His breath came out in fast puffs as he raced against the darkness of the night to reach the safety of his house.
'It' was there too. However, this time 'It' was in the form of a raging black shadow that chased him from behind. Taehyung could feel the suffocating black abyss on his back, like 'It' was breathing down his neck with non-existent cold steam that sent shivers down Taehyung's spine.
Taehyung was heaving, on the verge of a panic attack as he flung himself up his porch steps with horrendously loud thuds. He finally grasped the cold metal of his doorknob between his fingertips and the immediate sense of relief washed over him as Taehyung pushed the door open and fell to his knees inside the doorway. 'It' was stranded at the porch steps, invisible black claws once again tearing at the world around them as they desperately tried to cling onto the boy. Swirls of black and red meshed together when the claws tore at the air creating a twisted version of fire.
Taehyung gasped on the ground, taking the greedy breaths of air that he seemed to have forgotten about while running. He placed his palms flat on the surface of the hardwood floor and tried to steady his body.
"Taehyung?!" the loud call of his brother echoed through the house. Taehyung lifted his heavy head up to see his brother rushing down the hallway towards him. Sobbing in relief, Taehyung pushed his body off the floor with the strength he had left and threw his body onto his brother.
His brother caught him in his embrace and cuddled him close. "Where have you been?! Do you know how late it is? I thought you were in danger!" his brother lectured him. After a moment of silence, his brother sighed and rested his head onto Taehyung's shoulder while caressing his hair.
"I was so worried about you..." his brother confessed into the silence. Both brothers clung onto each other like their life depended on it.
"I can't lose you Taehyung, I can't," his brother now cried into his shoulder. Taehyung brought his arms around his brother's neck and desperately pulled him closer.
"I didn't mean it Namjoon, I didn't," Taehyung stated quietly. His brother, Namjoon, lifted his head to meet his younger brother's eyes. "I was studying and didn't keep track of the time! There were noises and people and scary things," he sobbed out.
Namjoon pulled his brother onto the floor with him as they continued to cry. Although they never mentioned it, the brother's were each other's anchors. They were on a drowning ship and without one another, without the anchors, the ship would sink.
After a few minutes of crying softly in one another's bodies, Taehyung let himself fall like dead weight on his brother. Namjoon pushed Taehyung's head into his lap and closed the front door with his foot. He didn't care to lock the door, his only focus was on his brother.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Namjoon asked quietly as he ran his fingers through Taehyung's hair. He didn't want to make his brother feel obligated to tell him anything, at least not until he was composed.
"No," Taehyung whispered back. He felt like telling Namjoon would worry him more. Taehyung could solve this problem himself. After all, those were just people he met in the alleys right? They would never encounter one another again.
Or at least that's what Taehyung hoped.
"That's alright," his brother whispered back solemnly. "I understand."
"Let's go to bed, yeah?" Namjoon then said after a few moments of silence. Taehyung nodded his head in his brother's lap and slowly heaved his body up. Namjoon did the same and they both headed for Taehyung's bedroom.
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" Taehyung suddenly asked. Being separated from his brother terrified him at the moment.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Namjoon whispered with guilt lacing his words. Both brothers turned to each other then let out soft laughter. The ambiance in the room brightened slightly along with the laughing.
"I'll go change," Taehyung said. Namjoon nodded again and patted his brother on the back as he walked towards the kitchen. While Taehyung was going to change he went to go make hot chocolate for the both of them. He grabbed three chocolate bars out of the cupboard as well as their two customized mugs that had their names on it. Namjoon then went to turn the stove on while he set the ingredients and mugs on the side. He grabbed a pot and placed it on the stove. He added the chocolate bars in small pieces into the pot along with a generous amount of milk. He stirred the mixture until the hot chocolate melted and combined with the milk.
Namjoon poured the hot chocolate into the waiting mugs on the counter. Just then Taehyung walked into the kitchen with a random shirt and sweatpants on. He grabbed his mug while saying a small thanks to his brother. He then padded back over to the bedrooms being mindful of the mug in his hand.
Namjoon followed soon after. They both sat down on the bed after setting the mugs on the side table. The brothers sat in silence near one another as they sipped on hot chocolate. Taehyung's thoughts were running wild in his head. Who were those people and why were they out so late? Did they follow Taehyung after he ran or simply leave him be?
All of these thoughts and more ran through his head as Taehyung leaned on his brother's shoulder. After finishing his hot chocolate, Taehyung laid down on the bed and turned to his side to face his brother who was also getting comfortable.
"Goodnight," Taehyung whispered into the dark room.
Namjoon grunted in return, muttering a small 'night' after. Both brothers fell into a dreamless sleep in each other's arms with the safety of each other.
