VxBTS-Voices

Part 25

Bogum periodically glanced at Taehyung while he was driving, a concerned frown tugging at his lips. His arm tapped against the wheel nervously.

"Taehyung." He spoke softly, not wanting to scare the other. "Taehyung?"

"Hm?" Taehyung hummed, distracted. He clearly wasn't paying attention. He was looking out of the window, eyes drooped in fatigue and pure misery.

"I love you Tae, and I'm here for you. Please just know that."

The younger mustered up a weak smile, an unconvincing one. But Bogum accepted it either way, leaving the younger with his silence after a quick smile. He hadn't expected a nod, let alone a smile, however fake.

Taehyung didn't want to talk. He didn't want to sleep. He didn't want to move, he didn't want to do anything.

The state he was in only came out every once in a while, sometimes after a bad memory or experience, or sometimes when he was too overwhelmed to think.

The only thing he wanted to do was lie down and try to forget.

He exited the car without a word, slightly frowning when rain droplets hit his skin, a lack of umbrella or long sleeves leaving him unprotected. He didn't know it had started raining. When had it started raining?

Not that he minded, the rain was pretty. If there was no thunder or lightning, the rain was beautiful.

"C'mon Tae, we don't want you to get sick." Bogum refrained from pulling the younger into a hug like he wanted to. He avoided all contact in general, not wanting to send Taehyung into a panic attack.

He held the door open, uncaring when Taehyung's shoes left a muddy trail as he trugged up the stairs and into his room, not taking his shoes off.

Bogum sighed, taking off his own before heading to the closet next to the kitchen to grab cleaning supplies.

Without complaint, he cleaned it up and started on dinner, ignoring the calls flooding his phone. They weren't nearly as important as Taehyung was, and they never would be.

"Tae?" He knocked gently on the younger's door, holding a small-very small, he knew Taehyung wouldn't eat much, if any-bowl of soup. A recipe he had gotten from Jin a few years ago, and he hoped it would make Taehyung feel better.

"It's open."

Dull, lifeless. Empty.

Taehyung was sat on his bed, fingers anxiously twisting his sheets. He looked as if he was staring at the TV, and Bogum almost smiled, before he himself turned to look, and the TV was off.

"Can you please eat this?" Bogum wouldn't force anything on the younger, he had learned last time that it would do more harm than good. Taehyung would eventually-most likely at the early hours of the morning-slip down the stairs and grab himself the first item of food he could find.

Taehyung turned his head slowly, blinking at the sight of the steaming bowl.

He nodded, grabbing it before setting it on his lap, not even wincing when the burning hot ceramic touched his bare leg, him having changed into shorts as soon as he got home.

"Thank you."

Bogum knelt in front of him, keeping a great distance between the two of them. "Taehyung. I'm here. When you're ready, my door is always open."

He left after Taehyung only stared blankly, as if he didn't understand what was being said. Bogum knew better.

"Jimin." Once safely out of hearing distance of Taehyung, he pulled out his phone and searched for the number he dreaded calling.

"Um. Yeah?"

"It's Bogum. I have a proposition for you."

~

Jimin gratiously accepted the tea he was offered, though his confused frown never left.

"You're aware of my....dislike..for you." Bogum started. "I'm sure."

"Yes, we've talked about it more than once."

Bogum nodded, setting down his own tea cup. "As reluctant as I am, I'm requesting your help. Last time, when this happened, you guys had also brutally smashed his heart and left me and few others to pick it up."

Jimin took the blow with a heavy heart, looking down in shame. He still had yet to know what happened, he only had a faint idea from Jungkook.

"But now...you're here. And maybe you can help. He's clearly the most comfortable with you, is there anyone else I could call?"

"Hoseok. And um, and Namjoon."

"Maybe I will later. For now, I want to ask you a few questions."

It was starting to feel more like an interrogation than anything, and Jimin gulped nervously.

Bogum sighed, running through some questions in his mind before settling on a few. "Was it you or him that first initiated contact? Holding hands, kissing, anything like that."

Jimin bit his lip in thought, eyebrows furrowed. "I don't really remember. I think it was Tae."

"Okay. Did he ever flinch if you tried anything?"

"Not that I saw, I'd like to think I would notice."

Bogum muttered a few things under his breath. "That's good. Have you guys...."

"If it's what I'm thinking, then no. Baby steps, I haven't done nearly enough to earn his forgiveness."

"Jimin, are you the only one who doesn't know what happened?"

"No, I think that only Yoongi and Hoseok know."

Bogum leaned back, running a hand over his face. "I think you help him. You make him happy enough to forget certain things, especially if you're as decent as you say. I want to try something."

Jimin blushed, the thought of him making Taehyung happy....that was the only thing that mattered.

"He might ask you to leave," Bogum began. "But I want you to at least try to talk to him. Not about what happened, just everyday conversation. Tell him about your day, tell him..anything really."

"Shouldn't he go to a therapist?"

"He doesn't like them, he's..had a few."

Jimin wanted to know, but the last thing he would do is pressure Bogum into telling him something that should come from Taehyung himself.

"I want to help him, I do."

"Good. Then go upstairs, his room has his name on it."

-

1022 words

Stay safe and healthy <3

Anyways, bye bye <33!!