My Destiny | Taekook

Chapter 21.5: my Only Cure

Sunday night
Song: Jamais Vu

Resting his hand on the rough paintwork that coated the door, Jungkook pushed the door open. Rough wooden splinters cut into his palm and shards of black paint crumbled to the floor. The hinges squealed as though they were a warning for what was stowed away in the building, but their plea was silenced by an explosion of noise.

Inside the bar, hundreds of conversations were told in loud voices, all of them competing with the rock music that dominated the atmosphere. Laughter overpowered the jukebox. From what Jungkook could make of it, the crowd was young, university students for the most part. The conversations swirled in a dirty cloud of smoke, the stagnant stench of cigarettes hiding within the collaboration of mephitic odours. A sharp smell of drink wafted towards Jungkook, along with a hint of sick tainting the fragrance of the room.

Jungkook could have gone to a quieter bar, or even his own private bar. Instead, he opted for the noisiest bar in town. He was drawn towards the idea of suffocating in the crowd to rid the silence in his mind. He was sober, but not for long, as he trudged towards the counter. "Black russian," Jungkook placed his order.

The bartender took one look at Jungkook's face and asked for his ID. His eyes may be dulled from work, but his complexion hinted at his youth. Jungkook carelessly waved a hand, as though he was dismissing the bartender's order. "I'll pay double," Jungkook leaned close to murmur. The bartender hesitated before shaking his head. He called the bouncer over to get Jungkook out of the bar. A burly man dressed in black walked over, his sunglasses seemingly opaque. He crossed his arms and faced Jungkook, demanding that he leave.

Jungkook was non-compliant as he drawled, "Bouncers do not have the legal right to physically remove a person from the premises. They also do not have the right to engage in force, except when threatened with physical harm. In other words, there's not much you can do, can you?" The bouncer remained quiet, unable to respond. He wondered if the garrulous kid in front of him had a personal lawyer that spent time explaining unknown legalities to him - but of course, that was ridiculous, was it not?

Jungkook pointed at the bartender. He offered, "I'll pay triple." The bouncer was about to demand that he leave again when the bartender stopped him. "Wait. I'll take the payment. You can let this kid stay," the bartender decided, no longer dithering.

After lingering around a while longer, the bouncer left. The bouncer started brewing a black russian cocktail.

~

By half an hour later, Jungkook had spent wads of cash on cocktails and beer. As much as he had hoped it would, the obstreperous music and rowdy dancing did little to drown out his regrets. Jungkook wanted to apologise to Taehyung, but was entirely unsure of how he should do it. I'm sorry, Taehyung. I'm sorry... His thoughts slurred while his vision blurred, the world spinning in a turbulence around him.

Inebriated, Jungkook felt someone melt into his touch, the body of someone else meddling with his personal space as their arms wrapped around his body. "Are you alone?" the unfamiliar voice whispered, a slight caress to his earlobe. Go away. In his usual state, Jungkook would not have bothered to respond, and now that he was overdosing on drinks, he had much less reason to respond to this sultry invitation. The female stranger pressed herself further into Jungkook's back. Get off me. Of course, the woman could not hear his inner thoughts. She wrapped herself tighter around Jungkook as she murmured, "Won't you follow me?"

Jungkook felt disgusted.

Like black plumes bellowing from the windows of a burning house, smoke clouded Jungkook's close proximity, most of it directed towards the eyes of the woman. She went into a violent coughing fit, instantaneously releasing her grip on Jungkook.

"Yeah, get away from me." Jungkook rumbled, waving a hand to shoo the woman off.

"You! I've never had anyone reject me before. This... this is absolutely ridiculous." the woman prattled before storming off in fury, her red high heels going clickety-clackety against the wooden planks.

The bartender sighed. "Don't use your elemental powers in a public area," he warned Jungkook. In response, Jungkook threw a wad of cash towards the bartender, offering it for the purpose of repairments.

It appeared that Jungkook had somehow broken a large hole in the ceiling.

All of a sudden, Jungkook felt a pang of fear that struck him to the very core. His face turned ashen and contorted into horror as shivers ran down his spine. Despite being nearly immobilised with fear, Jungkook went ahead with a few more rounds of drinks, ignoring the fright roiling uncomfortably in his stomach.

~

An hour later, Jungkook decided to head back home. His steps were unsteady as he swayed from side to side, completely intoxicated from the many rounds of drinks. It was a surprise that he managed to walk at all in this drunken stupor. Jungkook was about to dial Lisa when someone grabbed his shoulder, temporarily disrupting his haziness enough for him to notice that Hoseok was speaking.

"Shit. I can't believe it. It's actually you."

Another voice spoke up, which Jungkook vaguely guessed to be Namjoon's, "Jungkook, do you know where Taehyung is? We can't reach him." Jungkook pushed Namjoon aside and staggered forward, lurching onward.

Jimin grabbed Jungkook by the collar, yelling at him to sober up and stop fooling around. Unable to shake off the fear he felt, Jungkook merely trembled in his grasp. He later exhorted Jimin against touching him again, voice raspy from having drunk many glasses of alcohol.

That is it. Jimin shrieked, "TAEHYUNG IS MISSING!"

Even under the influence, that one sentence cut a clear path right through Jungkook's mind. He widened his eyes. That fear that he was feeling. It was not for himself. It was for Taehyung.