THE CONCUBINE || TAEKOOK ||

TWENTY SEVEN

The following morning, Taehyung stirred in his sleep because of the sunlight falling directly on his face. He groggily sat up from the cold ground. Eyes swollen by all the crying from last night's incident.

Bangs fell on his forehead as he shook his head slightly remembering all the words the queen said to him. He made his way to the mirror that hung on the wall, he looked at his reflection seeing the red marks forming on his face. He hissed as he touched the irritated mark.

He heaved a long sigh and went to the bathroom to freshen up. After taking a shower Taehyung dressed up in warm clothes. He eyed the scarf which was neatly placed on the table before wrapping it around his neck to his nose to hide the marks on his cheek.

Closing the door behind him, he made his way towards the kitchen head kept low trying not to make any eye contact with anyone. As he entered the kitchen, he eyed every maid while fixing the scarf around his cheek. He walked off to the room located back side of the kitchen where all vegetables and fruits are kept.

He picked up a basket full of strawberries and looked outside from the window to see Jin and Namjoon holding hands and smiling at each other. They both looked so happy with each other, it looked like Namjoon was here to drop Jin.

Taehyung stood there staring at the cute couple with a sad smile, thinking about how he ended up here. He was so happy with his grandma and Bogum. But now he is caged here where he didn't belong. He always wanted to be a free bird not in a cage. As he was lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Jin entering the room with a laugh and saw Taehyung spacing out while holding a basket full of strawberries.

He looked towards where Taehyung staring but found nothing special. Confused at the Younger one he tapped Taehyung's shoulder to gain his attention.

Taehyung flinched but relaxed seeing Jin in front of him. "What happened Tae? Jin asked with a worried gaze. Taehyung's mind was screaming at him to tell everything to Jin but he decided to do the opposite, so he shook his head, "I'm feeling good, Hyung. Just couldn't sleep last night."

While making breakfast, Jin noticed Taehyung fixing his scarf repeatedly even though it was not too cold today and Taehyung wearing it to his nose. It seems strange to Jin so he decided to talk with Taehyung later.

"Tae wait!" Jin called after Taehyung who was about to leave the kitchen silently after finishing his work. "Huh, hyung you called me?"

"Ah yes, I wanted to talk to you. We haven't talked to each other for a while and I miss you." Jin stated and pulled Taehyung towards an empty room. "H-Hyung-" Taehyung tried to make an excuse but Jin only gave him a look in return. After closing the door he turned around to face Taehyung who ducked his head trying to hide his cheeks.

"Now tell me what happened and don't you dare start with nothing because I know something happened!" Jin demanded an explanation from the younger who hesitated to speak.

Nonetheless, he pulled the scarf from his neck letting it fall to the floor. Jin gasped seeing the red marks on Taehyung's cheek.

"Who did this?" He asked while stepping forward.

" The Q-Queen." He mumbled silently, too afraid to look at Jin feeling unshed tears in his eyes. Jin seeing the state of the younger pulled him into a hug.