With You (TaeJin Short Stories)

Whiskey on the Ledge

If you ever told 16-year-old Taehyung that he'd be where he is at 27, he wouldn't have believed you.

Yet, here he is, living for free in the spare room of his childhood crush, filling out job applications at 11 in the night. He was doing fine until a year ago. He had an excellent job at the gallery, a brand new flat in the heart of the city living with Chul, the guy he thought he was in love with for the last 4 years.

Things took a U-turn a few months ago when Taehyung suspected Chul to have an affair. Honestly, he was always suspicious of it. Before they got together, Chul strongly loved the idea of open relationships. But Taehyung stood his ground that he does not want that. He wants to be exclusive. Just the two of them.

Chul could have turned him down easily. Taehyung had no money, no fame to his name. His father was only recovering from the market crash.

Chul, on the other hand, was practically raking in money. He always had people fawning over him. So it came as a surprise to Taehyung when Chul agreed to leave behind his "bad boy" image and took Taehyung as his own.

Chul helped his father too. He loaned him money to restart his business. The business flourished over the last four years. Chul and his father have grown closer, his father taking Chul's side in all fights instead of Taehyung's.

That explains why when Taehyung told his father that he was separating from Chul, the reaction was not positive. He'd been threatened, bullied, and manipulated for months by both Chul and his own father.

Only 6 months ago, he ran into Seokjin, in the middle of the night at one of Chul's pub.

Taehyung assumed things would have changed. He knows through the grape vine that Seokjin was married and even had a child. He was not in touch with him after their high school.

He assumed that Seokjin wouldn't remember him at all and even if he did, he would not be interested in talking to him.

But Taehyung was in for a surprise. Seokjin recognized him instantly and drowned him in a hug. They spent that night and many after immersed in long, nostalgic talks.

Through these talks, Taehyung learnt that Seokjin and his wife divorced almost immediately after they had their child. It was unfortunate, Seokjin told him, but it was necessary because being together made both of them unhappy.

Through those same talks, Seokjin slowly made Taehyung realize that he was being treated unfairly in his relationship. He encouraged Taehyung to speak up and stand up for himself. He was the reason Taehyung managed to see through Chul's lies and manipulations.

All that was good. Except Chul grew aggressive and obsessive over time. He could not give up on his vices, but he wanted Taehyung to stay to keep up his "good" name in their circle and in the public.

One such drunken night, Chul got too hostile, and Taehyung had to run away from him with nothing on him except for his wallet and car keys. He came knocking on Seokjin's door at 1 AM and stayed here ever since.

Taehyung sighs as he submits another application form. Chul used his influence to get Taehyung fired from his job leaving him jobless and entirely dependent on Seokjin.

Taehyung checks the phone again and feels uneasy to not have heard from Seokjin.

As soon as he puts it away, he gets a call from Yoongi.

"Is she asleep?" Taehyung asks, whispering as if his voice would disturb her sleep.

He can hear Yoongi's long drawn yawn. "Yeah, Tae. Aureum's an energy bomb," he says in a low tone. "Jimin's passed out next to her."