'Til We Meet Again | Taekook AU

Chapter 34

[Unedited]

**

Taking cover in the dark, Jimin had been waiting for Jungkook's message.

And once he heard the familiar ping of his phone, he knew it was safe to take the back stairs to the floor where Taehyung's apartment was located.

"Be careful with him." Jimin had messaged him back. He did have faith that Taehyung wouldn't knowingly harm Jungkook, but the same couldn't be said of his powers. They had no clue how good of a control Taehyung had on his powers.

He made his way, eyes peeled for any person lurking in the shadows, even though he knew the other people posed no danger to him. In fact, he was sure, none of his neighbors knew they were sharing the floor with an inhuman, with a being that could stop their time whenever he wished. He climbed the last set of steps before coming to a stop in the gloomy hallway.

The silence grated on Jimin's nerves.

He wasn't one to get scared so easily, but this was Taehyung - a magician they were dealing with. He couldn't get out the image of possible traps from his head.

Whatever knowledge Jimin had about magicians or people with powers had come from watching countless supernatural movies. And in those films, there was always some kind of trick or trap created by said magician. Even if Jimin hoped Taehyung hadn't set up something similar, he couldn't be sure.

He had no way of guessing what went on in Taehyung's mind.

Though they had dinner together, and one could say they hung out with each other for some time, spent quality time like actual friends would, Taehyung was still a blank canvas in Jimin's head.

He didn't know Taehyung's actual nature, personality nor what made him tick.

Taking a deep breath Jimin walked to the door, checking again the apartment number written on a piece of paper that Jungkook had handed to him before they set out to spy on Taehyung.

He stood in front of the entrance, a hand reaching out to grab the doorknob, but stopped midway.

Jimin held his breath for a couple seconds, tiptoeing on the dark brown doormat, praying he wouldn't set up any alarm just by being this close to the apartment.

The seconds turned to minutes and nothing jumped out at Jimin. He waited for another minute before he grabbed the knob and turned it. Jimin had simply wanted to check that it was locked, before he got down to picking the lock. But much to his surprised, the door swung inwards, letting Jimin get his first picture of Taehyung's lifestyle.

White walls, white kitchen, white everything – Jimin cringed at the sight.

It vaguely reminded him of funerals and people wearing white clothes. The gloom and grief was tangible and for a moment, Jimin wondered what would happen if he breathed the same air as inside of the apartment. Would it affect him? Would he become as sad as Taehyung?

It was a stupid thought, but the décor wasn't helping either.

He loved minimalistic furniture and had enjoyed the occasional remodeling of his own living room to fit the taste. But this wasn't it.

As he let his eyes roam around, he couldn't help but think that Taehyung had made it such that there was no touch of familiarity, no touch of home in this apartment. It was as if Taehyung wanted it to be devoid of colors, emotions and anything that might make him feel something. The apartment was bare and inhabited.

Was this his way of keeping aloof? Jimin wondered.

It hadn't worked well, since Taehyung always had some emotion surrounding him, most of times it being grief and sadness that had rubbed off Jungkook. He hadn't paid much attention to Taehyung's pain, because he hadn't wanted to be too involved with him. But Jungkook being the kind soul had reached out to him, and Taehyung's grief had touched Jungkook in the worst way possible.