With the smell lingering in his mind, Taehyung makes his way downstairs, trying his best to stay quiet as he goes to the supply closet to grab the broom and mop.
Starting with the kitchen, he gets to work sweeping and mopping the floor, the dim light overhead casting a gloomy glow to the room.
He wonders if the lightbulbs need to be replaced, or maybe even something with the wiring is going bad to create such a dull glow from the ceiling when it should be more fluorescent and inviting.
Or maybe the house is dying - taking desperate breaths within its crumbling, rotting lungs as pieces of itself wither away under the care - or lack thereof - from its owner.
Taehyung feels bad for the house, as if it really is alive. He can tell that this house was once beautiful, just imagining if the rotting floorboards were instead shining with polish and if the fireplace was roaring with orange embers instead of engulfed in the shadows that have taken hold of this place and drained the beauty away.
The house is a skeleton, its organs rotting away beneath the apathy wrapping its fingers around its neck.
It's Taehyung's job to pry the suffocating fingertips away, breathing life back into this place before it's too late to save it - and August.
August didn't say it, but Taehyung can sense that he needs more than just a housekeeper. He needs a friend - a companion to spend the hours he once spent watching his sister paint or cooking for his family in the kitchen.
Taehyung doesn't mind the notion; he knows this time will go by more smoothly and may even be enjoyable if he makes a friend along the way.
The promise that Taehyung can not only make his family's lives better, but also August's, sends him on a cleaning spree that has him moving beyond the kitchen and dining room. Before he even realizes, he's cleaned the entryway and living room as well, the house looking more like a home than a crumbling corpse.
The wind blows outside, and the house groans from the weight the wind carries.
Taehyung can imagine it's whispering a thank you.
YOU ARE READING
Lovely | BTS ✓
FanfictionThe painting is the most beautiful thing Taehyung has ever seen, but it holds just as many secrets as the house that not even the sun will touch.
