LOVE YOU TO DEATH | TAEKOOK

25. I Hear Noises

*content warning for language, substance misuse, general adult themes*

NBC LA: JJK has announced that he's not going to respond to requests for so-called 'tae-bombs' anymore and that he's said the last he'll ever say about Kim Taehyung. The public is eager to know what his next move will be and what the ever-elusive JJK is planning to do next.

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Taehyung couldn't do much of anything. Yoongi didn't want him on set unless he was acting "normally."

Whatever that meant, he didn't know. All he knew was that he couldn't possibly act normally when Jungkook had emailed him and then disappeared again.

All he wanted to do was call, email, text, or send a skywriter out over the entire world to say: Where are you? Are you here? Why aren't you here?

He tried everything to move past it.

He cut his too-long hair and dyed it. He even got the STD test at both Jungkook and Yoongi's suggestion, but all of it still left him empty.

Even Jin told him to clean it up, get some therapy, and find new people to hang out with.

His exact words were, "Get some new things in your life. Learn to catch your own fish, stop relying on others to fish for you." Taehyung had scoffed and hung up the phone.

The only constant in his life was Lili, who kept him afloat. Though he had gained fifteen pounds from going out to eat with her too often and frequently declining her invitations to go to yoga or spin class.

But even she said that he needed to start participating more, citing that she wanted to actually talk to someone, not just at someone.

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It went on for weeks. He woke up, checked his email, walked Yeontan, and then did some combination of writing, reading, eating, and drinking until it was time to wake up and do it all again.

Part of him didn't mind. It was comforting to have a routine, something he could rely on.

All of that got thrown into the middle of the ocean when he was walking Yeontan one morning.

Jungkook's gate was open. It wasn't entirely unusual; sometimes Kelly was there to air out the house or have it cleaned. But even so, it made his breath catch in his throat and his heart race.

Taehyung kept walking, peeking out of the corner of his eye as he tried to keep moving in a straight line. He just wanted to see if it was Kelly, to find out if maybe she had spoken to him.

His whole world collapsed when he saw a tall, broad, tattooed figure standing in the driveway, scuffing his feet and talking on the phone. He had a handful of envelopes, presumably from checking the mail as though he lived there.

In that instant, every speck of dust that had settled within him was a storm all over again.

All forward motion stopped. He just stood gawking until the leash tugged in his hand, prompting him to attempt to react, to move on.

Taehyung willed his feet to start moving. Tearing his eyes away was a Herculean task, though it was made easier when Yeontan started yapping at a butterfly that was bobbing in the street.

He was weak at the knees when Jungkook turned, hearing Yeontan.

When he recognized Taehyung, his brow knitted together into a tepid frown. He held up the hand with all of the mail in a wave, silent and still.