Doll Parts (taekook)

Chapter 6

Content warning: sexual content

"Don't lose this, Taehyung!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I know you lose everything. Where's that stupid screwdriver I gave you for your birthday, huh?"

On the lower bunk with one foot planted on the mattress and a leg crossed over it, Taehyung waved a hand dismissively. "It's somewhere there."

To their right, an infant wailed, drowning out the ubiquitous clanging of steel—the only thing the kids had to play with in this concrete block on the outskirts of Seoul.

A rundown orphanage for the forgotten and abandoned, stuffed with lines and lines of bunk beds both horizontal and vertical. A scentless, colourless place; even the children lost their colour. Except for Taehyung, and except for his lifelong best friend. Confined in rust and dull grey, they kept each other burnished and smiling.

"I'm bein' serious! Don't lose this. It's the only way we can find each other. Those circle DNA thingies!"

"Genealogy pods, dummy," Taehyung grumbled.

Smack. A hard slap on Taehyung's exposed belly rang beside the rattling of metal. "Respect your elders!"

Wincing, Taehyung rubbed his stomach and shot up on the bed, missing the rungs above his head by an inch. He had lower bunk privileges this week. "Elder? You goin' 'bout that again?"

"Those months matter. I'm way more mature."

Taehyung stood. "And I'm taller."

A small palm to Taehyung's face. "Whatever."

"The same goes for you too. You can't lose mine," Taehyung countered.

"Who d'you think you're talkin' to? I've never lost, misplaced, or broken anything! Unlike some people. Don't lose it, Tae. I'm gonna kill you!"

"Relax." Taehyung sat back down on the edge of a mattress stiff enough it might as well have been concrete. "We'll find each other. Best friends forever, right? You'll never get rid of me."

"Forever."

"All packed and ready?" asked Taehyung. A crack on the last word. He cleared his throat.

"Yeah," he responded through a sigh, transforming the word into two syllables.

"No goodbyes. And no tears, y'know I can't take that. Cry baby." Taehyung pressed his pointer finger on his shorter friend's forehead.

"Ouch!" He cried, rubbing the ache. "Yeah. No goodbyes. No cryin'. Smile with me."

Taehyung flashed his lifelong best friend a boxy grin, and received a smile wide enough to engulf the eyes. The bloody scent of corroded copper gushed from the oxygen purifiers above. They held their grins as tear lines coloured their way down their cheeks, clearing away soot and dirt.

"See you soon, Tae."

⌱

"See you soon."

"Um. I haven't left yet?"

"Huh? What?" Taehyung squinted at the dim light. "Jungkook?"

"Oh. You're just saying things again." Jungkook chuckled. He stood in the kitchen, an instant meal in one hand. His silver hair dampened by a shower. "Like last night."

Last night. The walk home was a webwork of disconnected scenes and images. A blurry flash here and there, like pixelated jpegs. Their arrival at the apartment was even murkier. They kissed. They kissed a lot. That was it. That was all Taehyung could remember. And knowing himself, he most likely passed out. Also knowing himself, the picture was fractured and incomplete.