Sirenic Menace

㉒You Know What I Believe?

 
Taehyung hummed mildly to the soothing melody of the song playing through the speakers of his car. Music was always his company when he was stressed, and today he was a lot as he headed to his parents’ house.

In the five days that crawled by, nothing happened and nothing changed; his father didn’t get in contact with him, there was no news from Yoongi or his friends, and he didn’t attempt to call them either. He still couldn’t get used to Jungkook’s absence from his life, and he truly believed he never would. His longing for him only blazed fiercer, and his suffering kept increasing like a black hole that could suck him in at any moment.

The sales of his store were few and his bank account was near empty once he paid all of his bills. He had to find a way to attract customers. Keeping his store closed for two weeks caused damage that could even put him out of business.

 
Taehyung soon parked the car and stepped out. He sauntered towards the door and found his mother waiting for him. “Hello,” he smiled as he enclosed her into his embrace.

“Hi, son.” Hee Jin caressed his back and pulled away. “How are you?”

“I’m good. You?”

“Me too. I’ll go to the kitchen to continue cooking and we’ll catch up later, okay?”

“Yes. I’ll use the bathroom and come find you.”

“Okay.” Hee Jin pinched his cheek, smiling, and retreated to the kitchen.

Taehyung stole across the living room and scurried to his father’s office. He slid the door aside and sneaked in. He aimed for the desk right away and pulled a paperclip out of his pocket. He drove it into the lock and twisted it left and right until it clicked open. Maybe it was because this was his second time doing this, but it seemed easier than before.

He unhooked the lock and left it on the desk, then opened the drawer. Everything was the same as the last time he was there, he observed, and he took hold of the phone Mi Sung was using to talk to Kang Soo. With a swift search of the call history, he detected they talked on the phone every day. He also noted they had a long call the day of his meeting with Dong Myun.

A ringing had him jolting and almost dropping the item in his hand. His frantic eyes flew to the open drawer and stared at the small screen of the other phone. Through his immense disquiet, he put the phone he was holding back in its place and dug his own out of his pocket. He took a photo of the number on the screen, then shut the drawer and locked it. He dashed out of the office with his heart still battering against his ribcage and hurried all the way to his living room.

He planted a hand on the wall to steady himself as he held his stomach, which was swimming in alarm. Fuck, I’m not made for this. And he truly didn’t think he was. Because he was on the verge of fainting by the scare he experienced.

With stable, deep inflows of breath, he managed to tone down his manic pulse. He advanced to the kitchen and chatted with his mother, also helping her with cooking.

 
With the table set a while later, they took their seats. “When is father coming? Around eight, as usual?”

“No, a little earlier. He has to pack, and he doesn’t like driving long distances at night.”

The unexpected words prompted a baffled expression from him. “What? Where will he go?”

“Oh,” Hee Jin breathed out. “He didn’t tell you... He’ll go to one of our cottages for the weekend.”

Even more befuddlement was injected into Taehyung’s crumpled face. “Since when is he taking time off work? He rarely did that.”

“I know, but lately he’s been taking time off once a month.”