when the rain falls - taejin [book 1]

IX

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The chestnut walked head down, with his hands in his pants pockets; he wanted so badly to cry like a child, because he felt more miserable than ever. His best and only friend, he was surely hating him and now Seokjin had asked him for an indeterminate time to fix things at home. What was he left with then? Nothing but an enormous loneliness and an emptiness in his heart. He cursed himself for not foreseeing that something like this could happen. How could he be so careless? It was obvious that at some point Jungkook would visit his father, but he was deluded into believing that they were safe inside his bubble of love. Reality had kicked him square in the chest, knocking the breath out of him.

He was sitting at the bus stop, waiting for the ride to take him home, when his phone rang. He was struck by the fact that it was his mother who was calling him.

—Mom? —he answered hesitantly.

—I want you here, right now! —the woman released with the most severe voice that he had ever heard in his life, making the hair on his skin stand on end and turning his stomach.

—W-W-Why? —he stammered, his pulse racing.

—Right now, I said! —she did not wait for any more response from his son and ended the call. Tae swallowed hard.

It would be possible that...? Taehyung feared the worst at this point. He didn't want to speculate ahead of time, but he was praying that, in a fit of rage, Jungkook hadn't gone with the news to his mother of his secret affair with his father. That would be the end for the chestnut, he knew it. However, as much as he thought about it, there was no other reason for the woman to be this upset, demanding that he be home immediately.

On shaky legs, he walked the remaining streets, from the bus stop, to his house, continuing his inner prayers that it was just something minor, like the fact that he left home without warning. Yes, it had to be that... otherwise he has a dead man.

He nearly jumped when the door was flung open, before he could even pull his set of keys out of his pocket. His mother roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him into the house, slamming the door behind him. Immediately afterwards, Taehyung felt that his face was slapped with force, being turned by the magnitude of the blow. A burning spread across his face; understanding that, as an affirmative answer to his initial conjectures. Jungkook had told his mother everything.

—You are shameless! —the woman shouted, snorting with anger. —I never expected a dishonor like this! —the chestnut closed his eyes, letting the contained tears fall. —How can you be screwing around with someone twice your age? —she yelled, slapping him a couple of times on the chest.

—Mom... —he tried to speak, with the lump in his throat preventing him. —I'm about to graduate... I'm practically an adult.

—An adult? —his mother snorted, almost mockingly. —A scoundrel! That's what you are!