Broken & Ruined | TAEKOOK

eighteen

The house seemed like it was passed by a storm. Keen pieces of broken glass from the bottles of liquor, glasses, and frames scattered in the area. There were bits of blood from Rihye. After capturing the evidence, the captain and two of his men helped Taehyung clean the place while Yeojin was busy playing with her teddy bear and some old toys.

"Mister," Taehyung called. It was the first time he said a word to him since the last time he met him. He turned to him. "I'm sorry," the boy muttered.

He tilted his head. "There's nothing to be sorry about," he replied.

"I lost your jacket." The boy's response brought a smile to his lips. Taehyung's gaze was on his feet, couldn't match the captain's eyes.

"Oh, that? No worries. I have a lot of spare," he told him, chuckling.

"And for forgetting to thank you," Taehyung added. "Thank you, mister." Finally, he was able to look at him in the eye. The captain was in awe as he stared at the boy's eyes. They were glimmering as tears shone in them, mayhaps because he's grateful. It was his first time to meet those pair and to finally see his face clearly.

He has a soft feature but has a strong charm, he could tell. He's relieved to see that the bruises and cuts the boy had last time have now faded, and it reveals how handsome he is. "You're welcome," he finally responded and gave him a smile.

When they're done, they finally decide to leave and check up on Rihye at the clinic. Taehyung told them he wanted to come with them. They gave each other a look and agreed to take them with them since they deserved to see how their mother was doing.

At the clinic, Rihye was sitting in one of the clinic beds. The kids immediately ran to her to give her a hug. After seeing they were fine, he left but went back with two plastics of food. He placed it on the table in the corner and invited them to eat since it was lunchtime. Rihye was about to get up but the captain ushered her to remain seated and placed a table on her bed.

"You don't have to get up already. You can eat on the bed," he told her.

"I can move, it's alright-" but he already placed her food on her table and even unpacked it for her. "You don't have to do that."

"I insist," he told her and smiled. "Eat a lot," he added and turned to the kids to tell them to eat a lot as well.

"Thanks," Rihye muttered.

Not so long later while eating, the captain told them, "We're already taking action to find and catch him." It caught their attention and waited for his next line. "He might come back later but we'll send a patrol in your area to make sure he'll not hurt you again."

Rihye let out a breath of relief and thanked him once again.

After Rihye was told that she could go home as she felt better, they went home with a few patrol men sitting from the bench, chatting, not so far from their house. It was noon and everybody was busy on their own. But despite the sun being out and proud, there were still some kids playing under it outside. Yeojin was excited to play with her friends and immediately ran towards them as soon as she saw them, while Rihye and Taehyung went straight inside.

"I haven't seen your friends lately," Rihye spoke and sat on the long seat.

"I don't.. have friends," Taehyung replied. Rihye's forehead furrowed as her brows raised.

"You used to play with other kids before. Aren't they your friends?" She asked. She was talking about Beomseok and Jaehyun. How can he tell her that they never became his friends? And he was the one who kept tailing them, so he could make it to join their friendship, but he kept being pushed out.