Hilde | Kim Taehyung fanfiction ✓

taehyung

22

Taehyung rose from the bed and exited the room, not even glancing at Arya or offering a good night. He trudged to the living room, collapsed face-first onto the couch, and was snoring within minutes.

The previous night, he hadn't slept a wink. Instead, he spent the night lost in daydreams about his mother, only to face hours of driving through a relentless downpour. Exhaustion blurred the line between reality and dreams, and sleep finally claimed him.

As Taehyung drifted off, his mind filled with images of Arya. He saw her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, swaying whenever she turned to look at him. He pictured her brown eyes, flecked with gold, and the laugh lines that appeared when she smiled at Edith.

He saw her with Edith, then alone, then in a field of flowers, sitting under a tree. The images flashed before his closed eyes so quickly that he almost felt seasick.

Then, the dream shifted, placing Arya back in the house they were in. She was on her knees, crying, weakened, her hair gripped tightly in Everhart's hand. He smiled at Taehyung, mouthing a silent "Thank you" before yanking Arya to her feet.

Arya's eyes met Taehyung's, a glimmer of betrayal flickering within them. She had known better than to trust him, but she had anyway, and now she was paying the price.

She looked as though she had bathed in blood. It was smeared across her face like war paint, coating her hands and clothes, and making the tips of her hair stick together. Despite being drenched in it, none of the blood seemed to be her own; she appeared uninjured—at least physically.

Taehyung's eyes scanned her body, desperately searching for wounds, but his gaze was inexorably drawn to the figure behind her and Everhart. Edith lay there, her eyes wide open and lifeless, her irises devoid of color and her skin gray, staring directly at him.

Taehyung tried to move towards Arya, to apologize, to explain that this was never what he intended, that his selfishness had led them here. But his lips refused to move, his tongue was paralyzed, and Arya and Everhart seemed to drift further away with every step he took. They became unreachable, and as the distance grew, Taehyung's vision blurred. Voices swirled around him, creating a chaotic cacophony, though he couldn't identify their source. It was just him, Arya, Everhart, and Edith's lifeless body in the house, and none of them were speaking, so where were the voices coming from?

Despite the growing distance, Taehyung saw Arya's lips begin to move. The voices fell silent, the chaos ceased, as if her words held the power to bring everything to a halt.

But just as she was about to speak, Taehyung jolted awake. He was cold and shivering, his body drenched in sweat. The nightmare had exhausted him. Thirsty and unsettled, he turned onto his back, placing one arm under his head and the other over his eyes, trying to calm himself enough to fall back asleep.

The house was eerily silent. No insects chirped outside, and no voices murmured inside. Despite the calm atmosphere, sleep eluded Taehyung. Just as he began to doze off again, the tranquility was shattered by muffled sobs. They seemed to come from the hallway; one of the bedrooms, or perhaps the bathroom.

He groaned, turning over and trying to block out the sound. Tomorrow was going to be a big day, and he desperately needed rest. Yet, the sobs grew louder, turning into hiccups and heavy, labored breaths.

He decided to wait a few minutes, hoping the sobbing would subside. But memories of his own childhood tears, shed over his mother with no one to comfort him, resurfaced. It was those lonely nights that had shaped him into the bitter and spiteful person he had become. He realized he was now becoming like the people he had resented most in his youth.

With a sigh, Taehyung sat up on the couch, rubbing his eyes until colorful shapes danced in his vision. Stretching and yawning, he finally got up and followed the source of the sound, which led him to the bathroom. The light was on, casting a thin beam through the gap under the door.

He knocked twice, causing the delicate sobbing to stop. "Everything okay in there?" he asked, but received no answer. Taehyung sighed and sat with his back against the wall facing the bathroom door, his arms resting on his knees. He didn't want to intrude; she probably didn't want to be seen in such a vulnerable state. "I'm here," he whispered softly, so quietly that he barely heard himself.

He had always longed for someone to say those two words to him. Why did everyone act like it was damn near impossible?

He didn't know whether Arya had heard him or not. Just as he was about to repeat himself, the door creaked open slightly, a thin beam of light piercing the hallway's darkness. Taehyung squinted against the sudden brightness.

From his spot on the floor, he could see Arya's shadow moving around inside the bathroom. Taking the open door as an invitation, he stood up and entered the room. There, Arya stood in front of the mirror, her face streaked with tears.

"Cold feet?" Taehyung asked, noticing the scissors in her hand.

"Nah," Arya replied, her voice shaky. "I just tried to cut my hair," she said, pointing to her now shoulder-length hair. "And look at this disaster," she added, gesturing to the hair scattered across the floor.

"It doesn't look half bad," Taehyung reassured her, closing the door behind him. He walked over to the toilet and sat on the lowered lid. "What caused this impulsive rebranding?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and stifling a yawn.

"Cold feet," Arya sighed. "How do you do it? I'm terrified that something might go wrong." She tilted her head upwards, trying to hold back her new tears. "And I fear that you're playing against me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Taehyung asked, suddenly jolted awake by her statement, as if Arya had thrown a bucket of freezing cold water in his face.

"What's going on?" she asked, finally turning to look him in the eyes. Her eyes were red, stubborn tears clinging to the corners, while he tried to mask any emotion or thought. "I feel like I'm going crazy," Arya said, turning back to stare at her reflection in the mirror.

Why keep lying to her? Taehyung thought. It was almost over, anyway.