BET MY HEART || taejin

22. MARKED

as taehyung and seokjin navigated their way through the dancing couples, taehyung's grip on seokjin's shoulders remained firm, he hated how his hands were so tied that he couldn't even move for seokjin, to protect him from jaehwan

"im sorry i was late" taehyung's eyes remained tinged with regret

"you're here now" seokjin glanced up at taehyung, to look into his apologetic eyes "besides, i could handle him" a mini hint of bravado masking the tremors still coursing through his body

"oh" taehyung just nodded in a silent understanding while he wanted to hug seokjin, wash him, scrub every part of him that was touched by jaehwan, to erase every trace of his step brother's touch

taehyung noticed the faint sheen of tears in his eyes and the way seokjin was trembling in his arms

why

"seokjin, are you alright?" taehyung tried to read him but seokjin wouldn't even meet his gaze, knowing too well that taehyung will easily find out that he was crying, the telltale signs of tears were impossible to conceal, especially from taehyung who sees right through him

"y-yeah im okay..." seokjin stammered, his voice cracking, one more word out of his mouth and he was going to breakdown because he's not okay, not fucking okay, his mind couldn't process jaehwan's gruesome revelation

someone had lost their life because of him, and the weight of that guilt threatened to suffocate him

someone lost their life and their only crime was - being seokjin's acquaintance

seokjin's subconscious had always harbored a nagging doubt about jaehwan having something to do with Minsoo's death but he had suppressed it through all these years, refusing to acknowledge such a horrifying possibility. the way he'd act when seokjin brought Minsoo was very suspicious but at that time seokjin didn't want to waste his time even thinking of something so miserable about his only best friend

but now that the truth stared him in the face, it was too much , too ugly to face, it was like his mind and soul were being crushed in self loathing and despair, he wanted to cry, scream and escape the heavy guilt on him

taehyung's fingers instinctively tightened around seokjin's shoulders, offering wordless reassurance, it didn't matter if seokjin didn't want to open up, he's not going to push him into opening up, he believes that someday seokjin would trust him enough to be vocal about his thoughts

although the one thing that taehyung wanted to literally do right now was, coax seokjin into telling him every word that jaehwan said to him, but he wouldn't, not a move that his therapist would appreciate

they reached the end of the dancing crowd, to the place where people were indulging in friendly bantering and ordering drinks at the fancy mini bar, bartenders expertly mixing drinks, the air filled with gentle clinking of glasses, giggles, conversations between suited businessmen, models, designers

the atmosphere was a bit more relaxed, different from the dance floor's frenetic energy

taehyung turned seokjin's face slowly to lift his face and look up at him after looking around and seeing everyone busy in their own conversations and circle of acquaintances "i dont know what jaehwan said to you that got you so upset but its not your fault"

taehyung could've guessed what their conversation during the dance would've been, he's not a fool

he recalls his father covering up a murder case in Busan, bribing officers to close it off as a suicide when there were clear evidence that pointed at murder and jaehwan's name had been whispered in connection to the incident but taehyung had never probed deeper because it didn't matter and such a case was just a normal working Monday for his family... but now its suddenly striking him that the victim of the Busan case could be related to seokjin