𝔟𝔬𝔶𝔰 𝔦𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔞𝔦𝔫

15

TAEHYUNGdid you really hurt someone?

Yoongi and Taehyung had been sitting in Yoongi's living room for about an hour now, a TV show playing mindlessly on the screen.

"No." He closed his eyes. "Yes—I was protecting someone, Taehyung you don't understand."

then make me understand yoongi.

"He was hurting this boy, and I couldn't stop myself that boy looked like me, that boy reminded me of myself, that boy was me. So, I attacked the bully. I got expelled. My parents sent me off to live on my own. I got a job, got a house and enrolled in school. It's no big deal." Yoongi's hands twitched, hanging limp off of his knees. "I couldn't watch it anymore. I know I should feel horrible for what I did, but I don't. That bully had been picking on him, Hoseok—for years. And I had just watched."

Taehyung stared at Yoongi's hands.

You were a bully?

"No. I was a quiet, angry kid. People wouldn't talk to me; I wouldn't talk to them. Nobody, really. after this," Yoongi touched his cheek. "I didn't talk a lot. I wasn't any type of bully."

how was this caused?

Taehyung touched Yoongi's cheek, feeling his heart skip as yoongi looked at him with those big brown eyes. Goddamn his brown eyes.

"I'll tell you if you tell me why this happened?" Yoongi touched Taehyung's jaw, making Taehyung's mind go blank as his hands traced Tae's lips. He couldn't think for a minute and his eyes fluttered open.

that's a long story.

"I've got time."

not today, yoongi.

"Call me pretty then." Yoongi leaned forward, face close to the others. Tae's eyes widened with question. "Admit it. Call me pretty, I see you blushing."

Taehyung blushed even more and looked away. He couldn't. He still doesn't know if this was a crush or not.

i have work, sorry.

-Taehyung left for work, and after it was dark. He walked past the park. He walked down the path and saw the bench. Sitting down, he pulled out a cigarette.could he call yoongi pretty?

He rested his chin on his hands. He could do that now without it hurting. Finally.

"You're..."

His words came out less than a whisper, his voice hoarse and unused. His tone was abandoned and unsure. Could he really say it?

Memories rushed to his head, making him flinch and cover his head, breaking bottles and blood all over the floor.

"You did this! You did this to her!" He yelled.

...

"Taehyung?"

He looked up and saw his sister, she looks stunning, her hair was longer than he remembered, and she seemed to have lost some weight, but there she was. Kim Bora.

"Tae. I'm sorry, I'm sorry I left." She dropped to her knees in front of the boy. "I was in town, I wanted to reach out." she smiled at him.

Taehyung blankly stares back. He's not really there, flooded with memories he'd tried to forget.

"How's mom?"

Taehyung pushed her off.

"Tae?" She got up as he started to walk home. "Taehyung talk to me, what's wrong?" She'd been gone too long she didn't know anything anymore. She tried to grab his arm.

"Tae come stay with me, don't go back there! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She pleaded with him, holding his face. She saw the fading cuts and bruises on his skin. "I couldn't take it—"

"I." Taehyung paused taking a breath, "Can."

Boras's brows raised. "No, you can't I know how you feel—"

The boy shoved her off and starts to walk back home. He didn't care about Bora anymore. She had left him. Left him at eight. Left him and his mother. He'd forgotten about her after that day. he really didn't care. He was focused on surviving the abuse.

Somewhere on the way home Bora hit a wall, she couldn't push herself to go any further. Taehyung could and walked himself into the house. It was quiet, his dad was probably asleep. He went into the kitchen and made himself something to eat. He didn't need a lot, maybe just some ramen.

Tae added some water to a bowl and put it in the microwave. It would be faster than boiling it.He heard thuds behind him. He turned and saw his dad. He was staring at Taehyung like he was a stranger. "You-you fucking bitch you dyed your hair blond? You turning into a girl or what?" He stomped up to the boy and grabbed his hair.

He then slammed Taehyung's head into the counter.

"You fucking pussy, you fucking coward!" The man yelled more cursed and slurs as he hit the boy over and over again on the counter.

Taehyung dropped to the floor, vision fading and head throbbing. Suddenly a broken glass shattered over his skin, raising pain into now open wounds. He yelled out as he was dragged up and slammed against the stairs.

"You skip fucking school—to hang out with losers and dye your hair?" His dad shoved the splintered bar across his head and kicked him in the ribs.

"Answer me!"

Taehyung couldn't, so the man grabbed Taehyung by the collar and threw him down the stairs towards the door. He slammed against the floor and yelled out. Another bottle flew his way, smashing into the wall next to him. he flinched and fell to the ground.

"I'm going to shave your head!" The man grabs Taehyung's hair.

Taehyung tried desperately to fight, but the man was stronger and pulled him up the stairs.

"No?" His dad looked down at him, his bleeding at battered son. "Then you do whatever I want you to do the next week. Got it? Whatever I want." he hissed.

Taehyung nodded desperately.

"Clean this up."

Taehyung did, bleeding and shaking he cleaned the glass up, the ramen now king forgotten. When he was done, the man ordered him to go and do all the laundry downstairs. Piles of laundry sat down stairs. It was all his dads, not his. He did his own laundry it was his responsibility to do his dads laundry. Here he was, eye swollen shut and doing his dads laundry. but this gave him a break. his dad couldn't see him down here. So, he cried, sobbing on the old cold cement floor.

When the loads were done his dad demanded him to fold it and put it all away.Now Taehyung was permanently on the verge of tears, it was around three am. Couldn't he go to sleep?

No, otherwise he'd lose his hair.

His dad wasn't done. He wouldn't be done for a long time. He wouldn't let Taehyung sleep, eat or rest.