Holding On To You | k.th + j.hs

Bully

Taehyung trudged across the school grounds,
towards the large cement staircase, letting out a sigh as he remembered Hoseok wouldn't be there to keep him company. Even with his other friends, the days just seemed longer and lonelier without him.

He was halfway across the grounds when a voice called out to him.

"Hey, Taehyung!"

He raised his eyebrows and turned, a small smile tugging at his lips at the sight of Jimin and Jungkook resting against a... tree.

A familiar tree.

Perhaps a cypress tree?

Hesitantly, Taehyung waved back and continued on to the school, not stopping for conversation. He didn't want to talk, today. He simply wasn't in the mood. And he didn't want to go anywhere near that tree, something about it sent shivers down his spine.

-

"Hey, where's your airhead friend?"

Taehyung turned around. An all too familiar group of boy's were approaching him, their leader looking tall and proud as if he had just accomplished his greatest goal. Taehyung sighed and slammed his locker before facing them. 'What do they want, now?' He asked himself.

"He's not here today. For reasons-"

"Is he dead like his father," the main boy snickered. Taehyung felt his face turn red.

"No. Well, not yet, at least," he muttered.

"It's a shame that he won't be here to see you all bloody and bruised," a boy from the back of the group yelled. Taehyung just shook his head and began to walk away.

"Hey, don't walk away from me," the leader growled and grabbed Taehyung's shoulder, spinning him around to face him.

"What do you want-"

A fist collided with Taehyung's face.

And another.

And another.

And a blow to the stomach.

And a shove to the ground.

And a kick to the head.

      Soon enough, all the boy's were hitting him as he lay motionless on the ground. He tried to block his face with his arms, but it didn't help much. He still felt every punch.

"Do you need someone to save you? Do you need your sick friend? Your sick friend who can barely breathe? Your sick friend who's only source of life is a machine? Your sick friend who isn't even here and never will be?" The boy mocked as everyone else laughed. Taehyung felt tears spring into his eyes, though he tried his best to hold them back.

He didn't want to seem weak.

Suddenly, rage started to boil in Taehyung as he felt bruises already start to form. They were making fun of Hoseok. How? How could they? How could they possibly make fun of someone who barely had enough air in their lungs to talk back?

      Slowly, the group of boy's stopped hitting him. They all backed up and formed a circle around him, as if waiting for his next move. There was a long silence as they watched Taehyung, who remained on the ground in a small puddle of blood.

"What are you going to do now? Cry?" The leader teased as everyone snickered. Taehyung didn't say anything.

Instead, he slowly rose to his feet.

      This seemed to catch everyone off guard for a second. He was clenching his fists, a sneer upon his battered face. Pretending to be tough. Just like-

"Why is he trying to fight back? He's just going to lose," the older boy asked with a smirk on his face. Everyone around him snickered, talking in whispers that Taehyung couldn't hear.

"He's just going to have the air knocked out of him. He's going to be just like his helpless little friend-"

Crack!

They boy fell back in shock as he held his jaw. Taehyung approached him slowly, moving closer and closer, anger exploding inside of him like little fireworks.

A few boy's scratched their heads, unsure of what to do. Some of them even ran off, wanting to get away from the scene. Were they afraid of him?

"Y-You actually think you can beat me? You really think you're strong enough?" The boy on the ground let out a laugh. "You're nothing to me!" He lifted his fist and swung at Taehyung, but missed terribly.

       Though rage was seeping through him, Taehyung felt rather emotionless. It was as if he didn't care anymore. He didn't care what happened. He didn't care if he got in trouble. He didn't care if he had to move schools. Because he knew that once Hoseok was gone, there wouldn't be much to care about, anyway.

       He felt as if there was nothing inside of him. No heart. No soul. No mind. He was simply living in the present, not caring a thing about the future. It was as if Hoseok was already gone-

"You're going to regret messing with me," the boy sang as Taehyung snapped back to reality. "I'm going to break you!" He growled.

Taehyung slowly opened his mouth and let words flood out of it like a river.

"You can't break what's already been shattered to a million pieces."

And with that, he reared back his fist and let it collide with the boy's face.