cherry blossoms || ot7 [#Wattys2017]

[reflection]

The real Kookie stands in front of Taehyung and all he can do is breathe, blink, and stare. He doesn't know what to make out of this man in front of him. He knows that that's his brother just by looking at him, but at the same time, he seems like such a complete stranger to him, alienated by the missing years. Then, Taehyung remembers the stunt this man pulls on him.

"I have nothing to say to you," Taehyung pouts and turns back to eating his ice cream.

"Tae, jebal..." Jungkook pulls up a chair and sits in between Baekhyun and Taehyung.

Taehyung doesn't even look in his direction; he focuses on his ice cream and the conversation he and Baekhyun had before this man interrupted them. "So there's this demon involved and he—"

Jungkook looks at him, appalled, and cuts in. "I just want to apologize to you for thirteen years of absence. I want to apologize for never coming back home or never sending letters or calling. I'm sorry for not being there for you when you were bullied; I'm sorry for not protecting you in your times of need. I'm sorry for—"

Taehyung raises his hand to stop him from talking. "Look, I don't need to hear your self-loathe about missing thirteen years of my life. You weren't there; end of story. Nothing is going to change the past and nothing's going to bring it back with you in it." His lip quivers as he wants to cry, but not in front of this stranger.

"I know. I regret not going back but I had reasons not to. I wish I could've but..." Jungkook falters. Should I tell him? He thinks. Would it help my relationship with Tae? Jungkook looks over to Baekhyun for a sign and he notices a slight nod from Baekhyun. He exhales deeply as he prepares to tell him the truth. "I didn't want to put you in danger..." he whispers almost too softly for Taehyung to hear.

"Put me in danger? Like my life wasn't already shitty enough?" Taehyung scoffs. "I got bullied but was anyone there to be a friend or protect me? I got bullied because you weren't there anymore. All the kids in school had the opportunity to push me around since you were gone and they were scared of you. Thirteen fucking years. And where were you Jungkook?"

"I-I was..."

"Nowhere to be found," Taehyung spits out. "You didn't exist for thirteen years." He throws his spoon into the bowl out of frustration, causing it to clank really loudly. "Oh, but believe me: I looked for you for those thirteen years. I made posters; I went to the police station every single day asking about any leads; I went back to the playground, hoping to find you there one day, but of course. You're not there. You were never there."

Jungkook reaches out to comfort Taehyung but Taehyung retracts. "You don't understand... I was protecting you by not coming home. Someone is after you, Taehyung. For the past thirteen years, a man has been looking for you. Someone is trying to take you from me, so instead of leading them directly to you, I lived a different life. I changed my name and my looks to make sure they could never find you, but I obviously didn't do a good job with that."

"Stop with the bullshit Jungkook!"

"He's not lying," Baekhyun looks down at his melted ice cream and stirs the spoon. "Tae...he's been protecting you all this time. He's always wanted to go home. All he could ever talk about was Daegu and you. He may have lived in Busan but his heart always told him that Daegu's his home."

"What do you mean then?" Taehyung feels small as the information from earlier sinks in his mind.

"It means that someone's trying to take you away from me. Someone's out to get you." Jungkook makes eye contact with his younger brother and he's met with tears as he feels his own tears falling.

•  •  •  •  •  •  •

Namjoon, Seokjin, and Hoseok wander the beach, searching for their maknae. They occasionally ask people around the boardwalk if they've seen Taehyung but to no avail. Frustrated, they start walking down the beach and they see Jimin and Yoongi looking around in every store and corner.

"Yoongi! Jimin!" Namjoon waves them over.

"Any luck?" Yoongi asks.

"Nope. We've asked a lot of people on the beach and they haven't seen him." Hoseok sits down on a bench, defeated and hungry.

"How could we have let this happen?" Jimin puts his face in his hands as he's on the brink of tears. "How could I let Taehyung slip through my fingers like this? It's all my fault!" He starts pressing his hands around his temples as he continues to blame himself.

"We're all to blame here. We all fell asleep," Yoongi rubs circles on Jimin's back in a comforting manner.

"But he was right in front of me... His head was on my lap and now he's gone." Lifting his head up, Jimin looks at his reflection in the glass. There's nothing but a sad boy looking back at him. However, he notices something. He squints his eyes and looks intently into the window. In the back corner of the store, he notices three people having a conversation and he recognizes Jungkook. To the left of Jungkook is Baekhyun and to the right of Jungkook, it's... "Taehyung," Jimin breathes. "Guys I found Taehyung. He's inside the ice cream parlor. Let's go!"

Before they could even stand up, a large group of men walk into the store, causing all of them to freeze in their place.

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