𝓐𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓓𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱

ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓣⓦⓔⓝⓣⓨⓣⓦⓞ

Jungkook's heart felt tight as he recalled Taehyung's words to the girl he had just brutally murdered. Finally, he had a glimpse of what was going on inside of his head. It seemed horrible, but at least he knew. He swallowed as his eyes caught a glimpse of the gory scene behind Taehyung. One could barely make sense of what her midriff had looked like; that was not Taehyung's usual, meticulous work. It was filled with long repressed pain and sadness. He saw the resemblance between those stabs and the ones that he had done himself in the men that had come in Taehyung's apartment. Once again, he felt closer to Taehyung.

Jungkook reluctantly pulled himself off of Taehyung and wiped the tears off of his face.

"Come on, let's clean up," he said, his voice shaking.

Taehyung nodded and mechanically started cleaning up, methodically telling Jungkook and Jess what to do. They all worked together. Normal? A voice said inside of Taehyung's mind. This is your normal.

They sat around the table, a now familiar setting to them. They were all silent, unable to formulate a sentence that felt proper in this situation. Jess kept on biting her fake nails, she sound of teeth against plastic resonating in the dead quiet room. Jungkook tapped his fingers against the table, accompanying that annoying sound. Taehyung did not move one bit, completely unfazed by what had happened now that he was sober.

"Let's face it; we can't be fucking normal," Jess spat, still staring at her nails.

Taehyung got up, making the chair fall on the ground as he slammed his hands on the table.

"What did you fucking expect, moving in with a goddamn killing psychopath?" he yelled, his body tense.

Jungkook put a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down, but he pushed him off.

"Do not touch me," Taehyung muttered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed, making an effort to cool down. Jess looked at him with a frown whilst Jungkook looked away, biting down on his bottom lip.

"I don't know what you guys expected from this... putting three fucked up people in one place... trying to act as if we're fucking normal..." Taehyung mumbled, teeth clenched. "You think that because we act like we're normal we'll suddenly become normal? Huh? You think I haven't tried doing that my whole fucking life? I kill, Jess! I fucking kill people! That makes me feel normal! That's my normal! There's no goddamn way that's gonna change and you fucking know that."

Jess swallowed as tears filled her eyes. Jungkook's fists were clenched.

"I know what you are, Kim Taehyung!" she yelled back as she stood up to face him. "I know you're a killer, I know how it makes you feel. You've told me many times before. I've been by your side for more than a year now, no matter what: I was always with you. All I fucking wanted with this household was to empty the loneliness inside my heart, to spend time with someone I cared about, no matter how fucked up they were. I'm not trying to act normal, I'm trying to have fun. I'm trying to be happy. As we all are trying to do. Yeah, we're all fucked up, probably past the point of no return, but at least I'm making the effort of at least trying to turn things back around, even as hopeless as it is."

She sat back down with those last words, holding back tears. Jungkook looked at the time and sighed, standing up.

"It's getting late. Let's sleep on this. These past days have been fucking intense. Let's just relax for now," he announced, heading to his and Taehyung's room.

"Good night," Jess said as she got up to go to her room.

"Good night," Taehyung whispered as he watched Jungkook enter their room and slam the door behind them.

Jess also slammed her door. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying not to yell at them for always slamming the doors of his apartment. He walked towards his room's door reluctantly, his hand stopping at the knob. He did not know what was waiting for him behind that door, and he certainly did not know if he was ready to face it.

He turned the knob and entered, jumping at the sight in front of him. Jungkook was on his knees on the bed, hands behind his back, naked, with Taehyung's knife beside him. Taehyung watched the scene, frowning, confused as to what Jungkook was trying to say through this. He closed the door behind him and walked closer, Jungkook's gaze locked with his.

"What are you─" Taehyung started.

"If you want to hurt anyone, just hurt me instead," he blurted out, nervous.

Taehyung ran his hand through his hair, baffled.

"That's not how it works─" he continued

"I know I don't look like her, but─" Jungkook interrupted.

Taehyung put his hand over Jungkook's mouth and shook his head.

"Shut up. Don't talk about that," he ordered, his voice low.