custody | kth (wattys2017)

[26]

Taehyung had booked a hotel room for our 'pillowtalk' tonight. My heart cracked a little when his car pulled up at a hotel at the outskirts of the city. The building was tall, glassy, classy and everything luxurious and nothing to complain about..but the fact that the boy still didn't trust me enough to let me look at his house bothered me a lot. I'd been there blindfolded, but I wanted to go there like any other normal girl would.

"In you go.." He grinned as I walked into the air conditioned room, the cold air coating my body and taking away the heat from my skin.

The click was audible as Taehyung closed the door shut behind our backs and before I could shrug my jacket off, he helped me do it. "Some gentleman you are" I commented, making him blush slightly for a millisecond.

"Bedroom or livingroom?" He asked and I couldn't help but melt at how considerate he was being. If only he had asked me if I preferred home or a hotel..

"Umm" I pouted as he watched me closely as if I was making one of the biggest decisions ever. But in reality, all I was doing was zoning out every two seconds and crib about how he didn't take me home.

"Living room" I finally answered and Taehyung with a large grin plastered on his face, dragged me to the bedroom. So much for a gentleman?

I shook my head at his excitement as he took his time to take off a few layers of his clothing, wash his feet, hands and freshen up a little before jumping onto the milky white, soft mattress.

"Okay, start talking!" He said, grabbing a pillow and putting it on his lap as he looked at me with the eyes of a pup.

The awkwardness settled in as I gave him a shy smile, not knowing what to talk about. "Uh, you like mushrooms?"

There was pindrop silence and I could hear the crickets creaking in the background as Taehyung looked at me, almost bewildered at how awkward and weird I could get.

"Ji.." He started and I watched him, slightly embarrassed. He chuckled at my expression before shaking his head, "wanna know more about what I do?" he raised a brow and I grinned at the opportunity, "Yes, please".

"I trust you" he spoke with a serious face and I nodded, my heart softening a little at that. I'd never betray him. Atleast, not again.

"Where did we stop last time?" He wiggled his brows and I responded quickly, "Seven of you, and you split the load with Yoongi here in Daegu" I prompted.

"Ah yes" he started, "we are all pretty close. We do what we do for a reason " he smiled.

"Reason being?" I leaned forward.

"Long story.." He shrugged.

"That's what we are here to  do today. I'd listen to you all night" I smiled.

"We grew up together, at an orphanage" Taehyung frowned at the memory, "betrayed and thrown away by people who gave birth to us, it was really upsetting".

I stayed quiet, listening to everything he had to say.

"I was sent off to an orphanage when I was five. They thought I was too stupid to understand, but I knew everything then. I used to locked myself in the washroom because I missed my sister. The other kids would bully me a lot. We had to sleep on the floor, eat whatever they'd feed us and-" he shook his head, "and do whatever they wanted us to do".

"Hmm.." I hummed, urging him to continue.

"It was too much for a five year old to take. Watching other kids do drugs, having them offer you some but you don't want to do it. Getting beaten up every other day just because you refused to do it. Hell, one day.. It was dinner time and when I asked for another egg, they shoved one straight into my mouth" he chuckled, but the laugh wasn't a happy one. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he kept them focused on his own fingers tangled on his lap, "I couldn't spit it out or swallow the whole egg. My mouth was small. I was only five!" his grip on his own hand tightened, "they wanted to choke me. I realised later" he sighed. "I would be dead by now if it wasn't for Jin hyung" he smiled, "and Namjooie hyung".

The names were new, but I tried to keep up and absorb as much as I could.

"They were like my new parents. Hosokie hyung was there too. He is the sweetest, you should meet him sometime " I nodded, "Yoongi hyung did not like me much then, but once he found out that I was from Daegu too, he decided to take me under his wing. All of us were like a gang of five".

"My life changed so much from then on. Nobody bothered me anymore and I got extra food just because Jin hyung thought I was too skinny" he grinned. "And then came little Jungkookie" he affectionately hugged the pillow on his lap to his chest and I could tell how much this person meant to Taehyung.

"Jungkook is like the baby of the group. Our golden maknae" he smiled, "He reminded me so much of my sister that I pampered him like I'd pamper her" he looked up at me and his eyes were so full of tears, I hadnt seen Taehyung like this.

My heart hurt at the sight but I only reached out and placed my hand on his with a soft smile on my face.

"The last one to join us was Jimin. He's a small package full of fireworks" Taehyung's voice cracked a little, "He's from Busan and he is as old as I am. He's my best friend!" He was so excited, I wanted to hug him tight now.

"Seven of us. We lived together under the same roof for so many years, we were family" he smiled, "and then, people showed up at the orphanage wanting to adopt us".

I nodded, stroking my thumb against his hand.

"Initially, we didn't wanna go. But then, we decided otherwise. It'd give us a future we couldn't get hold of on our own. So, that's  how I ended up with my parents" a tear rolled down his cheek and he wiped it against his sleeve before it could reach down to his chin, "I don't even feel like I'm adopted. They love me like their own. It's all so good now" he looked up at me, "with all my brothers successful and happy".

I reciprocated with the gesture. Gripping his hand tightly, I leaned in, "you are too" I added making him nod in agreement.

"You didn't tell me how you got into all of this.." I reminded.

"We started out as fishermen, I know it's weird but that's how it started. When I was fifteen, all of us worked at the yard, loading fishes into the boats and unloading them at the other shore. Got a small pay, but it was considered enough for kids who were orphans and had no life as such. It was all normal, just stinky yards, the sea and everything,  until one day, we witnessed our boss stuffing the fishes with something and sealing their insides up with wax. We thought it was a drug deal, it wasn't. We were unknowingly moving diamonds" he smirked.

"And then?"

"We continued moving fishes. Just like we were supposed to do" he straightened up.

"And the diamonds?" I questioned.

"Those were for us. Little presents. Took our boss three years to find out, and by the time he did, all of us were adopted and moved" he shrugged.

"Wow!"

"I sold most of those but still have some of those diamonds. They're like my very first source of income. Something that made me, me" he grinned.

"Show me?" I asked carefully.

"Its all at the bank" he pouted, "dont worry..Some of those will go on your wedding ring, baby".

"Taehyung!"

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