Evanescent

Chapter 9

"Stop moving." Jimin hisses, dabbing the cotton ball at the corner of Taehyung's eye a little more harshly than needed.

"You're hurting me. Ow!" Taehyung winces as Jimin presses harder, the sting of the alcohol against his cut bringing tears to his eyes. He had gotten rid of his single contact and was now glaring at Jimin with his tear-filled, normal, black eyes. "Stop it, you leprechaun."

Jimin gasps, his eyes going wide as he registers the words and his grip on the tiny bottle of rubbing alcohol tightens.

After Jungkook passed out, it had taken Jimin every ounce of self control not to toss Taehyung out by the scruff of his neck, common decency forcing him to retrieve Jungkook's pathetic first aid kit. He'd decided to clean up Taehyung, seeing as how it had been his friend who'd knocked the kid out, but the rude comments that dropped easily from Taehyung's lips were making him seriously regret his decision.

He retracts his hand back from Taehyung's face, his face going red with barely repressed rage. "Did... Did you just...?"

Taehyung smirks. He throws his arm over the couch and leans back, his posture reflecting poise and elegance, despite the bleeding cut on his face.

Jimin couldn't believe this stranger's guts. To fall asleep in front of someone else's doorstep was... acceptable to some point. But to come inside the aforementioned someone's home and insult his best friend was completely unacceptable. And Jimin would let him know that.

He willed his features to stay calm as he reached forward to put the bottle safely inside the first aid box.

This snarky blond needed a good scare.

"Taehyung-ah..." He put on a wide toothy-smile as he looked at the blond who now sat up straighter, slightly freaked out by the sudden mood change of the tiny man and the use of his actual name. "How old are you, Taehyung?"

Jimin could see Taehyung thinking over his question, chewing his inner cheek. He leaned forward.

"How old, Taehyung-ah?" He repeated dangerously.

"Twenty-one."

Jimin's eyes sparkled as he laughed, clapping his hands once. "Amazing."

Abruptly, he got up and walked into the kitchen, grabbed a kitchen knife and walked back to where the other boy sat, his black eyes wide and alert.

"I'm twenty-one, too." He held the knife in front of his face and turned it over, smiling still. "That means I can easily harm you, right? Since you're not a minor, it won't count as assault or sadism. Though maybe it does come a bit under sadism but who cares..."

Taehyung spluttered. As far as he remembered, there was no law like that.

Right? Harming someone was harming someone, no excuses, no exemptions.

"Dude, what? Did you hit your head or something? What bullshi-"

He hadn't even completed his sentence when Jimin lunged at him. Taehyung gasped, then screamed, scrambling out of the way. He fell off the couch, picked himself back up and turned to look at Jimin. The knife was gone but the boy was still looking at him with crazed eyes. What the hell?

"Look, whatever-your-name-is, I didn't-"

"It's Jimin!" Jimin screamed. He grabbed the cushion closest to him and hurled it at the boy. It hit him square in the face. Taehyung gasped.

"Jimi-"

Jimin picked up a book, a tattered old copy of The Handmaid's Tale with half the cover missing. Taehyung's eyes widened. If that thing hit him then he would for sure lose a tooth or two. Maybe more. He raised his hands up in surrender.

"I'm sorry! I take it back. I take back the leprechaun thing, yeah? Now put that book down. Your little friend might not like it if you threw his favourite book at someone."

Jimin scowled at him but put the book down anyway. Not many people knew about that. Jungkook didn't want people to think of him as some weak, nerdy boy who spent most of his time at the back of the library. Though that was the ultimate truth.

He was still in the mood to scare the blond a little more, but decided to take this whole thing a step at a time.

Jimin rolled his eyes and decided to interrogate him later. The sun had not risen yet. It was too early for him to play bad cop.

"Okay. I forgive you", Jimin seethed. Though he hadn't mentioned it to the already strained Jungkook, Taehyung could easily sue him for assault. He sure had the physical evidence to prove it.

"Come on, you can sleep in the guest bedroom until Jungkook wakes up then you can thank him- and me- and get your stinky ass out of here."

The only hope he had was to make sure that they at least treated Taehyung well enough to make him reconsider going to the police.

Taehyung didn't reply so Jimin picked up the knife and the first aid kit from the edge of the table and went to put them back in their respective places in the kitchen, figuring that he had scared the boy sufficiently for him to not try any tricks or steal something.

He didn't trust the boy. Of course he didn't, the boy hadn't even reacted normally to this whole situation. A regular person would run away screaming, but the blond leech had hung around, and was milking them for favours for all he was worth.

He sighed. Do it for Kookie. It's all for Jungkook.

He mentally steeled himself and vowed to not openly show his distaste for Taehyung.

When he came back out, about to ask Taehyung to go and shower, he found the boy standing in front of the huge glass window that dominated the left wall of the living room. It looked out onto the river Han. Jimin stood beside him, his hands in his pockets, a gentle smile on his lips.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Jimin said softly, surprising himself. He was supposed to be annoyed with the boy, not admiring the view like sentimental friends.

Taehyung nodded. The view was exhilarating.

It was so beautiful that it made Taehyung want to get his sketchbook and pencils and sit down and just... draw. He wanted to draw everything; he wanted to capture it all.

The beauty was making him forget what he was really there for.

The sun had just begun to peek over the high-rise glass buildings and had cast the entire city in its warm golden glow. It reflected off the polished glass, bathed the leaves in its light and glared off the metal structures with beautiful precision, all straight rays and shining shadows and glimmering steel. The Han River shimmered; the slight waves made the surface of the water shine like precious stones. The city of Seoul was calm at this time of dawn, no vehicles or humans or smoke; just the gentle breeze and the kindness of the sun.

"It is. It's enamouring." Taehyung said, breathless.

Jimin regarded the boy with curiosity, his black and soulful eyes and his dyed-blond hair. The dye hadn't washed off yet, and in the gentle glow of the morning, against the golden and lilac sky, somewhere in the midst of sleeping and waking, the boy seemed ethereal.

A/N- Edited by @reallysmallgang <3