Glitch | 김 석진

Three

A hefty sigh left her as she laid on her stomach, the cold air conditioning of the hotel room biting her skin that was exposed. Her face was squished on a pillow while her once bright eyes stared in the general direction of the side table, lamp, and large window that provided a view of Seoul's most expensive district, but at nothing in particular.

The sound of a credit card chopping up what she knew was cocaine echoed through the room while he did so at the vanity sink. With a rolled up 100,000 won bill, he sniffed the white powder into his nostrils that were red from years of drug abuse. He let out a satisfied noise before turning around to look at her.

"Want some?"

She shook her head against the pillow, not bothering to face him. "I'm clean, Tae. You know that."

"Right, right," he said as if it had slipped his mind for only a moment—although he always offered her whatever he was taking. "My bad." Another long sigh left her, prompting him to look at her with concern. "Noona." She didn't answer.

Taehyung sighed before standing and tightening the robe's plush ropes around him. He jumped on the bed and laid on top of her back, placing quick kisses to her shoulder and neck. "Victoria...are you mad?"

"What are we doing, Taehyung?" she mumbled.

He could already feel the effects of the drugs, which made him completely miss the serious tone in her voice. "Cuddling after some great sex—which I think should continue in the shower," he said, growing more hyper with the seconds. "I could totally go for another round." His kisses became more aggressive until she turned around underneath him.

"I'm serious!"

He furrowed his eyebrows at her yelling. "So am I!" Taehyung retorted before pressing down against her and placing a wet kiss to her neck. "I'm already getting hard again..."

"Stop." Victoria pushed him off and sat up. "I hate being around you when you're high."

A hysterical laugh left him, making her shut her eyes tightly. "I'm always high, Noona. This isn't a fucking surprise."

"Well I wish you would stop," she affirmed and opened her eyes to stare into his. But he was too far gone. His pupils took up almost all of his iris, blocking out the pretty brown like a total eclipse.

Taehyung rolled his eyes and got off of the bed quickly, looking all around as if someone was about to come in or pop out from behind the couch. "Whatever. I'll go finish myself off. Call me when you're done being a buzzkill." He ran to the bathroom and jumped inside before slamming the door shut.

Victoria draped an arm over the bed to grab her bra that was on the floor. By the time she had all of her clothes on, the constant running of water had started. Taehyung's grunts and moans flowed through the door and would have turned her on if she wasn't about to cry.

She grabbed her purse and shut the door behind her. Her room key was still stuffed into her purse, as they had only been using Taehyung's.

It was just yesterday that they had checked into the hotel to be closer to the screening location of their movie. Their managers advised them to get seperate rooms as to not create a stir if the public found something out, but they had also advised them not to engage in a sexual relationship.

They disregarded both those pieces of wisdom.

Since she knew he used multiple types of drugs, not just that one, she wanted to wait in the lobby until he came down from his high. She had to talk to him.

Taehyung was the most important person in her life. They only had each other. He was her best friend—her only friend.

-

"Hey." The deep soothing voice pierced her ears like breaking glass as Taehyung shook her awake. Victoria rose slowly on the lobby bench where she had drifted off waiting for him after sending a text. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand while he rubbed her shoulder. "I'm ready to talk."

"Are you—"

"I'm straight," he promised, and upon looking at his eyes she found that his irises had returned to normal, no longer dominated by the pitch black.

Victoria stood, taking his large hand in hers while tugging him back to the room. "Come on." He only smiled at her small hand pulling him around as he followed.

Once inside, she shut and locked the door, which made Taehyung a bit wary. She sat on the couch and waited for him to take the seat next to her before holding both of his hands. "Do you remember when I first came to the orphanage?"

Taehyung's lips tugged upward at the memory. "Of course. Everybody was curious about you because you're half American."

"But you were the one that talked to me."

He nodded proudly, thumbs stroking her skin. "I had the biggest crush on you."

She mirrored his smile, wishing she could return to those days when things were so simple. "You were a royal pain in my ass." Their laughter filled the room that was empty with tense silence moments before. The smile danced away from her face as she turned serious once more. "You said you'd always protect me." He fell silent as she swallowed hard, unable to look him in the eyes.

She could only focus on the tiny freckle above his right nostril that she loved to poke on rainy days when they were stuck inside with the other kids. The difference was that they were so close as to cuddle up to each other in the corner of the cold room. They created warmth where there was none. They loved each other when no one else did.

"You've kept your word," she continued, voice shaking. "And now it's time that I protect you." Taehyung sighed, knowing what was coming. "You have a problem, Tae. It's killing me to see you do this to yourself."

"I don't want to talk about this," he muttered, averting his gaze.

Victoria took a deep breath to stop the tears from falling, but it was too late. "Then there's something else I want to say." He looked at her now, curiosity getting the better of him. "I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Do what?" he asked quietly, fear gripping his heart.

"This...meaningless sex thing."

His eyebrows drew in, expression finally turning serious. "It's not meaningless. I love you." He looked so handsome that way that she couldn't help but reach out to run her fingers over his cheek.

"I love you, too," she said softly. "But I can't watch you destroy yourself."

"Don't leave me," he pleaded, his grip on her hands tightening. "I'll do anything. I'll stop, I swear. Just please..."

He bowed his head to rest on her shoulder, hands now moving to hold her around the waist. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and stroked his hair soothingly as she cried softly. "You're sick, baby. Let me help you." His shoulders shook under her embrace as he began to cry as well.

Taehyung and Victoria were not happy in this reality, and Jin would soon find out the fates of the rest of his lost friends as well.

Fixing everything would turn out to be much harder than he originally thought.