Staegma ✧ taejin

31: Taehyung

Twelve months ago

Taehyung should have listened to his best friend. Really.

"So, I'll see you around?" Taehyung had said before he parted ways with Jin, who gave a playful eyebrow raise meaning 'yes' in return.

There was a stinging feeling on the left side of his stomach, and he decided to ignore it. It was a bad idea.

"Hey, wait, before you go, I'll give you a. . . present, of some sort," Jin said unconfidently. "I don't know if it's still edible after you time travel, but—"

"Listen, I appreciate the thought, but we're in different universes with different timelines — I doubt the present will still be edible."

"Alright."

Taehyung nodded. He was internally hissing in pain, because there was something on the left side of his stomach that is eating him away. If only he could voice it out.

Fuck.

"However," Jin began again, and he opened the back door to the cafe. "I can give you something on the house. Like a drink, or something, so you won't get thirsty or hungry."

"Are you sure? I care about your business profit." And the pain on the left side of my stomach.

"One drink won't change anything." Jin closed the door again, and they both stayed outside of the cafe. "But it's fine if you don't really want to."

It hurts so fucking bad.

"Are you okay?" Jin asked. "You seem to be in pain."

Taehyung gave a thumbs up and a wide grin.

Fuck it. He pulled his leather bag closer to him.

Jin suddenly laughed. "You look like you were forced by your parents for a picture."

Taehyung gave a disgusted expression.

"Don't be disgusted, it's cute."

He could feel his ears going red at the compliment. Jin laughed more, softly touching Taehyung's left ear, to which Taehyung didn't really mind, because the pain on his stomach was difficult — far more difficult to handle.

It hurts so bad. . .

"Ah." Taehyung removed Jin's hand from his left ear. With a large smile, he says, "This is the second time I'm saying this: I'll see you around?"

"I'll see you in the game. Hey, stay. . . healthy, okay?" Jin bid awkwardly.

Taehyung just laughed, a little bit loudly. Then he walked away with a boxy grin on his mouth and a pain on his stomach.

After Taehyung had left from the other universe, he went home with a stinging wound on the left side of his stomach. This was one of those things that RM and Christian meant about the level of being dangerous that is to travel. No one could really compete with space and forces, maybe?

The transportation phenomena was really dizzying — for Taehyung, at least — and he used his leather bag to put pressure on the left side of his stomach.

"It could be really dizzying if you're not used to it..."

Christian — or Jimin — held on Taehyung's head, willing the boy to stop walking. They were currently on the elder's office in the antique shop, previously owned by Mr Bang. There was a short period of silence before Taehyung nudged Christian and told him he wanted to go home.