Twenty Four

Prologue

Pit, pat, pit, pat. The rain sang it's sorrowful song. Longing to be heard. Sitting solemnly at the worn-down table, Hope was listening.

To the rain.
To the sounds.
To the footsteps drawing ever so close.

The front door bursts open revealing two long silhouettes. One I knew immediately. My brother, Hoseok. But the guy, his lanky arm draped around Hoseok, was unfamiliar. The new boy's leather jacket was soaked through and his hair dripped furiously.

"Start the kettle, quick," Hoseok demanded as he dragged the boy in and dropped him on our only other chair.
"What happened?" I asked, but he ignored me.
"Hey, hey? You okay? Come on Taehyung! Answer me!" Furiously patting the boy's face, Hoseok started to stress. His breath became shallow. A tremor began in his hand.

Another panic attack was coming.

Rushing, I grab a towel and crouch down beside him, placing my hand on his shoulder.

He turned towards me.
"It's gonna be fine. He's going to be fine. You need to get a blanket and a pair of dry clothes for him," I try to comfort him.
He nodded and slowly stood up.

He was shaking.
He was scared.
What was it about this boy that worried my brother so much?

Minutes later, Hoseok returned with a blanket and wrapped it around the cold boy. I fetched the kettle. I put the cup of hot water on the table, and returned to my brother's side.

Hours passed. The boy still hasn't woken.
Tears were smeared all over Hoseok's face. Deciding it was time to go to bed, I got up.
Suddenly, a murmur escaped out of the boy's lips.
Hoseok looked up with hope glistening in his eyes.
He was alive.

"Tae! It's me, Hoseok!" Hoseok, having a weight lifted off him, gets up and wraps his arm around the wet haired boy.
"Gett...offm...m...meee," the cold boy croaked as he shivered under Hoseok's figure. Chuckles escaped out of both of us but soon enough, fatigue replaced that feeling. We fell asleep beside him.

...

Days passed and Taehyung still remained in our one-bedroom apartment. He had gotten better but refused to leave. My curiosity was overwhelming.
One day, I couldn't keep to myself anymore.
I blurted out while Hoseok was half-asleep.
"Hey, why's this guy still in our home?"

"Hope, I'm sorry..I haven't really explained anything to you yet.....this guy is Taehyung, he's one of my best friends." He slowly stood up and walked over to the little shelf, picked up a small framed picture and brought it over.

"You know the guys right? Jungkook, Jimin, Namjoon, Yoongi, and Jin. Remember when we were younger and you asked me who this boy crouching beside me was?" Hoseok pointed to a small kid in ripped jeans and a blue shirt.
I have a vague memory of that day, however it's been so many years. I even forgot that this picture existed.
I nodded.

"Well, that boy was Taehyung," he continued.
The Taehyung in the picture looked very different from the freezing boy who walked into our home days ago. The Taehyung in the picture wasn't only younger, but the posture, the smile, and everything, radiated happiness. The Taehyung I see now radiated the exact opposite.
"How come I've never seen him around before? You and the other guys all meet up at least once a week," I asked curiously.
"I've never been able to leave the house...unless it's for education purposes." A deep voice startled me from behind.
"Ah Tae. You woke up...great timing. I was just explaining things to Hope. Come sit."
Awkwardly, he walked over and sat on the floor between us.
"Alright...um...Tae why don't you tell Hope something about yourself," Hoseok starts.

"I'm 18 and I hate my life," he grunted.

Dang.

I was taken aback by that. That sounds depressing, even I haven't complained yet.

"Uh...why?" I asked
"You wouldn't understand," he replied.
I frowned.
I hate it when people say that. They don't know what I've been through. Getting abandoned by my parents when I was seven was pretty bad. Hoseok practically raised me.

"She hates it when people say that," Hoseok read my mind.
"Why is that my problem? You won't understand," Taehyung rolled his eyes.

Whoa. This boy got attitude too.
I crossed my arms and shot him a glare.

"Hey, no fighting...Taehyung just try to clear some things up," Hoseok shakes his head.
"Just tell me. Come on, I'm quite a good liste-"
"Hope, let him speak," Hoseok cuts me off.
I take a deep breathe "Fine."
"My dad is the CEO of KIO." Taehyung starts
"WAIT. So your dad's rich?" I interrupt.

He nods.
"My parents have very high expectations of me and constantly tell me what I can and can't do. They force all their dreams onto me. I needed another break from that, so I escaped and ended up here," he continued.
"Wait let me get this straight. You're from a rich family and CHOSE to take refuge in our apartment?!? What is wrong with you. Out of all the places, why here?"
"Well I didn't really choose. You're brother kinda dragged me here."
"He brought you here because you were about to freeze to death! You could've gone to a place with a roof at least," I exclaim.
"Fair enough."
"But still. You have parents to bring food to your table, money, and education practically at your door. Yet! You ran away?" I shouted.
Hoseok tried to stop me.

"Hoseok works so hard to provide for us. We can barely get by with life decently. I want to go to university but we hardly have enough for food!" I burst out.
Fury was covering my gaze, along with tears threatening to roll down.
"Lastly.....you don't know what it's like.....I can't ......" With that, I quickly ran to the bedroom. As I locked the door behind me, tears poured out of my eyes. I sat there sobbing.

After Hope's little speech, Hoseok was on the verge of tears as well. He ran after Hope but she slammed the door before he could get to her. He decided to let Hope cool down. He walked back to the table shaking his head, his hands pushed his hair away from his forehead

"Sorry about that." Hoseok said to Taehyung.

Taehyung simply nodded. He knew he was the one who made Hoseok's sister cry but he was in so much pain that he couldn't feel much empathy anymore. She didn't understand. No one would.

...

They took him the next day. By 'they' I mean men in black suits. And by 'him' I mean Taehyung. I don't know how they found him nor how they got in our home. But they did and Taehyung was gone. Another thing I didn't know was that the next time I'd see him would be in two years.

A/N

Hey, it's a start of a new story. I hope you will enjoy it! Please let me know if you have any comments or feedback, I would love to hear it. Anyway, thank you for reading and have a great day. Love you💜~