Before the Dawn (jikook/ vminkook)

17. Sunrise

The sun rose, just as Taehyung knew it must.

The day didn't look any different from the day before as he'd assumed it would, but he could feel the shift all the same. The shift had come from within.

Maybe he was being dramatic. He didn't care. The ache in his chest was real.

He wanted to set every memory he had of Jimin and Jungkook alight. Wanted to watch the blaze consume it all, freeing every inch of space they occupied in his mind. It would be a big task. He'd need copious amounts of butane, or maybe naphtha. And matches. And-

The rumbling of his stomach interrupted Taehyung's train of thought.

And breakfast.

He still had basic human needs to take care of, us much as he wanted to ignore them.

Taheyung watched the worried messages from Mina roll across his screen.

I don't know what happened last night,
but I just wanted to make sure you're ok...

He shut off his phone. It was nice of her to worry, but what could he possibly tell her? Certainly not the truth. He was in this alone. He had to be.

Taehyung found himself checking the calendar, wondering when his dad would be home. He'd been trying not to think of his parents at all, was trying to adapt to a system of complete self-reliance, but here he was... he missed his dad.

And his mom. Her business trip would be over in a few days, but hell, what did it matter, he missed her even when she was home. And so he spited her for it, and avoided her even when she was here, even when he claimed to miss her.

And the vicious cycle continued. The loneliness clung tightly, his only constant companion.

Maybe he should text Mina back...

But Taehyung just didn't know what to say. He thought about it, truly, but he just couldn't come up with the words.

So he stayed in the house for the rest of the long weekend, accompanied only by silence and the occasional visits of the sea in his nightmares; waves like teeth crashing down relentlessly, gnawing him to the bone.