The Most Beautiful Moment In Life

04. Run

Life began to get to each of us.

January.

December came like a quick intake of breath and went like a heavy sigh. Once the cozy feeling of the holidays was over, winter became harsh and merciless. An icy fist that squeezed and squeezed until there was no warmth left. Taehyung was used to it though. He'd never liked winter. Not since his mom had died just after Christmas his fifth year. Mina had been too young to remember her, being only three years old, but Taehyung could remember her perfectly still, as if he'd talked to her just the day before.

He and his sister used to stay up late a lot—at least whenever they were both home—curled up on their shared bed, facing each other, covered in two layers of clothes and three blankets because their father turned the heat way down whenever he wasn't home, which was often. Not often enough though in Taehyung's opinion. But they would lay like that for hours and Taehyung would tell Mina stories about their mother. He didn't have many spectacular ones—being he really could only remember a few from such a young age—but once those ran out, she started asking him simpler things. What did mom look like? What did she smell like? What did she sound like? Feel like?

"She looked like spring, smelled like flowers, sounded like rain and felt like sunshine." How else could he describe her? Maybe his memories were clouded by the happier life he'd lived with her in it but he'd rather have this version of her in his mind. He needed it. Needed something good to cling to.

*

The first time his father had hit him, he'd apologized profusely afterward, and made Taehyung promise he'd never tell a soul. He didn't. And he didn't the second and third time either or any time after that. He'd never told anyone, other than his friends and only because they grew suspicious of the bruises and the injuries and his unexpected late night calls asking if he could sleep over.

Over the years, he became good at reading the signs and predicting when his dad was going to have an outburst. If he got home from work and slammed the door behind him, it was time to retreat to the bedroom and bolt the door. If he came with a freshly bought bottle of alcohol, it was time to leave. Taehyung's only reason for not moving out was Mina. He'd made a promise to her and himself that he'd always be there to protect her, even if that meant taking the brunt of the abuse himself. Which it always did.

He'd ended up in the hospital a few times keeping his dad away from his sister, stepping in the way of the punches, even tackling the man to the floor to give her a chance to run. It always ended badly but he never complained. Not when it would be so much worse for her. She didn't deserve to live in fear like this. He didn't either but especially not her. He at least had good memories of their mother. She only had the nightmares that came with having a monster for a father.

When things got too hard, his friends were his escape. Five of them had their own problems. And five of them had families that would get suspicious if he came around too often and he couldn't risk anyone going to the police and tearing him away from his sister. The one person he could always count on to help and be his safe place was Namjoon.

The boy was an orphan living secretly at the gas station where he worked. Taehyung didn't have to hide anything from him. In fact, there were countless times in the past where he'd show up at the gas station pounding on the door at two in the morning, broken and bleeding and Namjoon wouldn't say anything. He would just let him inside and make room for him on the small twin blow-up mattress he dragged out of the broom closet every night. And if he was too worked up to sleep, the two would go out into the city and find something to do. This usually involved spray paint and a concrete wall. More than once the two found themselves running from police sirens, having been caught mid-tag. Namjoon wasn't the best influence but he was what Taehyung needed.