In the middle vmk

TWENTY FOUR

Taehyung was a fragile person, more so than he liked to admit. But he always held his head high when needed, especially when he felt others look down upon him. He didn't need pity, didn't want people worrying about him, and especially not when it was about his money situation.

He didn't want pity because he didn't deserved any of it. He didn't want worry since it was futile to add worry to his own endless doubting. It all made him feel so much more guilt when others got involved and started caring, because, no, the money situation was not because of his parents. And no, he wasn't depressed because life was cruel to him. Life had given him what he wanted and he had been cruel to the lives around him.

He didn't come from a poor family, nor did he leave them to earn money for them. He wasn't loved by them and neither did he love himself anymore. The once popular and rich student had spiraled himself down and had stripped himself off any happiness. And why? Because he was too young, too naïve, too stupid and far too confident.

He still remembered how the front door had slammed shut after leaving his parents house. It was the last time he had seen them, it was the last time he had exchanged a word with them. And the last ones he had spoken had been nothing but yells and curses, leaving nothing left unspoken.

Running away with his boyfriend, wanting to chase faraway dreams in the big city and becoming an independent adult had been his vision, a vision he thought he shared with his boyfriend at that time.

But what was left from that vision was nothing but pure misery. He still was an independent adult, only he was one that didn't actually know how to take care of himself- or he simply didn't care about himself. He didn't have a boyfriend anymore since the damn bastard had vanished, together with the paintings Taehyung had once created, taking both Taehyung's well earned money and unending trust with him.

And his dreams... his dreams had been given up on ever since Taehyung's heart had done the same. He hadn't touched a brush since then. Hadn't dared to splatter paint on the canvas. He needed to feel something, needed to open his heart and mind in order to create art, and those were things he couldn't do ever since his life went to shit.

Instead of returning home he started hanging around the wrong crowd. He got offered a not so legal job, became an addict along the way, and ended up in prison for a few months. He had no idea if his parents knew what he had done, if they had heard the news about their son becoming a criminal, but he'd rather not think about it.

Much like he didn't like to think about the situation he was in right now. Teenage Taehyung had been in situations like this a lot, throwing up in toilet bowls at friends' houses, but that was mostly because of parties and being overly drunk. He was quite the rebel when he was in high school and liked taking his friends to clubs, just to get drunk and make out with older people.

He had changed, turned into an anti-social person, but still loved to get drunk, even if it wasn't as fun as it used to be. There were no friends surrounding him, no people to dance with, flirt with, no family to return to when he was tired of his night out.

If he was the Taehyung he had been a year ago, he would've jumped out of the bathroom window. He would've ran and never looked back, not caring about the people in this house. He couldn't live with embarrassment anymore, especially not when something like this happened around people he tried to act tough with. But sadly, he did care about these people, and he couldn't just leave without a word.

So he did what the Taehyung he was now would do. He flushed the toilet, sprayed a flowery air freshener, cracked open the bathroom window, and left the room. There he saw how Jungkook was coming up the stairs, a plate of cookies balanced on his hand.

The younger boy spotted him and his eyes immediately lit up, "Hyung! You're back". He looked relieved to see that the older male had finally emerged from the bathroom, his worry had started to gnaw at him.

Taehyung scratched the back of his neck, hoping to god his discomfort didn't show too much, "Yeah, sorry it took so long".

"No! Is okay!", he then stared at the plate of cookies, "Parents asked if we like dessert but told them no. They still gave me plate of cookies in case", the younger boy spoke, looking kind of unsure of his next words, "Didn't tell them about you sick".

The blue haired male cracked a smile, "Thanks. It would have been rather embarrassing if they knew".

The smaller noticed how his words seemed to lift a weight from Taehyung's shoulders. He smiled at that.

"Oh! I forgot the glass of water you gave me. It's still in the bathroom". Taehyung turned around and jogged back to the room, not hearing Jungkook say to just leave it. The younger shrugged & walked towards his bedroom where Jimin was still waiting. He heard Taehyung follow him in, the glass of water in his hands.

"Taehyung!", Jimin smiled, relieved to see that the boy's face had some color again, "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure, I'm good", the taller replied, waving the question away, "You don't have to worry too much".

When would he ever stop lying? He didn't know. It had become a second nature to him and there was no way in hell he'd tell these guys the truth. They seemed like they were excellent at worrying, and he didn't need that worry directed towards him.

"What happened though?", Jimin asked, "Jungkook already started worrying it was his parents' cooking".

Taehyung quickly shook his head, "No, it was probably the take away sushi I ate last night. I should have known the place looked dodgy".

Jungkook placed down the plate of cookies, one immediately being attacked by Jimin's quick hand. "Sushi is always a risk", Jimin munched, his legs dangling off the bed.

Taehyung nodded, averting his eyes away from the cookies. His stomach turned just by the mere thought of eating again, "A risk I'm willing to take though".

The rest of the evening went fine. It had gotten late so after finishing the plate of cookies, Taehyung and Jimin made their way out of the house. They said their goodbyes and thank yous to the parents and then left to go home.

They would be here again tomorrow any way. Taehyung huffed at the idea. "Oh come on, big guy. It's not that bad. There will be lots of snacks, lots of cozy blankets, sing along songs, just a nice movie night overall".

"Does it look like I care about cozy blankets? And it's the songs I'm worried about. I fucking hate musicals", Taehyung muttered, shoving his hands deeper into his jacket.

"Don't be such a party pooper", Jimin mocked, shoving the younger to the side. The blue haired male lifted an eyebrow at that and shoved the smaller back, making Jimin fly into a nearby hedge.

"Oh my god".

Taehyung didn't know whether to be concerned about Jimin's lack of stability or his own incredibly strength. He also didn't know if he should help the older or if he should laugh his ass off.

He decided on the latter.

"Ha ha, very funny", Jimin huffed, shaking the leaves and twigs off himself, "You're stronger than you think".

Taehyung smirked, continuing to walk he said, "Or you're weaker than you think".

"We"ll see about that tomorrow", Jimin frowned, trying to catch up with his shorter legs, "I'll be challenging you!"

The younger rolled his eyes and snorted, "Sure, bring it on shorty".

A bit of background information about Taehyung. Next chapter will hopefully be a bit more interesting. I also found the song to be quite fitting, it was playing as I wrote the chapter.