Feel | tk. ✔️

𝘵𝘸𝘰

One thing that wasn't exactly included on Taehyung's daily routine, was the frantic knock on his front door that echoed throughout the house like an unwanted—much less expected—presence. His abode was quite grand, standing more as a castle than a home, and he intended to keep it that way seeing as it tended scared off any unwanted company. Usually, that was the case.

Taehyung scowled as the furious pattern of knocks continued on and on, muffled pleads falling on deaf ears as Taehyung promptly ignored the disturbance, chapped lips sipping on freshly brewed tea with an eerie calmness.

"Please! Please let me in! I-I'll do anything!" The voice persisted, accompanied by a fist pounding on the wood of Taehyung's front door. "Crazy bastard," Taehyung murmured distastefully, setting down his porcelain cup and wrapping his robe around himself tighter. He had absolutely no desire to welcome a guest into his home, and even if he did, they'd be scared out of their wits within the first hour of being there.

More than ready to watch the boy run away from pure fear of his appearance, Taehyung threw open the door, watching with twisted pleasure as the boy jump when the wooden slab hit the inside wall with a crack, resembling the horrifying snap of a barbed whip. Although, contrary to what was expected, the boy simply stared up at him with awe, rosy pink lips parted into an 'o' shape, and eyes widened with child-like innocence and curiosity.

"What the hell are you staring at?" Taehyung snapped, voice unexpectedly raspy from lack of proper use. It had to have been decades since he'd spoken to anyone. "S-sorry, I-I just—can I come in? Please?" He squeaked, rushing forward to fist his hands within the front of Taehyung's robe. Taehyung growled, prying the boy's hands off of himself and pushing him away, visibly irked.

"Don't fucking touch me you bastard." Taehyung spat, taking in the boy's ragged and unkept appearance. His shirt was ripped and dirtied, the material resembling that of a potato sack that left unattractively raw and irritated rashes across the snowy paleness of his skin. Similarly, an entirely cheap and unpleasantly thin material sat atop his waist and fell down to his ankles, loose and baggy against his legs. Taehyung frowned at the dirt tainting the boy's bare feet, and then again when he spotted the multiple scabbing gashes across his chest and arms.

Taehyung sighed, he would die within a few days if he left those wounds unattended to. Unlike himself, some people didn't seem to prefer the hands of death. "Don't touch anything, unless I say otherwise, do you understand?" The boy nodded furiously, squeaking out his 'thank you's while simultaneously scrambling to keep up with Taehyung as he descended a grand flight of cobblestone stairs.

It seemed he wasn't remotely afraid of Taehyung's appearance, if not the exact opposite, and Taehyung himself had yet to figure out why.

Taehyung abruptly halted in front of a large stone door, throwing a dirty look at the boy behind him when he collided with his back. Reveling in the tiny squeak of fear he heard, Taehyung turned the cool metal handle beneath his fingers to reveal a rather luxurious bathing room. Everything was made of a dark, raw granite and accented with beautiful leaves of gold, the color glimmering a different shade of the rainbow with each angle you might choose to observe it from.

"Come," Taehyung spoke, beckoning the young boy inside and closing the door behind him with an ominous echo. Hesitantly, he obeyed the order, shuffling forward with a downcast gaze until he was standing before Taehyung's looming figure. He wasn't much shorter than Taehyung, but just his aura sent a plethora of chills down the boy's spine.

Without much thought, Taehyung's fingers gently lifted the shaggy boy's chin, the touch cool and frigid against his heated skin.

"What do I call you?" He asked, staring deeply into the boy's eyes. He fish-mouthed for a moment, blinking his lashes as if he'd forgotten his own name. "J-Jeongguk." He stammered in response, breath hitching when Taehyung mindlessly traced his thumb across the mole beneath his bottom lip. "Very well then," he released Jeongguk's chin, pointing a dainty finger towards the granite ledge of a bathtub, "sit, if you will."