Blood In The Water / Mafia / Kim Taehyung

~ 10

We enter the large garden via the back door, the cold air instantly washing over my body. I wrap my arms tight around myself to stop the air penetrating through my clothing. Jungkook guides me to the stone wall that extends from one end of the garden to the other. There's a brief stretch of silence before he starts speaking.

"I know what you're thinking. I don't understand Taehyung a lot of the time either. He's complicated, and has these walls built around him, but so does everyone else here. I forgive him for it, because I was just the same. Despite what he tells you, he's struggled after losing his family. I don't blame him for that either," Jungkook speaks as a cloud of condensation leaves his lips, the bitter air biting at our faces. The mention of his family makes me think of my own and what it could have been like. Who are they? What are they doing? I don't even know if they're still alive. If they are, are they happy? Or do they feel the same empty gap they created in my life when they gave me up?

"That's not an excuse. Taehyung had a family. I was refused a family before I even knew what it meant. How do you teach a child what the word family means, when they have nothing that even comes close to it?" I stare out at the garden in front of us, it's perfectly shaped hedges and flower beds. Jungkook is sat close enough I can feel the body heat radiate off him, a relief from the cold.

"I think Taehyung's starting to realise he cares for you much more than he should," Jungkook speaks quietly over the gentle call of birdsong. "There have been girls like you before, brought in by Taehyung for various reasons. I couldn't tell you where half of them are now. Not all have been as easy to let go of," Jungkook trails off fleetingly, seemingly revisiting old memories in his head. "Taehyung's never developed a soft spot for any of the others, but it seems like he has for you. I don't think he's quite sure how to deal with it." Jungkook turns to face me, to see my reaction but I refuse to meet his eyes. "Are you fucking joking? He doesn't care for me, never has and most likely never will."

"Do you not want me to mention how Taehyung always stays to wipe your tears, even if he's the one who has created them. He literally just kicked his girlfriend out of the house for hurting you. You'd see it too if you weren't constantly avoiding his eyes because I get the feeling deep down you're not sure how you feel about him too." Jungkook swings his legs back and forth, giving me a small smile. I feel my heartbeat quicken in time with my short and sharp breathes. I find myself picturing Taehyung's eyes, his bright, chocolate coloured irises, framed by thick, dark lashes.

"What are you talking about?" I furrow my eyebrows. My grip on the stone wall beneath me tightens and I'm suddenly aware of how cold it is under my fingertips.

"You should have seen your face when you found out he had a girlfriend. Then you'd know what I mean," Jungkook laughs lightly. He doesn't realise how his words stab at my heart because I hated any kind of talk about emotions. I'd spent my entire life hiding how I felt, so to have a stranger be able to read me in such a short space of time was unnerving.

"Please stop acting like you know my emotions. I get it we both grew up in the same circumstances but that doesn't mean you know me or my past. I think it's best for both of us if we stop talking so freely like this." I jump down from the wall, walking away from Jungkook, who I hear follow after me.

"Hanna, I wasn't trying to upset you," Jungkook calls after me as I quicken my steps. The problem was, Jungkook hadn't upset me, he'd just opened my eyes. I didn't know if I felt about Taehyung like that. I shouldn't. I should hate him and I knew that but I had also noticed that Taehyung always stayed to clean up the aftermath he'd created. But that couldn't be because he genuinely cared for me, that was him simply emotionally manipulating me.

I half-jog back into the house to lose Jungkook. As I get to the bottom of the stairs I glance back quickly to make sure he's not still following me. With no sign of the male I let out a sigh of relief which is knocked from my lungs as I walk head first into a broad chest. "You really need to be more careful. You're so clumsy," Taehyung breathes out, accompanied with an eye roll.