✔️ 𝐈𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 | 𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐮𝐤

Chapter Thirty-One.

Taehyung/Jeongguk

After a week in the ICU, Taehyung was able to move to a regular hospital room. His face was returning to its normal appearance, and the pain decreased a bit day by day. Of course, during all this, he only had one thing on his mind: he needed to contact Namjoon somehow. He had a lot of questions, and hopefully Namjoon had some answers.

However, he knew it would be awhile until he would be able to get away. He was hooked up to too many monitors and IV fluids to be able to escape, and he wasn't sure how far he'd be able to walk on his own.

Besides, he was sure that Namjoon wasn't even in the hospital now. Walking around aimlessly to find him would be a waste of time.

One night, after everyone had gone to bed, Taehyung used the remote control for the television to click through all the channels slowly, waiting for something to spark his interest. He had gone through the cycle a few times when a knock came at his door.

"Come in," he called, wondering who was visiting him this late.

Taehyung couldn't help but smile as Jeongguk slipped into the room, looking rather tired but still grinning as soon as he saw Taehyung.

"Ggukie!" Taehyung exclaimed warmly, holding his arms out as an invitation for Jeongguk to come hug him. "What're you doing here?"

Jeongguk made his way over to the bed, leaning forward to pepper Taehyung with kisses. Taehyung giggled as he did so, beaming at the ticklish yet pleasant sensation.

"Everyone else is asleep, and I figured this is the only time I could get you to myself," Jeongguk said once he pulled away. He hopped on the bed and cuddled up to Taehyung.

"I missed you," Taehyung breathed, gazing into Jeongguk's amber eyes.

"I missed you, too, Tae," Jeongguk replied. "To be honest, the last week has felt like we aren't even dating."

Taehyung frowned. "Why?"

"Your parents. Your dad has already accused me of ruining you. At least your mom seems nice."

Taehyung flashed a sad smile. "Yeah, my dad has always been like that. I assume he's given you hell for the tattoos?"

"And piercings!" Jeongguk replied. "It's amazing how easily he disregarded my existence just because of my appearance. What happened to getting to know someone before hating them?"

Taehyung used his arm to pull Jeongguk even closer to him, if that were even possible, and began to ran his hand up and down his back soothingly. "I'm sorry my dad is like that. I haven't seen him in awhile for a reason. I know he would hate everything about me now if he were to know, so I only keep in touch with my mother. At least she would be quiet about hating my decisions."

Jeongguk frowned yet nodded, shifting his gaze downward to get a good look at Taehyung's tattoo. At the moment, only the wing was visible, but it reminded him of simpler, happier times.

"Taehyung-ah, I have a question," he began.

Taehyung looked at him expectantly. "What's your question?"

"Well... I want to know. I want to know what happened in your past - specifically that night everyone keeps alluding to. I may never understand, but I want to know what you're going through so I can-"

Taehyung hushed him with his hand. "You don't have to explain yourself. I should've told you awhile ago, anyway."

Jeongguk nodded, showing Taehyung that he was ready to listen.

Taehyung took a deep sigh. "Well, it all started with my friend, Minhyun."

-

Jeongguk was speechless.

It had taken Taehyung roughly 30 minutes to explain everything, and he had started to tear up near the end, his voice becoming shaky and emotional, yet he finished his story without fully crying. Jeongguk was surprised by that the least.

"Taehyung..." Jeongguk started, still thinking hard about what he wanted to say. "This is what you've been blaming yourself for this whole time?"

Taehyung nodded, biting his lip. The tears were flowing down his cheeks, yet he was stopping anything more. He felt that he had cried too much lately, and he was tired of it.

"None of that is your fault, baby." Jeongguk's voice was barely above a whisper. "It's unfortunate that Minhyun was hit, but you didn't ask him to run to you. It was his decision."

Taehyung pressed his eyes closed, shaking his head slowly. "I never should've left - I should've known he was going to follow me. He was a good friend, he always wanted to make sure I was okay. Even if he made a lapse of his judgement while he was drunk that night, that doesn't reflect how good he was to me all those years."

Jeongguk used his sleeve to wipe Taehyung's tears. "That doesn't make it your fault. You had to get away, especially after being betrayed like that."

Taehyung's eyelids opened, revealing the aching eyes rimmed with red below. "But he didn't betray me," he whimpered. "I knew those two had chemistry from the moment I saw them together the first time, but- but-" The sobs overtook him.

As Jeongguk pulled Taehyung into his arms, he whispered soothing words in hopes of helping even a little. It was obvious that Taehyung had never sought help for his trauma - he simply took the blame for everything instead of coping with it in a healthy way. Jeongguk couldn't imagine the emotional distress that Taehyung must've been under since everything happened.

However, despite the sadness that hung like dense fog over the room, Jeongguk was relieved that he finally knew what happened. He could now push Taehyung towards therapy, something he had probably needed desperately for the last few years.

For now, though, Jeongguk would do his best to comfort Taehyung.