It's been over a year since Taehyung left and Jeongguk had learnt to stop letting the thought of him invade his mind. But sometimes the past collides with the present and suddenly Taehyung is in his parlor, asking for a tiger flower tattoo and Jeong...
The color must've drained from Taehyung's face because people who walked past him gave him pitiful looks. "G-Gyu?" He inhaled. The air sat at the hollow of his throat, unreleased.
"Seoul's a really cool place, actually. I see why you moved." Gyu continued on like he had just called to tell him the sky is blue.
"What the fuck."
"Nice weather too."
No... no, he can't be in Seoul. Panic swarmed in the pit of Taehyung's stomach and he glanced around anxiously, expecting the muzzle of a gun aimed at him from an alleyway or a window.
"I heard you reconnected with that fag of a boy Jeongguk again."
At this Taehyung's fear morphed into anger. "Don't call him that."
"Aww." The acidity in his brother's voice had Taehyung knit his eyebrows together in aggravation. "Cute that you're defending him when you're the one always putting him in danger." He tsked.
"What do you want, Gyu?"
"You disappeared so quickly, Tae-tae. You didn't even show up at dad's funeral."
Taehyung almost laughed at that. Now that the shock had worn off, he could taste the familiar bitterness on his tongue. "Give me one reason why he would care for me to come." He spat, getting another weird look from a passerby.
"You missed his will."
"I don't give a fuck about his will."
"Well I do." Gyu fired back. "You say dad hates you, but he left you a hell of a lot—"
"I don't want it." Taehyung cut him off. Whatever fortune it was, it had to be earned off drugs. Blue papers decorated with cartoon characters to lure in the kids. Put it on your tongue and suddenly you're hallucinating, nothing you see or hear or feel made any sense. Taehyung knew. His brother tricked him into trying one on their bedroom floor at ten years of age. Gyu found it quite fascinating. Taehyung begged to differ. He wanted nothing that was earned by harming other people's lives.
There was a scoff and Taehyung wondered why he hadn't ended the call. "I want it, you dumb fuck." Gyu said.
"Take it then."
"Listen very carefully, Taehyung." His brother suddenly goes straight to the point. "You're gonna be a good brother, fly back to home and fill in the paperwork for the transfer."
"No." Taehyung's jaw tensed, lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm not going anywhere near the likes of this so-called 'home'. Just send the paperwork. I'll take care of it and you can fuck off out of my life." He was about to hit decline when a certain name sounded over the call.
"That Jeongguk boy."
"Shut up" was Taehyung's immediate response.
"Pretty vulnerable little guy, isn't he?" Gyu chuckled. "I watched him cry after you left. You really broke that fella like a twig. And you still have the decency to go back to him? After all the damage you've caused?"
Taehyung exploded at that. "You and I both know dad was the one who made me—"
"Saved you." His brother corrected. "He saved you from sinning."
"You really want to accuse me of sinning when our entire family does drug trafficking? Touch a Bible and you'd evaporate."
"He saved you from becoming one of them. One of those—"
"You—" Taehyung sucked in a raging breath.
"They're infectious and disgusting and downright wrong." Gyu dragged on, "I told you to stop hanging around Jimin."
"Jimin has nothing to do with my sexuality— you know what? I'm not having this conversation with you. You're all close-minded pricks."
"Cut the call and I'll go hunting for your little boyfriend."
Taehyung's grip on his phone tightened, those words clouding his mind like a bad memory. No. Jeongguk cannot be targeted again because of him. He can't.
"Don't hurt him."
Taehyung groaned silently to himself, hating how pathetic he sounded, like a child awakened from a nightmare. He felt worse when a dark snicker came from the other end of the line.
"No promises. If he does get hurt, it'll be your fault all over again."
"You don't know where he is." Taehyung didn't know who he was trying to convince- his brother or himself. His family had a reputation of finding things out one way or another.
"Mhm. Sure." Gyu answered curtly. His next words were an order, not a suggestion. "You're coming home, brother. You have three days."
And the line went dead.
Taehyung felt his chin quiver as he willed himself to put down the phone, tears rolling steadily down his face. His head pounded, a side effect of this constant fear that he lived with- losing Jeongguk again.
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Me @ my own characters
Also the "blue paper cartoon characters" thing is Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), a kind of hallucinogenic drug in case y'all want to know
I'm not a drug dealer I swear I just read too many books
