NOVOCAINE | vkook ✓

36 | the lies hidden beneath

━CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX━

taehyung nervously bites on his nails, a bad habit of his that he had gotten rid of before but now has been recently crawling back to him.

he eyed the television with caution.

"the police are still in search of jeon jeongguk, who is suspected of murdering his father in cold-blood at his office. the motive behind the murder is still unknown but—"

taehyung sighs, running a hand through his hair as he settles down in one of the sofa chairs.

he's been hiding jeongguk in one of his spare apartments, but it's only a matter of time before the cops come knocking at his own door.

no one suspected jeongguk of anything until his mother had spoken up about his mental health issues.

taehyung clenched his fist as the said woman appeared on the screen, fake tears falling down her makeup-crusted cheeks as she lied through her teeth.

"my son has been mentally unstable for a very long time. my husband and i gave him everything, but it wasn't enough. he's insane! he even killed all those people at the psychiatric hospital!"

well, she wasn't lying about everything, but still.

taehyung heard something fall in the background, and whipped his head around. his stern expression dropped when he noticed jeongguk standing in the doorway, his hair was wet from his shower and the towel he had been using to dry it lay in a heap on the floor. the boy's eyes were glued on the television, his face was blank.

"darling—" taehyung was cut off when jeongguk's brother appeared on the screen.

"he has always been violent, lashing out at me and our parents." 

jeongguk's left eye twitched. 

"we always knew something was wrong, but we never thought it would lead to this. my own brother has killed people. i could never be more ashamed. he murdered our father, who's only ever given us love. he's a monster."

taehyung turned away from the tv to look back onto jeongguk, only to find the spot empty.

panic rose up his throat as he heard the front door slam shut.

"jeongguk!" taehyung growled as he started scrambling towards the entrance, running after the enraged teen. "jeongguk!" the older grabbed the boy's wrist, twisting him around.

"let go! m'gonna kill them! those motherfuckers! they deserve to die!" taehyung's brows furrow as he sees jeongguk's deranged expression.

the older swallowed. it's his fault, he knows that.

it's his fault jeongguk is like this.

sure, it's always been inside the teen, but he brought it out. 

but still.

"calm down." he ordered, but jeongguk just wriggled his wrist out of his grasp.

"don't you understand?! everyone is out to get me! they all want to take me away from you!" jeongguk hollered, arms flailing around.

"jeongguk," taehyung said much more lowly. "i don't want to lose you either, so please, stay here."

but jeongguk didn't want to listen, shaking his head in refusal.

"no! you told me that we need to get rid of those types of people!" jeongguk walked closer to the older. "hyung, they don't deserve to live."

the taller sighed, putting his hands on the boy's arms as he bent down a little.

"you're right. but i care more about you than them. so please, just stay here." jeongguk blinked, taehyung has never really acted like this before.

taehyung was treading on eggshells, one wrong word and jeongguk would be going ballistic. he had to be careful. 

jeongguk picked up on the strange behaviour, but he nodded regardless. taehyung smiled softly and lead the teenager back into the apartment, relief washing through him as he locked the door behind him as they entered.

he needed jeongguk. he'd never let him leave. even if it meant locking him up here forever.

end of 36

━♤━

we're nearing the end...

don't mind me casually failing school ✌️