BLACK ON BLACK | TK

Chapter Eight

***

"We bleed ourselves in vain
How tragic is this game?
Turn around, I'm holding on to someone
But the love is gone
Carrying the load, with wings that feel like stone
Knowing that we nearly fell so far now
It's hard to tell."

Living in complete solitude was something Taehyung enjoyed sometimes because there were days, days like the ones passing by him during that harsh period, in which he had to spend time by himself and heal. Healing, for him, meant taking time for himself and doing the things he enjoyed the most. For many people, including his best friend, that meant being enveloped by loneliness and depressing thoughts but, for Taehyung, it was healing.

Still, Jimin never let him stay alone for too many days because he felt like being on his own, especially during that time, wasn't the best decision for Taehyung. So he often dropped by his place, making sure to bring some food from time to time as well since Taehyung's fridge was mostly empty.

Yoongi and Seokjin had also visited him one day with Jimin, announcing him that Namjoon and Jeongguk had stayed at the parlor to finish their final appointments. Yoongi had walked around the apartment fascinated, admiring the paintings scattered around the walls as Seokjin asked Taehyung about their upcoming outing—the one Taehyung had hoped they had forgotten about. Of course this had not happened and both Seokjin and Jimin had not left until an outfit for Taehyung had been chosen. Taehyung had also reluctantly called Bogum, a friend of Jimin's from the dance academy,  and invited him as well. Jimin had noticed Bogum's interest in Taehyung and had told his friend that he had to try meeting other people as well now that his soulmate had made it clear he didn't want anything to do with him. And, to quote Jimin, "Bogum is a complete sweetheart. Give him a chance."

After his friends left that day, with Yoongi telling him that he should do something at a larger scale with his art since it was better than he thought, Taehyung sat down again in front of the canvas and painted. He painted sad, cold hued sceneries, already accustomed to that style, and when his stomach began to make grotesque sounds, Taehyung headed for the refrigerator. It was empty, except for the few vegetables that were there, so he sighed, then called his dogs over.

With Jimin bringing him food at times, Taehyung hadn't gone grocery shopping in a while. He thought it was time to get out of his comfort and safe zone and finally head over to the supermarket and buy everything he needed.

"Let's go shopping." He told his dogs as he put the leashes around their heads. "We can't starve."

So that's what Taehyung did. Once he reached the supermarket, he made sure to put all kinds of meat in the basket, far too many vegetables, then took too many candies and bottles of juice and probably too many unhealthy side dishes as well. He didn't care at the time. The words had barely disappeared from his wrist and in the eyes of those around him he was still a lonely person shopping on his own when in fact he was just abandoned—he wasn't lonely.

Deep inside, Taehyung knew that was a lie he enjoyed telling himself.

He felt lonelier now, after the disappearance of this words, than he had felt in a while.

Taehyung sighed, then put everything he had bought in bags and headed for the exit. Muse and Onyx had stayed in the park because Taehyung fully rusted them and knew that they'd stay there. He walked towards his self designated bench, the weight of the two bags slowing him down, then took a seat, already noticing how happy he felt now that he had left the house and was finally taking a fresh breath of air. His dogs came to him, and Onyx laid by his feet as Muse climbed on the bench. Taehyung laughed, then searched in one of the bags for the two bags of rewards he had bought for them. He offered each of them a treat, watching as his dogs left running happily around the park, then watched as another black dog approached him reluctantly. It was big enough to scared Taehyung but the man couldn't figure out what breed it was. The dog sat down in front of him and Taehyung offered his palm to let it sniff it, receiving a few touches of his cold nose instead. A faint giggle escaped his lips and Taehyung looked around for his owner, wondering if the person was nearby. There was no one around, so he took out a reward and gave it to the large dog, watching as it laid down and munched on the dried meat.