Taehyung was getting out of hand.

Jimin had grown tired of constantly trying to make sure he was alright. He was tired of being constantly pushed away. He was tired of being bullied by the one person who had saved him from bullies. But he held on. He had to bring his old boyfriend back.

Taehyung had befriended the rather unsavoury characters in school, and he was perpetually seen surrounded by his goons. In a strange turn of events, it was unfortunate that the new academic year saw Tae and Jimin in the same class. Tae found ways to demean Jimin, although deep down, he realised that his hidden grief and rage was turning him into an image of his uncle. But it was almost as though he could not control the destructive dragon within him, whose sole purpose seemed to be to burn down his relationship. Jimin knew something was wrong. He tried to get Tae to talk to him about it, but his stubborn boyfriend, still refusing to be a burden to some other family, insisted that nothing was wrong.

Then, one day, Jimin just snapped. He had made friends with a senior, Min Yoongi, and had spent an evening at his house. When Tae found out about it, he was furious, and tried to hurt Jimin. He pushed Jimin against the lockers harshly. The smaller boy's blood boiled. His eyes brimmed with tears, but he ignored them and roughly pushed off Taehyung's hand from where it painfully pressed against his shoulder.

"I do not need to explain everything to you. I am not your responsibility."

Jimin grabbed his books and stormed away to class.

Later that day, Tae approached him in the cafeteria, "I am sorry, Jimin."

Jimin looked up from his food, and slid to a side, gesturing for Tae to take a seat beside him. He spoke gently, "TaeTae, I know there is something wrong. Please tell me what it is. I want to help you."

Tae looked at his feet, shamefacedly, "I am sorry, I can't tell you what you want to know. Everything is alright, and I do not think you can help me with anything right now."

Suddenly, a flare of anger lit up inside Jimin. He struggled to control it, "Well then, I am sorry I have to do this to you, but of you want our relationship to carry on well, you will have to start treating me better. You are slowly becoming the very bullies you saved me from!"

"Oh Jimin, I am truly sorry!"

The two of them hugged, and spent the rest of the break with an arm around each other's shoulders.

***

"What is this?"

Taehyung looked up, startled at his uncle's harsh voice. He flinched inwardly when he saw his phone in his uncle's hand, an Instagram story on its screen. It was Hoseok's account, a picture of him and Jimin, arm-in-arm, with the caption, "OTP for lyf!"

He gritted his teeth, "That is private business!"
"Not in this house, no. You throw out all those unnatural feelings right now."

Taehyung stared at him for a long moment.

"Is that understood?"
"No."
"What did you say?"
"No."
"Listen here, young man. You will do as you are told when you are in my house."
"You didn't have to take me in. You were the one who wanted me in the first place."
"Yes. But that was before your parents were stupid enough to fly over the Bermuda Triangle. Now, we are stuck with you as your legal guardians, until you come off age."
"THEY ARE NOT GONE!"
"They are, and the sooner you accept it, the better."

That night, Taehyung cried himself to sleep for the first time in his life.

***

The foul mood had returned.

It was almost as though nothing had happened the previous day, and Jimin was furious. Taehyung was constantly pushing him around again, telling him to do chores for him, as though he was his maid. He had even called him names, aimed specifically at needling at Jimin's insecurities about himself.

On two occasions, he had tried to get his parents involved, but they had been denied entry into Tae's uncle's house. They had been insulted by both the uncle and aunt, and he had forbidden them from ever trying to get in touch with those horrid people again. He refused to let his parents suffer dishonour; it did not matter what was at stake. Nothing was worth that.

Jimin had been thinking. He no longer felt what he used to feel when he was with Taehyung. That ever present sense of security had been replaced with the constant fear of new derogatory nicknames. In a recent encounter, when Taehyung had lost his temper, Jimin had been terrified that he would hit him. Jimin was slowly realising that his boyfriend was too far gone for him to save, and that what had once been a cute, supportive relationship had now turned into a toxic one that threatened to leach the life out of him. Another unforeseen factor had entered his life: Min Yoongi. Slowly, Jimin had started falling in love with his senior. All together, he wanted to do away with what he had right now, so that he could move on to a possibly better life.

But there was that constant gnawing guilt. Whatever may have happened, it was still his Tae he would be breaking up with. That night, he lay his head on his mother's lap, and out gushed a waterfall of tears and problems.

***

The conversation was going terribly.

Taehyung knew that everything he said and did was wrong. Jimin had been trying to break up with him the entire day, but he kept cutting him off. He was petrified of what had been threatening to happen, what he had brought about with his own words and actions, and now that it was upon him, he tried his hardest to avoid it. Until those fateful words left his beloved's mouth.

"Yoongi would never treat me this way."

Something snapped within Taehyung. It was a mixture of grief, rage, jealousy, and utter shock. He did the only thing that had helped him cope so far; he pushed Jimin away, only this time, physically.

Perhaps it was lucky that Jimin landed where he did, because the crowd parted, unwilling to help him and anger Taehyung. As a result, he staggered and fell right into the arms of a very confused Yoongi.

Taehyung smirked, "So, lover boy is here right in time to save the damsel in distress?"

Jimin turned to Yoongi, his eyes full of tears, frustration, and hate. The words that emerged from his mouth broke Taehyung's heart.

"Why are you here? You've got perfect timing you know that? Go away. I never want to see you again."

***

Taehyung had never seen anyone break because of words. That day, he saw it happen to Yoongi and it haunted his dreams. He regretted everything. He could see that he was not good for Jimin, but he was selfish. He wanted Jimin to himself, despite all the mean things he kept throwing at him. He knew that Yoongi would be good to Jimin- he had done his research on the kind of person the older boy was.

Now, he felt a sense of hopelessness. Not only had he ruined the life of one he loved, but he had also brought grief to someone he did not know well.