Taehyung woke up early, eager to finish his chores so he could go to his piano lesson, and later see his Kookie who was occupying his mind nonstop.

Dressed in a comfy outfit, he started by cleaning the living room, doing the laundry, and folding the clean clothes.

He went to his piano lesson and for grocery shopping before returning to his house. It surprised him that Jongwon hadn’t come out of his room yet, but he thought he probably had work to do. Not that he was complaining; he didn’t even want to see his face anymore.

He cooked something real quick, cleaned the kitchen as well, and then went to take his things to go to work.

When he was about to leave, Jongwon emerged from his room and plopped down onto the couch. “Where are you going?”

“To w-work.”

“Okay. You should start packing tomorrow. We’re going to Japan in two days,” he casually stated as he reached for the remote control and turned on the TV.

Taehyung blinked in a daze, his brows pulling together in a deep frown. “What?”

Jongwon raised a haughty brow as he threw him a glare. “Are you deaf now?”

“What d-do you mean we’re going t-to Japan?”

“I mean that we’re going to Japan! They offered me a job and I decided to take it.”

“But—but why m-me? Why do I have to come?”

“Because I fucking said so? I’m not gonna leave you here whoring around as you wish, you slut. Shut up now,” he growled with a vicious glower and set his gaze on the TV.

“But our p-parents live here, and I have a j-job and a life here, I don’t want to—“

“You have a what?” Jongwon snickered as he leaned forward, placing his palms on his knees, menaces radiating from his gaze. “You think you have a life, you worthless piece of shit?”

Taehyung ducked his head as dread shrouded his entire face, his legs started shivering, and his eyes flooded with tears.

“Answer me, cunt.” He jumped to his feet then and surged towards him with long strides. He fastened his fingers around his neck and pinned him to the wall with full force. “You seriously think you have a life?”

“H-hyung, p-p-please—“

“You’re just my bitch, Tae. You don’t have a life, don’t kid yourself. And you will do whatever I say, got it?” He rammed his head against the wall, making the boy cry out a choked whimper.

“I d-don’t w-want to leave,” Taehyung mewled, squeezing his eyes shut as he weakly fought to push his hands away.

“Do you think I give a fuck? You have nothing, anyway. Did you find some pussy ass boy to fuck around with and don’t want to leave, huh?” He threw a brutal punch in his face as his eyes glinted with wrath.

Taehyung could only cry harder at the excruciating pain that swept over his face as he gave up on freeing himself from his suffocating grip.

“Answer me, you filthy bitch!” Jongwon snarled as he delivered another fierce blow in the same spot. “Did you? Huh?” He gave another punch that caused the boy to cough blood.

“N-no, no,” Taehyung gasped his words out, seeing black spots all over his fogged vision.

A fiendish chuckle erupted from Jongwon’s mouth as he tightened the grip around his neck. “You pitiful, disgusting liar.”

A deadly torturous beating took place then that left Taehyung with a ravaged face soaked in blood, multiple bruises in various places in his body, and no more strength to remain conscious.

After he was done, he snatched him by his hair and hauled his long-suffering body to his room. He mopped up the trail of blood he left behind in the process, washed his hands, and changed his clothes before he took his seat on the couch as if nothing happened.

🥀

Jeongguk couldn’t realize what was happening.

Taehyung was lying in his arms unconscious, his face terribly beaten, swollen, his breath weakened, his heartbeat slower than normal.

Nothing could describe what he was feeling other than pure agony.

“Wake up, baby, please,” he chanted in a shaky whisper as he brushed the blood off his face with a tissue with utterly delicate moves, afraid of hurting him more.

His face was saturated with his eternal tears as he cradled his baby, swaying him from side to side, and murmuring the same words to him over and over again.

He couldn’t help the waves of self-blaming that rippled through him; if he just had called him sooner, if he had sent him a text, if he had helped him move out of his house sooner, if, if, if.

“We’re just five minutes away from the hospital.” Chang Wook glanced at the two in the passenger seat regularly, worried to the core for both. For Taehyung because he was in that state of course, and for Jeongguk because he seemed this close to having a breakdown by his sadness and anxiety.

Jeongguk scarcely nodded without whisking his blurred gaze away from his baby. He brushed back his hair a few times until he sensed something liquid on his fingers. He blinked his tears away, trying to clear his vision, and examined his fingers.

Blood.

“S-shit,” he breathed out as he lifted his head and glimpsed at his shoulder where Taehyung’s head was resting this whole time.

His sweater was drenched with his blood and he hadn’t even realized it.

“What is it?” Chang Wook questioned, his eyes harried.

“He’s f-fucking b-b-bleeding.” Jeongguk scrambled to get a hold of the tissues and pressed them all against the back of his head, praying that the pressure would cease the bleed.

Chang Wook uttered a few profanities and sped up even more, not caring about going over the speed limit.

Two minutes later, the tissues were soaking wet with blood, but thankfully, they just arrived in front of the emergency room, and Taehyung would finally get proper treatment.

“Someone help us!” Jeongguk exclaimed as he stepped out of the car with the boy in his embrace.

“Oh my God, bring him here.” A doctor beckoned him to follow her into the ER.

Jeongguk softly placed him in the bed the doctor instructed him to and took a few steps back as doctors started surrounding the boy.

“What happened?” a doctor asked as she began the basic checkup.

“He b-beat him up, he beat h-him—“

“You need to calm down first so I can understand what you’re saying, okay? Breathe slowly. We’re going to take good care of him, alright?” she spoke in a hurried but soft tone, trying to appease the distressed boy.

“He’ll be okay, Kook.” Chang Wook rubbed soothing patterns on his back. “How about we go clean up while they’re taking care of him, hmm?”

“No, n-no, I need to b-be here,” Jeongguk frantically said as he tried to get closer, but a doctor held him back.

“He’s right, you should. You can’t stay here, anyway. Tell us what happened and you can wait outside until we’re done.”

“We found him like this. We don’t know what exactly happened, but we know that his hyung beat him up,” Chang Wook explained as the doctors continued treating the boy.

“Okay. Please leave now. We’ll let you know when we finish here.”

Jeongguk protested again, but the older forcefully dragged him out of there since he didn’t have any other choice.

“Kook, listen to me.” He held his cheeks in a firm grip, looking at him dead in the eye. “You need to calm down now. Taehyung is alive, and they’re taking care of him. Taehyung is alive, and he’ll stay alive. Say it. Taehyung is alive, and he’ll stay alive.”

Jeongguk set his tearful eyes on him as he took some deep pulls of air. “Taehyung is a-alive, and he’ll s-stay alive.”

“That’s right, Kook. That’s the only thing that matters right now.”

“T-Taehyung is alive, and he’ll stay alive,” he repeated below his breath, feeling his erratic pulse gradually stabilize.

“Yes. Let’s go clean up now, okay?” Once he nodded, Chang Wook offered him a heart-soothing smile and guided him to the bathroom.

Jeongguk washed the blood off his clothes as much as he could and splashed ample water on his face. His eyes were reddened and turgid from his constant crying, and he could barely keep them open by the intense burning sensation they held.

 
“Are you feeling better?” Chang Wook asked as they sat in the waiting room.

“I stopped crying for now. So I guess yeah, I’m a little better.”

“It was the last time, Kook. We’ll tell everything to the police, and he won’t be able to touch him ever again.” He squeezed his shoulder, wanting to give him some courage. “Do you have any idea why Jongwon hit him so badly?”

“He said... That motherfucker said that I must be the one he’s fucking around with. Maybe somehow he found out about us. I don’t know.” Jeongguk rubbed his face once more, pressing the heels of his hands on his closed eyes to ease the burning. “He was going to move in with me in two days. In just two days. Why did this have to happen now?”

“You asked him to move in with you and you didn’t say anything to me? Shame on you, Jeon Jeongguk. I thought we were friends.” He plastered a fake pout on his face, hoping to make the boy smile even a tiny bit.

To his surprise, Jeongguk did smile, adding a small snort. “We’re not moving in together. I just wanted to take him out of there to avoid... well, what already happened.” He sighed as he shook his head. “Not that I would mind living together for... you know, a long, long time.”

“I’m pretty sure the word you’re looking for is forever.”

“Maybe.” A faint smile stretched on his lips as he pictured how it would be to share a life with Taehyung. “Don’t you have to go to the cafe?”

“I do, but I want to make sure Taehyung is okay and that you’re calm enough.”

“Don’t worry about me. I only need to know that Taehyung is okay so I can be okay.”

They continued chatting to take their minds off the situation, although it was an impossible thing to do.

It must have been an hour later when they saw a familiar doctor approach them, and they jolted out of their seats.

“Heʼs okay. We treated his wounds and didn’t see anything concerning. His CT didn’t show any signs of internal bleeding and the wound on his head is superficial. We just have to wait for him to wake up now. You can come to see him.”

The relief that engulfed them at her words was like no other. “Yes, thank you,” Chang Wook said, and they trailed behind her as she led the way to his room.

“He had a few deep cuts on his face, and we had to do some sutures,” she explained further as they walked into his room. “Everything else looks good. I just need someone to give me some information so I can admit him.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll come,” Chang Wook said with a nod.

“Also... is he abused often by his hyung? Because we found some other bruises on his body that definitely didn’t happen today.”

“Almost every fucking day,” Jeongguk spat out as he neared the unconscious boy.

“Jeongguk!” the older scolded in a whisper and turned to the doctor. “Yes, he is. Let's talk about it more outside.”

“Okay. We’ll call the police once he wakes up, so don’t worry.” She signed for Chang Wook to follow her, and they exited the room.

Jeongguk let his salty tears run on his face freely as he grabbed a chair and placed it next to Taehyung's bed. He palmed his mouth to stifle the sobs that crawled up his throat and held his hand with the other, stroking it with the pad of his thumb.

“You n-need to wake up s-soon, baby bear. I miss y-you so much,” he whispered, bringing Taehyung's hand to his mouth to kiss it sweetly, and then he cupped it.

He stayed by his side for a few more minutes, savoring the palliative effect it had to just hold his baby’s hand, but he flinched when the door was suddenly slammed open, and the man he loathed from the bottom of his heart charged into the room.

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Proposition➡ do you want me to update another chapter today, but then I'll update again in 3 days, OR update the next chapter in 2 days as usual?