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2020. kth - 23. jjk - 18.

Taehyung had just finished setting the table when the doorbell rang. The brunette grinned, eyes gleaming with excitement as he took quick steps to the front door. His parents exchanged cautious glances while watching their son run past the kitchen.

"Hey," The older breathed out after opening the door, expression brightening when he saw Jeongguk wearing a casual dark-grey crewneck over a pair of light-washed loose jeans. It was a refreshing look after constantly seeing the younger dressed in black.

Taehyung couldn't stop the blush creeping at his cheeks once he realised that Jeongguk had dressed up for the occasion, he had put in effort.

"Hey." Jeongguk fidgeted awkwardly on the porch, fingers twisting his rings in a nervous habit. Taehyung let the younger through, stepping to the side to make space. Jeongguk walked in and proceeded to take his shoes off, showing the toe socks hugging his feet.

Suddenly, Jeongguk's cheeks flamed up as his feet shuffled backwards, in attempt on hiding the unique attire.

"I-I swear I don't have athlete's foot, I just find them.... comfortable." The boy lowered his head in shame. "Please understand." He asked in a small voice, and Taehyung almost cooed from how cute the teenager was acting.

"Don't worry about it, my dad wears them too." The older chuckled, patting Jeongguk on the arm before guiding him over to the kitchen. "Come say hi to everyone."

By walking in front of the other, Taehyung had failed to notice how Jeongguk wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans, nervously swallowing the lump lodged in his throat.

"Mom! Dad! Jeongguk's here." Taehyung exclaimed as they made it to the kitchen. The two boys appeared in the doorway, Jeongguk nervously shifting his weight between his feet behind the older. 

Taehyung's mother lay down the knife she had been cutting carrots with, she turned her head towards the teenager and gave him little nod in acknowledgement. 

"Hello Mrs Kim." Jeongguk said, voice a little brittle. "And Mr Kim." He added when Taehyung's father came in from the dining room, he gave the visitor a smile.

"Hey there, kid. Been a while since you've been here." Mr Kim said, keeping up the warm welcome. Taehyung was glad that his father was putting in effort. Meanwhile, his mother was pretty displeased when she heard that Taehyung had invited Jeongguk over. 

The ravenette quietly nodded, then nervously glanced over at Mrs Kim, who had already turned back around and returned to cutting up the carrots. Taehyung could sense the tension in the air, and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Is dinner ready? Should we sit?" He asks. His mother nodded and pointed at all the food that had to be carried out. Taehyung and Jeongguk took them and carried everything to the table.

The two boys sat down after helping, Taehyung's parents discussing something in whispers in the kitchen. Taehyung was trying to distract Jeongguk from hearing their hushed voices, but the younger had already picked up on it.

The adults entered the room and sat down with them, Taehyung's mother giving her son a strained smile. 

And dinner began.

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"So how's school going?" Mrs Kim asked before taking a sip of wine. Jeongguk's eyes looked up at her, he cleared his throat before answering. Taehyung eyed his mother cautiously, he was pretty sure she already knew about Jeongguk current schooling situation.

"I... um... I dropped out." The younger spoke, gaze falling down at his plate. 

"Oh, so what do you plan on doing?" The woman prodded further, paying no mind to Jeongguk's obvious discomfort.

"I don't... I'm not sure." He fidgeted in his seat, head hung low. 

"That's fine. You're still young." Taehyung said, in hopes of relieving the tension. 

"Yes, that's true." Mrs Kim then gave out a sly smile. "But you were already off to college when you were eighteen, weren't you Taehyungie?" His mother pointed out. Taehyung threw her a glare, not believing how she was behaving right now. 

"Yes but—" 

"I'm just saying, you should've probably had some sort of plan before deciding to drop out. Now what are you going to do?" She returned her conniving eyes at the ravenette. Jeongguk let out a small smile, but Taehyung could sense the sadness in it.

"I don't really need a plan." His words were spoken so lowly and softly that no one but Taehyung picked up on them. The older raised a brow at the statement, wondering what the teenager meant by that. But before he could question him, Jeongguk raised his head and shot a grin towards Mrs Kim. "Taehyung's always been smart and prepared. I'm more of a go-with-the-flow type of guy. I should probably be more like him."

Mrs Kim seemed satisfied with that answer because she dropped the conversation after that. Meanwhile Taehyung was still a little apprehensive, but decided to put it behind him.

 The rest of the dinner was quite peaceful, and while it wasn't as comfortable as the good old days, it was still nice.

After dinner, Taehyung lead Jeongguk up to his room.

"Come! You haven't been there in years." The older exclaimed happily, rushing up the steps in excitement. Jeongguk smiled while watching the other, following him with a slower pace.

"Slow down, Hyung." He commented while shaking his head. But the brunette simply grabbed his hand and pulled the younger up with him.

They burst through the door to Taehyung's room, the neat space coming into view. Jeongguk examined it, noting how almost nothing had changed since he last was here.

"It's still the same." He whispered, causing Taehyung to turn around and give him a grin.

"Look at these, do you remember?" They walked up to Taehyung's picture wall, where several polaroids and other photos hung. Many of them of Taehyung and Jeongguk.

The younger's eyes flickered through all the images, the darkness of his orbs swimming with a somber feeling. Taehyung glanced at him, surprised to see the ravenette's usual blank eyes now filled with emotion. 

Jeongguk removed a photo from it's clip, bringing it closer to his sight. It was one of the Kims and Jeons during one of their many barbecues they had as neighbours. Jeongguk was an eleven-year-old sitting in his father's lap while Taehyung was sixteen and handling the grill with his mother. 

Taehyung smiled at the memory, and how Jeongguk at that time always insisted he was a grown-up but still loved sleeping between his parents. 

The brunette noticed how Jeongguk's breath had hitched, and how his thumb trembled while tracing over the face of his mother. 

Jeongguk dropped the photo.

"I-I have to go." The younger was already bolting out the door before Taehyung could stop him. 

Taehyung was baffled, wondering why Jeongguk had gone so pale after seeing his mother.

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Jeongguk looked down the hallway and at the door of his parents' bedroom. He was sat down on the floor, back leaned against the wall, glass surrounding his figure and blood dripping down from the skin that was split open around his knuckles. 

Empty eyes stared at that door.

Silence enveloped the boy, nothing heard within the house as he sat there.

"Why didn't you stop me?" 

Jeongguk stared at the door, feeling the way the hallway shortened, the distance closing in.

"Why didn't you help me?"

The voice whispered into his ear.

That voice.

"Why didn't you follow me?"

Everything was quiet, there wasn't even the sound of a steady heartbeat.

"Why didn't you die?"

Jeongguk's trembling hand grasped at the shard held between his fingers.