chapter twenty four

unedited

"go to bed, jeongguk. he's probably gone home." yugyeom instructed, his eyes coming up from the dishes he was doing and onto his younger brother who sat all by his lonesome on the couch. jeongguk shook his head— a stubborn boy, yugyeom had concluded. 'taehyung is coming home. he would not have gone back. he promised me we would do a puzzle together. he wouldn't miss that, surely.' jeongguk thought, staring determinedly at the door, but only whitewashed wood started back. as taunting as ever.

it was around 10pm and taehyung had failed to return to the apartment in which he called his temporary home. jeongguk laid wide awake, hopeful that perhaps taehyung would turn the brass knob and give him a big hug and apologize for being late. yet.. 11pm came around and no taehyung... and when the clock turned to 12pm, jeongguk's stomach started swirling in disbelief. he felt sick.

the apartment was quiet— when extracting yugyeom's snores. yugyeom insisted he stayed up with jeongguk for as long as he was awake. he had fallen asleep on the love-seat, of course. yet jeongguk remained cautious, wearily cautious. how could taehyung disappear like this? he even left his phone on jeongguk's bedside table. did he want to leave without saying anything..? or had he really gotten himself into trouble?

jeongguk slept on the couch that night, longing for taehyung's warmth— but never receiving it.

-

taehyung sat down at the kitchen table, not the most common breakfast— a vape, probably full of weed.. laid on the table right next to his bowl of expired cereal. taehyung looked up, his step-mother had a towel wrapped around her head, enclosing all of her wet hair. taehyung thought she looked beautifully aged without all of that caked makeup, but taehyung wasn't a sucker for the looks of girls.

"don't you have school today?" his dad called from the living room couch. taehyung told him, no, that it was saturday.. and even if he did have school, there was no way in hell that he would let either of his crackheaded parents drive him there.

"ah, he sure is a smartass. i think he gets it from you." his step mother laughed, pointing her cigarette straight at taehyung's father, who laughed along. taehyung sighed, swirling his spoon in his bowl full of cereal. the cereal had been abandoned, taehyung decided he wasn't hungry anymore. the smoke must have killed his appetite— as it did his lungs too.

"we know how he's smart, now who's he sneaking out to see? don't think i haven't seen that condom you left on your bed. i wanna know who you brought home." taehyung's step-mother spoke, and taehyung's eyes widened. had he really been that dumb, to leave something so secretive on such display?

"nobody." he said, clutching the spoon harder than he should have. taehyung didn't mind the chit chat too much, just the taunting. taehyung could see the door, he could try and leave.. and hell— he was almost an adult. he could do so if he pleased. "i don't have to tell you." he corrected himself, since saying 'nobody' to the evidence of a condom wasn't too brilliant of him.

"i'll just wait until you sneak out again and follow you there." his step-mother, was hopefully joking. taehyung knew she might actually be that absorbed with him. it saddened him dearly, she wanted to be a part of his life so much, but she couldn't be. there were three reasons why, that taehyung could think of. hell, he could make a list if he really wanted to.

one, she would be gone in a few months, since taehyung's dad liked to be versatile. two, she was too busy getting high off whatever she could inhale— so much so she missed nearly everything taehyung did. therefore failing to be apart of anything that taehyung associated with. which, in the long run, was for the better. he didn't wanted their noses in his and jeongguk's relationship. and lastly, three— she would never, ever replicate his mother. his mother was a shining angel in his world of dark shadows.

actually, it was about time he paid his mother a visit.

-

jeongguk stared around the office interior so much so it became boring. the picture of once extravagant daisies seemed pale and dull. he had asked yugyeom to call him if taehyung ever decided to show up to the apartment, and no calls had been received. his world was colorless until then. jiyeon came in and contradicted his mood with a bright, powerful smile.

  "i'm glad to say that you've been improving just as you should be." she scanned over her documents. "we did have a little trouble saying a few letters, but that's okay we'll get there." jeongguk felt like an idiot. he couldn't even sound out all of the letters without hurting himself. he tried to push that away and stared at jiyeon instead. she had a weird dark gray coat on that went past her waist and down to her mid-thigh. jeongguk decided that it was getting colder, and worry stuttered his chest. 'what if taehyung is out there all alone in the cold, and he is just lost? that might be why he didn't come home.'

  "alright jeongguk, i think we are ready to start saying words! before we start, i know this is a big deal, since you haven't spoken in so long.. so i just want to make sure we are saying the right word. i want this to be special. what word do you want to say first?" jeongguk gulped. he looked down at the table, his fingers twitching and dancing around in indecisiveness.

  "jeongguk, it's okay. you don't have to speak this meeting. we can always wait until tuesday. there's no rush. i know that it's stressful." jiyeon patted the boy's shoulder, and jeongguk nodded gratefully. jeongguk would have done it, if he had possessed such the heart to do so.

  but he had concluded that he wanted taehyung there to hear him say the first word.

wherever he was.

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