Taehyung P.O.V

Exiting Y/N's apartment, the smile he had on his face dropped as soon as it appeared. He winced, the bruise on his cheek stinging him.

Now that he knew she was a hard hitter, he made a mental note to stay away from the girl when she was angry. At that moment, he saw the resemblances in her and her brother.
Tempers flying when things didn't go their way.

His mind landed on Jimin as he strolled down the street with his hands buried in the pockets of his sweatpants.

Why was she so affected by him?

He thought, his lips turning down into a pout. A burning fire erupted in his chest when he thought about the shorter man who had waltzed his way into their lives.

"I've known her way before he showed up.. yet why does she have that reaction towards him when he's known her for merely a month?"
The tall brunette mumbles to himself as he reaches his house.

He clicks his tongue against his teeth as he plops down onto his sofa, imaging the box that mysteriously appeared at Y/N's apartment. Taehyung was observant, and his sharp eyes caught the initials inscribed onto the side of the box.

Now he's sending her gifts?

He felt an anger towards Y/N in that split second, for he thought she would move on from him like his other childhood friends had.

Poking his tongue on the inner side of his cheek, those days still replay in his mind, every memory as vivid as possible. The smell, the cold, every drop that fell on the two of them. He could feel it all.

He was 11 years old.
Picking up a small stone from beneath the wet slush, he aims at Y/N's window and lunges forward. The stone hits her window and Taehyung was worried she wouldn't hear it over the thunder and rain pummeling down onto the roof of their mansion.

Waiting beneath the old Oak tree, a figure appears at the window and a large smile graces his delicate yet chubby features.
"Y/N!"
He yells, waving at the 8 year old girl that gazes down at him in worry.

"Taetae? What are you doing in the rain?!"
She yells back, bringing her hands to her cheeks.
"I'm fine, come on down!"
He yells and the little ebony haired doll shakes her head vigorously, her hair flowing down her shoulders, neatly brushed and oiled.
"Mom will be angry if she finds out. She never lets me out when it's raining."

"Please!"
The boy whines, rubbing his palms together as he stomps, sending drops of muddy water flying about.
Y/N's lips set in a pout as she stares at her pleading best friend.
"I'll bring you pizza tomorrow if you play with me!"
Taehyung further yells in hopes of enticing the younger one to join him.

She gasps.
"Pizza?! Really?"
The boy nods with a smile as she bounces in her spot.
"Alright. Let me get my boots!"
Taehyung pumps his fist in the air, not bothering in the least about the rain completely soaking his body; running down his hair and neck, leaving his body through the holes in his shoes.

His parents couldn't afford new pairs, and he had begun to grow out of them. Unable to bear the pain, he cut a large hole out of the front where his long toes would stick out. It was uncomfortable, but felt much better than sore blisters popping up on his skin.

He had been wearing the same shirt he was given when he was 9 years old and it became shorter with each passing year. The same could be said with his dulled pair of kahkis. Nevertheless, the boy enjoyed the simplest things in life, one of them being his extremely rich best friend, Y/N.

Soon after, the excited girl shows up at the high window with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. A thick, sturdy branch of the 60 year old Oak tree ran past her window and she  clung onto it, crawling towards the main trunk of the tree.

"Be careful, the wood is wet!"
Taehyung warns, his hands reaching upto the branch but not able to reach her.
And just as he spoke, a squeal emits from Y/N's mouth as her legs and hands slip, unable to find her grip.

Like the rain that fell to the ground, Y/N tumbled off the branch and landed with a thump onto the slushy mud beneath them, ruining her sky blue dress and new boots, sending chunks of mud flying Taehyung's way.

Despite the mud that stuck onto his cheek, he rushes to the petite girl that groaned in the soil.
"Y/N! Are you hurt?! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have-"
The boy is halted when a fresh coating of mud covers his face and Y/N's giggling follows.

"That's what you get for making me do this, you coconut!"
She yells out, backing away from him as he slowly wipes the muck off his face. His teeth jut out from his lower jaw, trying mimick some sort of imaginary monster as he picks up a handful of mud and runs towards Y/N.

Squealing, the two of them run around, mud flying here and there with the rain being their sole cleanser. The sky blue of her dress now mimicked the dull matte of the sky above them. Large patches of mud stained it, like the clouds stained the once blue sky.

The rain had become their living fabric, something they could reach their hands through and let their fingers play in. It reminded them of being in the school bus with the window open, their hands surfing the fast moving air and a strict reprimanding from their bus driver soon after.

After hours of playing in the rain and mud, they lay exhausted under the large Oak tree that hovered over them, as though it knew about the innocence of the pair and protected them from the spiteful world.

"Let's do this more often.."
Taehyung says, chest heaving in exhaustion as his arm wrapped around the petite brunette's soaking wet shoulder.
She giggles, looking up at him through her long eyelashes that brushed against her marshmallow cheeks.

"Yes, I had a lot of fun Taetae.."
She whispers out, placing a kiss on the boy's soft cheek, hugging him soon after.
"This was the dress Mom bought me for my birthday! I'm afraid she'll yell at me.."
The small girl whined as Taehyung chuckles.

"It's just a dress, it doesn't matter."
"Why not? It was pretty.."
She mumbles, pulling at the hems of the now brown dress.
"Because, things like that will wear out and eventually be thrown away. But I'll always be here, and I won't allow you to throw me away."
The boy says with a small smile, patting the girl's head as she looks up at him in a way he's never seen before.

Her eyes spoke of a beautiful soul and her movements told of a need for nurture. She was taken aback, for no-one ever spoke those words to her. Her parents would pamper her with everything she wanted but the three words she longed to hear from them never escaped their mouths.

"Why would you ever think I would throw you away?"
She asks, her voice an octave higher than normal; a sign when she was nervous and worried.
Taehyung chuckles.
"I'm not saying you would, but people change. I've seen them change before my eyes, morphing from laughing boys and girls to heartless monsters that threw me out the window when they got the chance."

Y/N stares up at him in awe, her mind unable to comprehend some of the words he had used, only making her admire his maturity.
"B-but I won't leave you! I won't throw you a-away, you're the only friend I have!"
She raises her voice, panicking as her bottom lip began to tremble.

 Taehyung knew right then, that all she needed was his care, something steady to hold onto and in time those eyes would shine as they were born to. For even though he was only 11 years old, he had the mind of a 20 year old.

He strokes her dark locks, giggling.
"Little Y/N, you're too innocent for this horrible world."
She pouts, relaxing into his arms once more.
"I hate you, you make me worry so much!"
She exclaims, pinching his stomach as he laughs louder, holding the reddened area.

"I take it back, you're an Oni! Definitely what the world needs right now."
"What's that?"
The inquisitive girl asks with a scrunched nose.
"They're demons that  enact violent punishment on evil-doers."
The boy says with a smug smile, waiting to see her reaction.

His predictions go as expected, as she gasps and sits up straight, hitting his chest continuously.
"How dare you!"
She yells, as Taehyung rolls in the mud, his haughty laughter filling the air. The rain had stopped, but the pair stayed outside nevertheless.
"How dare you! Only mom can call me that!"

His laughter dies down as he looks at the girl that sits back down, eyebrows fixed in a frown.
"Y-your mom calls you a demon?"
He asks, voice lowering from his high pitched laughter.
"Only when I do bad things, or disobey her."
"Like what?"
"When I don't iron my clothes, when dad's coffee is too bitter, or when I lose some of her shiny earrings.."

The tall brunette's laughter is wiped away as he clenches his fists.
"Your parents expect you to do their chores at the age of 8? Where are their fuc-.. where are their maids?"
"Taetae.. can we not talk about this? I came out here to have fun with you.."
She says, bringing her knees to her chest as she leans against the old tree, hands hugging herself.

From then, he promised himself that he would guard her, protect her fragile being. He knew that if she wouldn't receive the care she was destined to have, she would grow up to be another mannequin in the world for people to stare at, and walk away. Smooth and perfectly shaped on the outside, but hollow and dead on the inside.

Just as he was about to joke about her being an exceptional Oni, a shrill voice is heard.
"Y/N?!"
The girl sits up, eyes widening as she sees her mother standing on the porch with her hands on her hips.
"M-mom!.. I-"
"Look at your dress! How dare you sneak out of the house in the rain?!"
The girl stands up immediately, bowing as fear takes over her petite body.

Taehyung's taken aback as he stands up too, towering over the little girl.
He puts on a smile and tries to defend Y/N.
"Mrs. Jeon! Don't worry, she-"
"Get in here now, Y/N!"
She screams, her voice echoing throughout the silent lawn.
Taehyung's almond eyes meet those of the trembling girl beside him, noticing her shivering fingers as she runs to her mother, wet hair sticking to her shoulders.

"No dinner for you tonight!"
Her mother yells as the girl scurries inside the house, Taehyung catching the drops that ran down her cheeks, affirmative that it wasn't the rain.
He remains standing under the Oak tree, feet shuffling awkwardly as the aggressive woman brings her attention to him.

"And you, boy! I don't want you anywhere near my daughter. Don't you have the slightest bit of sense?!"
She yells as Taehyung's gaze lowers.
"What will her friends say when she's seen roaming in the dirt with a garbage boy?! If my daughter gets sick, I'll have your parents here with the money to pay for her medicine!"

That hit him in the chest with a pang, like a bullet through his heart.
He had received these comments from all the parents of his friends. Threats, degradations, comparations.
But he knew that Y/N was not at fault. Her innocent being would never comprehend the struggles he was going through.

But he was afraid. Afraid that if Y/N wouldn't throw him away, her parents would. What would he do then? The woman before him chuckles.

"Cat got your tongue? You people are pathetic, can't carry yourselves decently enough to be treated with respect. Can't you see what you're doing? You're ruining people and society with your foul presence."

The boy couldn't help the tears that burst out of his eyes, but he never opened his mouth to reveal his wails. Never.

"I don't want my daughter to become like you. I see you've introduced her to your version of life behind my back. But that will be the last. Be gone, and if I ever see you on this property, I'll have the cops on you for trespassing."
She spits out, eyes traveling Taehyung's attire in disgust as she scrunches her nose, slamming the door shut.

He brought his hands up to his eyes, wiping away his tears harshly as he just stood underneath the oak tree. Lowering himself to the muddy ground on his knees, he rests his forehead against the sturdy trunk of the old tree as his tears raced down his neck and into his dirty clothes.

Why? Why am I treated like this? Is it a sin to be poor? Is it a sin to be friends with other people just because my family is not up to their financial expectations? Is it a sin to be human if I live in a rundown garage?

His large hands clung onto the rough bark of the tree as he pushed himself up. Kicking the trunk of the tree, he screams at the sky in frustration.

There was something in that shout, a pain behind it. Y/N watched. She watched Taehyung's eyes. Then she knew. The anger was nothing but a shield for pain, like a cornered soldier randomly throwing out grenades, scared for his life, lonely, desperate. 

She watched from her window as the young boy walked away with his head hung low, as he disappeared behind the fence to their house. She held onto her curtains tightly, for she had never seen him in that state.

Ever since that day, she held it in her heart that she would never abandon her best friend. She wouldn't throw him away like the others did. She wouldn't care about what he would wear, or where he lived.

She loved him.

Ever since that day, Taehyung stopped wearing those clothes, and instead collected clothes he would find in the dumps that would fit him. Once found, he would wash them and have his hair neatly combed. No holes in his shoes, for he had found another pair besides a dumpster.

He would meet Y/N in secret, but ever since then, he hated the rain. Despised it. He wouldn't talk to Y/N on rainy days, neither would he play with her.

Those painful memories are books with chapters, deep and horrible; and so he left them on the shelf to gather dust. He hoped that with time, the pages written with those horrors would wither away.

For he had so much more of his life ahead of him, countless blank pages to fill. And this time, he would choose to write in the chapters of his life.

A/N: Kind of a double update uWu.
Oof, listening to The Truth Untold while writing this chapter was NOT a good decision..
I hope you noticed the similarities between these two chapters 👀

I'm sort of diving into certain character's pasts, connecting their similarities and differences, so that you'll understand why they are who they are now, and what they've overcome.

See ya next time! I'll just slither outta here and into my bed to sleep 💤🐍

Stay hoes,
👑Kim👑