He had been so buoyant,so spirited,so full of life.A burst of colour,a ray of pure sunshine in this bleary dark world,forcing happiness onto whoever he came across.His  sparkling caramel eyes looked out into the world,instantly casting the beauty in them to everything they rested upon. His pouty lips so often stretched out into that adorable smile as his deep soothing voice carried on melodiously through the air, enchanting everyone in his path.His polite,kind personality and ever-cheerful nature that made girls and boys alike swoon over him, his charm and grace,all of him, used to be so mesmerizing.

Nobody noticed how his smiles seemed unnaturally bright,how he flinched if someone even slightly raised their voice at him.Nobody noticed,how his eyes were indelibly clouded over with worry and sadness underneath the shimmer,how he sometimes ramdomly zoned out in the middle of conversations.Nobody noticed the numerous scars littering his body,accepting it when he
waved them off as a result of being clumsy.

Nobody noticed,simply because they refused to rebuff the embodiment of societal 'perfection' that he was.

Until that one night.

No one ever saw it coming.The perfect Kim family,so ideal.No one knew what was going on behind closed doors,what had been going on for so long.Not until the police sirens sounded outside their door.Not until a bloodied Mr Kim was dragged out by several officers,even in his drunken state yelling about how proud he was to have finally destroyed the causes of his suffering.

Not until the horrified police personnel entered the house to see the dead body of a woman on the floor and heaps of broken alcohol bottles around her,one stabbed into her stomach.Not until they saw the crying boy clutching onto his bloodied arm in pain,desperately calling out to his mother,pleading for her to wake up.

Nobody noticed.Until it was too late.

Suddenly, his eyes had dulled,the shine in them seeming to have turned into a darkness that threatened to destroy everything in its path.His smile was replaced by the thin line of his lips pressed tightly together,seemingly immovable now that he barely spoke.His incredible charm seemed to have moulded into the sinister coldness he now gave off. His face was a blank canvas all the time,the few words he spoke to his elder brother who had returned from abroad to look after him, flat and emotionless.

It was obvious that he had stayed strong only for his mother.Now that she was gone,he was lost too.

His extremely worried brother made him go to a psychologist.

None of the bitter tablets he choked down seemed to do him any good other than highly confuse his brain,increasing his irritability.None of the long,pointless talks he had with the doctor seemed to help either.How can someone describe what they are feeling if they simply aren't feeling anything,but at the same time riding a rollercoaster of emotions?If they want to scream,cry and shout,but at the same time bury themselves in their emptiness,silently, forever?

Within a week,he knew exactly what to tell the doctor to keep him at bay,so he had no problem in plastering a fake smile onto his face that rivalled the psychologist's own obviously fake cheerfulness.He had no problem in putting up the pretence for an hour,so he could be sent back to the house without complaint.

He somehow scraped through school and got into college.Daegu University of Performing Arts,the place his childhood self would die to even get a glimpse of,was now just another place he was forced to be.Now,he just wanted to hurl his acceptance letter into the fire and jump in after himself.

He got accustomed to waking up in the morning just wishing to go back to bed.He had nothing,no one to be excited for.It's not like he didn't have friends,but they were just some people he sometimes saw around.Unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn't bother him; he wouldn't bother them.

He got used to the life;waking up,eating,spouting lies at the people who apparently wanted to 'help' him,sleeping in class,staying up till dawn listening to music.And doing it all over the next day.

He was like the shattered glass of a beautiful ornament,weakly stuck back together with glue.However,the unique carvings were gone,the beautiful contrast of colours replaced by deep scars running through him,ugly and disgusting to his own eyes.So he built a metal cover around himself,as gray as the sky on stormy days that makes us run for cover,as melancholy as the sight of dead leaves slithering on the ground in the late autumn twilight.He was fragile,shattered,but covered it up with metal;with an unfeeling,cold exterior he himself had come to believe in.

Until he met him.

He came into his life with a bang,literally.Taehyung was making his way to his locker to get his books,when a boy running at an inhuman speed crashed into him,sending them both sprawling to the floor.

Taehyung just got up and brushed himself off,turning a deaf ear to the people laughing around him.He nodded once to the flustered boy who was repeatedly bowing and apologizing to him before continuing to class.He needed his sleep.

At the end of the day,he found a small handwritten note squeezed into the crack between his locker and the next.It read:

Dear Taehyung-sshi ,

I am really sorry to have crashed into you in the hallway today.My friend Jimin was chasing me as part of a joke and unfortunately I was too focused on getting away from him to see you there.I wanted to give this to you in person,but Jimin wouldn't let me,he says you're scary.I think you're cool.

You didn't say anything when I said sorry,so I thought you were mad at me.I don't like it when people are mad at me.

Sorry again.

Jeon Jeongguk.

Taehyung just raised his eyebrows,before crumpling the note and tossing it in the bin,slightly confused as to why the boy wanted his forgiveness so much.

He got another note the next day,squeezed in between two lockers the same way,insisting he gave a response saying he forgave him.He finally answered it with a short it's okay,hoping to get the annoying boy off his case.

But the boy did not stop there.Taehyung soon got used to having to throw away the numerous notes asking how old he was,if he liked video games,what his favourite food was,what he thought about Harry Potter,and 'if our bodies are 70 percent water,are we all cannibals?'

Taehyung didn't even bother the notes,tossing them away after barely glancing at them.But when a fuming black-haired boy sat next to him during lunch after a month of doing so,he was seriously contemplating murder.

"Why don't you answer my notes?"were the first words the boy,Jeongguk apparently, spoke.

Taehyung rolled his eyes,before plugging in his earphones."I don't even know you.Leave me alone."

"No!Not until you answer all the questions I asked!"He thrust a paper filled with questions into the other's hand.

"Will you leave me alone then?"

"Okay!"

Taehyung sighed,looking down at the paper in his hands."I'm Kim Taehyung,23 years old,I used to play Overwatch,I don't have a particular favourite food.I think Harry Potter is a fantasical whim,and no,drinking water is not cannibalism."He looked up at the now smiling boy. "Are we done?"

Jeongguk nodded,taking the paper back and thrusting it into his bag before he faced Taehyung again."I'm Jeon Jeongguk,21, and I play Overwatch too!I love Harry Potter,and lamb skewers and banana milk,and can I call you hyung?"

Taehyung nodded absent-mindedly,barely paying attention,but he focused on Jeongguk again when the boy casually got his lunch and sat back down at the same seat.He sighed again,popping his earphones out."What now?"

Jeongguk just shook his head,motioning him to put the earphones back in."Nothing,hyung. I just wanted to sit here."

"I thought you'd go after I answered your questions?"

"Nah,we're friends now.So I'm staying."

And stay he did.

He was the one who never gave up,no matter how much Taehyung tried to pushed him away,no matter how much others told him to just give up.He would just smile and tell them that he'd come around,before continuing to stick to the older.

He was the one Taehyung grew close to,the one who never forced him into anything but would just sit next to him with a calm face before the older would just have to do it.He respected the other's decisions,but didn't hesitate to shove him back into the right track if he started going astray.

"Jeongguk,don't you get annoyed when I don't talk much to you?"

"Hyung,I like you for who you are.Besides,you're the only one I can freely talk to non-stop without anyone cutting me off.We're perfect together,aren't we?"

He was the only one in whose presence Taehyung felt completely comfortable.The only one whose wide bunny-like smile caused butterflies to go crazy in his stomach,the only one whose chatter he could listen to for days,looking at his big doe eyes sparkling as he got carried away,hands gesturing animatedly.

He made Taehyung's storms subside,he made his wounds heal.

He gave him purpose.

He was the only one Taehyung ever told about his family and his past.He was the one who held Taehyung close,comforting him as he finally freed the emotions he had been restraining for so long,crying hysterically for hours,hanging onto every sweet word Jeongguk whispered.

He was the one to kiss his tears away when he got numerous panic attacks,to comb his fingers through his hair while singing softly,knowing it helped him fall asleep.

He was the one to declare himself  Taehyung's boyfriend after a particularly bad nightmare,saying that he would feel responsible if anything happened to "his baby",before kissing him sweetly on the lips,cheeks,forehead and then making them both hot chocolate,cuddling in bed with him and eventually falling asleep staring at his beautiful boyfriend.

He was the one who helped the shattered ornament peel off the metal layers,showing him lovingly how much more beautiful and stronger each scar made him.

He was the one to hold his hand as Taehyung slowly recovered,the one to tell him how proud of him he was whenever he got the slightest bit discouraged,showering him with love and kisses until he was a giggling mess.

He was the one to make Taehyung feel loved,feel important,feel worth it. Every time he would tell him he loved him,every time he would tell him how beautiful he was,it made Taehyung so happy.Genuinely happy.

One day,Jeongguk found a small handwritten note taped to his closet door.It read :

Dear Jeongguk ssi,

I am so grateful to Jimin for chasing you that day so you bumped into me.I honestly don't know what I would've done without you.I might still not say it enough,but I love you so much,Gukkie.

You're my everything.

Also,can I answer all your notes now?

Kim Taehyung

Jeongguk turned around to see the still rare sight of his boyfriend smiling his adorable smile, as a pretty red colour bloomed on his cheeks.He pulled the older into a kiss,before pulling away and looking at him lovingly.

He leaned their foreheads together ."You could've done this yourself,you're so much stronger than you give yourself credit for.But," he pecked him sweetly again."I'm so happy I was here to help my angel."

Taehyung blushed again,the sight making Jeongguk smile as he was pulled into a kiss,this time a bit longer.

"I love you,baby."

"I love you."

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Thank you so much for 100 reads!And the ranking too!I love you all!

Also,I tried to write a little differently this time,is it good?