Chapter twenty-one || 스물한 장
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21| Cruel Reality🥀
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"Princess? Princess..." I could hear Taehyung, I could feel him stroking my hair, but my eyes didn't want to open. "Princess please..."

"Give her some time." Was that Mr. Kim? "She just fainted. She's perfectly fine otherwise."

"Perfectly fine! She just got fucking shot, watched her father die and fainted. How the fuck is any of that perfectly fucking fine?" Taehyung whisper yelled.

"I meant physically, son. It's a superficial injury on her arm, and her body simply shut down because of shock. She'll wake up when she's ready."

"When will that be?"

Mr. Kim sighed. "I can't say."

"Really fucking helpful dad. What's the point of being a doctor if you don't know shit?"

"Taehyung, I know you're upset, but she will wake up."

Taehyung shook me a little. "Princess please. Wake up."

I tried, I really did, but my eyes still didn't want to open and my body didn't want to move. If I opened my eyes I didn't know where I'd be or what I'd see and opening my eyes would mean having to face reality and I just wasn't ready yet, so I let myself drift away again.

The next thing I was aware of was muffled voices and I came too slowly, disorientated and confused when I realised I was in bed in Taehyung's room. I sat up and listened to the conversation going on in the hall.

"Taehyung you tried your best, you can't do any more that." I could hear JaeIn outside the door.

"It doesn't matter, none of this would ever have happened if she hadn't met me. She's gonna fucking hate me."

"She won't hate you." JaeIn assured him. "Go be with her. I'm sure she'll be awake soon."

"But..., I mean..., she might not...maybe..., uh..., what if she doesn't want to see me?"

"Oh fuck off V! You're such an emo dick!" That was Jennie. "Of course she'll want to see you, she loves you and she needs you more than ever right now. I know you feel bad about all of this, but that's not going to help her. So you need to suck it the fuck up and get in there before I kick your fucking ass from here to next Tuesday."

"Have you ever considered a career in motivational speaking Jennie? Because really, that was great. Thanks."

"Hiding behind sarcasm, because you're scared shitless. Nice." I could just imagine Jennie's smirk. "Look V." She said in a softer tone. "This is horrible, it's gonna be hard and upsetting, but Y/n needs you. You can help her through this. Just be there for her. Don't shut yourself off and don't be all contrite and guilty because it's annoying as fuck. Trust me she won't want to hear that."

"So I should just go in and act normal?"

"Fuck no! Christ, just ..., I don't know, make sure she's ok, then let her cry, scream, throw things, whatever she needs to do to get through this. All you have to do is be there, that's what she needs most."

It went quiet then and I waited. A few moments later Taehyung came into the room, looking tired and dishevelled.

"Princess?" He said uncertainly, when he saw I was sitting up and I gave him a weak smile.

"How..., are you..., is your...fuck!... I don't..., I can't...," He ran his hand into his hair and sighed. "I'm so fucking sorry."

I nodded.

"Do you feel ok, do you need anything?"

"Water please." I croaked, and he rushed to get me some from his mini fridge.

"How's your arm?"

"Fine." I frowned, looking down to find my right lower arm in a bandage. It didn't hurt at all. "How did..." I was confused, I didn't know how I'd been hit.

"The bullet went straight through your..., uh..." He looked panicked at having brought up my dad.

"Oh ok." I let him off the hook.

He handed me the water before stepping back and sitting down on the sofa. We stared at each other in silence for several minutes.

"What happens now?" I whispered eventually. "Do I have to talk to the police? What do I have to tell them?"

"That's up to you Princess."

"Well we can't tell them the truth. How did you explain all the, uh..., bodies to them?"

"Do you really want to talk about this now Princess?" He looked at me warily and I nodded.

"Um, Jin had people, uh, clean up, they just left the man who came in the front door, so it looks like a simple home intrusion gone wrong. Your dad fired, he fired at the same time, that's what I told them happened. Yoongi can sort out the investigation and make sure it's closed quickly, he has contacts, but I don't know how you feel about all that."

"I don't know how I feel about anything." I told him honestly and he nodded sadly.

"You don't have to cover it up Princess. You know that right, this is your choice. If you want to tell the police what really...,"

"Taehyung. I'll tell them whatever you told them." I interrupted him. "Telling the truth won't change anything, it will just cause you problems. I don't want that."

"Are you sure you're ok Princess, I mean..., why aren't you fucking crying?"

I snorted, it wasn't funny, it was just an unexpected question, asked in Taehyung's very own unique way.

"I'm not sure." I said. I wasn't. I think I was in shock. That was the only explanation I could come up with, for how I could sit here so calmly and discuss what lies I would tell the police about how my father died.

He got up and came to sit beside me on the bed.

"It's not your fault." I told him. "You told him to stay inside. You tried to protect him."

"Don't do that."

"What?"

"Be all rational and try to make me feel better."

"Then don't you do that."

"What?"

"Feel responsible. It was Kai. He did this, not you."

"Shit Princess, stop trying to comfort me. I'm supposed to be doing that for you. This was your dad." He pulled me into his arms and said he was sorry.

"I don't blame you Taehyung." I said after a while, pulling away from him so he could see the truth of my words in my eyes.

"I know."

"So ask me." I said and he shook his head. "Ask me."

"No." He said adamantly.

"Ask me!" I demanded.

"I fucking can't Princess." He ran both his hands into his hair and stared at me. "I already know what your answer will be and it's wrong. Your answer is wrong!"

"You want me to hate you? Would that make you feel better Taehyung?" I glared at him. "Well, I won't!"

I leapt at him so I could capture his lips and I did in a forceful kiss. I poured all my grief into that kiss and he let me. I broke away from him gasping and threw my T shirt over my head, reaching for his jeans. I was all over the place, I felt a bit unhinged, but at least I felt something.

"What are you doing?" Taehyung grabbed at my hands as I tried to undo his belt.

"I want you." I did, I was numb and I wanted to feel something, I wanted to know that I wasn't alone. I wanted to know that he and I would make it through this. I wanted to think about something else for a little while. I just wanted.

I could almost see his internal struggle, he didn't like saying no to me, but he wasn't sure saying yes was the right thing to do either. I took advantage of his indecision and went for his jeans again, I knew it wasn't fair to him, using him in this way, but I was too desperate to care.

"Please Taehyung." I got his belt undone and started on his buttons.

"Princess no, Stop!" he pulled me into his arms and held me tightly, restraining me. I struggled against him, I tried to get away from him, I tried to fight him, but he was far stronger than me and he wasn't letting me go. Eventually I gave in and collapsed into his chest and that's when the tears came.

I sobbed, loudly and unashamedly while the reality of what had happened crashed down on me. Once I started I couldn't stop and Taehyung held me, he didn't attempt to sooth me or offer meaningless platitudes. He just held me, silently, letting me know he was there, without interrupting my grief. I must have cried myself to sleep because I woke up still in his arms, with an awful headache and a bunged up nose.

He watched me cautiously, waiting for me to do or say something.

"Please ask me Taehyung." I said quietly.

"Do you hate me Princess?"

"Never."

"I know. I love you Princess."

"I know." We lay in bed for a little while before I got up and took a shower. I dressed in some sweats and one of his T-shirt's before sitting back on his bed in a bit of a daze, I didn't know what to do, how to feel. Taehyung bought me up some breakfast and a drink and I picked at it mindlessly while he watched me from the sofa.

We sat mainly in silence, he would occasionally check if I needed anything and I would tell him no. It was too unreal, my mind couldn't accept that my father was gone. It was trying to convince me that last night couldn't have really happened, but the ache in my chest let me know that it had. I played back those few short seconds, over and over, but the result was always the same.

"Y/n!" I heard Eunwoo yelling at some stage of the morning. "Where is she?"

"Calm down son," Came the soothing voice of Mr. Kim.

"Calm down! Are you seriously telling me to calm down?"

I stayed where I was, I was in no fit state to go down and deal with Eunwoo and everybody else, but a couple of minutes later he burst through the door.

"Y/n," he was hugging me tightly before I knew it and I let him hold me. I sobbed on his shoulder until I was spent and then pulled away, sniffling and snuffling.

"Come on," he helped me up and started leading me towards the door.

"Wait, where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to my house, your mom is coming to get you as soon as she can."

"No, I ..., no, I'm staying here."

"Ok. We can sort all that out later, let's just get you out of here."

"No, I'm staying here. Taehyung?" I looked around wildly for him and he was still sat on the sofa, watching us with a sad expression on his face. "Taehyung!"

He got up cautiously and I tried to go to him, but Eunwoo held me tighter. "You stay away from her Kim," Eunwoo spat. I tried to fight him but I didn't have the strength, emotionally or physically, to do much.

"Eunwoo, please," I begged.

"Y/n, you can't honestly expect me to let you stay here with him."

"Stop," I pulled away from him forcefully and rushed back to Taehyung. He wrapped his arm around me. "Don't make me leave, please don't make me leave," I chanted.

"Never Princess," he told me quietly.

"y/n!" Eunwoo yelled "We're going. I will not allow you to spend another minute with this..., this family."

"Taehyung please, please," I sobbed.

"Eunwoo, can't you see you're upsetting her."

"Don't talk to me," he walked towards us and grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Taehyung.

"Take your fucking hands off her!" Taehyung growled.

"You don't scare me Kim."

"I'm not trying to fucking scare you," Taehyung sighed and ran a hand into his hair. "This isn't about us. This is about her and I'm asking you to please take your hands off her and let her stay here."

"Fuck you," Eunwoo pulled me out the door.

I begged and pleaded all the way down the stairs. I was aware of Taehyung following close behind me and several times I tried to escape Eunwoo's grip but he was too strong.

When we reached the bottom we were met by the rest of the Kim.

"You cannot take her against her will," Mr. Kim told Eunwoo.

"Watch me, I don't know what the hell you've done to her, but the Y/n I know would never choose to stay here with you people. She needs her family around her at a time like this."

"Hey! We're her family too," Jungkook yelled.

Eunwoo scowled at him.

"V?" Jimin asked, as he and Jungkook blocked the front door.

I saw Taehyung shake his head almost imperceptibly and Jimin nodded once.

"What the fuck! It's not up to him," Eunwoo told them.

"It's not up to you either," Jimin said.

"You wanna go with him, Little y/n?" Jungkook asked me.

"No," I whispered and he scooped me into his arms before Eunwoo could stop him.

"You have your answer," Jungkook nodded, delivering me back to Taehyung who held me against his chest.

"Shh Princess, you're okay, we've got you," he soothed, as I sobbed.

Eunwoo went from shocked, to hurt, to angry in seconds.

"What is this?" he yelled. "You and your family have brainwashed her or something."

"Officer Eunwoo, you are welcome in our home if you would like to see Y/n and she wants to see you. I understand that you are upset and worried about her, we all are. But I will not tolerate you manhandling her and trying to force her to leave with you. As soon as she is up to it, I will bring her to the station to make a statement," Mr. Kim said calmly.

Eunwoo walked over to Taehyung and I. "y/n please, just come with me."

I shook my head at him and he glared at Taehyung.

"I know you had something to do with this. It wouldn't surprise me if it was you that killed him," y/n sneered. "After all, it wouldn't be the first time you shot someone's father would it?"

I gasped, shocked that Eunwoo would say something so cruel.

Taehyung looked like he'd been slapped in the face.

Eunwoo was slapped in the face, by a furious looking Jennie.

"Get the fuck out of our house," She spat at him, marching over to the door and throwing it open.

"Y/n, your mom will be arriving soon, she's expecting you at the house," Eunwoo said, rubbing his cheek as he left.

I panicked, were they expecting me to go back there today? I couldn't, the thought of it had me rushing to the bathroom and retching over the toilet. I knew I'd have to go there eventually, but not now, not so soon.

Taehyung followed me and held my hair up while I emptied the meagre contents of my stomach. He handed me a cup of water as I sat back up.

"Taehyung I can't."

"No one's going to make you go anywhere, your mom can come here or you can meet her somewhere, whatever you want," he sat down next to me.

"I thought you were going to let him take me," I crawled into his lap.

"You think, after everything, I'm gonna let someone take you from me Princess?"

"No, I just, I saw you shake your head when Jimin asked you if he should stop Eunwoo?"

"He wasn't asking if they should stop him. That was never in question. He was asking if they should use, uh, force. We would have if necessary, but I was hoping to avoid it. He's suspicious enough as it is."

"He's going to do his best to try and prove you had something to do with this."

"I know." Taehyung sighed and I waited expectantly for what came next. "What?" He asked when he caught my look.

"You're not even going to ask me if you can kill him?"

"Not today Princess." He smiled sadly and kissed my temple.

I snuggled up against him. "I love you Taehyung."

We sat like that for quite a while, until JaeIn came in and said my mom was on the phone. I wasn't up to speaking to her so JaeIn handled it, but I got up and Taehyung followed me.

We sat in the front room with his family. My mom was flying into Seoul tomorrow, but her and Mingoo her husband were staying the night there because they would be tired from the travelling, so they were going to try to get a flight into Busan on Wednesday. Me being here, for all she knew alone, with my dad being gone, was not enough of an incentive to make her come any quicker.

The Kim's ordered in dinner and we all ate in the kitchen. It was sombre, there was none of the joking and laughing that I had come to expect of them, I knew they were being careful of my feelings, but I just wanted things to be normal, whatever normal was.

After dinner Taehyung and I went upstairs and he held me in his bed for the evening while we watched TV. I slept fitfully, nightmares waking me up and sending me running to the bathroom to throw up every couple of hours.

I made my statement to the police Tuesday morning, the detective seemed to believe my account of things and according to him it tallied with the evidence and Taehyung's statement so he thought it would be an open and shut case. He offered his condolences and sent me on my way, the whole thing took less than an hour.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, thinking, grieving, and dozing. Taehyung stayed with me. He was working on his laptop, I knew he was trying to figure out how Kai had known I was at my dad's and I could tell he was frustrated with his lack of results. Sam, Embry and Jimin were the only people who knew that I would be there and Taehyung trusted them all implicitly so nothing was making sense to him.

I don't think he came to bed that night, but he was there, every time I woke up in a cold sweat or running to the bathroom and come Wednesday morning, he shook me awake and handed me some coffee.

I showered and dressed sluggishly. My mother was coming today. I loved my mom, but I didn't know how much use it would be having her here.

It had been arranged that Taehyung and I would pick her up at Busan airport, where she had managed to get a flight into. They landed at midday and Taehyung and I were on the road by ten.

We met them at the baggage claim and my mom ran at me and hugged me as soon as she saw me, leaving Mingoo to collect their bags.

I held her close for as long as she let me and eventually I had to release her. "Oh honey, you look just terrible. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." I nodded. I was as fine as I could be given the circumstances.

"And who's this?" She asked as she spotted Taehyung.

"Taehyung. It's a pleasure to meet you." Taehyung held out his hand and my mom ignored it to hug him. He shrugged her off as quickly as was polite.

"You did alright for yourself there y/n." She winked at me. "So, tell me, where did you meet, how long have you been with him? He's very attractive, goodness me, I didn't know they made them like that in Busan." She whispered.

Yeah, my dad, her ex-husband, just died and she wants to talk about how hot my boyfriend is.

Mingoo dropped the bags as he reached me and hugged me. "Wow y/n, you grew up nicely. I've missed you in Ilsan." I squirmed as he held me a little too tightly

Taehyung seemed to pick up on my discomfort and cleared his throat, putting an arm around my shoulder as soon as he could.

Mingoo looked him over quickly. "So, you're the boyfriend?"

"Yep, I'm the boyfriend." Taehyung smiled a really fake smile and led them all out to his car.

"Is this your car?" Mingoo tried his best not to look impressed, but failed, and he gave Taehyung another once over.

"Uh huh." Taehyung nodded.

"Found yourself a rich little boy toy did ya y/n? Doesn't surprise me, you're a beautiful girl." Mingoo grinned at me unpleasantly while my mom giggled and swatted at him and Taehyung growled.

We drove towards their hotel and other than a few outbursts from my mother telling Mingoo about how much she had hated Busan the journey was relatively silent.

We dropped them at their hotel and left them to get settled after we arranged to meet them for dinner later.

"Um, your stepfather is a massive dick," Taehyung said as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot.

I snorted. "I know, why do you think I left Ilsan in the first place?"

"You left because of him?"

"Uh huh, he was a bit overfriendly," I explained, not realising my mistake until it was too late.

The car screeched to a stop at the side of the road.

"What do you mean overfriendly?" Taehyung said in a cold voice.

"Oh nothing, just uh...."

Taehyung raised an eyebrow waiting for me to elaborate.

"Just suggestive," I finally managed. "He never did anything to me," I assured him.

"But your mom stayed with him!"

"Well, I, uh, never told her."

"Why?" He looked gobsmacked.

"She loves him."

"So! She surely loves you more. You should have told her."

I grimaced. It wasn't that I didn't think my mom loved me. She did, but she wouldn't have handled me telling her Mingoo made me uncomfortable at all well.

"She's complicated Taehyung, it wouldn't have been for the best," I shrugged.

"So why does she think you moved to Busan?"

"I told her I wanted to give her some time with her new husband."

He shook his head. "And she bought that bullshit?"

"Uh yeah, why wouldn't she?"

"Because teenage girls don't suddenly up and leave their fucking homes, their mothers and their friends, to go live with their single fathers thousands of fucking miles away in the middle of high school unless there's a pretty good reason. She should have realised it was more than you wanting her to have time with her husband, that's a weak excuse at best, and she let you go anyway. You're her daughter, you're supposed to come first. She's either incredibly self-centred or she's incredibly stupid or worse she's both."

"Uh...," I'd never really thought about it like that.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude about your mom and don't get me wrong, I'm so fucking glad you came to Busan. I just really hate shit parents Princess."

I nodded and he started driving again. I was surprised that I wasn't more annoyed with Taehyung for saying what he did about my mom. But as we arrived home, and JaeIn was waiting with a hug, I had to accept that some of the things he said had an element of truth to them. I could never see JaeIn letting her children go so easily.

My dad's funeral had been arranged for Friday afternoon, and JaeIn assured me that she and Mr. Kim would take care of organising it. I couldn't be more grateful, there was no way I could do it.

I spent the afternoon in Taehyung's bedroom. Psyching myself up for what was sure to be an interesting dinner. My mom probably assumed that I was returning to Ilsan with her, she was going to be horrified that I was planning on staying in Busan.

"Princess before we get there, you have to tell me, do you want to go back to Ilsan with your mom?" Taehyung asked as we drove to the hotel.

"Are you crazy?" I gaped at him. "Why...do you want me to?"

"Don't be fucking ridiculous, I just wanted to be sure of what you were thinking."

"I'm staying here Taehyung. You can't get rid of me that easily."

He smiled his special smile and leaned down to kiss me. "I love you Princess."

"You better, because you're stuck with me now," I told him and he laughed. "My mom's not going to like this."

"Why? I thought she wanted the time with her dick husband," he scowled.

"It's just, her biggest fear was that I'd fall in love and stay in Busan forever."

"Your mom's biggest fear is that you'd fall in love? That's....really fucking odd. I gotta tell you Princess, the more I hear about your mother the more I fucking dislike her."

"She's just different. She felt stuck here and she was unhappy, she doesn't want the same thing for me, but we're very different people." I tried to explain. "Give her a chance, for me," I asked.

"For you Princess, anything," He smiled.

We met my mom and Mingoo at their hotel room and walked to the restaurant. My mom kept up a steady stream of chatter that I could tell was irritating Taehyung, but he smiled and laughed in all the right places and I appreciated him making the effort.

We ordered dinner, my mom was busy telling us about her new hobby, which was knitting. I could feel Mingoo watching me, but I ignored him as best I could. My mom was trying to keep the mood light, she didn't deal well with sadness and I knew she thought she was helping me by taking my mind off of things, but honestly, even though I could smile and join in with her conversation, it was always there. It was going to take more than a few days for me to get over seeing my dad die.

We ate in relative silence. I hardly tasted my food but I finished my plate and the waitress came to clear up just as my mom excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Mingoo looked at me and then Taehyung.

"So Taehyung, I expect you're going to miss our y/n."

"Why would you think that?" Taehyung asked him coldly.

"Ilsan is an awful long way from Busan." Mingoo said smugly.

"I know, so it's lucky that she wants to stay here."

"You think her mom and I are going to let her stay here." he chuckled.

"I am staying here." I told him, my tone left no room for argument.

"Y/n, you're grieving, you don't know what you're saying sweetie." He patted my hand patronisingly and I pulled it away harshly.

"I know exactly what I'm saying. I'm not going back with you." I spat.

"I know you think you love him, but I can't let you stay here."

"You don't have a fucking choice." Taehyung hissed.

Mingoo did a double take that Taehyung had spoken to him that way. He appraised him slowly and leaned forward. "You think you can overrule her mother?"

"I'm not overruling anyone. It's up to the Princess."

"The Princess." Mingoo scowled.

"Don't fuck with the Princess." Taehyung said seriously.

"You might think you're a big deal around this humdrum little town, but you're young, I'm a real man." Mingoo chuckled.

"You're a real dick." Taehyung muttered.

"I personally can't wait to get her back home." Mingoo raised his eyebrows and smirked at Taehyung. Christ I'd forgotten just how much of an asshole he could be.

"And I can't wait to see you try." Taehyung smiled, leaning back in his seat and throwing an arm over my shoulder.

"You think you can stop me?"

"I know I can." Taehyung said confidently.

"Well aren't you a cocky little fucker."

"You are not the first person to tell me that." Taehyung nodded, staring passively at Mingoo until he got up to get another drink from the bar.

"How do you want to do this Princess?" He asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I can whip out my gun and threaten to shoot that fucker right now, because honestly, he should die. But it's your call, you want to talk with them?"

"I'll try to talk to my mom, but with Mingoo, do what you want. Ohh! Can you like, go all V on him?"

"Go all V on him?" He looked at me confused.

"Yeah, you know, with the glary eyes and the scary nostril thing."

"You are a very strange girl." He shook his head and kissed me.

"Ahh." My mom said as she and Mingoo sat back down. "You two are so sweet."

"I know, I was just asking the kids how they're going to cope with being apart." Mingoo smirked at Taehyung.

"Oh, y/n, honey, I'm so sorry, but there's no other way." My mom did look genuinely sorry, Mingoo looked positively gleeful. "I thought we could stay here for a couple of weeks while we sort everything out but then we'll have to head back to Ilsan."

"I'm not coming back with you mom." I told her.

"What!" she gasped.

"I'm staying in here."

"You can't, where will you live? You're only just eighteen. How will you support yourself and finish high school? The only way is to move back home."

"I am home!" I said loudly and my mom looked shocked.

"I think they want to live together." Mingoo chuckled, shaking his head.

"y/n no! You're too young. You'll end up miserable just like I was in this dreadful town."

"Just because you were miserable, doesn't mean I will be and I, uh, kinda already live with Taehyung." I cringed.

"What!" She cried. "Since when?"

"Perhaps if you called your daughter more frequently you'd know the answer to that." Taehyung interjected, really freaking unhelpfully.

"You're being silly y/n, you need to come home." My mom ignored him. "There is no way I will allow you to stay here with a boy you hardly know."

"I'm old enough to decide for myself where I want to live." I told her firmly.

"What the hell was your father thinking allowing this?" She shook her head. "Stupid romantic fool"

I gasped at her mention of my dad and Taehyung glared at my mom.

"With all due respect, her dad had no choice but to let the Princess go. But he didn't want her to live with me and he did try to stop her. He put his daughter first."

"Are you trying to say I don't?" My mom looked shocked but Taehyung just shrugged.

"What do you do Taehyung?" Mingoo asked. "Are you in collage? Or did you drop out?"

"No, I graduated." Taehyung said calmly.

"A year early." I almost shouted, because Mingoo was getting on my last nerve. I was almost at the point where I was hoping that Taehyung would get cross and shoot him.

"So you work?"

"Yep. My family have an, uh, import and export business."

"And you earn enough at your age to support y/n through high school?" My mom asked.

"I've found it to be quite lucrative." Taehyung nodded and I snorted. "But money is not the issue here. Her dad's estate will go to the Princess, so she will be more than able to support herself."

"And what do your family say about this nonsense?" my mom asked him, she was getting a little hysterical. "They don't mind their son living with a girl he hasn't known all that long."

"They all love the Princess, she's family. My uncle simply adores her, I'd go as far as to say he'd kill for her." He chuckled like he was joking, but I saw the hardness in his eyes he looked directly at Mingoo.

"Why are you doing this to me y/n?" My mom stood up from the table abruptly. "This is madness." She cried and ran out of the restaurant.

"So the whole family loves your little Princess." Mingoo laughed. "I can't wait to meet them."

"I should imagine they'll be just itching to meet you too." Taehyung looked genuinely amused. "Especially once they hear all about you. I'll just go and settle the bill." He said to me and I nodded, standing up so he could get out of his seat.

As soon as he was gone Mingoo got up and came towards me.

"So y/n, you're eighteen now." Mingoo smiled, but not nicely. "I really have missed you around the house."

"You need to step back." I told him firmly, but he didn't move. "If Taehyung..."

"Your little boyfriend might think he's a hard man." He interrupted me chuckling and coming closer still. "But he doesn't scare me."

"Well he should." I snorted, as I caught sight of a rather furious looking Taehyung over Mingoo's shoulder.

He frowned and looked taken aback that I was laughing at him.

"Are we ready to go?" Taehyung smiled, when he got back to us, putting his arm around my waist and pulling me towards him to kiss my temple. We left the restaurant and made our way along the sidewalk towards my mom's motel room where his car was parked. Once we arrived outside their room Taehyung let go of me and turned to Mingoo.

"I believe I warned you not to fuck with the Princess." He said in a deadly tone. Oh yeah, he was about to go all V on Mingoo's ass.

"Listen Taehyung..." Mingoo started.

"No, you listen, Mingoo." Taehyung spat his name and had him turned with his face pushed up against the wall and his arm twisted behind his back before he could finish what he was going to say.

"What the hell!" Mingoo fought to get away but Taehyung had him totally immobilised.

"I can pop your arm out of its socket with a flick of my wrist so I suggest you stop struggling." Taehyung said coldly and Mingoo froze.

"Are you ready to take me seriously?" Taehyung asked. "Because you're beginning to fuck me off."

Mingoo gave one last shot at bravado by throwing Taehyung's hand off his arm when Taehyung relaxed his grip and he spun around to face him. He took one look at Taehyung's face and baulked. I couldn't blame him I was still shocked by just how dangerous Taehyung looked when he was in full on V mode.

"If I catch you so much as looking at the Princess again, I will kill you."

"You'd try to kill me?" Mingoo's eyes widened comically as he took in what Taehyung had said.

"No." Taehyung scoffed and Mingoo seemed to relax a bit.

"I said I will kill you." Taehyung had his gun pointed at Mingoo's forehead in a second. "I won't have to try."

Mingoo let out a little shriek and if he wasn't such an asshole I would have really felt for him.

"Please don't shoot me." he stuttered and cringed as he held his hands up.

"Relax, I'm not going to shoot you yet." Taehyung rolled his eyes and he whimpered as Taehyung lowered his gun.

"We're gonna make a deal." Taehyung told him. "You're going to go in there and tell your flaky wife to step up and be a fucking parent for the next two days, because the Princess needs her and after that, the pair of you are going to fuck off back to Ilsan as soon as possible. In return, I'm not going to kill you." Taehyung shrugged.

Mingoo seemed to have been rendered speechless. He opened and shut his mouth several times but nothing came out.

"So do we have a deal?"

Mingoo nodded furiously.

"Excellent!" Taehyung smiled, instantly snapping back to normal and tucking his gun away. "You ready to go Princess?"

"Yeah." I told him and he helped me into his car.

"Night." Taehyung called cheerily, before he got in the car and drove away, leaving Mingoo leaning against the wall of his motel room, breathing heavily and looking stunned stupid.

I went straight up to bed when we got in, I was exhausted and needed a good night's sleep. Taehyung went down to the basement with Jimin and Yoongi, who had been staying at the house since the weekend.

I wasn't sure what they were up to, but they were working all hours and I didn't see much of Taehyung on Thursday at all.

I sat with Jennie and JaeIn, who were just the tonic I needed. Tomorrow was going to be a hard day, I was going to have to say goodbye to my dad. Something I was nowhere near ready to do.

Taehyung came to bed with me that night, he held me while I cried or slept or stared into space.

The house was a hive of activity Friday morning and I shut myself in Taehyung's bedroom unable to deal with any of it. Jennie bought me a plain black dress to wear, and I put it on minutes before Taehyung came to tell me it was time.

We arrived at the church, the place was heaving, it seemed that the whole of Forks had turned out. I clung to Taehyung and we walked through the crowd to take our seats at the front.

I sat through the service, with Taehyung wrapped around me, not really listening to what the priest was saying. My mom wailed loudly throughout the whole thing, which meant no one could really hear him anyway.

The wake was held in the church hall, stories were told and people celebrated the life of my father.

Eunwoo had bought Joy and she seemed to be somewhere between horror-struck and star-struck as she came face to face with all the Kims. She tried to smile at me, but she didn't quite pull it off, and I plastered a fake smile on my face while I called her names in my head as I thanked her for coming.

Eunwoo pulled me aside and whispered hastily that if I ever needed him all I had to do was call and I nodded and assured him I would, but that I was fine.

I hugged Eunwoo for a good long time. I knew he didn't like the Kims and he wanted me to leave with my mom, but I felt a need to keep him in my life. We would never be as close as we had been, but I couldn't give him up completely. He had been a good friend and colleague to my dad, and it was a connection I needed to hold onto.

I lasted a couple of hours making pleasantries with what seemed like anyone who had met my dad, ever, before I asked Taehyung to take me home.

I sat once again in a daze on the bed, my dad was gone, and it still felt so surreal. I didn't think about it all the time anymore, but it was still always there. I didn't know when I would feel like me again.

Taehyung sat next to me and I leaned in to kiss him, running my hands into his hair, we fell back onto the bed and when my hands went to his jeans he didn't stop me this time. I wasn't desperate, and we took our time as we gradually lost our clothes, kissing and caressing each other.

When Taehyung positioned himself on top of me, he looked me in the eyes, to check I was alright and I reached up and pulled his head down to mine so I could kiss him.

He slid into me, moving at a slow, unhurried pace. He took me softly, gently, lovingly and we clung to one another, no space between us. He consumed me like always and I cried out as I came, silent tears streaming down my face.

Taehyung rolled off me and pulled me to him, wiping my tears and holding me tightly until I fell into another fitful sleep.

I spent Saturday with my mom, Mingoo declined the invitation to join us, much to my relief. Taehyung also declined the invitation, much to my mom's relief. Once he was gone, she asked me a thousand times to come back to Ilsan with her, told me not to waste my life in Busan and to make sure I went to college, she was unimpressed with my plans to go to Seoul with Taehyung, she thought that I should go further afield and spread my wild oats, which basically translates as my own mother encouraging me to sleep around.

When I looked horrified and informed her that I wasn't interested in being with anyone other than Taehyung, she grumbled something along the lines of "You're exactly like your father." And while I don't think she meant it as a compliment, I took it as one. My dad was a good man and I didn't mind being like him at all.

It was a relief when we took her and Mingoo back to the airport that night. I hugged my mom, not knowing when I would see her again and not feeling as sad about it as I thought I ought to. Mingoo gave both me and Taehyung a wide birth and I almost laughed as he flinched when Taehyung put his hand out to shake Mingoo's goodbye.

Sunday, I caught up with my schoolwork. I hadn't decided if I was up to school on Monday or not, but I didn't want to fall behind.

Jennie had been going to the school to collect my assignments and homework for me. Taehyung helped me out, I'd always known he must have been smart to graduate so early, but it wasn't until he completed my, as far as I was concerned, impossible biology homework in next to no time, that I realised how ridiculously clever he was.

Sunday night was spent lazing in front of the TV with the whole family. While they hadn't gone back to exactly as they were before around me, there was still teasing and bickering, and I found myself smiling a lot more than I had in what felt like ages.

After another week of staying home, I decided that I had to go back to school, it was time to face the real world. I missed my dad. I missed him all the time. I knew I couldn't spend the rest of my life weeping for him, but I couldn't help getting tearful at times. I was still waking up throughout the night feeling fine for a few moments, before the image of him lying cold and lifeless on the floor hit me and I was running to the bathroom and retching.

JaeIn had taken it upon herself to start feeding me up, she told me I was looking too pale and gaunt. She made more and more food, always offering me something that looked and smelt delicious. She held me, hugged me, seemed to know when I was feeling sad and comforted me in any way that she could. She mothered me, and I let her, I needed it and she loved doing it.

I slept a lot, between the crying and the nightmares I was constantly exhausted. I would often doze off after lunch or early in the evening. Taehyung would carry me to bed and hold me all night, while I thrashed and flailed, reliving those last few moments again and again.

"You're sure about this Princess?" taehyung asked as we pulled up at the school the first Monday in October.

"I've got to go back at some stage."

"Yeah, but if you're not up to it, you can have more time off."

"I'll be fine." I assured him.

"You have your phone. Sam and Embry are going to be outside all day, if you need to come home, then call me." He told me and I nodded.

He got out and opened my door for me, pulling me into his arms.

"I love you Princess, so fucking much." He kissed me goodbye and I made my way into school, nothing much had changed. I got sympathetic glances from everyone, and all my teachers went easy on me. Even Jessi said something nice. It was tiring, but I survived. I went home, ate the dinner JaeIn had prepared for me and was asleep by eight.

Slowly, over the next couple of weeks, life regained some normality, the nightmares became less frequent, I cried less often, and stopped throwing up. I was still tired all the time, which led to me being moody, but I felt much more like me. I wasn't ever going to get over losing my dad, it would always be upsetting, but life had to go on..

The end of October bought Jennie's twenty third birthday and we were all going to Franco's to celebrate. Jin and Yoongi were back at the house and I was really looking forward to having a good night.

Taehyung and I headed up to our room to get ready, I declined his offer to shower together, and got in first, while he sulked. He went in after me, while I dried myself off and did my hair.

I pulled on my favourite jeans but I couldn't get the zipper more than half way up, no matter how hard I tried. I lay on the bed trying to breathe in so I could do them up, I struggled for a couple of minutes, determined to get them on. I was red in the face and a bit sweaty, groaning and bucking on the bed as my hand yanked furiously at my zipper.

"Are you playing with yourself Princess?" Taehyung asked laughing from the doorway of the bathroom.

I was near to tears with frustration. "No!" I cried, letting my arms fall to my sides but not getting up. "I can't do my jeans up."

"So wear a different pair." He shrugged, pulling on a pair of his jeans and doing them up effortlessly. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"I don't want to wear a different pair Taehyung!" I said angrily and he looked a bit taken aback. "I want to wear these ones." I gave the zipper another go and then sat up. "Damn it! This is your mother's fault!"

"How?"

"She keeps making all those nice meals and now I'm fat!" I yelled at him.

Taehyung made the massive mistake of giving me a once over before he said. "You might have put on a couple of pounds, but I like it." He shrugged.

I gaped at him. Was he serious right now? Stupid, sexy, infuriating, gorgeous, idiot of a boy.

He then made his second mistake by adding. "Princess, are you ok? You seem to be making a big thing out of nothing. Um, is it, er, you know, that time?" Taehyung approached me cautiously.

"No Taehyung." I glared at him and he stopped in his tracks. "It is not that time. I'm just pissed, I can get pissed can't I? Or do you assume that the only reason I could possibly be pissed, is because I've got my period. Is that what you think?" I was shouting like a nutcase come the end of my little rant.

"Uh, no, fuck, sorry, um, shit, I need to....,er, what should I do?" He asked me quite helplessly.

"Run." I growled at him.

"Ok." He blinked and grabbed his shirt. "Um, I love you." And with that he left the room hastily.

I flopped back down onto the bed, I didn't know what was wrong with me, one minute I was fine and the next I was like a crazy-woman. I think the stress of the last few weeks was taking its toll, and unfortunately Taehyung, being the closest person to me, was in the firing line.

At some stage I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew Taehyung was behind me on the bed and he was kissing my neck. I snuggled into him. "Do you hate me Princess?" He whispered.

"Never." I smiled, my earlier mood had gone and he was all pressed up against me. I might have wiggled against him, hoping we could maybe have some fun, between my falling asleep and Taehyung's constant working it had been a little while since we'd been together.

"Good." He moved away from me. "Because everyone's waiting on you to come downstairs, so we can go out for dinner."

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(a/n)
Someone is really sus... Hmm... Oh well.
Anyway hope u enjoyed this one, ill try updating tomorrow as well.
Again, thank u for the comments and messages it means alot xx