Issues • Kim Taehyung x Reader

xi.

Taehyung swallowed as he tucked his phone in his pocket. "How is this going to work? Where am I going to stay?"

Jimin, Jungkook, and Jin all raised their hands simultaneously. "You can stay with me!" They all glared at each other. "No, he's staying with me!" They scowled amongst themselves.

"Maybe..." Taehyung interjected quietly. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea, maybe I should go home-"

Seven hands latched on to him as everybody immediately prevented him from leaving.

"You guys are freaking him out," Namjoon said, scolding Jimin, Jungkook, and Jin. "Stop fighting over him. You're going to make him uncomfortable. Instead, how about we all put our stuff in one room? It can be like a sleepover."

"Aaaaaand this is why Namjoon is the leader," Jungkook said with a crooked grin.

"What about (Name) though?" Jin asked, looking over at her and giving her a smile that had melted hearts and certain garments on lesser women.

(Name) held up her hands defensively. "Guys' night. I don't want to interfere, but I'll give you all my number so you can call if Taehyung has a problem, okay?"

Jin pouted but happily accepted (Name)'s number before sending it to everyone else. "Hey, that reminds me. I tried texting you the other day, Taehyung, but it wouldn't work."

Taehyung frowned. "Ha Ra blocked all your numbers, I think..."

Namjoon took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm because he was getting very angry, moreso with every awful thing Ha Ra did. "Give me your phone and I'll unblock them."

Taehyung hesitated before handing his phone over. Namjoon took it, scrolling through and unblocking all the contacts Ha Ra had blocked from Taehyung.

Then the phone started ringing.

Taehyung froze. He knew what that ringtone meant.

"It's her," Namjoon spat.

"Give it back," Taehyung said, reaching for the phone. He knew what would happen if he didn't take Ha Ra's call.

"No! I want to give her a piece of my mind!"

"YOU'RE NOT THE ONE WHO WILL HAVE TO GO HOME TO HER!" Taehyung shouted, grabbing the phone while Namjoon froze up. He took a deep breath and accepted the call, standing up and facing the wall so he didn't have to see his friends staring at him and shock and pity. "Yes, Ha Ra. No, my boss didn't let me know until just now. Someone else was supposed to go but a family emergency came up so he's sending me instead." He swallowed. It was easier to lie to Ha Ra over the phone, but she could usually tell when he was lying. He had to sell this. "I'm sorry, we're boarding the plane now and I've gotta turn off my phone."

He closed his eyes. "Love you." His tongue wanted to commit suicide after saying those words. "Bye."

He hung up and stood still for a long moment before turning around.

Namjoon was staring at him in shock because Taehyung had never bitten of Namjoon's head like that before. His other hyungs and even Jungkook were staring at him both because of the words he'd yelled and because of his conversation.

"I'm sorry," Taehyung said. His soul was crying but his eyes were dry. "I...I just can't...I don't want to upset her. You don't know how she gets..."

"Tae-" Namjoon started, but Taehyung cut him off.

"You think you know, but at the end of the day, I'm the one who has to go back to that house. You can't hide me forever. You won't want to, for that matter. I'm just a burden no matter where I'm at, I'm just useless and I mess everything up and I-"

Taehyung trailed off as he began struggling to breathe. He lowered himself against the wall until he was sitting on the ground, just inhaling and exhaling.

(Name) ran over and rubbed his back. "It's okay, Taehyung. You're not a burden. You're not useless. You don't mess everything up. You're a special part of all of our lives. Nobody can replace you." She looked up at the other six BTS members. "They all love you. You're not messing everything up. And even if you were a burden, they would happily accept it because they care about you and want to see you get better. That's what we all want, Taehyung. For you to get better and to be happy."

"I don't believe in happiness," Taehyung said between gasps.

"Well, happiness believes in you," (Name) said, looking up at everyone and gesturing for them to jump in.

"You always make us happy when you're goofing around and just being you," Jimin said, smiling. "Nobody can replace our little alien."

"I'm supposed to be the hope of BTS, but you're my hope, Tae," Hoseok said, his eyes crinkling sadly. "All of my hope right now is just for you, that you'll realize you've got a family here waiting for you forever and always."

"Tae, I like you more than the color pink," Jin said. "Because you sparkle no matter where you are and you make me feel like a princess."

"Tae, you're a million times better at caring for others than I am at English. Don't you dare ever feel inadequate just because one person is lying to her about it," Namjoon said.

"You'd make a nice pillow" was all Yoongi had to say, but his face was crumpled like he was trying to maintain his composure.

Jungkook was last. He smiled his signature bunny-tooth smile and added quietly, "Yeah. You make me happy. Just by being here. And I don't want you to leave anymore, especially not to go home to a person who doesn't appreciate you because we all do."

"See, Taehyung?" (Name) asked. He'd finally gotten his breathing back to normal, or close at least. She smiled at him warmly. "Everybody here cares about you. They want to help you. They don't believe any of the negative things you've been taught to believe about yourself because they know the real you."

Taehyung hung his head. "I know, I'm sorry for yelling at you, Namjoon...and it seems easy to accept those things now but when I'm alone with her it's a different story. She gets me all confused and then she tells me how to think and I can't protect myself against it and-"

Namjoon pulled Taehyung up into a hug. "Don't worry about yelling. I wasn't angry, just surprised. I'm the one who's actually sorry. You were totally right about what you said. Even if I do something, you're the one who has to pay the consequences. It was selfish and insensitive of me. Forgive me?"

Taehyung looked at him with wide eyes. "Of course," he said, shocked that anyone would ever ask him for forgiveness.

Namjoon smiled, rustling Taehyung's hair. "Great. Now let's get this sleepover set up. I hope you remember how to play our favorite videos game!"

"I...haven't play in a while," Taehyung said, his smile dropping a bit. Ha Ra hadn't let him play any.

Jungkook threw an arm over Taehyung's shoulder, smiling at him sweetly. "It's okay," he whispered to Taehyung. "Because we'll let you win anyway."

Taehyung smiled back. They were all so nice to him even though he was a total wreck. That was how he knew Ha Ra had to be wrong, because who could be right to keep him away from such good friends?

the q&a answers will be coming out after chapter xv so you still have time to add more
thanks for those already sent in 🙃