𝓟𝓸𝓼𝓼𝓮𝓼𝓼𝓲𝓿𝓮 [ᵗᵃᵉᵍⁱ] ✔️

{Thirty-Two}

His breath got caught in his throat, and his feet stopped in their motion. The face was way too familiar, and a nauseous feeling bubbled in the pit of his stomach.

"K-Kangjun?!"

Said alpha just looked up, an apologetic smile plastered onto his lips. "Hey, Taehyung."

His voice was scratchy and worn out as if he had yelled for hours. Only then the omega noticed Kangjun's face; it was beaten up. Blood trickled down from a wound just above his eyebrow, his right eye was colored a dark purple, and his bottom lip was split. That was all he could make out in the dark, and under the hood Kangjun wore, the alpha's eyes twinkling faintly in the spare light.

Taehyung was at a loss for words; he had been prepared for almost every possible scenario, but not for this. His thoughts were a mess, a mix of why and who and where making his knees weak. The older scooted closer to the edge, making space for Taehyung, who just fell onto the bench. It was silent except for the traffic faintly echoing through the trees and the chatter of citizens on the sidewalk behind the hedge.

"You're probably wondering where Juwon is," Kangjun whispered, barely audible over all the distinct noise. Taehyung could only nod, still not able to form coherent sentences in his head.

"He's at the police station. I'm sorry if he scared you," the alpha sighed, looking down at his muddy and bloody jeans. Taehyung gulped, somehow willing the dryness in his throat to disappear. "W-Why?" was the only thing he said. He had so many questions that were left unanswered, so many things that didn't add up. 

Kangjun just kicked the gravel in front of the bench, unable to look Taehyung in the eyes. "He's ill. We don't know what it is, but he tends to get very obsessive. He's in good hands now. Hopefully."

"But... How?" Taehyung stuttered, his eyes desperately searching for answers in Kangjun's. The latter bit his lip but winced at the pain shortly after before sighing and looking up. "I owe you an explanation, don't I?"

Taehyung nodded and hugged his knees, trying to find comfort in the curled up position. 

"I should probably start to explain why I know Juwon. He's my brother, two years older than me. He knows you because I often come home from work and start talking about my day. You appear in those stories quite a lot." the alpha started, taking off his hood and ruffling up his hair.

"But... Why me?" the brunette asked, his heart calming down, and his muscles slowly relaxing. The new piece of information didn't ease his mind in the slightest; if anything, it got worse.

"This is going to be awkward, but I owe you," Kangjun sighed and chuckled, slightly shaking his head. "I'm going to be straight forward here; I've had a crush on you since the first day you started working at the bakery."

Upon seeing Taehyung's panicked expression, Kangjun added, "But don't worry, I know that you're in a relationship with SUGA, and I'm genuinely happy for you."