Vestiges || KTH FF

Chapter VI

Various voices, various shadows surrounded him, his legs jammed unable to run away from this horrible abyss. Pain seeped into his every bones, words of cruelty breaking his soul.

"You're a disgrace to our family."

"You should have never been born in the first place."

"You are a monster."

"Save me. Please."

Soon a warm liquid poured into him, his hands covered with the thick red blood as a boy lied limp in front of his eyes. His eyes were open and looked deep into his dark one, crying for help. Pleading him to be saved.

And the very next moment, he was still, his eyes emotionless. He walked towards him, slowly stepping over the bloody street. As he came close to him, he knelt beside him, his eyes gleaming with guilt and fear. Just then, the body came back to life and grabbed him by his collars.

"YOU ARE A MURDERER."

Eyes snap open, he jolts up covered in a cold sweat, shaking, heart pounding. Looking around the room suspicious and paranoid that the horror may have followed him here, he gets up cautiously, shivering, rubs head and eyes and tries to fully awaken. The nightmare felt so real that he was confused that whether it was a dream or an actual incident. After some time, he realizes where he is. All he wanted right now was to pacify himself with a glass of water, but all this had left him weak and trembling. Stumbling to the bathroom, he looks in the mirror slowly, cautiously, as if not sure of what he'll see.

The sun shines brightly through the window, but it didn't help washing away the vestiges of the horror. Feeling somewhat dirty, he cleaned his hands frantically as if they were actually tainted with blood. The cuts and wounds on his palm starts stinging, as he rubs and rubs them with the soapy water.

After getting ready for school and back to his normal composure, he sits and have breakfast with his parents. It was silent. As usual. His father talked business over the phone , while his mom quietly had her meal, just like him. Unable to focus, he played around with his toast catching his father's attention.

"When are you going to act like an adult."

He flinched at his father's sudden shout. His mom got up from her seat worried that it might escalate to something worse.

"Come on, don't scold him so earl-"

One glance from her husband was enough to keep her mouth shut. She looked at her son with sad eyes who was practically shaking in fear as his father strode towards him. He held up his hand in the air, the grip getting painful as he saw fresh wounds on them.

"Get your shit together, Mark Lee. Don't forget you're my son. So stop acting like some girl in distress."

He gulped hard at his father's words. The fear in his eyes changed into something unreadable as he raised them to meet his fathers. A devilish smile crept up his face and long gone was the boy who was trembling in fear.

"Don't worry, Dad. I'm your son. I'll make you proud."

****

"I'm so proud of you, Tae. You handled the customers so well. My blood sugar level literally dropped after seeing so much rush."

Who told you to open a cafe in the first place, Taehyung wondered as he looked at Heechul-ssi blankly. It had been two weeks since they had opened the cafe. For the first 5 days there were barely any customers, making Heechul-ssi dive into depression (almost). But now, they have no time to breathe.

For the past two week, Taehyung kept up with the DVDs whenever he got some free time. And he had known much more about Jungkook and his life. He also got to see his best friend Jimin. Park Jimin. A chubby and bit short tempered guy. He loved how those two bickered with each other. How Jungkook would talk about his daily and unimportant things, like how he burned eggs for the breakfast, or how his lucky shirt got missing or how he cried for a pet. In these two weeks, Taehyung felt as if he had known him for years. He felt a certain connection to him. In some ways, they - no, he - had grown close to him.

The bell ringed as the door opened. Taehyung didn't bother raising his head up to look who it was, since he was expecting this arrival. Wait expecting??, he mentally slapped himself.

The trio came up to the counter as Heechul-ssi took their order and then went to sit at their usual spot by the window. It had been a week since Yoongi and his two friends Jung Hoseok and Kim Aerin became a regular at the cafe. Sometimes they would talk and bicker or just do their school work silently. It was always Yoongi and Hoseok who did the talking, whereas the girl was always quiet. 

"Here are your coffees and pastries."

The brunet kept their order on the table, when he saw them engrossed in a painting. He stood there admiring the artwork, when a pull on his hand made him sit on the chair beside Aerin.

"Hey! What does this look like to you?", asked Yoongi as Taehyung pulled his hand off his grip.

Hoseok pushed the painting towards him so that he could have a better look at it. Different shades of blue were spread across the paper with white graceful strokes outlining them. Taehyung wasn't really into artwork but this looked like a masterpiece.

"Its the ocean.", he mumbled in realisation.

"Yeahhhh... I was thinking the same.", Hoseok raised his hand for a high five but Taehyung was just too tired to move a limb.

"Hahhh... It just looks like spilled paint over the pap- Oww.", Yoongi cried in pain as Aerin kicked him under the table. She did look scary with that silent attitude.

"Yahhh... Why show us your painting when you can't handle criticism."

Taehyung whipped his head towards Aerin after hearing Yoongi's words. She painted this.

"And did you really had to repeat one year of high school?"

With that, Aerin left the table leaving three boys awestruck.

"Yahhh.. Kim Aerin!!!!"

"Wow, Aerin that was so random yet cool.", Hoseok couldn't seem to hold his laughter whereas Yoongi was bubbling with anger.

"I'll pay for us.", said Aerin, when she saw Heechul-ssi smiling at the three boys.

Aerin's eyes then fell on a paper kept on the back of the counter. It was a poster for hiring a new part-timer.

"I'm glad, Tae got new friends now. He looks happier now.", he said while taking the money from her.

She turned back and looked at the boys who laughed at Yoongi's funny angry expressions. She smiled. A smile unknown to Heechul-ssi. The bell chimed again and by the time Taehyung turned his head back to the door, Aerin had already left.

A/n: Woawwww.... We got some interesting new characters in just one chapter👀
What do you think about them?
Lemme know in the comments and twinkle that lil star 🌟