Save Me

15

Taehyung was at the back of a bakery this time, drawing a pretty portrait of a french woman holding her quellazaire close to her lips. He was pretty much done, only adding a few more touches as the artist was too much of a perfectionist.

Tonight's air had a little chill to it, like the wind held this bite that would sink itself into your skin. Taehyung was wearing a gray hoodie and Adidas pants, comfortable yet warm enough to get through the night so he could get paid.

He knew he was overdoing himself, but at this point it was more like a routine. He was more than aware that his relationship with Rosie was crumbling, but he told himself that it would be fine. That with just a little bit more time, the siblings would be better off than they'd ever been.

But it happened so fast that night. They came so undercover and then just shouted at all of them, scaring the living daylights out of Taehyung and making his heart drop to his stomach.

"FREEZE!"

Taehyung watches in horror as the boys around him are forced onto their knees, handcuffs latching onto their wrists as they struggle against the cops. He felt tears prick his eyes and he started to move back.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to get in this deep.

He spins around and only manages a short sprint before two cops grab him by his arms and slam him back against the wall, causing him to whimper in pain.

"Wait! I-"

"We don't want to hear it," one of the cops hisses, spinning him around and slamming his cheek onto the wall.

"You have the right to remain silent," the other cop says as he slaps the handcuffs onto his wrists. "Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

Taehyung felt like everything was collapsing. Why did he accept this damn offer in the first place? Rosie wouldn't be able to survive without him. Taehyung wouldn't be able to survive without her.

He only prays that he will be set free.

***

The interrogation room was cold. It smelt of coffee and clorox wipes, most likely from whoever cleaned the room last.

The room was dark save from the overhead light, and Taehyung sat there with his handcuffed wrists on the table, staring at the cop sitting across from him with dark eyes. Kim Taehyung was an incredibly intimidating man when he wanted to be.

"Kim Taehyung," the cop sighs, looking through the papers on his file.

Taehyung doesn't answer, doesn't even move.

"You've got one hell of a file," the cop laughs, and Taehyung's fingers twitch against the table at his mocking tone. "Your father is locked up. Do you want to join him?"

Taehyung, in all his life, never thought he'd be sitting across from a shitty cop who was doing nothing but poking fun at his fucked up life. But, in a silver lining of clarity in his head, he knew he couldn't lose control. Not in front of the authorities who could take him away from his sister.

"Why'd you do it?" the cop finally asks.

"Money," Taehyung answers simply, his lips returning to a firm line.

"Kids," the cop scoffs under his breath.

"I'm not doing well financially, cop," Taehyung snaps, breathing in heavily through his nose to relax. "I have no parents and I have a sister to take care of."

"That's great, kid, but-"

"What would you have done?" Taehyung asks firmly. "If you were my age, no one was willing to hire you, no parents, nobody helping you with bills except for what we get from the crime victims compensation. And even that doesn't help much with the house payments."

The cop stays quiet, looking down at the table.

"What. would. you. have. done?" Taehyung grows each syllable, staring straight at the cop.

A few beats of deadly silence passes, and then Taehyung was let go.

***

Taehyung sits in the back of Jungkook's car nervously. They were on their way back from the police station and the tension was extremely high, almost suffocating.

Rosie was squeezing her thumb hard, too hard, and Jungkook noticed as he glanced over at her. He reaches his right hand over and pries her fingers apart before sliding his own in-between hers, letting her squeeze his hand instead.

Then, the ravenette's eyes flickered to Taehyung's from the rear view mirror, and the elder could see his disappointment even then, so he looked away quickly.

When they piled out from his car, Rosie immediately began smacking Taehyung's arm, worried tears lining her eyes.

"Okay! Okay—OW! Rosie, I'm sorry!"

Jungkook leaned back against the car with his arms folded leisurely across his chest, his lips curled in amusement and his eyes shining with adoration as he watches Rosie swat at her brother.

"I was so worried!" she exclaims. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Later," Taehyung mutters, his eyes shifting to Jungkook.

But that only made Rosie more angry. It was always later with him, wasn't it?

"He can hear too," she frowns, noticing his stare on the ravenette.

"I said later, Rosie," her brother says more sternly, causing her to take a step back.

"Don't fucking talk to her like that," Jungkook growls, the back of Rosie's head hitting his chest as he walks forward.

"You're not involved in this," Taehyung snaps.

"I helped your sister go to the police station to collect your ass from a cell so yeah, I am involved," Jungkook spits back.

Taehyung swallows, a pang of guilt hitting his heart. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rosie beat him to it, telling them that they should just go inside before she stormed past both of them and into the house.

The three of them sat at the dining table, Rosie and Jungkook beside each other as Taehyung sat parallel, and it was silent before Taehyung opened his mouth.

"I'm struggling with the bills," he admits quietly, suddenly finding it hard to talk. "At first, I was only going to do it a couple times here and there, y'know, just so we could keep afloat. But then, I... I thought about what you and I could do if we get more money. The things we could buy, the places we could go..."

"Taehyung," Rosie's eyes were filled with tears once again, but this time, they were starting to roll down her cheeks. "Why are you trying so hard to buy that stuff? You know I don't care about it."

"We've never had a good life, Rosie," he says softly. "I just—I thought I could get one for us."

"We don't need money to have a good life!" she exclaims, standing up abruptly. "It's not even the fact that you went and did something illegally for money, but that you lied to me, Taehyung."

"I know," he nods weakly, thinking of all the times he snuck out behind his sister's back to go spray painting. "I'm sorry."

"I just..." she sighs, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry, Jungkook, but I need to go. Thank you for the ride."

Taehyung watched her go with an emotional lump forming in his throat, and as much as he tried to swallow it down, it wouldn't go down.

He felt like he was on the verge of breaking.