CONTENDER ✔

25: Home?

"Thank you so much. You don't know, how much it means to me, especially at this time." He mumbled to himself lastly.

"What's your good name, lad?" Taehyung turned off the tap when he heard the other as the tub was filled with water.

"Taehyung, Kim Taehyung, sir." Older chuckled at that and walked out of the bathroom.

"I'm not that old~ call me anything but sir." With that, he closed the door that Taehyung locked quickly. Don't blame him, he was still feeling insecure because of his devil-like uncle.

He did take his time to feel relaxed under the warm water. His stiff muscles felt relief as he lightly massaged his sore limbs with his weak hands.

Suddenly, a thought of what happened before made him shudder. His auntie wasn't blood-related, but still, her words hurt like a stab. He never expected her to have so much hate against his father and himself.

Jerking the thoughts away, he showered himself with a bit of difficulty because of the dizziness. He came out after changing his clothes and felt much better than before. The room was warm as the host turned the aircon on.

The bed looked so tempting for the hella tired brunet. So, without much thought, he walked there and snuggled into the blanket that felt very cold at first, leaving him all shaky but soon became warm.

His own body temperature was again rising but he was literally dozing off while waiting for the kind old man.

While waiting for the man to come, he could hear some voices from the living room and was sure that someone else was there as well but he was too tired to even move his body. He didn't realize when his droopy eyes finally closed to give him a peaceful sleep after almost 50 hours.

The door created a bit of sound on opening and the owner of the house entered the room only to sigh at the view.

The sleeping brunet looked so innocent to have any worry about life, he looked so peaceful, only if anyone could feel his messy mind and a broken heart.

The older one touched his forehead only to frown as the temperature was more high now. Brunet's face was flushed pink and his lips looked so deep red and were parted lightly, his eyes were lightly opened as well with the prominent swells underneath.

"I need to call the doctor." Observing the worsening condition of his savior, the old man muttered under his breath and brought the blanket more upwards to cover the shoulders of the sleeping boy.

_____________

Taehyung felt something cold over his forehead, causing him to frown at the uncomfortable feeling, and was about to remove that when a hand stopped him.

"Bear it Taehyung, your fever is very high. The doctor said to do it." He heard a distant voice and again fell into a deep slumber.

The next time he became conscious, he felt the room a bit dark. He needed to use the bathroom, but his body wasn't allowing him to move. A clothe was still placed over his forehead that he removed before sitting up slowly, only to feel something heavy rolling inside his head with every movement.

With half-opened eyes, he walked to the bathroom and somehow succeeded in waking himself up. He splashed some water over his face to remove the laziness from his body. The mirror in front of him showed the image of a failed boy, a broken yet surviving boy.

He decided to leave the house right now as he didn't want to burden the other, or more like.. he wasn't ready to hear the word 'robber' again. He won't be able to bear it.

The door of the room opened followed by a long throat-clearing sound.

"Taehyung? You're awake?" Taehyung quickly wiped his face with his sleeves, not using the towel, and he came out of the bathroom.

"Yes." The older one smiled when he saw the brunet standing there, looking a bit better than before. He got scared when the boy was totally unconscious for hours and the doctor also said about the worse conditions of his body.

"Such a relief." He genuinely said and smiled while gently patting Taehyung's shoulder.

Taehyung returned the smile and walked side by side with the man who led him out of the room to the dining table.

"Sit here. I'll just warm up the dinner. I tried to wake you up, but you're so tired I guess. But, I won't let you starve anymore." Older stated sternly and disappeared before Taehyung could protest.

He sighed and sat on a chair, looking around the house more carefully now. He noticed some pictures of the beautiful scenery hanging on the walls in decent frames. The house was really beautiful and simple. Moreover, the house was giving him the vibe of the home.

"I made porridge for you, also this soup. It's good for your cold." Taehyung just smiled, feeling really burdened under the kindness of the other, and before the other could turn back, he grabbed the other's hand gently.

The older one cocked his brow at the action as Taehyung stand up slowly and suddenly hugged the other.

"Th- thank you so much. I was really in need of this warmth that you gave me in the past hours. I might've saved you that day, but you've no idea, I'm the one burdened under your kindness now." Taehyung mumbled lowly and felt a hand patting his head gently.

"I don't know what kind of problems you're facing now. But believe me, everything will be alright soon. If you're feeling alone, don't be... I'm here just like you were there for me that night." The older one continued patting Taehyung's dark hair while saying the words. It felt so gentle, so genuine that it reminded the brunet of his own family, his grandfather.

Taehyung pulled back and smiled through his teary eyes.

"Thank you so much, grandpa," Taehyung said and the older laughed wholeheartedly.

"Finally, you calculated my age. Aish, I should've worked out more. But, it's ok as it's you, or else I must've smacked the other person on the word." Taehyung bit his lips with a small smile and sat on the chair again as the older pushed him to do so.

"Now, enough with the talk. Eat this before I start shoving the spoons in your mouth. My grandson just returned from his job, he will join us soon. But you start." Taehyung nodded his head and started eating the porridge while eyeing the soup. The porridge tasted so good, just like home, and that's why he was eager to taste the soup as well.

He barely took two or three spoons of the food when one of the doors from the right side opened.

"Oh, you're here. Come come, meet the hero of my life. The person who saved me that night, Kim Taehyung." Older introduced him to his grandson who was almost frozen on the spot as he saw the face of the person he wanted to thank for the big favor of saving his only family.

Taehyung turned his head to greet the person as well but his small smile slipped from his lips as he saw the person, he least expected to see after the whole situation.

"Kim?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Assalam o Alaikum

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