Hangang In The Autumn | Taekook

11. Life Goes on

The sweet lullabies of the silence shouldn't be this suffocating to sleep. Taehyung could only hear his own heartbeat, only see the darkness that brimmed up in his eyes, and only feel the pain that rushed from his brain to his toes. He was awake- to a sweet melody humming in the background. The dulcet vocals chimed in his ears and he opened his eyes. An intense pain shot him the right moment he gained consciousness but his wounds were treated well, still, bandages on the cuts were stained with little blood drops.

His hands curled into a fist in an attempt to bite down the pain, but he couldn't move himself a bit. Even his hands and feet were tied to the chair he was sitting on, the rope hurting his delicate skin and Taehyung suddenly felt his breath getting caught. It was too much. The sudden realization hit him hard that he couldn't decipher what to do to overcome the pain. It hurts, his whole body aches and he was kidnapped. God knows where, but Taehyung could only realize that it was the dingiest room he had ever been in. Even the prison he spent a night in was neater and clean than this.

With blurry eyes, he scanned everywhere and found some posters sticking to the wall, the thin string of light coming from God knows where and Taehyung didn't even want to find it out. He was tired and the pain made him sleepy again. He was about to doze off when the slow and soft hum in the background stopped and he heard a voice calling out for him. A very familiar voice.

"You awake, Taehyung-ah?"

Taehyung tried to keep his eyes open and decipher the things happening around him. Petrified at the honey-dripping words towards him, Taehyung took one more glance to ensure his eyes weren't lying about the visuals in front of him. He was seeing a man with midnight black eyes matching his smooth hair, his face covered with a black mask. The white sweater and blue denim engulf his figure, though it was simple for Taehyung to realize who it was.

A hefty sigh left his mouth as soon as the man removed his mask, he stopped wiggling his hands and legs to release the grip. His eyes kept sharp on the man in front of him, waiting for another word to come out of his mouth.

"I've been waiting for you... So long..."

The man whispered out, pulling a chair from the side to settle in front of Taehyung. Sitting cross-legged, he removed his jacket and ruffled his hair while chuckling softly. Taehyung was believing everything slowly, the pain returning to his senses, eyes drooping to get some sleep to wash off the weariness. Nevertheless, he heard the man speaking as if intending to intimidate him.

"Did you expect Namjoon hyung here?"

Taehyung wanted to say a lot. He wanted to ask a lot. But all he could do was stare at the man like it was their first meeting. On a side note, Taehyung does remember the terrifying touch of the man that would've landed on his cheek only if Yoongi didn't meddle. The memories flashed in front of him as soon as the man leaned forward to whisper in a sweet voice.

"Too bad, I overtook him. Is my Taehyungiee sad that you couldn't meet him?"

A hand came to caress his face, Taehyung turned away but the man had succeeded with his move, patting slowly on his cheeks. The touch tingles him and burns the skin wherever the fingertip is brushed off.

"Don't be. I can give whatever Namjoon hyung offered. And not even him, but...

I can give you whatever our Jeonggukie wanted to give you..."

It would be an understatement if that sentence didn't grab his attention in a snap. How did this man know what Jeonggukkie wanted to give him? How did he know that there was something from Jeongguk to him? Knowing well that Taehyung would listen to him carefully after just that one word, the man smirked. His face was full of determination and confidence in playing the dirty game he plotted, it looked like he was so ready to demolish Taehyung more than ever.