Beyond Saturation

O

15 July 2016

"TAEHYUNG!!" Jeongguk called. 

"COMING!!" Taehyung yelled as he ran over to the room his husband was in. "We need to go and buy more medicines," Jeongguk said. Taehyung looked at Jaewan and then back at Jeongguk. He gave him a nod and ran to grab a jacket. 

His father-in-law had stayed at the hospital for a little more than two months and was then sent home about ten days ago, saying there was nothing they could do for him anymore. Wanting him to live his last moments at their house, Jeongguk had brought him straight to their house and Taehyung had never protested. 

Right now, their house was full of people visiting Jaewan in his last moments. Hoseok and Hyuni had left just that morning as Hoseok had work and Hyuni had exams. Yoongi, of course, stayed, opting to work from home than stay away from his father when he was suffering so badly in his last moments. 

It was only a matter of when Jaewan was going to pass away now. They had lost all hopes of him making a recovery from his current condition. 

Thus, Soohyeon, Jihyo's late brother's wife and a very close friend of Jihyo, and her son Jimin were there at the house as well. 

Jimin's personality shocked Taehyung. Taehyung had always seen him as a kid, but now that he was seventeen, Taehyung couldn't help but see an adult in him. He couldn't help but treat him like an adult. 

Until then, he used to treat him just the way he used to treat Junha. Like a kid. But that wasn't the case anymore. He treated him like a friend now. Despite being half his age, Jimin was the person who helped him the most with all the extra household work at the moment, what with so many guests and a critical patient present at the house. 

"Taehyung!!" Jeongguk snapped him out of his thoughts. "Pull yourself together, will you?!" he exclaimed and Taehyung jumped again. "Sorry," he said and got off the scooty, jogging behind Jeongguk to catch up. 

It was as Jeongguk began to read the prescription list to the pharmacist that his phone rang. Jeongguk ignored it at first, but when it rang again, he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Taehyung without even looking at the caller ID. 

Frowning, Taehyung answered the call, only to have his breath hitch when he heard Jimin's panicked voice on the other side, saying, "Uncle is being weird, hyung, please come back fast!! Something is happening to him!!" 

"We're coming, we're coming!!" Taehyung said and hung up, looking at Jeongguk with wide, scared eyes. "It was Jimin!! He said something's happening to Abeo-"

Jeongguk left the list of medicines right there and ran to the scooty with Taehyung hot on his heels. They rushed back as fast as they could, and found Jimin waiting for them with tears in his eyes and his legs fidgeting around. 

"What happened?!" Taehyung asked worriedly while Jeongguk worried only about parking the scooty and running in. "Uncle passed away," Jimin said. Taehyung took a double-take. "Hey, don't joke arou-"

"I'm not kidding!!" Jimin whispered, shaking his head desperately. "You see for yourself!!" 

Taehyung ran in and found Jeongguk hugging Jihyo tight. He looked at the bed and found Jaewan lifeless on it. 

Tears came rushing up at the sight. 

Because no matter how much of a jerk Jaewan was, he was also a lovely person deep down. You just had to make it to his nice side. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

16 July 2016

The funeral went by peacefully, without any problems, but it was the aftermath that affected Taehyung more than anything else. Because after the funeral, Jeongguk brought Aera home.

At least, when Jaewan was alive, Jeongguk didn't dare to encourage his affair with his lover openly in fear of his father, but now that he was gone, that changed. 

Taehyung couldn't believe how fast things could change. How fast his life could spiral downwards because Jeongguk was now asking him where Junha was. "Aera wants to see him," were his words. 

Other than Jihyo, Yoongi and Hoseok, no one knew the relationship between Junha and Aera. All three of them looked away ashamedly, not having the power in them to keep looking at the scene. 

Because most importantly, Taehyung's parents were right there. They had come to pay their respects to their in-law and had decided to stay a few days before leaving. 

"I'll get him," Taehyung said, his voice not going more than a whisper. He went to the room where Junha, Jimin, Hyuni and Hyuni's nine-year-old younger sister Sumi were playing together. 

"Junha," he called out in a whisper and held a finger against his lips right way before Junha could say something. 

"You trust me, right?" he asked. "Yeah," Junha said without missing a beat. "Then act like you are asleep, baby. Please. Don't wake up even if Appa comes to wake you up, okay?" he said. He did NOT want HIS son to meet Aera when she didn't even want to raise the kid in the first place. He wanted his son to think of HIM as his parent, was that too much to ask for? 

Junha nodded and got to work right away. "My baby," Taehyung whispered and kissed his forehead and looked at the rest of the kids. "Shh, okay?" he said and placed his finger against his lips and left, ignoring Jimin and Hyuni's concerned looks. 

"He's asleep," he told his husband. "Wake him up, then!!" Jeongguk snapped angrily. Taehyung flinched but stood his ground. "I tried. He isn't waking up. He must be tired," he said.

"TRY HARDER, THEN!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! HOW HARD IS IT TO WAKE UP A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD KID?! IS THIS HOW USELESS YOUR PARENTS RAISED YOU TO BE?!" 

From the corner of his eyes, Taehyung noticed his parents' shocked expressions. He noticed his father getting up from the couch to confront his son-in-law, and panicked. He couldn't let his father worsen things again. 

He threw his father a desperate panicked glance, silently begging him not to meddle. Thankfully, his father took the hint, but it didn't stop either of his parents from fuming.

"I'll try again," he said and went back in. "Don't wake up, baby, I beg you. Just keep acting," he whispered in a hurry and then proceeded to pretend to wake him up. 

"Move," Jeongguk stepped in and shoved him aside, "you're good for nothing," he said without paying mind to Taehyung, who had fallen down with the force with which he was shoved. 

"Junha, wake up, someone important is here to see you. Junha....wake up, boy," Jeongguk shook Junha's shoulder, going as far as to turn him to his side. 

He frowned and was just about to take a step away from the bed in defeat when Sumi innocently spoke up. 

"Uncle Taetae told him not to wake up."