hiraeth

Prologue

p r o l o g u e | T A E H Y U N G

The deafening screams of the fans filled our ears, making it hard to hear our own thoughts.

"ARMY, we love you!"

Jimin's high pitched voice rung out over the crowd, causing their voices to grow louder. Nonetheless, our lips were pulled up into bright smiles.

I looked over at the short male, who was older than me only by a few months. His tan arms were exposed by his sleeveless white tank top, revealing his toned muscles.

"Yah, Jimin!" I tried to project my voice over the noise without using my microphone. "What?" His tone came off as irritated, as if he was annoyed by something. "Never mind, I'll tell you later!" The cheeriness in my voice left, my smile faltering for a second.

The male seemed not to notice as he walked over to the youngest of the group, Jungkook, and started clinging to the sleeves of his jacket. A loud roar erupted from the crowd upon this small action of his, clearly pleasing the 'JiKook' shippers.

I looked down at my feet, not knowing what to do as I noticed all the 'pairings' hanging onto eachother, leaving me alone due to the odd number of members. "Kim Taehyung!"

My name was called out in many voices in unison causing me to look up. The crowd started cheering my name loudly, in one voice. I furrowed my eyebrows, confused by the overall situation. My attention turned to my fellow members who stood in a group, not too far from me, staring at me with blank stares.

"Kim Taehyung!"

My name continued to be chanted from the crowd, and with each time they said my name the group took a step closer to me.

"Guys? What are you-"

I had no time to finish my question as the members started tickling me at once. My lungs burned from the lack of oxygen as I laughed nonstop, not that I was complaining. The attention seemed to please not only me, but the fans and the members as well.

"Y-Yah! I can't- I can't b-breathe!"

They stepped away from me, leaving me curled up onto the stage floor trying to catch my breath. A smile was plastered onto all our faces, all of us panting due to the sudden action.

We all noticed the staff dressed in all black motioning us to exit the stage. Our smiles fell as we realized that we had to go back to our dorm. I quickly got up from the floor and dusted myself off, all my engery drained from my body.

"Goodbye, ARMYs! We love you!"

A unified whine roared through the room, bitter sweet smiles pulling at everyone's lips. "Let's go home, guys."

We quickly left the stage, the unfamiliar silence enveloping us. "I hate this... The after concert depression." We all nodded, agreeing with our leader's words.

A female staff member rushed towards us, hands searching over our bodies for our body mics. "You guys did great out there! Energetic like always!" Her voice was cheerful but her body language was awkward, anyone could tell she was a fan.

We nodded silently, too disheartened to force words out. "Your car is waiting out front, go out whenever you're ready. There's no rush." She offered a small smile, trying to lighten up the toxic mood.

I nodded and took a single step forward before stopping and turning around to face the group. "Thanks for what you guys did out there." My voice was pitchy, giving odvious signs I was on the verge of tears.

Jin took a step forward, as if his instinct was to take care of me. I held up my hand and shook my head, too uncertain on my ability to form stable words. 'I'm fine.' The words were silent to human ears, but the mind and heart heard them loud and clear. They nodded solemnly, letting me leave without another word.

As I made my way towards the slick black limo sitting out front, the cheers from the waiting fans resonated through my mind. A smile unconsciously tugged at my lips. "Hello, guys! How are you doing today?" Their loud screaming answered my question crystal clear. "Glad to hear it! Do you know that we love you guys?"

Before I could talk anymore to the crowd, an arm slinked around my waist, pulling me towards the warm body. I looked beside me, Jimin's smiling face was the first thing my eyes focused on. "'How are you doing, Tae?" Heat rose up to my cheeks as I realized the closeness of our faces.

"F-Fine."

I averted my eyes away from his, towards a lone figure to the side of us. As my attention focussed in on the male's face I soon realized it to be the emotionless stare of Min Yoongi.