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19 :: Alcoholic

During our teenage days where high school was a place where we had fun and no worries except for college entrance exams, Taehyung and I partied almost every night. Since we were two of the most popular guys in our school, we were either invited or hosted parties that sometimes had the police involved.

And during those days, Taehyung picked up something. He became an alcoholic. I could handle my alcohol really well so I usually don't get drunk even though I had shot after shot of vodka or any other alcohol. Taehyung, however, wasn't so lucky. Since he was a lightweight, he would drink and drink until he got drunk and wake up the next morning at unknown places.

And where was I in all these? Following him and beside him, of course. Like I've stated previously, Taehyung and I have been through more than other two best friends have and that's an understatement.

So when I caught Taehyung literally breathing in alcohol at every party, I decided to put my foot down. I tried to reason with him and even stopped going to parties, refusing to join if he was just going to be drunk and end up in weird places. He ignored me and went on partying even without me. Night after night, party after party, he would call me halfway, drunk and blur. I ignored them to teach him a lesson until something happened.

It was another Friday night and there was, of course, a party. I was invited but chose to stay at home. My sister went, she was older and one of the other reasons I was popular. Taehyung, of course, went to the party as well. All was fine until I received a call at around two in the morning.

The call had been from the hospital, telling me that Taehyung was bleeding excessively after a knife was struck into his stomach. Half awake, I shot up and immediately went to the hospital without no logical thinking.

When I arrived, the doctors had told me that Taehyung had me on speed dial and none of his parents were in to answer the frantic calls. I took on the role of calling Taehyung's parents and they arrived in under ten minutes. Legal procedures and contracts were done before they sent Taehyung in for surgery. Since he was still a minor then, parents or guardians were only able to approve of him having surgery.

After a long two hours, the doctors emerged followed by the nurses whom pushed Taehyung on the hospital bed with IV drips and a blood pressure monitor down the hallway. The doctors had covered up the wound, stopped the bleeding and cleaned his liver and kidneys off any excessive alcohol induced.

A day later, when Taehyung woke up, he was immediately checked by doctors. The first thing he asked for wasn't his parents, nor me, nor water. What he asked was quite a shock as no one had expected it. He had asked whether he could have some alcohol to calm down his nerves.

The doctors immediately sent in a psychologist and have him talk it out with Taehyung. He had to attend sessions with the psychologist everyday and even after he left the hospital, he still went. Over time, he slowly slipped back to reality and stopped partying. I finally got the old Taehyung back.

It was also the time that he had decided to study psychology in university. Together, we both studied hard and passed the college entrance exams to Seoul National University. However, we moved to London with the Student Exchange Programme in the university, which led to us now.