stockholm syndrome; k.th

[nineteen]

where it all began

(Y/n) woke up alone. She rolls over to reach out for Taehyung, her hand hitting only the cold sheets left behind. She sits up in search for the blonde male, noticing the bathroom light on and the digital clock beside the bed reading 4:14 am in blinking red numbers.

Her lips part to call out for him, but as if on cue he emerges from the bathroom with a somber look painted across his features. His broad shoulders wore a tattered leather jacket and his hair was unruly and wild. Between his lips was a lit cigarette, but (Y/n) couldn't recall ever seeing him smoke before.

Taehyung finally notices that she was awake and smiles, almost sadly.

"Good morning, Angel. I have some buisness to tend to today, you won't mind being alone with Jimin will you?" He asked standing at the foot of the bed. His eyes were almost cold.

(Y/n) rubs at her eyes and stands groggily, approaching the male in concern.

"You shouldn't be smoking, love," she says, her voice low and raspy as she plucks the cigarette from his mouth and incinerates it between her fingers. "Is something wrong?" She asks, ignoring his question. She throws the crumbled death stick into the trash.

"No," he lies, "it's nothing you need to worry about. I'll be back by tomorrow morning, okay? I gotta go." Taehyung says, bending down to press a tender kiss to her soft lips.

His mouth tasted of ash.

"Okay." (Y/n) nods uncertainly and Taehyung lifts her in his arms, placing her in bed and pulling the covers up to her chest. He smiles at her, brushing his thumb against her rosy cheek before turning away and leaving without another word.

(Y/n) stares after him for a few lingering seconds, still a little worried by Taehyung's vague behavior before sleep takes over her and her head hits the soft pillows yet again.

xox

Taehyung took a deep breath of the cold air.

Daegu.

Home - but a place he never wanted to step foot in again. Unfortunately, he had some things he needed to take care of.

He remembers times when he was young, nostalgia taking over his senses. The grocery store where his father always sent him, the liquor store next to the gas station where he was forced to go far too many times. The cracks in the pavement he used to skip over in his youth and the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the breeze from his favorite bakery. His favorite place though, was the old, empty arcade with outdated games that he used to go to with Yoongi hyung. Jimin used to accompany them as well when his father brought him to Daegu every once in a while, in fact, it was were Taehyung first met him.

The arcade was a place of memories. Good and bad.

Taehyung thought about his last memory here: When Yoongi had set up a late rendezvous after one hell of a night, the elder handing him the keys to a car registered under his new fake name, Min Taehyung, the surname taken from Yoongi himself. He had told him, "Get out of here, go settle somewhere where no one can find you and never look back." A grim look on his face and his hands stained with dry blood.