Faded But Not Gone [ TaeKook ]

restless.

restless.

taehyung limped through the rest of his journey home. he'd spent the first five minutes sprinting, ignoring all the pain because he just wanted to get away. then he fell into a walk, because the pain was unbearable, and he figured he was far enough away that he'd be alright. and now he limped, limped, limped until he found himself standing outside of his front door.

taehyung felt around in his blood-soaked pockets for his keys, but he couldn't find them. the man took it, didn't he? taehyung sighed. his head fell heavily against the door, and he just stood there for a moment, his eyes closed. he felt so done with everything- the night, his pathetic excuse for a job, the world. then he remembered his world, probably just a few paces behind the door, so he grabbed the spare key out of his someone's favorite flower pot and unlocked the door. he turned around as soon as he was inside and locked it again, checking the lock three times before he allowed himself to relax.

"taehyung?" he heard behind him. taehyung spun around; his someone was sitting on the couch, wide-eyed and worried. taehyung pocketed the key and walked over to where his someone sat. he pulled the boy into a hug and just held him, because he couldn't think of anything else to do or say.

"where were you? I got worried." his someone said, trying to wiggle his way out of the hug. but taehyung wouldn't let him go, couldn't let him go. he needed someone- his someone to hold, because he couldn't go through this alone. he hadn't gone through it alone when he was a kid, and he wasn't going to start now. even in his someone didn't know exactly what had happened, what had been happening, it was nice to have him. it was always nice to have him.

"taehyung?"

his someone's voice was small, and taehyung found himself thinking of the past again. he felt, for a moment, that the man had invented a time machine on his skin, assembling the bruises to create one of the pale expanse of his stomach, and he could fix everything was back at the beginning.

the thought had taehyung pulling away from the hug, but not quite letting go of his someone. he looked at the boy's face for a long time, searching for the cause in his someone's eyes. surely he knew, right? because he was there.

"taehyung, your shirt is bloody. you're covered in blood! are you okay?" his someone asked. his hands went to taehyung's chest, pulling at his shirt. panic rose up in taehyung's chest, but he kept it in. his someone began to tap on his shoulders, waving a hand in front of his face. "hyung? hyung? hyung? answer me. you're scaring me."

"everything's okay." taehyung said, eventually snapping out of it. you're not back at the beginning. taehyung told himself. the past just decided to follow you.

"why are you still awake?" taehyung asked, picking up the book on his someone's lap. he looked over the first few words on the page (page 327) only to realize it was in English and he really didn't feel like deciphering the words in his muddled brain.

"waiting for you." his someone answered softly, curling into his chest. he kept his head tilted up so he could look at taehyung. "I was worried. you didn't call, and you-you didn't tell me where you were going."

"were you scared?" taehyung asked. he sat himself on the couch, keeping his someone in his arms. the boy seemed so fragile pressed up against his chest. his voice was soft, his arms were limp, and he was just... relaxed. taehyung wasn't used to feeling him like this yet.

"yes." his someone said. "I'm still scared. you never tell me what's going on."

"it's not important." taehyung said, cutting their conversation off. those words always cut their conversation off; his someone knew better than to question him. so they sat together on the couch and stared at the dark screen of their television, too exhausted to think about sleeping.

a/n: why do you refer to the second character as 'taehyung's someone'? because this story is in taehyung's p.o.v thus far, and that's just what he calls the second character. you'll find out why later.