Faded But Not Gone [ TaeKook ]

haze.

haze.

taehyung made sure his someone had eaten and was tucked into bed, sleeping, before he went out. it was cold, but the thing layer of snow on the ground had cleared, so taehyung only needed his jacket- no boots. he still hurt like a bitch, which was kind of unfortunate, considering he had to walk. he received a twinge in his lower back for every wrong step he took. his bruises ached dully. the pain in his stomach was almost unbearable. but he fought through it. he had to fight through it.

"this whole town is full of haze." a voice said next to taehyung. kim namjoon, his minor boss and probably the most sympathetic person taehyung had ever met, appeared out of seemingly nowhere beside him. taehyung nodded silently, crossing his arms over his stomach. namjoon glanced at his wrists, how they were pressed to his bandaged wound, but he didn't say anything about it.

"nobody is mad at you." namjoon said instead. "not even seokjin. I told him what you told me, that you thought about what happened. hoseok kind of came to your rescue, told seokjin that the things that happened back then.... they weren't that great."

"no, they weren't." taehyung said. he side-glanced at namjoon- quickly, so the older man wouldn't notice.

"seokjin isn't cutting you." namjoon said.

"I wish he would." taehyung muttered. he wished the haze would swallow him up, just so he didn't have to do anything anymore. (but he still had a someone to take care of.)

namjoon muttered something, too, but taehyung couldn't hear what he said. when he began whispering, though, taehyung could hear him just fine. "sorry. it's difficult, I know. but, hey, he's not sending you on another heist for a while. and he's still paying you for this one. that's what he sent me here to give you, actually."

namjoon pulled out an envelope and handed it to taehyung. taehyung took it hesitantly. he trusted namjoon, and he trusted seokjin and everyone else working for him, but he was too used to being fooled to not be a little hesitant.

"that's all. seokjin thinks that'll last you until next time." namjoon said. he reached out, stuttered a moment, and then pulled taehyung into a hug. "see you next time, okay?"

"okay." taehyung said. namjoon looked at him, smiled, and then disappeared into the haze; his white hair was the first thing to become invisible. taehyung stared after nothing for a long moment, and then he turned and disappeared into the other side of the haze.