Brighter Days || Taekook

Part 24

Namjoon is pacing next to the desk and it's irritating. It doesn't help that Yoongi, who's on the chair next to Taehyung's, relentlessly taps his left foot against the floor, creating a mismatched rhythm along with Namjoon's footsteps. Bang PD leans back in his office chair across from them and sighs.

"I don't know how to say this," he groans, and that's an odd thing to hear. Bang PD is a man of confidence, but with his mouth drawn into a straight line and the way he's slumping in his chair he simply looks defeated. Ten years older than his age. Instead of elaborating, he slides a few papers over to Taehyung.

One envelope, white and small and already opened, is lying on top of a few articles cut out of newspapers.

"Read this," Bang PD says, and then he rests his elbows on the surface of the desk and rubs his face with a heavy sigh.

It's hard to pinpoint how Taehyung is feeling at his moment. Nervous? Definitely. He's confused, and the white chrysanthemums unsettle him, their smell assaulting him with unpleasant memories. Others may find them beautiful, but to Taehyung they are ugly as they force him to remember his grandmother's funeral. Maybe he's just imagining it, but he swears he can pick up their penetrating smell. Unlike the sweet smell of the red roses in the bouquet, the chrysanthemums possess an earthy odour that tickles Taehyung's nose in the most unpleasant way.

He reaches for the unsealed envelope first. His name is written on it.

"It came with the flowers," Yoongi offers. The statement doesn't answer any of Taehyung's questions, so he wonders why Yoongi felt the need to let him know.

Taehyung looks at his hyung and hums in acknowledgement. He's never seen Yoongi this fidgety before and it's odd. Alarming. The older teen is always calm and collected; to see him out of his depth and uncertain causes Taehyung to feel even more unsure about the current situation.

There's a piece of manila paper inside the envelope and Taehyung carefully pulls it out. Oddly enough, Taehyung's first thought is that the paper looks expensive. A few words in black ink are centred. They look as if they have been written with a typewriter.

Taehyung looks at the words with a slack expression, brows drawing together as he tries to make sense of them.

My condolences.
K. A.

"I don't understand..." Taehyung trails off. Namjoon's pacing has finally stopped, but he's still annoyingly aware of Yoongi's foot tapping on the floor. None of the people present offer him an explanation, but Namjoon tells him to look at the newspapers.

There are two things that Taehyung is certain of. Number one: the flowers and the letter are from Mr. Kim. K. A. are his initials. Sometimes, when they had an appointment, Taehyung would find red roses in the hotel room that Mr. Kim had always declared to be a gift for him. Taehyung never actually took the roses with him, but he did feel smug back then when Mr. Kim had told him that roses are the only thing on this planet that could come even close to his beauty. He'd been so proud of having a customer wrapped around his little finger like this, so confident. Who could have known that it would backfire like this?

Number two: Someone has died. The white chrysanthemums were not just a coincidence but a deliberate decision. But that leaves another question open: Who has died? Why does Taehyung receive flowers and condolences from Mr. Kim? It doesn't make any sense.

Taehyung sets the envelope and the manila paper aside and reaches for the few pages of articles. They've all been torn out from different newspapers, and one article on each one is circled in red. Taehyung quickly scans the headlines. There's talk about a car accident, and an investigation that declares drunk driving as the cause of the accident rather than a planned suicide.