✔️ 𝐈𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 | 𝐓𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐠𝐮𝐤

Chapter Six.

Taehyung

After his incident with Seokjin in the bathroom, Taehyung forced himself to walk back to the table, expressionless. Seokjin had apparently not chosen to do the same, as he was back to the facade he was so good at.

"And I shoved him against the wall and told him to never lay a finger on Namjoon again," Seokjin declared, obviously proud of himself. "And that's how I won Namjoon over."

The others cheered for the story as Taehyung sat down noiselessly in his seat. He knew that wasn't the story. He wondered how Seokjin had thought up that story so effortlessly, twisting their encounter that only happened a minute ago into a lie that the others accepted without a second thought.

Pulling his drink closer to him, Taehyung completely ignored the threatening looks Seokjin kept shooting him and instead retreated into his own thoughts. That's how he had learned to cope, after all. Distract yourself until you can't even remember why you're upset in the first place, right?

"Hey, are you okay?" Jimin muttered to Taehyung. The younger, pulled from his thoughts, glanced at Jimin. Jimin was shoveling japchae into his mouth, careful not to look at Taehyung as he knew that Seokjin would get angry at them.

"Yeah, we'll talk later," Taehyung murmured, taking a sip from his drink. All he had to do now was get through lunch and then he could talk to his best friend about everything that had happened.

—

"He choked you?" Jimin asked, appalled. He and Taehyung were now walking along a picturesque beach that was a 30 minute drive from Seoul. Jimin had insisted on the pair going back to his apartment, but Taehyung wanted to clear his head outside of the busy city.

"Yeah," Taehyung responded meekly.

Jimin stopped walking and looked at his friend, who turned around and faced him. A slight breeze rolled off the ocean gently and ruffled their hair, their cheeks rosy from the cold.

"That's assault, Taehyung," Jimin said softly. His eyes searched Taehyung's face for any signs of emotion, but Taehyung offered nothing. His eyes were hollow and dim, quite different from their usual lively appearance.

"I know," Taehyung replied. "But what am I gonna do about it? I'm lucky I wasn't arrested—you know what I did. I deserve what happened, especially for hurting Namjoon." He looked down at the ground and closed his eyes.

The overcast skies threatened to release their moisture, as if crying for Taehyung and the horrible things he had experienced. The breeze was now turning into an icy wind, the forceful air feeling like daggers grazing their cheeks. The sun that had covered Seoul hours ago was gone.

Jimin, eyes hardened, stared at his friend. "You know it was an accident. You know Namjoon is just as much at fault as you are. Yet," Jimin bit his lip, thinking about his next words carefully. "The blame falls on you much easier."

Taehyung whipped his gaze up, now a glare. "You think I don't know that? I'm terrified, Jimin-ah!" His voice broke, and he looked up at the skies, begging the wetness in his eyes to disappear.

Jimin stepped forward, placing a hand lightly on Taehyung's arm. He couldn't pretend to understand what his friend was going through, and he wasn't even sure he wanted to. Pain like this was only dealt out unto the most unfortunate souls, and Taehyung had been a victim of life's unfair cruelties.

"Let's keep walking and talk about something else, okay?" Jimin said soothingly. Taehyung returned his eyes to his friends face and nodded, sniffling. He then smiled and intertwined his arm with Jimin's.

"So, you wanna hear about Jeongguk?"