bikers & beaches | tk ✓

❧28

tw: suicide/death,
blood + violence

❧ Warm and Alive ❧

Jeongguk didn't doubt his choice to tell Taehyung. He simply had zero idea where to start. He was wracking his brain for how to tell it right, what was needed before the biggest part in terms of context, and whether there was a point of too much.

There probably was, but he didn't end up focusing on any of those when Taehyung's hand cupped his jaw and the older was saying, "Tell me anything or everything. Whatever comes to mind. I'll do the rest of the thinking, okay?"

It made the burning pull of his tight chest simmer as he let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Jeongguk wasn't good at thinking. Not as much as Taehyung, at least. Or rather, he didn't like doing it.

He liked speaking his mind, not thinking twice, and not having to worry about what ifs when he thought back to a conversation.

But recently, he felt like he was holding a lot back from Taehyung in the disguise of waiting for the older to make the first move so he didn't fuck things up again.

He nodded to Taehyung's words, smile flickering through like the last of a dying bulb before he delved into the darkest part of his head, something he'd blocked out from another's knowledge for so long that it made him feel weak and exposed.

But if it was Taehyung, Jeongguk didn't think he cared how the surfer saw him. He'd seen his every side already.

He was young when he met Yoongi and Namjoon. Thirteen. They most definitely became the family of his dreams when his was falling apart.

Within weeks of his parents' divorce, he'd been lingering around the streets at night, trying to find any traffic or the rush of cars to keep him entertained when his home felt dead inside.

He remembered seeing two motorcycles slow down near him one night and Jeongguk had jumped out of his skin in fear of those shiny helmets replacing heads and the way they towered over him. His fear was quick to be noticed, the taller of the two pulling his helmet off quickly and speaking in a calm town.

"Hey, kid, you shouldn't be out this late. Do you know where you are?"

He was awfully still, glancing at the other of the two, who had left his helmet on and simply flicked his visor up. He had cat like eyes, narrowed and calculating— a coldness that was quiet and it was a strange contrast to the range of emotions he saw at home all the time.

Both of them looked to not be much older than him. Maybe high schoolers. Jeongguk would have asked why the one who'd spoken was calling him a kid if he was brave enough.

"He asked you a question." The voice muffled behind the helmet spoke, making him take a step back and whip his gaze between the two.

"I live around here," he told them quickly. "I know the area well."

"Ah," The one with his face exposed pursed his lips and Jeongguk saw the dimples dig into his cheeks, a rather unexpected feature that made him seen kinder. "Even if you do, be more careful. We could have been anyone."

"I'm fine. Really." He insisted. Jeongguk had walked that path every night in the past month and some times before that. He knew the usual crowd that passed by wasn't one who cared for a kid like him and he was fine being by himself. It was the first time someone had stopped by him anyway.

His dad had always told him to just act as though he knew what he was doing and half the people who would try to make a fool of you, wouldn't.