TASTE | KTH

i've got you

Yura and Taehyung never talk about what happened that day in the bathroom. Despite Taehyung's curiosity that takes over his entire brain every time he so much as looks at Yura's beautiful face, he respects her enough not to pry. It has been two weeks since her episode, and the two continue to work the tip line together. Unfortunately, though, Taehyung's soulmate has been enduring more beatings, which means his soulmate isn't someone who has called the tip line yet. He tastes blood almost every other night, and his worry exponentially grows with each time.

The woman's words haunt him daily: One person can only handle so much on their own. And Taehyung knows that someone enduring abuse so often can't be good for their health, and one of these days, they might not get back up from their place on the ground where they lie in a crumpled, bloody heap. One of these days, they might decide that living only to repeat the same vicious cycle might not be a life worth living. One of these days, they might give up. And Taehyung is dreading that day, constantly in fear as soon as 9 PM rolls around, wondering if he'll taste blood, or even worse—not be physically able to taste anything at all.

Taehyung contemplates this as he sits with Yura at the phones. The phones have been dead tonight, and 9 PM is swiftly approaching. Yura can sense Taehyung's nervous energy—she can see it in the way he bounces his knee under the table, the way he twists the phone's wire in his hands to keep them occupied. But she also knows something is off about him because he's quiet. He has hardly spoken for the past half hour, which is very uncharacteristic of the boy who can't go two minutes without making a corny joke or blurting out whatever happens to be on the tip of his tongue to avoid silence. Taehyung hates silence, but right now, he's so distracted by something that he embraces it.

Yura wants to ask him what's on his mind, but she feels like a hypocrite. Who is she to ask him about something personal when she's the one who told him she didn't want to be personal with him? She didn't mean it; in truth, it was just a spur of the moment defense mechanism to prevent Taehyung from finding out the thing she was most ashamed of, but still. Why would he want to tell her anything?

If only she knew he'd do anything she wanted if she just asked.

But she doesn't, so instead, she settles on digging into her purse and pulling out a little bag of sliced apples. She opens the bag, retrieves one and holds it out to Taehyung. She has to nudge his foot with her own for him to even look up from the spot on the table he had been staring at so intently, deep in thought. Yura wants to know what goes on inside that curly, raven haired head of his, wants to know what makes the most outgoing man introspective all of a sudden.

"I'm fine. Thanks, though." Taehyung says politely, and Yura raises an eyebrow. That's another thing out of the ordinary. Taehyung is someone who is loves to eat. She's never seen the man refuse food, although she knows he's the type of person who eats a lot but who's metabolism is quick enough that you'd never notice. But Yura notices. Partly because Taehyung always forgets to bring his own food during their night shifts together, so she always shares her snacks with him, and partly because she notices most things about Taehyung.

"You haven't eaten at all tonight." She says, and Taehyung sighs. It sounds heavy. Tired. Like there's a backbreaking weight on his broad shoulders.

"I'm not hungry." He lies. His stomach growls, but he's too nervous to eat right now.

"You're always hungry." Yura replies, and Taehyung cracks a minuscule smile at this, but holds his ground.

"Yura. I'm okay. You eat it." He tells her, trying to be as sincere as possible. He can tell from the firm set of her jaw and the determined gleam in her eye that his sincerity got him nowhere.

"I won't eat unless you will." She stubbornly declares. Taehyung blinks at her.

"Yura." He sighs.