CRAVE (The Escort)

Chapter 29

"Tae? Taehyung?" I call out his name; unable to see him up here. And as I step down to the lower level to go in search of him; I am attacked from behind with hands covering my sight.

"Stay still." Taehyung whispers in close proximity of my ear. And as I try turn around; he holds me in place from doing so.

"W-what are you doing?" I question, holding on to his arms.

"...I don't want you to see me like this."

"See you like what?" I ask him and Taehyung remained silent. "...Taehyung, what's going on?"

"...The sun. It's setting."

"What?" I lightly chuckle at his comment. "Other than the obvious in what I already know...; seriously...what don't you want me to see?"

"...Me...being unstable."

"Tae..." I utter, reaching for his hands. But, the feeling of cloth I thought belonged to his sleeves was a fabric quite familiar to my sense of touch.

Now noticing that I've found out about his injury; Taehyung quickly removes his hands away from my face and steps back.

"...Your hand, what happened to your hand?" I question; swiftly turning around to meet him.

But again, Taehyung refuses to reply and decides to take another step away from me.

"Kim Taehyung." I call his name and he simply walks away; right back to the ledge of the balcony from where I saw him below.

Watching him, as Taehyung leans over the terrace wall; I am quickly reminded of that night when he first spoke of his past. That very same night he turned to me and asked if we could become friends.

"What do you think of me Y/N?" Taehyung finally speaks; asking me a question that I myself have been struggling to answer all week. "Because..., I think might I hate myself too."

Hearing Taehyung say such words, made me feel great remorse in the things that I've said to him that night. I was so angry with everything, that I turned a blind eye as to how those words I spewed would have an effect on him later on.

"...Why do you think you hate yourself?" I stood beside him; leaning over the wall as well.

"...Because, I've done...some things." He vaguely admits, looking out in the distance.

"Tae, if it's about you being an escort..., I honestly never meant to say anything to hurt you. I'm really sorry."

"No, you don't have to apologize. It has nothing to do with that. I think..., I think there is something wrong with me, Y/N."

"...Tell me what's wrong. Tell me, so I can help you." I say reaching for is hand and with a swallow of his pride; Taehyung finally begins to speak.

"I haven't been sleeping well for the past couple weeks. I keep waking up from nightmares, cold sweat, just...constantly worrying and being pressured every single day."

"Who's pressuring you Tae? Tell me so that I can fix it."

"Heh..., This isn't something you can just fix, Y/N. ...I honestly don't even know why I'm telling you this in the first place." Taehyung states and I'm tempted to press on as to why.

"...I may not know how to fix it just yet. But, maybe...I can make it better." I say, hoping he would open up to me. And with a step forward; Taehyung stenches his bandaged hand towards me.

"I deliberately punched a glass mirror, injuring my knuckles. It...um, it doesn't hurt. Strangely, I felt nothing. But, ...when I'm near you...It somehow hurts. You just seeing me like this; hurts." He discloses and again I could see the pain within his eyes. "I want to be able to open up to you in any way possible... but, I can't..., and it hurts. Heh, it hurts a lot." He pauses shaking his head. "You shouldn't care about me. I'm not who you think I am. I only cause trouble. So, I honestly don't blame you for hating me."