✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
"was that a rat?!" the man shrieked, putting down the box in his hand at warp speed before shuffling away from the corner he saw a big rat running off from.
people his age goes to wars and here he is, scared of a little rat. it was shameful, be that as it may, taehyung couldn't counteract it. he just simply wasn't fond of moving things that aren't cute. well, technically a rat is somewhat cute but he didn't want to go into that argument with himself.
he should be grateful at least he found a roof over his head, neither those two nights he spent on the streets in this pernicious cold is an experience he won't like to even keep in the box of memories inside his head. forget it, kim taehyung. forget it.
29 years old, with slightly tanned skin, love-shaped lips, a nose with a perfect straight bridge and pure brown-haired 5'8 tall gay man kim taehyung is woefully an unsuccessful journalist. life wasn't even that hard until he was kicked out of the orphanage when he had become eighteen years old. life took a toll on him ever since then. trying his best to make an earning in this nepotistic world where nobody cared for him.
taehyung has a beautiful, when i say beautiful i mean an utterly ridiculously beautiful face. however in a world where men aren't even supposed to look this pretty, doesn't care about his looks except for women, sadly most of them didn't have the authority in their hands so the brown-haired lad couldn't ever use his looks to gain anything. modelling or acting wasn't even a thing back then so that leaves him with nothing except journalism. something he found interest in when he used to listen to the news on the radio late at night while his roommates were knocked out in sleep.
however, being a gay man taehyung surely could use his looks in that way. to feel loved, to be safe in someone's arms since the poor boy had no one in this world to call his own.
it was rather melancholic because if men did look at him in that way, it was only because of his looks. they would want a quick fuck and even if some did like him for who he was, it wouldn't last long. being a homosexual in that age was a heinous crime so they never lasted that long either way.
kim taehyung's life is shit.
there were times when he tried committing suicide, although it was long ago and he laughs when he recalls those times. his young naive self wasn't cut out for this world but now he has built himself in that way where nobody could agitate his soul— yeah maybe except that giant rat.
after moving into this old building that resided in a rural area, at the end of seoul city, taehyung is somewhat relieved to have at least a place to stay in. moreover this place isn't even that bad considering it has a medium-sized bedroom, a small kitchen and dining room attached and a small cramped bathroom— in 500 won it's not that bad. needless to say, taehyung was gonna live alone here so it was a good deal actually. far better than living in the streets.
who knows, he can get along with the rats as well.
"i should write to jiminie. he must be worried after seeing me last time" taehyung talked to himself, cleaning off the dust on the table before sitting down to write a short letter about how he was doing to his childhood best friend.
park jimin, just another orphan like him who was his roommate back in time.
one of the reasons he decided to not end his life was because of jimin. he was like his therapist, conversing with jimin seemed to always clear his head from negative thoughts. it hurts as well to be departed from the male he has known forever.
jimin has gone back to busan when he found out he has grandparents who are willing to take him in. he's now handling their business and taehyung can't be more than happy to see his best friend finally doing well in his life.
after finishing writing the letter he looked out of the small window, realizing the sun was setting down. being late out here wouldn't be safe for even a man so taehyung hurried out of the building to post the letter in the postbox. by the time he was returning after doing some groceries on his way, the night sky had already made its presence.
looking up at the starry sky taehyung parted his lips and let out some air, seeing it turn into a fog and dissolve in the cold air.
his nose and lips turned rosy pink and skin pale as he snuggled the lower part of his face under the warm scarf he wore around his neck. shoving his free hand inside his coat pocket he hurried back home.
the old building was only two-storied. taehyung lived on the second floor, room 202. there were two flats on each floor making four rooms in total. the brown haired lad hadn't gotten a chance to greet his neighbour who lived right beside him and he didn't have any intention to do it anyway because the landlord himself looked super rude, handing him the key with a frown on his face as if he was some sort of germ. socializing isn't one of his best skills either so the male decided to rather not.
rushing upstairs to warm up his cold body taehyung eventually slowed down in front of his door. rummaging through his coat's pocket to take out the key while he tapped his foot against the floor.
and at that very moment,
he heard a scream. a muffled scream.
taehyung froze.
"what was that?" he asked himself, almost whispering.
he was sure he heard the scream coming inside from room 201, the room beside his.
taehyung couldn't bring himself to put the key through the keyhole or tap his foot against the wooden floor again. he just stood silent there for a while to see if someone was really screaming or not.
however, nothing was heard after that.
it was drop dead silence.
taehyung felt uneasy. the small bulb above his head flickered as it does in horror movies but taehyung wasn't scared of ghosts or any of the myths that are popular around the world.
taehyung is scared of humans. what can be scarier than a human who can harm another human? being a journalist who practically has to keep updated with the criminal world every day knows this much. that nothing is scarier than humans.
or he thought so.
not hearing anything afterwards taehyung slowly unlocked his door and went inside, convincing himself that he was just hearing things. it was for the better. living in a not-so-populated area he shouldn't risk being out in the dark. thieves, robbers, murderers— any sort of criminal can be around him but taehyung has to ignore them. for his own sake.
that night taehyung couldn't sleep well.
𖥻𖥻𖥻
waking up the next day taehyung didn't even remember what happened last night. he was too tired to gather his own thoughts as he sluggishly lifted himself up from the bed, getting down he tripped on one of the boxes and fell over his face.
"the heck" he grumbled, rubbing his nose he glanced around. "right. i still need to unbox and organize" a dreadful frown curled his love-shaped lips as he ruffled his already messy brown hair.
however, the frowning man had no time since he needed to go out for work, to search for any news company hiring employees. he needed to work somewhere nor he won't be able to even afford this place. the last company he was working for was robbed by a gang hence the company was shut down making all the employees unwaged— just taehyung's luck.
wearing the only suit he owns taehyung rushed out of the house, not having any plans to be back unless he gets work somewhere in the city.
"i can do this!"
"i can't do this. . ." taehyung sighed, climbing up the stairs at a very painfully slow pace.
there was no energy left in his body after being rejected by all the companies he tried to interview for. he wondered if anyone cursed him or not, because why would nobody hire him? well, there was still hope. he had gone for the popular ones till now, tomorrow he won't even spare the insignificant places. if he can just earn enough money for his living expenses, it would be sufficient.
"taehyung?"
upon hearing his name from the familiar voice, taehyung's feet halted as he gripped the handrail tightly while facing down at his dusty shoes before he raised his head and looked at the man who was standing in front of his door.
"minjun?" taehyung's voice was weary. he really couldn't deal with the said male right now.
however, luck is never on his side.
"honey. . . please, just hear me out–"
"how did you find my address?! did you stalk me?" taehyung climbed the rest of the stairs before dashing towards the man.
"it wasn't difficult to find it. . . but that's not the point! just listen to me please. . . don't leave me like this—"
"i'm over you now. we have broken up already. please stop bothering me or else i'll call the cops!"
"and tell them what?" minjun bitterly smiled. "that my ex-boyfriend is harassing me? in that case, i think you might get arrested as well—"
"just shut the fuck up and leave while i'm being nice" taehyung had enough. not only was he having a money crisis, but he also was going through a heartbreak. minjun his ex-boyfriend cheated on him with a woman, something that is not out of ordinary for taehyung. everyone leaves him, sooner or later.
however, taehyung knows minjun is back because his dick wants to. after all, nobody can be as good as taehyung in sex. from having a well-defined beautiful face to a plump thick ass— kim taehyung was just darn good in bed. too bad, minjun can't have any of him anymore.
"you slut. . . how dare you talk like that to me—"
"you're fucking bad in bed. not only is your dick small, even your face is ugly no offense. why would i ever be with a cheating fucking small dickface like you?!"
taehyung isn't as rude as he sounds right now. it's just the brown-haired male had enough of bullshit for today. if minjun came even tomorrow morning when taehyung would perhaps be in a rather better mood, he wouldn't be so insulted right now. but just his luck, taehyung is mad pissed off right now.
although minjun deserves it, taehyung knows he did something troublesome. the man in front of him looked like he would blast off any moment, and that's exactly what he did.
"YOU FUCKING BITCH—" minjun raised his hand but before his hand could meet the brown-haired male's face...
a hand caught that arm.
"what do you think you're doing?" an unknown voice spoke out making taehyung open his eyes that he closed out of instinct.
taehyung's breath hitched in his throat when his eyes fell on the man that grabbed minjun's hand, saving him from the harsh slap.
it would be hard to describe the man's beauty. taehyung doesn't even know where to start. should he start with the man's knitted perfect eyebrows or his perfectly combed black hair or his droopy fierce eyes or his slightly hooked round nose or his luscious red lips— a little too red, did he put lipstick on? taehyung wondered before blinking his eyes. holy shooks, why am i staring at a stranger's lips?!
"who the hell are you?" minjun asked through gritted teeth. even though he was quite flustered himself from seeing a guy this handsome up close.
"whoever i am shouldn't concern you" the mysterious man leaned closer and glared right into minjun's nervous eyes, "i'm not fond of violence unless i'm the one causing it. so if you don't want that to happen, get lost"
taehyung could feel the menacing aura radiating from the mysterious man and hearing his threatening voice, he shuddered further. why was he going so far? was he disturbed by the loud voices or he just simply likes to pick fights? taehyung wondered.
"are you his new boyfriend or something?! talking like that to me—"
"i said get–fucking–lost." minjun stepped back, his hand still grabbed by the mysterious man who clenched it hard making him arch in pain and struggle to get his hand out of the tight grasp.
this man is too damn strong.
but that wasn't what scared minjun.
what scared him was the way the stranger's eyes flickered like yellow orbs for a split second.
minjun's body shuddered rigorously. his heart almost jumped out of its cage from that menacing sight.
however, it was for only a split second so he can't even comprehend if what he saw was real or not, or if he was just scared.
"f-fine! i'm leaving!" minjun wasn't the type of person to get in trouble just to win, so with that in mind he finally snatched his hand out of the man's grasp before backing off.
he looked back at the starlet taehyung, "you're gonna pay for this you slut" he glared at the brown-haired lad before running out of there.
taehyung rolled his eyes at the man's lousy words before his eyes fell on the man that was in front of him. the space between them felt large now that minjun was gone.
seeing such an unrealistically handsome man lashing out just a minute ago, taehyung didn't know what to do. he is flustered and kind of scared, not forgetting he has a lot of questions in his head, such as, what is such a handsome man like him doing at a shabby place like this or why would he ever help him out— if he was helping out in the first place.
"are you okay?" taehyung flinched upon hearing the raspy voice again.
blushing slightly he looked anywhere but at him and nodded, "y-yes. thanks for helping me"
"it's okay. he was creating a scene and i hate troublemakers so i did what i had to" he smiled and taehyung didn't know what to say.
even though taehyung had the looks himself, never did in his life he imagined he can find someone as good-looking as the man standing in front of him. taehyung was speechless by the man's beauty.
"was he your boyfriend?" the man asked snapping taehyung out of his thoughts.
taehyung panicked upon hearing the question. what was he supposed to answer with? living in a world where homosexuality is a heinous sin, this man surely won't be a mutual would he?
if he speaks the truth, would he be kicked out? if the landlord ever finds out that is. taehyung doesn't trust this utterly handsome stranger. but what was he supposed to answer with?
"you don't have to be scared. i actually heard everything"
"what?" taehyung's heart started beating fast.
"you're fucking bad in bed. not only is your dick small, even your face is ugly no offense. why would i ever be with a cheating fucking small dickface like you?!"
taehyung recalled what he said and as soon as he did, his cheeks and neck turned crimson red. he actually heard me saying all that?!
"his dick is small huh? good thing you dumped his ass" when taehyung heard the man his eyes went wide as he gawked at the mysterious man.
"you're. . . you're okay with it?" taehyung asked out absently.
"what's there for me to be okay about? it's your life" the man chuckled at taehyung's idiocy making him turn even redder.
god not only is this man handsome as fuck, he is also respectful?! i want him—
"you shifted yesterday right?"
taehyung flinched and mentally slapped himself for having silly thoughts. "huh? uh yes, i moved in yesterday. . ."
"nice to meet you. my name is jeongguk. i live next door if you noticed" the man points at door 201.
201? taehyung was abruptly reminded of last night when he heard that muffled scream.
something irked his skin at the recall as he pressed his lips together. that probably was nothing. . . there was no explanation for it either. because what can a handsome young man suchlike jeongguk be doing late at night in his room that there would be screams? nothing, right?
he probably was hearing stuff.
or maybe not.
"ah, nice to meet you too. i'm taehyung. . . your new neighbour" taehyung bowed slightly.
"yes, i know" he replied with a small smile.
he... knows? taehyung doesn't remember meeting the man earlier so how does he know his name? oh well, he probably heard it when they were arguing.
"oh it's getting late, i need to head out. . ." jeongguk looked at his wristwatch before fixing his coat. "it was nice talking with you taehyung. if you ever need help, i'm right next door so don't hesitate. i need to excuse myself now" jeongguk said before turning around to leave.
however, taehyung didn't want to let go of jeongguk yet. it might seem like taehyung is easy to get but the brown-haired lad fell in love with jeongguk at first sight.
he wanted to know the man more. so he called out,
"mr jeongguk! would you like to have dinner with me?"
━↺━
initially i was going to use jungkook but i changed it to jeongguk, i hope it's not confusing !
my first chapters always sucks still, lemme shamelessly ask.
q. how was the first chapter?
++ idk how ppl talked / acted in the 1900's lol so if anything seems odd or inaccurate, lemme know !