"But, actually, I'm afraid, I want to go back, but I have nowhere to go. I want to love, but I have no one to love, what am I supposed to do?"
~Crooked- G-Dragon
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Taehyung licked his dry lips and swallowed. He wanted to look away, act like he hadn't heard her say that, but his body wouldn't listen to him, he just stood there, frozen as the two of them made their way over to him.
Jimin stood next to him, with his hands on his shoulders still, obviously not knowing what was going on.
The first girl, the one who'd called him crazy, twirled a strand of her long dyed blonde hair around her finger, she leaned on a rack of clothes, her brunette friend following and giggling. Taehyung couldn't remember their names, their names had been on a list of useless things he'd forgotten when he was in the mental hospital.
"What are you doing out of the Funny farm, huh? Thought you got a lifetime pass, or are they taking your sorry ass to jail?" The blonde said, a smirk on her face.
Taehyung looked away, looking at the floor. Why did they have to be here? Of all the people on the planet, why? He heard them giggle as he looked away, like he was just some kind of entertainment, a monkey that they knew would dance if they said the right words.
And Taehyung was doing exactly what they wanted, he couldn't help it.
Taehyung finally regained contact with his body and took a step forward, hoping to just walk away. But Jimin held him in place. Taehyung looked back at him, confused. Why would--?
Then he saw the look on Jimin's face, he was smirking, slightly biting his lip--he thought they were attractive, it was written all over his face. But hadn't he heard what they had said? Taehyung felt incredibly alone all of a sudden, just like the hospital, just like with his 'family', just like everywhere.
"Where do you think you're going, escapee?" The brunette one said, stepping up to Taehyung and giving him a poke to the shoulder. "You've got to scurry back to your doghouse soon, wouldn't want you to get lost, the pound is full!" She laughed, pushing him.
Taehyung felt his mouth twitch at her words. A Dog. Just some rabid dog, that's all I am to people, aren't I? He swallowed hard again, the action hurting his throat felt so tight.
Jimin let go of Taehyung's shoulders, taking a step toward the brunette. Taehyung tilted his head, watching as he pushed her. "Don't talk to him like that." Jimin said simply.
The blonde one laughed, while the brunette frowned. "Says who? You his new owner?" The brunette said, looking Jimin up and down.
"I said not to talk to him like that." Jimin repeated.
Taehyung was dumbstruck. He hadn't thought that Jimin would stick up for him, really, he'd thought Jimin was just playing along with what his mom wanted, nothing personal, nothing like he actually gave a damn.
"I'll take that as a yes." The blonde one said, leaning over the rack a little further. "Being his owner comes with responsibility, you know? You've got to be ready for anything."
Her brunette friend stepped away, giggling. And Taehyung couldn't help the feeling that that giggle was the most impish thing he'd ever heard, and that the two of them were plotting something.
Then she pushed the rack over. The whole thing tumbling down and mostly landing on Jimin, knocking him to the floor. Hangers, clothes, the rack itself, it all made a tremendous noise, obviously heard over the music, and Taehyung could feel everyone in the store look their way, from shopkeeps, to customers, everyone's eyes were on them.
The brunette gasped, glaring at Taehyung. "What the hell are you doing?! Are You insane?!"
Taehyung's stomach flipped. When he looked around, he could see everyone coming to see what the problem was. That was what this was about. They wanted to make him look crazy in front of all these people. Everyone would think he was crazy, everyone would give him that look.
That look that spoke of all the pitying thoughts going on behind their eyes, that look that ripped Taehyung's soul out and shattered his heart. Pity isn't the same as caring. Pity was just something everyone seemed to feel when they didn't want to appear heartless.
"What the hell did you do that for?! You could have hurt him!" The brunette said, grabbing hold of Taehyung's borrowed hoodie, giving him a shake.
"I didn't..." Taehyung started, but his voice coming out too quiet.
The blonde was kneeling down, starting to help Jimin up, though he pushed her away as she tried. They were going to make this look like it was the other way around, that Taehyung was bothering them.
Taehyung felt a hand grip his arm hard, Taehyung looked over his shoulder and saw a man in a black uniform--security. "What seems to be the trouble here?"
The blonde pointed a finger at Taehyung, still kneeling on the floor. "He started it, he kept mumbling all this crazy sh*t, then he just pushed the clothing rack on my friend!"
Jimin frowned, "What?! That's not what--."
The blonde cut him off, "Don't make excuses for him!"
"Taehyung!"
He turned toward the voice. It was Jimin's mother, running up to him and putting a hand on Taehyung's shoulder, taking in the scene. When she understood what had happened, her hand left his shoulder faster then Taehyung could have imagined it would seeing Jimin on the floor under a clothing rack, and she immediately tried to help Jimin up, lifting the rack off of him.
When she got Jimin standing, she cupped his face in her hands. "Are you okay? Are you in pain? Are you bleeding?" She asked, the questions coming in rabid succession.
Taehyung bit his lip and looked away. Watching it hurt, and he felt his eyes starting to water. Maybe it was the care in each question, maybe it was the look in her eyes when she asked them, maybe it was the love that was apparent in her voice.
"I'm fine, Eomma." Jimin said with a sigh. "Maybe just a bruise or two."
Taehyung heard his mother let out a held breath. "I'm sorry, officer, I'm sure he didn't mean it," Taehyung felt her hand on his shoulder again, "He's just come from a hospital, he might not feel well."
The words crushed him inside. She was just telling everybody, everybody in the store, that he was insane, that he was sick, that they should feel sorry for him, that he couldn't help doing something he didn't do. Taehyung felt tears welling up in his eyes, felt his lip quivering as he bit it harder and harder to still the shaking.
He pulled away from the security officer and ran through the store, pushing a few people out of his way as he went. He couldn't take it anymore, everyone thought he was crazy, everyone always talked like he wasn't there. He was sick of the pity, that look, that special voice everyone used to talk with him. Why did everyone always believe them? How could they just believe them?
He kept running, even after hearing Jimin and his mother calling his name. He couldn't bear to stop, they would just talk to him like he was crazy. I'm not crazy, I'm not.
He ran, feeling his eyes start to sting from the tears that wanted to slip down his face. But he kept blinking them back, even though, that didn't help his vision, and he ran into a few things, knocking things off the shelves, knocking over displays as he tried to navigate through the clothing racks and shoppers.
After a while, he realized there was no one behind him, and he slowed down, eventually stopping in the children's section.
He sat down on the floor at the end of an aisle, in front of a wall displaying smiling stuffed animal and toys. If he looked around, he could see kids playing with some of them, their parents shopping for clothes, and babies that had had enough and were crying in their little blue or pink carriers while their Eomma tried to calm them down.
Taehyung sat, staring off in front of himself, almost in a daze as he absently wiped the tears he was having more difficulty stopping.
They'd send him back to the hospital, back to that hellhole, he was sure, no one would want some destructive person to hang around, no matter how much they were paying her to 'recondition' him, she'd throw it all away if Jimin got hurt.
Because she loved him, because they were family, and blood always came before some stranger.
Taehyung drew his legs closer to his chest. He felt so hopeless, so alone...
"Are you lost?"
Taehyung looked up, finding a little girl with pigtails looking at him, in her arms, a stuffed lion that smiled widely. Taehyung just looked back at her. Am I lost? Not sure of who I am anymore?
The little girl tilted her head. "Do you know where your Eomma and Appa are?"
For someone who looked to be maybe five, she asked tough questions. Taehyung shook his head. "I don't know, I don't think they love me anyway..." He immediately regretted saying that to a kid. She wouldn't understand, and he shouldn't have put that kind of idea in her head that a parent wouldn't love their child. Then she'd think like me.
"They do, it's okay." She said, reaching out and patting Taehyung's shoulder. Then she turned around when someone called for her. She set the lion in his arms. "Don't be sad."
He watched her run to her Eomma, smiling and hugging her before skipping along side her, out of the children's department. Happy, that's what that little kid was. Taehyung remembered being happy, it always felt so good, always felt so right. Now, if he was happy, he was as good as crazy.
He looked at the lion, it's mane messy, and it's smile wide. It made him sad. He knew the little girl had meant to make him happy, but all it brought was bittersweet memories.
Taehyung sniffed, wondering what he was even going to do, how he was going to live if they sent him back? He couldn't think of it, it hurt too much. He never wanted to see that hellhole again.
"There you are!" Jimin's voice scared him out of his thoughts, making him jump. Jimin came up to him, kneeling in front of him for a second.
Taehyung felt like he was sinking as soon as he saw him. Jimin took out his phone, making a quick call, saying that'd he'd found Taehyung. Then Jimin sat next him, giving his shoulder a light punch. "Why'd you run away? I was about to explain it wasn't your fault, and those b*tches set you up, no one was going to be mad at you."
Taehyung shrugged. He knew why, but he wasn't sure about telling Jimin. It'd sound like he was insane, trying to make up something.
"You scared my mom half to death, you know, she thought we'd never find you and--." Jimin paused, leaning in closer to Taehyung's face. "Have you been crying?"
He swallowed. He had, but he just looked at Jimin straight in the eyes, not going to admit he had.
Jimin looked away after a minute. "That was a nasty trick they pulled, huh?" his voice sounding almost upset. "You don't have to cry though, I explained to mom, she's not upset. It that why? Because I got hurt and they did that whole act?"
Taehyung nodded. Not really, but it was close enough. He hugged the stuffed lion to him, ruffling it's mane. Jimin just watched, seemingly entranced by the action.
"You want that lion? I can ask mom to get it for you..." Jimin said, still sounding a little far away, and a little like he wasn't sure how to ask that.
It was for little kids after all, Taehyung was 18, he didn't need a toy. But...when he looked at it, it reminded him of that little girl, that little girl who cared, however briefly. Taehyung ran his teeth over his bottom lip, thinking it over.
"I...I want it..." He said, his voice sounding scared and nervous.
"Okay." Jimin patted him on the back. "It kind of reminds me of you." Jimin smiled, his eyes pretty much closing he smiled so wide
Taehyung smiled. Even if a stuffed toy was something a mentally unstable person might ask someone to buy for them, it made him feel happy, like that childhood he'd never really had. He wanted this to last.
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A/N: I had to rewrite this twice because my laptop crashed, and I didn't save it like an idiot >O<
I didn't proof read it very well either, so forgive my typos? :3
OH~ And I added a cast :3 I'm still figuring out some of the actors, so it's not definite...?
~Neri~ (I just felt like signing my name today, I don't know why ^-^ )