BACH VS THE
ROLLING STONES
WORD COUNT 1.9K
OVERVIEW taehyung's new neighbours are really noisy, and his mom forces him to go meet them.
PLAYLIST purple rain / prince, hey jude / the beatles
∆
LOUD ROCK MUSIC BLARED from the garage of the house opposite taehyung's own, startling the red haired boy as he tried to write an essay on beethoven, making him drop his pen. he sighed, bending down to pick it up and flicking his hair from his eyes.
"what the fuck?" he whispered, wondering why the little beige house across the street had suddenly turned into a mosh pit. the family that had lived there for years, since before taehyung was born, would never play that kind of music; they were both in their eighties, and owned three cats. so taehyung wondered what had happened.
"mom!" he called from the door of his bedroom, his mother yelling a "what?" in reply, "who's playing the music over at mr and mrs sho's?"
"oh, they moved out!" miss kim said, beginning to walk up the stairs. "like two weeks ago. you didn't notice?"
"no?" taehyung said confusedly. he thought he'd notice something like that.
"well, you have been busy with studying," miss kim sighed, rolling her eyes. "god, tae, i thought you were less disconnected than that!"
tae crossed his arms leaving against the doorframe. "anyway," he said, veering away from his mother's critiquing. "who moved in?"
"i have no clue," miss kim shrugged. "definitely a teenage kid though. you should go over and introduce yourself!"
taehyung's eyes widened at the prospect of having to interact with the new people on the street. especially if their kid was some kind of punk-rock-goth-emo person. taehyung could just imagine it; a scary girl with purple highlights and studded leather boots, eyes ringed in kohl and fishnets on her pale legs. or a boy with ash black hair and loads of piercings, in band shirts and super ripped jeans, with a lip ring and too many skater belts. nope, nope, he couldn't do that.
"i-i-i don't think that's a good idea, mom," he stuttered. miss kim rolled her eyes. "seriously, you know how bad i am at communication!"
"you need to talk with more people your own age, taehyung," miss kim said matter-of-factly. "stop writing your essay on whatever classical writer or musician, change out of your pajamas and go say hi."
"fine." taehyung sighed dejectedly, going back into his room and closing the door. he had the room on the third floor of the little suburban house, with a balcony attached, and he could easily peer over at the house the music was coming from. he dug around in his closet for a decent outfit, swapping his plaid pajamas pants for grey adidas sweats and pulling his brother's old harvard sweatshirt over the t-shirt he wore.
he glanced in the mirror, grimacing a little. he didn't look too bad, although his glasses were asked on his nose and his red hair was a mess, but he was sure it'd make a good first impression.
taehyung laced up his black vans and walked down the two flights of stairs, into the kitchen, where his mom was dancing along to a classic rock song, her hair messily piled up in a bun and a flour streak on her cheek.
"have fun honey!" she called as taehyung walked out of the door.
"sure thing mom!" he called back, crossing his arms and walking across the road to the beige house, where drum and guitar noise was exploding from behind the closed door of the garage. taehyung walked right up to the door and pressed the doorbell, waiting patiently for an answer.
the door was answered by a tall woman with long brown hair, dyed electric red at the tips, with a smear of chocolate on her nose. she wore a baggy metallica shirt, hanging off her shoulder, and she smiled kindly at taehyung. she looked sort of punk rock-y, which seemed appropriate.
"hi," taehyung smiled. "i'm kim taehyung, i live across the street. i didn't even realise you guys moved in, so my mom kind of made me come over."
"well, hi then," the woman beamed. "nice to meet you, taehyung. i'm park youngsoo," she and taehyung shook hands. "give me a second, and i'll go round up the rest of them. come on in."
taehyung followed her into the house he had been in several times when mr and mrs sho lived there, and it looked very different already. the walls were painted crimson, with funky artwork waiting to be hung up, and there was a huge gramophone on the table in the lounge, where punk and rock band posters hung in pride of place, sofas decorated with crazy throw pillows and blankets. boxes of unpacked books and trinkets littered the path, and youngsoo apologised for the mess as they weaved their way through the maze.
"my kids don't help with anything, i swear," she laughed, shaking her head. "jimin's first interest was finding where his friends lived and unpacking his guitar and music things, and kina just instantly wanted to go to this skuffle band gig, and then my youngest is too young for anything," she sighed the kind of exasperated sigh you'll only hear from mothers, "sit down, taehyung, feel free!"
taehyung sat on the aquamarine coloured couch, while youngsoo stuck her head into the hallway. "kina, jaehyun, the neighbour's kid is here!" she called, and taehyung heard footsteps upstairs. "kina, call your brother!"
the drums and guitar stopped abruptly, and voices flowed through the house as footsteps thundered down the stairs and through the hallway. one, two, three, four, five, six people poured into the lounge, and taehyung raised his eyebrow at the three teenage boys, all dressed in band t-shirts and dark jeans. one was dark haired, with feminine features that he somehow made look good, and the two others were blonde and brunette, both very good looking.
"so, taehyung, this is the park clan!" youngsoo announced, gesturing around her. "minus the two extras." she pointed at the brunette boys. "guys, this is kim taehyung."
"i live across the street," taehyung smiled. "my mom forced me to do the cliché 'go and introduce yourself' thing."
"well, when it's someone as polite as you, we aren't complaining," the tall, dark haired man laughed. "i'm jaehyun, youngsoo's husband, ex vocalist and bassist, nice to meet you. and this little squirt," he smiled at the brunette haired toddler in his arms. "is chan."
"hi!" chan said simply. taehyung smiled at the kid.
the teenage girl with bubblegum pink hair sat on the couch across from taehyung, a crooked smile on her lips. "i'm kina. eldest of the trio, i play guitar and steel drums, nice to meet you."
"nice to meet you too," taehyung grinned. "nice hair."
"thank you! yours is cool too." kina smiled, teeth on display. "do you play any instruments?"
taehyung shrugged. "i've been playing violin for seven years, and i'm learning the flute."
"oh ho ho, we've got a classical boy!" the brunette boy chuckled, clapping the dark haired one on the back.
"shut it, guk," he shrugged him off, smiling. "hi, i'm jimin. middle child, bassist and vocalist."
"you're all very musical, huh?" taehyung laughed. they all chuckled.
"yeah, pretty much," jimin smiled, looking angelic in the dim light of the living room. "these two are my bandmates. jeongguk, and jin."
"oh, you go to my school!" taehyung realised. jin was a year above him in school, and jeongguk was below, but he didn't speak to them in school, sticking with his friends namjoon and hoseok. he hadn't seen them for a while, as it was the christmas holidays.
"that we do," jin smiled, sitting down beside kina and flicking some of his blonde hair from his eyes. jeongguk and jimin sat down too, jimin going next to taehyung and making the red haired boy feel a little nervous; he wasn't good with physical contact, and he was already feeling a bit nervous as he sat there, with so many people around him.
"sorry to leave you guys, but jaehyun and i have to go shopping," youngsoo explained, running a hand through her hair. "kina, you're in charge, okay baby?"
"okay mom," kina smiled. "you're taking chan, right?"
"oh god, we wouldn't leave you with him, that would be child abuse, for both you and chan," jaehyun laughed. "see you crazy kids later."
the parents left, and taehyung was definitely feeling nervous, surrounded by these teenagers who liked punk rock. his music taste veered towards the classical side, and he liked composers like beethoven and bach, and old singers like aretha franklin and frank sinatra. he was nothing like these kids.
"- and then guk tried to do that screaming bit in his favourite linkin park song, and he lost his fucking voice!" jin ended his story, everyone laughing. taehyung smiled too, trying so hard to fit in.
"so, taehyung, what bands are you into?" jeongguk asked, sitting criss-cross-applesauce. he was very handsome, with a boyish grin. he sported a nose piercing, three earrings and a double helix piercing, and taehyung was sure he saw a flash of silver as the boy spoke.
"uh, i dunno really," taehyung shrugged. "i like unconventional music."
"so, like, unheard of little small town grunge bands?" kina asked, kicking her slipper covered feet up onto the coffee table. her lip piercing glinted as she spoke, the blue jewel pretty and eye-catching.
"not really." taehyung mumbled, cheeks flushing up slightly.
"c'mon, taehyung, you can tell us what you like!" jin smiled kindly. he had piercings too, a ring on his lip and one in his septum.
"yeah, tae, don't be embarrassed!" jimin grinned kindly at taehyung, who was slowly turning more pink. jimin was very attractive, with his eyebrow piercing and dark eyes that made taehyung shiver.
"uh, i like classical stuff, i guess. bach, beethoven," taehyung stumbled over his words. "older music is pretty cool too."
"that's so cool!" kina exclaimed. "so, like, can you play beethoven on the violin?"
"yeah," taehyung nodded. "and i'm learning the sax so i can play some of my mum's old jazz stuff that she loves."
"well, i've never met anyone who's an actual classical music fan!" jin smiled. "i love jazz and older music. mostly thanks to la la land. whose your favourite singer?"
"aretha is the only woman i've ever felt romance for in my whole gay life," taehyung deadpanned, feeling better now that he wasn't so out of place. "you?"
"i'm a fan of elvis, god rest his soul." jin beamed. taehyung laughed.
"when will the aliens return our lord and savior, eh?" he joked, making everyone laugh.
"that's a cool music taste, tae," jimin nodded. "we'll have to play for each other sometime."
"well, i've heard a bit of you guys' music from across the road," tae chuckled. "you sound pretty good!"
"thanks dude," jeongguk smiled. "we're a trio, now that our other guitarist got left behind in our old town. us three moved, but sadly yoongi had to stay behind."
"i'm the lead vocals and guitar," jimin explained. "jeongguk drums and sings, and jin is our bassist and backup vocals."
"what's the name?" taehyung asked, genuinely interested.
"lost boys." the three rockers responded in sync.
"that was fucking creepy." kina remarked, making the four laugh. "well, losers, i've got a smiths lp to listen to, some cigarettes to smoke, and a snapchat story to film. don't burn the house down!" she took off, going up to her room and leaving the four boys alone.
"well, taehyung, wanna hear some exclusive new lost boys material?" jimin asked, a beautiful smile on his face.
"sure."
∆