pls pls listen to the song i linked above it gives me so many vibes of this book <3
***
"Taehyung what the hell!", Yoongi ran after his best friend when the guy left class in the middle of the lesson, laughing to himself as he grabbed a cigarette and put it to his mouth in the middle of the hallway. "What do you want?!", Taehyung chuckled, turning around as he lightened his cigarette.
"You just got an F on your retake exam and walked out, throwing it to the rubbish? Dude, do you have any idea how hard it was for us to get the teachers to allow you to retake the exams you missed?!", Yoongi yelled out.
Taehyung shrugged, leaning against the locker, smirking with his cigarette between his lips.
"No one asked you guys to do that."
"What about college? You worked so hard all year to-"
"Who cares about fucking college, Yoongi?", Taehyung yelled back, "Just mind your own business."
"I'm not going to fucking mind my own business", Yoongi snapped, "You're my best friend. What the fuck happened to you?"
The younger didn't answer, he just looked at his friend before he turned away and walked outside. Followed by Yoongi of course, he wouldn't leave him alone. "You're going to fail your finals. Do you seriously want to fuck up your future?"
"There's no future for me anyway", Taehyung smiled calmly, "Either I'm dead by the end of the year or about to get married to some fucking girl."
Yoongi lifted his eyebrows, "You looked happy with her this morning. You were all over her. Why are you saying this now?"
The younger crossed his arms, "Sure."
"Just tell me what happened in the last month, Tae. I can't help if you keep it secret from me. I love you, bro. I'm going to do anything to help-"
Taehyung chuckled, looking away.
"You know that you can be with Jungkook, right? You shouldn't listen to what people like your father or me and Hoseok say, being gay is okay." Yoongi let out a sigh, "We won't bully him anymore, you can be with him if that's what's messing you up so much right now."
"I'm not gay", Taehyung said harshly, "I can't be gay."
"Of course you can, what the fuck", Yoongi inhaled deeply, "I may not like this kid but if you do, that's fine."
"I don't give two fucks whether you like him or not, Yoongi. Trust me, your opinion doesn't matter to me at all", Taehyung laughed out, "But I've been through hell these past few weeks, and I'd prefer not going back there."
"Back where?"
Taehyung's throat went dry, so he turned away and tried to run away but Yoongi held him by his arm, pulling him back. "Taehyung, please. Let me help you."
"I don't need anyone's help, I'm fine!"
"Are you though?!", Yoongi yelled out, "What about Jimin then? Where is he? Why he is covered in bruises and barely talks to us anymore?"
"How about you ask that Jimin instead of me?" , Taehyung hissed. "My brother is not my responsibility."
"Bro, yes he is!", Yoongi facepalmed himself, "You should always protect your brother."
"No one protected me when I needed protection", Taehyung said numbly. "Not a single one of you. I don't need you now."
"You told us to stay out of this!", Yoongi said, "You literally called us that night, saying that whatever happens we should stay quiet about it and not say anything to Jungkook. How the fuck are you going to be mad at us now, when we did exactly what you wanted us to do?"
Taehyung balled his fists, "I couldn't say more that night, I was fucking getting exported to a frickin' military school!"
Yoongi went quiet, eyes going wide.
He knew what those 'schools' were. Not a place you got trained to be a soldier, it was a dark place where you got violently handled when you had issues your parents didn't want to deal with.
"Did they-"
"Yes", Taehyung yelled out, "My own damn father told them I was gay, now imagine yourself what the fuck they did to me to get this out of my brain."
"I'm sorry, Tae.."
"I never wanted to annoy anyone with my sexuality, I just wanted to be happy with Kookie. So excuse me that now I can't be that anymore, I prefer staying safe and sound with a girl that's actually nice to me and makes my father proud." Taehyung inhaled deeply, "I'm not gay and I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't mention any of this to anyone else."
"We have to get you out of this house", Yoongi gulped but Taehyung shook his head, "My Dad rules this town, Yoongi. There's no escape. I'm okay, you're okay. Everyone is okay, let it be."
"No one is okay right now", Yoongi argued, "Maybe we can just run away and-"
"This is why I didn't tell you", Taehyung sighed heavily, "You can't just mind your own shit, can you?"
"Sorry for caring about you."
"You care a little too late", Taehyung groaned.
"I would've cared earlier, I didn't even know you were in love with Jungkook before that one party, you didn't tell me shit."
"Deserved", Taehyung pushed him away, "Now get the fuck away from me."
"I'm going to tell Lia", Yoongi said bluntly, using his last rescue he had in mind, "She's not going to let you go through with that. And you won't push her away, you know that."
Taehyung lifted an eyebrow, grinning.
"Bold of you to assume she wouldn't know."
And with that he turned around and walked off, throwing his cigarette to the ground.
"Dude", Yoongi sighed heavily and turned around so he could head back to class.
Just that he ran into Hoseok and Jungkook who both stood at the entrance, eyes big and arms crossed, "What was that about?", Jungkook asked sharply.
"It looked intense", Hoseok agreed, "Is there anything you should tell us?"
"Since when are you two even standing next to each other without killing the other?", Yoongi snapped annoyed. "Get out of my way, I'm late for class."
"Fuck off, Yoongi", Jungkook grabbed the boy by his wrist and pulled him close, staring him right in the eyes. The little one was stronger than Yoongi, which got the older startled when he felt Jungkook this close, hands angrily clenching around his wrists. "You either tell me right fucking now what my boyfriend just told you or I'm personally going to cut your dick off."
"I hate your attitude", Yoongi commented, trying to pull himself free.
Jungkook only smiled. "I wouldn't try that."
"Tell me where you got your confidence from, dude. You're such a dumb loser, seriously, what makes you think you have any right to-"
Jungkook kicked Yoongi in his balls, smirking a little, "I'm sick of you guys. All of you. Now tell me what my man just told you."
"I think it's hot how he calls Taehyung his man and his boyfriend even though they're broken up", Hoseok commented unbothered from the side.
"Stop finding me hot", Jungkook sighed. "Yoongi, talk!", he grabbed him by his collar and pulled him even closer.
"Fine! For fuck's sake! Taehyung went to military school and they abused the shit out of him for being into boys! So now he thinks he's fine when he's with a girl! Now let me go", he whined.
Jungkook pushed Yoongi off and reassured his posture, biting his lips anxiously, "They hurt him for loving me?"
"Yeah, well done, Jungfuckingkook", Yoongi groaned and walked off angrily, holding his balls because they were hurting like shit right now.
Hoseok and Jungkook turned to each other, sharing a look.
"Oh shit", Hoseok squeaked out when he saw Jungkook's expression going blank, his eyes lighting up dangerously. "What do you have in mind-"
"Getting my man out of there, you?", Jungkook asked calmly.
"Helping you?", Hoseok asked confused, not sure if that was what Jungkook wanted to hear.
"Exactly", Jungkook smirked and patted the older's head, "Glad you finally understood who's the boss around here."
"I still hate you", Hoseok smiled back, "But I have a thing for my best friend's brother and I'm kinda worried about him being in this house as well."
Jungkook nodded, holding out his hand, "So we have a deal?"
"We have", Hoseok took his hand and they shook it. "Don't call yourself boss ever again though."
"Shut up", Jungkook said and then walked off, heading straight to Lia's classroom. He didn't give two fucks if she had class or not, he walked in and stood there a little awkwardly, "Lia, we gotta talk."
"Excuse me?", the teacher groaned, "We have class right now."
Jungkook gave him a confused look, "Okay?", he said, then he looked back at Lia who got up from her seat and walked out with the most annoyed look on her face. "What the hell do you want, Jungkook?"
"Your help", Kook crossed his arms. "I found out where Taehyung was, and I'm going to get him out of his parents house. Are you in?"
Lia shook her head quickly, "You're out of your mind, Jungkook. Let Taehyung handle it himself, go find another boy to drool over."
"I thought you were something like his best friend", Jungkook snapped at her, "You should help me save him, if you truly cared about him. Don't you want him to be safe?"
"Staying out of this is keeping him safe, Jungkook", she sighed. "And it's also keeping everyone else safe, so please just go study or do anything useful."
Jungkook couldn't believe his ears, "The fuck, Lia?"
The girl shrugged and walked back in, sitting down, her face with a blank expression. She pulled out her phone and texted the number she had been texting a lot recently.
*
Lia ended the call and rushed into the house, hurrying upstairs to Taehyung's room. Tzuyu had just called her, asking her to come over as soon as possible. It took the girl not more than ten minutes to jump into her car and hurry over. "What's wrong?", she asked when she rushed in and saw Tzuyu sitting on the bed, hands on Taehyung's cheeks as if she was holding his head.
"I think he passed out", she was panicking, her heart beating out of her chest. "He smells like a horrible mix of alcohol and weed."
Lia slammed the door shut behind her and ran over, kneeling next to the boy while Tzuyu gave her space so the girl could slap Taehyung's cheek to get him back to consciousness.
"Dude", she said, her eyes getting all teary when Taehyung wasn't reacting. "You promised", she sobbed and slapped him again until he finally flinched and started blinking in confusion.
"Hm?", he asked, a smirk forming on his lips.
"You promised me not to pull that shit anymore, you asshole", Lia cried out and let her head fall onto the boy's chest, crying heavily because he just gave her a very bad trigger to when they picked him up from military school.
It had been past midnight when the staff there called Mrs Kim to pick up her son because they didn't want to be responsible for covering up a suicide. Mrs Kim had been scared shitless that night, rushing over there while her husband was on a business trip, bringing the boy to the hospital.
He had swallowed pills before and then got himself so drunk that he passed out on the floor of his room and only when his roommate found him there in time, they could save his life.
Lia had cried all night long, that night.
Mrs Kim called her, not knowing who else to call and the girl came rushing to the hospital. She stayed all night next to the boy and held his hand until his father appeared the next morning to get him out of there.
Taehyung was barely awake when Mr Kim pulled him out of there, not giving Lia a single glance. And the one thing she could yell after him was, "Don't pull that shit again."
He had held his pinky up, giving the girl a tired smile.
She had held hers up too and that's how she trusted him.
He just broke this promise.
"I'm sorry", Taehyung let out. "I'm so tired of everything."
Tzuyu still sat there, frozen with a worried look on her face as she eyed the boy.
"I know", she said quietly. "Just hold on. Once we're moving out and get married, no one will hurt you anymore", she hummed. "I'll let you go back to Jungkook, I promise."
Taehyung looked at her for a while before he broke into laughter, holding his tummy.
"If it's not Jungkook I marry then it's not going to be okay."
"Taehyung, please", Lia said sharply. "You two barely dated. He's two years younger and he's the first boy you ever liked in that way. Be realistic, most relationships don't make it through. Not even you and Jungkook were a hundred percent sure to make it."
"Lia shut up", Taehyung snapped at her, "We would have."
"You've known him all your life yet you never felt attracted to him, how can it be so serious now that you consider killing yourself if you can't be with him?", Lia grumbled. "No one is worth dying, not even your Jungkook."
"But life's not worth living either", Taehyung replied calmly, chuckling amused. "I've always felt like I had to protect him, I always wanted to take care of him and see him the happiest he could be. Jungkook always meant something to me, stop acting as if it's just a little crush that could go away."
"Yes of course he meant something! You felt all those things because he was like a younger brother to you", Lia ruffled her hair, "Taehyung don't be silly. I know you like him and that it's different now, but it's not so serious."
"No", Taehyung said sharply. "I didn't feel all those things because he's like a younger brother to me, I felt all those things because I want my dick up his ass and you can't change that so fuck off. He's my baby. Don't call him my bro", he said, crossing his arms. "You know what, you two should leave. I don't want either of you around me", he hissed.
"We're just trying to be there for you, Tae", Tzuyu sighed.
"No you're trying to make me feel stupid", Taehyung yelled out. "Let me feel like shit over all of this. I went through enough. There's two ways this story could end, ladies. Either I end up dead on the bathroom floor or I'll make it through. And no Lia and no Tzuyu can change a thing about that, trust me."
Lia pressed her lips together, gritting her teeth.
"Say this one more time and I won't think twice and go to Jungkook and tell him about the shit you're saying. You want that?"
"No!", Taehyung squeaked out.
"Then get your fucking shit together, Taehyung. I promised to keep quiet, I promised to have your back. But if you constantly break the one promise you gave me I won't hesitate and involve Jungkook in this."
Taehyung rolled his eyes, "I want Jungkook to be safe."
"And I want you to be safe", Lia said sharply.
The boy grumbled, looking away annoyed.
"Looks like the only way both those things are happening is if you stay the fuck alive." Lia said and then grabbed the pills from the boy's nightstand, throwing them to the rubbish.
"Jungkook did the same thing when he found me taking them in the school's bathroom", Taehyung commented on that, looking at the girl.
"Yeah, because me and him are the only ones who care that much about you that we rather see you in pain than in a grave."
"That's harsh", Taehyung tsked.
"But true." Lia smiled weakly.
***
there's not many chapters left :((