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Taehyung heard the front door to the apartment slam, and he flinched. Glancing back down at his phone he saw it was only 10:30 PM.
‘He’s early…’ Taehyung thought. He heard grumbling coming from the living room, also catching the sound of things being thrown around. After a moment of debating whether he should go out, he rolled off of the bed and slowly made his way to the door. Slowly turning the knob he peeked his head into the hallway and looked around before stepping precariously out into the dim light.
Everything Taehyung did seemed hesitant. Every move he made was thoroughly thought about, every word that came out of his mouth was processed. He hated it.
Entering the main living space, he saw his brown haired boyfriend slouched into the couch, his arm slung over his eyes. Taehyung played with his fingers as he approached the other man, sitting lightly on the opposite end of the overused couch.
“Hey Hoseok,” Taehyung said timidly. Hoseok’s arm raised and Taehyung caught sight of the man’s dark eyes. They observed the nervous boy up and down before being covered up once more. With a sigh, Hoseok lowered his arm before falling to his side and placing his head in Taehyung’s lap. The younger boy froze for a moment, unsure what to do with the situation, until he heard his boyfriend’s groggy, pissed, and slightly congested voice.
“Can you massage my head or something, Tae?” Hoseok asked. Taehyung nodded, though Hoseok couldn’t see him, and brought his slender fingers to the older man’s skull. He started rubbing it gently, though pressing down harder every so often. He heard a pleased sigh leave Hoseok’s mouth.
“Are you sick Hoseok?” Taehyung asked quietly after a minute or two. Hoseok groaned.
“Apparently,” was all he gave. It was silent for a moment. Taehyung took a breath.
“So your boss sent you home early?” he asked then, trying to sound calm. It was silent again, longer than necessary for an answer like this.
“Yeah,” Hoseok said. “He didn’t want me getting anyone else sick, since I interact with so many customers. So he forced me to leave.” Taehyung hummed in response.
He knew. He knew Hoseok paused to get his thoughts together, though not because of the sickness. Taehyung knew where Hoseok had been; not working at the bar, that’s for sure. He knew who had truly sent him home early.
Hoseok sat up then, forcing Taehyung’s fingers to stop their job. He breathed deeply through his nose, though it sounded difficult.
“Can you go get some medicine from the store?” Hoseok asked suddenly.
Taehyung furrowed his eyebrows cutely, though Hoseok didn’t notice. “How come you didn’t get any on your way back?” Taehyung asked.
“I didn’t think about it then,” Hoseok said.
“It’s a bit late though, don’t you think Hoseok? Why don’t you just use the stuff we have here? It’s just as good as-”
“Would you just go, Taehyung?!” Hoseok snapped. Taehyung stiffened at the tone his boyfriend had taken. He let the silence hang in the air as he stared at his boyfriend’s clenched fist.
“Alright,” Taehyung said timidly before standing up. He went back into his room and grabbed his wallet, phone, and a jacket. He paused in the mirror and ruffled his soft, light brown hair before exiting the room once more, sliding his arms into the thin black jacket as he walked down the hallway. Taehyung saw that Hoseok had laid down on the couch, stretching his legs across the length of it.
“I’ll be going now,” Taehyung said, hoping to not disturb the man.
“Kay,” Hoseok said back. Taehyung was heading towards the door and as he passed Hoseok, the man slapped his butt. Taehyung tensed at the sudden action and looked back at his boyfriend with wide eyes. Hoseok was giving him a lazy smile, his eyelids half closed.
“Thanks Tae,” Hoseok said. Taehyung simply nodded and continued to the door. About a month ago, Taehyung would feel giddy, or close to excited at what his boyfriend had done. In the current circumstances though, he felt almost disgusted.
He reached the entrance and slipped into his tennis shoes before opening the door. As he was walking out, Hoseok called out once more.
“Stay safe!” he said. Taehyung poked his head back in and nodded before shutting the door tightly behind him.
The night wasn’t very cold, but just enough so that Taehyung could see his breath. The nearest store was only a block or two away from his and Hoseok’s shared apartment, so he took his time walking. He stared at the dark sky, only knowing he was still on the sidewalk when he saw the pale yellow street lamps as they came into view above him. He wasn’t worried about bumping into people, since there was no one else out at this hour.
He finally reached and entered the dull glowing convenience store. He nodded to the young worker at the counter who had sprung awake when Taehyung had entered. He wasted no time in heading to the medicine section of the small store. It was only when he reached the isle and was staring at all the bottles and boxes when Taehyung realized he didn’t even know what kind of medicine Hoseok needed. Taehyung sighed at his mistake and thought about how sick Hoseok seemed when he had left.
‘He didn’t seem all that sick in the first place…’ Taehyung thought. It was true, too. His boyfriend didn’t seem like he really needed anything. Putting it behind him for now, and motivated by the want to go home, Taehyung grabbed a few different kinds of pills that didn’t look very strong and gathered them in his arms. He shuffled his way up to the counter and placed all his things on the counter. The worker smiled weakly at him, the tiredness in his young eyes off-puttingly evident. Taehyung smiled as encouragingly as possible while his items were rung up. The worker bagged all the bottles and gave Taehyung the total, handing over the plastic white bag. With the medicine paid for and the worker’s ‘have a good night!’ received, Taehyung ventured back out into the empty streets.
As Taehyung wandered back to the apartment, his mind couldn’t help but think about his boyfriend in the pure silence of the streets. He thought of what it used to be like with him, how sweet and genuine everything was. Hoseok was a great boyfriend, the best one Taehyung has had. He cared for Taehyung and would always put the younger before himself. Though at one point, and Taehyung can’t say when, it changed. Hoseok changed. He started to come home later and later, and he would be more short tempered and ask many things of Taehyung. It was almost two weeks later when Taehyung finally asked why he had been so late, and Hoseok told him that he had gotten a second job at a bar, serving drinks. Taehyung believed him, he believed him for a few weeks before he really found out what was happening.
Even now he can’t remember how he found out, he only remembers the long nights when Hoseok was gone, when he would cry until he arrived. Then he’d pretend he was asleep and Hoseok would join him in bed and kiss the back of his neck and it took every part of Taehyung’s soul not to start crying again. So the past month has been torture for Taehyung. Not having the comfort and love from someone you still care for is proving too much for him anymore. Sometimes he wished, truly wished, everything would just stop. All the pain. In the dark depths of his thoughts, while he’s lying awake at night, he wished he had the strength to…
“Taehyung!”
Taehyung stopped walking at his name being shouted. He looked around quickly, trying to figure out who had called out to him so suddenly. It was then that he noticed a figure running on the sidewalk ahead of him, heading straight for him. He squinted at the person before they came into focus as they neared him.
“Hoseok?” Taehyung asked in disbelief. Hoseok slowed as he reached him, his breath coming fast, puffs of air escaping his mouth every second. When Hoseok was right in front of him, he placed his hands on Taehyung’s shoulders, partly for support, partly for something Taehyung didn’t know.
Hoseok looked at Taehyung with worry in his eyes. “Are you ok?” he asked. Taehyung blinked in surprise.
‘He’s…worried about me?’ he wondered. ‘That’s…unusual.’
“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Taehyung said quietly.
“Are you sure? You’re not hurt?” Hoseok pushed. He moved his hands up to hold Taehyung’s neck, his eyes running over his face. The spots Hoseok’s hands rested felt as if they were burning his skin. Taehyung almost asked him to remove them, but instead decided to do it himself.
“Yes Hoseok. I’m ok,” Taehyung said plainly, grabbing Hoseok’s wrists and pulling them away from himself. Letting go, a question came to Taehyung. “Why did you come running out to find me?” he asked suspiciously.
“I had a feeling. You know, intuition,” he explained. He spoke quickly, not like his usual tired drawl. “A feeling that something bad was going to happen to you. It’s late, and I can’t believe I made you go out like this. I’m sorry Tae, I really am,” Hoseok said.
These words were some of the kindest Hoseok has said to Taehyung in almost a month, and as much as Taehyung wanted to hold on to the kindness, believe all the words he said, he couldn’t help but think his boyfriend was up to something. But he sounded so sincere , and it made Taehyung’s throat tighten.
He couldn’t help his questions. “How did you know where I was?” he asked then.
“There is only one store near enough to our apartment for you to walk. So I just headed in that direction and hoped I wasn’t too late,” Hoseok said.
“Actually, you’re just in time.”
Taehyung and Hoseok both whipped their heads around to find the source of the mysterious voice. Slowly from behind Hoseok a dark figure came seemingly out of nowhere. A man, dressed fully in black, a black baseball cap hiding most of his face, though the ends of his blonde hair stuck out of the bottom, and a black mask covering what part of his face the hat didn’t. He walked with confidence, his left hand in his jacket pocket, the other at his side. The man raised his head to the two men standing under the streetlight, revealing dark cold eyes.
“That was adorable, really, but I’ve been waiting long enough. I have very little patience, you should know,” the mysterious man said and started swinging his right hand. Taehyung’s eyes widened at the realization that the man was holding a gun in his hand. He looked back up to the man’s face, and he could tell just by looking at his eyes that the man was smiling.
Taehyung felt something grip the sleeve of his jacket, and he looked down to see Hoseok’s hand slowly grasping the fabric. Looking up to his face Hoseok was also wide-eyed, fear evident in his features.
Taehyung knew all the things Hoseok has put him through - he knew - despite this, he still felt the strong urge to protect his boyfriend. As many times as Taehyung’s mind has told him to leave the man, that he’d be happier without him, there was a part of his heart that still loved him relentlessly.
Taehyung pulled away from Hoseok’s grasping hand before simply returning and holding his hand properly. Hoseok immediately gripped onto Taehyung.
“Well, now isn’t that cute,” the man in black said dully. He looked at Taehyung then. “Are you going to protect him?” he asked with a sneer. All Taehyung did was start to back away. The man he was holding started moving with him. The man in black chuckled.
“You know you can’t just walk away, correct?” he said. Ignoring his words, Taehyung quickly switched the hand holding Hoseok and turned around, only to knock into another fully black figure. He looked up at the muscled man, but wasn’t able to see his face, for it was hidden from sight. In pure fear, Taehyung slowly released Hoseok’s hand. It was silent, nothing but the sounds of breathing. The air was covered, layered, with thick, thick fear.
“Grab him,” the man behind Taehyung ordered. The covered man was quick, moving behind Taehyung swiftly and grabbing him with his burly arms. Taehyung immediately tried to break free, struggling and wrestling against the strength of his captor, but it was no use. No amount of movement could break him free.
“Hoseok, run!” Taehyung yelled at his frozen boyfriend. At the sudden shout, Hoseok unfroze from his fear stricken stance and bolted across the street. Thankfully for him, the sudden scene wasn’t occurring on a very busy street, though it’s also unfortunate for the two men who were in desperate need of help at the moment.
As Taehyung continued to fight back, while watching his fleeing boyfriend, he heard a sickening laugh from behind him. He was suddenly turned around to face the man with the gun.
“You two are just putting off the inevitable,” the man said lowly. Taehyung could only wonder what the man meant before he heard sounds across the street. Glancing over, to his horror, he saw Hoseok in the same predicament as him; held by a man in black and being practically dragged back across the street. The man in black smirked through his mask.
“Better,” he said. The man tilted his head to the side, indicating a narrow alley way just off the sidewalk.
‘Typical,’ Taehyung couldn’t help but think.
Taehyung and Hoseok were dragged into the barely lit alley and thrown violently against one of the brick walls. Taehyung hit his head and his vision went blurry. He leaned on the wall for support and looked over at Hoseok. He was curled in on himself, turned towards Taehyung with his eyes squeezed shut.
“Now this should be simple,” the man said. “You give us what you got, we’ll leave you alone. See? Simple.” Taehyung looked at Hoseok, who had opened his eyes and was staring at Taehyung with panic fueled intensity. Taehyung took a deep breath, knowing there wasn’t much of a choice in this situation.
“Let’s just do it Hoseok,” Taehyung said quietly, and as calmly as possible. Hoseok stared at him a little longer before slightly nodding his head. Both victims reach into every pocket their clothes happened to have. They didn’t have much, especially Hoseok, who had run out of their apartment only minutes before, just barely managing to get his shoes on. Taehyung pulled out his phone, a piece of gum, a pair of earbuds and of course everything in his wallet. It did have some money, but nothing too grand. He also threw down the bag with all the medicine he got onto the cold ground.
“That’s it?” the man complained. “Dammit, not a good find,” he growled. The man mindlessly tapped the gun against his leg, seeming to be thinking. He stared at both Hoseok than Taehyung in turn. “You two were no fun, no fun at all,” the man in black said. The two men stayed quiet, not wanting to say the wrong thing. The man with the gun sighed.
“Well alright. I can’t think of anything to do with you. Take the good stuff,” he instructed his men. They took Taehyung’s wallet and phone, as well as grabbing the plastic bag. The man started to walk out of the alley, his men following behind him.
Neither Taehyung nor Hoseok dared to move at this point, they only watched as the three dangerous men walked away. Taehyung started to move first. He pushed himself away from the wall and got closer to Hoseok. The younger observed his boyfriend’s frozen face and was going to try and awaken him from his trance when he heard the group of footsteps stop. Everything after that happened so quickly. Taehyung glanced over to the paused men and he saw the twirl of a black coat, the flash of light reflecting metal, an ear bursting sound, and then all he could focus on was pain.
He could feel it in his core, just below his ribs, like a fire spreading through his body he felt the searing pain of a bullet. He froze, unsure what had happened, or what he should do. So he stood there, staring at the devilish smile the man in black revealed by removing his mask. Until he fell.
Taehyung fell to the ground, landing harshly on his back, his right hand instinctively reached down to cover the now seeping wound on his body. He didn’t even notice what Hoseok was doing until he felt him practically laying on him, screaming his name.
“Tae!! Tae?! Taehyung, can you hear me? Tae, please, no, please…” Hoseok was yelling. He held Taehyung’s head under his arm his other hand replaced Taehyung’s and covered the bullet would. Taehyung stared up at his boyfriend, and was shocked to find him crying. Tears were streaming down Hoseok’s face as he tried talking to the poor helpless boy. Taehyung never thought he’d see the day when Hoseok would cry over him.
“Hoseok,” Taehyung said weakly. Hoseok paused his callings and watching Taehyung intently.
“What is it? Tae, what is it?” he asked anxiously. Taehyung took a shaky breath, as good as his lungs would take.
“I know…about everything,” Taehyung finally admitted. He could feel Hoseok freeze when he finally told him. Taehyung looked to Hoseok’s face to see him looking down at Taehyung with horror. He continued.
“I know about the man you’ve been seeing. How you don’t actually have another job at the bar. I know you just go see him at night,” Taehyung confessed.
Hoseok was silent for a moment before he asked, “How long have you known?”
Taehyung felt tears at his eyes. “About a month, maybe longer,” he answered.
“Tae…” Hoseok started. He shook his head before continuing. “Tae, I’m…I’m so sorry. I didn’t think it would go that far. It just kept happening and I never did anything to stop it. I’m sorry,” Hoseok admits and his head hangs low. But then he looked back at Taehyung.
“But I ended it. Just today,” he said suddenly. Taehyung looked at him with surprise. “That’s why I was in such a bad mood when I got home. He didn’t take me leaving so well. I just made up being sick so that you wouldn’t find out. Then my temper just exploded and I-I sent you out a-and then, this…” Hoseok was slowing down and Taehyung realized he was crying again. “Oh Taehyung, I…this is all my fault, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Taehyung raised his hand and placed it on top of Hoseok’s head. When Hoseok met his eyes, Taehyung smiled; very weakly, but he smiled.
“I love you Hoseok,” he said then. Hoseok’s eyes widened. “I have always loved you. Even when I didn’t think you cared about me anymore, I still couldn’t help but love you.”
Hoseok teared up more. “I love you too Taehyung. I love you so much. That’s why I left that man. I realized I was hurting you, and I missed you so much. I wanted to be with you, and only you, but now…oh Tae, please don’t leave me, please,” Hoseok finished.
Taehyung could feel his breath becoming harder to take in. He could barely move at all, and he had just enough strength to be able to keep his hand on Hoseok’s soft hair.
Hoseok noticed this and cried even harder. “I love you Taehyung,” he said again. “I love you so much, I always will.”
Taehyung smiled genuinely. Hoseok had come back to him, after so long, he had come back to him, and only him. He felt happy.
Taehyung’s eyes slowly started to close. Hoseok realized these were Taehyung’s last breaths. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Taehyung’s in hope for one final kiss. Hoseok felt Taehyung, for just a moment, reciprocate the action. His Taehyung was there for just a second, until he felt his boyfriend’s lips go slack and the hand slipped from his head.
Hoseok pulled away, tears still streaming down his face as he looked fondly at the face of his young, sweet boyfriend. He caressed his face one last time before he gently set him on the pavement and stood up. Once he was up, he angled his head to the sky and let out a scream.
“Is it done?”
Hoseok turned around to find the man who, only moments ago, had shot his boyfriend dead. Hoseok grinned at him.
“It finally is,” he said and walked towards the man in black.
“Ya know Hoseok, you showed some pretty good acting skills out there. I was impressed,” the man said. Hoseok laughed. A hard, cruel sounding thing.
“Thanks Yoongi, that means a lot coming from you,” Hoseok said.
The one named Yoongi smiled and took off his mask fully, shoving it into his jacket pocket.
“Did you come up with all that stuff when he told you he knew about you cheating on him?” Yoongi asked.
“Oh yeah. He hid it well, I had no idea he knew,” Hoseok admitted with another grin. “Clever boy…”
“You’re too kind. You made him happy before he died,” Yoongi says with a sly smile.
“What can I say, there was something about that Kim Taehyung that I just needed to send him off with good thoughts,” Hoseok says.
“Something about him that’s greater than me?” Yoongi asks, almost pouting. Hoseok grins again and moves in, closing the distance between the two men and kissing Yoongi strongly on the lips. He pulled away, but kept their faces but inches apart.
“Never,” he whispered. Yoongi smiled.
“Well, the job is done, now we must move on. You let ‘em off easy this time,” Yoongi announces.
“Yes, it seems I did,” Hoseok simply replies. Hoseok shrugs and moves to Yoongi and throws an arm around his shoulders before the two start walking back down the alley, passing Taehyung’s body, to who knows where at the other end. Yoongi noticed the dried blood on Hoseok’s hands, and couldn’t help but comment on it.
“You know, that red really suits you. It compliments your hair,” Yoongi said.
“Aww, why thank you babe.”