chapter 16
684 Words
"taehyung!"
the exhausted boy's eyes lazily glazed over to the older's worried eyes.
"oh, hey namjoon hyung. sorry i was out so lat-"
"kim taehyung, where the f**k were you? after practice, you disappeared into god knows where like jimin and he came back an hour ago all bruised up. you got some explaining to do," namjoon sternly orders, his hands curled fists.
taehyung was alarmed at the words jimin and bruised,"what? what do you mean jimin came back to the dorm bruised? is he injured?"
namjoon sighs as he drags a hand over his face.
"i don't know what happened either okay. don't ask me any questions. all i know was yes, judging from the bruise on his eye and the scrapes on his wrist, my suggestion was that he got into a fight and was beaten up somewhere on the streets or whatever."
taehyung scrunched his eyebrows once his hyung described the injuries. the scrapes on his wrist? no, those didn't happen just then. jimin probably did it again.
"is jimin in his room?" taehyung asked, his body moving towards the stairs.
namjoon took a glance and took a step, stopping taehyung from walking up the stairs.
"jimin's with jungkook right now. you're not going anywhere until you tell me where you were," namjoon repeated.
taehyung thought about valencia and decided that lying right now would be for the best.
"i.. i met up with a couple of my old friends back from high school. they were wondering how i was doing and i wanted to relieve some of my stress. you know how idol life is hard and all," taehyung smoothly said, the words falling off his tongue.
at least it's not a full lie. i did meet a friend if i can call her one.
namjoon stared at taehyung straight in the eye until he let out a breath and dropped the stern act,"okay, i understand. but next time, don't leave so late. you almost made the managers look out for you. jimin won't be able to rehearse today due to his state so you go and wash up. everyone's already up and they're getting ready."
taehyung nodded as he proceeded to go through namjoon and climb up the stairs. that was before namjoon stopped him and advised him,"don't go to jimin right now. he's sensitive and we don't want a crowd to happen. meet outside at the car in 15 minutes."
pursuing his lips, taehyung stiffly nodded and went inside his room. locking the door, he then ruffled his hair and took off his jacket. taehyung looked at himself in the mirror and saw his eyes were swollen from the tears earlier. the tears he shed without acting. the tears that he hasn't ever seen since the last time he-
"damn tae, don't think about it," he reassured himself as he plopped on the bed.
he grabbed his phone and looked that he missed so many calls. out of those were mostly from jungkook or namjoon hyung but then there was one that he received recently and didn't notice. his curiosity got the best of him as he dialed the number back.
"hello, this is the yonsei medical hospital speaking, how may i help you?" an almost robotic voice came from the other line.
taehyung gulped his saliva and spoke,"t-this is kim taehyung. you guys called me earlier and i was wondering why-"
"oh, you're the one that the doctor wanted me to. please wait on hold, i'll go get the doctor. she wishes to speak to you," the lady from the other side quickly said.
"mrs. hong, this man says he's kim taehyung? you wanted to speak to him."
"oh yes, hand it over," rustling noises were heard. "hello?"
"h-hello," taehyung quickly responded.
"ah, are you kim taehyung?" she asked.
"yes."
"the news you are about to hear will and might come as a shock to you. are you alright with being notified?"
taehyung got nervous,"y-yes."
"we are unfortunate to tell you that, valencia lee died earlier 7:37 am today."
"beep. beep. beep."
"mr. kim?"
"mr. kim?!"
beep.
- Writer
