psychotic - taehyung ff

05. backstory

"the first time you fall in love, it changes you forever and no matter how hard you try, that feeling never goes away." - nicholas sparks
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taehyung used to dread coming to school. but now, having seoyeon by his side, he found it as an escape. it was a routine now: wake up, hide from his step father, shower his younger sister and get her ready for school, walk to the train station, meet up with seoyeon where they then would all walk to drop off jooyoung at school and then the duo would walk to the convenience store where they would purchase strawberry and banana milk, then head off to school for the day.

taehyung never really spoke to her about his home life, but somehow she was aware of it. maybe she wasn't exactly sure on the situation at home, but she somehow knew his life was a nightmare he could never wake up from. so she treated him with the love she knew he never had. it wasn't exactly sympathy, she never wanted to patronize him in any way. but rather be the solace he so desperately searched for in a world that nearly drowned him everyday in darkness.

taehyung could recognize a broken soul when he saw one. seoyeon was good, but she wasn't as good as she thought she was. taehyung could recognize the energy it took for her to muster up happiness she constantly showed to everyone with ease. but he knew exactly the look she would have when she thought nobody was looking. the tired and worn out look. he's looked in the mirror enough times to recognize it with ease.

he wanted to approach her about it. to talk to her about what was going on. but little did he know he would soon find out what it was about.

he received a late night phone call from her, glaring at the clock that said 2:35 am. he rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he took in the contact name. choi sunny.

"sunny? is everything okay?" he whispered, his voice hoarse with sleep.  he picked up on the sniffles she was trying so hard to swallow down. she was crying, and hard.

"uhm, no yeah. everything is... everything is fine. look, tae, i'm sorry i called. i'll see you tomorrow," she says, chuckling to herself. how embarrassing was this? calling him even while knowing the dangers of his home life.

"no, sunny, what's the matter, why are you crying?" he asked, his voice filled with worry for the girl who held a piece of his heart (and didn't even know it).

"its my dad, he... he's an aggressive drunk and he—"

"pick a safe space and leave. text me where you decide, and i'm on my way," taehyung spoke. he hung up the phone to leave no room for arguments and slipped on his shoes. he locked the bedroom door, glancing one last time at his baby sister, and then stealthily climbed out of his bedroom window on the to the fire escape, his need to see sunny, no matter what, driving him. he managed to climb all the way down and took off into the night, not really sure where he was headed but knowing he had to go no matter what.

sunny texted him to meet her at their favorite spot, their favorite convenience store. his feet carried him faster than he's ever seen, and before he knew it, he was coming to an abrupt halt in front of the store, sunny sitting on the curb with her feet out in front of her. he took a minute to catch his breath before approaching her. she looked up at him and he swore his heart stopped.

her face was adorned with bruises and cuts, ranging from an inch to one that was across her forehead. she looked so drained of all life and he knew that even her strongest of facades wouldn't be able to hide this.

"what happened?" he asked bravely, not knowing how she would react to such a simple question.

"i pushed him too far. so far, it was too late to take it back," she sniffled, rubbing her nose with the sleeves of her sweater. he sat down next to her and exhaled deeply. he pulled her into his chest and placed his hand behind her head, rubbing it with small strokes with his thumb.

"i can't keep doing this tae. i can't keep living like this," she sobbed, her hands gripping onto the sleeve of his sweater. he knew exactly what she meant because he felt the same exact way. he was so tired and beaten by life and other forces, that it was time to take actions into his own hands. he had to do what he had to do to ensure the safety of those he loved.

"don't you worry, sunny. i'll make sure this never happens again. i promise you."

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AUTHORS NOTE:

hello my beautiful tacos! i'm so sorry i'm slacking on the updates 😩 i'm trying my best to finish this story but like i said, i would never give y'all anything unfinished or half-as$ed. so i finally set up an outline for the story and WATCH OUT 👀 there's a plot twist you'll never see coming.

[this chapter is unedited]