For Love~ [Taekook Texts]

63. Tears

"Dad?!"

Jungkook's loud voice bounced off the walls and reached Taehyung's ears while he travelled through the hallway. He instantly stopped as his eyes grew wide and his pounding heart threatened to burst out of his ribcage. He stood as still as a statue, trying to ease his breathing and make as little as no noise. In the silence that followed, even the carbon dioxide he exhaled seemed to be too loud. He silenced himself, afraid that Jungkook's parents would hear him breathe and speculate the fact that another person was in the house. 

His mind scattered in every direction possible as he tried to focus and think of what he should be doing. Should he reveal himself and greet the younger's parents? Or should he stand in his position and wait for a signal from Jungkook? Or maybe he should just go back to their room, and pretend he wasn't in the house. 

He hoped Jungkook would want him to come see his parents. So he waited, with faith, and hope. 

Though Taehyung was frightened to no bounds, the one person who felt more terror than him was Jungkook. He stood with the door open, staring at his father and mother's beings: the last people he expected he would get to see on a beautiful Saturday evening. He rarely saw them, and not unusually, he was seeing them today after almost a year. The longest he had gone without seeing them was for a year and a half. Just getting a phone call from them on Jungkook's birthday annually was a big thing for him. What was unusual though was that they had come unannounced. They never did that, always making sure that Jungkook was aware of their arrival at least a month before the date. So Jungkook's brain did a quick check, wondering if he had been told that they were coming, whether the detail had slipped from his mind. But, he soon realized that it hadn't, and the next words spoken by his parents confirmed that.

"Jungkook! My son! How have you been doing?" Mr. Jeon's deep, chesty voice echoed in the flat. A couple of low bass sounds were heard. Mr. Jeon was patting Jungkook's back. Then came a more high pitched voice. It was Mrs. Jeon's, "Did you like our surprise Jungkook?"

From the hallway, Taehyung heard Jungkook nervously chuckle and then, him speaking, "Of course I did Mom! Please come in." Through the gap in the hallway, Taehyung saw Jungkook leading his parents to the couch. From here, it may seem that Jungkook was fine, that there wasn't any issue whatsoever. But eyes can be deceiving, and so can Jungkook. The boy hid his emotions like it was some late emperor's most valuable treasure. But Taehyung had heard his voice clearly. The little tremble and strain in his tone as he tried his best to look happy. Taehyung empathized with him.

While Jungkook waited for his parents to settle down, his eyes caught a hold of Taehyung's tiny figure hiding in the hallway. The shock of seeing his parents had wiped out the fact that Taehyung was there too. But that was ironic, considering the fact that the reason he was so terrified was because he wasn't alone in the house. His parents were homophobic and Taehyung knew that. The reason the two were so scared at the moment. The reason Jungkook disliked his parents to such a great degree. 

While many may think that the boy wished his parents were always with him like a normal family, Jungkook preferred quite the opposite. He didn't like having them around. He was way happier without having them constantly nag him around all day, without having them trying to get him to agree to get married to a woman he had never heard of, and without them trying to drill the thought of his homosexuality being 'just a phase' in his brain. 

As he looked at the love of his life, a guilty thought occupied his mind. What if he just told his parents Taehyung was his best friend staying over for the night? That would be such a simple way out, wouldn't it? But seeing Taehyung's scared face lift its lips up into a small smile just so Jungkook could gather a little strength and courage from it made him scrap that idea immediately. It made him realize that lying now would only complicate things later. It made him realize that lying would just hurt Taehyung, and a sin greater than that did not exist.