Crook | K.th

Crook 11: Irreparable

/Narrator's POV/

It was a rainy June morning. The moist ground of yesterday should have been an indicator that today's weather would be rather gloomy. During this time in the summer, rain was expected but not much of it. Chicago wasn't the warmest city in the summer time so when it did rain, it could get a bit chilly outside.

Taehyung thoroughly enjoyed watching the weather. He loved how nobody could control the weather. How it has a mind of its own, and would change whenever it got ready to. He really liked the rain. How the droplets fell against his window and slowly slide down to join the others inside of the little cracks and crevices. The tiny streams and pools they made as they joined as one. It calmed him.

This morning was different. He couldn't focus on the rain as much as he would've liked to, because he was so focused on the woman laying on her back above the sheets in his bed. Taehyung had taken the initiative to crank the heat up so that she was comfortable laying without blankets to cover her. Her trench coat untied so that he could see the lingerie she wore beneath, although he found that to be the least enticing thing about her at the moment.

She was so different now. This was the closets they had been to one another ever since their short lived time in the paradise room together. There was something about her that was still so familiar and comforting, reminding him of what he once considered home. But in the same sense, she was a stranger.

This was the Liyah Gwan that present day Taehyung knew of, and not the one teenage Taehyung knew of. Somehow, that made him uncomfortable.

She was a gentle sleeper, didn't move much. Her features relaxed to smooth out any stress on her face. Her rosy lips resting apart to expose a glimpse of her white teeth. Her curved lashes resting on the lids of her eyes. Her curly afro sprawled out on Taehyung's pillows. The consistent rise and fall of her bosom. It's careful and healthy which calms him in a way , that reminds him she is in good health. She was his sweet innocent Liyah when she slept. This was far too much for him to handle.

Taehyung palmed the back of his neck, giving her a glimpse before leaving the room to enter the bathroom. He gets there and could only hold out his hand that had a fat bandage resting on top of his bruised and scraped up knuckles. He wasn't even certain that he had cleaned his wounds correctly, nor was he certain that he had patched the bandage on right.

He could care less about himself. He was relieved that he had saved Liyah before that bastard could take advantage of her. The thought made him sick. What he had seen last night brought out a side of him that hadn't been released since he went to prison. The monster, the relentless and merciless Taehyung that he hated. He hated to get so fucking violent but god knows that the last thing he could ever want was for Liyah to get hurt. He saved her. And, after damn near killing her assaulter, picked her up and drove her back to his condo. She had passed out and so Taehyung sat beside her the entire night. He hadn't gotten not an ounce of sleep and truth be told he couldn't rest until he heard her voice again. Seen her eyes again.

The thought drives him to turn off the bathroom lights and take an exit. Back into his bedroom, where he is surprised to see her sitting up on the bed looking around with confusion. Taehyung's heart skips in his chest. He hadn't felt so nervous, so careful in awhile. He felt as if he was walking on eggshells around her. Nonetheless, he could muster up words and speak to let her know that she wasn't alone.

"You're awake." He says simply. Liyah cuts her eyes in his direction. In the corner of her head, she felt a painful sensation. A headache. She ignores it as she makes eye contact with Taehyung. The person she least expected to see.