Beyond Saturation

E

1 August 2016

Like always, Taehyung was sitting on the couch with his legs pulled close to his chest. His arms were wrapped around his legs and his head was resting on his knees pitifully as he stared at the turned-off television in front of him listlessly. 

He wondered what he would do with Junha. He couldn't bring him back home when he was in this state. It would be difficult to explain his injuries to him. At the same time, he couldn't just leave him at Yoongi's house permanently without raising suspicions either. 

Jeongguk never even mentioned Junha anymore. He was just busy being lost in his own drunken (sometimes high) world all the time. Either that or work. 

If only Taehyung could-

A loud bang on the door yanked Taehyung out of his thoughts, making him flinch so violently that he fell off the couch. He looked at the clock in panic. Was it evening already?! He hadn't even begun cooking. What if Jeongguk came home today and decided he wanted to eat and the food wasn't ready? 

Taehyung wasn't ready for another round. He was tired. 

The loud bangs continued all through the way he ran to the door and threw it open. He expected to be greeted with the regular reek of alcohol, but the loud gasp of shock shocked him. 

Scratch that. That familiar voice terrified him. 

What on earth was his brother doing here?!

"Hyung!! What are you doing here?! Leave!! Please, leave!! He's going to be back in an hour, please lea-"

"Tae!!" Seokjin exclaimed loudly. He had been calling Taehyung for quite a while now, but Taehyung was too lost in his own panic to notice that. 

"What the fuck happened to your face, oh my god!!" Tears instantly gushed out of Seokjin's eyes as he reached out to gently cup Taehyung's distorted face. 

Taehyung flinched violently and grabbed his brother's shoulders in return. His hands trembled violently and it didn't go unnoticed by Seokjin. "Let's go in and talk. I'm settling this matter before I leave today. And I'm not leaving without you. You are not going to stay here another minute, I don't care what you sa-"

"Hyung!! Listen to me!!" Taehyung exclaimed desperately. He jerkily looked around at the clock and then back at his brother, his eyes possessing a mad glint that had Seokjin worrying if his brother had lost it. His behaviour suggested the same too. 

"Tell me, Tae," Seokjin said, eyeing his brother's body in concern. His poor legs were shaking as well, as if he didn't have the energy to stand up. But he was still doing it, looking desperate as he begged Seokjin to leave. And don't even get Seokjin started on Taehyung's face and exposed arms. 

"H-He is going to come back soon, okay?! You need to leave!! You just need to!! You need to listen to me and leave, please!! Don't come back unle-"

"HOW THE FUCK CAN I LEA-"

Seokjin cut himself off when he noticed his brother's reaction. He regretted yelling so badly that he wanted to scream loudly about the injustice that was going on. 

Why? 

Because the second he started yelling, Taehyung flinched violently, took a few hurried steps back and slid down to the ground when his back touched the wall. With his eyes blown out in terror, the poor man held his arms above his head in a protective stance and began chanting 'sorry, I'm sorry,' over and over again. 

"Tae, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Seokjin cried loudly as he ran to wrap his arms around Taehyung. Taehyung didn't relax, instead proceeding to beg Seokjin not to hit him. 

Sorrow came kicking out of Seokjin's heart, tearing it into a million pieces and trampling on it so hard that he doubted if he could ever recover. His sorrow wasn't important at the moment, however, and he knew it. His brother seemed to have become traumatized in just a span of ten days and that worried him sick. 

"Tae, it's just me," he said, moving his hand towards Taehyung's back to rub it comfortingly, but the second he touched it, Taehyung arched his back with a loud, painful hiss, and fell forward, his hands barely catching his fall. 

He screwed his eyes shut, trying his best to push the pain of the belt whips down. It burned very badly, seeing as Jeongguk hadn't gone easy on him the previous night as well. 

Breath hitching in horror, Seokjin closed the door of the house and rushed back to Taehyung. Praying to all gods above, he lifted his shirt up, gasping in horror when he was greeted with a colourful back, full of brown to purple to black bruises. What horrified him the most were the clear belt marks on his back. 

"Oh my god, Taehyung," he cried, and gently, very gently, scooped his brother up into his arms. "What did that monster do to you," he cried, but Taehyung didn't reply, still busy trying to control the pain. 

"Hyung, please, leave," Taehyung began again when he pulled himself together. He moved away from his brother's arms and stood up with some effort. It broke Seokjin's heart and he tried to help, but Taehyung held an arm out, saying he didn't want help. 

"I need to cook dinner, hyung, I really don't have time. I'll get more beatings if the food isn't ready by the time he's back, please understand. Leave if you don't want me to get more hurt," Taehyung didn't know what was coming out of his mouth anymore. He just spoke his heart out, having no energy left to filter his words out. 

Well, he would have had energy if he had eaten something. Not if he just packed all of his shares of food and stored them in the refrigerator without eating any of them for the past week. Ever since he got rap...

Well, he didn't want to think about it. 

"I told him last night about wanting a divorce. H-He didn't look too convinced, but I'm sure if you give me some time, I can get him to agree. Don't ruin anything until then, please. No cops, either, hyung, I'm warning you, please. I'm walking on a very thin rope right now. I don't want to trigger his bad side more than it's already required. It will all be fine in a few months at the most. I'll just have to suffer for there few months and I'll be the free-est person on earth. I'll get him to agree and then I will not have to see him ever again. Please understand," he explained. 

Seokjin opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds, not knowing how to respond. 

"Let me whip something up, then. You look like you are gonna pass out any moment. I'll hide in the guest room if he comes back by then, and sneak out in the night, is that okay?" he suggested hopefully.  

That would at least help a little. 

Right?