✅Behind the smile || Kim Taehyung X Readers

10 | After you

Your POV

His words hurt like hell. Taehyung's assumptions towards me , although I knew that they were lies but still affected. He lied so well that for a moment it felt as if everything every inch of his words were meant. But at a time I knew my purpose in approaching him. I could see a part of me in him which I used to be in the past.

The facade of a smile he puts on , I used to be just like that five years back. But my parents were there to make me realise the real happiness. And in Taehyung's case , it seemed he was lonely , broken , and lost. Yet I let him go. I was aware of the trigger I had pulled by bringing up our first encounter.

He seemed vulnerable that day.. The only difference between us on that rainy morning was two strangers , one showed his lowest point and the other hid it with her fake smile. Right now I realised that he needed time .

He needed time to process everything and I was willing to give him that. All I wanted was to help him gather his shattered self one by one but it wasn't my part to force. I had let myself clear to him , rest depended on his will.

I let out a sigh before falling back on the couch with dejection whirling within myself. Truth hurts but this was the first time where lies progressed to stab a dagger when they sounded so harsh.

I was snapped out of my fallen mood and clouded mind when I heard the main door open and in came my father along with mom who was handling a bag of groceries while my dad had piles of files in his hand. I quickly pushed aside my thoughts and advanced towards them before taking the bag from my Mother's hands.

Placing it on the kitchen counter, I quickly walked back to the living room where my dad and mom took a seat on the couch while the files found their place on the table in front. "Woah… that seems a lot . What are these for , dad ?" I questioned the man in front who had his head resting on the soft object where he was seated. He was beyond tired and it could be seen pretty much well.

"Just some information about the victims of the case I'm presently working on." That made my throat go dry in an instant. It was the same case in which my brother was among the victims. " What about the incident at our university? " That wasn't a great way to change the topic and distract myself but yet was the closest topic to talk about with my father.

It seemed quite impossible to state that the guy was suicidal watching him tease the professors and play around with his friends just some hours ago , that day. I was a bit curious about the case and it enhanced even more when I watched my father's serious reaction at the mention of that.

" About that incident… it was confirmed to be a murder and not a suicide. And… " he trailed off in between taking a breath in before again speaking " the autopsy confirmed that this is another murder by the Gyeongsang serial killer. " These next words were unexpected, it hit me to the core where I felt my legs shaking.

The monster who took my brother away from me was so close yet I didn't even know. He succeeded to end another life just for what? Fun ? A game , he called it all. " Y/n… " my father called out my name so calmly yet it had a hint of fear. I knew what he was thinking, the man whom I had seen wither and then bring himself up,  again held fear in his eyes.

" This is happening again… it never stopped but it's happening again and so close to my kid." He uttered eyes falling to hide the moisture it was slowly gathering. " I am afraid that this was a threat for me to stop chasing him.  That kid had the exact same slash behind his nape which… ji-hoon had. That student's death was exactly the same as your brother's. The murderer left the same type of knife which we could find with your brother's and other corpses. "

My father's shaking voice halted as he looked up at me with terror held in his eyes. My mother who was trying to hold on to a strong demeanor failed miserably this time , watching dad lose it. She approached him and quickly started massaging his back to calm down his nerves. " He wants me to stop and if I don't then , you-" I was quick to cut him off this time.

" No dad. I won't be his target and you won't stop. I want you to find him out and let the law punish him. My brother , your son , so many innocents need the justice they deserve. " It would be an understatement if I said that I wasn't scared.

I was afraid to the point where it felt my body would go numb from the strain of panic which took over me. But that wouldn't lead to the point where I would ask my father to not do the right thing . After what happened to my brother with a threatening note left , none showed the full will to work on this case anymore. To the public , the search never stopped but from within , practically everyone gave up from the fear of risking their loved ones.

We shifted for a new start but never did a day pass where my father didn't feel the guilt of giving up so easily. He was broken and it took him time to gather up the courage to come back and restart the search . And watching him not give up , many more officers showed their courage to be his partner as well.

He was a man who stuck to his profession, loved it but at the same time , he couldn't hide the fatherly instinct or caring about his family. The fear of losing me or my mother was scaring him again. And if he stepped back then the monster would win again. That was the least I wanted , so putting a cover on my wailing fears , I decided to cheer up my father.

Although my words didn't remove his concern towards me , which would never be possible , they were able to get a grip on him. "But what if he tries to hurt you ? He already knows about your whereabouts. Anything can happen." " Nothing will happen dad. I promise I'll take care of myself. " This time I knelt down and hugged my father to reassure him. My mother joined the hug as well, turning it into a little family moment.

Next day

Taehyung's POV

When finally my senses hit me , the unbearable pain brought me back from the pool of darkness. It wasn't pleasant to be up and got hit by a sense of nausea. It was hard to bring myself up on my feet but once I did , although staggering, I quickly made my way to the washroom before letting out the bile which rose up to my throat. My throat burned after I threw up and that's when the piercing headache hit.

I regretted looking up at the mirror only to find an ugly cut up on my forehead around which blood was clotted . My forehead had a visible bump with purplish bruise taking over besides the already ungodly scene of blood. It ached like heck when the wound came in contact with the antiseptic which was used to clean the cut. Once I was done with that , the first instinct of mine was to grab my phone and walk out of the house ignoring my wrecking body.

I wasn't aware if my father was there or not but the last thing I wanted was to come face to face with him. My ideas to imagine would never reach to what extent he could go by having the sight of me. Being scared would be an understatement to define what I was feeling. I was terrified of what he could do to me. After walking quite a distance away from my house , I turned out my phone only to realise it was just six in the morning.

Having nowhere to go I had only one option left. I quickly dialed the number and waited for the person on the other side to pick up the call. On the first try none picked up but on the second try after the third ring , a sleepy voice answered. I sighed in relief although feeling a bit guilty for disturbing someone's precious sleep.

"Who the heck calls at this ungodly hour to wish good morning, bro ?" His sleep filled voice sounded deeper than usual and although I was regretting big time , still Jimin was my only choice right then. "Jimin , can I come over… please ?" My serious tone gained some shuffling sound from the other side of the call before he spoke again.

"Yeah sure but Taehyung, are you alright?" He was concerned and it showed too well with the change in his tone. I sighed before nodding my head in a denial although he could not see. " I'm not… I'll tell you about it once I get there."

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