Unlawfully His

Chapter 6 - The Solution

No one's POV:

Within the next few days, Taehyung's resolve had crumbled like a building on fire. Not only had he collapsed in utter despair when his rent for the last month came in, Taehyung also felt like his heart had caught on fire and scattered all of its pieces within the next five hundred meter radius.

Everything was piling up, and there seemed like no end to the constant flow of bills. Every time a new payment notice was given to Taehyung, the worse he felt.

Eventually, it became far too much and so Taehyung gave in. He was about to do something that could end with him in prison and although he was dreading it, Taehyung knew that this was better than ending up homeless or potentially dying due to an extreme case of hypoglycemia.

And so, Taehyung was now in the place he promised he wouldn't go to in order to see a person that he promised himself he wouldn't involve in his issues.

Jimin has always been a good friend but Taehyung was more than sure this would be far too much to ask of the man. He could lose his job and be dishonourably discharged from the army if caught.

Marrying someone purely for the purpose of financial gain and cheating the government out of money is a federal offence and Jimin would be more than aware of that.

However, right now Taehyung was desperate and he wanted to know that he had exhausted every possible option before just giving up. The brunet didn't want to drag Jimin into this but he at least needed to give it a go.

With a heavy heart, Taehyung made his way up the driveway of Jimin's home. He passed an American flag on the way as well as various good luck banners for Jimin because of his next deployment. The patriotic flag only made Taehyung feel more ashamed about what he was going to ask of his best friend.

By no means did Taehyung expect Jimin to agree to this and he wouldn't be surprised if he said no. Taehyung promised to himself that he wouldn't get offended and would take it on the chin.

But this really was Taehyung's only solution to the crippling debt; he didn't know where to go from here if this didn't work out.

So, with a heavy heart, Taehyung lifted his hand up to the door bell and pressed down on the circular button. In his head, Taehyung was mentally preparing his 'thank you speech' and also his 'don't worry, it was a stupid idea anyway speech'.

However, all thoughts were out on hold when another man, that wasn't Jimin, opened the door. The familiar dark eyes, raven hair and muscular build of Jeongguk came into view.

"You're not Jimin," Taehyung blurted out, somewhat annoyed with seeing Jeongguk again after their last meeting didn't go so well.

"Keenly observed. No, I am not," Jeongguk replied back with a smug, shit eating grin that made his cheeks puff out and his eyes smaller.

The raven head still moved to the side with a welcoming hand gesture as Taehyung brushed passed him and stepped into Jimin's house.

"Oh hey Taehyung!" Jimin's cheery voice chirped when he noticed Taehyung's presence. The male walked up to Taehyung and wrapped his arms around the smaller in a bone crushing hug.

"It feels like I haven't seen you for ages Teeny," Jimin stated as he pulled away from the hug. Taehyung smiled warmly and whispered "Back at you Tiny,"

Jeongguk stood awkwardly a few steps away, inwardly smiling at the friendly scene. The marine didn't really know how to greet Taehyung or where to go so he opted for awkwardly standing next to the pair of best friends.

Taehyung gave Jeongguk a once-over before he met eyes with the ravenet "Do you mind giving us some privacy for a minute,"

What Taehyung said most definitely wasn't a question, it was an order and Jeongguk laughed slightly, small dimples appearing at the corner of his mouth before replying "Sure thing feisty,"

Taehyung watched on as Jeongguk made his way into the living room and turned on the TV, flicking over to the sports channel to watch the latest Rugby match.

Once Taehyung was sure Jeongguk was out of earshot, he followed Jimin through to the open plan kitchen, his heart still feeling ashamed for what he was about to ask.

"Nice banners by the way," Taehyung commented, trying to distract himself from the overwhelming guilt building up inside of himself.

"Yeah, mum went a bit crazy this year but you know what she's like. It's because leave is over, we are going back to base camp today and she wants to give us all a big send-off," Jimin explained as he justified the obscene amount of red, white and blue streamers and banners hanging up all around the house.

"So what did you need?" Jimin questioned as he leaned over the kitchen island and stared over at Taehyung.

"It's uh- it's going to sound a little crazy. . ." Taehyung began as he scratched his arm slightly with his hand.

"Lay it on me,"

"I was hoping that uh- you would marry me?" Taehyung began as he chuckled slightly. Jimin couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion as he tried not fall off of the kitchen counter.

This had come from absolutely nowhere and never in a million years did Jimin ever think Taehyung would ask him such a thing. The marine hadn't even mentally prepared this scenario in his head but the look on Taehyung's face quickly took away Jimin's smile.

"You're serious?" The male asked, extremely confused, the laughter draining from his eyes.

"Yup. It's uh- it's actually quite a long story. So um. . . Six months ago I was diagnosed with diabetes- type one and get this, my insurance doesn't cover the amount of insulin I need to like- live. So I can either pay off my debt or I can clear my rent but I can't do both." Taehyung explained as he tried not to let the emotion seep too much into his voice.

"Your friend gave me the idea and it turns out that marine spouses get full health insurance covered as well as things like separation pay, which add up to be pretty decent. We could split it down the middle and end up doing quite well. So what do you think?" Taehyung continued.

"Look, I-" Jimin began but he was cut off by a worried Jeongguk entering the room.

"I'm sorry. My dad's a retired MP and-" Jeongguk started by quickly interjecting whatever Jimin was about to say in response.

"Private discussion Jeongguk," The brunet said as he rolled his eyes at Jeongguk's outspokenness.

"MP means military police." Jimin explained as Taehyung looked slightly confused before he jestured for Jeongguk to carry on with that he was saying.

"Look, these things are easy to mess up. If they find out then it's fraud and there could be serious consequences for the both of you. Especially you Jimin I mean come on, you're better than this," Jeongguk spoke as he tried not to raise his voice.

"Okay who asked you?" Taehyung cut in as he stood up to Jeongguk and glared up at him.

"I'm just trying to help, I don't want to see you guys in prison- or worse," Jeongguk replied and with that, he stormed back into the living room to continue watching his game of rugby.

"Look I'm sorry Tae but I don't think I can, besides my boyfriend probably wouldn't appreciate me having a husband. It's too much of a risk for me," Jimin said solemnly as he walked round to where Taehyung was standing.

"Yeah I know, I'm sorry, I was just having a crazy moment. I'll um- I'll get going," Taehyung stated as he gathered his things together.

"Tae you know if I had the money then I would-" Jimin began but he was quickly cut off by Taehyung dismissively.

"I'll figure it out by myself. I always do," Taehyung spoke again as Jimin looked on with sad, pitiful eyes.

Then with that, Taehyung headed for the door after thanking Jimin. The brunet felt the tears brewing up and he didn't notice the way Jeongguk's stared on sympathetically through the ajar door of the living room.

Taehyung exited Jimin's house feeling utterly detected and hopeless.

He didn't know what to do anymore and it has all caught up.

The tears flowed down Taehyung's slightly puffy face as he made his way to his car and they showed absolutely no sign of stopping.

Life wasn't going Taehyung's way but then again, when had it ever?