"You piece of shit!"
He looks down at his son with disgust, the bruising of his knuckles matching the one's on the young boys cheek. The physical pain was nothing compared to the depression that harbored itself deep inside Taehyung's heart.
"She's gone because of you!"
"If only that condom didn't fucking break, if only she didn't give birth to such a fuck up like you!"
Another punch, this time in the stomach.
The hits came one at a time, and then all at once. Taehyung lost count after the first few. He didn't look at his father the whole time. His gasp was quiet when his father reached inside his pants and groped him roughly.
"Enjoy this while you can kid, cause no one is ever going to want to be with a waste of space like you."
Taehyung never cried. He never let out a single sob when his father hit him. When he touched him.
He didn't shed a single tear when he died, either.
___
The rain pattered on the pavement at a soft pace. Lights flashed from passing cars and street lights at the late time of night. Taehyung walked down the sidewalk with his hood pulled over his head, watching his each and every step.
He'd been walking for about an hour, and was as good as soaking wet, for he didn't think of bringing an umbrella. Once he had woken up from his nightmare, he had immediately slipped on his shoes and jacket and went for a walk. He checked his phone for the time. 1:17 a.m. November 30th.
Taehyung hated today.
Every year it was the same. He always had the same nightmare, worse than any of the others that he had. You would think a six year old wouldn't have such a vivid memory; but it was hard to forget a man like Taehyung's dad.
Sometimes he felt guilty for his dad's death. His mom left him after he found out she had an affair with another man. Out of haste, his mother left him with his father, and so his dad took his anger out on him.
It didn't help that Taehyung's grades were slipping and he had become a bully target at school. His father would receive calls from his school about him getting into fights, and he would take him home and beat him up some more. It was a never ending cycle-- until it ended.
Taehyung smiles bitterly and exhales, watching the frigid air slip past his lips. He didn't know how to feel when he found his dad alone on his bed with an empty bottle of pills in his hand. He felt nothing when he found no pulse.
It did hurt to not have a dad in his life. Of course, his mother came back for him and she was great and everything-- but all in all he felt empty. Knowing that he could've had a dad if he hadn't been such a fuck up always weighed down on his shoulders.
It was his death anniversary, and Taehyung felt nothing but emptiness.
The flowers he planned to place on his fathers crematory box were wilting due to the harsh weather and were crunched in the wrapping in his hand. His feet came to a stop right next to a bus stop. He looks up at his reflection of the bench cubicle and clenches his fists.
"Get out of my head!"
Taehyung shouts this at the top of his lungs, and throws the flowers at his reflection. He stomps on them when the splash on the wet pavement.
"Just stay dead, you asshole. I'm glad you're dead. I don't need you. Get out of my head!" His voice cracks on his last word and he stops stomping. Taking a deep breath, he kicks the tarnished bouquet a few feet away from him and enters the cubicle.
Taehyung sits down on the bench and hangs his head in his hands. A light drizzle of rain dripped on his shoulder, the cubicle roof only covering half his body. He ignores it and closes his eyes in attempt to block out the world.
When the drizzling stops, Taehyung opens his eyes. He lifts up his head and looks up slowly. A black umbrella hovered a few inches above him, and Taehyung examines the owner of the extended hand.
It was a boy with black hair matted on his pale forehead, his eyes staring up at the dark sky. His lips were curled into a small smile, but his posture was one of defeat. All the while, he held the umbrella over Taehyung's head, not taking it back to cover his own self that was exposed to the rain as well.
"I love this weather." Jungkook mutters, gazing at Taehyung from the corner of his eye. Taehyung stared at him in shock. What was the new kid doing here?
"I hate it." Taehyung says shortly and grabs the handle of the umbrella. "Take this back. I don't want it."
He tries pushing the umbrella back to Jungkook, but the smiling boy doesn't budge. The new kid dips his head and a quiet laugh escapes his mouth.
"What's so fun--"
"So you have daddy issues." Jungkook states out of the blue, and Taehyung turns all the way to look at him. He opens his mouth to argue, but forgets what he wants to say when Jungkook makes eye contact with him.
"I guess I do too." Jungkook says, and Taehyung blinks. What did he mean by that?
Jungkook grabs Taehyung's hand and places it on the umbrella handle. He gives his hand a final squeeze before standing up and peering down at him.
"Sometimes it's good to share your pain with others." He starts to walk away, and Taehyung grabs onto his wrist. Jungkook looks back and the other boy tries to give his umbrella back again, but Jungkook shakes his head.
"You need it more than I do." He gazes up at the sky and grins. "I love this weather anyways."
And so the boy walked off in the rain, head tilted upward as he became soaked. His smile never faded. He was a ray of sunshine in a world of agony.
Taehyung smiled softly. It was one of the things he liked about him. It was a part of him that he was bound to destroy.
_________
*sings rihanna
