sinner. kth x myg

4. damsel in distress

that night, taehyung went to the cafe again.

the sky was dark, and the streets were pitch black except for the soft lights of stores along the sidewalks. he was surprised to see that the cafe was still open so late at night.

he walked inside and found it empty except for namjoon and hoseok in the back by the coffee machine and yoongi right behind the counter. it was quiet and calm, something that taehyung needed when his mind was so busy. he went to order.

"hi."

"hey, what can i get you?"

yoongi's skin was paler than usual under the soft glow of the lights in the cafe. his green hair covered his eyes just a bit.

"can i have a small black coffee?"

"sure. anything else?"

taehyung hesitated. the pastries behind the glass looked amazing, but he could imagine the calories and sugar adding up just from looking at them.

"no thank you."

seeing where his gaze was, yoongi raised an eyebrow. "your total is 1.85," he said.

taehyung paid and then stood by as he waited for the coffee.

when the coffee was done, yoongi handed it to him, sleeves rolled up again. taehyung tried not to look, he really did, but he couldn't help it, glancing at the white, raised scars on yoongi's wrist. yoongi seemed to either not notice or pretend he didn't, smiling gently at the clearly exhausted boy in front of him. taehyung sat down at a table by the window in the corner of the cafe, taking small sips of the coffee as he looked outside at the empty streets. the silence in the cafe and distant conversations of the three others in it gave taehyung a strange and overwhelming sense of serenity.

he felt his cigarette still sitting in his pocket, weighing him down yet acting as closure of the tragedy that had struck his sixteen year old self. his eyes felt heavy too, mind sinking deeper and deeper into nothingness as exhaustion finally lured him into its grasp.

his eyes closed and he fell asleep.

* * *

taehyung woke up to someone gently shaking his shoulder.

"hey," yoongi said. "wake up. we need to close the cafe for the night now."

taehyung groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. "sorry, i didn't even realize how sleepy i was." he smiled and laughed lightly, standing up on shaky legs. he used the table to support himself, struggling because he was instantly dizzy the moment he stood.

"are you okay?" yoongi asked. "you look pale."

"yeah, i'm fine. it's just been a while since i ate." he laughed humorlessly, empty sounds leaving his lips. he started to walk towards the door but found himself stumbling right away; yoongi caught him a foot from the floor, concerned eyes raking over him. "yeah, sure you're just fine," he scoffed. "you obviously need something other than black coffee in your system before you pass out on the street."

taehyung pulled away from him, steadying himself with some difficulty. "i stood up a little too fast," he said. "i'm okay; don't worry about it. thank you for waking me up." he smiled. "i'll see you tomorrow."

he was about to leave the cafe when yoongi stopped him; taehyung tiredly faced the older boy, stumbling a bit before catching himself.