The Quiet Boy

Chapter 4

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Three weeks had gone by and Jeongguk had kept talking to Taehyung. He would have a conversation with him even though the thin male never really said anything.

Taehyung wasn't sure how he felt about Jeongguk. He wanted him to leave him alone cause he still didn't trust him but at the same time he wanted him to keep talking to him because he didn't feel as lonely when he was there. He was confused.

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"You don't get much sleep, in general, do you?" Jeongguk ask.

Taehyung shook his head in reply.

"Why is that?"

The other didn't give a shake, nod or shrug in reply. Instead, he stared down at his feet as they walked towards Seijin. He doesn't need to answer his question.

"Taehyung?"

"Why?"

Jeongguk was a bit surprised to hear Taehyung talk as he hadn't said anything to him in the last week and a half. He had only replied with three simple movements. He couldn't help but wonder about the other.

There was so much he didn't know about him. He'd ask him questions he'd answer with movements or nothing at all.

He had only heard him talk at least three times this making it the fourth time. He doesn't even know what his voice actually sounds like considering he talks so quietly. His voice comes off so quiet that if you were to turn away from him, you could miss what he's saying or wouldn't know he said anything at all. So Jeongguk chose to put all his attention on him when they walked because he felt that he had made a small amount of progress, in trying to be friends, when Taehyung said something.

"Why?" Jeongguk repeated back, confused.

"Why do you keep talking to me?" he continued to stare at his feet, his hands gripping the sweater that laid flat against his chest. "Why are you being nice to me? Why-" his voice began to crack as he felt tears rapidly filling his eyes. "Why...Why are you even near me?"

He felt the tears roll down his cheeks. He doesn't want to give the other his trust only to have it broken and tossed away. After everything he's been through, how would he be able to handle thinking he finally had a friend, his first ever friend, only to find out he was just toying with him and was to throw him away like trash.

"Please," he said through soft cries as he stopped walking. "If you're just trying to mess with me, just end it quickly." he used the sweater sleeve to wipe his tears, even though it was no use as more tears came down to replace the ones before. "Please don't hurt me, too."

Jeongguk was shocked to hear those words leave his mouth.

"What are you talking about?" he tried to get closer to the crying male but he moved away.

"No, just please," he begged through his tears.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." he stepped closer to Taehyung. "Please stop crying." he pulled up the hood over Taehyung's head so that whoever walked by wouldn't see that he was crying. One small thing that he learned about Taehyung, was that he's very sensitive about what others think. "Why would you think I would want to hurt you?"

Taehyung shook his head in reply, not wanting to answer the question, and used the sweater sleeves to wipe away the tears that remained on his cheeks.

"Taehyung." Jeongguk lightly called.

Taehyung had made the mistake of looking up at him. He had done a good job at keeping Jeongguk from seeing his face. Whenever the other male was around he kept his head low to hide the cuts and bruises on his face. The only time he was okay with looking at the other was during the early Monday morning for the injuries healed over the weekend but of course, they weren't fully healed. They were just light enough to go unnoticed.

Taehyung realized what he did and quickly looked down hoping that maybe the other didn't notice anything but of course nothing ever goes his way.

"Taehyung, let me see your face."

The other male shook his head and covered his face with his hands. He tried to walk away from Jeongguk but he had grabbed his arm.

"Taehyung, pl-"

"I-it's nothing," he said looking away from the worried male.

"It didn't look like nothing," Jeongguk said in a worried like tone of voice. "And if it was, why are you hiding your face?"

Taehyung knew he wasn't going to win but that didn't mean he wanted the other to see his disgusting face and why does he care anyway? He hasn't even known him that long to care. So, why?

"Why do you care?"

"Because we're friends and that's what friends do. They care for each other. You should know this."

Taehyung froze. He was beyond shocked. Friends? Is he really going to have a friend for the first time?

"I-" he bit his lip. He didn't know what to say. Should he trust him now? He won't lie to him, right? He's actually going to be his friend, right? "Please don't lie to me," he said. "Don't lie about being my friend." I never had any and I'm being hurt enough. He continued in his head.

"Why would I lie about something like that?" Jeongguk questioned. "I would never. It's wrong."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Taehyung had officially put his trust into Jeongguk's hands. Trust is always and will forever be something that's hard to give others and now Taehyung has given it to someone. For the first time in 16 years, he trusted someone.

He took a big breath and lifted his head.

Jeongguk looked at Taehyung's face in shock. He had so many cuts and bruises. The bruises were so dark it scared him. Some seemed old, others a bit recently and the rest..........way to recent. And the cuts, there was just so many of them. Having that many cuts and bruises on Taehyung's face made him question himself. If he has that many on his face then,

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what does the rest of his body look like?

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