The Quiet Boy

Chapter 11

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Taehyung had told Jeongguk everything that was going on. Well, almost everything.

He told him how his bullies would beat him whenever he was by himself or after school and how they always went overboard. He told him how they beat him until he passed out or stopped just before he did. How he couldn't sleep cause of the pain, that probably being the cause for him to fall often and how he was so tired that he didn't feel hungry or didn't notice he was.

He didn't mention anything about his father and what he'd do when his bullies caused him to miss his classes or stay out late.

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For three weeks Taehyung hadn't seen those three boys and continued to not see them. He wasn't sure where they were or what happened to them but whatever Jeongguk did to get rid of them he didn't care. He was grateful for it.

He was finally able to get some sleep and he didn't have to worry about his father getting mad anymore. He felt so relieved.

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Taehyung sat at the lunch table listening to three different conversations that soon turned into one. It was like this every day for lunch. It seemed like they would never run out of thing to talk about, even if the conversation didn't make sense. He liked it.

It would start off with two of them talking about one thing, another two talking about something else and the other two talking about another thing. Someone from a different conversation would overhear something and jump into the conversation. The person they were talking to would follow as they would become curious.

They would jump in and out of different conversations until it just became one big bundle of randomness.

Soon that randomness would turn into small bickering of something useless but Taehyung didn't mind. It always entertained him while he ate.

"Okay, first of all," Jeongguk started. "It wasn't even me. It's was Hoseok."

"Me?!" he shouted back. "Don't you even dare! Trying to pin that on me."

"Don't try to hide what you did." Jimin laughed.

"It wasn't me. I swear."

"That's what they all say," Jin said.

"Fine!" he lightly hit the table. "You want me to make a mess with food? I will." he quickly grabbed some of his noodles and threw it randomly at one of them.

The table fell silent when the noodles had hit Yoongi in the face getting sauce everywhere. Everyone stared in shock.

The silence was broken by someone laughing. They all turned in the direction where the laughing was coming from and was completely astonished. No one ever thought that they would finally hear him laugh or even see him smile. This was the first ever time they had seen him like this.

His cheeks were a bright shade of red and tears formed in the corner of his eyes from laughing so hard. One arm gripped his stomach as the other covered his mouth to quiet his laughing at least a small bit.

"I'm sorry for laughing at you, Yoongi," Taehyung said in his usual quiet voice but the large smile remained in his face.

The others had never heard him talk so this making it their first time ever not having Jeongguk tell them what he said. He sounded so delicate and fragile, just like how he looked but just hearing him was amazing. Smiles formed on their lips.

"Amazing!" Jimin shouted and tightly hugged Taehyung. "Your smile is adorable!"

"We finally got to hear you talk." Namjoon smiled.

"You even said my name," Yoongi said as he cleaned himself. He had a large smile on his face when he looked at Taehyung.

Everyone could tell that from that smile Yoongi now had a soft spot for the quiet boy.

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From that day on Taehyung had seemed to be a bit happier. He still didn't talk loud but he did talk a lot more than before and he seemed to smile more often and laugh every now and then.

It was great seeing that considering he never did before. It was as if he was a whole new person almost. He was still that shy boy that Jeongguk had first met and he was still insecure but he was happier and that made Jeongguk happy.

But Taehyung had days where be didn't look too happy. He would stop talking and smiling and laugh altogether. Those days happened a bit often. The boys would try to make him feel better sometimes it worked and other times not so much.

Jeongguk was pretty sure the talking that people did got to him. He told him to ignore them but knowing how Taehyung is, he knows how hard it is for him. He's sensitive and already has wounds and that can be hard for someone like him to just toss those hurtful things over his shoulder when he hears them all day long at school.

Jeongguk just hopes that one-day Taehyung will be able to be confident about himself and be able to ignore them. A day where he can stop caring about what people think about him. A day where he smiles no matter what people say to try and put him down. That is a day that Jeongguk will always be looking forward to.

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"Taehyung," Hoseok called.

The said boy turned his attention to the other.

"You should come to hang out with us after school," he said with a smile.

"I won't be able to stay long cause I have to be home before my father."

"It's okay. We don't mind. Just let us know and one of us will drop you off."

Taehyung nodded. Just an hour or two should be fine. Just as long as he's home before his father gets back from work.

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School ended and the boys had got into two different cars.

Taehyung learned that one belonged to Yoongi and the other to Jin. The two gave the others rides to and from school but the day Jeongguk met him was the day Jin wasn't going to school so he couldn't give him or Jimin a ride. Once Jeongguk had met him he told Jin that he was just going to walk every day now because he was going to walk with a new friend that he had made and he wanted to keep him company when they went to school.

Hearing that made Taehyung's heart feel warm. Jeongguk didn't walk with him because he did that every day before meeting him, he walked with him because he didn't want him to be lonely.

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