Perpetual Rain ✓

Phonebooth

Forty-five minutes passed by in a perceptual state of depression, stress, and fear. Each minute felt like thirty, as if you had already spent an entire night on the floor of an old abandoned phone booth. Your body was curled up, and you were hugging your knees as you sat in the mess you had created, too afraid to leave the sanctuary you had claimed. You were freezing, but your mind focused on anything but the cold, though that didn't stop your body from rattling as your nerves tried desperately to keep your body heat afloat.

What was happening to you? Time was skipping, you were losing days and forgetting things entirely. How many times had this happened now? How many times had it happened that you hadn't even been aware of? What all have you forgotten and why were you forgetting it?

You pulled your knees closer to your body, squeezing them toward yourself so tightly your knuckles turned white. Your head was buried into the crook between your chest and legs, hiding from sight as you tried to just disappear, vanish from sight and mind. You were confused beyond belief, and one of the things you hated most was not understanding - more so when it came to matters involving yourself. Were you losing your sanity? How else would someone explain lapses in time and the lack of knowledge on how they arrived somewhere. Sadly, at the age of eighteen, you weren't old enough to claim Alzheimer's.

"Y/N!" Your head shot up, quickly looking around at the sound of your name. "Y/N!" The voice called out once more.

"Taehyung!" You yelled from inside the booth. Quickly, you tried to scramble to your feet, slipping on the slick aluminum flooring before finally finding your balance. 

"Y/N!?" His voice called your name one last time before the door to the booth was yanked open, showcasing a wet and visibly exhausted Taehyung standing in the doorway. His hair was frizzed and displaced, his lips parted as he gasped for breath. It was clear he was frantic, likely you weren't the easiest to find.

"Taehyung..." You said, wanting desperately to sound excited and strong but your voice betrayed you. Teeth gritting, you clenched your jaw, forcing everything in you to prevent yourself from crying but it was no use...

He lunged forward without a second to spare, his long arms that held more strength than you had previously realized wrapped around your shoulders and yanked you toward him in that cramped phone booth. Your face buried into his chest, his comforting scent of pine and floral aroma meeting your nose, though through your sniffles you could barely even pick up the scent of his cologne. You took fistfuls of his thick grey turtle neck sweater, your face buried deep in the plush fabric and to your distaste, tears began to shred and spill onto that cashmere fabric.

"It's okay, Y/N... I'm here now..." He whispered. You felt his hands press at your back, pulling you close and holding you tightly as he stroked at your spine. He didn't try and stop your tears, he didn't appear to judge you for them either. He just held you in his embrace and let your emotions flow freely.

Though, you couldn't help but feel pathetic in the afterthought for being so visibly vulnerable to someone who didn't know you that well, or even at all. But his comfort shattered your reserve at that moment, and you found yourself powerless to hold back.

"What's happening to me, Taehyung?" You sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm so scared!" Crying, you released his sweater and wrapped your arms around his torso and let yourself press into him. His warmth radiating to your body and was slowly starting to regulate your heart rate.

"I don't know, Y/N..." He whispered, his head tilting to the side as he pressed his cheek against the top of your head. He nuzzled you softly. "I wish I had the answers to give you." His grip on you tightened as he kept his arms high, enveloping your shoulders.

Your tears were anything but silent as you gasped for breath, trying to get the relentless sobbing to stop but it was uncontrollable.

"I'm here now, you don't have to be afraid." He whispered, one of his large hands finding its way to your matted and still damp locks as he stroked your dark brown hair softly. "I've got you..." He was trying so hard to help you, though he couldn't offer you the answers you sought. Though, even just this little bit, the fact that he traveled an hour's distance and had gotten there in just forty-five minutes for a girl he had only spent a few days with meant more than he likely realized.

Your head nodded against his chest, sniffling your nose as you were slowly starting to slow down your tears. The warmth of his body was bringing you slowly back to life. It took a while, a good ten minutes or more, before you had finally forced the tears to halt.

"We should really try and get you into a change of clothes, Y/N. You're soaked to the bone." Taehyung suggested, finally breaking the silence as his hand moved back to your back, patting at it softly trying to judge if you were ready or not.

"Y-Yeah..." You coughed, trying to clear the lump you could feel lodged in your throat from your tears. Unwrapping your arms you gently pulled yourself back. You could see the result of your outburst, his tear-stained sweater that you knew was entirely your fault. You'd have to offer to pay for his dry cleaning later. You took a step back into the booth and brought the inside of your wrist to your eyes, trying to wipe away the remainder of your cheeks clean.

He gave you a minute to collect yourself before you felt him drape his long snow-white trench coat over your shoulders. You didn't protest this time, you were freezing and you didn't have the energy to argue, not in this state. Plus, he was wearing a plush grey sweater just under that so you didn't fear him getting too cold.

He snaked one arm around your shoulder, softly nudging you toward the booth's door as he urged you to come with him, back into the unknown city you had ended up in. At this point, blindly following him seemed like a better idea than leaving you to your own devices. You very well could blink and suddenly be in another new town two weeks from now and that scared the hell out of you. You stepped from the booth, blasted with the harsh wind as it instantly chilled your hair, making it feel as though it would freeze against your skull.

Being thrust back into the world, you didn't feel ready for it. Curling into Taehyung's side you kept your head low and eyes down, letting him guide you to where ever it was he deemed fit, knowing it was better than allowing your sanity to control a thing in your mindset.