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June 17, 2019. Taehyung's new apartment. One year after Seokjin's death.
_________
[TAEHYUNG is sitting in his living room, an old cassette player sitting on the coffee table and a set of headphones over his head. A stack of cassette tapes are placed next to him and beside them, a box labeled TAEIL. TAEHYUNGleans over and anxiously presses the play button and immediately, static comes through the headphones. The sound of someone adjusting a mic sounds before it stops completely]
TAEHYUNG: What? Did this thing fucking break again? [He beats on the cassette player in an attempt to get it working once more]
VOICE 1: [muffled] Taehyung-ah...how are you?
[TAEHYUNG stops moving]
VOICE 1: You missed hyung, huh? Well, I missed you too
[a snicker can be heard in the background of the tape, and shortly after, a loud bang]
VOICE 2: Ow, you fucker!
VOICE 1: Stop laughing at me, Seokjin! It's really not funny.
SEOKJIN: You've recorded that same sentence 10 times now! [He laughs, before continuing] Just say what you need to say for fucks sake! [He laughs again]
VOICE 1: Fine, fine!
[A sigh emits through Taehyung's headphones and his eyes become glossy at the sound of his bestfriend's voice. Any minute now and he'll be crying]
VOICE 1: Taehyung-ah, it's your hyung, Taeil.
[TAEIL laughs, TAEHYUNG sobs]
TAEIL: I wish you were here. Even though we're barely thirty minutes from each other, we never have time to see each other anymore. I miss you, little brother. [sniffles]
SEOKJIN: Are you actually crying?
TAEIL: Fuck off, Hyung![sniffles continued] Anyway, I'm making this tape because our teacher wanted us to create a mixtape for the person that means the most to us...[TAEIL clears his throat] And the only person I could think of was you...
[SEOKJIN snores dramatically in the background and TAEIL simply chuckles.]
TAEIL: I love you Taehyung-ah. And I really hope you like your gift. Stay safe and always be kind.
[Static sound through the headphone again]
TAEIL: Oh yeah! The mixtape's called side b, by the way. Not very creative, but it's yours. Bye again.
