Bargain (Not Met) (JungHope)

Deal with a Manager: Examined

Taehyung's situation went a little like this: his friend, whom he was unable to remember the name of ("How do you forget your own friend's name?" Jimin had questioned incredulously.) had been missing for nearly six years. It wasn't an ordinary disappearance case; all evidence of his (the gender Taehyung remembered, thankfully) mere existence had been almost completely wiped out.

It was gradual at first. First, faint acquaintances or long-distance relatives would forget having ever interacted with him. Not even mentioning his name to them, which was lost to time by now, would spark the memories they shared with him. And then it was close friends forgetting the countless hours they had spent with him while investing their time in their mutual love for music. Lastly, his own family was no longer able to recognize his face and threw out his personal belongings, treating them as though they were foreign objects they had never seen before.

"When I realized I wasn't able to put a name to the face I now no longer remember," Taehyung had said after explaining the unfortunate tale, "I...panicked. I still don't really know my relationship with the guy--hell, I don't really know anything about him anymore besides notes I'd written down while he was still around. But whenever I think of him, I feel...an ache? In my heart, I mean."

His explanation was vague and ramble-y and all sorts of confused, but Hoseok was able to understand precisely what he was experiencing.

"It's grief," he said, voice soft and mourning. "You're grieving for your friend, Taehyung-ah."

Taehyung lifted his gaze from the table they sat at, having allowed it to lower further and further away from Hoseok's stare as he told his tale. His eyes shone with something fiery and bold; something that was most definitely not grief.

"I'm not grieving," he said, voice sure and stern. "I know I'm not. What I'm feeling is...gah, I don't even know anymore."

Hoseok could tell that the subject was tearing Taehyung apart at the seams, so he gave it a rest before continuing on with what they were actually there to discuss.

"So, this research..."

Taehyung's entire demeanor changed upon Hoseok's topic switch; he straightened his posture so that he was able to level his gaze with Hoseok's directly and closed off any sort of emotion that had been dancing around in his eyes.

"Right."

And then he pulled out a stack of books from the bag he had brought with him alongside some old newspaper articles. They all showcased titles that went along the lines of "supernatural happening" or "unnatural events," which struck Hoseok as odd.

"We're doing research on...the supernatural?" Hoseok implored, tone revealing just how baffled he felt from the sudden shift in tone.

Taehyung nodded in confirmation.

"And this relates to your friend's disappearance...how?"

"Did anything I just told you seem normal?" Taehyung challenged rather than approach Hoseok's question head-on.

Hoseok faltered as he thought over the specific details of the story.

It definitely wasn't normal, per se. In fact, the entire situation was downright impossible. No matter how healthy or terrible the guy's relations with his own family were, they wouldn't have been able to just...forget his existence.

But it gave way to a detail Hoseok had overlooked the first time while analyzing the tale.

"If his own family can't even remember he existed," Hoseok began, voice slow and muddled, "then how come you can?"

The question seemed to catch Taehyung off-guard; a brief flash of recognition flared alive in his previously dull eyes, but it was quickly stomped upon and dispersed just as soon as it had come.

"I don't know," he admitted solemnly. "I just. I remember so vividly that he was there--that he was real." His expression darkened. "There was a time where I had almost become like the rest of the people who used to know him; I had almost forgotten him."

Hoseok waited for Taehyung to continue, but realized that the manager was lost in whatever buried memories had arisen upon the mention of the unfortunate incident. So, he cleared his throat gently and said with a voice barely above a whisper, "How'd you manage to keep your memory of him, then?"

Taehyung's expression brightened immediately, and he gave Hoseok a wide grin before answering, "Well, I met you."

Hoseok jolted in his seat at the sudden confession and mentally cursed at himself when he felt his blood rushing into his cheeks.

"Dang, he has mad game," Jungkook whistled, causing Hoseok to startle even further because he had forgotten the demon was even there due to the fact that he had been silent since Taehyung's arrival. "I picked a pretty good guy for you, huh, hyung?"

Please shut up.

Hoseok chuckled nervously as he began to bounce his leg anxiously. "Wh-what do you mean by that, Taehyung-ah?"

Taehyung's grin widened upon Hoseok's flustered response, and he leaned over the surface of the table so that his face was directly in front of Hoseok's. Hoseok wilted underneath his piercing gaze and did his best to hold his eyes steady with Taehyung's, but he still ended up averting them after five seconds of intense eye contact.

"Wh-what?" Hoseok stuttered out, feeling as though he were boiling alive in his own skin by that point.

Taehyung's grin softened, and his expression ended up melting into something more...tender?

"You're adorable, Hoseokie," he sing-sang before falling back into his chair.

With his face aflame and ears picking up the faint, choked gasp that had escaped Jungkook, Hoseok mentally braced himself for the next two hours.

A/N - angsty backstory: gained.