chapter twenty eight
unedited
at first, when taehyung made his way up the stairs, (frantically) jeongguk was frightened. he was frightened for all the right reasons. the police were just down the block. he remembered, on the way there, seeing a scary flashing of red and blue. jeongguk had never been in contact with the police himself, other than when taehyung trailed them to his apartment that one time. jeongguk could also feel the buzzing of his cell in his jean pocket. he guessed yugyeom was worried sick. jeongguk stared at his boyfriend, taehyung was pouring gasoline onto his bed.
"baby?" jeongguk smiled at the cute name. taehyung returned that smile. he dropped the gasoline container. it wobbled on descent and spilled out onto the carpet. taehyung didn't bother fixing it, since the whole room would be drenched in gasoline soon enough. taehyung neared jeongguk to cup his cold face in his warm-ish palms. "what are you thinking about?"
"nothing." jeongguk told him through a cough. taehyung smiled brightly, pulling him into the tightest hug imaginable. jeongguk gasped at the force, but eventually let himself mend into the warm, fuzzy feeling. god, he was so in love. it all had happened so fast, how did he fall so hard in such a small amount of time?
"are you scared?"
"y—eah."
"you know i love you, right?"
jeongguk nodded against taehyung's shoulder.
"and i'll protect you."
jeongguk felt his eyes water. he was such a fool! he fell in love with the troubled drug handler and now here he was, too scared to even think about letting him go. jeongguk leaned up to place an uncoordinated kiss on taehyung's lips. he missed, landing his lips contently on taehyung's chin instead. taehyung took the time to lean down and properly connect, of course.
when they pulled away, taehyung unwrapped himself from the boy and went right back to the gasoline. jeongguk, this time, went beside him to grab one of the other containers. together, they drenched everything in taehyung's room. then, they moved to the room beside his, which was the bathroom. since everything was pretty much tile, they didn't spend too long in that room. they moved onto taehyung's father's room. there they soaked the bed sheets, the carpet, the dresser, anything in sight.
they continued this with the entire house, and pretty soon, taehyung was pushing jeongguk out the back door and into the backyard. this left jeongguk alone while taehyung did the deed, he supposed. jeongguk made himself busy by picking at a few leaves of an overgrown hedge. he twisted the green leaves in his fingers before watching them fall to the ground. kind of like the house. it was built up one day, furnished and prospered the next. then the wash of drug users made it filthy, and now, it burned down.
"hey!" jeongguk almost screamed. well, he would if he could. he spun towards the harsh voice. was he not alone? were the police already here? would they arrest him? yet, as jeongguk took a closer look, squinting through the black night, he saw something much less threatening.
there, atop the creaky wooden fence, sat a pale boy. one leg was thrown over the top, and a hand gripped the wood right between his fingers to steady his balance. he dressed in all black, except his noticeable white shoes. this boy practically glared at jeongguk, eyes narrowed, like he was planning on hurting the boy.
"who are you?!"
then, taehyung emerged from the backdoor, and jeongguk could faintly see a spark of orange coming from inside the house. taehyung laughed like a maniac before pulling jeongguk into another hug.
"taehyung?" the boy on the fence called out.
taehyung squinted at the fence, taking a moment to register who was calling for him. after a while, he broke into laughter and smiles. he departed from jeongguk to go and engulf this boy into a hug.
"jeongguk! come here. come meet yoongi!" jeongguk didn't really think this was the best time to have introductions. especially since the house was now engulfed in vicious flames, screaming as they spread around the house like a contagious wildfire. nonetheless, jeongguk moved himself to the fence to investigate this "yoongi" person.
"so, you're his boyfriend?" yoongi asked jeongguk. jeongguk didn't bother speaking this time. he just nodded. taehyung then proceeded to go on a tangent about how lovely his boyfriend was. jeongguk was not even blushing, (like he usually would be) he couldn't stop staring at the flames that rose to the top floor now. he was baffled at how the boys near the fence didn't even seem to care. nor did they care when the sirens started to roar in the distance.
we should go. jeongguk signed, but taehyung didn't see it. he was too busy chatting and laughing. this made jeongguk mad. not too mad, since he couldn't stay mad at taehyung, but mad enough to tug at taehyung's shirt in his anger.
"what?"
"we shoul—d go." jeongguk coughed, meandering the fence and lifted himself at the corner where it was easier to climb. taehyung hurried to assist him. while yoongi just flipped onto the other side of the fence. once everyone was over the fence, yoongi gripped taehyung's hand, who held jeongguk's tightly. yoongi led them through a neighbor's yard and across a cracked road. jeongguk could see neighbors start to gather in front of taehyung's house. the police had arrived too.
without question, yoongi entered a house that looked as if it mirrored taehyung's. he guessed it was yoongi's house. jeongguk took a small look around, but there was not much to see. jeongguk decided to stare hollowly at a house plant. he knew this was it. he knew they would get caught. his fingerprints were everywhere in that house. jeongguk felt for his buzzing phone. he gripped his pant pocket tight. should he call yugyeom and get out of this, or go down with taehyung?
