Forever By Your Side

17. Work from home

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUNGKOOKIE! AIGOOOOOOO, OUR JUNGKOOKIE!!" Jimin and Hoseok yelled as they entered Jungkook's flat an hour before their work started, and engulfed the birthday 'man' into a giant hug. 

"Thank you, thank you" Jungkook said, grinning widely and getting out of the hug. 

"You still didn't shower, did you?" Hoseok asked as Jungkook closed the door. "Nah! Gotta go now. I'll be right back" he replied. "Open the door for Taehyung" he hollered from inside. "Okaiie" Jimin hollered back as he plopped onto the couch and opened his laptop. 

 "When's Tae gonna come?" he asked. Hoseok was just about to say 'I dunno' when they heard a knock on the door. "Now" Hoseok said as he got up to open the door for Taehyung. 

"Good morning, Hoseok-ssi! Good morning, Jimin-ssi!" Taehyung bowed to them and settled on the couch. "Tae seriously, man! It's gonna be two months soon! Are you still not gonna drop the honorifics? Why are you being so stubborn?" Jimin asked. 

"Where is Jungkook-ssi?" Taehyung asked, completely ignoring the question and avoiding the topic. "He is taking a shower" Jimin said and sighed. 

"Happy Birthday, Jungkook-ssi!" Taehyung wished Jungkook the second he walked into the living room. "Thank you" Jungkook said. 

Taehyung got up and gave him a very small and awkward hug before sitting back and opening his laptop. Even though it wasn't exactly a big thing, it was too much for Jungkook. 

"I'll be right back" he said and ran back inside before the others could spot his rapidly reddening face. He couldn't stop smiling. 

That was literally the first act of intimacy that was initiated by Taehyung himself. Taehyung never even let anyone hold his hand. Let alone hug him. 

After spending a couple of minutes in his room, screaming internally because of his crush, he walked out and offered them snacks. They spent a few minutes discussing about their evening activities for which Taehyung wouldn't be present and then logged in for work. 

"Aigoooo! This is too frustrating! What's with everyone? I literally had no second! I couldn't even breathe! Why is everything getting transferred to me?" Jimin asked during their break, frustrated about getting too many calls than he actually should. 

"Transfer a few of them to me, Jimin-ssi" Taehyung said. Jimin was just about to reply when he got another call. 

"Ahh, yes, sir. You need to go to your Settings, that's right....and then go for Storage.....yeah...." Jimin explained to the customer, who had a problem clearing his cache. 

Jimin gestured to Taehyung, asking him to accept a call. He transferred the call to Taehyung and continued explaining to his customer. They spent the whole afternoon sharing and transferring all the calls to each other. 

"Tae! I'm sorry, but can you take this call? I still didn't enter the last customer details!" Jungkook asked. "Yeah, sure" Taehyung said and accepted the call. 

"Good afternoon, this is Samsung Customer Care. How may I help you?" Taehyung asked. "I bought a camera yesterday, but it isn't even switching on. I tried changing the batteries, but nothing works" the customer complained. 

"I am sorry to know that,sir. We will immediately look into that matter. May I know your name, please?" Taehyung asked. 

"Shin Seokjin" the customer said.

Taehyung gasped and froze. "Hello? Hello!..... Hello?....... Hello!!!......Nasty connection....." the customer hung up due to lack of response. "Taehyung, are you okay?" Jimin asked. He was the one who was sitting nearest to Taehyung and he was also the one who heard him gasp. 

"Taehyung?......Tae! Is something wrong?" Jimin asked again. "Tae!" he yelled when he realized that Taehyung's laptop was slipping from his lap. 

He reached out and caught it before it fell, and kept it aside. "What's wrong?" Jungkook and Hoseok asked, halting their works and putting their laptops aside. 

"Hey! Taehyung!" Jungkook called out, shaking his shoulder to get him to snap out of whatever trance he was in.

But it was too late. He was already triggered. 

Taehyung stayed unresponsive as memories flashed his mind, attacking him one by one. 

..........flashes of blood..... 

..........pocket knives...... 

.........men in black....... 

.........guns........ 

.........blood......... 

.........bare chests.......... 

.........screaming........

.........orange drawing pins.........