TASTE | KTH

mourning

It's raining when Taehyung makes it out of the hospital. He remembers just a few hours ago when he looked up at the pensive storm clouds, unsure of whether to keep their tears at bay, or let them stain the sky. How relieved he had been then, that nature's representative of grief hadn't reared its ugly head. How clueless he was then. He didn't know how much could change in an hour. Now, the lightning splits the night sky into smithereens and thunder shakes Taehyung to his core, an unexplainable grief weighing down his heart.

What exactly Taehyung is mourning now, he doesn't know. Maybe it's the hope he had felt being crushed beneath the weight of Wonho's heavy hand against Yura's skin. Maybe it's the bitter truth that he could truly do nothing to help her, since she didn't seem to want it. Maybe it's the gut wrenching pain of heartbreak. Whatever he subconsciously grieves for, he feels it deeply and to the point that he can't quite decide if the sky is crying for him or with him.

"Nice to meet you." Wonho had said, holding out his hand for Taehyung to shake it. Taehyung had just stared at his hand with an uncontainable rage burning in the pit of his stomach. His blood was boiling, his jaw pulsing with raw anger. This man had hurt Yura with that hand, and now he wanted Taehyung to shake it?

"I have to go." Taehyung said, trying to keep the outrage from his voice, but it still waivered slightly. Yura had frowned as he got up and put on his coat, eyes asking him so many things: Why do you have to go? Where are you going? Why can't you stay a little longer? Why are you leaving me with him? But, out of all of her questions, she only voiced two.

"What about your soulmate? Aren't you gonna tell me how you met?" She asked, a last-ditch effort to get him to stay. Taehyung faltered slightly, the irony painful. He didn't know what this meant, but he knew what he saw, what he tasted earlier in the night. He knew that Yura was his soulmate, he could just feel it. It was a fact that made as much sense in his head as that the grass is green and the sky is blue. It made everything make sense. So how the hell did she think this asshole was her soulmate? Taehyung knew if he said anything at all, it might end badly between Yura and Wonho, so he just shook his head and mustered up a tightlipped smile to hide how hurt he was internally.

"It's nothing too remarkable, don't worry." He had assured her, but there was no satisfaction in her eyes at his response. "Get well soon, okay?" He said. Yura's frown only deepened, but there was no time for her to respond, because he had turned on his heel and left as soon as the words were out of his mouth. It pained him leaving her with the one who had caused her pain, but he needed to figure out what the hell was going on.

So now, he walks through the dark night in the rain, with one destination in mind. He marches up the stairs to the desired apartment. It's a Friday night, so he isn't surprised to hear loud music and many voices behind the door. Of course there's a party going on. Taehyung lets himself in to the house party, eyes scanning for the party's orchestrator. He spies his red hair in the middle of a group of people dancing, equipped with red Solo cups.

"Hoseok hyung?" Taehyung calls over the music. The dancing man stops at the sound of his name. He's clearly a little tipsy and greets Taehyung with his trademark blinding smile, but it fades once he gets a better look at him. He leaves behind the group on the dance floor and approaches Taehyung, who looks lost as he stands awkwardly in Hoseok's foyer, clothes sopping wet through with rain and dripping onto the floor.

"Hey, Taehyungie. Why are you all wet?" He asks, bracing a hand on Taehyung's shoulder in concern.

"It's raining." Taehyung deadpans, and Hoseok cracks a small smile.

"I know, but how'd you get so wet? Did you walk here?" He asks, humor in his voice as if he's joking, but it disappears when Taehyung nods. "Tae, why? Hongdae is, like, twenty minutes from here."