NOVOCAINE | vkook ✓

38 | happy death day

━CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT━

"there's... there's really nothing?" taehyung asks one last time. jimin looks up and is a bit taken aback of the sheer desperation swimming within the other's pools of black, he immediately feels pity for his friend.

"sorry, tae. there's nothing. his case is out of my hands." jimin sighs, ripping his eyes away from the other's. "he's not far off of being a minor, though. maybe they'll go easy on him, plus his mental state isn't great either." the cop attempted giving his friend a little hope, but he knew it was futile.

jeongguk's fate was sealed. jimin knew that.

"wh-what do i do, jimin? i-i don't know what to do..." taehyung spoke in distress, the well put-together male looking like a mess with his disheveled hair and heavy bags hanging under his eyes. his face sunk into his palms, his mind cluttered full of possibilities on how to save his little troublemaker. "i can't fucking think! fuck. they probably threw him in some dark cell, he hates the dark jimin. and–and small spaces— h-he'll suffer and—"

"taehyung." jimin cut him off. "remember what you told me? when you took your first teenager in? remember?"

taehyung slowly raises his head, pensively looking across at his best friend. even though he didn't get a response, jimin continued.

''is he the one, tae?" the cop asks, expression was concerned but also... calm and collected.

taehyung cocked his head to the side.

"why're you asking me this?" the hitman questions, looking puzzled. 

jimin nervously chewed at his bottom lip. his eyes averting contact with the other as he threaded through his locks with his hand, releasing a built-up puff of hair.

"do you love him?" jimin rephrases the question, asking once more.

taehyung's expression drops.

"no."

jimin stares at his best friend for a good few seconds, gazes boring into each other as neither of them backed down from the challenge.

"let me ask you again." jimin interlaces his fingers together and places them on the table in front of him, leaning forward. "who is jeon jeongguk to you?"

taehyung furrows his brows before averting his eyes and crossing his arms.

"an annoying little fucker who never listens to me." he mutters. "a psychotic teenager who pretends like he's older than he actually is."

"a broken soul with some major daddy issues."

"a blood-thirsty cold-hearted killer with deep mental problems."

"a—" taehyung purses his lips together as his memory becomes fogged with memories of jeongguk's precious bunny-like smile, his bouncy curly hair, his sparkling eyes, the little bounce in his steps, his soft lisp whenever he pouted or grew excited, the way he would tremble in his sleep, how he would always snuggle closer to taehyung's warmth, how he'd scrunch up his nose whenever taehyung forced him to eat his vegetables, how he— "he's someone who could've grown up to be a smart and loving boy, but life fucked him over. he just got... unlucky."

jimin hummed.

"do you love him?" jimin repeats the question, he was trying to pry a certain answer out of his friend. 

taehyung looked up, he was nervously twisting his ring around his finger.

"fine," jimin sighed and leaned back in his seat. "you don't need to tell me, but taehyung—"

the cop gives the other a serious look.

"you need to decide on the answer soon."

"why does it matter?" taehyung scrunched up his brows together, confused and a little annoyed that jimin was being so vague with why he was asking all these questions.

"because—"

the two men were cut off when someone in the bar increased the volume of the TV that hung on the wall.

"jeon jeongguk, an eighteen-year-old boy who was arrested earlier this week for several cases of murder and manslaughter held his trial today. the teenager chose to remain silent in court and let the evidence speak for itself, the jury came to it's decision and ruled jeon jeongguk guilty of the five-cases of murder and fifteen-cases of manslaughter. the verdict was given, and the eighteen-year-old is facing the death sentence."

"this makes jeon jeongguk one of the youngest in our country that have been given the death sentence since—"

"that's why." jimin bites down on his lip as he nervously glanced over at the hitman.

taehyung just stared at the tv that was displaying footage of jeongguk sitting in court, being told his sentence. the boy was clad in the typical brown prisoner outfit and had his hands cuffed in front of him, his face was blank.

taehyung dug his fingernails into his palm as he watched jeongguk smile.

end of 38

━♤━

uh oh things ain't lookin' so good for gguk

i know this trial thing is unrealistic but idc lol