[ please forgive my temporary death with a double update? ]

[ chapter 39 ]
megaphones 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"WHAT?"

fingers slapping across the gaping skin of his lips, taehyung's terribly aware of the sudden stillness that blankets not just the room but the very house, floorboards amiss of their general groans, shaved ears perked in earnest.

the walls seem to bend then, slumping against his brittle shoulders as he splutters, fingers slipping past plaster, quivering lips encasing the whirlwind of despair that clutches his chest in a bone-crunching fist of rejection.

this was it. he believes. he'd done it now.

no clock would wind back time, ripping him from the mass of black that he'd knowingly flung himself into, skin a bloody shade of fatal red.

"g-get out."

the words are torn from his parched lips, eyes a moist expanse of onyx glass. he had no interest in what the younger would say. jeongguk had made it clear that he wasn't in any means pivoted from his bold line of preference.

surely, he was to reject him.

taehyung doesn't want to hear that. not yet. maybe when he'd nursed his crippled heart and bandaged his smiles, then he'd stand tall against the younger's apologetic back.

the said man now stands before him, doe eyes as wide as saucers, his lips bloomed open in a stuttering gape of reality that then, seemed so far from his fingers, one where bark-coloured lashes and walnut-gold skin glowed eternally across the pulse of his veins.

taehyung likes him. he likes him too.

"j-jeongguk." a stutter wrenches the halted hand of his clock forward, glassy pupils and wobbling, peach lips peering up at him, "please leave...please."

"i-"

he wants to shout then, let the words ripple from his chest and tumble from his lips, spewing across nets of megaphones until taehyung would stem the tears at his cheeks and the corners of his lips would curve, full with honeyed-cheeks.

i like you too!

but again, like the many times before, bold lines of joyous acceptance seems to shrivel at his tongue, acidic flame curving at the tilt of his jaw, words tumbling down his throat and slumping against the scarred base of his stomach, swimming with shame that threatens to burst at its seams.

and so he manages only to gurgle brokenly in response, eyes swimming and mouth bitter with the aftertaste of shame.

swallowing, taehyung shoulders an indifferent smile to his lips, numbed fingers sifting the sheets at his legs to the side as he stumbles to his feet.

"please leave me alone for a while," jeongguk hears the elder say, words warbled and muffled in his ears as if his body had succumbed midst the oceans, torrent waves roaring above him.

he makes no move to resist as soft hands fall across the small of his back, nudging him afar until he's falling, tethering at the frame of the doorway, where
he knew that once he left, those thin arms that held him so gently right there would not open so easily when he'd come running back.

he knows he should make his move now, unhinge his jaw from the thick slab of bitter honey that hauled his gums.

but he can't. he truly cannot.

and as the door swings closed, ebony wood barricading him from the man he wishes to hold forever against him, jeongguk's sickeningly reminded of the final, soiled page of a book shrivelling close.

thud.

jeongguk can't feel those long fingers holding him so tenderly anymore.

─── ·𖥸· ───

he's very well aware of the fact that he's only got a few more days to live his life to the fullest before a hoard of brightly coloured mops of hair would pummel down the double-winged entrance of his abode.

to be fair, the fact that he'd managed to weasel two days to his lifespan after pulling that stunt is both a blessing and an impossibility enough.

but of course, his luck had already been wrung of its gold far enough.

despite his prior knowledge of this all, jeongguk's still thoroughly shaken as pale, pudgy hands circle the column of his neck, crescent eyes tipped back in a glowering scowl.

"you fucking prick."

"j-jimin -"

"don't say my name you bastard," he snarls, eyes spitting with flame that burns the skin of his cheeks, "how fucking dare you?"

"look-"

"don't interrupt me!"

"okay, okay, sorry." he splutters, palms raised outwards, neck branched with a set of pink bananas.

jimin scoffs, fingers unfurling from the other's skin, shoving him backwards, lips pinched.

"do you only ever think about yourself? huh, prick?" he spits, "heard of something called feelings? other people's feelings?"

stomach flipping in his throat, his lips tremble, pressure stamping across the curves of his eyeballs. weaving his pride tight, jeongguk manages an indifferent scoff, thin fingers combing back the ink across the expanse of his forehead.

"i can't jimin." he rasps, features stony, "even if i wanted to, i couldn't."

shrieking, the eldest flings his arms into the air, exasperation dripping from his lips, a single finger snaking his way, "see that's the thing jeongguk! right now, taehyung's sobbing his heart out because he thinks something's wrong with him! but it's not, i'd be damned if there's a single person out there who wouldn't turn down an opportunity to have a night with him! the problem is you. go fucking tell him that because it's the least he deserves after being treated like a throw-away-whore."

the white of his eyes dribble with pink, thin lips heaving into a quivering pout as his mind swamps with creeping ebony, "i-..did he?.."

"no." jimin snaps steely, scoffing, "taehyung's stronger than that. he's gone through enough shit to get over a bipolar bastard."

swallowing thickly, his fingers swipe at the curve of his sodden lashes, the shadow of his palm a sanctuary as his features harden behind his skin, lips pursed as his hand drops to his side.

"i'll talk to him," he hears himself say, and he supposes he should acknowledge the elder's duty so he adds, "thank you."

"don't thank me, i'm doing this for him."

no farewells are bid, jimin merely gifting him with a final sneer. and so, midst the words of judgement he's feet retrace the steps to the people who started it all.

~

[a/n]

this chapter is so short im-
im so sorry i haven't been able to update in like a month, it's been exam periods (which has literally been 5 weeks wth) and i've been recovering after seeing taekook acting like such boyfriends in that piggyback uwu.

but for now, keep scrolling. <33