I walked inside, instantly approached by Jin, who sighed the moment our eyes met. Imagine how a simple sound can tear you down to pieces in a matter of seconds. I strolled past him into the kitchen and over to the freezer to make myself an ice pack. Nice as that lady's gesture was, I will require more than aspirin to get over this haze. Fuck, I'm so sore I can barely lift my arm for some ice.

"At least someone stitched you up this time. They didn't find you by a dumpster, did they?"

He's a funny guy, isn't he? As much as I would love the entertainment, I don't need this now as I now imagine the splits this headache outlined in my skull. I ignored Jin out of respect while I continued to make my ice pack.

"Look, Tae, you're a man. You do what you want and make your own decisions, but when will you realize the choices you choose impact not only yourself but others? What does staying out all night, drinking, fucking random girls, and getting into fights accomplish?"

Another lecture. Another. Fucking. Lecture. "Hmm." I shrugged. "A fun night?"

"Yeah, it's fun until your ass gets arrested again."

Why does he insist on bringing up irrelevant shit? It happened once because I was careless, and they dropped the charges. I never get caught and haven't since then. Can't I wallow in my pain, in peace, without him yanking on my balls? He means well, but he's wasting his breath, and the redundancy is making my headache worse. I closed up the ice pack before turning to face Jin. I never intend to hurt him. He doesn't deserve it, but he doesn't understand.

"I'm worried about you, Taehyung. You are family, and I don't want to lose you, but you know what will happen if you get in trouble again."

Mmm, the F word. I have an F word of my own to follow with that, but we won't go there today. I sat the ice pack on top of my head. Ahh, relief. "I'll be in my room. All day." I left. I think that was enough torture to fuel the nightmare waiting for me once my eyes were closed.

The hot shower and a nice jerk off I gave myself to set my mood for good sleep did quite the opposite. It only made me toss and turn. Nightmares I could handle, but being restless pissed me off. I grabbed my phone to check the time. It was earlier than I expected. Even though it was my day off, I'm tempted to work just for something to do. My mind needs to stay busy. Being alone with my thoughts makes me more unstable than I already am.

So many voices in my head, yanking and pulling me in different directions while altering my perception of reality and dragging me deeper into the hell I've created. Or that's designed for me. Jin's voice in the center of them all. If this is his way of trying to get me to change, he should realize reminding me of my fuckups is not the best motivational technique. Besides, there's nothing wrong with me.

I am who I am.

I come and go as I please.

No commitments. No strings attached.

Leaning back, I close my eyes to let the voices consume me and allow my nightmare to visit me once more. This is me. This is where I lived.

Please be safe wherever you go.

Jolted from my brief sleep, I panted in the semi-darkness of my bedroom. I lifted my hand to my forehead to feel the beads of sweat stuck to it, my body covered in chills. Why is she even invading my nightmares? I don't know her, and I don't care to know her either. Why is she here? Of all the shit my mind could torture me with, I guess having a unicorn in the middle is the plot twist my nightmare's been waiting for. She's a myth of something that doesn't exist, a fragment of something unreal.

And she's short-lived.

Just a passerby.

There is no vacancy here for her.

↣ ♡ ♡ ↢

↣ ♡𝒸𝓊𝓅𝒾𝒹♡ ↢