Unfortunate encounter

Taehyung stops short, going back inside and grabbing another package of fruit to replace the one he ate.

    "Why?" Jeongguk asks.

    "Maybe they'll just take it back and not give me any trouble," The silverette shrugs optimistically. "Y'know, I doubt it, but there's a chance."

    "Okay," Jeongguk says following along.

    "Which way did you go?" Taehyung asks.

    "That way," The android answers, pointing to the right.

    "Oh, great," Taehyung mumbles, walking in that direction. "Everyone that lives in the back are total nuts."

    "...You live in the back."

    "I know, and I also smuggled in an illegal android and put my dead boyfriend's face on it."

    "Jeongguk is dead?"

Taehyung stops walking, his eyes dropping and becoming distant. It takes him a moment to speak. "What?"

    "You told me that Jeongguk was gone, not that he was dead," Jeongguk says. "You implied that he was alive somewhere."

    "No I didn't," Taehyung says. "I told you that he wasn't coming back, and he isn't."

    "How?" The android asks. "So I can prevent you from making the same mistakes."

    "I'm just gonna disappoint you if I tell you now," The silverette chuckles, continuing to walk while scanning the area. "I'm repeating all the mistakes you're trying to protect me from."

    "Tell me," Jeongguk insists.

    "So Jeongguk, the real Jeongguk, scored two seats on a space craft that was leaving 613," Taehyung starts. "It was some tour of space and you had to be loaded to get a seat. But he was friends with an engineer who knew some guy and blah blah blah. He got a seat and one more for whoever he wanted."

Taehyung sighs, smiling sadly. Jeongguk has noticed that the silverette often smiles when recalling painful events.

    "The night before the trip he told me he got drunk and gambled his plus one seat away, so I couldn't go, I was completely ruined," Taehyung says. "But I went to the launch deck the next morning and I saw him boarding the flight with a girl. He held her hand...and kissed her cheek while they waited in line. Then he got on that craft and it took off. It flew for, maybe, forty-five seconds before it exploded, maybe less. They said it was just a random malfunction, no one survived. A craft like that hasn't exploded since."

    "You think someone did it on purpose?"

    "I don't know," Taehyung shrugs. "I've always felt like it was the officials' last warning after what my parents did. Just another way to try and break me down and keep me submissive."

    "But the girl,"

    "If Jeongguk would've taken me instead of her, I'd be dead," Taehyung says. "He saved me that day, whether he meant to or not. I know it's stupid but it helps me sleep at night."

They continue to walk in silence for a few more minutes before they notice a group of people standing outside of a garage.

"I see you got my delivery,"

Taehyung follows the voice, holding his hand up against the sun to get a better view.

The voice comes from one of the guys standing with the group.

    "Do I know you?" Taehyung asks.

    "Come here," The guy says, waving him over. "Leave your friend."

Taehyung glances at Jeongguk before looking back at the guy. "What do you want with me?"

    "Come find out," He says with a laugh. "Come on."

    "Alright," Taehyung sighs to himself. "Jeongguk, stay~"

"No," Jeongguk says, his eyes trained on the man.

    "Look, I'm just gonna try to give them back," Taehyung says. "If he doesn't take them then I'll come back."

    "He has bad intentions, Taehyung," The android says, his eyes now on the silverette. "I do not trust him."

    "I've gotten my ass kicked by a guy twice his size," He says rolling his eyes nonchalantly. "Just stay here, okay?"

Jeongguk doesn't argue but Taehyung can tell he's still very opposed to the idea.

Taehyung sighs as he walks over to the guy, fidgeting with the packages in his hand. "Do I know you?"

    "No, but I know you," He says turning and walking into the garage, expecting Taehyung to follow him.

Taehyung hesitates, looking back in the direction of where Jeongguk was standing only to find the other guys standing behind him—waiting for him to go inside.

He does.

His steps are cautious but he knows all caution, at this point, is out of the window.

The garage is just as small and muggy as his own, the only difference is that it's empty. The floor is dirty, dusty outlines of where furniture used to be.

    "U-Uhm," Taehyung starts, clearing his throat. "I brought these back. My friend, the one you gave them to, he shouldn't have taken them. He doesn't know any better."

    "Is he not from around here?" The guy asks, he smirks but his expression is still unreadable.

    "No, he is," Taehyung says. "He's just...uhm, he's new."

    "No one's been banished in years," One of the guy's friends says.

    "Right, he was banished a while ago," Taehyung says. "He doesn't get out much, that's all."

    "I didn't get you here to talk about your friend," The first guy says. "I did you a favor, now I want you to return it."

    "Here," The silverette says holding the packages out to him.

He laughs, his friends joining in. "No, Taehyung. I don't want them back."

    "...Then what do you want?"

    "Whataya got?"

    "I don't have anything."

The guy's friends laugh again, the sounds of their laughter starting to irritate the silverette.

    "I think you do," The guy smirks. "Come on, don't make me spell it out for you."

    "...L-Look, if you don't want them back then I'll leave~"

    "You aren't going anywhere," One of the other guys says, grabbing Taehyung from behind when he tries to leave.

    "Don't touch me," Taehyung says pulling away and dropping the food. He turns to the person that grabbed him, stumbling back into the first guy that spoke. He tries to pull away but he gets pulled back. "Stop~"

    "You can make this difficult if you want," The first guy says, his breath warm against Taehyung's ear as he speaks. "Or you can cooperate, your choice."

    "Don't fucking touch me," Taehyung says through clenched teeth, trying to get out of his hold.

    "I don't think he wants to cooperate, Hyen," Another guy says as they all close in on the silverette.

    "I think we need to teach him a thing or two about returning favors," Hyen says to his friends, his hands snaking under the fabric of Taehyung's shirt.

    "P-Please," The silverette says trying to pull away while simultaneously trying to push the guys in front of him away. "Don't do this."

    "Oh he's begging now,"

    "At least we know he can beg,"

    "C'mon, beg for something else,"

    "I doubt he'll do anything to make this worth our while,"

Their words come at Taehyung too rapidly along with everything else. It seems that, no matter how much he pulls away, everywhere he turns there's someone there. "Stop!"

They continue to grab him. One of them pulling his shirt, causing it to tear, while Hyen reaches for the front of his pants.

Taehyung screams, his heart hammering in his ears as he desperately tries to pull away from the group. "No!"

Before Taehyung can even fully grasp what's going on he is pushed to the ground, his elbow scrapping harshly against the dirty floor.

He hears commotion but he no longer feels their hands on him. He cowers nonetheless, covering his face with his arms as he waits for their attacks to continue.

But they don't.

He lifts his head, tears welling in his eyes as he tries to take in what's happening in front of him.

Jeongguk grabs one of the guys by the front of his shirt. He punches him with full force, sending him to the ground with what would most likely be a broken jaw.

Another guy attacks the android from behind but he easily evades his advances, taking his arm and twisting it until a prominent snap sounds amongst the fuss.

The guy screams, almost twice as loud as the first guy. Jeongguk goes through three more guys before the rest of the group finally realizes that this isn't a fight that could be won.

They scramble out of the garage, but not all of them are so lucky to escape.

Jeongguk catches Hyen by the back of his shirt, pulling him back and sending him flying into the opposite wall.

    "J-Jeongguk," Taehyung tries to say as he scrambles to his feet.

The android ignores him, walking over and swiftly grabbing Hyen by the throat. He slams him against the wall of the garage. He squeezes his neck but he doesn't apply much pressure, just enough to make it feel like his eyes were going to pop out of his head.

Jeongguk looks him dead in the eyes, his gaze intense.

    "Jeongguk," Taehyung says rushing over, he grabs the android's arm but he doesn't budge. "You're going to kill him, Jeongguk, please."

    "He hurt you," Jeongguk says, tightening his grip until Hyen's eyes roll back and he stops trying to get out of his grip.

    "No, Gguk, I'm fine," The silverette insists frantically. "Look at me, I'm fine."

The android turns his head, meeting Taehyung's eyes.

    "I'm fine," He says again, tears falling down his face. "Let him go, please."

Jeongguk's response is immediate. He lets go of Hyen and faces Taehyung, taking the silverette's face in his hands and thumbing away his tears.

Hyen scrambles to his feet before running full speed out of his own garage.

    "I'm okay," Taehyung says. "I swear."

Jeongguk grabs Taehyung's wrist, turning his arm and revealing an ugly scratch just below his elbow.

    "It doesn't hurt," The silverette says, even though it's a lie.

    "Let's go," Jeongguk says, his tone as monotonous as it's ever been. He turns, still holding Taehyung's hand, and picks the extra packages of food up.

Taehyung takes them when he hands them over, letting Jeongguk pull him back in the direction of his own garage.

As they exit they notice that a crowd has formed, probably trying to see what all the ruckus was about.

Taehyung feels uncomfortable with their eyes on him, so he looks down as he's pulled along by Jeongguk.

    "Looks like the weirdo has a friend,"