Chapter 2

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When Taehyung had met Jungkook for the first time he had not had any idea what he had gotten himself into. His old boss had been the one to mention this job offer to him and Taehyung had met his supervisor somewhere else.

Back then he had gotten easy instructions. He wasn't supposed to tell anyone about this job. He was going to work with someone dangerous, but he was going to be safe, and Taehyung was not supposed to give out any personal information.

The third point had seemed a little weird at the time, since for a therapist that was the usual procedure. He never talked about himself with clients, but Taehyung had gotten it when he first stepped into that room with Jungkook. Back then both he and Jungkook had been new to this.

Jungkook had been scary. Yellow, glowing eyes. His constant glare. Threats about how he was going to kill everyone, including Taehyung. What he would do to anyone Taehyung knew.

Taehyung had worked with all different kinds of mental illnesses before, but he had never met anyone as scary as Jungkook. Even though Jungkook had been behind that glass screen Taehyung had been honestly afraid for his life.

Because Jungkook kept thrashing around, throwing himself against the glass. Taehyung had been sure it would break at some point.

The first month Taehyung had had nightmare over nightmare. Once he had woken up, sure that he could see Jungkook standing in the corner of the room.

But over time Jungkook had gotten quieter. Had started answering his questions, even if only with a few words.

He seemed to have realized that there was no way out of that room for him. And that talking to Taehyung was better than being completely alone all the time. And of course, once again... Taehyung was his free pass to take a day off.

Taehyung was aware that Jungkook didn't care much for him, but he liked to believe that Jungkook had gotten a little more positive towards him over the last year. Certainly not much, but he wasn't as hostile as he had been in the beginning.

But a lot of things changed when Taehyung got a call in the evening, just as he was leaving the facility. It was his supervisor. An old man who was probably about to retire in a year or two.

"Mr. Kim?"

Taehyung nodded before realizing the man wouldn't be able to see him. "Yeah?"

"I'm calling to tell you that our budget has been shortened again." Taehyung already knew what that meant. Mr. Choi had already warned him about this. Over the last year, he hadn't gotten anything out of Jungkook. Nothing about who he was. Where he had lived. What he was.

The facility didn't care about Jungkook's wellbeing. They had only hired Taehyung in hopes that maybe Jungkook would slip up in normal conversation. And given that Taehyung hadn't gotten anything interesting out of Jungkook, not that he had really tried, he was on the top of the list of things that were considered to be a waste of money.

He already knew what his supervisor was going to say next.

"They don't want a therapist anymore."

Taehyung sighed. This job hadn't paid too well in the first place. Taehyung easily could have gone to search for another job. He was good at what he did. Enjoyed helping people.

But leaving Jungkook alone in that facility without anyone to talk to didn't feel right either. Even if Jungkook acted like these conversations didn't matter to him. Taehyung was good enough in reading people to know that Jungkook was glad every time Taehyung showed up.

He knew that those conversations meant something to him. After all, there was nothing forcing him to answer any of Taehyung's questions.

"I honestly saw that coming..." Taehyung muttered, staring up at the sky.

What was he supposed to do now?