Taehyung groans as his phone vibrates against his nightstand.

He grabs it checking the time before swiping answer, it's nearly four in the morning and he had just began to fall asleep.

"Hello?" Taehyung says keeping his eyes shut.

"H-Hey Taehyung." Taeil's voice comes through the phone.

"Taeil?" Taehyung asks, his eyes opening.

"Y-Yeah. It's Taeil." Taeil says.

"What's up? Are you okay?" Taehyung asks sitting up and turning his lamp on.

"Yeah." Taeil says but Taehyung doesn't believe it.

"Are you sure?" Taehyung asks.

"No." Taeil says in a much quieter voice.

"What's wrong, hyung?" Taehyung asks kicking his blanket from his legs.

"I just. I really need someone to talk to. And I know it's late but. I could only think of you to call." Taeil says.

Taehyung's concerned expression softens.

"I know it's a lot to ask. But, could you meet me at the underground? I don't think I can say this over the phone." Taeil says.

"Um." Taehyung checks the time. 3:43am. "Yeah. I'll be there in fifteen."

"Thank you, Tae. It means the world to me, really." Taeil says.

"I'm coming. Just hold tight." Taehyung says standing and ending the call.

Taehyung grabs his shoes not bothering to change out of his sweatpants.

Taehyung creeps out of the house making the least amount of noise possible as he does so.

The walk to the underground seems to be a lot further away when he was in a hurry like this.

Something about Taeil's voice just made him feel so uneasy and he wanted to make sure he was okay.

When he reaches the familiar place Taeil waits outside looking a bit on edge.

"Hey Taeil-hyung." Taehyung says getting his attention.

"H-Hey Taehyung." He says smiling.

"Are you alright?" Taehyung asks taking in Taeil's appearance.

"Yeah. I just have a lot on my mind." Taeil says.

"Alright. Well I'm here to help so what can I do?" Taehyung asks.

"Can we talk inside?" Taeil asks.

Taehyung nods and Taeil leads him inside and to a corner of the room they don't usually sit at.

"I'll get you a drink." Taeil says. "It's the least I could do after calling you out here this late."

"You don't have to." Taehyung says.

"I insist. Just wait here." Taeil says.

Taehyung sighs looking down at his phone.

It was the last two weeks of summer and it's been keeping Taehyung awake at night. Usually Taehyung would easily be able to fall asleep after hours of talking to Jungkook on the phone but lately that hasn't even been working.

Jungkook left for Busan yesterday to move his things into his dorm so everything will be in place for when he leaves at the start of the fall semester.

Taeil returns with two bottles of beer each already cracked open.

"So. What did you want to tell me?" Taehyung asks taking a sip of the bitter alcohol.

Taeil sighs. "There's so much going on in my life right now and I just don't know what to do."

"Like what?" Taehyung asks.

"My mom's been diagnosed with cancer." Taeil says looking down at his hands.

"Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry Taeil." Taehyung says.

"Don't be sorry. Let's not talk about that though. I just want to take my mind off of it." Taeil says drinking from his beer.

Taehyung smiles sympathetically before drinking from his as well.

The alcohol seems to go to Taehyung's head quickly and he starts to feel a little dizzy.

Taeil watches Taehyung closely as the drug shows the first few signs of effecting him.

"You okay, Tae?" Taeil asks trying to figure out how far under the influence Taehyung is.

"Yeah. I just. Feel a little light headed." Taehyung says sitting his beer on the ground.

Taeil watches as Taehyung's actions become more drowsy and his eyes get heavy.

"I'm. I need to. Go outside." Taehyung says trying his best to stand to his feet.

Taeil stands. "Here I'll help you."

Taeil lifts Taehyung to his feet with shaking hands. He didn't know the drug could get into his system so quickly.

"T-Taeil." Taehyung says the single word slurring lazily from his lip.

Taeil leads Taehyung to the back door doing his best not to trip over him as his body becomes more limp in his arms.

"Taeil." Taehyung slurs again.

"I'm sorry, Tae." Taeil grunts as they reach the door and he drags the nearly unconscious boy into the alleyway where Suho was waiting.

"Did it work?" He asks looking up from his phone and shoving the device in his pocket.

"Y-Yeah." Taeil says. "I hope so."

"Alright. Bogum should be coming with the truck." Suho says looking around for the other.

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing here Junmyeon?" Taeil asks holding Taehyung tightly.

"We don't have a choice Taeil. She threatened my dad's probation and your mom's treatment. She was even going to have Bogum prosecuted for child pornography.  This isn't about him anymore. It's about us. Now put him the fucking truck." Suho says. "There he is."

Bogum's truck pulls up and slowly comes to a stop before the other hops out.

    "It worked?" He asked in a panicky tone.

    "Yeah. Hurry up. I don't know how long it's supposed to last before it wears off." Suho says.

    "You got him?" Bogum asks to which Taeil nods.

Taeil lifts Taehyung into the truck with a little help from Suho.

"Hm." Taehyung hums

"I'm sorry, Taehyung." Taeil says again before shutting the door.

Suho checks his phone anxiously.

"I don't feel good about this Suho." Taeil says for the hundredth time since they got there early that night.

"Would you stop fucking worrying so much? After this, our hands are clean." Suho says.

    "Seriously, they promised we wouldn't be involved after this." Bogum says.

"What about Taehyung?" Taeil asks getting fed up with their carelessness.

"What about him?" Suho asks.

"He's our friend." Taeil says.

"He's your friend. He's nothing to me." Suho scoffs.

"You're such an asshole." Taeil mutters.

"Alright whatever. Did you get his phone?" Bogum asks.

Taeil takes the phone form his pocket handing it over.

"Hey." Suho says making Taeil look up at him. "No matter what happens. We did this because we had to. Not because we wanted to."

Taeil looks away just as a car pulls into the alleyway. A man exits the car and approaches them.

The three stand anxiously waiting for him to speak.

"Where is he?"

-

Jungkook sits silently across from his mother. After they moved his stuff in they stopped for dinner at one of the upscale restaurants in Busan. They request a private section just for the two of them.

The food is disgusting and over priced and it puts Jungkook in a worse mood than he's already in.

"I know it's hard for you to understand now. But sometimes you have to be cruel in the world. And selfish." Mrs. Jeon says.

Jungkook doesn't respond to her as he pushes his food around his plate.

"It's dangerous though." She says. "Because when you become selfish. The people around you get hurt. You're familiar with that feeling aren't you Jungkook?"

Jungkook looks up at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You've grown selfish over the past few months." Mrs. Jeon says putting her fork and knife down. "And when you become selfish. People get hurt. More than likely. The people you care about the most."

"What are you talking about?" Jungkook asks again with more bass in his voice.

Mrs. Jeon doesn't respond picking up her wine glass and taking a sip.

Jungkook's phone buzzes in his pocket and he takes it out, looking at the caller ID.

Tae

Jungkook looks up at his mother who has a hard look in her eye as the phone rings out.

"One day, Jungkook. You're going to learn what it means to make sacrifices." Mrs. Jeon says standing. "No matter what it takes to teach you."

Jungkook stands from the table already redialing Taehyung's number.

"The number you have dialled has been disconnected, please hang up and try again."

"What did you do?" Jungkook asks his mother through clenched teeth.

"I taught you a lesson." Mrs. Jeon says. "You think you're so smart. You think you know how to play this game but sweetie, I've been playing this game longer than you've been alive."

"If he's hurt I swear~"

"Save your breath honey." Mrs. Jeon cuts him off. "The only person that can hurt him. Is you now."

Jungkook's hands start to shake in anger.

"I gave a fair warning didn't I?" Mrs. Jeon says. "I gave him one too. Two actually. But you're just so damn persistent in being with that degenerate."

Jungkook clenches his jaw.

"Do yourself. And that boy a favor." Mrs. Jeon says. "Stay away from him. Or things will get a lot worse."

Mrs. Jeon takes out her checkbook and writes a check for their meal.

"What did you do to him?" Jungkook asks in low threatening tone.

Mrs. Jeon chuckles. "Don't worry. He'll live."

Jungkook rushes from the restaurant pulling his keys from his pocket.

--

Some shit is about to go down....