"Honestly, I've never fit in with the world. I was always alone. It's been a long time since I've forgotten about love. I can't listen to hopeful love songs anymore..."

~Loser-BigBang

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Cookie? What was a cookie? He couldn't mean like the food, could he? Taehyung thought of it all that night after the movie was done and he headed back to his room to lay down. The yelling had stopped, so he was just left with the eerie silence after the storm.

Taehyung had come back to his room to find Marshmallow scratching at his door, so he'd let the poodle in, and the soft, warm little dog had curled up next to him and fell asleep instantly almost. And the dog's warmth eventually put him to sleep, but he couldn't help wondering what Jimin meant.

Cookie, Cookie, Cookie, what could he mean by cookie? Maybe Taehyung should have asked, it would have been easier then letting the question go around in his head all night while he slept.

When he woke up it was the first thing he thought about, then he thought about what the person Jimin was inviting over would be like. Will he think I'm crazy too? Wouldn't that be the first thing that anyone told him as soon as he walked in? Jimin wouldn't just not tell him, he'd tell him, if he hadn't already. Whoever it was that was coming over was going to view him as crazy.

It made him nervous. He didn't want someone to come over and call him crazy, not again. He never wanted to hear that word again.

Taehyung got out of the bed, leaving the sleepy poodle in the bed. He went over to the closet, looking through the clothes, if someone was coming over, he figured he shouldn't be in his pajamas, since Jimin never mentioned when his friend was coming over.

He studied every article of clothes. I should just throw something on, it's not like he's not going to know I'm 'crazy'. Taehyung eventually just threw on a black printed tee-shirt that had '世界の終わり'* printed on it in bold white letters and a pair of dark blue jeans. Both of which, Jimin had picked out.

Taehyung then headed to the bathroom. Seeing himself in the mirror, he frowned. His hair was messy, he definitely had a bedhead, and he still looked tired and sad like the last time he'd looked in the mirror. There was nothing he could do about the tiredness, but he ran his hands through his hair and tried to find a parting line. Really, with his fringe, right over his eyebrows, there wasn't much he could do to it.

He stared at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth. Act normal, Taehyung, just act normal.

Immediately, memories of being strapped to a bed for a whole day came to his mind, being trapped in a white damn padded room restrained to a bed, the door locked, by himself, screaming his lungs out for someone to undo the harshly tightened buckles and straps that kept him tied down. Screaming until the next day when some calm nurse would come in and undo the restraints, smiling at him while his face was stained with tears and his voice hoarse. 'Are you ready to be a good boy, now?' They'd ask, their voice fake sugar and honey.

Was being a good boy never smiling? Never laughing?

That was what he got when he didn't act normal, when he acted like himself, because no one liked him when he was himself.

Even Jimin hadn't seen how he really was, what would he think of him then? What would he say?

"Tae, you're hogging the bathroom."

Jimin's voice surprised him. Taehyung looked over to find him standing in the doorway, already dressed and everything, though he wasn't wearing a snapback today.

"I...I'm sorry..." Taehyung started. Bowing, before putting the toothbrush away.

Jimin looked him up and down. "He-e-e-ey, you're wearing what I picked out!" He said, smiling big, obviously proud of himself. "You look good, man," Then he punched Taehyung's shoulder lightly. "You slept forever, you bum."

"I did?" Taehyung asked.

"Yeah, it's 10 already, mom already left for work, Kookie will be here in like twenty minutes."

Cookie? That can't be his name, can it? "Oh..." Taehyung said, then Jimin pushed him out of the bathroom before he could say anything else.

He stood in the hallway for a minute after Jimin shut the door. Jimin was probably used to people like Taehyung, it's probably why he was so used to him already, why he didn't seem to be scared, or treat him like there was something wrong with him. He was a psychiatrist's son, he's probably been in a billion and one mental hospitals, probably met a lot of people who couldn't think straight, and needed help.

This person--Cookie or whatever his name was--probably wasn't like that, he'd probably have a set amount of thoughts already about Taehyung and treat him like everyone else did.

Taehyung smiled sadly to himself. "Maybe I should just stay out of the way..." Then he went back into his room and picked up Marshmallow.

The poodle had still been sleeping until Taehyung lifted him up, and when Marsh woke up, he just squirmed for a bit before settling in Taehyung's arms, already basically asleep.

He brought the poodle out of the room and down the hall, glancing at Kyung-mi's closed bedroom door before continuing to the stairs. Jimin and his friend would probably study in Jimin's room or the living room, if he wanted to stay out of the way, he could probably just sit in the kitchen or go back to the laundry room.

'Stay out of the way'--I'm hiding. I don't want to be rejected again. He couldn't take anymore harsh words, not from anyone, not right now, Kyung-mi's still hurt too much.

Taehyung walked backwards through the kitchen's swinging doors, and Marshmallow hopped from his arms to go to his dog bowl, crouching on kibble and lapping at water. Taehyung laughed at how much the dog's tail wagged just eating food. Then went to the fruit bowl set in the middle of that table and took a bright red apple.

He could see why the dog was excited, food tasted good, even if his throat didn't quite feel right still, the apple was juicy and sweet, and it left his mouth sticky.

After Taehyung was done with the apple, all that was left of it being the core, he picked up a banana, about to peel it when he heard a chime.

The doorbell. Someone was ringing the doorbell. It couldn't have been twenty minutes already, could it?

Taehyung put the banana back, then peeked out the kitchen door, waiting to see if Jimin would answer it. He didn't. No one came down the stairs, and the doorbell kept ringing, being pressed over and over. The house was still, Taehyung didn't hear anybody coming. Except Marshmallow who was standing at Taehyung's feet, looking up at him and wagging his short tail.

I could answer the door. Taehyung went into the living room, staring at the front door. This is stupid, it's just a door, it's just a person.

He went up to the door and unlocked it, then twisted the knob and slowly opened the door a crack, peeking outside from behind it. "Hello?" Taehyung asked.

The guy outside smiled. "Hey--Hello, what's up?" He said.

He had big innocent looking eyes, but a jawline that spoke otherwise, while his face in general had a youthful appearance, his hair a dark red and short, styled with his bangs covering his forehead and most of his eyebrows. He wore black jeans and a plain red tee-shirt, a backpack on his back, on his feet were tan Timberlands.

"Who are you, by the way?" He asked.

"Kim Taehyung." Taehyung answered. "...Wh-who are you?" He hadn't meant to stutter, but part of him wondered if this was Jimin's friend, if he already knew about Taehyung and was going to say something about how he was crazy, how he shouldn't be answering the door, how he'd killed his father. Anything, something, it didn't matter, Taehyung was waiting for hate, for insults.

"Oh, I'm Jeon Jung--."

"Kookie!" Jimin said, bypassing Taehyung and throwing the door open. Taehyung backed away. Taehyung had never seen Jimin smile quite as wide as he did then.

Then the guy outside was pulled inside and into a hug. "Hyung! Dear god, you saw me Friday, remember Friday? That was only two days ago." He sighed, hugging Jimin back anyway.

Taehyung felt out of place, so he backed toward the kitchen through the swinging doors.

So that was Cookie. He watched Marshmallow speed past him out of the kitchen to go greet the visitor. He seemed nice. He was one of the people Jimin went to school with, one of the people Taehyung would end up going to school with, but he realized how scared he was of someone calling him crazy, how much it hurt like a knife twisting in his stomach.

Taehyung couldn't take the pain.

"What are you doing?"

Taehyung looked up to find Jimin standing the kitchen doorway. He seemed to have a knack for showing up and surprising Taehyung out of his thoughts.

Jimin went over to him and grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the kitchen and back into the living room, where 'Cookie' was sitting on the couch, looking through a textbook.

Jimin pushed Taehyung to the couch. "You have to learn this too."

Taehyung nodded slowly. He would have to, but...

"Taehyung?" It was that 'Cookie' guy who said it, looking right at him, "I didn't get to finish earlier, I'm Jeon Jungkook by the way." He smiled, his smile gummy and hard not to take sincerely.

Jungkook. His name felt familiar, Taehyung couldn't place why. His face wasn't familiar, why did he seem to know his name? He frowned, trying to remember where he had heard the name before. Jimin hadn't said it, he'd only called him Kookie. Mrs. Park Hadn't said it, Kyung-mi hadn't said it. Where did he know Jungkook from?

"Tae's going to school with us Tuesday." Jimin said, sitting down on the couch between Taehyung and Jungkook.

"Yeah?" Jungkook leaned forward to look at Taehyung again. "How old are you?"

Taehyung blinked. Having sat there only really thinking of why Jungkook was so familiar to him. "Eighteen."

"Damn it, youngest again!" Jungkook said, smiling. "I'm sixteen. Just a grade or two ahe--Are you okay?"

Jimin and Jungkook both stared at Taehyung. He did feel a little sick, but he didn't think it was that obvious. This usually happened after he took those pills, they'd make him extremely calm, and then coming out of it, it made him queasy. Whatever trace amounts were even still left in his blood after all that seemed to be enough.

Taehyung nodded, putting a hand to his head as a headache started.

"Do you need an aspirin or something?" Jimin asked, rubbing Taehyung's shoulder.

"I...Yeah...Okay..." He said, with a small nod.

Jimin got up and went in the kitchen, probably to go get it. And Taehyung was left alone with Jungkook. Please don't say anything mean, please don't, I don't want you to hate me too.

"So, Taehyung..."Jungkook started, and Taehyung's heart froze, waiting for what he'd always heard, waiting for the knife to twist. "Are you staying here? Like living here?"

Taehyung looked up at Jungkook and blinked. "Huh?" his mouth hanging open. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but it was out now, and there was no way to take the noise he'd made back. Please don't think I'm crazy, please.

"Did Mrs. Park adopt you or something?" Jungkook asked. "I know, that's sensitive probably, but Jimin always wanted a brother, and you're his age, and he said Friday they were going to someplace to pick someone up. Kind of fits."

Taehyung licked his lips. Adopt me? Jimin wanted a brother? He hadn't told him where they'd 'picked' me up from? Taehyung couldn't speak for a second, his tongue not even close to forming words. When he could speak, all he said was, "...A-adopt?"

Jungkook's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say you look like a kid who would--Just that given all that and...Knowing Mrs. Park. But I would think that Jimin would have mentioned you by now, since he never shuts up. So how long have you been staying over?"

Taehyung's mouth never seemed so dry. "Since Friday..." his voice came out almost a whisper. He didn't understand. He was just a job, right? He shouldn't get his hopes up, or even try to think like that. But that word Adopt had made him uneasy and nervous. It always did. Years of sitting in an orphanage watching every other kid find a family did that.

"Okay. I was right then, you are the guy they picked up." Jungkook looked him up and down. "I'm confused."

Taehyung was confused too. It can't be, they wouldn't, that can't be it, I'm just a job, that's it. It can't be that. I shouldn't even think that it might be.

But then, he couldn't help it, it was all he wanted all his life.

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*Japanese for "The End of the World"

A/N: If I divided the story into parts, the next chapter would be the beginning of Part 2~  Huh...Maybe I should name these fictional 'Parts' that I have in my head :3

But anyway~ JEON JUNGKOOKIEEEEE~! He's a smartie here, two grades ahead, and of course, still the maknae xD

Aaaand, I've now thrown Japanese at you in a fanfic about Korean boys >.> Actually, I like J-pop too so~ And Sekai no Owari (Music group) <3 Which literally means "The end of the world" So Taehyung's shirt was some obscure reference that you might not have gotten :D Fukase (The lead singer) is cute also :3

ON A FURTHER NOTE (Long af A/N, I know) I'm dedicating this to BTSeagull For being the first person I actually talked to on here (Because I was entirely prepared to keep quiet and to myself) and also for encouraging me to write a fanfic, because I wasn't going to do that either~ Also, Christina, since you love Jungkook I figured I'd wait until I wrote something with him to dedicate something to you~ ilysm <33 WHEN YOU READ THIS, WE NEED TO TALK ^-^

~Neri needs to stop staring at Jungkook and Taehyung's eyes >.>