Kim Hyukjae is not real.

Taehyung's little brother never even existed.

That's what Jeongguk had slowly, intricately, come to realize, upon watching the older refer to an empty chair as though a child were seated over it. And kneeled beside the chair was Taehyung, whose boyish smile only made Jeongguk's stomach churn, a sinking feeling constricting every inch of his muscles.

It seemed that for a moment, Jeongguk had forgotten how to breathe. For a moment, his world had come to a halt.

Inhale and exhale...

Then, in a panic; Wait, how do you breathe again?

Right, push the air in through your nose. In, then out.

It was simple, and yet such instinctive actions weren't ones Jeongguk could perform without being hyper aware of it.

The boy trembled, eyes wide, an uneasy look plastered across his paled complexion. His palms felt clammy, body rendered stiff. He'd even forgotten who he was, for a second.

Jeon... who? Oh right; Jeon Jeongguk.

With an effort to pull himself back to reality, Jeongguk forced himself to speak up, though his throat had dried up far more than he had expected. "U-Uhm.." He turned his head to meet gazes with Yoongi, who looked back at him with a defeated expression, a quiet sigh left his lips. Then Taehyung's voice redirected his attention back in front of him.

"C'mon, Hyukjae, say hi, yeah?" He coaxed the nonexistent child, then he looked sheepishly up at Jeongguk. "Sorry, just a moment. He's a little shy, and so..." The man trailed off his words, looked at the empty spot on the chair and began to whisper things to 'Hyukjae'.

Hyukjae, who wasn't there.

Hyukjae, who didn't exist.

Jeongguk's lips shut as he swallowed his dry saliva, unable to find the words to say in the situation he'd landed himself in.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before a word could slip out a rhythmic tone began to pierce the air carefully around them. Jeongguk looked down as he pulled his ringing phone from his pockets, took a glance at the caller ID before gripping the device tightly.

"I-I'm sorry, um.. I-I have to take this.." he mumbled out incoherently, then stepped outside the bedroom in a daze, stumbled down the hall for a bit of privacy. "U-Uh.. Uhm, hey, J-Jimin," he answered in a quiet voice, phone pressed to his ear.

"Gguk, where are you?"

In that moment, he wasn't sure why exactly he had lied. But before he could give it a second thought, the words were already leaving his mouth. "I-I'm, um.. I'm just a-at home."

"Well get your ass over to the cafe near the school library. Misun and I are going to go get ice cream soon!"

Jeongguk blinked, glancing down the hall. "In this weather..?"

"Pregnant cravings, you know?" Jimin chuckled. "I'm just going along with it."

"Ah, r-right.." The younger inhaled sharply. "I'll be there soon."

"Hurry the fuck up, bitch. Love you!"

Jeongguk gave a small smile and heard the line hang up, his bottom lip tucked between his teeth. He didn't know why, but suddenly he was nervous. Nervous to go back into the room that had dropped to a chilly temperature upon his realization. But he forced his feet forward, pushed his legs to carry him back into the guest bedroom, where the two men were right where he had left them.

"U-Uhm... I'm sorry, b-but... I need to go.." He hoped his voice wasn't too noticeably shaky. "I'll g-get to know Hyukjae another time.."

Yoongi's eyes were set over Jeongguk. He glanced toward Taehyung for a brief moment before quickly adding to the opportunity.

"Yeah, Hyukjae is... a little overwhelmed right now. Surprised, maybe. You can come and properly meet him some other time. That would be for the best.." The older gave Jeongguk a smile, one the boy had recognized to be awkwardly forced.

Taehyung pouted from where he was seated over the rug. "I guess so.." he mumbled. "Do you need a ride where you're going?"

Jeongguk quickly shook his head.

"N-No. Thank you.."

Yoongi gave a nod and then moved to escort the boy out, down the long corridor, where Jeongguk felt as though they had walked for hours.

And through the piercing silence, came the older's mumbled words against his ear.

"Don't tell anyone."

Jeongguk's eyes slowly widened, fingers reaching to clasp together. "Don't w-worry.." he whispered in response, brows knitting together anxiously. "I won't."

※ ※

"Well, well, well... Look who decided to show his face." Jimin spoke in a teasing dramatic tone, watching as Jeongguk appeared at the cafe entrance and strolled towards the two seated friends.

"S-Sorry about that..." He mumbled as he took a seat across from the blond, beside Misun. "Are we, um... really getting ice cream right now?"

The girl shook her head and laughed softy, mouth full of a piece of baked dessert. "Nah, changed my mind. Was craving a blueberry muffin instead.."

"Yeah good thing, too. I mean who the fuck would want ice cream when it's so fucking cold out," Jimin huffed, sassily crossing his legs while reaching to drink his coffee.

Jeongguk smiled timidly. "That's what I was saying."

"What were you doing anyway?" Misun asked, big eyes blinking back at the younger.

"Oh, I was, um..." Jeongguk paused for a second. Surely, he'd have to keep up the lie he had built. "At home... Studying..."

"Boring," Jimin teased, a smirk forming on his plump lips.

"Says the guy who desperately needs to study if he wants to bring his grades back up," Misun added, an equally playful grin on her face.

The blond narrowed his eyes. "Oh, you're trying to pick a fight with me, aren't you?"

Jeongguk watched in innocent amusement while his two friends then proceeded to bicker back and forth. He waited, until there was even the slightest pause of silence, before taking the opportunity to quickly change the subject and break up the argument of wits.

"So, Misun, um..." He mindlessly brushed his fingers together underneath the table, "I was M.I.A for a while, so I kind of shut down socially..." The boy chuckled nervously before continuing. "Was there any news about the baby that I missed?" Misun stopped suddenly, lowered her mug back down to the table. "Like, who the baby daddy is? I know that was a big question that still needed an answer.."

The woman's face became stagnant, eyes lowered to her lap before she forced a gentle smile. "R-Right... Yeah, um.. I know who the father is now, yes.."

Jeongguk's doe eyes were gazing curiously at her. "Really? Who is it?"

Misun cleared her throat, looked up, and stole a glance toward Jimin, who was staring back at her, almost expectantly. She nervously parted her lips. "U-Uhm... It's s-someone from my gang. From Namida, so... You don't know him.."

"Not from Bangtan, then?"

Misun hesitated. "Um, no... Not from Bangtan, n-no."

Jeongguk let out a quiet exhale and reached up to give a silent clap. "Well, congrats on the kid! I'm sure at some point you'll introduce the hunk of a baby daddy you're clearly hiding from us~"

The woman's cheeks flushed a light pink, ignoring the younger's attempt at embarrassing her before she reached for her muffin once again.

"Y-Yeah. I'm sure you'll be able to meet him. Real soon..."

※ ※

"So what you're saying is..." Namjoon rubbed his finger below his chin. "The fucker we have locked up in one of the rooms downstairs is actually an Acre captain."

Taehyung gave a nod of his head from where he was seated over blue cushions, in an isolated karaoke room inside Abyss, where the nearby booms of customers singing pop music drowned out the rather important gang conversation the five men were having.

"That's right," Hoseok pitched in from beside Taehyung. "Not only that, but Acre's attacks have grown again. They're desperate to get a very important captain back on their side, it seems."

"Would appreciate it if they didn't choose random Bangtan members to start fights with, though," Taehyung grunted, suddenly leaning forward. "It seems these guys are attacking anyone they come across whose affiliated with us, and giving them threats to return the hostage back to them. Of course, somehow I get dragged into this shit and end up having to go save our lower ranked guys from getting the brains beat out of them."

"Is that why you're constantly coming in with bruises all over you?" Seokjin spoke up from where he sat across Hoseok. "Seems like you've been fighting nonstop the past few days. Are you even attending your classes at this point?"

"Who the fuck has time for school?" Taehyung scoffed. "We need to get this shit with Acre settled. Fast."

Namjoon raised a brow. "School is just as important as gang matters, V," he scolded. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. At least, that's how I want you to view it."

"Yeah? Well, kinda hard to focus on something as trivial as school when little Acre assholes come picking fights with you every day." The man snarled. "This shit's got to stop. I'm getting real fucking fed up with those guys now."

There was a brief pause. The walls around them vibrated with pumps of the bass seeping from the neighboring karaoke rooms.

"So the Acre guy we captured... Oh Chulsoo, is his name, yes?"

"Yes."

Namjoon continued. "This Chulsoo guy. Is there a way we can send him back to his gang to get him to unknowingly gather the details on what exactly their leader is up to? Surely he's got access to those things, since he's a captain, so... We can use him to test that out, or something of the sort."

Hoseok blinked. "That would be nice if we can pull it off, but... How? By threatening him? I don't think we have that leverage right now."

"That's right," Taehyung huffed. "We'll have more luck getting more out of Acre's current plans from him now than to let him recalculate things with his crew. He's a captain after all. He won't switch sides so easily."

"True." Namjoon nodded, let out a sigh and stood abruptly. He turned to look at Yoongi, who was sitting at the corner distanced from everyone else. "You've been real quiet this meeting. Anything to add, Min?"

Yoongi bit his lip anxiously, gaze fixated on the floor while he let a brief silence sink in between the other four guys.

"No, sir."

Namjoon hummed. "Alright, well... I'll call in another gathering about this two days from now. In the meantime, let's think of a way to fight back while keeping Chulsoo held up just a while longer. The guy ain't giving away his gang secrets so easily."

The other guys nodded in agreement, concluding the meeting. Namjoon stuffed his hands to his pockets and began to walk out from the room, then turned to look behind him when he heard someone shuffling to follow after him.

"Uh, Joon?" Yoongi jogged up beside him. Namjoon continued down the loud corridor.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Um, it's... about Taehyung. Well, V... Uhm, Vante, actually."

Namjoon slowed down to look at him. "Vante was able to front?"

"Uhm.. Yeah, actually... He did. Three days ago."

"What happened?"

Yoongi glanced around them while they began to descend down the stairs to the basement area. His voice lowered. "That Jeongguk boy... Vante invited him over to meet Hyukjae."

Namjoon halted, stood frozen in the middle of the staircase. He slowly turned to look up at Yoongi, who was four steps behind him.

"...And what did he say?"

Yoongi sighed. "Nothing. He just kind of... ran off. Had something to do, I'm not sure."

"Have they spoken since?"

"No. But it's safe to say that Taehyung's cover is blown."

Namjoon shook his head hesitantly. "We don't know that for sure. Jeongguk could be thinking of a lot of other mental disorders, or maybe he's not thinking those things at all. It's near impossible to know what he's really thinking, if I'm being honest."

"Sure, yeah... But," Yoongi looked down at the floor. "Taehyung didn't want him to find out just yet. And surely not like this, so.."

"He still hasn't been able to front, has he?"

Yoongi looked at him cautiously before shaking his head.

The gang leader looked off to the wall and nibbled on his bottom lip. A deep exhale soon slipped from his mouth. "Fuck."

※ ※

Jeongguk saw a blur in his vision, his eyes gently fluttered open. Delicately, as he woke from his quiet slumber. He blinked a few times, let his eyes adjust to the world around him. The world in that moment was his bedroom, where he had fallen asleep over an open notebook filled with marketing notes.

"Damn it.." he whispered, frustrated at himself for having dozed off while studying. Then again, once he thought about it he realized his exam wasn't for another week, which meant he had more than enough time to review his notes and make changes. More than he had thought.

Jeongguk sat up on his chair, hands remained planted over the desk's surface while his head turned to face the open window beside him. A gentle breeze brushed his nose, giving his skin a chill.

Taehyung.

In that moment he couldn't help it. The man always intruded on his thoughts as though he owned his mind, and Jeongguk wasn't able to brush away his concerns so easily this time.

No matter how he thought about it, it was just odd.

Sure, there have been times where he would find things that weren't particularly normal when it came to Taehyung. Whether it be the things he would say, or actions that he'd carry out. Habits that don't stay consistent, alternating between different truths. Like how sometimes Taehyung would look down and rub his shoes against the concrete ground, seemingly in patterns. While other times it'd seem he hated the sound of such friction. Simple, mindless things like that. Before, Jeongguk wouldn't give it a second thought. Would brush it off as a little 'quirk' the older had.

But he couldn't ignore it any longer.

"Ehm.. Sorry. Who?"

The first time Jeongguk had spoken to him in school, Taehyung had pretended he didn't know who he was. It was embarrassing for him to think about back then, but...

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to forget you, bun."

Back then, Jeongguk thought for sure maybe the man was toying with him. Teasing him, even. He wasn't quite sure.

"I said I was sorry. Do you not forgive me?"

But it didn't make any sense. Maybe Taehyung really did forget him back then, somehow. He did things like that often—forget about trivial things. Even when they were doing their English project, Taehyung seemed confused about things Jeongguk would go over time and time again. As if it were his first time hearing the concept. He thought maybe Taehyung just wasn't good at studies, or anything academic, but after what they pulled off in their final presentation there was no way Taehyung wasn't some kind of genius at times.

"Fuck her, Jeon. You're a man, aren't you?"

Once in a while, the older would say things like that. Things that made Jeongguk feel uncomfortable, though he wasn't sure exactly why. And he didn't like to think about it. So he'd let them slide.

"You love getting down on your knees for jerks like me, don't you?"

Let slide the things that were just unlike him to say. Because maybe Jeongguk didn't know him as well as he liked to think he did.

Either way, something was going on with Taehyung, and Jeongguk couldn't find inner peace within himself until he found out what that was. He let his fingers scramble over the table, in search for his cellular device. Once he found it, he let his thumb slide over the screen, navigate towards his messages until he was staring at a contact name written fondly with hearts.

' Yerin-noona ❤️❤️❤️ '

He bit his lip, index finger hovering over the call icon in anticipation. And finally he let himself tap over it, then press his phone to his ear.

The line rung. It rung, and rung. Until there was a click.

"Hello?" The familiar woman's voice greeted him cheerfully, and Jeongguk let himself release a quiet exhale. "Jeonggukie, what's up?"

"Noona, h-hey.." The boy let out quietly. "Can I ask you about something? Are you busy?"

"Ah, no, uh—" There was a pause. "Hoseok and I are just watching a movie but I'm here in the kitchen for a snack. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, um.." Jeongguk raised his head back toward the window, watching cars pass over the dark road in the distance. He ran his finger over the corner of his notebook, shifted a bit in his seat. His head was a jumbled mess, just searching for the right words to use to get the answers he was looking for. He wavered—and wavered, until eventually he let his subconsciousness take over. "There's something wrong with Taehyung... isn't there...?"

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the call. For a second Jeongguk had thought maybe Yerin had hung up on him. But soon he'd found that wasn't the case when he heard the tiniest breath slip from her.

"I, um.." He heard her speak up, quietly, after a long few seconds. "I knew this would happen eventually..."

He let her take another moment to herself as she seemingly thought of the most proper way to respond to what Jeongguk had said. He straightened his shoulders, leaned back against the chair while an anxious feeling began to sink into his stomach.

"There is, isn't there...? He's got some kind of mental condition?" Jeongguk added cautiously, the nauseating feeling rising up through his veins. If anyone he could trust would know, it would be her. Yerin and Taehyung had known each other for a long time. They dated, even. Surely if Yerin didn't mention anything of the sort to him, it would be out of courtesy for Taehyung.

Yerin was quiet again, and Jeongguk could hear sounds from the movie Hoseok was probably still watching in the distance.

"Yeah," she said, after a while. "You should... talk to him about it though, it's... Not my place to say."

Jeongguk gulped, nodding his head although the girl couldn't see him.

"If it's you that asks him, I'm sure he would tell you."

He caught his lip between his teeth. An array of thoughts clouded his mind before he quietly thanked the woman for her help, and gently hung up the call.

He had decided.

He'd talk to Taehyung about it tomorrow, at school.

At school... Except, Taehyung's been absent for a few days now. It seemed he'd fall into such patterns every now and then, never a certain period where he'd attend his classes consistently.

And it turned out, Jeongguk couldn't get a wink of sleep. By now, his worries had far consumed him to the point he couldn't take it anymore. So, without much of a second thought he found himself already gathering his shoes, already throwing a jacket on. And he hurried to exit his apartment with a newfound sense of determination rising from his very gut.

※ ※

Despite how late the night had fallen, Taehyung was wide awake still, his feet pacing around his apartment while he let irritated grunts slip from his breaths every now and then.

"Listen, hyung—we're not getting anywhere just mindlessly walking around.." A soft voice spoke to him from the bathroom. "Just come in here already. And let me clean up the blood on your face."

"I'm going to fucking murder those absolute morons.." Taehyung growled, swung a sudden hand towards the vase at the counter, causing it to tumble in an instant and shatter to a million pieces.

The boy in the bathroom flinched at the sound, quickly moved to peek his head out and observe what had just happened. "V... Seriously, stop. This isn't helping you."

"Shut the fuck up, Suzo!" Taehyung's rumbling voice shouted from the small distance, "Or I'll fucking kill you too for some peace and quiet, for fuck's sake!"

The boy, Suzo, winced at the man's sudden raised voice, a splash of fear rushing his skin while it absorbed the venom in the older's tone.

"S-Sorry.." he mumbled quietly. "I'm just trying to help. I didn't know you were in a gang before all this, but... These Acre guys clearly mean business if they have the balls to jump us at four in the morning.."

Taehyung wiped a stream of blood from his forehead, letting the drops splatter over the rug. "This is pissing me off. God, this is pissing me off so fucking much.."

Suzo stood at the floor step leading to the bathroom, watching the man in anticipation until, suddenly, the doorbell rang. Taehyung kept up his pacing and waved a hand in the air to gesture toward the boy.

"Go see who that is. Might be one of our Bangtan guys."

Suzo gulped inaudibly and nodded at the command, his shoes skidding across the floor to reach the entrance hall. He lifted himself on his toes, looked through the peephole to see quite the innocent-looking boy. With a shrug, he carefully swung the door open and peeked at the other male, brows furrowed.

"Are you from Bangtan..?" He said in a whisper.

Jeongguk looked at the boy with a slightly confused gaze because, who was this boy and why was he at Taehyung's apartment at four in the morning?

"U-Um.. Yeah.." he said in a small voice, feeling as though saying otherwise would only result in this guy slamming the door on his face. "Who are you..?"

"I'm Suzo," the guy said, moving to open the door wider for Jeongguk to step through. "And, um.. V's not really in a good mood right now so I'd be cautious if I were you."

Jeongguk looked at him with wide eyes.

V...

Come to think of it, this boy hadn't been the first to say such a name to him.

"I don't think I know his real name. He told me to call him V."

That's right. There was that one girl with the blue hair, waiting around school campus looking for a guy named 'V'.

So was this 'V' name just another alias for Taehyung...?

Jeongguk's lips slowly parted, but before he could think further on those thoughts, the boy was huffing out a loud breath.

"Shit. I need to go wash all this blood off.. Excuse me for a moment," Suzo muttered, turning to walk back into the bathroom before Jeongguk could even get a chance to ask what had happened. He merely watched from where he stood, slowly beginning to approach the living room while Suzo had swung the bathroom door shut.

Jeongguk looked around the still apartment while cautiously making his way forward, shivering as the ringing silence seeped into his bones.

He made the familiar walk towards Taehyung's bedroom, where the lamp was switched on and yet the room somehow remained dark.

"Taehyung..?" He spoke in a feeble voice, hands digging into his pockets where he'd hoped they'd keep warm. Once he reached the bedroom he spotted Taehyung concentrating on something on his phone, though when he sensed Jeongguk's appearance he looked up. The poor boy nearly crumbled under the man's void yet fierce gaze, an undeniable darkness looming within his pupils. Jeongguk would often find such dullness in those eyes, but tonight in particular felt much too intense for him.

"Jeon." That familiarly hefty voice snarled. "Why are you here?"

Jeongguk once again felt his throat run dry, taken aback by the older's cruel attitude despite having received a warning over it. Suddenly words were much too difficult to form over his tongue, though luckily for him he somehow managed to get a sentence out.

"Um.. I wanted to-... To talk to you..."

Taehyung's face remained stagnant. "Now's not a good time."

"If—!" Jeongguk blinked in surprise at his sudden outburst. But he allowed himself a moment to calm down before continuing. "If-... If I don't ask you about it now, then... I'm scared I never will, so..."

The man hummed, a sickening smile slowly stretching across his lips, and seeing such a sight made Jeongguk's body go rigid. He stood in silence as Taehyung belted out a wicked laugh.

"Is that so, hm?" The man slipped his phone back into his pocket and approached Jeongguk from where he stood beside the door. "What is it you want to ask me, then?"

Jeongguk felt his breaths grow weak at the male's close proximity. But he'd wavered over this for far too long, and he couldn't leave until he achieved what he'd set out to do.

"Your-... Your brother.." His voice almost trembled. "H... Hyukjae..."

A pause.

Silence fell over the room, followed by sudden, light clacking against the bedroom windows, and Jeongguk came to realize it had started raining. He didn't dare look up. Not at the window, and surely not at Taehyung. He let his gaze remain over the bedroom carpet where he felt it was most safe, although the stillness in the air was beginning to make his stomach churn.

Then, right over his ear, came Taehyung's rumbling voice.

"What are you talking about...?" He grunted in a lowered voice. "I don't have a brother." Jeongguk's eyes slowly enlarged at the sound of his vile tone. "Where the fuck... did you even hear such a thing?"

Jeongguk let out a quiet whimper, his feet instinctively took him back a couple steps away, and Taehyung only reached to grab his wrist harshly, pulling him closer to ensure he stayed right where he was.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going, hm?" Taehyung's eyes were now piercing straight into his soul. "I'm talking to you, little shit. Look at me."

Jeongguk flinched, quickly shaking his head sideways, his heartbeat accelerating by about a thousand miles an hour. He was scared. He regretted this. He wanted to go home.

"I said, look at me." Taehyung yelled suddenly, causing a shaky whine to leave Jeongguk's lips, wincing at the way the man's grip on his wrist had tightened. He dreadfully obeyed, raised his head to meet Taehyung's gaze, heart throbbing in dismay. "Who the fuck told you I had a brother?"

Jeongguk's jaw lowered, pupils dilated, brows lifted high.

"Y-... Y-You d-did..."

And that was it. That was all he had to say—the answer the older just couldn't accept from him.

Taehyung let go of the younger in one swift movement, shoved him back before he swung his hand at full force and slapped it harshly across Jeongguk's face. The impact had been so strong that the boy's head snapped immediately to the side, flinging him across the floor. Naturally, Jeongguk lost his balance, and went tumbling down violently toward the rough carpet.

The older stood there, a blank expression on his face, unfazed by the trickle of blood that began to seep from Jeongguk's nose.

"Something's fucking wrong with you.." Taehyung spoke in an eerily quiet voice. "Poor thing. You're fucked up in the head. That's probably why you like getting fucked by men, too." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and sniffled. "You're disgusting."

Jeongguk's jawbone dropped, a low whine leaving him as pain shot through his entire face. His hands scrambled to stabilize himself upon the floor, though his vision was quickly blurred by the tears that began to form in his eyes. He gulped back the cry that almost cracked through his vocal chords, a jolt of agony pulsing as he lifted his head to look up at the older with a miserable gaze.

A clap of thunder roared in the faraway distance.

And Taehyung looked back at him. The sinister shadow that shrouded his black eyes gradually began to clear upon seeing the helpless expression over Jeongguk's face.

A new consciousness pushed forward, once he'd come to realize what V had just done to the poor boy. For the first time in weeks, Taehyung had finally managed to take back control of his own body.

But much to his dismay, it was far too late to fix the damage already done.

✱