Taehyung doesn't know anything about the friend Yoongi takes him to. Well, nothing isn't quite true either. Yoongi calls him hyung so he must be older than both of them. He's about Taehyung's height and his name is Seokjin. Furthermore, the mysterious Seokjin-hyung is the owner of the cozy café Yoongi works at.

Taehyung doesn't feel really well as they enter a lighter part of downtown. Green trees are lining the streets here and the apartment complexes look nicer, not as rundown as they do where Yoongi lives. They stop in front of a nice three-story building and Yoongi rings the doorbell.

"Come right up," A voice speaks over the intercom and Taehyung feels himself relax a little. The guy sounded friendly. The opposite of what Yoongi looks like right now. His glare almost makes Taehyung shiver but beneath the sharp gaze, he could detect nervousness, insecurity in the elder's eyes. It's kind of weird. At first, he had thought he would have Yoongi figured out pretty easily, a cold person, an asshole. But then the elder went and took him in – twice – and his view changed drastically. He supposes that Yoongi is only someone who heavily guards himself, someone who wants to appear as strong and confident while it's, in reality, hard for him to even express the simplest feelings.

It's like there are high walls build around the elder and once Taehyung thinks he catches a glance at the real person behind those walls Yoongi manages to slip through his fingers once again. There are moments where he looks weak, where his walls lower but these are rare. Small snippets of genuine smiles directed at his family, laughter louder than Taehyung could have imagined and a warmth emitting from him that he deemed impossible after seeing the coldness the elder surrounds himself with. It's kind of sad – the way Yoongi does everything humanly possible to make life as easy and fun for his family, especially his cousins, while totally ignoring himself along the line.

"Behave," Yoongi hisses but his voice doesn't carry any spite nor real annoyance. It's like a plea. Taehyung mutely nods and follows him up the stairs. The hallways are clean and bright, windows huge and letting sun inside. It looks cozy with show racks in front of almost every door, shoes aligned perfectly or in a perfect mess of children and larger shoes.

They stop in front of a door with a floral wreath hanging from it. There's even a doormat with a cursive written welcome on the floor. Yoongi has barely knocked one time when the door practically flies open and Taehyung quickly takes a step back. His heart is in his throat, hammering too fast to be normal and he suddenly feels nervous again – scared even. Maybe this has been a very bad idea.

"Hello Yoongi and Yoongi's friend," Seokjin says and his eyes trail up and down Taehyung's slightly shaking form. The male looks nice, he has wide shoulders and an inviting smile. He's taller than Yoongi and even an inch or so taller than Taehyung himself.

"His name's Taehyung," Yoongi says and the younger is eternally thankful because he doesn't know if there would be any chance that a coherent sentence would leave his lips right now. He feels more than intimidated by the other male and it's just weird. Meeting Yoongi's friend. Maybe he'll judge him? Maybe he doesn't want anything to do with him once he finds out who Taehyung is? This has been a bad idea. He wants to leave again, like right now.

Seokjin looks expectantly at him and only then does Taehyung notice the hand extended towards him. His face instantly flushes red with embarrassment as he takes the other's hand. "Nice to meet you," he mumbles, eyes cast towards the floor and, wow, very pink socks on the feet of Seokjin. The eldest male laughs as he shakes Taehyung's hand and honestly, he doesn't look intimidating at all but Taehyung can't help the scared feeling bubbling up in his chest. He's normally good with new people but that has been before he lost everything that had defined him for all his life.

"I'm Seokjin and I have to say... you look kind of familiar," The eldest says and squints his eyes, he still hasn't let go of Taehyung's hand.

"Yeah, I..." He trails off, worrying his bottom lip. This is what he's been dreading. Seokjin will recognize him and then he'll hate him. Then he'll tell Yoongi to get him away. He'll –

"Oh! The actor, right?!" He exclaims and Taehyung's heart drops. The excited expression on Seokjin's face upon recognizing him changes quickly though. And to the youngers surprise, it isn't replaced by disgust or something similar. Instead, he looks a little awkward with that sympathetic smile on his lips. "Ah, I knew it. You're the one with the..."

"Well," Yoongi clears his throat, drawing the attention away from Taehyung who feels like crying, "He doesn't have a place to stay at the moment so he's living with me. Actually, I was hoping we could get a few of your old clothes? Just things you don't need anymore. We'll go and hit Namjoon up too but your place is closer."

"Clothes?" Seokjin asks confused and he finally drops the younger's hand.

"Yeah, Taehyung needs some and we're not really in a position to buy some and I thought, I have such great friends with huge closets who would definitely help out someone in need with a hoodie and pants, y'know?" Yoongi laughs awkwardly, scratching behind his right ear but there's a playful glint in his eyes.

"And Yoongi's things don't fit me," Taehyung finds himself saying before even thinking about it and he almost slaps his own hand over his mouth in shock. He quickly glances at both of the other males faces and searches for the damage he might have done with this.

"What did I say about behaving?" Yoongi asks but he's smiling.

"Let the kid be, Yoongi," Seokjin laughs and pulls Taehyung inside, one arm hanging over the younger males shoulder as he pushes him forwards. Yoongi follows them while disbelievingly shaking his head. "I like you already, come on, we'll find you something. I hope you like pink."

-

Taehyung returns home with a few clothes and is already wearing his new favorite piece, a huge rose-colored hoodie whose sleeves reach past his fingertips and ends almost in the middle of his thighs. Another addition to his clothes is the comfortable sweatpants Namjoon gave him even though it has a small hole at the right knee Taehyung has been more than thankful.

Meeting Namjoon was a lot like meeting Yoongi's other friend. He lives in a smaller apartment full of books and technology which Taehyung has no idea of the use. But he's also very nice and neither of Yoongi's friends had acted awkward towards him once they learned who he is or rather, what he was. They were welcoming, nice and overly friendly. Something Taehyung needs to get used to. It's weird, everyone he met since he came to Yoongi was different from all the people he met previously in his life. Neither of those people were as friendly and selfless as Yoongi's friends and acquaintances.

But this isn't what he's worried about at the moment. The problem he's faced with is in the cellar of Yoongi's apartment complex and develops into an even bigger mystery with every passing second.

Taehyung has followed the elder male down the stairs with a basket full of laundry, including his own dirty clothes. There were two washing machines in a cellar room where ropes lined the ceiling and laundry dried on them. The machines look old but similar to the one Taehyung had at his old apartment but that doesn't mean he has any idea how to work with them. Yoongi has stepped back and lets him figure things out on his own. A bad idea if someone were to ask him. But no one does.

At least he knows where the clothes go in and that he has to close the door. Been there, done that but now he's clueless. There are buttons and settings and symbols and things Taehyung doesn't understand. The detergent has to go somewhere too, right?

"How the hell does this machine even work?" He curses under his breath as he eyes the different options in front of him. He slightly twists the biggest button so it's pointing at one of the settings. The display to the left shows now a time but he has no idea why.

Yoongi shakes his head as he crouches down next to him. "I mean, sure, these washing machines are old and do have a few quirks but you really have no fucking idea how to work with this, right?" He sounds like he expected more from Taehyung. Well, sorry to disappoint.

"Not to sound too rich or something but I've never even loaded a dishwasher in my life," Taehyung sighs, there's a small smile on his lips, a playful one, "I don't even know where the washing machine in my apartment was. I mean, I had someone do the chores for me. My dirty clothes vanished and then they appeared in my closet again, clean."

"You're unbelievable," Yoongi chuckles before pushing him lightly to the side. He starts pointing at the different buttons on the machine and Taehyung tries to follow his explanation, "Come on, I'll show you... You turn this, right here... push this button down... the detergent goes in there and then you close the door and press start."

Taehyung warily tries to do exactly what Yoongi says. He takes the detergent and puts it inside the machine, twists the button to the setting Yoongi just showed him and pushes the button he doesn't know the use of. He quickly glances at the elder to make sure he did everything right before he presses start.

"It's not starting."

"It's because the door's not properly closed," Yoongi shrugs as he nods at the machine.

"How can it be closed even further?" Taehyung's sure he properly closed it. Like, there are only two options and the door definitely isn't open at the moment.

"You just have – You have to be gentle and – " Yoongi gently pushes Taehyung aside before he kicks against the door, hard. Very hard and not gentle at all. The machine rumbles for a few seconds and then it starts.

"Gentle... I see," Taehyung smiles up at the elder's smug grin. There's a weird fluttery feeling in his stomach but he chooses to ignore it in favor of staring at Yoongi for a second longer.

"So, we need to get you a job, we can't afford a freeloader here," Yoongi says the second they settle down at the table again.

"Of course." Taehyung knew that. He was totally aware of the fact that he just couldn't expect Yoongi to let him live here without doing anything himself and the elder made more than clear what he wanted from him last night. He still feels nervous about it though. Apart from acting he never had a job. He doesn't even have, like, any experience with interviews or shit like that. He basically knows nothing about work, at all. What could he even work as? He has zero qualifications and zero experience – who would even want to hire someone like him. Especially after knowing who he is.

Even though that issue has been kind of not that big. At least not as big as Taehyung imagined it would be. The first weeks, the weeks after he got kicked out and all those articles about him were written were bad. But all this hype about him died down, he doesn't look like he used to. He knows he's gotten thinner, his hair longer and not blonde anymore, his style changed and people weren't looking twice at him anymore. He was like a regular guy walking through downtown. No one special anymore. But there are still those occasions where people will try to take pictures of him or start whispering to their friends the second he passes by them. He hopes that one day he'll be able to just live.

He must say those past weeks he spent on the streets wasn't the best but he felt liberated. Not constantly being in the spotlight is something he never expected to be so calming.

"I can – There's a girl at Seokjin's café who wants to quit to focus on college," Yoongi interrupts his thoughts as he scratches behind his right ear – Taehyung has seen him doing that a lot when he seems nervous, mostly when he was around the elder, "We can align your shifts the way that I'll be the one to break you in on how things work around here."

Taehyung doesn't even need to think about it. "I would actually love this," he exclaims, averting his eyes instantly because of his obvious eagerness. It would be so much easier for him to get the hang of things if he has Yoongi guiding him until he would be able to do things on his own. The anxiety from before slowly rolls off his shoulders.

"Okay, I can talk to Seokjin and we'll see," Yoongi says and there's a tiny smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Taehyung finds it so endearing that he can't help but mirror it, only bigger. And more rectangular.

-

Yoongi has thought he was a genius for suggesting that Taehyung would work along with him but the downside to all of this is that he's now constantly and he means constantly without any exception surrounded by the younger male. This is nothing bad per se, he's grown accustomed to Taehyung over the past week that he spent with him but it seems like Taehyung has too.

And an accustomed Taehyung is a loud Taehyung. He reminds him a lot of Jiae with the way he never seems to be able to sit still, attracts and actually demands sometimes all of the attention from everyone around him and his smile and laugh are so fucking addicting that Yoongi can't help but smile or laugh along.

Again, this is nothing bad per se but Yoongi really starts feeling on edge. It's been quite some time since he lost his temper which might have to do with the absence of a certain group of guys which is kind of suspicious because they seek Yoongi out almost regularly. Anyway, now that he's stuck with Taehyung all the time, even when he's sleeping, he has no time alone and that sets him off.

He's just used to at least have the nights to calm down from the rush of the day, to collect his mind and be away from conversations, noise, and other people. But now there's always a warm body next to him, another person breathing in his so much needed silence and there's always touching. Even if it's just a foot against his leg. He needs his space sometimes. Tonight again he found himself breathing harshly, tears of frustration gathered in his eyes as he fought against the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

He watches from the side as Taehyung leans on the counter, head tipped to the side as he smiles at the two blushing female customers in front of him. Once the two leave, still blushing bright red and giggling to themselves he makes his way over to the smug grinning male.

"You know," He asks, "You have to actually work and not flirt with every customer in front of you? Just be polite and get this over with as soon as possible."

"But no one's complaining," Taehyung smiles at him and Yoongi forces himself not to give in to that smile. The problem is, he totally understands the girls. When Taehyung wants to he'll make you blush with one glance and a simple twitch of his lips. It's ridiculous and Yoongi totally tries ignoring it.

"Yet," He adds.

"You're just jealous the customers like me better than you already," Taehyung sticks his tongue out at him and he thinks he should be offended or irritated but he's... not? There's no malice behind Taehyung's words. No intention to make fun of him or hurt him or anything else. It's just a joke. A joke and nothing more. Somehow Yoongi finds himself laughing as he flips him off. Taehyung laughs along and this might be the first time he actually heard the younger's loud and real laugh. Somehow it makes something in Yoongi's stomach tingle.

-

Living with Taehyung doesn't really cause any other inconveniences in Yoongi's life. And neither of his family members complain about the presence of another man. It has been only two weeks but Taehyung has grown to become a reliable member of the family and sometimes Yoongi thinks Jiae likes the younger more than him.

"Hey, leave a bit for Yoongi." He's snapped out of his thoughts – and from staring at Taehyung who is quietly talking to Chul – by his aunt and he looks away from the two. (Yoongi would have never guessed that his introverted and really shy cousin would so quickly open up to basically a complete stranger but he has taken a liking to Taehyung from the very first day. And it's very hard to get Chul to hold a whole conversation with you but Taehyung seems to be an expert.) "He hasn't had his first portion yet," His aunt slightly scolds Jiae who is reaching for the last of the food on the table.

"It's alright," Yoongi quickly interjects before she could even start to pout, "I already ate at the café, you can have it." The feeling of his empty stomach gets overshadowed by the beaming face of his younger cousin.

The other's quickly avert their attention to something else than this small incident but Yoongi can feel the intense stare of Taehyung on him and his empty plate. He knows that Taehyung knows. After all, they're together almost all the time and Taehyung knows that Yoongi definitely hasn't eaten at the café. But he doesn't mention it.

Not when they sit at the table, not afterward when they play with his cousins and not before going to bed. But when Yoongi arrives in his room after his shower he finds Taehyung breathing steadily already, eyes shut and chest moving slowly up and down. This is nothing new, Taehyung is able to fall asleep almost on command. No, what's different is the cupcake in the middle of the room.

The cupcake Yoongi knows belongs to Taehyung. He knows it because he remembers Seokjin gifting it to him today.

"Just eat it," Taehyung whispers and Yoongi almost jumps from the shock. Seems like the younger isn't asleep yet. He considers arguing with him but then his stomach growls loudly and he feels another wave of slight nausea hit him and he just doesn't find it in himself to struggle against this act of kindness.

Neither of them addresses this incident the next day.

-

"Okay guys," Seokjin motions at them to all gather around him at the counter, "I counted the tip jar, who wants their share?"

It's a typical evening and they're about to close the café – Seokjin, Taehyung, Yoongi and the quiet college boy who rarely talks. Distributing the tips evenly under his staff has always been a thing Seokjin did. The quiet boy raises his hand and receives a third of the money inside of the jar and a comforting pat on the shoulder once he mumbled about having to finish a paper until tomorrow. He bids goodbye like he always does, a wordless nod towards them.

"So, none of the early shift guys wanted the tips so I'm leaving them to you two," Seokjin smiles, placing the money on the counter before he throws Yoongi the key. It's Thursday and everyone knows Seokjin wants to be home on time for his favorite cooking show so Yoongi is responsible for locking up – especially convenient because he'll start the early shift tomorrow and can easily open up too.

"I don't need them," Taehyung says while worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

"Tae," Yoongi knows his voice has taken on a warning edge. With good reason. He knows Taehyung noticed that most of the time all the tips get left for Yoongi because everyone kind of knows he needs the money the most. Yoongi had stopped arguing with them after the first two weeks working at the café. But that Taehyung does it too makes him feel uneasy. "You can take your half. Most of the money is because of you anyway. How are you supposed to save enough money to be independent if you give things like this away?"

"But – "

"I take no buts," Yoongi interrupts him harshly as he slides the notes over the counter, "You take your half and save it. Don't you dare use it for something for my family or me. This is yours. You already pay money from your income for rent and food but you have to save something for yourself too. That's very important. Especially if you don't have much."

"You never save something for yourself," Taehyung says matter-of-factly and okay, critical hit towards Yoongi's argumentation but he has other people to worry about. For him, it's more like denying himself a lot of things in order to provide for his family rather than saving money for himself. He can't think like that but Taehyung can.

"That's because I have a family to feed," He explains, "You are a person who wants to become independent and that means you have to provide for yourself. You better learn it early."

-

Yoongi's eyes jump to the clock hanging above their entryway for the tenth time in the last five minutes. It's midday. His and Taehyung's day off. It's midday and Taehyung hasn't left the mattress yet. Not even once. Yoongi felt generous and let the other sleep in because he had really worked hard the last week but this is unusual.

Very unusual for the younger because normally, he couldn't sit still for three seconds and he was often up way before Yoongi. A morning person. So, it's unusual and weird for him to still haven't emerged from the other's room and to be honest, Yoongi is starting to get really worried. Maybe Taehyung fell sick overnight?

He spends another three minutes contemplating if he should go and check up on him or not. He feels the stares of his family on him and he understands them. What a picture, he's sitting at the table folding laundry – supposedly folding laundry but instead, he just watches his own bedroom door with a scary intensity. In the end, he can't take it anymore and gets up.

He lightly knocks on the door before he enters. "Hey, Taehyung –" He doesn't see him at first, too busy balancing the laundry basket on his hip while lightly kicking the door shut behind himself. "I know it's your day off but it's like midday and – Taehyung?"

He stops talking once his eyes are able to identify the lump on the mattress as the younger male. The darkness of the room doesn't really help him. Taehyung is laying in the middle of the mattress, blanket pulled up all the way under his chin as he keeps staring motionless at the ceiling. Yoongi knows he must have heard him but the other doesn't react to him at all. He doesn't even blink and if it wouldn't be for the barely there raise of the younger's chest under the blanket Yoongi would have feared that he died.

"Taehyung?" He tries getting the younger's attention again but he still doesn't move an inch. "Taehyung, is everything alright?"

He doesn't respond but at least this time he reacts to the elder's words. Even though it's really not something to calm Yoongi's nerves. It makes the sinking feeling in his stomach only worse than before. Taehyung slowly moves his head to catch Yoongi's eyes and the sadness, the pure and raw desperation inside of them almost knocks the air out of the elder's lungs. He drops the basket to the floor and rushes to Taehyung's side, carefully kneeling next to him as a single tear makes its way over the younger's cheek and makes a small damp spot appear on the blanket.

"I don't... feel good," Taehyung's voice cracks and it sounds so weak, so defeated. He didn't even sound that desperate back when Yoongi took him in the first and second time. The first thing coming to Yoongi's mind after hearing those words is that Taehyung must be hurt somewhere. He must have hurt himself and needs help.

"You gotta tell me what's wrong," Yoongi pleads in a soft voice as he carefully tugs the loose strands of hair behind the younger's ear. Taehyung only sobs wetly and curls in on himself, as if he's trying to hide from Yoongi.

"I don't feel good at all, to be honest... I don't know when the last time was that I felt good – happy. I just, I..." It's like a dam breaks as tears just continue flowing down the younger's cheeks like waterfalls and with no end in sight. Yoongi is left to stare at him in confusion. He wants to help him, his own heart hurts just looking at the broken boy in front of him and seeing tears on his face is a sight he had almost forgotten.

His own chest tightens as he awkwardly pets the other's head in an attempt to soothe him but it only manages to make him cry even harder. Taehyung stumbles over his heartwrenching sobs, choking on short breaths he tries drawing in one after another while the pillow under him dampens quickly with salty tears.

"Taehyung..." Yoongi feels so helpless. So out of place as he watches the boy cry. This isn't one of his cousins and it's neither his uncle or aunt. This is Taehyung, the boy who had always worn a ridiculous smile on his face since he grew accustomed to his new surroundings and its people. He doesn't know how to handle this Taehyung. He feels utterly helpless and it frustrates him. He just needs to know what's going on. Taehyung just has to freaking tell him or else he won't be able to help him.

"Hey," He speaks extra softly, trying not to agitate the younger even further, "What is going on?"

It takes Taehyung a few minutes to calm down enough to breathe properly again. The sobbing has almost completely died down but the tears are still steadily leaking out of his empty brown eyes. Yoongi continues stroking his hair even when Taehyung starts speaking, the petting seems to soothe him because he has started pressing back against the hand. Almost like a cat.

"I don't – " He coughs loudly before his teary eyes lock onto Yoongi's again. "I don't... I don't have my pills anymore..."

"What pills?" Yoongi has a feeling where this is going to and it doesn't help the unsettling sensation spreading through his body.

"Antidepressants... " Taehyung's voice is low and scratchy from the crying, Yoongi almost doesn't catch the mumbled word.

"Are you depressed?" He instantly wants to slap himself because, seriously? He always knew he became more than awkward confronted with an overflow of emotions, especially when there were tears of other people involved but oh god. He didn't just seriously ask Taehyung if he was depressed after the younger told him he usually swallows antidepressants? How stupid can he become? Is this level of stupidity and insensitivity even allowed? Taehyung doesn't look too offended though.

"Obviously," He chuckles hollowly and quickly wipes at his still slightly dripping eyes, "I mean, it shouldn't be surprising."

Yoongi sees the turmoil flashing over the other's face. He wants to tell him it's okay, it's okay to talk to him. Yoongi wants to listen, he wants to know the things Taehyung keeps hidden from everyone around him. He wants to know why the younger is the way he is because there are always things not making sense with the way he sometimes acts. Yoongi wants to find out why. He wants to know to be able to help Taehyung. But the question is, does Taehyung even want help? His help?

Yoongi's gaze shifts to the younger's hand which is tightly grasping the blanket around him. So tight that his knuckles turn white and before he even finishes thinking about it he reaches out to untangle the fingers and intertwine them with his own. Taehyung looks surprised for a second before another sob escapes his lips and he squeezes Yoongi's hand in a silent thanks. This seems to tip him over the edge and he starts to spill.

"I've grown up in a house without love and with expectations, I couldn't meet placed on my shoulders since I've been able to think," Taehyung sniffles and Yoongi starts to unconsciously draw circles on the back of Taehyung's hand with his thumb, "Taehyung, get better grades. Taehyung, don't laugh so loud. Taehyung, behave yourself. Taehyung stop crying, real men don't cry. Taehyung, stop being such a disappointment. Taehyung, go and make us proud and don't you dare disappoint again. Taehyung, why can't you be more like the other, successful people your age? Taehyung, why can't you do anything right?"

His voice has climbed up a few octaves as he's been retelling those things. Yoongi's own heart clenches as he listens to the things Taehyung had to hear from his parents. He couldn't even imagine his own parents or his aunt or uncle ever saying things like that. There's definitely no surprise that Taehyung hasn't been used to the way things were working around here when he grew up under kinds of those circumstances.

"I just – I made my parents proud for like a day and then I started acting up because I thought, hey, I finally have something for myself but I didn't. I thought once I made my acting debut everything would get better but it never did," He sighs, closing his eyes and grimaces as if it actually physically hurts to remember these times, "I had my own thing with acting but they never stopped pestering me and I never got rid of their voices in the back of my head. I just wanted to break out of the cage they had locked me in for all my life. I fell into alcohol, drugs, parties, sex – you name the rebellious act, I did it. I destroyed myself but while I was doing it – it felt good. It felt real. Life – I felt more real when I was drunk or high."

He started to cry during his talking again and Yoongi quietly wipes his cheeks with his free hand. Taehyung doesn't even seem to register the feeling of the other male's fingers against his reddening skin.

"I tried to forget and lost myself, actually," He draws in a shuddering breath, squeezing Yoongi's hand again, "I lost myself the second I tried to please my parents. I'm an emotionless robot, I'm a failure, a disappointment and now I'm not even that to my parents anymore – I'm basically dead to them."

"Taehyung..." Yoongi doesn't know what to say. All these information overwhelm him slightly but what he does know is that he wants to take the pain in Taehyung's voice away – He just has no idea how he's supposed to do that.

"I'm sorry," Taehyung lets go of Yoongi in order to wipe his face with both of his hands, basically hiding behind them, "You probably don't even want to hear this – I'm just – "

"Stop, stop doing this," Yoongi quickly interrupts him, prying his hands away from his swollen face to force him to look into his own eyes – seeing the sincerity in them, "I want to hear and I want to help. Taehyung, you're not a stranger in this house. You're not a stray we've picked up and chose to keep. You're part of the family now. You're part of my family."

Taehyung stares at him for a tense second and Yoongi deeply hopes that he hasn't overstepped a line or something but then the younger just starts to wail again. His whole face scrunches up and tears flow down his already wet cheeks again. His red and swollen eyes are closed, there's snot dripping from his nose and his hands tremble as they tightly hold Yoongi as if he never ever wants to let go again – and even though he looks pretty ugly right now Yoongi's heart skips a beat and the elder fears the reason why. He pushes that thought to the very back of his mind as he tries to smile down at Taehyung.

"Go and shower and then we can lay down again, alright?" He softly asks, letting himself smile genuinely as Taehyung nods in agreement and manages to get up. Yoongi gives him a change of clothes and instantly slumps on the mattress once the younger has left the room.

This definitely clears things up. Things that seemed weird about Taehyung at first, about his personality and his weird switches. One second he's nice and thankful and the next he talks like a snobbish rich again but it's starting to all make sense now.

Yoongi almost feels bad for the way he treated him in the beginning – scratch that, he definitely feels bad now. He's been acting like a complete asshole because he assumed Taehyung wasn't any different from the average rich and obnoxious people who think they're better than everyone else. Okay, he can kind of excuse his behavior towards him the first time they met. Taehyung had been drunk – he should have taken this into consideration before assuming this was the way he normally acted too – and dumping the cup of coffee all over his head had definitely been an overreaction on Yoongi's side. As much as he hated to do that but he had to blame that on his temper – he regretted doing it the second he had cooled down again but there was nothing he could have done. Apart from apologizing when he met Taehyung again but Yoongi quickly silences the voice who keeps telling him that.

He had taken Taehyung for someone who only thinks about money, who never had to work for anything, a person who never had to ask for anything because everything had gotten handed to him on a silver platter. This kind of explained the embarrassment visible on the younger's face and in the way he acted as he desperately asked Yoongi to let him sleep at his apartment for one night. Yoongi had just assumed the younger had acted so weirdly because he never had to ask for help and especially not form someone like Yoongi but that wouldn't have explained the way he acted at the apartment.

He was almost shy, so out of place in a family. Yoongi hadn't understood. He never understood why Taehyung looked like he was in a movie, he had assumed it was because he wasn't used to living under these conditions but the younger had seemed extra uncomfortable as soon as they were in a family setting. Like he never had something like a family around him. Now it makes sense, kind of at least.

Embarrassed and unwilling because he was taught to never show his weak side to another person. He was taught to look down on people like Yoongi because they were worthless. He didn't understand how a family worked like Yoongi's did because his own hadn't been close to acting caring and loving. He wasn't used to getting something without another thing in exchange. He wasn't used to kindness. It isn't even that he isn't used to doing a lot of things because he's been rich his whole life but being confused by things like setting the table together because you actually enjoy eating together.

Taehyung had been more than wary about meeting Yoongi's neighbors and especially his friends. No wonder that he's been like that. His friends weren't interested in him, they were interested in his status and none of them were willing to associate themselves with him once he lost everything he had before and really needed their help. It must have been devastating for him to find out that he actually has no one. That he's all alone in this world. A world he had always seen through money and now he has been suddenly confronted with the coldness, the sharp edges and the betrayal of its reality.

It must have been weird to see people who had by his definition nothing to smile and laugh like they had everything in the world. And over the last three weeks, he's grown into it too. Laughing and smiling at them so much that Yoongi never even once considered that Taehyung could carry such a heavy weight on his heart, such a sadness inside of his chest.

There's no wonder Taehyung acts like he does, he said it himself, he never really got rid of the voices of his parents in the back of his mind and sometimes they win over him and he finds himself saying things and acting a certain way he actually doesn't want to. Like the day after Yoongi let him stay, it must be some kind of coping mechanism by now. Acting all strong and tough, degrading people who weren't like him just because it's the way he's expected to act. The way he got taught to act, the way he needed to be to even gain any kind of recognition from his parents. He's acting like that to hide what he's really like. Hiding his sadness, his pain – his weaknesses from everyone, even from himself.

Yoongi wants him to be free. Maybe he can help him to finally overcome the things holding him back because Taehyung is actually such a nice and unique person who deserves happiness and freedom like any other do. He's a bird that has been locked inside of a cage for most of its life. A cage where it had been trained to be a certain way and now it doesn't have any idea what to do. He's a bird that needs help getting out of his cage even though the door is already opened, he needs help because no one ever taught him how to fly. Yoongi wants to teach him, even if he has to throw him down a roof in the process because, in the end, it'll only help him. He needs someone who forces him to be the him he really wants to be.

Yoongi is still laying on the mattress when the door opens again and Taehyung carefully tiptoes inside of the room. His hair his all wet and messed up, long strands hanging in front of his still slightly swollen and red eyes. But he looks better. He doesn't dare meet the elder's eyes as he shuffles next to him on the mattress. Without any further ado, Yoongi wraps his arms around the younger. The boy stiffens. But he relaxes quickly into the other's hold and after a few quiet minutes his breath evens out.

Yoongi wants to see him fly.