~아.. 아빠... 아무것도 아니에요...

   Taehyung crept into the house, relieved to find it lonely and silent. He kicked off his shoes and ran upstairs. As soon as he burst into his bedroom he whipped out his phone, thumbs quickly moving across the screen as he searched for a method the remove the permanent marker ink from his skin.

   Nail polish remover? That sounds good.

   He left his room, slipping into the bathroom to search in the small cabinet under the sink, clicking his tongue in satisfaction when he found what he was looking for. He drug out the clear bottle of acetone and unscrewed the cap with his thumb.

   Hurriedly, he tore off a piece of paper towel to pour out the chemicals on.

   Who knows when Dad will get home-

   He'd left the door of the bathroom open behind him. He didn't even notice the sound of his father behind him.

   "Taehyung, what are you doing?" The boy nearly jumped out of skin at the man's booming voice, an overly loud gasp breaking from his lips. He slapped a hand over his arm, doing his best to keep it out of the sight of the man looming over him, but his elbow knocked into the bottle of acetone, spilling most of it into the sink. He lunged for it and, in the process, showed off his rainbow-colored arm to his father.

   "D-dad.. Hi.."

   "What is that?" said the intimidating man, eyes resting on his son's arm.

   "It's nothing, I just drew it for fun during school," Taehyung answered, teeth chattering as he wiped his skin with the soaked paper towel. His father stared at him with an icy, unwavering gaze, silent. Taehyung wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

   Then, the man left the room without a word, returning to his bedroom. Taehyung brought his hands to his face, breathing heavily, eyes getting teary again.

   Dead. I'm dead. Life is over.

   He collected himself as much as possible, then slipped into his room as quietly as he could. Taehyung collapsed onto his bed, curling up. Tears streamed down his face as he laid alone. He considered tugging his phone out of his pocket, to ask Jimin if he could come over for a while, but immediately disregarded the thought. Jimin was visiting his grandparents.

   He closed his dripping eyes and pulled his knees in to his chest. He could still smell that sweet scent from earlier. He was still wearing Jeongguk's hoodie. It was comforting.

x

    Taehyung woke several hours later. The tears that soaked Jeongguk's hoodie had dried, leaving his cheeks stained. His room was nearly dark, and when he sat up to peer out the window, the sky was a marbled blue-black. He'd not meant to have fallen asleep, but now it was several hours later than when he'd closed his eyes.

   He didn't nap much, but when he did, his parents usually woke him up for dinner. But it was quite late for still not having dinner now. Even from downstairs, the distant hum of voices were clearly present, flowing from the living room.

   Taehyung gulped, tip-toeing across his carpet and silently slinking outside of the room, down the stairs. He hit a creaky board and winced, but the two speaking in another room didn't seem to notice. He snuck along the ivory wall, straining to listen to the conversation. His father had been speaking, but Taehyung couldn't pick up what he'd said.

    "Maybe it's nothing. Who knows? He likes bright colors. A rainbow could just be a rainbow." His mother's voice, now.

    "I don't think so. He seemed desperate to keep me from seeing it." Taehyung grimaced, nervously tugging the sleeves of the hoodie over his hands with his teeth.

   "Let's just wait and see what happens, alright?" The woman sighed.

   "I don't like this," the man grumbled, agitated.

   "No matter what, he's still our son."

   "I won't have my son be gay," his father growled. Taehyung was horrified; once again doing his best to hold back tears. The conversation ended there, with his mother leaving the room, and by the sound of her footsteps, she was headed toward Taehyung, in the kitchen.

   He disappeared around the corner, hurriedly rubbing the tears out of his eyes. He waited a moment before he took a shaky breath and stepped back into the room, this time without sneaking.

   His mother only looked at him, didn't wave, didn't quite smile. His father didn't acknowledge him at all. The boy looked down glumly, noticing the leftover food on the table. They hadn't called him down to eat, they'd just eaten without him, without a word. That hurt a bit.

   Though, Taehyung wasn't very hungry. He brushed past his mother and filled a glass with water, taking a few gulps to help his throat that had tightened as he tried to keep any tears from falling. His parents still didn't say a word to him as he put down the cup and left, trudging back upstairs.

   He flicked up the hood of the borrowed clothing and slipped his arms inside, hugging them to his chest, sighing heavily while he leaned against his bed. What could he do? Two choices: Convince his parents their child is straight, or be disowned.

   Taehyung chose the first option. He lamented over whether or not he should stop drawing on himself altogether, wear 'normal' clothes, pretend to be interested in anything dubbed as 'masculine'. But, as he mulled over all these decisions, a much better idea made its way into his thoughts, and and all he could say was:

   "It's perfect."