Twenty-Ninth
:Chapter Twenty-Nine:

"Taehyung! Get up!" The aforementioned jumped at the sound of banging and yelling voices. He blinked a few times, his fists going straight to his eyes to open them by rubbing circles into them.

Then another loud knock startled him, forcing him out of his bed and to his door where he forced it open, stunned to see Hoseok standing there, hair almost as messy as his own and eyes red and puffy.

"Hoseok?" Taehyung's voice was weak, brows furrowed.

"He died"

It didn't take a genius to figure out who Hoseok was talking about, Taehyung didn't need to ask who or question what Hoseok was talking about. He barely got any sleep thinking about it and here he was, standing in his black sweat pants and a baggy Marvel's T-shirt, hearing one of the worst things he could hear early in the morning.

Taehyung tried not to cry anymore, especially since Hoseok looked so bad and so deprived. He reached out and pulled his best friend into his chest, hearing the breaking sound of his best friend begin to sob.

The elder's head was buried deep into Taehyung's shoulder, arms tightly wrapped around his younger friend's small waist. His sobs were so broken, showing just how hard this was on him.

Hoseok knew Changmin for so long and Changmin seemed to be one of the only people who cared about him freshmen year when he first transferred to their school, when Hoseok already felt like an outcast.

Changmin was one of the coolest people Hoseok knew. He played baseball, football, helped with basketball. He never picked on or bullied anyone. Changmin could never be disliked and now he was dead.

Such a young soul that was thriving in academics and sports had passed on due to a car wreck and too much head trauma.

Taehyung hated that he started crying because he felt like he needed to be there for Hoseok.

Yes, it was his friend but Hoseok was much closer to Changmin. They all were close but nothing would explain the way Hoseok and Changmin had each other's backs before Taehyung came.

The two stood there in each other's arms, both upset to hear the passing of their close friend.

They had stood there until their legs hurt and they had to sit on Taehyung's bed.

They had cried until they couldn't cry anymore and tears were sticky and dried up on their flushed cheeks.

Now, it was silent and nothing but the occasional sniffle could be heard from both ends.

Taehyung had his back against the headboard while Hoseok sat on the very edge of the bed, back towards Taehyung and hunched forward.

"When . . ." Taehyung croaked. "When did they announce it?" He asked weakly.

It took Hoseok a moment before he even opened his mouth to speak, his voice feeling frail in his throat. "After we left, well, about an hour after we left him. They told me early this morning. It was the first notification I saw."

"Was he with his family?"

"They didn't tell me too much, just that his dad was in the room when he passed on and that it was an hour after we left." He answered, still not bothering to face Taehyung but there wasn't a reason why, just felt too stiff to put muscle into it. "Oh, and that, um, he had really bad bleeding and head trauma, just too much for his body to handle."

Taehyung hummed, playing with his fingers. He thought of the next thing he should say, piecing together a conversation so the silence wouldn't kill him any further. "Anyone message you?"

"Like, the guys?" Hoseok finally turned back, bags under his red eyes.

Taehyung nodded, meeting his gaze.

"Um, yeah, Jeongguk did before we saw Changmin and a bit later that night telling me he hoped we were okay." Hoseok thought some more. "Namjoon and Jimin also did, telling me they were there if I needed them. I couldn't bring myself to message them back, I just needed space." He answered finally before returning the question, asking if anyone had texted Taehyung.

The younger shrugged, looking to his left to see his phone resting on his nightstand. "It died when we were going to the hospital, I was afraid to turn it on. Should be fully charged but I haven't looked at any notification."

Hoseok stood up and went over to the nightstand, picking up the younger's phone. He picked it up and typed in the passcode, knowing it by heart since it was the day he and Jihyun got together.

He swiped down the top of the screen and began to read the notifications in his head. "Jihyun is such a sweet girl, she left you a bunch of messages hoping you're okay and safe and she hopes you slept well and had a good morning." He summarized, eyes also seeing the time.

It had been three hours since Hoseok arrived at Taehyung's house, time had flew right by and caused them to spend quite a bit of time together.

"And then messages from the others saying what they said to me, all besides Jeongguk but you don't have his number. He wished you well on my phone." Hoseok set the phone back down, looking back at Taehyung who slightly nodded through the whole thing, lips pressed tautly for a mere moment.

"What do we do? Should we text them back? We probably should but I . . . I just don't want to answer questions or deal with it. That sounds harsh, doesn't it? I sound so selfish." Taehyung groaned, shaking his head. It was an internal war going on, right versus left.

Hoseok knew what Taehyung was feeling. He placed the phone down and put all his attention on the younger boy. "Taehyung, it's not selfish of us to want time to ourselves after what we found out. I'm sure they'll understand why it took us so long to get back to them when we eventually open up about it."

"Just sucks. We just got to hang out and he's gone, really." Taehyung felt like crying again but his body had no more tears left to cry; feeling numb and empty.

"Yeah, it really does suck." Hoseok looked towards the window and sighed, slumping where he sat. It was grey rain clouds over both their heads, floating around in circles.

Taehyung could feel the mood just get worse and worse and he hated the feeling. He hated seeing Hoseok so out of it so he decided it would be best to bring back funny memories; memories of the trio and the ridiculous things they did together.

     "Do you remember when I first came here and Changmin would give me these dirty looks because he thought I was going to take you away from him?" Asked Taehyung, watching his older friend closely. "It wasn't anything too bad but he would get so jealous," and a smile spread over Taehyung's lips. "He looked like a protective boyfriend sometimes when it came to you."

"Too bad we both were straight." Hoseok too had a little smile of his own growing. "We would've been a cute couple."

"I don't care, I think you two had a secret relationship going on. He would feed you and baby you like you were his pride and joy." Taehyung added, watching Hoseok shake his head at the thought.

He released a soft chuckle. "What can I say? I do provide both pride and joy, really opened people's eyes."

"Whatever, loser." Taehyung laughed, straightening where he was sitting. "I'm just glad we all decided to be friends."

"Poly relationships are weird but we managed to make it work." Hoseok grinned, looking back over at his younger friend who was in the mist of rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, two straight guys and one bisexual. I'm not even fully gay and managed myself two boyfriends." The two shared a nice soft laugh together on that one, almost feeling a bit of happiness.

     They laughed and laughed, reminiscing over past memories that sprouted joy in both their hearts.

Eventually, it was silent and a weak sigh left both their mouths. It was suddenly all back to reality; the knowingness that those memories stopped there because the trio became a duo due to a fatal incident.

     "Want to go get snacks at the convenient store?" Taehyung inquired after a moment of killing silence. "We can eat our feelings away and get super fat."

"Not opposed to the idea but I don't want to get up." Hoseok answered, throwing himself back on the bed so he was laying down, eyes staring at the ceiling.

Taehyung hummed and stood up. "I can just drive down and get us some. We kind of have to eat, even if we don't feel hungry."

"It's either over eating or under eating so I guess it doesn't matter what we do." Hoseok closed his eyes, feeling Taehyung who was towering just a bit over the elder.

"I rather we eat." Taehyung told. "I'll be back in like five minutes give or take, 'kay?"

"Take your time." The elder lazily told, trying not to let his poor thoughts engulf him once more into the darkness of reality.

The blond-haired teen wish there was more to say but he sighed and left the comforts of his dull room.

He had mentioned to his mom what his plans were and she told him to hurry back and drive safely; a contradicting sentence if you asked Taehyung.

But, nevertheless, he grabbed his car keys and got to his vehicle, wasting little time since he didn't want to be out for too long.

Jeongguk held his brother's hand as the two walked back and forth the aisle of snacks, eyes tracing the dozens upon dozens of goodies to be picked from.

The older brother was holding a plastic basket in hand, already a few in the said basket.

Jaeyong picked up a small bag of gummy bears, looking over them and the assortment of colors. His favorites were the green ones, a rare favorite especially from a young child.

"Can I have these?" He showed the pouch up at Jeongguk who looked at them. "Is that what you want?" He asked back.

Jaeyong hummed and nodded sheepishly, not yet putting them in the bag. He didn't want to just throw them in without Jeongguk giving an okay.

The elder nodded, seeing happiness spread over his brother's face. He placed the pack of gummy bears into the basket after given a yes.

Jaeyong hummed and continued to look until his attention was tugged away when he heard something hit the floor. Not only that but it rolled over by his feet.

He released Jeongguk's hand, picking it up and looking ahead to see another boy who was looking back at him.

Jaeyong smiled and walked it over, giving it to the stranger with a kind smile.

"Thanks, kid." The stranger uttered.

But as suspected, Jeongguk knew that voice and looked up, seeing who he least expect to see. "Kim?" He spoke, the aforementioned looking back at him.

"Oh, Newbie." Taehyung already seemed displeased with who he happened to run into but he refused to shoot insults this earlier on. "Is this your brother?"

Jeongguk was surprised that he was being asked something considering who he was talking to but answered anyways. "Yeah, uh, this is Jaeyong."

"He's cute. Hoseok talks about him sometimes and how polar opposites you and him are." Taehyung looked away and placed the Pringles in his own plastic basket.

"Speaking of Hoseok, what happened yesterday?" Jeongguk cut right in, feeling as he was stepping a bit too close when it came to conversation. It wasn't right to ask yet here he was, making his brother wait so he could partake in a conversation with the last person he expected.

It was a moment of silence, Taehyung not looking at Jeongguk. He sighed and shook his head, grabbing another thing of chips. "It's personal but um, a friend of ours . . ." He trailed off, feeling his emotions already start up. Damn, how he knew he should've stayed home. They could've starved instead.

Jeongguk could see by the reaction that whatever it was wasn't good. He frowned, not liking it when anyone appeared this upset, not even Taehyung. "I'm sorry to hear," he said softly. "I know it's a shitty thing to say but I hope you and him get well, take some time off from whatever just to cope."

Taehyung nodded but didn't speak. Instead, he placed a few more things in the basket and walked away. He knew his voice would crack and break if he spoke up.

"Why he sad?" Jaeyong asked, feeling bad for the stranger.

Jeongguk bent a bit over and grabbed his brother, picking him up and holding him in his empty arm. "His friend left him, he just misses him, Bubby."

Jaeyong held onto Jeongguk, eyes already finding the sad teenager who was waiting in line to pay for his high-calorie snacks. "Can we be his friend?" He asked. "We won't leave him."

"We'll have to ask if he wants to be friends, he might not want to." Jeongguk said and walked out of the snack isle, heading behind Taehyung to stand in line.

Jeongguk didn't say anything but that didn't mean Jaeyong wouldn't speak up.

"Me and Goo can be your new friends." Jaeyong said, making Taehyung turn around and look at the younger boy in his brother's arms.

Jeongguk now could see how red Taehyung's eyes and nose were, how pale he looked to be. He definitely was crying and for awhile too.

"Your Goo doesn't like me, kid, I don't think he wants to be friends with me." Taehyung answered. He wanted to smile but it was forced back. "But I'll be your friend."

"Goo nice! Goo wants to be friends! Tell him, Gooie!" Jaeyong looked at his brother expectantly, grinning at the thought of making a new friend.

Taehyung looked at Jeongguk with a bored look. After hearing not much, he turned away and walked forward, being his turn now. He placed the basket on the counter and began to unload it.

"Goo!" Jaeyong whined, pointing at the back of Taehyung's head.

Jeongguk hated this but he quickly stepped up beside Taehyung, he as well setting his basket down. "Can you ring both these up? I'll be paying."

Never in a million of years would either of these boys think Jeongguk would pay for Taehyung but here he was, looking for his wallet which was in his back pocket.

"You don't have to," Taehyung said, confusion deep within his vowels.

Jeongguk didn't say anything, pulling his wallet out and grabbing some money to pay for the snacks.

     Each boy got a bag of their junk food, both walking out of the convenient store together. It was quiet and rather awkward, Taehyung deciding he should be first to speak to break the silence they were deep in.

"Thanks, you didn't need to do that though." Taehyung said, still in a wave of shock.

"Ah, well, when you have a brother that says otherwise, kind of have to." Jeongguk chuckled awkwardly.

Jaeyong slipped down from his brother's hold and walked over to Taehyung, looking up at him. "So, can you be our friends? Goo nice, I told you!" He smiled.

Taehyung almost couldn't help the smile that crossed his features, showing such pretty aspects to his face. He forgot what he was so upset about temporarily, the young kid really bringing him more joy than he imagined a child could.

The eldest boy got down on one knee and looked at the boy. "I'll be your friend, kid. My name's Taehyung but your Gooie over here calls me Kim."

"Yay!" Jaeyong threw his arms around Taehyung and gave him a tight squeeze, hugging him close. "We won't leave you, promise!"

Taehyung had appeared to be hesitant but he placed his bag down and carefully wrapped his arms around the kid, feeling his bottom lip tremble. "Thanks, kid."

"Jaeyong, I hate to ruin your moment with your friend but dad's waiting and I don't want him to get too worried now." Jeongguk interrupted, making Jaeyong pull back.

"See you later, Taerung!" Jaeyong waved his hand and returned to Jeongguk's side, the two beginning to walk away to get back home.

Taehyung watched their backs, his smile falling into a line. He sighed and continued on with his day like nothing happened at the convenient store.

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A/N:

Nothing like a cute four-year-old making friends! Let's just sit and appreciate this chapter for what its done.