Their lives were going back to normal.

You would’ve thought it would take some time for them to get used to Jin again, but that didn’t happen. The moment he crossed the door, everything fell back into place. Jin was the missing piece of a puzzle, and there was no way someone else could ever fill his spot.

His room at their home was almost untouched, mainly because Yoongi was the only one who could manage to sleep there –and that was only because he could manage to sleep everywhere–. He was the only one who could get in his room without bursting into tears, and that was a mystery, because Yoongi was the type to cry silently anyway.

His kitchen would’ve looked like a mess if it wasn’t for Jungkook. He was the youngest, but he used to clean here and there because the only idea of living in a dirty house disgusted him to death. Plus, he was the one who cooked the most, causing him to grow slightly attached to the little magic place.

Jungkook still had to go through a small scolding from Jin, but it was nothing unbearable. Jungkook nodded and sincerely promised not to let something ‘like that’ happen again, and Jin ruffled his hair before letting him go. But still, they had to fake a little scene for Yoongi’s sake.

“Jeon Jungkook,” Jin scowled, his throat almost hurt from how loud his voice was. “You’re grounded for an entire month!”

Jungkook nodded and covered his mouth with his hand, hoping his laughter wasn’t audible for anyone else but them.

“Yoongi heard, right?” Jin whispered. Of course Jin wouldn’t yell at Jungkook like that, but he had to keep an image if he didn’t want Yoongi to scold him instead.

“I think he did,” he leaned to the side as he tried to catch a glimpse of Yoongi through his room’s open door. He was nodding quite satisfied, which was a good sign.

“Okay, now, is there something you want to eat?” Jungkook opened his mouth and smiled more widely than he knew he could as he imagined all the possibilities. He could ask for anything he wanted, because god dammit, Jin could cook absolutely everything.

Man, having Jin back was the best thing ever.

But when there’s a dark side of you, nothing is ever as good as it seems. There’s something at the back of your mind always hunting you, always taking the good away from you. Taehyung knew that well. He still had something pending to do, and the more he postponed, the more he felt like doing it.

He actually felt like doing it.

Even if the idea of seeing his parents built acid inside his stomach and made his fists clench, he wanted to see them. He wanted to see his father, he wanted to hit him so bad he would be asking for forgiveness.

Maybe that way we would feel what Namjoon did. He would be scared, he would be vulnerable, he would be begging. He would be hurt. Taehyung would make sure it hurt.

 He looked at his phone: 21:02.

“Tae, what are you thinking?” Taehyung blinked quickly as he took himself back to reality. Jin was looking at Tae, waiting for his answer. They were watching TV, and everyone –except for Jungkook– was talking out loud about absolutely nothing while drinking, but Taehyung had slipped out of the conversation. He was thinking too much, and he was doing it in the wrong moment.

Everyone looked at him. Namjoon and Jungkook seemed to be the more interested in his answer. He had to come up with an answer quickly.

“Ah,” he smiled cheerfully and drank a sip of his drink, “this company which is huge is holding auditions tomorrow,” it wasn’t a lie, but the way he rushed his words probably made it look like one, “and I decided to take the risk.”

Everyone made weird noises. Jimin jumped out of his seat and began to move his arms in something that seemed like a wave while Jungkook was shaking an empty can of beer with a spoon. Taehyung wasn’t even that excited about the audition. Even now he wasn’t sure if he would try or not because he was too scared of being rejected, but seeing everyone encouraging him and trusting him that much gave him that bit of a push that he didn’t know he needed.

“I’ll go with you,” Namjoon pushed Hoseok, who was sitting next to Taehyung, and took his place instead. He put his arm around Taehyung’s shoulder and squeezed him tightly while Taehyung pretended to let go off his grip. But truthfully, he was just trying to keep off an image. He had to act like he disliked it, because that’s exactly what brothers do.

“Me too,” Jin kicked Tae to get his attention, and he shyly nodded and gave them his usual rectangle-like smile.

They kept their word. Next morning they woke up earlier than ever, Jin cooked a huge breakfast and made Taehyung eat every single crumb of it. Jungkook kept excusing himself, saying that he’d love to see Taehyung’s audition but had to attend school.

Taehyung told him it was alright, but Jungkook insisted. It made Taehyung feel so bad, because nothing had changed between them. Jungkook kept clinging to Taehyung at home, he kept talking to him as if nothing happened and Taehyung hated that because it only made him feel a thousand times worse.  

The audition went pretty well. Taehyung was good looking, he had a deep voice and his vocal range was pretty decent for someone of his age, and while dancing wasn’t his strong point, it wasn’t his weak either. He was good, but it was his singing voice that he trusted the most.

It all went well. He was nervous, since Jin, Hoseok, Yoongi, Namjoon and Jinsol were there. Jimin had dance practice with his group, Jungkook had to attend school and apparently Namjoon asked Jinsol to go too. Taehyung couldn’t say he was exactly bothered by her presence, but he was slightly surprised because Namjoon asked her, and even more, because she actually said yes and skipped class only for his audition and Namjoon and Jinsol were slightly giving him lovey-dovey vibes and he was about to throw up.

“We should be calling you in a month for any news, Mr. Kim Taehyung!” A short-haired lady said. He bowed 90 degrees before leaving. He had a really good feeling about this one. All the judges seemed satisfied, and when he mentioned he had been a trainee, it seemed to make it all better.

When they were at the door, he spotted a familiar figure waiting in a corner, her head down and her hands behind her back. He half-closed his eyes as