one
Identify Me (ON TEMPORARY HOLD UNTIL "THE OUTCAST CLUB" IS FINISHED)
1 | TAEHYUNG
“Hey, get up.”
Taehyung could feel someone kicking his mattress, but all he did was roll over and stick his head underneath the pillow instead.
Bam, bam, bam.
“Get up or else I’ll be punished by the Director again. And don’t think I’m gonna deal with your crap, too.”
“Five minutes, hyung... Just five minutes,” Taehyung drawled, snuggling deeper into the warm covers.
As if obeying him, the kicking stopped. Taehyung suppressed a smile of contentment.
Finally, he thought. Everything was warm, and safe, and just perfect—
...Until he felt some type of frigid liquid being splashed on him.
Wait… Liquid?
Before he knew it, Taehyung scrambled to his feet and let out a cry of exasperation – his shirt was drenched with ice-cold water! He stared, livid, at the male in front of him, who shrugged, donning a triumphant smirk on his face.
“See? This is what happens when you don’t wake up.”
Okay, that was the final straw. Not being able to suppress the throbbing vein of anger on the side of his temple, he opened his mouth to growl the name of the culprit, loud and clear:
“YOONGI HYUNG!”
BAM! “What’s going on here?!”
The door slammed open to reveal one of the Deans, the caretakers under the supervision of the Director. The term “caretaker” was a giant overstatement though, since the Deans didn't have an ounce of a 'caring' gene in them. They were more like security guards than anything, patrolling the halls of the orphaned “inmates.”
“N-Nothing, sir!” Taehyung and Yoongi were already on their feet, hands mechanically straight against their sides.
“You two again?” the Dean scoffed. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop fooling around? If you keep this up, you won’t be able to leave this orphanage! You’re lucky I’m not sending you to the Director—”
Yoongi almost rolled his eyes, and Taehyung tried hard not to snicker.
“—‘cause he’s still sleeping in his quarters, exhausted from looking after you ungrateful kids—HEY! Are you listening to me?!”
The grins were gone from their faces. “Yes, sir!”
“Downstairs, NOW!” the Dean scowled. He paused before staring suspiciously at Taehyung’s drenched clothes.
“You, what in God’s name is the matter with your shirt?”
Yoongi and Taehyung exchanged wary glances.
“I-I… er, I accidentally spilled... water on myself," he trailed off, casting a hard look at Yoongi.
You would've thought he was an angel according to his innocent expression.
The Dean eyed him suspiciously before moving closer to him. Taehyung pursed his lips and dared not breathe in case the Dean would scold him, or worse, give him a beating.
“In my seven years of working here, I have never seen such buffoonery. One more time of whatever this is,” he motioned to his wet shirt, “and you’ll get a beating right in the middle of the main hall with everyone watching... Understand?” He hissed, showing off a gold tooth. It took everything Taehyung had in him not to flinch.
“No sir—I-I mean, y-yes sir,” he fumbled with his words.
The Dean grimaced before spitting a phlegm-filled wad right beside Taehyung’s feet. Yoongi looked like he was going to barf.
“Filthy orphans,” the Dean sneered as he strode out, slamming the door shut.
“ing bastard,” Yoongi countered quietly. “Taehyung, don’t mind him.”
“Don’t mind him? You’re the one who poured water on me in the first place!” Taehyung complained, socking his arm.
“Okay, sorry, sorry! Hey - watch that spitball - sheesh,” Yoongi managed to grin as he threw Taehyung a pair of black training pants, white shirt, and grey hoodie – this was the orphanage’s uniform for day-to-day affairs.
“Change and come downstairs when you’re ready. I’m on kitchen duty today.”
When he too had left the room, Taehyung slipped into the washroom that the pair shared and stripped down to his boxers. He slipped his uniform on before looking into the dusty mirror in front of him.
He pinched a few strands of his long, dark, matted hair. They stuck together, caked in oil, and clung onto his forehead, making him look as unattractive as ever. The plain uniform made him camouflage into the cement-coloured wall. He was in terrible need for a shower, and he was pretty sure he smelled – well, not that it mattered anyway. All the kids generally stunk to the point that they couldn't tell the difference as to whether they were smelly or not.
Just one more week, Taehyung. Just one more, he assured. The more Taehyung looked at himself, the more he wanted to look away. But he couldn’t really do anything about it; according to the Deans, beautifying yourself was considered wrong. After all, why waste your time on grooming yourself when you could be doing chores or learning, instead?
He glanced down at the label sewed onto the chest of his hoodie.
KIM TAEHYUNG, it read in big letters. SENIOR | RANK: A.
The letters haunted him.
Gapsun Boys’ Orphanage, where he stayed, divided their male residents into three main groups: Primary (0-9 years old), Junior (10-15 years old), and Senior ( years old).
Potential parents could 'call dibs' on the kid they wanted at any stage, but could only adopt them after he turned 18 years old. If not adopted, residents would be guaranteed the ability to leave the orphanage for good in one of two ways:
A) Automatic adoption by parent(s) on the day of your eighteenth birthday.
or
B) Graduating, meaning that if you weren’t adopted by a family, you could move out on your own immediately on your eighteenth birthday.
Either way, if you were a good student, you would be out of the orphanage by the time you were eighteen.
Then, there were ranks. If the Primary-Junior-Senior (PJS) system helped divide students by their ages, ranks determined how many punishments they received. The more punishments, the lower their rank, and the more years you would be held back at the orphanage.
Either way sounded good to Taehyung. It didn’t matter to him whether or not he was adopted early or left by his own free will, but because he wasn’t adopted at all during his 17 years of stay at Gapsun, he was sure he’d be leaving to live life on his own. Kids were rarely adopted though. Who’d want to wait until a child was 18 anyway? All parents wanted the infants.
The rare kids that were adopted were either extremely intelligent or had some other charming quality, but Taehyung had none of that. He was just… normal.
Running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to look at least somewhat presentable, he hurried out of his room.
There were very few A ranks in Gapsun, since punishments were given on the fly. Gapsun wasn’t exactly the best place to live, either. There were many primaries that had already gone to D or F level for trivial things like trying to run away from the orphanage at a young age or steal from the Deans’ wallets to buy candy from the orphanage's convenience store.
Taehyung had already been there, done that. After two attempts to run away, it became evident that one could not simply “flee” Gapsun – it was impossible, so he had made up his resolve to be on his best behavior for the rest of the years he had to stay.
“Good morning, hyungnim!” a couple Juniors greeted as he nodded at them with a friendly smile. Some primaries bowed without saying anything. Taehyung’s gaze softened at them. He knew their feelings all too well.
When he was their age, the seniors were always intimidating – it seemed like they had the ability to abuse their power and bully them, like the Deans.
As he walked down the hall, he noticed the younger primary kids giggling with their toys, only to be scolded lightly by a Dean. Most of the Juniors hung out in the Recreation Room, watching mindless TV, reading books that were carefully selected by the orphanage, or talking amongst themselves.
As Taehyung passed by the Director’s office and the punishment room, which were side-by-side, he inwardly shivered.
Taehyung vividly recalled the second time he tried to escape the orphanage when he was a Junior, and was brutally beat up and left there until morning. The first time he tried to flee, he had a lighter punishment, since Primaries were let off easier, of course.
He touched his waist, despite himself, and winced. Physically, no such pain existed, but the scar he got on the night of his second escapade had left an odd, psychological pain. Taehyung let in sharp breaths before he got himself to calm down.
Being in the A rank wasn’t too bad, though. It had its perks. For example, he was allowed to choose one roommate out of the whole facility, regardless of rank or class, to share the biggest room available.
Of course, he had chosen Yoongi.
“Taehyung,” a gruff voice called. A few feet away, Yoongi was poking his head out of the kitchen.
“Speak of the devil,” Taehyung murmured, hurrying over.
The kitchen was filled with the cooking staff and seniors that had kitchen duty. Since most of the seniors had already graduated, Taehyung was the most well-known and respected because of his stellar rank. He was the only one with an A Rank.
“Hey, hyung.” Jungkook, a fellow senior two years younger than him, smiled amicably. Beside him was Jimin, a B ranked senior and Jungkook’s roommate.
“Hi, Jungkook,” Taehyung greeted, “Jimin.”
“Yoongi hyung wanted to talk to you,” Jimin informed him. “He kept squawking and asking where you were.”
“It’s like he’s your dad or something,” Jungkook added.
“No, more like an old whiny grandpa,” Jimin guffawed as Yoongi kicked his bum, sending Jimin hurling into Jungkook. “WHOA!”
“That’s enough outta you squirts. Get back to work unless you want a beating from the Dean,” Yoongi growled as Taehyung frowned, “Don’t be rude. They’re still young.”
“And they’re seniors. Get over it.” Yoongi crossed his arms.
“Having fun chatting, you four?” A snide voice asked. The four seniors tensed up. The voice belonged to Lee Jooheon, a threatening senior with a violent streak. His biceps rippled underneath his rolled-up hoodie in a malicious attempt to scare them.
“Buzz off, Jooheon,” Yoongi snapped.
“Ooh, bite me,” Jooheon’s smirk never faltered. “Excited now that you and your precious hyung are graduating next week, Taehyung?”
Taehyung frowned disapprovingly. Jooheon wasn’t particularly his favourite, but lately he was bothering him and the others too much.
“At least Taehyung and Yoongi hyung will be graduating way before you ever will,” Jungkook retorted with a firm voice. Although Jungkook had a baby-face, his looks were deceiving – he was quick to land punches and stick up for his friends.
Unfortunately, this did him more harm than good as he was punished more frequently for “starting” fights.
“Guess you and me won’t be graduating anytime soon then, hm, fellow D rank? One more for both of us and we’re both F’s. Wanna start something now?” the corners of Jooheon’s lips curved into a devilish grin as he cracked his knuckles.
“Try me,” Jungkook’s gaze darkened and he stepped forward as Jimin held him back. “Don’t do it, Kookie.”
“Yeah, don’t do it, Kookie.” Jooheon teased. He squeezed Taehyung’s shoulder roughly. “Well, at least I’ll have the pleasure of not seeing your smug- face around here anymore.”
“Pleasure’s all mine,” Taehyung calmly replied.
Jooheon narrowed his eyes before leaving.
“Yeah, you’d better run, you ! If I hear you causing a scene after we graduate, I’ll smack ya right back into Primary!” Yoongi hollered, earning a warning look from a nearby Dean.
“Listen, you two gotta be careful around punks like him, you hear?” Yoongi nodded at Jungkook and Jimin, “It’s not like Namjoon hyung and the others are here to protect you anymore, and next week, we’ll be gone too.”
Taehyung grabbed Jungkook’s shoulder, “And Jungkook, please don’t do anything stupid anymore. You heard him – one more punishment and you’ll be in rank F. Then who knows when you’ll graduate?”
Jimin slung an arm around Jungkook’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, hyung. I’ll keep him under control.”
“Like hell you will,” Jungkook rolled his eyes before grabbing plates from Yoongi’s hands. “Dining Room #1, right?” He walked off as Jimin trailed behind him, leaving the two soon-to-be graduates in the kitchen.
“I don't know if they'll be okay alone. Jungkook can hold his own, but Jimin…” Yoongi winced.
Taehyung glanced at him from the side of his eyes and grinned, “They’ll be fine. Jimin’s a B rank. He’ll stay out of trouble. And Jungkook’s bound to graduate as long as he doesn’t hit F. If he does… well, we can adopt him, then.”
Yoongi threw his head back in laughter. “What, so I’d be the Dad and you’d be the Mom?”
Taehyung realized the weight of his words and instantly shoved him, ears pink with embarrassment.
“Oh, in your dreams! And plus, if that ever happened, I’d be the Dad, not you.”
Yoongi cracked his knuckles with a teasing grin. “You wanna fight for it, A Rank?”
Taehyung rolled his eyes.
“I’ll pass on that one, C Rank.”
MUZIKMASTER SAYS-------------------
it's my birthday, and i wanted to at least update one of my fics :) everyone who's reading The Outcast Club: you'll get an update soon! ^^
thank you for all voting and commenting some awesome title ideas!
I ended up really liking Identify Me though, so I stuck with that. it gives of a sort of mysterious feeling? so congrats to the people who voted for that! :)
basically, taehyung looks like how he did in the danger mv with long hair before he cut it (precious bb). imagine all the kids in the orphanage looking like they haven't showered in years and you'll get a pretty accurate visual representation lol!
enjoy the fic!
[!!!] Identify Me is on temporary hold until The Outcast Club is finished! More frequent updates after The Outcast Club is completed! :)
Comments