“Taehyung.”

Someone shook him.

“Taehyung, wake up.”

“Mm,” He groaned tiredly, swatting the person away.

They pinched his ear and he snapped his eyes open.

“Ow!”

Yuna smiled down evilly at him. “Wake up already, everyone is downstairs waiting for you.”

“Ugh,” Taehyung put his arm over his eyes.

“We want to go down to the beach nearby, so you should come. You have to drive Hoseok and Yoongi anyways.” She said, sitting up from the bed.

“Mmm,” Taehyung was too tired to reply.

Yuna slapped his legs. “C’mon, get up or we’re leaving without you.”

He groaned loudly into his pillow, desperately wanting more sleep. But he forced himself awake knowing that Jungkook had invited him up there to have fun and not lie around like Jimin said. His stomach dropped when he remembered what had happened between them just last night.

Taehyung glanced over at Yuna who was walking towards the door. He wondered what she would think if he told her. But what exactly was he supposed to say? It was too complicated to properly put into words. Either way it was wrong, and what Taehyung had said to him last night still stood.

They just needed to forget.

He pulled himself lazily out of bed and slumped to the washroom to wash up. He inspected himself in the mirror after, remembering how Jisu and Yuna told him he should show his eyebrows more. Taehyung pushed back his hair with his hand, then went back into the room to find his headband that he’d packed randomly.

Yuna had given it to him last year for his birthday but he never wore it. He wondered why he was even deciding to wear it now; who was he even trying to look good for?

Taehyung shrugged and pulled it out of the bag, slipping it on carefully. He changed quickly and headed downstairs.

By the time he got down, everyone was already crowding by the front door getting ready to leave. He noticed Hoseok putting on sunscreen and Yoongi was sitting nearby, wearing long sleeves so his pale skin wouldn’t get damaged by the sun. Jimin was talking to him, but he didn’t exactly look like he was listening.

Taehyung saw Jungkook then, he was play fighting with Jin while Yuna and Soojung watched them flatly. He looked really nice. His sunglasses pushed his black hair out of his face exposing his forehead, making him look like a totally different person. Even the big white t-shirt he was wearing still managed to look somewhat good on him too.

“Finally, you’re awake.” Hoseok walked over and gave him a quick fist bump.

“Morning.” He smiled.

Hoseok pulled him closer then. “I need to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Do you think that Jae-eun is dating that guy she’s with?” He glanced over at them. She was standing with Heonwoo and Soomi.

“I don’t know, they’re probably just friends.” Taehyung shrugged, pulling back. “Why? Do you like her?”

“No , have you seen her?”

“Yeah, I have actually. Remember I told you we met up once at one of Jungkook’s parties.”

Hoseok blinked. “Oh, do you still like her?”

“No, it didn’t really go anywhere.” He replied awkwardly.

“So you think I can shoot my shot then?”

Taehyung laughed. “If you try hard enough I guess.”

“Tae!” He heard Yuna call then and he looked over. “Are you ready?”

Taehyung nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

She gasped and raced over to him. “Oh my God, you’re actually wearing the headband I gave you!”

“Yeah,” He smiled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“You look hot.” Soomi winked at him.

“Thanks,” Taehyung subconsciously glanced over at Jungkook who was showing something to Jin on his phone now and pretty much acting like he wasn’t there.

Jae-eun walked towards the front door then and opened it. “So are we going now or what?”

Everyone filed out of the house towards their cars and Yoongi caught up to Taehyung and Hoseok.

“I swear to God, that Jimin guy will not leave me alone.” He muttered. “We talked for like five minutes and now he thinks we’re best friends.”

“He’s just friendly.” Taehyung smiled reassuringly.

“And he isn’t just some random guy, that’s Park Jimin, you should be happy that he wants to be friends with you.” Hoseok replied and Yoongi just rolled his eyes again.

Taehyung shielded his eyes from the sun as he climbed into his car. It was a lot hotter out than it was just yesterday, but he didn’t mind too much because he liked the heat. Yoongi beat Hoseok to shot gun and grinned, hopping in beside him.

They drove, following Jungkook’s car towards the beach. Taehyung glanced out the window as his car moved along the road and took in the beautiful scenery of the area. He wanted to take pictures but he hadn’t used his camera in a while, so he forgot it at home.

As they neared the beach he noticed the deep crystal blue waters and brown sand, it reminded him of that day he was playing by the shore with his dad. Taehyung looked down at the steering wheel, suddenly not feeling sure about going. Usually he was fine with beaches, but it was getting closer to that day. Being by one now would stir up bad memories; why didn’t he think of this before?

“You’re a really good boy you know that? Make sure that when you’re older, you do something that will make you the happiest person on this Earth OK?”

He thought back to what he did with Jungkook last night and shivered. That didn’t make him a good person at all-

“Are you OK Taehyung? You look sick.” Yoongi asked him cautiously then.

He glanced at him and forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

Taehyung pushed away the thought, he needed to just calm down. Having some sort of anxiety attack right now would be too troublesome, he didn’t want anyone to start worrying about him. He sighed and kept driving carefully, just trying to keep his thoughts in check.

Everyone parked in a lot that overlooked the beach and had a wooden boardwalk leading down towards the shore.

Hoseok pushed Yoongi forward, looking excited. “C’mon, c’mon,”

“Can you not touch me?” He snapped.

Jimin came up behind them then and smiled at Yoongi. He was shirtless and Taehyung immediately found it hard to focus on anything else other than his body. But he forced himself to look away. “Are you really gonna swim in those clothes?”

Yoongi gave him a look. “I’m not swimming, I don’t feel like it.”

“Oh, c’mon.” Jimin glanced at Taehyung. “What about you?”

He shrugged, still feeling a bit off from before. “I’ll probably just go in later.”

“You guys are such party poopers.” Hoseok said. “Ey, Jimin, I’ll swim with you.”

“Awesome.” They high fived and ran ahead.

“Thank god.” Yoongi sighed in relief. They walked down the boardwalk towards a cool sandy area shaded by large trees and sat down on the rocks, looking out at the water.

Taehyung heard Yuna giggling then and glanced over, she was walking with Jae-eun, Heonwoo, and Jungkook. Jin, Soomi, and Soojung were following behind them laughing loudly about something. As a whole group they literally looked like a million bucks, mostly because of their backgrounds. But even Yuna, she looked so happy that she was radiating just as brightly as the rest of them.

Then there was him. Sitting in the dark, intruding in on something that didn’t even belong to him; and he’d already ruined it for himself.

Yuna saw them then and stalked over. “Hey, what are you two doing? Get up, you’re going swimming with us.”

Taehyung looked behind her and noticed Jungkook waiting as the others went ahead towards the water. They looked directly at each other but Taehyung averted his eyes.

“You can force him to go, but I’m not going anywhere.” Yoongi sighed looking relaxed and pulled a book out of his bag.

“C’mon Tae,” Yuna groaned, pulling him up from the rock. “You need to show off your cute tummy to everyone.”

“I’ll come out later, I’m just feeling a bit tired-”

“Hey, no excuses,” Yuna pulled up his shirt and he quickly pulled it back down, knowing Jungkook was watching.

He blushed. “Can you not? I can do it myself, geez.”

Yuna grinned, glad that she got her way and walked back towards Jungkook. Taehyung sauntered behind them, feeling as if he didn’t really fit in and slipped off his shirt slowly.

Soojung and Soomi had already pulled out chairs and were sunbathing contently in their bikinis. Everyone else was in the water and Jin was throwing sand bombs at them.

Yuna peeled out of her clothes and ran in happily too, leaving him and Jungkook behind by themselves.

Jungkook took off his t-shirt and Taehyung felt awkward knowing that they were both shirtless beside each other. But he didn’t say anything, just walked ahead. Soomi and Soojung whistled at him as he passed by and he gave them a charming smile.

Taehyung watched closely as he walked, his and the way his shoulders moved were enough to make his heart rate pick up. He closed his eyes and forced himself to stop thinking about it. When he opened them again, he headed farther away from everyone, wanting to swim on his own.

Taehyung drifted out smoothly into the water, it was cool and refreshing against his skin. He swam out further and his back, looking up at the clear blue sky. Everyone’s loud voices and laughter were faint now, the sound of waves crashing and lapping against rocks drowned everything out.

He closed his eyes again slowly.

It was pitch black.

He was transferred back to his old room, where his small, seven year old self sat alone and afraid. Chills ran up and down his spine and his heart felt eerily hollow. It was so ing quiet, and everything was empty and black. He wanted to go to Yuna, but she was fast asleep; she couldn’t help him.

Taehyung sat paralyzed on the bed, crying uncontrollably.

“M-Mommy, daddy,” He bawled into the darkness.

But no one came to him.

No one ever would.

Why.

Why was he remembering this now?

Why?

His eyes snapped back open then and he gasped, feeling hot tears stream down his cheeks. Taehyung tried to stand himself back up, but a painful cramp suddenly rupturing through his leg. He grabbed at the water, trying to stay grounded but there was nothing underneath his feet. How far had he drifted out?

He sunk slightly and started kicking hard, but it wasn’t working. Taehyung opened his mouth to yell, but the tide was too strong and he was pulled under. Why couldn’t he swim, what was wrong with him? His leg, it hurt too much, he couldn’t tread the water properly.

Taehyung sunk further and water flood into his mouth. His heart, he couldn’t feel his heart. He was petrified, swimming and kicking but he couldn’t reach the surface again. Everyone was too far away from him, they wouldn’t know what was happening. Taehyung felt his body abruptly turn numb and heavy, tired from struggling to get back to the top.

His lungs burned, he needed air.

But he couldn’t do it.

Taehyung fell further, the darkness of the water slowly overtaking him.

His tears mixed in.

Would anyone even care if he died?

Would he even care?

“Taehyung, if anything ever happens to your mom and I; you promise to take care of your little sister right?”

Yuna.

No!

He was slowly losing consciousness.

Yuna.

Taehyung reached his hand limply towards the surface of the water, but it was too far.

He choked and his eyes closed slowly.

Everything felt lighter.

He let go of his last breath. That was it..He was going to die, he-

Something suddenly grabbed him.

Taehyung used the last bit of his strength to open his eyes and look through the hazy blur at what it was-

Jungkook?