BURGER SHOP

    “Guys, where do you want to go?” Jin asked everyone.

Taehyung whispered, “I want to go to the ice cream sh-”

“Let’s go to the burger shop!” Jungkook yelled. Everyone nodded and Taehyung didn’t speak up. Slowly, they walked to the van as they joked around. Taehyung took part of this situation, smiling and laughing. They kept on talking about the concert and how amazing the feeling of Armys cheering for them was. After a while, they arrived at the burger shop.

The shop was big and was filled with some people. It was near closing time, so it wasn’t a big surprise that only a few people were there. The members started ordering their food. Taehyung just asked for water since he knew that water could fill him up and not make him hungry. Taehyung looked around the shop to see everyone enjoying their food. There was a couple who were eating their fries together, a group of guys his age and older who were laughing and talking really loud, and an elderly woman eating with her grandchildren. He thought to himself, “If only I could enjoy life like that…” He face was overcome by sadness that he soon replaced with his rectangular smile.

Everyone received their orders and sat down at a table. They were talking and joking around. Taehyung contributed by saying few words then and there, but most of the time, he spent time sipping on the water that he ordered. Soon enough, he ran out of water. To refill the cup, Taehyung excused himself and went to get more water.

Taehyung was filling his cup as someone was behind him, waiting to fill his own cup with some soda. The guy seemed to get more annoyed as Taehyung continued to fill his cup because it took too long for his liking. Impatiently, the guy tapped Taehyung’s shoulder. This freaked Taehyung out and resulted in Taehyung spilling water all over the frustrated man. “I’m so sorry…” Taehyung shook as the words came out of his mouth.

“Aish, these clothes are my favorite and you got them wet!” The man was furious.

“I’m really sorry, I’m really sorry…” Taehyung was shaking and the outburst of the man caught the attention of the other members who were sitting at the table together.

“What are you going to do about this? My clothes are wet and you can’t do anything about it!”

“I’m so-”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. Is that all you can say?!” As the man spoke the words, he grabbed Taehyung by the collar. This action was followed by Taehyung pushing the man as hard as he could. Taehyung was breathing harder and harder as time tick by. The members rushed out of their seats to help Taehyung. Before the members could stop the man, he kicked Taehyung in the stomach and he was knocked into the chairs near him. Taehyung couldn’t get up immediately. This made the members worry, so Jin told the man to leave before he called the police. Scared of confinement, the man fled the scene. All of the members were by Taehyung as he struggled on the floor. Jungkook tried to touch him, but Taehyung managed to swat him away. Jin tried and succeeded in lifting up the back of his shirt to reveal some bruises that were starting to appear. A bunch of “Are you okay?” “Can you get up?” “Does it hurt a lot?” were exchanged. Taehyung weakly replied that he was fine and tried to get up. He successfully got up, but his back was throbbing with pain. The members thought that it was time to go back to the dorm, so they left after cleaning up, but Taehyung felt bad that he took away their free time to just eat burger and have fun. He couldn’t even look at anyone.

BTS finally arrived at the dorm. Taehyung’s back was still throbbing with pain and it showed. The members were trying to help, but he didn’t accept it. He tried to convince everyone that it was fine, but it truly wasn’t. Taehyung told everyone to wash up and if deemed necessary, he’ll ask for some medical assistance.

Taehyung walked to his room and locked the door. He took off his shirt and looked at his back in the mirror located in the corner of his room. He back consisted of the colors, blue, purple, green, and black. He grazed his fingers across his back and it stung. He closed his eyes tight wishing for his pain to be gone. He opened his eyes and looked at the mirror. What he saw was the 7 year old version of him.

Fearing his life as both of his parents grabbed his legs and dragged him out of his room and pushed him down the stairs. Feeling his bones ache and his skin stinging as he arrives at the bottom. Looking at his father’s eyes as he throws him into the wall. Looking into his mother’s eyes as she kicks his back until it turns bloody and bruised.

Taehyung shivers at the memories of his past and immediately puts his shirt back on. “It isn’t that bad… I’ve been through worse and felt worse. I don’t need medical assistance, right?” He questioned himself until there was a knock on his door. He unlocked the door and opened it to reveal Jungkook and Jimin behind the door. “We were really worried, so we wanted to check up on you.” They entered the room and sat on the bed closest to the door. “Is your back okay?” Jimin asked.

“It’s fine.”

“Then show me your back.”

Taehyung was hesitant at first, but he knew Jimin wouldn’t back down. He reluctantly pulled up his shirt and revealed his back. Jimin and Jungkook gasped at the horrendous sight. “Jungkook, go get the first aid kit,” Jimin ordered. Jungkook hurriedly ran out of the room to get the supplies that were needed to help Taehyung. He came back quickly and Jimin rummaged the box to find a cream that helped heal bruises quickly. He asked, “Can I apply the cream for you?” Jungkook also wanted to help, so he asked, “Let me apply the cream, please?”

FOR JIMIN, GO TO CHAPTER 6

FOR JUNGKOOK, GO TO CHAPTER 7