Taehyung rubbed his clammed palms against his slacks as he bit and nibbled at his flesh of chapped lips. A bad habit he had as a child that never broke.

The male had been dreading coming back home. He could tell through his father's silence how angry he was. He didn't want to go back, he was too scared of what might happen, but he had never been disobedient and came home as the man had demanded. Taehyung curses himself for the decision as he now stands in his father's office. 

The office was quite cozy compared to the rest of their home. Bookcases, high ones, were lined on a wall behind his father's large desk. On the opposite side sat a black leather couch with potted plants on each side. Over the sofa hung a large family portrait of him, his mother and father back from when he was a child, their expressions tired and sullen.

As a child, he was rarely ever invited unless he was in trouble. The uninviting beige walls and the familiar scent of the warm vanilla candles filled the room. The atmosphere felt uncomfortable with distant memories of this room ingrained in his childhood memories. The clock ticked quietly, but time stopped.

Namjoon clicked the fountain pen one last time before tossing it onto the desk, his eyes focused on the male in front of him. Taehyung's eyes wandered to his father and then to his mentor who's unforgiving stare was enough to send shivers down his spine.

The older man lets out a cough, clearing his throat, and Taehyung straightens his back, giving the man his undivided attention.

"Taehyung," The man calls out, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes, sir?" The male hastily responds. 

Namjoon his lips, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Well, are you going to tell me what the you were doing or not?"

"I needed a break."

"He needed a break." The man mocks with a sigh. "You needed a break, but you didn't inform anyone? We made several attempts to contact you, and you chose not to answer, correct?"

"Yes, and I apologize—"

"You apologize? You have responsibilities, you know this, yet you decided to be reckless and abandon all your commitments as if others weren't working alongside you. You do know this affected them as well." The man scolds with a disappointed expression on his face. 

Guilt takes over Taehyung. He had forgotten about his coworkers and the upcoming project they were assigned to. How could he be so forgetfully and careless?

"I'm sorry, but I promise it won't happen again," Taehyung says with sincerity. 

"Yeah, it won't, and I'll make sure of it. I'm assigning a guard to you." His father informs. 

Taehyung stares in disbelief letting his shoulders drop. "Don't you think that's a little—I'm twenty-five, dad."

"Well, when you act like a child and do childish , you will be treated as one."

His father sits up and props his elbows onto the desks leaning forward. 

"I mean, I've been a pretty fair up until now, have I not? if I had it my way—"

"If you had it your way, I would be in a loveless, less marriage with one of your business partner's daughters," Taehyung finishes for the man, gritting his teeth.

The man bites the inside of his cheek before a cold unsettling smile creeps onto his face. "Do you ever think about how fortunate you are?"

There goes that word again. Fortunate. The older man loves to throw that word around whenever Taehyung s up. There isn't a moment when his mistakes aren't being hung over his head.

"You're an ungrateful child I give and give—"

"I know how fortunate I am, you've been shoving it down my throat the day I was born, but I am anything but ungrateful." Taehyung retorts.

His father an eyebrow as an annoying smug look comes across his face. "You are? Look at you now. After all, I've done for you, you can't even do what I ask of you, even the simplest things."

"I'm a grown man. You've abused me so much, financially and mentally, I have no choice but to be glued to you! I agree, I am fortunate, and I'm so ing grateful, dad! When I get away from you, I will pay you back every cent for everything you've ever done."

Taehyung's breath hitches, and he steps back with wide eyes. The words just seem to slip and spill out his mouth. He had never spoken to his father that way.

"Taehyung!" A voice calls out, except it's not his father but Yoongi, who furrows his eyebrows, shaking his head, signaling for the male to stop. 

"Did you forget who you're talking to, boy?" His father laughs, his nostrils flared as he stared at the younger with cold dead eyes.

The male shakes his head frantically. "No, I'm sorry please forgive me, sir, I just got a little heated."

The man eyed him down before scoffing, "You're ing pathetic, shaking like a . Watch your mouth when you speak to me."

"I'm sorry," Taehyung whispers, dropping his head low to avoid his father's eyes.

His father scoffs again. "Sorry? Get the out of my office!"

"Ok, sir," the male responds, stepping out into the hall.

The man had a way of making Taehyung feel so small. When he speaks, Taehyung has to listen. No talking back; what his father says is final. He has to be sweet and polite. Sweet and polite boys never talk back. His father has made him dependent. Why would he ever get rid of his favorite toy?

Taehyung is tied to his father. He is not his own person because, without his father, Taehyung would be nothing. He owns him. That's something he'll never let Taehyung forget. 

He slides down onto the hallway floor, his back against the wall as he tries to calm his shaky breath with a hand over his racing heart. He feels a firm grasp on his shoulder, making him jolt, and Taehyung lifts his head, glancing up to see Yoongi leaning against the wall beside him with a bittersweet smile.

"Are you airtight?" The older man asks softly.

He didn't want to cry. He wanted to put on a brave face. He didn't want to be affected by his father's actions and words.

"Yeah, I'm fine—" He croaks out as the waterworks start all over again.

"C'mon, kid,  let's go for a walk," Yoongi mumbles as he lends a hand out to the younger.

Taehyung shakes his head stubbornly, wiping at the tears on apples of cheeks, "I'm alright."

The older man playfully scoffs. "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you." And unlike his father, it comes from a place of love and concern.

A tight-lipped smile across Taehyung's face as he takes the older's hand, lifting himself from the ground. "Where do you want to go?"

"Coffee place down the street, let's go." Yoongi nudges the younger, and they walk out.

It was a short distance to the place they would frequently go there to get away from the tyrant that is his father. The bell dinged overhead as they pulled open the door, their bodies relaxed at warm air and the aroma of coffee as they entered the small shop.

The older gestures to the first open table he sees, "Sit down." he grumbles, and Taehyung quickly complies.

"Want anything? A drink, cake maybe?"

The younger shakes his head, and the older shrugs before going up the counter to order. Taehyung slouches back into the chair as he fiddles with his fingers. Yoongi places the cup onto the table and sits down in the metal seat across the younger.

"What the happened?" Is the first thing Yoongi asks.

Taehyung shrugs.

"Don't give me that . C'mon Tae." 

"I needed a break." He repeats, and the older male rolls his eyes.

"I understand that but what happened? I know you. You're not the type to just say it and run off without any warning."

Taehyung presses his lips into a thin line and drops his head. "Please don't be mad at me." He mutters out.

It takes a while for Yoongi to register what Taehyung means, and as he finally understood, his face contorted into a somber expression.  

"Tae? Did you—did you attempt—" The younger nods.

"I'm tired, just so ing tired of it all. I'm lonely I have no one. You know I almost changed my mind, called the ing hotline, and guess what! They hung up on me. ing hung up on me. Can you believe that? If that wasn't a sign from the gods, then I don't know what is." He laughs bitterly, breathing becomes unsteady as tears well up to his eyes.

Taehyung feels a cold hand placed on top of his, and he looks at the older who is staring back with anxious eyes.

"Call me whenever you feel like that. I don't care where I am or what time it is. I will be there for you. Just ing call me, please." He begs, grasping the younger's hand a bit tighter, almost afraid to let go.

Taehyung looks down at their hands and nods, tears running down his cheeks.

"I will—I will, I promise."