Warning: There is suicide death at the end ofthis chapter and allusion to during the flashback. If any of these make you uncomfortable please skip this chapter or you can skip down to the author's note where I'll explain what happened. Everything will be referenced in the next chapter

3

Angst

A feeling of deep anxiety or dread, Typically an unfocused one about the human condition

Kyungsoo woke to the smell of alcohol invading his nostrils and sweat trickling down his forehead. The faint sound of birds chirping and a slight pressure was pressing on his abdomen. When he looked down, He noticed Taehyung was resting his head on his stomach while curled up in a ball. While silently and carefully sliding from under the younger male, Taehyung quickly rolled and landed on the cold floor with a deafening smack. Kyungsoo was shocked that the younger male might have knocked himself unconscious. He slid out of the bed and poked the unconscious male on the floor with foot only to get a grunt in response. “What did I do to deserve this?” Kyungsoo's loathing meter slightly elevated as he stepped over the sleeping male and went to the closet where he kept his towel and washcloth. He quickly pulled his washcloth, towel, and bar of soap off of the shelf and quickly rushed into the bathroom he had to share with the aforementioned male.

He made sure to lock the door behind him before he stripped himself of the clothes he had been wearing the previous day. After he turned the dial for the shower, It sputtered three times before coming out in the normal torrent of water with the occasional sputter. Kyungsoo knew he needed to hurry up before the semi hot water turned icy. During his time here, He had discovered that when everyone wakes up and uses the shower his warm and comforting shower turns into an icy death trap. He scrubbed furiously to get the stench of previous night's activity off of his skin. There were three knocks on the door and he paused slightly. Three knocks again. He hoped it wasn't Taehyung needing to use the bathroom again as he turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. “Hey. Kyungsoo. It's Kris. Whenever you come out of the shower, Meet me in the garden.”

The footsteps retreated out of the room and there was a loud groan from the other side of the door signaling Taehyung was about to try to force his way into the bathroom. “Hold on for a moment.” Kyungsoo unlocked the door just as Taehyung was clinging to the door in a feeble attempt to coax it to open. “Thank you Soo!” The younger man didn't waste anytime in pulling his pants down and using the toilet. Kyungsoo thought it would be best to leave him alone to his own devices and get dressed so he could meet Kris. After slipping into a plain black tee shirt and a pair of blue jeans, He slipped into his shoes and left the room in a haste before Taehyung left the bathroom. The hall's rustic white color had become one off Kyungsoo's favorite things about this barren rehabilitation center. He stalked his way through the halls until he ran into Kris sitting on a bench in the bright garden. The older male had been wearing a puce colored button down shirt and a pair of white jeans and white tennis shoes. “You know. Purple isn't your color.” Kyungsoo said with a sly smirk on his face as Kris turned around with a sad smile on his face. “Well I figured I would give it a try since yellow isn't my color either.”

There were only two other occupants in the garden on the other side doing their usual maintenance to the budding flowers. Kyungsoo had recognized one of the occupants as Ren, who he ran into the day before. The odd male kept glancing over in his direction as he continued to make room for more flowers. “Well the reason I wanted to bring you out here is to explain why I opened this place.” Kris had discomfort etched on his features as the younger male sat down. Kyungsoo made sure he was comfortable before motioning to Kris to tell him his story.

***

The darkened apartment didn't hide the stench of an overfilled garbage can, unwashed dishes, and piles of clothes that were in need of a trip to the laundry mat. Kris laid in the center of his bed beating himself up over the fact he watched his sister die in front of his eyes. There was a knock on his apartment's door a couple of times followed by indistinct shouting. He ignored it as it was probably his landlord coming for the rent he was two months late behind in. He heard the front door opened and hoped it had been his sister walking into his room right now to tell him everything was okay. “Hyung?” He recognized the voice as his neighbor's son Taehyung, who took a liking to Kris and decided to come over whenever he felt like it. “Go away. I'll only ruin you like I did with Joy.” He put a pillow over his face until he felt the younger boy laying on his head on his stomach and wrapping his arms around Kris's torso.

“You know it wasn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself. It'll only make you worse.” Kris decided it was best to hold back the sobs that were trying to force their way through his throat. It had been difficult on him to even go to work what he went through. Taehyung pulled the pillow off of Kris's face and gently kissed the older male's forehead. “You're one of the nicest people I ever met. You have a knack for helping people not ruining them. If anything. She failed you.” His eyes widened a bit with slight anger before they softened as he continued to listen to what he had been saying. “She was the one who went on a crazed binge. You tried to help her but she didn't want it. So don't beat yourself up. Also, Can I stay the night here? My mom is using again and some of her “friends” are coming over.”

His voice slightly wavered at the end of his sentence but Kris understood why. Taehyung's mother had been heavily using narcotics and her friend's had been a horrible influence on her and Taehyung. The younger male had to endure a lot of stuff from his childhood to now as a second year in high school. Kris only nodded his head and Taehyung hopped off of him before running to the front door. “I'll be back in a couple minutes. Gotta grab my stuff. I'll bring over the first season of Sailor Moon to cheer you up.” He shouted before the door slammed shut as Kris stared at the clock that read two forty five in bright red letters. Instead of straightening up for his surprise visitor, He dozed off to into sleep's chilling embrace until he awoke to the alarm clock reading Six o'clock. There was complete and utter silence which it was unusual for Taehyung to be quiet by himself let alone while someone was sleeping.

Kris rose from his dormant sleep and walked out of his bedroom into the dark living room and the full force of the combined stench hit him full on. He covered his nose and trudged his way to the front door to see if Taehyung had been sitting outside of his front door but there was no sign of the younger male. “Maybe he is back at his apartment.” Kris mused to himself and walked down two floors to his mother' apartment where the door had been wide open. He cautiously entered the apartment to see it a complete wreck. There was furniture over turned, blood on the walls and broken glass everywhere. He carefully avoided the glass and made his way to Taehyung's bedroom. The door had been slightly opened and sounds of groaning had been emanating from the room. Kris burst into his room to see Taehyung passed out on the floor with his pants around his ankles and an older male fixing his belt.

Kris noticed there had been blood on the younger male's upper thigh and all he saw was red before the stranger turned around. “Oh. You're new aren't you? Hurry up and take the kid. The boss said his of a mother hadn't paid him for her last fix. So I decided to have some fun with the kid. He's a screamer. But I gave him something to calm him down.” The stranger had smirked slightly before Kris punched him in the nose. The man ran away before Kris could hit him anymore but he didn't pursue him and instead decided to check on the younger male. “Tae. Are you okay?” He shook the younger male, who continued to groan some more before Kris picked him up and rushed him off to the hospital. A few days into Taehyung's extended stay in the hospital, His mother had been found dead in an alley way not too far from their apartment. Kris decided to adopt the younger male since he was of age and he also used his inheritance to buy a building out in the country side to help rehabilitate other victims of different kinds of abuse.

***

Kyungsoo just sat there in shock at his story while tears pricked at the corner of his eyes. “Kris. I'm so sorry you had to go through that.” Without any warning, The shorter male had hugged him without any prior warning leaving Kris slightly shocked. “Nobody deserves to go through that what so ever.” Kris sat there physically shocked at how quickly Kyungsoo had responded to him. His cheeks started to redden slightly as the younger male pulled away. “Thank you for that hug.” He said quite awkwardly until someone ran into the garden heavily breathing. “Kris. You need to hurry to Taehyung's room. Someone.... Someone found him-” Before the patient could finish his sentence, He took off to the room with Kyungsoo trailing behind him. The hallways had been a blur as Kyungsoo trail behind Kris became wider and wider. He kept running until he saw Kris stopping in front of his door that had been wide open.

Kris dropped to his knees and covered his mouth before Namjoon ran out of the room hugging Kris. Kyungsoo slowed down and walked up to the door to see part of Taehyung through the crack of the bathroom door suspended from a towel hanging onto the shower rod. His entire heart sank significantly as he continued to stare at his roommate dead in the bathroom.

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Word Count: 1,869 words

Finally an update!

I wrote this entire chapter on the airplane when I was returned from Idaho Saturday night

For those of you who skipped down this far,

Taehyung has been killed off and the flashback touches briefly on his and Kris's shared background.

Please stayed tuned for the next chapter