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CHAPTER FIVE:
"LOVESTORY"
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DECEMBER 3RD
11:48 PM
"I still don't get what a guy like you is doing here." Min, who had the other's arm laying in his lap taking care of his wrist that was coloured blue with bruises, broke the silence they had been sitting in.

"Probably because you haven't been locked inside of your home all of your life...", Seokjin stated, letting his eyes dance around the small room, taking in the few little details it had.

"That's right." The black-haired boy paused. "But I'd prefer that to living on the streets with having no home at all."

Seokjin's stare dropped onto the floor, swallowing a bit ashamed. He should have thought before he spoke. Min had probably a way better reason for landing here than him.

"But I understand you nonetheless. Even though this job is dangerous, I wouldn't want to live without it." The boy looked up at him, smiling friendly. Almost the same like he had before, but this time the glint in his eyes, that had sent a shiver down Seokjin's spine, was gone. "Even if it meant that I had all the money to buy myself jewelry."

They both fell silent after that, Min because of not knowing what to add and Seokjin because he wasn't sure if he should ask what he wanted to ask. A few minutes must have passed before he finally found the courage to word the question he had been so curious to ask.

"What's... what's your story?"

Min looked up at him, visibly surprised. "My story?"

The other nodded slowly. "Yeah... I was just wondering because... everyone has a story." His eyes fluttering over the boy's face, trying to read his expression. "You... don't have to tell me if you don't want to... I was just curious..."

Min shook his head slowly. "No, that's not it. It's just not... the happiest story."

"I don't mind."

"Then... let me start at the beginning."

⇼

It wasn't that Jimin wasn't a cute kid. It wasn't that he wasn't joyful or intelligent. All the way through his life he had always tried to stay optimistic, tried to see things on the happy side. But even though he was just like the others, no one in his life ever seemed to want him.

His real parents had set him free for adoption when he was still just a new born, the only thing that he knew about them was that he apparently was the result of a drunk one-night stand. Not the thing you want to be told on your 12th birthday.

On top of that, nobody had ever adopted him. He had spent all his life in the broken-down orphanage, which wasn't exactly the happiest place either. Everyone in town told each other rumors about a kid taking their own life, because living there was getting to much. But even though that rumor wasn't true, the old rotten house still wasn't a good place to stay.

Sure, the kids were given three meals a day, had a place to rest and visited the local school 5 days of the week, but the things that went down behind the curtains were something that Jimin still wasn't able to speak off. The only one that knew was Taehyung.

One day everything got too much for him to handle. He was around 14 years old when he packed his things, scraped up the last amount of money that he had and sneaked out at midnight thankfully unheard by the other kids to catch a train to New York. He had been crying a lot that night, but more because he was finally out of that hellhole, finally able to make a fresh start.

But he hadn't thought about what would come next. When he arrived at his destination, he was completely clueless about where he should go. He had nobody, no money, no home. The young boy was completely alone and lost in the million city. He spent that night under a bridge, watching as the rain poured down beside him, just happy that he found a dry place to stay.

A few days went by until the hunger was becoming too much for him to handle. He had already been very skinny due to the rough treatment he had experienced in the orphanage, so not having anything to eat wasn't exactly doing him a favour either. He needed to get food.

He felt bad about it.
He really did.

He wished he didn't have to do it but there wasn't another option for him.

At first it was just small amounts, but he became more and more confident as the time moved on. And more wanting. He became more and more obsessed with the shiny small objects he stole from people. He felt like they called out for him, like they wanted to be under his ownership. Like they wanted him to steal them.

So, he did; even though he knew it was wrong to steal just to still his desires. He just couldn't stop.

It was getting more and more and he felt like it was never enough. When he stole something expensive, he wanted to own something even more expensive. It felt like it was never going to end.

He was almost 15 when everything began to go downhill even more. It all started one rainy day in September, when a strange man approached him out of the blue.

"I have a good option for you to earn money.", the man had said.

You should have expected that Jimin would act his age and not trust a creepy stranger, that he had just met in a dark side passage, but when it came to money, he just seemed to be naive.

So incredibly naive.

He simply followed the man, completely oblivious to what trouble he was getting himself into. He only realized it when it was too late, when he was already caught in the spider web the man had spun to catch him.

The man was a panderer. Someone who supplied prostitutes to whoever needed them. In this case, underaged prostitutes. You should have thought that this sounded like something that happened ages ago, but child prostitution was still a problem even now, in the 21st century.

And Jimin had become one of them now. And he wasn't able to leave just like that, but at least he got money and a place to sleep and eat. He not only preferred that to living on the streets, but you could even go that far and say that he enjoyed it quite a bit. But that didn't mean that what his hormone driven teenage body wanted was good for him mentally.

There were nights, where he was left wide awake for hours and sometimes even the whole night, just thinking about which consequences this all could have for him. Sure, their chef made sure they were healthy and well protected, because if they weren't, his whole business would shatter into pieces, but he meant more the kind that had to do with his future. He cried himself to sleep almost every single night, worries biting him in the back of his mind.

He was unsure about what to do with his life, once he would be too old to earn his money here. He didn't know what he wanted to do or what he would be able to do.

And sometimes there were moments, where he thought that dying was the only possible option to sort out his problems.

But Jimin wasn't the type of person to give up this easily. Even though it was rough, he loved life. And he was going to go through this, because he saw a light in the dark, something that told him that everything was going to get better. And as stupid as it may have sounded to some people, he found that strength in God. Believing made him feel loved and comforted, understood and supported. He felt like he didn't have to be scared of the future anymore.

It took him a lot to gather the courage to do it, but one day he finally made the decision to leave. He packed his things and sneaked out, just like he had done with the orphanage. Neither the other kids nor his boss knew any of that.

And just like that he was back to where he had been before, on the streets without any place to go, dependent on stealing things and money from strangers.

Jimin leaned against the cold brick wall of the house, slowly letting himself sink into his knees. His bag that he had dropped on the floor was long forgotten and drenched with rain. He didn't even bother to wipe away the tears, that were streaming down his face, anymore, there were too many to take care of.

He was just so sick of life, sick of everything.
This would all be so much easier if he just died.
He wished a car would just come and hit him, so he wouldn't have to do this anymore.

But that car never came. And he was just left alone, hunched over on the flooded asphalt, quietly sobbing to himself.

Until he heard a familiar voice that sent shivers down his spine and let his heart drop into his pants. That made his eyes go wide in horror.

"Jimin, what are you doing here?"

His boss had found him after all. Jimin was over.

"I... Sir, I was just..."

"You were just what?" The man grit his teeth as his facial features darkened in an instant.

"I... don't know, Sir..." The boy was still kneeling on the floor looking up at the man with eyes full of fear.

"You were trying to run away, weren't you?" The next moment Jimin was pulled up by his collar and pushed against the wall. "You know, I expected better from you out of all people. Looks like someone needs to teach you a lesson to where you belong." A hand was placed on his throat, making him yelp in surprise and angst.

He tried to wiggle himself out of the grip of the taller man, but he knew it was useless, because he was stronger than him by many times. He watched in horror, as the other flashed him an evil grin.

"You're never going to escape from me, Park Jimin. No matter how hard you try."

Jimin hated the way his body reacted, when pressure was added on his throat. He tried to, but he couldn't hold back the broken moan when he felt his throat tighten.

"Because this is just who you are after all."

The man's grip got even tighter, making the boy feel dizzy and his whole body tingle.

"A whore."

A loud whine escaped his mouth when he heard those words, making him feel so disgusted by his own actions. His boss just smirked darkly at the sound, as if he felt proud of what he was doing to the boy.

"See... I told you. You're still just a dirty slut and that will never change."

"You're the only one who's a dirty slut here."

The man was taken by surprise when he heard the voice behind him, but before he could get the chance to turn around and look who the owner of the voice was, he was pinned to the ground by the unknown visitor. Everything went so fast, Jimin wasn't even able to process everything that was happening. All he knew was that there were punches and kicks and a knife and that the man, who had his hands around his throat just moments ago, was laying on the floor completely moveless afterwards.

"Don't worry, he's not going to hurt anyone anymore now."

Jimin's eyes widened in fear as he realized what had just had happened and he quickly crouched down on the floor, hiding his head under his arms. "P-please don't h-hurt me.", he stammered out, tears starting to roll over his cheeks again.

He felt the stranger hunch down next to him, moving closer in his direction. He tensed up, just wanting to scurry away from the presence of the other, but he knew he'd probably just make everything a hundred times worse.

"I don't wanna hurt you. And I'm not going to hurt you."

The way the soothing voice spoke the words so calmly made the boy relax a bit. It almost sounded like music in his ears. Jimin swallowed, trying to blink away the tears that had built up in his eyes, head still protected by his arms. His breath was still unsteady and hitched, due to the tears and being choked, so he started to cough violently when he swallowed the wrong way.

The stranger, who's face Jimin still hadn't seen, was there immediately, positioning the boy in a way that it was easier for him to breathe. It took the other a few minutes before he was able to speak again, his mind burning to ask the visitor a question.

"Wh... w-who a...are you?"

Even though still not having looked up into the other's face, Jimin could feel him smile softly.

"My name is Taehyung. Kim Taehyung."

It was only now that Jimin finally found the confidence to turn his head to the side and look at the stranger. He was taken by surprise when he saw how young the other actually seemed to be, his deep voice had made the boy think that the unknown man would be way older.

"And you are?"

"P-Park... Jimin.", he pressed out in response, hiccupping in between the words. The stranger, who's name apparently was Taehyung, eyed him with a worried expression.

"Are you able to breathe?", he asked softly, his eyes full of worry even though he didn't even know the other and had just met him moments ago, reaching out with his hand to caress the boy's shoulder.

Jimin swallowed and nodded hesitantly, still in shock from everything that had happened. "K-kinda."

Taehyung's eyebrows furrowed in an instant. "Kinda is not enough."

The next second Jimin felt two surprisingly strong arms sneak under his body and before he could process what was happening, he was lifted up into the air. "Someone has to take care of you."

Jimin said nothing and stayed silent instead. He knew that if he would have said something, he would have started crying again and that was the last thing that he wanted right now. He just waited for the other to speak up again.

"Where do you live?"

The boy swallowed. He should have expected that question, but he was unprepared. What should he say now? He didn't have a home like any other teenager... at least not a safe one. No, actually after this night he didn't even have an unsafe one anymore.

He was homeless again.

"I... I don't know...", he pressed out, trying to hold back the tears that were collecting themselves in his eyes again. "I don't have a home anymore..."

His eyes flicked back up to the other boy's ones and he watched him frown hearing the words coming from his mouth.

A few seconds passed in silence, while the boy called Taehyung seemed to be in deep thought, his eyebrows furrowed, creating wrinkles on his forehead.

"Yeah, that could work...", he quietly mumbled after a few moments. Just the split of a blink later Jimin felt the other boy pull him even closer to his chest as he started walking and the smaller instinctively buried himself in the other's jacket.

It was only then when he realized how much he had actually been freezing, due to the fact that he wasn't wearing a cape or anything else that could have protected him from the cold rain. But when he heard Taehyung whisper to him softly, he immediately felt warmer, even though he couldn't make sense of what he was saying. His words sounded like a completely different language, but Jimin didn't mind. Even though he didn't understand, he felt comforted. He peeked up at the other, who gave him a quick look with a small smile before directing his gaze towards the street again, not stopping his walk.

The people along side of the street were probably staring at them weirdly, but Jimin didn't mind. Hell, he didn't even notice. All he was conscious of was the other boy's warmth and the way he was holding him, his heartbeat that he was able to hear beating through his chest, his soft words that were escaping his lips and the raindrops falling down from the taller's hair, running down Jimin's reddened cheeks after they touched the smooth skin.

⇼

Jimin didn't know exactly how he had ended up in this position, sitting on Taehyung's lap with the other having his arms wrapped around him, violently sobbing into his shoulder while the other rubbed his back softly, letting his hand run through the boy's black hair from time to time. The only thing Jimin knew was that he felt warm and safe. He finally felt like someone cared, for the first time in his entire life.

Once Taehyung and he had reached his destination, the boy had sat him on the bed softly with so much caution, that the black-haired boy had busted into tears right then and there. The taller had been a little taken aback by that action, but not completely surprised, because the boy had been looking like he had been on the verge of crying for hours. So, he acted right away and took the smaller into his arms, letting him sob against his chest and speaking to him with a soft voice, reassuring him that he was safe now.

A long time passed until Jimin's sobs had quieted down. His mouth was completely dry now, but he tried speaking up anyways, his voice coming out broken and cracked.

"Oh, wait let me-" Taehyung lifted the other up softly, getting up from the bed and he scurried around the room to come back with a glass full of water just about a minute later. He handed the glass to Jimin, who took it with shaky hands and downed it in one go. He paused after that, looking up at the other.

"Do you want more?" The brown-haired boy questioned, pointing at the empty glass in Jimin's hands.

The other shook his head softly. "No, I'm fine, thanks." He gulped, looking down at his hands that were gripping the glass tightly. "But could you... maybe hold me again...?" A pink flush spread over his cheeks after the words had left his lips.

A small smile made its way onto the other's face, immediately pulling the other back into the position they had been in before, rubbing circles into the boy's back.

"He was my boss." Jimin's voice was dump from the way the other boy held him, but Taehyung was able to hear and understand him nonetheless.

"Your boss?", he asked softly, looking down at the boy who was curled up against his chest.

"A panderer.", the boy muffled, his eyes still closed and his small hands tangled into Taehyung's shirt.

The taller felt a rush of blood run through his body when those words reached his ears and stiffened in shock. A second later he remembered what he had done to the guy and that now the man would never be able to find the boy again, which resulted in him loosening his posture again. He was just confused how he hadn't noticed before that Jimin was wearing a short shirt combined with fishnets that hugged his legs softly, because if he did, he probably would have already assumed all this and went even harder on the guy. His heart ached a little when he realized that Jimin, who was just as soft as a cotton ball, had been hurt and treated by that man as an object for sex.

Taehyung felt himself instinctively pull the other closer and place a gentle kiss on his forehead, which made the boy's eyes flutter open, widened in surprise. The smaller opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to say something, but the brown-haired boy shushed him by placing his hand over his eyes, making his eyelids close with a gentle touch.

"Don't worry baby, he's not going to hurt you anymore. You're with me now."

He started to pepper the boy's face with kisses, treating him as if he was made of glass. Jimin leaned into