Is water wet?

-----------------

The smell of books is a very comforting one, especially old books.

It's sweet, almost cloying, but not enough to suffocate you. It's musty, but still refreshing.

It's a scent one would easily lose themselves in, it's like greeting an old friend, one you haven't seen in a long time.

Until you start sneezing from all the dust that is.

You swear that nobody has touched this book since the day it was written. Upon opening it, you were greeted by a cloud of filth billowing into your eyes, nose and mouth. You coughed and sneezed and spluttered for an entire minute before you could calm yourself down.

You had told Jungkook that you wanted to visit the history section of the library for a school project, which he seemed to buy into readily enough. Good thing Taehyung hadn't arrived yet.

The best part was, as soon as you had crossed the threshold, he had disappeared into the comics section with barely a goodbye thrown your way.

Which left you to explore at will.

The best part about the library in your town was that it had a huge and incredibly detailed history section, which included archives.

However, you realised upon entering, that you had no idea where to start.

You glanced around helplessly, how were you supposed to know where to look?

"Excuse me miss, would you like some assistance?".

You turned to see an older lady smiling softly at you. She seemed jarringly familiar, but you couldn't place her.

"I uhm-", you paused. "I'm looking for anything about the castle in the outskirts of town?". It was more of a question than an assured statement. "It's... for a school project".

"I thought so", she had a knowing look in her eye as she beckoned to you. "Come with me dear, I have exactly what you need".

You were confused as heck. She thought so? Oh well, as long as she has something to help right?

You followed her silently into the doors of the archives and documents room, all the way to the back. This section was obviously not a popular one, there was a thin layer of dust covering everything.

She pulled a set of keys from her pocket and unlocked one of the cabinets to carefully pull out an old book, you could see the edges of the pages were darkened with age. She slowly approached you and opened your satchel to carefully slide it in.

"I thought you weren't supposed to bring these out of the archives?". You were confused at the woman's odd behaviour.

She smiled at you.

"I think that perhaps you'll end up needing it far more than the library does". She leaned closer to you to whisper in your ear.

"Don't give up faith y/n, we're all rooting for you. Don't let her bring you down, you're stronger than you know".

You were shocked by her words, but before you could formulate a coherent reply, she had slipped through a gap in the shelves with one last knowing look thrown back at you.

---

"There you are".

Taehyung frowned softly at you. "Where's Jungko-".

His eyes darkened suddenly as he cut himself off, looking at you strangely. He leaned forward slowly to bury his head in the crook of his neck, and he inhaled deeply.

"Did that fucker...", his voice was seething, enriched with a dark, smoking anger. "Drink from you when it was my turn?".

You moved to take a step back, but his large hands encircled your wrists like manacles. You felt dizzy and sick all of a sudden.

"Taehyung, please stop", you whispered.

"If you answer my question, baby, there won't be a problem", he replied sweetly.

Was he the one doing this to you? Surely not. What was happening? You couldn't think straight, and you could feel your throat closing.

"I can't breathe", you cried quietly.

Told you not to mess with my boys y/n.

You shuddered at the voice echoing maliciously in your head.

"Baby?". Taehyung had pulled away, his lips now parted in concern. He didn't let you go, but he gave you some space. "Talk to me, what's wrong?".

Should have stayed away from them. I warned you.

You were aware of the fact that you were shaking like a leaf, but you were too far gone to care. The last thing you saw were Taehyung's worried crimson eyes before everything went black.

---

When you woke up, the first thing you saw was clouds.

Were you on the ground?

You didn't think so, you could feel metal bars pressing against your back, but your head was resting on something warm.

You figured it out pretty quickly when you felt long fingers run lightly through your hair, playing with the strands.

You turned your head slightly to look up at Taehyung staring off into the distance, he hadn't realised you were conscious. Your head was on his lap, and you realised the metal bars were a park bench.

His touch was very soothing, tugging ever so slightly on your locks every now and then. You couldn't prevent the relaxed sigh escaping your lips.

He looked down, and smiled softly. You had not seen this particular smile before, it was different from his usual smirk. It was box-like, and very innocent.

"Hiya", he spoke softly, his voice nothing but sweet and soft. "You ok baby? You scared me".

"Must have just fainted", you said slowly, but you could feel tears fill your eyes, threatening to spill over. You were so scared.

"Oh baby", he crooned, pulling you up gently. He guided your head to rest on your shoulder, his other arm wrapping securely around your waist. "You want to talk about it?".

You shook your head as you started to sob quietly. You wanted to, so desperately, but you couldn't, because of whatever that woman had done to you.

"That's ok", he whispered. "Just cry it out".

This was the sweetest you had ever seen Taehyung. As you cried, he did nothing but comfort you, murmuring sweet nothings, occasionally pressing light kisses against your temple.

The sun sank slowly, bit by bit, but not once did he let you go, continuing to embrace you until you cried yourself to sleep.

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sorry bout the delay, mental health was experiencing some mild turbulence if that even makes sense.

Not enough to be actually crashing :)

oop.

Please vote and comment for your favourite consistent author 😅

Peace out uwu