Taehyung woke up alone, Jeongguk gone to work. He smiled to himself, feeling all the pleasant aches in his body, opening his phone with a yawn as he got up.

Walking around the bedroom looking for clothes, Taehyung frowned. Jeongguk's clothes were gone. Not even a trace of him was left.

Taehyung peeked his head in the bathroom, noticing that his usual toothbrush wasn't there either. Worried, Taehyung opened his phone to four messages from Yoongi.

Shit, kid, don't talk to Jeongguk right now.

Fuck fuck kid you guys are fucked.

Whatever he says, he doesn't mean it.

The last message was a link to an article. Taehyung opened it up and nearly dropped his phone at the headline.

Superstar Jeon Jeongguk Spotted On Date With A Man.

As Taehyung read on, dread began to pool in his stomach. The article was harsh, the comments even more so, crude jabs at Taehyung and snide remarks about Jeongguk. The picture was from last night, Taehyung leaning over to feed Jeongguk a fry, their faces too close to be considered friendly. There was also a blurry video of them walking back to Taehyung's house, bumping shoulders and leaning in for kisses occasionally. Taehyung felt dizzy, like he was about to puke, hands trembling as he started calling the familiar number, one that had found the top place on his phone.

"Jeongguk? I saw the-" Taehyung began, voice trembling and an apology on his lips. He was expecting a soft reassurance from Jeongguk, maybe a light scolding for taking him to a public place.

"Good. So you're aware that we can't speak anymore?" Jeongguk said coldly. Taehyung froze, breath catching in his throat uncomfortably.

"What?" he choked, unbelieving. He thought back to every time Jeongguk had held him, had helped him heal. They'd had such a nice time last night, Taehyung was still blissed out. "I thought-"

"Yeah, well, you're an idiot," Jeongguk snapped. Taehyung was too shocked to feel anything other than anger. He laughed bitterly, borderline hysterically, cutting off Jeongguk when he tried to speak again.

"So the whole thing was a lie, huh? Fucking figures, you're too high end for me, right?" Taehyung asked, voice dripping menace. Jeongguk snorted, voice equally as harsh.

"Wow, you caught on! You may be naive as shit, but you've got a great body. I was fucking thrilled when you started letting me use it for free," Jeongguk snarled. Taehyung's heart had stopped, at that point, the anger fizzling away to bitter disappointment as Jeongguk went on. "Goddamn, I was planning on cutting this short soon anyways."

"I thought you were different, Guk," he whispered, voice shaking. There was silence on the other end, as if Jeongguk noticed his change in voice. "I thought you..."

"You thought I was in love with you? I'm fucking famous, Taehyung. You're nobody," Jeongguk sneered. Taehyung didn't say anything, afraid his voice would break as much as his heart was.

"Delete my number," Jeongguk muttered, hanging up the call and leaving Taehyung alone.

Alone. That's what he was. Alone, alone, alone.

He knew somewhere he wasn't alone. Where someone loved him, where he could find relief.

"Taehyung. You're back," Minho smirked, pulling Taehyung inside.

It didn't take long for Taehyung to get high, professionally injecting the drug and sighing in release. Minho was already off his head, clinging onto Taehyung's side and laughing. The two of them sat on the couch, Taehyung with his head tilted back, eyes closed.

"So, you broke up with that other guy?" Minho asked. Taehyung didn't respond, the subject still a painful one. Minho took that as an invitation to kiss up Taehyung's neck gently, up to the shell of his ear.

"I missed you, TaeTae," Minho cooed, "I wish I would've treated you better. I still can, yeah? I can treat you better than him-"

"Stop," Taehyung ordered weakly, voice quiet. Minho kept going, hands wandering.

"You're mine, baby boy. I can be so good to you, just trust me," Minho purred. Taehyung tried to shake him off, eyes fluttering open again when Minho crashed his mouth onto his. All Taehyung could think was wrong, wrong, wrong , warning signals flashing in his mind.

"Minho," Taehyung warned, but apparently it sounded like encouragement; Minho leaned over Taehyung, caging him in, hands drifting further down. Taehyung snapped, struggling fully, panic taking over the haze of the drugs.

"Stop struggling!" Minho yelled, pulling back for a second, and Taehyung took that opportunity to knee him in the stomach. Minho stumbled off the couch, leaving Taehyung sitting on his own.

"Why won't you fucking listen to me?!" Minho screamed, running a hand through his hair frantically. Taehyung was cornered, no way of getting out, trapped on the couch. The front door was in sight, just slightly out of his reach, Minho blocking the way. Taehyung took in a deep breath, watching Minho angrily throw an empty vodka bottle. It shattered against the wall near Taehyung, the shards raining over him, some of them nipping at his skin. A broken sob was ripped free from his throat the severity of the situation finally becoming clear.

"Tae, I love you," Minho said, voice suddenly soft. Taehyung was shaking his head, eyes darting to where his phone lay discarded. Minho caught his gaze, growling again, stalking towards him.

"I-I'm sorry, M-Minho, I-"

"Shut up! Just shut up , Taehyung," Minho screamed. Taehyung closed his eyes, hearing Minho moving around, and decided what to do.

Quickly, Taehyung sprang to his feet. He pushed Minho away, desperately putting all of his strength into the movement.

Things became blurred after that.

Minho hardly moved, pushing back at Taehyung so that he fell to his knees. Taehyung was getting up again when a smashing sound rang out, and then as he finally made it to his feet, he looked up in time to meet Minho's eyes as a red-hot pain bloomed in his stomach.

Taehyung stumbled backwards, eyes wide, gaze drifting from Minho's face to observe the jagged piece of glass shoved into his stomach. The clear shard was quickly tinting red, Taehyung's shirt becoming sticky and wet as blood dribbled out steadily.

"Oh, God," Minho gasped. Taehyung looked up, saw Minho's shocked expression. He felt numb, felt nothing but the sickeningly warm blood running down his body.

"H-Help-" Taehyung managed, taking a step forward.

He wasn't numb after that.

The pain hit him full force, making his knees give out and bringing tears to his eyes. Faintly, he heard Minho scurrying away, leaving Taehyung in the apartment.

Taehyung forced himself to army crawl to the table, red-stained hand feeling around the table before finally grabbing his phone. With trembling fingers, Taehyung dialled Jimin's number, holding the phone up to his ear.

"Tae? Are you okay? I saw the-" Jimin began, voice worried. Taehyung cut him off gently, trying to ekep his voice as steady as possible.

"ChimChim? L-Listen, I- I need to... to say sorry," Taehyung gasped, voice wet and hoarse at the same time. Jimin went silent, obviously sensing that something was wrong.

"Are... are you okay?" Jimin asked gently. Taehyung laughed, the sound raspy and sad.

"I-I don't think so," Taehyung admitted. "I'm s-sorry for being so horrible to you, and I- I just- thank you so much f-for being... for being with me. T-Tell Hoseok and Jin that I l-love them too, I'm s-sorry for h-hurting you guys, I'm so sorry."

Jimin was shuffling on the other end, saying undecipherable words to people.

"Tae, can you tell me where you are? And what happened?" Jimin said calmly. Taehyung tried taking a deep breath but ended up choking, coughing up blood into his free hand.

"C-Can't, no time. 'M sorry, I g-got high again. Love you, so much," Taehyung cried, the reality of the situation finally hitting him.

He was dying. He was going to die. He was going to die, here, alone, he was going to die.

"I-I'm scared," Taehyung sobbed, each breath he took in sending shocks of pain down his side. "I don' wanna d-die, please."

"Taehyung," Jimin cried, hurting Taehyung even more. He hated hearing Jimin cry, hated thinking of his best friend being sad.

"Don' cry, Jiminie, please," Taehyung pleaded. His voice was coming out softer and he knew he didn't have much time left.

"Stay on the line, please, I'm on my way, Hoseok called for an ambulance, okay? You're gonna be alright, I'll-" Jimin was saying, but Taehyung cut him off again.

"No t-time. Gotta... call Guk, gotta s-say... say sorry," Taehyung stammered. He mumbled a few more loving words to Jimin before hanging up with nearly limp fingers, barely managing to dial Jeongguk's number. With an arm that felt like lead, Taehyung held the phone up to his ear, his mind a mantra of pick up, please, just this once, please .

"You've reached Jeon Jeongguk, leave a message, " the phone said in Jeongguk's voice. Taehyung was mid-sob when the beep sounded, alerting Taehyung that a message was being recorded.

"Guk, i-it's Tae. I'm s-sor-sorry, I l-love you," Taehyung rasped. Another coughing fit shook his core, a pained whine leaving his throat.

"I d-don... blame you, okay? Love you, lots. D-Don' forget me, Gukkie," Taehyung managed. He wanted to say more, wanted to scream into the phone, to yell fuck you and also I love you at the same time, but he suddenly couldn't remember how to use his voice. His arm fell to the floor, hitting the ground with a thump. The phone slid slightly out of his grasp and no matter how hard Taehyung reached for it, his fingers wouldn't listen to his mind. He had so much more to say, so much more to do with his life. He wanted to grow old with Jeongguk, to adopt some children and a pet, to eventually be able to afford a nice Christmas present for Jimin and Hoseok and Jin, to be able to thank them for everything. He wanted to buy Yoongi his own fancy recording studio, to watch his album win awards and for everything to go perfectly.

He didn't want to die like this, alone and seizing on a dirty apartment floor.

But when had Taehyung ever gotten what he wanted?