The happiness was short-lived.

As soon as the blonde came home, the first thing he had to witness was his parents shouting at each other, at full volume.

They didn't even notice his presence, which made it easy for him to just silently slip away into his room and sit on his bed, feeling suddenly gloomy.

"You are a horrible human being! Are you even human?!," he could hear his mother scream from the kitchen, shivers crawling up his spine as he sensed her desperation.

Not a single time in his life had he heard his mother talk back, let alone scream at his father.

His parents evidently had always had their differences and disagreements (an understatement, really) but Mrs. Kim was always one to let it go after a certain time, not wanting to aggravate her husband since she knew that it'd be pointless. This was the first time she raised her voice at him, and Taehyung was proud of her and scared for her at the same time.

"How dare you call me inhumane?! Everything is planned already, be glad I'm not making you leave too because if you keep acting like this, I will!!," he heard his father shout back, him forcing his eyes shut at that.

He balled his fists, feeling horrible and unsafe.

Forcing himself to listen to following five minutes of their heated argument although he most definetely didn't want to, he just couldn't find the courage or willpower to even move an inch, he started changing his clothes, feeling as if that was the only thing he could currently do to distract himself.

He indeed felt better after changing his top into an oversized pyjama shirt, the warm and fluffy fabric making him feel a lot safer and him letting out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

Just as he was about to put on his fitting pyjama pants, he heard a crash from the living room and flinched harshly, retracting his hands and dropping the pair of pants.

His father had just thrown an object.

"Now you throw around mugs just because you can't handle your temper?! That's your family heirloom, you monster! You are cleaning this up right here and right now, how dare you use violence inside this house?!," he heard his mother yell shrilly, still glued tightly towards the spot he was standing on, not being able to move a single limb.

"Who are you to call me a monster, woman?! You are the one living under my roof, I will not be disrespected like this in my own house! You are the one cleaning this up!," his father shouted back, and it seemed like the argument just got even more heated.

And right now, at this moment, he heard a loud knock on his window.

That seemed to bring all his senses back. Immediately, he started shaking his head to regain proper conscience and moved his wobbly legs which carried him towards the window, not even caring about the fact that he still forgot to put on his pants out of shock.

Which he then later realized and wore them as fast as he could.

With slightly trembling hands on the handle and his parents' fight still remaining very ongoing, he gave it the strongest pull he could and opened it, peeking outside and letting out a slight gasp.

"Jungkook? Wh-What are you doing here?"

Outside his window stood a smiling raven-haired boy, waving at him. His clothing appeared as a bit unusual as he was still wearing his dress shirt, without the suit jacket, and grey jogger pants. It seemed as if he had only had time to change one half of his clothing but Taehyung was too shaken up to notice that at all.

"This is the second last night with my boyfriend staying in the same continent as me and you expect me not to sleep with him and be there for him? Are you kidding?" At the other's light voice, he immediately felt like a huge weight was being lifted off his chest.

"Well, you're allowed to come inside, then," he spoke with a slight smile, helping the ravenette climb through the window although he didn't require much help.

"Do your parents know you came? And it's cold outside, why aren't you wearing a jacket?," he scolded softly, hugging the boy and looking at him with sad eyes.

"I left them a note. And it's not cold at all, I can manage... Why do you look so sad, baby? Positive thoughts only for today and tomorrow, remember?," Jungkook asked worried, flicking the blonde's chin and caressing his face softly.

Taehyung's gaze fell upon the door again, his parents' voices still penetrating his ears and sending his mood down the drain effectively.

"My parents. They've never argued like this before, it's because of me."

The happy glimmer in the ravenette's orbs died down immediately, him grabbing his lover's hand sympathetically.

"It's not because of you, it's because your father is a disgusting douche. He makes everyone suffer, even me included. But you most of all, and for that, you will take revenge. We all will, as soon as he loses his power."

Through his sorrowful eyes, the blonde gave a little smile. But then, he shook his head.

"I don't think he'll ever lose his power. He's connected to so many influential people and so many people but their trust into him, his reputation is extremely high. He's got everyone wrapped around his finger, to make him lose that, we'd have to get dirt on him that could actually get him to court. And we don't have that," he said calmly, now reaching up to play with the younger's hair and brush his fingers through it.

"But--," Jungkook was about to interject but got interrupted.

"No, it's okay. We need to face reality, there's nothing we can do and whatever we try, it won't change anything for the better. But what we can do is make the best out of a shitty situation."

He heard another crash from the living room, followed by excessive shouting. His father had probably just thrown another mug.

He flinched again. "Oh god, not again!," he whisper-shouted, covering his face with both his hands, his whole body going numb and the air momentarily leaving his lungs and making him gasp for it.

He felt like panicking.

Jungkook immediately removed the hands covering his face gently, taking them into his own, his eyes wide and full of concern.

"Baby? Taehyungie? It's okay, alright? No one is gonna hurt you. Not with me here. Take deep breaths, or you're gonna have a panic attack," he whispered into the blonde's ear, caressing the back of his hands.

"I-I'm sorry, I freaked and got scared for a moment. I just-- I don't think I can listen to this any longer. It's horrible. I need to focus on something else instead," Taehyung rambled, his eyes glassy and glistening with tears.

"Focus on me then. And don't you dare apologize for getting scared."

The older boy could feel himself get lifted up and placed on the younger boy's lap gently, so that they were facing each other and the blonde's head was leaning on his shoulder.

"So, what are we gonna do tomorrow? We still have a whole day, unless you had something planned?"

Taehyung shook his head softly.

"My mom suggested to take me shopping for some new clothes that I could take with me. I actually kinda liked the idea, I could do with some new shoes. Maybe you could go with me instead of her," he spoke quietly, trying to blend out the voices in the background and to his own surprise, slowly succeeding.

"That sounds amazing, I hope she doesn't mind. Afterwards, we can watch a movie at the cinema." Now smiling, the older nodded.

"She'll understand. And sounds amazing, we haven't done that in ages," he said, sounding much happier than before.

"But no horror movies," he added quietly, Jungkook slightly laughing at that.

"Why? Is my baby scared?," he teased, nudging him.

"Yes, he is. He'll have nightmares," Taehyung answered shyly, burying his head even more in his lover's shoulder and said lover gazing at him adoringly.

"Well, I guess we'll have to watch something else, then. I don't want my baby having nightmares," he spoke, kissing the crown of the blonde's head.

"And when we're done, we're gonna go eat some ice cream. Alright?" Taehyung nodded, now being completely distracted from his parents' fight, luckily.

"And we'll probably have plenty of time left after we get back. So we can do this..." He lifted the blonde's head, cupped his face and kissed him softly, smiling into the kiss as he felt him respond.

"...And this," he whispered as soon as they broke the kiss, his lips moving closer towards the older boy's neck but just as they were about to touch it, Taehyung pushed his head away with a scolding and at the same time, flustered look on his face, a slight gasp leaving his throat.

"Absolutely fucking not, I don't wanna have red blotches all over my neck when I take my graduation photo! Also, my mom lost her concealer so I couldn't cover them up!"

Jungkook, already having expected that answer but just enjoying seeing his boyfriend so flustered, grinned and rolled his eyes playfully afterwards.

"It was worth a try."

Taehyung giggled, perking his ears again and feeling a huge weight get lifted off his chest as he heard nothing.

"Oh my god, listen! They've stopped! Finally, everything is quiet... Are you staying over? We need to cuddle." Beaming as he saw the other nod and lie down and pat the space right next to him on the bed, Taehyung shook his head and positioned himself right on the ravenette's chest.

"I wanna hear your heartbeat, it always keeps me so calm." His ear right above Jungkook's heart, the blonde sighed in content as he sensed the other's steady heartbeat and closed his eyes, feeling a wave of fatigue roll over him all of a sudden.

"I love you, goodnight."

"I love you too..."

And like that, they drifted off into an uninterrupted deep sleep, knowing that they would need the energy for their ultimately final day together.

(A/N: i did some calculations and i realized that i have about 10-15 chapters for this book left sjdskskahsjk

another random question but what's your favourite animal?

istg animals are so precious protect them at all cost 😔😔

if i had to choose i think dolphins or beluga whales, they always look like they're smiling and it just warms my heart uwu

(bunnies and snow owls are very honorable mentions aswell)

i'm kinda late but happy new year, let's hope it'll get better than the last one and let's all have a fresh start uwuwu 💜✨✨✨💜💜💜)