Chapter 3: The Crash

The bright, sun-drenched summers of Taehyung’s childhood came to an abrupt, violent halt on a rainy Tuesday evening in November. Taehyung was ten years old.

The rain was pouring down in heavy, relentless sheets, blurring the city lights into smudges of red and yellow. Inside the Kim household, ten-year-old Taehyung was sitting on the living room rug, patiently building a towering castle out of plastic blocks. Four-year-old Jungkook was curled up right beside him, his head resting against Taehyung’s thigh, sound asleep while holding onto the hem of Taehyung's sweater.

Taehyung’s parents had gone out for a rare anniversary dinner, leaving the boys under the care of Jungkook’s mother, who was currently in the kitchen brewing tea.

Rrrrng.

The sharp, jarring sound of the landline telephone sliced through the quiet hum of the house. Taehyung blinked, looking toward the kitchen. He heard Auntie Jeon pick up the receiver.

"Hello? Yes, this is she..."

Taehyung went back to placing a blue block on his castle. But within seconds, the quiet atmosphere shattered.

From the kitchen, a loud, sharp gasp echoed, followed by the clatter of a ceramic mug shattering against the tile floor. Taehyung froze. He slowly turned his head.

Auntie Jeon stumbled out of the kitchen, the phone dangling limply from her hand, her face completely drained of color. Her eyes were wide with a terror that Taehyung had never seen before. She looked directly at Taehyung, and tears immediately spilled over her lower lids.

"Auntie?" Taehyung asked, his voice suddenly sounding very small, very young. "What's wrong?"

She didn't answer. She rushed to the sofa, grabbing her coat with trembling hands, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "Tae... Tae, honey, listen to me," she choked out, dropping to her knees in front of him. She grabbed his shoulders, her grip tight and shaking. "I need to go to the hospital. Your... your mom and dad... there was a crash. A truck on the highway."

The word crash echoed in Taehyung’s ears. He stared at her, his mind refusing to process the information. "Hospital? Are they hurt? I want to go too."

"No, baby, you stay here. Look after Jungkook," she sobbed, pressing a frantic kiss to Taehyung's forehead before rushing out into the torrential rain, the front door clicking shut behind her.

The house fell into a terrifying, suffocating silence, save for the rhythmic patter of rain against the windowpane.

Taehyung sat frozen on the floor. His chest felt tight, a heavy, suffocating weight pressing down on his lungs. He looked down at Jungkook, who was still sleeping peacefully, completely unaware that the world was fracturing around them.

Hours crept by like an agonizingly slow nightmare. Taehyung didn't move an inch. He didn't cry. He just stared at the front door, waiting for his parents to walk through it, laughing about the rain, apologizing for being late.

It was past midnight when the door finally clicked open again.

Auntie Jeon walked in, followed closely by Uncle Jeon. Their clothes were damp, their eyes red and swollen. Uncle Jeon walked over, gently lifting a sleepy, blinking Jungkook into his arms.

Auntie Jeon dropped to her knees in front of Taehyung again. She didn't say a word. She just wrapped her arms tightly around his small frame and buried her face in his shoulder, her body shaking with violent, uncontrollable sobs.

In that heavy, heartbreaking silence, ten-year-old Taehyung finally understood. They weren't coming home. His bright, beautiful parents were gone forever.

He didn't shed a tear. His eyes just went completely blank, staring over his aunt’s shoulder at the colorful plastic castle on the floor. The world had gone entirely, devastatingly quiet.

Thankyou for reading 😘

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