Chapter Text
Taehyung had gotten used to ‘weird’. Ever since he was young there had been political unrest in the country: the Nobles wanted control, the People wanted democracy, the Royal wanted the throne. It was a silent battle, one that happened behind the scenes, but then the People revolted, and the Nobles seized the opportunity to take power. No one quite knew who was responsible for killing the Royal Family, couldn’t even decide if it was the people or the nobles, but either way it left quite a sizable power vacuum. For ten years the country has been without a stable ruler. For ten years the country had faced attack after attack from both sides. In the last year the Nobles had gained a foothold on the Capital and life returned to some normality. There were still attacks from the People of course, but for the most part life had returned to normal. But not before Taehyung had grown used to the attacks and now expected them.
There was rarely a day where Taehyung didn’t flinch when a car backfired, or cower when fireworks went off, or feel uncomfortable in a crowd. So far he’d been lucky enough to have been directly involved in such an attack but he’d been near them, never closer than a few streets away but gods , the sound and the screams - he’d had nightmares for months.
Taehyung didn't really care who ended up in charge, he just wanted to be able to walk down the street without being scared.
"Taehyung," his Aunt yelled. "If you don't get up now you're going to be late!"
He opened his eyes and looked at the time on his phone. 7.30am. He had half an hour to get ready and leave or he'd miss the bus and therefore his 9am lecture. Groaning, he forced himself to sit up, wiping his hands over his face in an attempt to wake himself up. He took a deep breath and pulled himself up and started getting dressed. He figured he didn’t have enough time for a shower so just wore his comfy clothes, despite knowing that Jimin would definitely judge him.
After brushing his hair and teeth, he wanders down to the kitchen where his Aunt, Kang Jieun, was finishing plating up breakfast.
"Taehyung, sweetheart, eat quickly or you'll miss the bus," she said kindly.
He'd already taken a bite so he just nodded.
"Have you got any plans after class today?" Auntie asked softly. Taehyung shook his head.
"No, I have an exam tomorrow so I swapped my shift with Songhyun," he said with his mouth full. His Aunt frowned at his manners while nodding. "I'm working Friday instead."
"OK, sweetie. You better get going, I'll see you after class ok? I'll make some study snacks for you," she smiled. Taehyung had one last bite and moved to the front door.
"Thanks, Youngmi. Love you," Taehyung replied as he put his shoes on.
"Love you too, Taehyung," she replied loudly, still in the kitchen. "Have a nice day!"
"You too," he said as he left. It was a ten minute walk to the bus stop, but Taehyung always took a detour that made the journey five minutes longer because there was a ginger cat that likes to sit along one of the walls outside of the houses and Taehyung liked to stroke him. The weather was starting to get colder, so that cat wasn't there but , Taehyung thought, it had been worth checking just in case.
Saddened by the lack of cat cuddles, Taehyung carried on further into town. He passed a few familiar faces, and some not-so familiar faces; giving them all a small smile. After a minute or so, he reached his bus stop. He saw Jimin had beaten him there so he walked up and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Tae,” he grinned. “Take the detour again?”
“Of course. Going to the library to stare at Namjoon again?” Taehyung replied, grinning as Jimin scowled.
“It’s not staring. And I’m not going for him, I actually have a paper to write,” he said.
“That modern history paper? Or the modern politics one?” Taehyung asked, knowing that he also has to writes those papers.
“The politics one; I’ve barely started on it and it’s due next month,” he replied. Taehyung stared at him.
“Jimin. The history paper is due next week and I haven’t started that one yet and you’re complaining that you haven’t started one that’s not due for another month,” he said as Jimin’s face turned to bewilderment.
“You haven’t started a paper that’s due next week?! How?” he sounded outraged.
“You know I need the added pressure of failing a class to actually write an assignment. It’s how I get my best grades,” Taehyung argued. Luckily, before Jimin could say anything the bus turned up. The pair of them scanned their student bus passess and got on, managing to grab seats next to eachother.
“Look, I know you need added pressure to actually do these assignments but you’re in your last year here and you need to start planning for the future. You can’t just keep leaving everything until the last minute expecting everything to turn out right,” he sounded angry, but out of concern rather than actual anger.
“It’s just an essay, Jimin! I have an exam tomorrow for my poverty and inequality module and it’s really important I get a good grade on it - it’s the only assessment for this module. That history module has another two papers that I can use to make up the grade!" Taehyung knew he sounded defensive but he didn't like it when Jimin made something bigger than it was.
"I'm sorry, Taehyung. I didn't mean for it to sound like I'm judging you, or micromanaging you," Jimin said guiltily. "I just want you to do as well as I know you can." Taehyung smiled lightly.
"It's OK, Jimin. I'm sorry I snapped at you. You want me to tell you what we discuss in the seminar today?" Taehyung asked, knowing Jimin has the same seminar tomorrow.
"Urgh, please. Assisstant Jung is so hard on my seminar group compared to yours! I don't get it!" Jimin whined dramatically causing Taehyung to laugh.
"I really don't get why you think he's mean, he's lovely to my group," Taehyung said, bewildered.
"Only because you know a ridiculous amount about the Royals," Jimin whisper-yelled. Taehyung scoffed and looked out the window, hoping they were almost at their stop.
"My Aunt and Uncle really liked the Royals OK, I can't help that. I didn't even know that knowing so much about them was weird until I started my course. Hey, we're here," he said, grabbing Jimin by the arm and pulling him up.
"I didn't say it was weird I just said it was a ridiculous amount when compared to literally anyone else on the course," Jimin whined. "Now you'd better run if you don't want to be late," he said. Taehyung looked at his phone.
"Oh shit, I'll see you tomorrow, bye!" Taehyung yelled as he ran off. He always forgot that the bus he often got with Jimin got him a little too far from his seminar, a little too close to its start time. So far he'd never been more than a minute late, which is probably why Assistant Jung hadn't been mad at him yet - definitely nothing to do with his absurd knowledge about the Royals and their lives. Yup, that's probably it.
He ran up the stairs that led into the History and Politics building, fumbling with his wallet to get his student ID card out to scan into the building. Putting his wallet back in his backpack, he legged it up the stairs cursing whoever put his seminar on the third floor. Sure he could get the earlier bus but then he couldn't talk with Jimin in the morning. Priorities, people.
He got to the classroom a minute before the seminar was supposed to start and Assisstant Jung was the only one there. Typical , Taehyung thought, I put all that effort in to get here and the other five rock up five minutes late. He takes a seat near the front and pulls out his notebook and pen. Assistant Jung was sat at the front of the room, typing on his phone. He looked up when Taehyung sat down.
“We’ll give the others a few minutes to get here before we start, ok, Taehyung?” He smiled.
“That’s alright, Assistant Jung,” Taehyung replied.
“I’ve told you, you can call me Hoseok, haven’t I?” Hoseok frowned jokingly. Taehyung smiled, thinking about how Jimin thinks this man is scary.
“I’m sorry, Hoseok. My Aunt and Uncle are kind of traditionalists when it comes to addressing people and it stuck with me I guess,” he said apologetically. Hoseok’s expression eased.
“That’s alright, Taehyung. I think we-” Hoseok was interrupted by the arrival of the other five students in the seminar group. “Will have to start the seminar,” he said to Taehyung. “Hey, guys, nice of you to join us!"
Taehyung left the History and Politics building in a good mood. Despite being late, the other students had done the reading and the discussion preparation so the seminar was actually meaningful and wasn't just him and Hoseok bouncing ideas and opinions off each other. He was especially glad the others had done the reading for once because Hoseok had seemed quite distracted; he'd received a text about 20 minutes in, and after quickly replying he didn't get another one and that seemed to put him on edge.
Taehyung hadn't thought much of it at the time, too embroiled in debate with the other students about the merits of protest through history, but he definitely thought it was it rather odd as he was waiting at the bus stop. Hoseok is usually so attentive to the class discussions, always guiding and furthering the discussion and suggesting further sources for them to check out. It was weird, but Taehyung wasn’t going to dwell on it too much - Hoseok probably just got some bad news, or was worried about something or someone.
He’d been stood at the bus stop for a few minutes when another man walked up next to him. Taehyung looked up and lifted his head in greeting. The man looked about Taehyung’s age and was wearing all black. Taehyung didn’t know the other man but assumed he was another student; it was a big campus after all, and that bus stop was the main stop for most of the humanities and social sciences - he couldn’t be expected to know every student.
Taehyung looked at his phone, seeing several messages from Jimin complaining about how difficult it was to study when Library Assisstant Namjoon kept squatting to out books on shelves. Honestly , he thought rolling his eyes, how Jimin ever got any good grades when he kept choosing to study where he knew Namjoon would be was beyond him.
After another minute or so or friendly banter (bickering) with Jimin his bus arrived. There were a couple of people already on the bus, but it was still pretty empty considering it was before noon. He scanned his student card and sat close to the front. The other man got on after him and sat a few rows behind him. Taehyung was only on the bus for a few minutes before it reached his stop. Both he and the other man got off and Taehyung strolled back to his house. As he got closer he realised that the man was still behind him. He subtly turned his head to see if was actually being followed. Shit , he thought, he is following me . He sped up, almost running. When he turned into his street, he took the opportunity to see if the man was still there. He was. Shit. Taehyung ran home, and slammed the door behind him.
“Ya!! Taehyung!! Don’t slam the door,” his Aunt yelled from the laundry room. Taehyung was leaning against the door, panting with his eyes wide.
“Someone followed me home, Auntie,” he whispered. It took a few moments for him to realise he hadn’t spoken loud enough for her to here him. His aunt, having been confused about the lack of response from Taehyung had come to the entry to see him. She grew concerned about his appearance. Taehyung’s panicked eyes stared into her worried ones.
“Someone followed me home, Auntie,” he said louder. Her eyes grew wide. She opened her mouth to say something-
Knock. Knock. Knock.
He’s outside , Taehyung thought.