The Other Half (1/1)

When Taehyung was ten, his family went to the beach for a week and he found the most beautiful shell he had ever seen. It was a pure white colour with flecks of gold along the edges and a smooth surface. Taehyung’s eyes followed the golden flecks around the bottom and up the side and he frowned when it cut off at a jagged edge.  “What do you have there, sweetie?”  Taehyung looked up at his mother from where he was crouched in the sand. Instead of answering, he held the broken shell out to her and continued to frown at the broken edge. His mother smiled and kneeled beside him, gently taking the shell from his hand and running her finger over the sides. “It’s beautiful,” she said and handed it back to him. Taehyung took the shell from her and looked it over again, still frowning. “It’s broken…” he muttered sadly. His mother made a soft sound and patted his head, ruffling his sea damp hair before answering, “Well maybe you need to find the other half, it has to be out there somewhere.” Taehyung huffed, “Why would I look the other half of this?” He tossed the shell to the sand and moved to stand up, but his mother grabbed his wrist gently.  “Because maybe someone else found it, and they're looking for this half,” she picked up the broken shell and pressed it into Taehyung’s palm, closing his fingers around it. Taehyung lifted his hand and opened his fingers, looking at the shell now covered in sand.  As Taehyung got older, and his family's trips to the beach grew fewer and fewer, he began to look less and less for the other half of the shell. He honestly had no idea why anyone else would have it, or why his mother made him keep it all these years, but he searched anyway, albeit half-heartedly. Which was why his friends decided Taehyung needed to go to the beach one more time, for a last hurrah of sorts before he gave up for good. And because Yoongi’s friend had rented out a beach house.  Taehyung had already decided that no, he wasn’t going to find the other half of his god forsaken shell on this trip and yes, he was absolutely positive of this. His friends, however, didn’t think along the same lines as Taehyung and thought with one hundred percent certainty he would find it this one last time. “Alright alright, so let’s say a real honest to god person has the other half, what would you do?” Jimin sputtered out over the fries stuffed in his mouth, pointing one at Taehyung from across the booth they were sitting in before shoving it in his already full mouth. “Isn’t it obvious? He’ll be so happy he’ll ravish the person right then and there,” Namjoon muttered over the top of his beer. Taehyung rolled his eyes and downed the last of his own beer, running his thumb over the shell piece in his pocket. He carried it around simply out of habit at this point.  “I don’t know… knowing Tae, he’ll probably just kill the person, take the half, and run,” Jungkook cut in, eyeing Taehyung from across the table. “That is also very likely,” Jimin agreed and fed his boyfriend a fry as a reward. “Or, a more likely situation, I never find the other half of this shell because it’s highly improbable and this search is fucking stupid,” Taehyung said, glaring at the people he’d chosen to care for since primary school. Namjoon laughed loudly because yeah, there was a one in a billion chance Taehyung will actually find the other half of the shell. “Okay, guys, it’s getting late, we should head home,” Jin said pushing himself up and grabbing Namjoon’s hand as he walked to the bar to pay the tab.  “Awwww, but it’s only twelve,” Jimin whined, burrowing himself closer to Jungkook and pulling his half full beer closer, like it was his precious. Jimin was a borderline alcoholic so it probably was precious to him. Taehyung rolled his eyes at his best friend and grinned, standing up and saying, “C’mon Chimchim, we need to meet Yoongi early tomorrow for our road trip.”Jimin groaned but let Jungkook pull him up and towards the door of the bar with the beer still clutched in his hand.  Taehyung followed his friends out the door and let the cool night air lift a bit of the alcohol induced haze from his head. He turned in time to see Jin take the glass cup from Jimin and quickly put it by the door to the bar before power walking away with Namjoon and Jimin in tow. Taehyung smirked and walked slowly behind his friends, glancing at Jungkook when he strode up beside him. “So, you think you’re actually going to find the other half of the shell tomorrow?” Jungkook asked. Taehyung snorted, “Fuck no. All the years and the vastness of the ocean don’t really play in my favour, now do they?” Jungkook sighed and rubbed his bare arms to warm them up a little, “Look, man, I didn’t mean to piss you off-” “I’m not pissed,” Taehyung interrupted, and he deflated a little when he realised his tone, “I’m sorry, I just… It’s was a silly little scavenger hunt my mom gave me when I was young to keep me entertained at the beach and now it’s like I’m doing it as a memorial to her, you know?” “You’re mom isn’t even dead, Tae!” Jimin shouted from where he was half leaning, half being dragged by Jin down the street “Shut up, I’m trying to make a point!” Taehyung shouted back. He looked at Jungkook and sighed again, “Look, my point is, I’ve lost all hope in finding the other half of this shell and I know I’ll ever find it.” Jungkook pursed his lips and nodded. “That’s understandable,” he said, side-eyeing Taehyung. They were quiet for a little while, walking silently next to each other and listening to Namjoon drunkenly talk about the psychology of the universe (‘It’s infinite, and always expanding and shifting, like Jin bed’). “You know,” Jungkook said eventually, shivering slightly, “before I met you guys, I thought I would just get through school and become the pop idol like my teachers wanted me to, but then Jimin walked in on me practicing, and that whole plan I had laid out in front of me changed. Out of all the rooms he could’ve walked into accidentally, all the buildings he could’ve gone to, he went into mine.” “Kookie, where are you going with this? I’m not very keen on listening to how you and Jimin fell in love,” Taehyung said. He decided Jungkook’s shivering was getting to be too much and took his jacket off and handed it to the younger. “Let me finish, hyung,” Jungkook said, graciously accepting the jacket. “Anyway, admittedly the chances of you finding the other half of that shell are enormously smaller than the chances of Jimin walking into my practice room, but it still happened. I mean, look at me now, I have my own studio and a wonderful boyfriend who I absolutely adore to go home to every night.” Taehyung scrunched his eyebrows and thought about what his friend had said. He was surprised at how wise Jungkook was, usually it was Namjoon spewing advice like and old Shaman. Even if Jungkook wasn’t old or a Shaman, he was still making sense. Taehyung should at least try to look for the other half of the shell while they’re at the beach. At least. “Thanks, bro.”  It wasn’t the best answer, but Taehyung was a little drunk and tired from his final exams, so he had a right to not be very talkative. The shell was burning a hole through his pocket now though. Jungkook clapped him on the back and tried not to trip as they walked up the stairs to their respected apartments. For some reason they all lived in the same building. “No problem, hyung. What are friends for?”  Despite Jungkook’s wise words from the gods, Taehyung was still silently reluctant to go, but the universe didn’t seem to care about how much he complained about it because he still found himself sitting in the front of Yoongi’s soccer-mom van. He spent the last half of the drive stuck between Yoongi and Namjoon’s dog, who Namjoon had insisted on bringing because, “she loves the beach,” and, “she won’t appreciate being left home alone all day, Tae,” even though she was literally alone every day while he and Jin are at work.  In short, Taehyung was mildly miffed during the car drive up. “Hey, Tae-hyung, can you put on some music?” Jungkook asked from the very back where he and Jimin were sitting/napping/making slightly odd noises that the others chose to ignore. Taehyung leaned forward to press the button on the radio, but Yoongi slapped his hand away. “Do not press that button.” “Why?” Taehyung asked. Yoongi sniffed and continued driving, “You won’t like what’ll happen, trust me.” “What? Did you get it stuck on the Hannah Montana movie soundtrack?” Taehyung grinned and sat back, pushing Namjoon’s dog away when she tried to lick his cheek. Yoongi scoffed, “You wish. It’s something much worse.” “Is it that annoying song by Super Junior?” Jin asked. He was seated in the middle seats with Namjoon. “Which one? There are lots,” Namjoon chuckled. Jimin poked his head up from where he was laying across Jungkook’s lap, “The one that goes, Choki choki choki wa?” Yoongi rolled his eyes so hard he almost lost control of the wheel. He quickly righted the car and answered, “I would burn this car if that piece of shit song was stuck on my radio, I swear to god.” “Then what song is it?” Taehyung giggled and looked at the man next to him with one of his classic box smiles. Before Yoongi could respond, the dog, who had been rather calm for the better part of the drive, jumped up and started barking at another dog poking it’s head out of a passing car. And here was the part where Taehyung was absolutely positive the universe was out to get him. “Taeyeon! Down!” Namjoon started shouting as he leaned over Jin and Taehyung to grab at his dog, and pushed Taehyung forward, slamming his head into, wonder of wonders, the radio button. “Ah shit,” Yoongi groaned just as the first few notes to Touch My Body started to play.  Jungkook started screeching, slamming his hands over his ears as Jin yelled for Yoongi to turn the song off. Jimin smiled and danced along, singing the parts he knew and earning a pained glare from Jungkook. Taehyung sat up in a daze and rubbed at his head, absently registering his slightly blurry vision and frowning at the bruise he could feel starting to form.