#i left that stream cause the constant screenshotting was grating | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

taeheyhey · 5 years

Text

Close to Normal

Chapter 21 - Silver Screen

Taehyung x Reader - 3.5K words

A/N - OMG! The penultimate chapter! I can't believe I'm almost done!! I really REALLY hope you enjoy this part, please let me know by liking, reblogging or commenting! As always, if you have any questions about any of it I would be thrilled to answer them! Thank you all so much for reading you lovely bunch! 💗❤💜

One ~ Two ~ Three ~ Four ~ Five ~ Six ~ Seven ~ Eight ~ Nine ~ Ten ~ Eleven ~ Twelve ~ Thirteen ~ Fourteen ~ Fifteen ~ Sixteen ~ Seventeen ~ Eighteen ~ Nineteen ~ Twenty ~ Twenty-One ~ Twenty-Two

When Hannah returned to the room after the notification on her phone had interrupted your conversation, she hadn’t seemed quite as keen to carry on with her line of inquiry – a fact which, at the time, you had been grateful for.

Despite the fact you had been able to laugh about it, albeit briefly, it still caused you pain to recall those memories, but with each day that passed you felt increasingly curious as to the reason behind her swift change of mood.

She had poked her head around the door before entering, looking almost as though she was trying to sneak someone in to the room, and then stepped over the threshold awkwardly after finding your eyes locked on hers.

She stood by the entrance to the room, motionless but for rocking back and forth gently on the balls of her feet, an action you recognised as something Hannah used to do when she had been caught doing something wrong as a child.

“Is there something going on, Hannah?"

Between her odd stance in the doorway and the way she had acted after fetching the wine earlier, you were beginning to suspect that she may very well be up to something, and whenever Hannah made up her mind to be up to something experience had taught you to be wary.

“Like what?”

“Not exactly a convincing response,” you laughed at the squeak in her voice.

“Ah it’s nothing really,” she offered you a brief smile before a very obviously fake yawn left her and she lifted a non-existent watch before her vision. “Oh wow, is that the time already?”

Needless to say you had been unsurprised when she didn’t opt for the performing arts in her further education.

You got the distinct impression she wanted to be alone, and seeing as it was still relatively early you decided to venture downstairs to see if Ronnie would benefit from your help or your company.

“I’ll be back in a few hours okay. I’ll let you get an early night.”

She responded to you with a non-committal hum of agreement and rolled on to her side on the bed, the light from her phone illuminating the determined look on her face, her tongue gripped between her teeth and eyebrows knitted together in concentration, as she furiously tapped on to the screen.

~~~

He guessed that he hadn't exactly been discreet when he’d seen your name being repeatedly entered in to the comments, it had completely stopped him in his tracks and he lost the thread of whatever it was that he had been talking about, causing him to shake his head to regain his focus and laugh unnaturally until he was able to continue.

They had all been on such high alert for the appearance of your name in any capacity since it had become abundantly clear that Taehyung was not going to simply forget about you and move on, as the elder members of the group had initially suspected he might.

In the beginning, any time they saw it they would immediately begin looking for any further indications that it was Taehyung’s girl trying to make contact, but every time it turned out to be merely a coincidence, and the members would step down from red alert and resume normal operations.

After a month and a half of this rigmarole it became much easier for them not to outwardly react, and for some of them it had begun to cause so much stress that they needed to endeavour to cease inwardly reacting as well.

This time though the name had repeated over and over, apparently refusing to desist until the phantom commenter was satisfied their cries in to cyber space had been received loud and clear.

Namjoon wracked his brain and tried to work out how to proceed. He looked into the webcam in what he hoped was a meaningful way and began talking about Twitter in English.

The stream of repeated comments halted for a moment and he kept one eye on the feed as he carried on talking, deciding that if by some miracle whoever it was that purported to know you got the hint, he would stop his broadcast as he was struggling to multitask in this way and he felt guilty for not giving the rest of the viewers his complete attention.

After a few moments it appeared that his intimation was understood and the commenter appeared again detailing her Twitter handle, and he quickly took a screenshot of it and commenced signing off his broadcast, mentally preparing himself for whatever reaction he would get from Taehyung.

“How do we know it’s legitimate?” Yoongi had asked as he lowered his tablet from his face for the first time since their leader had entered the room and began speaking with them all, his eyes – full of concern – flicking over to Taehyung, who was stood stock-still as though he had been paused, his eyes even larger than usual as he tried to take in what he was hearing.

“It’s too much of a coincidence isn’t it, hyung?” Jimin cut in, turning to the second oldest. “There are maybe ten people in the world who know about what happened and what her name is.”

“And seven of them are in this room,” Jungkook finished.

Hoseok shifted in his seat, his brows furrowed, before leaning forward and resting his elbows on to his knees. “Could she have told people? Gone to the press once she found out – ”

“No,” Taehyung cut in instantly and firmly, finally breaking his silence. “There’s no way she would do that, hyung. I know her.”

He knew it seemed like a weird thing to say, especially since it had been a quarter of a year since those few short days in which he had gotten to know you. What sane person would claim to truly know someone else in such a short space of time when they barely understood any words that were exchanged?

And yet none of the members contradicted him. Hoseok simply nodded and sat back in his chair at his vehemence. Being as prone as Taehyung had previously been to fickle fads and interests, these past few months they had all seen a change in him. They had seen him go through extreme highs and lows, and experience hope and despair in equal measure and fervour. The only constant had been that you had been on his mind and in his heart the entire time, and it was easy for the others to recognise and acknowledge the profound effect you had clearly had on him.

“It all seems to be genuine,” Namjoon addressed them all. “Besides, if the press did know anything about it all hell would have broken loose by now. I used Seong-min’s account to message her, asked her some questions to verify she was who she said she was – like the name of the city and the bar. She said her name was Hannah.”

At that, Taehyung's head shot up. “Hannah. That’s her best friend,” he sat down on the sofa beside Jimin as he felt the strength leave his lower half. “It’s really her,” he said to no one in particular, his voice breathy with wonderment.

“Why didn’t she get in touch herself, why did the friend do it?” Jimin asked after a few moments to allow the revelation to sink in for everyone, placing a soothing arm around his friend and squeezing his shoulder reassuringly.

Jimin’s question brought Taehyung back down to earth and he turned his gaze to Namjoon, his face the very picture of wide-eyed curiosity.

He looked uneasy for a moment as his eyes scanned the room. He sighed heavily and shoved his hands in to his pockets. “She hasn’t seen it, the V Lives, the Bangtan Bombs. Nothing.”

There was a pause as his words sunk in. Everything they had done and all the effort they had put in to get your attention and you hadn’t even been aware of it.

Yoongi swore and Jin groaned, rubbing his thumbs over the calluses on his finger tips that had hardened even more following all the practice he had put in to learn what everyone was referring to as ‘your song’. Taehyung sat forward and placed his head in his hands while Jimin tightened his grip around him.

“She hasn’t seen any of it?” Taehyung's voice was muffled and quiet. He rubbed his hands over his face as he looked up at Namjoon, feeling panic and worry begin to form in the pit of his stomach. “Why? Did she forget about me? Did I upset her?”

Namjoon felt his heart go out to the younger member, and he walked over to the sofa and crouched down in front of him, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking him square in the eyes. “She didn’t even tell her friend about it, Taehyung-ah. This Hannah worked it out for herself and tried to get her to talk about it. She said she misses you.”

“She does?” Taehyung looked so childlike at that moment it was all Namjoon could do to not pull him in to a hug immediately, but he could see the tears beginning to form in his dongsaeng's eyes and he knew if he was outwardly affectionate towards him it could set him off crying, and Namjoon knew he hated to cry in front of some of the members.

“Of course she does idiot, why wouldn’t she?” he said softly. “Her friend seems to think she may have been a bit...overwhelmed when she found out about, well, everything,” he offered as further explanation.

“I can imagine it being quite hard to get your head around, finding out someone you are seeing is a celebrity all of a sudden.” Hoseok offered from across the room to murmurs of agreement.

Taehyung looked sheepishly at the floor between his feet. “I didn’t handle any of this particularly well did I, hyung?”

Namjoon smiled warmly at him before patting his shoulder light-heartedly and standing upright to begin to explain his proposed next move. “Maybe not. But now we get to fix it, right?”

~~~

A week or so had gone by since Hannah’s bizarre behaviour had caused you to leave her to her alleged “early night”, making your way down to the bar and nodding a greeting to Ronnie while pulling on your apron, much to his surprise.

It had gotten a little busier in the bar since Hannah had come back, she always had a tendency to attract a younger crowd whenever she worked, and as it was the only place to drink in that area, the customers would stay and drink even after they found out she wasn’t there – albeit a tad begrudgingly.

“Everything alright, y/n?” Ronnie had asked as he passed over a full pint glass to a young bearded man in a lumberjack shirt, eyeing the man-bun wobbling precariously atop the customer’s head with thinly-veiled mistrust.

“Yeah it’s fine I think. Hannah is just acting a little weird.” You pulled down the empty vodka bottle from the rack at the back of the bar and pushed the optic in to a fresh one before re-mounting it. “Did she say anything to you when she came down?”

You wouldn’t find out till later that Hannah had asked her father not to disclose their conversation where Ronnie confirmed Taehyung’s identity, and so he had shrugged non-committally, and struggled to meet your eyes.

“Nothing I can think of off the top of my head,” he responded and shot another scowl at the man in the checkered shirt as he began to speak unnecessarily loudly in to his phone.

You had left it at that, and in the days that passed you largely were able to put it out of your mind, assuming it may have had something to do with Kevin or her next potential victim. You understood all too well the feeling of not being ready to discuss something, and you trusted that she would tell you about whatever it was when she felt like it, although it would have been a lie to say it didn’t sting a little that she did not reveal the reasons behind her abrupt change in mood that night, especially after you had finally confided in her about your days with Taehyung.

You had been relieved when she suggested a trip to the cinema, having begun to wonder whether or not she was avoiding you intentionally, or if you were just being paranoid.

“I thought we go could go tomorrow evening. Dad said he will be fine on his own for a couple of hours. We’ll get dressed up and have some food too before, what did you think?”

You smiled and nodded eagerly, excited at the thought of spending some quality time with your friend, however you didn’t fail to notice the relieved expression that spread over her face, almost like she’d expected you to say no. “Sounds great, what do you want to see?”

Her eyes widened as though she hadn’t thought that far ahead, although why that seemed to panic her you had no idea. “Um, I think they’re showing The Notebookagain,” she finally declared, exhaling a deep breath as you nodded once more in agreement.

You weren’t sure if that film was a particularly good idea, given how your delicate your emotional state had been, but you had seen it so many times at that point you were at least partially de-sensitised to even some of the movie's most potent scenes.

There was a small movie theatre not too far away from the bar, it only had a couple of screens and was about twenty times smaller than the numerous other theatres which were dotted about in the centre of the city, but you much preferred the air of authenticity of the older building, which still had curtains obscuring the screens which would open before the feature began, and you appreciated the ceremony of it all.

Throughout the meal Hannah had seemed distracted, and repeatedly checked her phone, chewing on her thumbnail and exhaling through flared nostrils after tapping out a response to whoever or whatever was pulling her focus from the large bowl of pasta in front of her which was rapidly cooling.

You reached over and placed your hand on top of her free hand, her phone still gripped too tightly in the other. The contact startled her and her eyes flicked to you as though she had forgotten you were there.

“Hannah, you are really freaking me out, please tell me what’s going on with you?”

She put her phone down and flipped her hand over to grip yours, squeezing it and grimacing apologetically. “Ah, I’m so sorry I’m not being good company am I?”

You shook your head and smiled warmly at her. “I just want to know you are okay. You’ve been...off for like a week now. You know you can talk to me, right? I know I offloaded some stuff on you the other night but I don’t intend to make it all about me. I’m here for you Hannah, you know that don’t you?”

The look of guilt that crumpled your friend’s face worried you even more, but she recovered quickly, a wide grin stretching her mouth as she picking up her fork. “I’m fine. I’m better than fine, I am awesome! I’m here with my dearest friend, what could possibly be wrong with me?” Hannah announced emphatically, spearing a piece of penne and shoving it unceremoniously in to her mouth and chewing with zeal, her lips curling down as soon as she realised just how cold her food had gotten while she had been preoccupied with her phone.

“You have always been a terrible liar, Hannah, but whatever. Just promise that you will talk to me if you need to.”

“I am a fantastic liar, always have been,” she said cheekily and gestured at you with her fork, and with the sudden shift in mood you knew she would divulge nothing further, such was her stubbornness.

“Uh-huh, sure.” You raised your hand to get the attention of the waiter who had been making eyes at Hannah all evening. He, of course, ignored you completely and you rolled your eyes. “You want to ask for the bill? The film is meant to start in twenty minutes isn’t it?”

You had left Hannah to organise the evening at her insistence, and she checked her notifications one more time while distractedly lifting her hand limply, frustratingly obtaining the server's attention instantly, and he appeared at the side of the table so swiftly it was as though he had teleported in.

You paid the check and left the restaurant, flagging down a cab to take you the short distance from there to the movie theatre. The unnecessary heels you were both wearing were also at Hannah’s insistence, despite your argument that for the most part you would just be sat in a dark room together, and what would normally be a ten minute walk suddenly necessitated transportation to save your feet from blisters.

You scanned the receipt from the meal for something to do as Hannah’s handset buzzed loudly again, unsurprised to find what you assumed to be the waiter’s number scrawled at the bottom of the slip of paper. “You’ve snared another one Han,” you informed her as you handed it over to her. “Please tell me what it’s like to be irresistible?”

She pressed the back of her hand to her forehead dramatically and sighed like a corseted woman in an old movie. “Exhausting.”

You laughed and reached for your purse as the cab pulled up at your destination. “I’ll bet.”

The cinema was more deserted than you had ever seen it as you strolled through the lobby towards the snack counter, and apart from the two members of staff you had passed upon entry and the one in front if the popcorn machine, you could not see another living soul anywhere. You shrugged to yourself and inclined your head towards the popcorn. “You want some?”

Hannah shook her head and rubbed her stomach theatrically. “Oh no, I couldn’t eat another thing. Let’s just go and sit down, my feet are killing me,” she answered while shooting you a warning look as though she could sense the ‘I told you so’ on the tip of your tongue.

You entered the completely deserted cinema screen and stood still in the door way, scanning the sea of unoccupied seats before you. “Well it’s a good job you booked this in advance Hannah, we’d be lucky to get a seat otherwise.”

She walked past you with her nose in the air and headed towards the very centre of the room. “Sarcasm is lowest form of wit y/n,” she said prudishly as she sidled in to the middle row.

You chuckled at her faux-primness and shuffled along the row to take the seat next to her, both of you removing your jackets and you beginning to settle down and wait for the movie to start.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, the familiar sound of Hannah’s phone rang out against the quiet of the large room, and she sat bolt upright as though she she’d been tasered. She slapped her hand against her thighs before standing up, the sudden action causing you to flinch away from her in shock.

“Right,” she announced too loudly, and you were sure that the young girl at the ticket window could have heard her. “I’m going to get some popcorn.”

You were too taken aback by the odd and stiff tone in her voice to remind her that she had just minutes ago claimed to be too full to eat anything else, and you sat in stunned silence and watched her awkwardly attempt to shuffle at speed out of the row of seats.

Turning to face the screen with your eyebrows still furrowed at Hannah’s behaviour, you inwardly cursed at the poor timing as the lights began to dim and the heavy maroon velvet drapery started to pull back from the screen. You whipped your head around to see if Hannah had noticed just in time to vaguely make out the double doors closing behind her.

Once the room was in complete darkness you took a moment to be slightly creeped out. You had never sat in a completely empty movie theatre before, and it was a strange feeling to be alone in such a large, dark room.

The sensation didn’t last long however as what you assumed to be the trailers began to light up the screen.

You heard the gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar play out over the speakers, the melody seeming to come from every direction as a tingling of recognition stroked it’s fingers up and down the back of your neck, causing the small hairs there to stand on end.

As butterflies began to form in your stomach and you failed to swallow down the lump that had suddenly taken up residence in your throat, the only thing occupying the entirely black screen were three words, written in white script.

Golden Closet Film.

A/N - The finale will be posted next Friday! I hope you look forward to it! 😚😊

66 notes · View notes