The Girlfriend Package (Taehyung x Reader)

The River

You spent every waking moment the next few days that you had off from clients sitting beside your mother's bedside, and the nurse had been right.

She didn't make it through the weekend.

By the time she had passed, it was late Saturday night, and there was nothing left but numbness and silence and an empty bed, as the nurses worked steadily, quietly, around your sitting form, clearing the sheets and turning off the last of the few machines still left.

There was no one left-no one who had stuck with your mother through the years of chemo and pain and hospital stays, besides you and Rosa, and maybe Hailey, and before she had lost consciousness for good, and her mental stability, your mother had made you promise not to hold a funeral.

She didn't want all the fuss.

And so, the following Monday morning, a box, full of a small bag of her ashes, showed up at your apartment, and the numbness was back, and your eyes were dry, as you picked up the nondescript, cardboard box, all that was left of your mother, and shut the door.

*****

And that's how you ended up standing beside Kim Taehyung on a bridge, overlooking the river, the box holding your mother's remains clenched tightly in your hands, on a bright, Friday morning.

The park was full of joggers and kids playing catch and dogs chasing sticks, but the cheery atmosphere was lost on you, as you took in a deep breath through your nose, letting it out slowly past your lips, before you glanced over at the silent man standing beside you.

"I'm sorry. I know this is weird." You coughed with slight embarrassment, as he turned to look at you, one dark brow raised. "You know, the whole, 'come with me to scatter my mother's ashes' thing."

"Eh. It's not weird.." He shrugged a shoulder, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the ledge of the bridge, clasping long fingers in front of him as he stared down at the rushing water. "My older clients, when they pass on, their families usually do something symbolic with their ashes after the funeral." He flicked his gaze back to you, offering you a half smile, and even with the current circumstances, your heart caught briefly at the expression. "It's cathartic and shit. I get it."

You watched him for a moment, his gaze directed back to the river, and then, shifting the box in your hands, you leaned over beside him, watching the swirling water make its way underneath the bridge, as you asked quietly, "You go to your patient's funerals?"

"Oh. Yeah." Taehyung chuckled awkwardly, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, as he straightened beside you to look down at you. "Is that weird?"

You shrugged, knocking him gently with your elbow, as you offered him half a smile. "Nah. It's cathartic and shit. I get it."

Taehyung laughed, and you smiled at the sound, before your lips pressed back into a thin line, and you glanced down at the box still held in your hands. Now that you were paying attention to it once more, the small container felt as if it were a ten pound dumbbell weighing you down.

"She didn't want a funeral." You said quietly, still staring down at the box, even though you could feel Taehyung's direct gaze on your face. "She told me," You slipped into your impression of your mother, waving your hands like she always had done to accentuate her words. "'(Y/N), don't bother with all the damn frills. Just burn me up and return me to the city. I want my ashes to scare the shit out of some kid one day.'"

Taehyung chuckled, shifting beside you, and you finally looked up at him, meeting his gaze, which was warm with something you couldn't quite identify. "Your mom sounds like a firecracker. I wish I could have met her."