“Turn the page, maybe we’ll find a brand new ending, where we’re dancing in our tears.”

-Lost Stars

Taehyung glanced over at the boy, sitting silently in the corner of the empty classroom. It was long past the time for students to leave the building. When Taehyung noticed Jungkook’s absence as he scanned the school’s entrance, he rushed back to the building. Thankfully, he had spotted Jungkook in the classroom so he had decided to also wait with his friend.

‘Jimin can go by himself today,’ he thought.

Jungkook, however, hadn’t acknowledged Taehyung’s presence because he was busy staring out the window, earphones tucked into his ears. Taehyung noticed that the younger had been doing that a lot lately. And after what had happened last week, he didn’t want to unnerve the boy – he seemed way too delicate, as if he would fall apart by simply a touch.

Taehyung sighed as he looked at his phone. It was past six and he had to head back soon, but somehow he didn’t want to leave Jungkook all alone. He felt like he had to protect the younger, as if he was always in constant danger. But he wasn’t, and Taehyung knew that. He knew Jungkook didn’t really need him but Taehyung wanted to believe otherwise. He wanted to be needed, he wanted to be close to the younger, and he felt like he needed an excuse for himself – to deny the fact that he felt the desperate need to be with Jungkook at all time; to touch him, to see him, to hear him.

★★★

When Taehyung first met Jungkook, it was raining. He was running away from his dad’s house and the closest thing was the run-down bakery down the street where he could find shelter from the thunderstorm. It wasn’t long before he realized that he wasn’t alone. There was another boy with a clear plastic bag in his right hand and a dark umbrella in the other. But he wasn’t buying anything, Taehyung noticed. Instead, he warily looking at the rain outside.

“That’ll be $4.65,” said the man and Taehyung put his attention back to the coins spread across his palm.

‘,’ he thought.

“Well?” the man gave him a look and Taehyung heaved a sigh.

“Never mind,” he said as he placed the bread back onto the shelf. He walked out, feeling defeated and embarrassed. He really wished he had at least stolen some money from his dad’s wallet.

The cold rain felt harsh against his warm skin as he walked towards the bus shelter nearby.

“Wait,” he heard a voice. Taehyung turned around and squinted his eyes, trying to make out the blurry figure advancing towards him. It was the boy, he realized, and he was running towards Taehyung, completely drenched.

“What are you doing?” Taehyung asked.

The boy stopped in front of him and reached out his hand.

‘What the hell?’

“Take this,” the boy said.

“Why?”

“I got it for you!”

“Why?”

“You wanted this, right?”

“No!” he snapped at the boy. He didn’t want to be seen as a charity boy. He wasn’t poor and he didn’t like pity from others.

The boy’s face dropped and he turned around. Taehyung instantly regretted his little outburst but he had no idea what to say. He noticed that the boy still had the umbrella in his hand, but why wasn’t he using it? Taehyung grabbed the boy’s hand and dragged him towards the bus shelter he himself was headed to.

“Why didn’t you just use the umbrella?” he sat down on the bench and looked at the rain outside. The boy sitting next to him starred down at his shoes.

“It’s broken,” the words barely escaped his mouth. Taehyung noticed that he had been shaking and his voice was very faint.

“What’s your name?”

“J-jungkook.”

“I’m Taehyung.”

“I know…” Jungkook whispered and Taehyung raised his eyebrows.

“You do?”

“We go to the same school. You’re in my math class.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

Taehyung eyed the clear bag in Jungkook’s hand and swallowed thickly, wishing he didn’t have an annoying ego like his dad. He was instantly relieved when Jungkook took out a nicely wrapped bun and silently placed it on Taehyung’s lap. This time, he bit down his tongue and unwrapped the food and thanked the heavens for the angel named Jungkook.

★★★

It wasn’t until his third year of high school that Taehyung became very close to Jungkook. And he realized how dangerous that was. At first it was the absences that scared him. Whenever his best friend didn’t show up to class, he felt like he had to make sure he was okay, that he wasn’t hurt or sick. He always worried that Jungkook would be caught up in the rain again with a broken umbrella and he wouldn’t be there to help him.

But soon, the weekends became unbearable for him. He wanted to see the younger, to make sure he was fine, that he was happy, that he was smiling and enjoying life just as he deserved to.

“Hey,” Juri smiled as she opened the door to let the boy in.

Taehyung greeted Jungkook’s sister and mother before he headed upstairs. He spotted Jungkook’s room at the end of the hall. ‘Do Not Enter!’ said the poster atop his door, but he knew that wasn’t meant for him. He walked into the room and sat next to his best friend who had his nose buried into the new Iron Man comic Taehyung had gotten him for his birthday.

He remembered savi