Taehyung was sick of it. He was beyond sick of it. The ironic part was that it was Jungkook who avoided Taehyung like a plague. However, if Taehyung ever said he wasn't impressed with how well Jungkook managed to slip away from any and all contact, he would be lying. Jungkook always stayed in the same area as Taehyung, almost taunting him. He ate lunch with the rest of the group, sat near Taehyung in classes, and even held eye contact whenever it may have occurred. 

But, and this was possibly the worst part, Jungkook became incredibly close with everyone else. Anyone who didn't already have a nickname now had a specialized one that was only said by Jungkook. Jimin became Chim Chim, Namjoon and Jin became the 'umma and appa' of the group (Jungkook told them to not question it when he saw the confused looks on their faces), and even J-Hope became Hobi. According to Jin, whenever he wasn't around, Taehyung became V, which stood for 'variable' since Jungkook couldn't stand to say Taehyung's actual name or any of his nicknames.  Jungkook also hung around J-Hope a lot more, making it nearly impossible to approach him. There was absolutely no way that Taehyung could ask Jungkook to talk privately without looking suspicious.

It was as if Taehyung completely disappeared from Jungkook's life. And no one noticed or dared to ask about it.

~.~.~.~.~

"Hi, hyungs!" Jungkook greeted happily whilst nonchalantly walking past a waving Taehyung.

"Jungkook!" Jimin chirped, hugging Jungkook.

Suga scowled playfully, although he knew that Jimin would never leave him. Jimin giggled and grasped his boyfriend's hand, sweetly kissing him. The group immediately contorted their faces in disgust, except for Jin who practically melted and 'Aw'ed.

"You guys are gross," J-Hope commented.

Suga's jaw dropped, "It's not like you and Taehyung are much better! You both frickin came to school with your lips as swollen as balloons!"

J-Hope pointed at Suga, his mouth opened in shock, "Don't act like you didn't come here like that yesterday!"

The group burst into laughter as the two bickered back and forth. Jimin looked down, blushing yet smiling.

"You guys are ridiculous," Namjoon chuckled, shaking his head.

"I think it's cute," Jin smiled.

 The six boys laughed and wiped their tears away while Taehyung watched from a distance, jealousy bubbling up inside of him. Why is Jungkook so happy without me? Am I seriously that replaceable? 

~.~.~.~.~

It was finally the time Taehyung was waiting for, math class. Ironically, it was Taehyung's least favorite class and his worst subject, but it was the one class that Taehyung had alone with Jungkook. 

Jungkook was half asleep by the end of the lesson but was quickly awakened when color rang in his vision suddenly in two sharp blinks. He whipped his head around and saw none other than Taehyung.

Jungkook mentally cursed himself for letting this happen. He had been so broken and crushed over the past week. Although he always dodged Taehyung in the nick of time, he never managed to miss to utterly defeated expression on Taehyung's face whenever he gave him the cold shoulder. He was constantly at war with himself; his guilt and pride tearing him apart. Part of him wanted to run into Taehyung's arms and apologize again and again until everything was back to normal. Part of him told him it was only for the best and that Taehyung deserved this and so much more. Since he was focusing more on avoiding Taehyung rather than Taehyung himself, Jungkook almost forgot about his feelings for the older.

Almost. But he wouldn't let himself forget.

"Oh. Hi, hyung."

Despite mentally repeating what he was going to say multiple times, Taehyung suddenly felt nervous and stuttered uncontrollably, "Um, I-I was w-wondering if you wanted to c-come over after school."

At this moment, Jungkook decided that shy and nervous didn't suit Taehyung. At all.

"Why?" Jungkook asked out of instinct.

Taehyung's eyes widened and he broke out in a cold sweat, "I just wanted to hang out? We haven't really been talking ever since last week."

A bolt of anger flashed in Jungkook's eyes. Taehyung couldn't be serious. "Yeah, I noticed," Jungkook said nonchalantly, picking his fingernails. "People usually don't talk to someone when that person uses them to cheat on their boyfriend," Jungkook stated, looking up into Taehyung's eyes. "Sound familiar?"

It had been less than a minute, but Taehyung already felt so small and was on the verge of crying. Jungkook was so cold, it was sadistic. His voice cracked, "Please, Jungkook. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to do that, it was an accident."

Jungkook quickly stood up from his seat and grabbed Taehyung by the collar, "Pinning me against your wall and giving me a hickey, claiming that I was yours was an accident?!"

Tears sprouted in Taehyung's eyes, but they refused to fall. "Jungkook, plea-"

"No. Do you know how hard it was to ask my umma for her concealer?" Jungkook shouted. He was extremely lucky the teacher went out to go to the bathroom. "She asked me why I needed it. What am I supposed to tell her?! 'Sorry umma, I need it to cover this hickey that my friend gave me, because I need to hide it from his boyfriend!' How do you think that would sound?!"

"Yah! You kissed me back! You said you liked me, too! You said that you wanted to be my boyfriend! Don't act like it was all me, Jungkook!" Taehyung shouted in defense.

Jungkook was at a loss for words. He let go of Taehyung's shirt and looked away, embarrassed. He felt his cheeks burning up and Taehyung staring at him. He heard Taehyung's sniffles and turned to see Taehyung wiping tears off of his cheeks. His guilty side swallowed him whole. He reached out toward Taehyung and stuttered, "Hyung, I-I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, I overreacted, I shouldn't have done that. I'll come over, I'll make it up to you, I promi-"

Taehyung pushed Jungkook's hand away, "It's fine. Clearly you don't want anything to do with me. And I understand. It's okay."

Jungkook's lips parted in surprise, "No, hyung, it's not like that."

"Don't lie to yourself, Jungkook."

"Please, hyung. Everything can go back to normal again. We can be best friends again. Kookie and Taetae."

But they both knew nothing would be normal ever again. Whether things would be better or worse, it would never be the same.

"Jungkook, I'm telling you now. It's better if you don't forgive me," Taehyung said with so much sincerity and honesty that it hurt.

As of now, things looked like they were headed for the worse.

~.~.~.~.~

Taehyung cried silently on his way home. Luckily, it was the one day of the week that Taehyung walked home instead of having Baekhyun pick him up. Unluckily, Baekhyun had company over after school that day. Taehyung opened the door and was greeted by stares as he quickly wiped his face, hoping to hide the fact that he had been crying for the past 20 minutes. He quickly rushed to his room, avoiding the odd looks Baekhyun and his friends were giving him.

"Is he okay?" Kai asked.

"He looks really, really sad," Kai's girlfriend, Krystal, asked with concern.

"You should check on him," Chanyeol suggested.

Baekhyun nodded and walked toward his brother's room. He opened the door and found Taehyung laying on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, are you okay?" Baekhyun asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Taehyung didn't respond initially as if his mind was teleported to another world.

Baekhyun walked next to the bed and shook his brother's shoulders gently, "Tae, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, hyung. Go hang out with your friends."

Baekhyun furrowed his brows, "Are you sure?"

Taehyung nodded.

Baekhyun sighed in defeat. "Okay. Just come and talk to me if you want to."

Taehyung nodded again.

Baekhyun walked out to the other three, who were quietly discussing the cause of Taehyung's mood. 

Kai spoke first, "Is Taehyung still sad about the breakup?" 

"What?" Baekhyun asked, confused. Taehyung never mentioned a breakup.

"Yeah. Kai and I were here last week because I forgot my notebook, an-"

"Wait, how did you get in?"

Chanyeol sighed, "You keep your key under the third bush to the left." Then he continued, "Anyway, while Kai and I were here, we saw him making out with someone. But he didn't look like Hoseok."

"What? Wait, what?" Baekhyun exhaled in disbelief. He asked, "What did he look like?"

"We couldn't really see his face, but he was a bit taller than Hoseok and had dark hair."

Baekhyun couldn't believe this. He wouldn't believe this. He tried to think about who it could be when finally one name popped up in his mind. Jungkook. His jaw dropped. Taehyung wouldn't cheat on Hoseok. He's better than that. Baekhyun started sweating. What could've caused this? Was anything going on at school? Baekhyun took a deep breath. Maybe this isn't as bad as I think it is. Maybe Taehyung really did break up with Hoseok. In that case, it's completely fine that Taehyung kissed Jungkook. But one question stood in the way. Then why is Taehyung still crying?

He came with the awful, disgusting conclusion: Taehyung had cheated on Hoseok with Jungkook.

But was it against his will? Did Jungkook force himself on Taehyung? Although he didn't know Jungkook well, it didn't seem like something he would do.

"Tell me everything. In detail," Baekhyun demanded.

"Taehyung had the guy up against the wall. The guy was kissing back, but he was also pushing Taehyung's chest. Then, after a while, Taehyung started kissing the guy's neck. Then, they got super emotional and started talking and the guy was crying, but he was also really angry at Taehyung. It was super complicated and dramatic," Kai explained.

Baekhyun took a deep breath and shook his head, "I'm asking Taehyung about this."

Baekhyun walked swiftly back to his brother's room. He swung open the door, "Taehyung, did you break up with Hoseok? Is that why you're sad?"

Taehyung, who was still laying down on his bed motionless, tilted his head up to look at Baekhyun, "No. We're still together."

Baekhyun's jaw dropped and he glared daggers into Taehyung. He pulled Taehyung off of his bed and whispered loud enough for Taehyung to hear, "I cannot believe you."

"What?"

Baekhyun suddenly slapped him across the face with the back of his hand. He hit him so hard that Taehyung fell on the floor. The sound could be heard throughout the house and sent the three running towards the room.

"What happened?!" Krystal shouted.

Kai, Chanyeol, and Krystal looked and found Taehyung on the floor, holding his cheek where Baekhyun had struck him. Baekhyun was towering over him, a cold glare in his eyes. Krystal and Kai ran to help Taehyung up and inspected his cheek, asking again and again if he was okay. Chanyeol ran to Baekhyun.

"Why did you do that, hyung?!" Chanyeol shouted.

Baekhyun pointed at Taehyung accusingly, "Taehyung cheated on Hoseok."

The commotion immediately stopped. Kai and Krystal immediately pulled their hands away from Taehyung's face and stepped back toward Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Chanyeol and Kai's eyes looked just like Baekhyun's; as cold and hard as stone. Krystal's lips parted and her brows furrowed. They all looked at Taehyung like he was a monster. Taehyung couldn't say that he disagreed.

Baekhyun closed his eyes and huffed angrily, "Jungkook doesn't deserve that."

Krystal was beyond shocked, "I'm calling Dawon-unnie."

As she dialed J-Hope's noona, Taehyung couldn't bring himself to stop her. He knew he deserved everything that was coming at him.

"Unnie?"

"Hi Krystal, why are you calling me so suddenly?" A chuckle could be heard on the other end.

"Promise me you won't tell Hoseok-ssi."

"What?"

"Taehyung...Taehyung cheated on him."

Hearing that sentence, Taehyung immediately felt disgusted with himself. He wanted to crawl out of his skin and cleanse himself. He wanted to start his life over from scratch and forget everything.

The pause on the phone was death-inducing. The insides of everyone in the room were churning nervously. Finally, Dawon spoke, "I have to tell him."

"Please don't! None of us know what to do, Taehyung's scared, we're sca-"

"Krystal, do you think I know what to do either?! He's my baby brother! Am I supposed to just watch him and let him stay in that pathetic excuse of a relationship?! Am I supposed to let him fall deeper into this lie? Am I supposed to let him believe that his bastard of a boyfriend still loves him?"

The last sentence hit Taehyung so hard it physically hurt. But he was glad that Krystal wasn't completely against him and was trying to protect him, "I don't know. Just don't tell him."

A deep sigh was heard from the phone, "I swear, Krystal. If he gets hurt any more than this, I will hunt Taehyung down and give him hell, you hear me?!"

Krystal looked up at Taehyung and shakily said, "Yes. I understand."

"I'll talk to you later."

 "Bye, unnie."

~.~.~.~.~

With two out of three of Taehyung's closest friends keeping as much distance as possible and the last person fallen victim of Taehyung's foolish actions, Taehyung began to feel like he was living a lie.

Yay! I'm a lot happier with this chapter because it's a bit longer (not really, but kinda), especially since Ch. 14 and 15 were so, so short. Also, in case any of you were confused, Chanyeol and Kai were at the house at the same time Jungkook and Taehyung were kissing, which is why they were able to tell Baekhyun everything that they saw. This is the mess that happens when you change your plot while writing. It kinda really .

Sorry things have been escalating a lot recently, considering that everything was moving SUPER slowly in the beginning of the fic. I hope it doesn't bother you too much. AND yes, I know. Where the hell is Namjin; Yoonmin is already together, Vkook is already, well, whatever they are right now, but Namjin haven't even developed real feelings for each other yet. I know that Namjin is being VERY neglected, so the next chapter will be focused on them. So, yay!

Also, just in case you want to know how much time passed in the fanfic so far, if you remember the 'music project' was to be due in 2 months at the start of the fanfic. 2 months is equal to 60 days, and 35 days have passed so far. So, therefore, about a month and 5 days have passed and the music project is due in 25 days. But that doesn't mark the end of the fanfic! Actually, a LOT of important stuff is planned for after the music project.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter (sorry my author's notes are always so, so long. I just really like talking to you guys), I'll see you next update!

Love,

Kilotons