Chapter 7

Sixteen years

Taehyung scanned the crowd of people for a clump of jet black hair. He was already at the school gate and his mom had called about three minutes ago that they were in fact at the school gates. So where were they now?

“Taehyung!” he heard his mom call out amidst the sea of noise. He turned and saw his mom, dressed neatly in a sky blue sundress and a light colored cardigan. She had a handbag on the left side of her arm and on his right, her fingers were intertwined with what Taehyung thought was the most handsome looking person in the world.

Jungkook stood beside his mom, looking as clueless as ever but he smiled to see him in the crowd. He was wearing a green and black checkered button down shirt above a white shirt and had on a pair of black skinny jeans. God, Taehyung needed to catch his breath.

“Hi,” he wished finally reaching them. The long awaited school festival was here and Taehyung was excited beyond words. Yes, yes, there was the obvious festival which was two whole days of no school but he was more excited to see him mom and Jungkook there with him. He mentally patted himself for inviting them to the event.

“Taehyung, dear, why don’t you go ahead with Jungkook? I’m actually waiting for a friend who said she’d meet me up here,” his mom suddenly said. Before he could retaliate or say anything, his mom pushed the both of them off into the school compound. Oh well…

Taehyung offered his hand to Jungkook. “So that you don’t get lost in the crowd,” he said but he knew even a kid could figure out that cunning smirk on his face. Nevertheless, Jungkook took it and they headed into the school, amazed at everyone and everything he saw. The cotton candy haired boy didn’t chuck away the opportunity of intertwining their fingers the moment he got it.

“Don’t let go,” he said. Jungkook noticed their hands slowly interlacing. But he didn’t seem to mind.

Jungkook was smiling and pointing at random stuff the whole time. He had never gone out like this in forever so he was amazed at every little thing he saw. From the straying bubbles to the food stalls, he stared in wonder and awe. And Taehyung enjoyed every moment of it.

They came across Hoseok and Namjoon after some time.

“Hey, Jungkook!” Hoseok exclaimed and went to hug the maknae in the group but he was quickly shoved off by the over protective Taehyung. Jungkook only managed to give a proud yet somewhat embarrassed grin. Namjoon too wished the two of them and made small conversation. But their meeting was cut short when a tall girl with long silky brown hair, whose aura spelled ‘sophistication and smart’, came up to them. To everyone’s surprise, the girl went and held Hoseok’s hand until the boy had the brains to introduce her.

“This is Park Yoona, my,” he began when the girl cut him off. “His girlfriend,” she said in a smooth and silky voice. She offered a handshake to Namjoon, “You’re Kim Namjoon, right?” Namjoon nodded and bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Park Yoona ssi.” The girl laughed melodiously, “Call me noona. And,” she turned to Taehyung. “You must be Kim Taehyung,” she said constantly shifting glances from his face to his hair. Taehyung bowed and said the same as Namjoon.

“And uh,” Yoona said turning to Jungkook. Hoseok cut in. “He’s Jeon Jungkook. Taehyung’s boyfriend.”

Taehyung gave an awkward laugh trying to explain the situation, “He’s not my boyfriend, noona. We’re…” But Yoona didn’t listen. “Oh,” she said instead, a new found interest growing in Jungkook. “No wonder you rejected that of a person Jackson. I say, he’s adorable,” she said smiling brightly at Jungkook. Jungkook simply tightened his hold on Taehyung’s hand to indicate his nervousness.

They soon parted ways with Yoona dragging Hoseok away and Namjoon being called by some of their classmates. Taehyung shrugged and made an elderly comment which sounded strangely like “Ah, youth” and continued the tour, hand in hand with Jungkook.

He wasn’t surprised to see Jungkook receiving lots of free stuff from the stalls because, well, he was adorable. Jungkook reacted the same every time with an eternally confused look on his face. But Taehyung was always there, explaining things to him, assuring that everything was fine.

As they walked past the first floor corridors, some of their seniors grabbed a hold of the two of them and dragged them into their body art stall. And somewhere in from being dragged into the stall to being forced down a seat, Taehyung’s hands slipped from Jungkook’s.

“Yah, Kim Taehyung,” one girl said with a knowing smirk, “Is this your boyfriend? He’s adorable, isn’t he? What’s his name?” Taehyung knew some of the girls. One of them had asked him out in his first year but he rejected her politely saying that he wasn’t interested in girls. So they agreed to be friends on the condition that she remained friends with Taehyung.

Taehyung felt his face heat up. “He’s not…” his voice disappeared to see Jungkook playing with the bubbles that some girls were blowing towards him. The scene wasn’t exactly normal considering Jungkook was giggling his teeth off trying to catch the multi colored bubbles but Taehyung was a little too envious to care.

“He’s not what?” the girl smirked teasingly. Taehyung stopped talking and went to grab his Kookie’s hand again. “Didn’t I tell you not to let go?” he said, looking a little stern. Jungkook pouted apologetically. Taehyung sighed and forgave him immediately.

The girl from before (probably the class president) approached the ‘couple’ and suggested they get their face painted. “Hell no,” Taehyung began to say when he was dragged down to a chair again. “It’ll be a small touch on your cheek. A couple’s indication,” she urged. Taehyung only replied in a weak voice that they weren’t a couple and remained seated. He didn’t want to be pulled down again. Also, he saw the excited look on Jungkook’s face so he couldn’t escape that.

Both Taehyung and Jungkook walked out the art stall with a small red heart painted on the left side of their cheeks. They had matching stickers on their hands too. Jungkook even had a huge white and silver polkadotted bow on his head that he got from one of the girls saying that he was too cute. Taehyung smiled at the scene. He didn’t think Jungkook would be so popular.

The pair continued to walk the corridors with the frequent ‘waaah’s and ‘ooooh’s escaping from Jungkook’s lips. They even got to play a game where they had to search for a special balloon in a group of brightly colored balloons. In the end, they only won by luck when the balloon stuck onto Jungkook’s shirt due to the static.

After walking for another hour or so and visiting every interesting stall, Taehyung decided to treat the younger to something sweet at a café that a class had set up. Setting their prizes and free gifts down, Taehyung let out a tired sigh. Jungkook and asked what Jungkook wanted to eat as he took a look at the menu.

Jungkook inspected everything as usual and pointed at a strawberry and chocolate sundae with whipped cream because it looked the prettiest in the pictures. Taehyung was surprised at the menu. Could they even make that? He was so tired that he didn’t bother debating with himself. Taehyung ordered his own pastry and a cup of cold coffee and they sat there waiting for their food to arrive.

While waiting, Taehyung kept an eye out for Jungkook who was busy playing with a plushie toy which looked like a tuna sushi with a cute squiggle of two sparkly eyes and one smiling mouth in the front. He hugged it and patted it and even kissed it several times, seeming contented with the shape, size and smell. Taehyung couldn’t help but feel happy and satisfied. Jungkook had a good time, he knew, and he was glad for it.

As Taehyung wiped Jungkook’s mouth clean after they ate, Jungkook closed his eyes tightly with a smile and waited for his hyung to finish. “There you go,” Taehyung said and pocketed his handkerchief but suddenly noticed the people around them. Whispers like “They’re so cute”, “Are they a couple?” or “Do they know they’re in a public place?” filled the room but Taehyung ignored them. He was way too fabulous to care.

Jungkook held his plushie and abruptly stood up only to bump into an already annoyed man in the back. He quickly bowed to apologize but it didn’t help.

“Yah!” the person shot back. Jungkook’s smile disappeared and fear filled every part of his face. Taehyung stood up to protect the younger. Then he saw the person’s face. Of all the people, why him? He cursed under his breath.

“Let it go,” he said, pulling Jungkook away by the hand. “It was a mistake. You know that.”

The boy, who had two people, beside him scoffed. “Who the hell are you?” By now, people had started to stare, again.

Good, he doesn’t remember me.

“I’m no one,” he simply said and turned away to Jungkook. His angry expression softened as he told Jungkook that they were leaving.

They were almost out the door when Jackson spoke aloud again. “Aaah, Kim Taehyung. I almost didn’t recognize you with that ridiculous hair.” Taehyung gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. Ignore the , he repeated to himself and took Jungkook’s hand.

“And I didn’t know you were dating a retard!”

That’s it, he thought and clenched his fist to teach the egoistic head a lesson by landing a punch on his annoying face. But Jungkook held his hand tightly and refused to let go.

“Hyung,” he said in a small voice. Taehyung noticed the trembling grip and he figured that the younger’s eyes were no longer dry. It pained him to realize that Jungkook understood everything that that little er said. Squeezing his hand tight, Taehyung walked out the door telling Jungkook that they were going home.

Jungkook returned to normal once they reached home. He carefully placed his sushi plushie above his pillow and lined the bow and other things he got at the festival on the cupboard. Taehyung let Jungkook sit in the bathroom near the tub and he cleaned the paint off of his face. He tried to forget the incident that happened earlier but a part of him wanted to take revenge.

“Taetae hyung,” Jungkook said, his voice filled with concern. “Wh… are you?” He swallowed hard. “Did you have fun?” Taehyung asked, cutting him off. Jungkook forgot his previous question and nodded. He pointed towards Taehyung to ask if he too had fun or not. Taehyung managed a small smile. “I did. And don’t worry,” he said, guessing Jungkook’s worries. “I won’t take revenge on the guy.” Jungkook’s worried face returned to a satisfied smile.

Hoseok and Namjoon walked ahead of the cotton candy haired boy. They were talking about the festival which passed three days ago; about how much fun it was and how that year’s stalls were far more impressive than the previous years. But Taehyung wasn’t listening. He sipped his juice, thinking about what Jungkook would be doing at home right at that time. After the festival, Jungkook seemed to invade Taehyung’s mind even more. After he had seen how well Jungkook dressed up that day and how much fun he was having that day, he couldn’t get his mind off of him.

As soon as they sat down on their respective seats, a group of people gathered at the door. Then Taehyung heard someone call out his name.

“Hi there, Kim Taehyung!”

!

“Where’s your retard boyfriend?” Jackson shouted out, giving an evil smirk. Taehyung decided to ignore him. Jungkook wouldn’t want him punching the daylights out of the guy.

“Hey Namjoon,” he simply called out, “could you hand me your literature homework? I didn’t complete a question.” Namjoon quickly gave him the book even though he didn’t d squat homework. Jackson gave another smirk and disappeared with his two apes. If Taehyung had seen his face at that moment, he would have taken more precaution for later on but he didn’t.

Taehyung sat in the class, arranging his books for the umpteenth time. The bell had already rung thirty minutes ago. What was taking Hoseok and Namjoon so long?

Ugh! Taehyung complained, why couldn’t they have done their homeworks and come for one day? Because of this, the teacher gave them detention and but Hoseok forced him to wait for them thus delaying his meeting with Jungkook.

‘Jungkook’s waiting, you idiot-hyungs. I’m leaving.’ Taehyung typed in his phone and pressed ‘SEND’. Seeing the delivery text, he stood up and turned towards the door, wanting to go home as soon as he could. But he never got to leave the room.

Jungkook pouted angrily as he hugged his sushi plushie. Jin sighed for the umpteenth time. “Are you seriously not going to eat your dinner?” he asked. Jungkook shook his head, the plushie covering his lips. “Look, Taehyung probably has detention or something. He’ll be here. Don’t worry. In the mean time, eat your dinner. Here,” Jin tried again, lifting the spoon of porridge. Jungkook pursed his lips tightly and hid deeper into the plushie. “Jeon Jungkook!” Jin called out but Jungkook didn’t even flinch.

“Seriously,” Jin sighed again. “Taehyung has been pampering you too much.”

Jungkook tried hard not to cry. Taehyung was never late. He would’ve been home hours ago. And even if he was late, he would’ve come to him. So why wasn’t he here then? Did he get into trouble by any chance?

Mrs. Kim was equally worried. Her son was never late. And even if he was, he would have informed her. Unable to stand it anymore, she dialed Namjoon’s number.

“Hi Mrs. Kim,” Namjoon answered after the fifth ring. “Is there anything wrong?”

“Hi Namjoon. I was just wondering if you know where my son was. He isn’t back from school.”

Namjoon knitted his eyebrows as he looked at his watch. It was already seven p.m. “I’m sorry but he left earlier than us. I don’t…” Namjoon suddenly stopped talking. Didn’t the basketball team have practice that day?

“I think I know where he is, Mrs. Kim,” Namjoon said and informed that he would call her when he found him. Quickly dialing Hoseok’s number, he rushed out the door calling out to his sister. “I’ll be out for a while. Don’t wait up!” he shouted.

Hoseok picked up. “What’s up, Namjoon?” Namjoon didn’t have time to explain. “School. Now!”

Taehyung coughed miserably as he struggled to sit up. His white shirt had blood patches on it but he wasn’t sure if it was his or not. His lip sting even when he tried to breathe out. His hair stuck on his forehead due to sweat and his face had multiple bruises on it. He couldn’t move his left arm and his stomach hurt like hell. Even then, he tried to sit up and call Namjoon or Hoseok at least.

He felt his eyes becoming heavy and his vision blurred. Yup, he was going to pass out again.

He suddenly heard the door open. “Taehyung!” he heard Namjoon call out but get to see the face. He was already falling again.

Jungkook looked out the dark window still refusing to eat food. Jin was beside the bed, saying something about how food would help him but he blocked out his voice. “Taetae hyung,” he whispered and pouted.

Taehyung awoke with a fright but was suppressed but his own pain in the stomach. He saw himself in a familiar place. It was his room but there was something different about it. Then he noticed the cast on his left arm and bandages around his torso and chest.

“Tae-ah,” his mom called out and he turned to the voice. “Are you awake?” He saw his mom looking worried. Her eyes were a little red. Was she crying?

“Who did this to you?” she asked, helping him sit up. Taehyung replied sarcastically, “I’m fine, thanks for asking.” Mrs. Kim laughed, her face suiting the crinkles around the eyes more. Taehyung wanted to ask about Jungkook but he thought it wouldn’t be the best time so he asked if his injuries were serious.

“A fractured arm, black eye, a broken lip and bruising around your stomach,” his mom replied casually, trying to hide the pain she felt saying this. “That’s not much, is it?” he said, trying to smile but only ending up hurting in the end.

“You know you’ll have to tell me who did this to you eventually, don’t you?” his mom said. Taehyung nodded. So what if it seemed childish if he complained to his parents? So what if he lost his image by ‘running’ to mommy? He was too much in physical pain to give an actual . Besides, the person deserved to die for calling Jungkook names just because he refused to go out with him. (He was being dramatic but hey, who the hell cared? His arm was fractured, wasn’t it?

Taehyung thought the scene funny to see Jungkook sitting beside his bed a few days later. He was supposed to be the one taking care of the younger but there he was, on the bed, unable to even sit up without help with Jungkook looking more worried than his mom.

“Kookie’ah, don’t stare. It’s weird,” he said, managing a half smile. Jungkook asked worriedly. “Do… does… does it… hurt?”

“A little,” Taehyung replied. Wow, he should be given an award for ‘best liar ever’. Jungkook stuttered again.

“Did Kookie… Did Kookie do this?” he said, his voice slowly diminishing. He was a little scared that Taehyung would say yes. Instead, he saw his hyung smile. “No, stupid,” he smiled, not offending him in any way. “A bad man and his two monkeys did this to hyung. But don’t worry. He’s expelled from school for violence along with his two monkeys.”

“Expelled?” Jungkook asked, not quite understanding.

“The bad man is gone,” Taehyung assured. Jungkook let out a breath he didn’t know was holding. “Hyung is fine now. He’ll be fine.”

A/N:

As an apology for missing a day of update... TA~DAAAaaaa....

DOUBLE UPDATE!!!!

I love you all... (EXO & BTS Hwaiting!!! <3 <3)