"Jungkookie! Are you ready to finally graduate?"

Taehyung ruffled the boy's hair and hooked an arm around his neck, much to Jungkook's distaste.

"I would be ready to finally graduate, but unfortunately, there's someone here who won't really let me get ready. Now I wonder who that is?"

In case Taehyung still didn't understand, Jungkook coughed out his name harshly, and Jimin started laughing from the corner of his room. Yoongi let a smirk grown on his face, watching as Taehyung started pouting.

"Why do all of you hate me?"

Jimin made a noise of some sort of endearment, jumping up and hugging Taehyung from behind.

"Aw, Tae! We don't hate you! Well, I don't. Can't speak for Yoongi, and I'm sure that Jungkook definitely doesn't hate you."

Jimin winked at Jungkook while the boy burned bright red, spluttering uncontrollably as Taehyung turned around to look at Jimin with confused eyes. His lips were pursed and his eyes were blinking rapidly, completely unaware of how Yoongi got up and slapped Jungkook's back to get him to stop being so ing obvious.

"What do you mean?"

Jimin turned to look at Jungkook with a forced smile painted on his face, his eyes wide and boring right into Jungkook's soul. It felt like he was ripping Jungkook to pieces, one second at a time.

"Yeah, Jungkookie, what do I mean?"

His eyes seemed to scream at Jungkook, this is your chance! But Jungkook simply swallowed and flattened down the front of his suit, playing with his tie.

"I'm sorry, Jimin, I don't know what you mean. Taehyung's my friend, of course I don't hate him. Is that what you mean? Yeah, I definitely don't hate him. I wouldn't let him be playing with my hair if I did."

Taehyung pouted as he heard Jungkook speak, staring at Jungkook's hair with sadness.

"But you aren't letting me play with your hair!"

Jungkook rolled his eyes, pushing Taehyung's face away with the palm of his hand.

"You idiot. I'm not letting you play with it right now because I'm about to graduate. I can't have it looking like you flew ten planes into it and seven birds decided to live in there in the span of an hour. It needs to look nice, perfect, just as it is. Any other time I'd let you do whatever you want with it."

Taehyung seemed satisfied with that answer, turning Jungkook around so that he was facing the door.

"Okay, well, Seokjin, Hoseok and Namjoon are right outside, and Seokjin's ready to drive you to grad. We'll all be there, you know that, since your parents decided to be s and leave you in your house by yourself for two weeks while they went on a cruise. Who the hell leaves their twelve-year-old by himself while they go on a cruise when he's going to graduate? What excuse do you have to leave your child when he is reaching such an important milestone?"

Jungkook just smiled weakly and shrugged Taehyung's hands off his shoulders, spinning back around to face them.

"You guys, this means so much to me. I just really want to say thank you for caring so much and being there for me. My parents would love to be there, you know that. Especially my mom. She doesn't miss out on anything big, no way in hell. She told me she knew I would turn out like this as soon as I was conceived, which, by the way, is also creepy as hell because how the did she know the exact moment I was conceived? Anyway, whatever, that's not the point. The point is, she and dad had to go for some business trip, and I'm sure they left me by myself because they know I have great friends who will always be here for me and wouldn't let me die. Okay? Please don't call them s. I think my mom knows when you guys insult her. Then she passive aggressively takes it out on you."

Taehyung suddenly gasped.

"Is that why she gave me cookies made with salt instead of sugar that one time?"

Jungkook blinked slowly, drawing his words to make them stretch.

"No, I don't think so. I think she genuinely just misplaced the sugar and used salt by accident. That is why she refused to bring you water or milk, though. You did say that she at organizing our shoes on our shoe rack."

Taehyung nodded to himself, pursing his lips.

"That's fair. I respect that. She does at organizing shoes, though. Still does."

Jungkook rolled his eyes and looked at Jimin, begging him for help, but Jimin just shrugged and moved closer to where Yoongi was sitting. He wrapped himself in Yoongi's arms, giggling when Yoongi huffed at him, only to pull him in closer.

"I change my mind. You guys all ."

Jungkook then bolted out of the room, pulling Seokjin with him out the front door without even a second look at Namjoon or Hoseok. Taehyung stuck his face out the window on the second floor, screaming after Jungkook and Seokjin.

"WE'LL BE HERE FOR YOU, JEON JUNGKOOKIE! DON'T YOU WORRY ONE BIT! WE WILL MAKE SURE TO SUPPORT YOU ALL THE WAY WHILE YOU GRADUATE! YOU WON'T BE SCARED, AND WE WILL MAKE SURE YOU WON'T BE NERVOUS. EVERYTHING WILL BE TOTALLY OKAY!"

Jungkook just stared up at the window and flipped him off, earning him a swift knock to the back of the head from Seokjin.

" OFF, TAEHYUNG!"

"I THINK YOU MEAN "I LOVE YOU, TAEHYUNG," BUT IT'S OKAY! I UNDERSTAND!"

Taehyung imagined Jungkook rolling his eyes all the way to the back of his head and he smiled, pulling himself back into Jungkook's bedroom. Jimin and Yoongi were both looking at him expectantly, Jimin wiggling his eyebrows and Yoongi smirking.

"What?"

Jimin's eyes just got wider and his smile even brighter, moving towards Taehyung.

"What? What do you want from me?"

Jimin let out a creepy as hell laugh and a chill went down Taehyung's spine, the boy stepping back slowly towards the window again.

"Taehyung, why didn't you tell Jungkookie about, I don't know, everything, while you had time?"

Taehyung bit down on his bottom lip, looking everywhere but nowhere at the same time. He was going to give his all to make sure that the last place he looked was Jimin's eyes, and he was adamant on getting out of that room without explaining anything else.

"Okay, Jimin, we gotta go, we don't have time for this-"

"Contrary to popular belief, my dearest Kim Taehyung, we have plenty of time for this. In fact, the ceremony won't be starting for another few hours, what with the kids having to rehearse first and all. We have more than enough time, so why don't we take a seat and we can all listen to you try to explain your way out of this one? It's not even a hard question, I just want to know why you didn't tell Jungkook you like him. I'm sorry if I teased you earlier, Tae, but I genuinely want to know. It's not fun watching you both struggle like this, you know?"

Taehyung stared down at the ground, his fingers digging his nails into the palms of his hands.

"I'm scared, you know that, Chim. I don't want to face him. I don't want to know what his reaction is. I don't want to risk it even if I know it'll have a good result. A good result can still mean a bad ending, and I really, really don't want that. I'm okay with things now, and so is he, so I just don't want it to change. I don't like change. Most people don't. I'm too nervous, Jimin. Really."

Jimin sighed and got up from the bed, pulling Taehyung into a hug. He patted Taehyung on the back, slowly rubbing circles into his back after a few minutes.

"I know it's hard, Tae. I know. I'll stop trying to make you do anything. Just don't give up, okay? I'll always be there to support you. Sorry for pushing you before. I know it's not how you do things."

Taehyung smiled.

"It's okay, Min. I know we can seem frustrating sometimes."

Jimin pushed Taehyung away from him, holding him at an arm's length. He stared into Taehyung's eyes, glaring at him and nostrils flared.

"Sometimes? Sometimes?"

"Yah, Park Jimin!"

Jimin pursed his lips and gently let go of Taehyung, slinking back to Yoongi who had called out to him in anger. He gently curled up next to him, a pout now resting on his lips.

"Sorry, Yoongi..."

Taehyung just shook his head as Yoongi played with Jimin's hair, and then he looked at the door to his room.

"Well, I think we should probably head out. Aren't Namjoon and Hobi still down there waiting for us? We should probably let them know that we're not dead. I mean, I'm pretty sure they don't think we are, but it's always good to make sure. We can watch a movie before we go, too. We got time, and isn't Jin coming back in a bit? He's not allowed to wait there while they rehearse, right?"

Jimin nodded and Yoongi responded vocally, then they all headed downstairs.

Yoongi was pulled to the side by Hoseok.

"We thought you guys died! What took you so long? I thought we agreed to all come down here after Jin left with Jungkook. Then we could watch Sausage Party and wait for Jin to come back before we watch something else."

Namjoon slapped Hoseok against the back of his head, clicking his tongue in distaste.

"I told you, we're not watching Sausage Party! That movie looks like an abomination and I am almost positive that it is one! Isn't it rated R, too? We're not watching it, Hoseok. We should watch something like Fantastic Beasts."

Hoseok rolled his eyes before he crossed his arms over his chest, stepping in front of Yoongi as though he were protecting him from something.

"Have you ever watched Sausage Party, Namjoon? Because if you haven't, I don't think you have the right to say that it ."

Namjoon raised his eyebrows in disbelief before he looked over at Yoongi who also seemed to be confused as to why he was being protected. He was simply standing behind Hoseok, not doing anything. He hadn't even said anything.

"Look, Hobi, I may not have watched it, but I saw the trailer, and let me tell you, it does not look good. Fantastic Beasts, on the other hand-"

"Oh please, it's just because you're obsessed with your little Potter world and you can't fess up to the fact that you're just a huge nerd who writes Harry and Ginny fanfiction at two in the morning."

Namjoon gasped loudly, pressing a hand to his chest.

"Why I would never!"

Hoseok rolled his eyes.

"Of course, how could I not have realized. You write Drarry , don't you?"

Namjoon blinked rapidly, speechless just as everyone else in the room. Jimin was the first to recover, speaking in stutters.

"Hoseok, why... why do you know that? Why do you know anything about Harry Potter if you hate it so much? Why do you know the ship name? It's literally one of the most popular ships, isn't it? Why do you know what is? I have so many questions, what the ?"

And suddenly, Hoseok was very pale and he was experiencing cold sweats.

"I mean, everyone, one way or another, ends up hearing about Drarry, right? I mean, you even said it's one of the most popular ships. And please, does anyone not know what is? We're all in high school."

Taehyung slowly raised his hand.

"What's ? Is it like, a smelly dog? Like, mutt, but smelly, so ?"

If possible, Hoseok went even paler and Jimin sighed into his hands, threatening to pull out his own hair.

"How did this even happen?"

Namjoon was still trying to recover from the earlier burn, his hands now pressed against his cheeks. He gently whispered to himself, his words gone unheard.

"How did you know?"

Jungkook nervously tapped his foot on the ground. He was wringing the bottom of his blazer in his hands, twisting the fabric over and over again before smoothing it out against his thighs. It was a bit large on him, but it was from Namjoon when he graduated, so it made sense that it wouldn't fit him perfectly.

Jungkook took a few deep breaths, trying to ignore the onslaught of people coming in through the front doors. He didn't want to turn around to see how many people there were, he could tell that it was a ton and more than he could handle simply by the amount of noise they were making with their incessant chatter. He could feel the sweat on his palms and he heard his breath get shallower with every second. He tried to think about graduating, nd not the people, but he knew he was going to break.

And then a hand was on his shoulder, and it felt like everything disappeared.

"Jungkook? Are you okay?"

Jungkook turned and looked to see Taehyung staring down at him with wide eyes. Concern was etched into his features and he was biting down on his tongue. Jungkook felt how hard Taehyung was trying to not just grab him and pull him into a hug right then and there, and honestly, he couldn't have been more thankful for him than he was now.

"I- honestly? I'm super nervous right now. I mean, for 's sake, I'm the youngest one here. I'm a year below all of them, and I don't really know any of them well. I feel like I'm about to throw up and I want to scream but I'm also sweating a ton and I don't know what to do with my hands and like where do I put my body parts I'm just an awkward blob sitting here waiting for this hell to be done and over with but-"

"Jungkook, hey, Kook, I know you're going to do great. You're going to be fantastic and everything and- wow, I am not great with my words right now, but trust me. I know you. You are smart and kind and you know exactly what you're going, and I am so glad to see you moving forward. Have faith and keep calm. I know you can. All of us will be here cheering you on, and before you know it, you'll be done and we can go home and eat all the ice cream we want. You think you can do it?"

Jungkook pretended to pout, but laughter was filling his eyes.

"I don't know, Tae, sounds kinda hard."

Taehyung sighed, a small smile resting on his lips.

"Do it for the ice cream?"

Jungkook let out a toothy smile, taking Taehyung's hand in his own, and gently rubbing his thumb across the back of Taehyung's smooth hand. Taehyung gave him a light squeeze, pulling Jungkook's head into his chest and hugging him gently.

"Do your best, Kook!"

The car was dead silent, a bouquet of flowers lying in the back seat, crushed and forgotten.

Hoseok's eyes darted around the car, looking at Seokjin who had a stern face on and was staring down the street, Namjoon in the passenger seat, sighing every few seconds and gazing into his lap without any thoughts. Jimin had his head tilted backward, his mouth fallen open and eyes empty. Yoongi simply had his head face down in his hands, his fingers looking like they were stabbing into his eyes. Taehyung was slack-jawed, his palm pressed against his cheek and his eyes looking out the window. His left hand kept reaching over to Jungkook every now and then before it fell back into his lap, like a ritual that he had to go through.

Jungkook, of course, had no expression on his face. At all. He was sitting in his suit, lips pressed together and eyes forward, boring into Seokjin's seat.

"G-guys?"

No one said anything before Jungkook cracked, his voice coming out high before he cleared his throat.

"I can't believe I just did that."

Namjoon sighed again before he turned to look at Jungkook, empathy in his eyes.

"No one saw- okay, no, no one cared, Jungkook. It was just once-"

"-and also just me-"

"-okay, true, but it was just this once and it's not like everyone will remember forever."

Jungkook raised an eyebrow in Namjoon's direction before he pulled out his phone, scrolling through some things before coming upon what he wanted. He tapped the screen once and let a video play, the volume all the way up.

It showed Jungkook walking up the stairs, his hands shaking a bit as he went up. Once he reached the stage, though, he suddenly tripped, falling and knocking the principal over. A stack of diplomas flew across the stage and the hall was absolutely silent as Jungkook furiously collected his diploma and ran down the stage and straight out the doors, six boys following after him.

"Okay, to be fair, it is not your fault that the floorboard was pulled up."

Jungkook groaned and sank into his seat, pulling the collar of his suit up to cover his face as best he could.

Finally, Taehyung reached over and really did take Jungkook's hand, dragging himself over to Jungkook so that he was all but talking right into Jungkook's ear.

"Hey, Kook? Even if you messed up, I'm really proud of you. You've come a long way and you've gone through a lot, and I couldn't be happier. You've really outdone yourself, and it doesn't even matter that you fell. You graduated, you never have to step foot in that hellhole again, and now we get to be at the same school, right? So don't worry. If anyone tries to bully you, I'll just yell at them again like I did when you first came to school, right? Ya did great, kid."

Jungkook smiled weakly, slipping his fingers between Taehyung's.

"Thanks, Tae."

"Anytime." 

a/n: i made it canon that nams writes drarry lmao whooooooops

we're moving this story along people jungkook needs to get his into high school omfg i stg i'm going to punch myself in the face

lmaooo besides that guess who forgot that exams are in two weeks and literally all i have at school now are my culminating assignments :)))))  neXT WEEK AND I  AM ST R E S SING

anyway sorry about the,,,,, kinda unannounced hiatus? it wasn't official but i also didn't think it would take this long whoops

i wrote it in bursts so sorry if stuff doesn't make sense or if i repeated myself i didn't read it over

AHH ALSO HAPPY NEW YEAR LET'S HOPE 2017 IS A LOT BETTER