Taehyungie has entered a chatroom with J-Hoe and DBoi.

J-Hoe: Yo r u OK? U just up and left to go to the washroom and never came back

DBoi: yeah im worried, you didn’t look so good either

Taehyungie: I wasn’t feeling too well so I went home early, sorry for not saying anything until now

J-Hoe: It’s fine, I just hope u get better. But u missed the biggest thing dude

J-Hoe: Jungkook like confronted this guy apparently and it got pretty heated, everyone was talking about it

Taehyung felt his stomach sink.

Taehyungie: Oh, cool…

DBoi: that’s kinda weird for him tho don’t u think? Usually he doesn’t confront ppl in person like that

J-Hoe: I was thinking the same thing, but hey anything he does is considered cool so

DBoi: i wonder why he decided to confront him...

J-Hoe: I heard a few things swirling around but idek if any of it is even true

Taehyung didn’t really know what to say back to them, just reading the conversation made him tired.

He sighed and started typing again.

Taehyungie: I’m gonna log off for a bit, talk to u guys later

He didn’t wait for a response, just closed his laptop. It was quiet as usual, Yuna wasn’t home yet because he’d left school without her. She wanted to come with him but he told her to stay behind and let Jungkook drive her. He just needed some space to breathe for a second. It didn’t really make him feel any better to be by himself though.

Taehyung climbed off of his bed and walked to the washroom, inspecting his face in the mirror. The bruise by his eye was starting to swell and look worse. He lifted his shirt, there was also a bruise on his side from where the guy kneed him that was sore too.

He felt like , not just physically but emotionally too. Everything in his head was jumbled and disoriented, he literally couldn’t stop thinking for five seconds. And as usual, all he could think about was Jungkook. It pissed him off, he had no reason to even think about him. But he just couldn’t help it anymore.

That morning he’d managed to stop himself from going in too deep, but after what happened in the infirmary he didn’t know what to believe anymore. What kind of guy was he? Did he change just because he started dating Yuna or was he always a good person like she said?

Taehyung assumed from the start that he was bad, because of the things he did. But in the end; he never really knew who the true Jungkook was. The person that he saw saying he didn’t give a about anyone, and the person he just saw that day were two totally different people. He wanted to escape it, but there was almost like a craving to find out more.

Taehyung wanted to understand the other side of Jungkook. The one that made Yuna happy, the one that defended him without reason. He wanted to see more of it. But at the same time that made him such a hypocrite. He was trying to keep Yuna away from him, saying that he was a bad person, assuming the worst about someone he didn’t even know; but now he couldn’t help but feel interested. And in the end, that made him the worst person.

Taehyung pulled off his shirt slowly. There were other things he should be thinking about, like how he was going to deal with the other people that would eventually target him, university applications, whether or not he should reveal his secret, taking care of Yuna-

He stopped thinking. Even after everything that had happened, it was still always about something or someone else other than himself.

Taehyung sighed, he needed to lie down for a little. His body felt tired and overwhelmed.

He treaded back to his room and climbed into bed, feeling alone; just like he always did.

**

The sound of a loud engine outside of his window woke him up abruptly then. He blinked a few times, trying hard to come to and realized that it was Jungkook’s car. It was that time already? How long had he been asleep?

He picked himself up and slumped towards his window, squinting tiredly through the dark. Jungkook had gotten out to open the door for Yuna. He kissed her lightly on the forehead and she smiled. Why did his stomach suddenly hurt watching them?

Taehyung pushed back the feeling and pulled on a sweater, walking quickly towards the door to catch him before he left. He wanted to thank Jungkook for helping him. In the heat of the moment he was mad and conflicted about everything, but what he did for him was truly the nicest, most selfless thing someone had done in a while; or even ever. He wanted him to know that.

Yuna glanced back when he walked out of the house and she gave him a concerned look. “Hey, you should be resting-”

“I-I just have to talk to Jungkook for five seconds.” He said, not really sure how to approach them.

“Oh,” Yuna looked at Jungkook who was watching him carefully. “OK, I’ll leave you two alone then.” She gave him a light peck on the cheek then went inside, glancing back at them one more time before closing the door.

Taehyung stood awkwardly in front of him, too afraid to make eye contact for some reason. “Um...Thank you, for today. I um, I really appreciated it.” He spoke up slowly.

Jungkook tilted his head, black hair falling into his eyes. “The guy that hurt you, he has a girlfriend right? I recognized her, she was at my party the other day.”

Taehyung gulped.

“Your eye,” Jungkook touched the bruise absentmindedly, his fingers felt warm. “Why you were crying; it was her fault wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” He laughed nervously. “Pathetic huh? But it doesn’t really matter, if it wasn’t for me, she’d be going after Yuna and I didn’t want that to happen so,”

Jungkook just stared quietly at him again, making him feel uncomfortable.

“Can you stop doing that?”

“What?”

“Staring, it makes me feel awkward.”

He laughed and looked away. “Sorry...But yeah, you’re right. It is pathetic and it actually pisses me off to see you allow yourself to get hurt for your sister.”

Taehyung frowned. “Hey-”

“But at the same time, I think it’s also because I just don’t understand it. That’s why I envy you in someway, because I don’t think I’d ever take a bullet for my brother like you would for Yuna. It makes me seem selfish, but I wouldn’t risk anything for him.” He said softly. There was an off look in his eyes then that made Taehyung feel almost heartbroken. For a second Jungkook looked like he was grieving so badly, but it was quickly covered up by his usual hard to read expression.

He glanced back at him and gave a forced smile. “Is that all you wanted to tell me?”

“Ah, yeah.” Taehyung replied unsurely. “And also thank you, for taking good care of Yuna for these past few months.”

His face fell and he nodded slowly. “Yeah, OK. No problem.”

“Um, OK, I’ll see you I guess.” He let out a long breath, trying to calm his nerves. Why was he so anxious?

“Yeah.” Jungkook whispered and walked back towards his car. Taehyung turned away too, feeling as if there were a few things left unsaid. But he wasn’t exactly sure what they were.

When he reached the door, he was about to go inside but Jungkook’s voice stopped him quickly.

“And Taehyung,” He glanced back. There was a smile on his lips that made Taehyung’s heart rate pick up and set his skin on fire. “You don’t have to worry about anyone else bothering you alright?”

Taehyung just stared at him, felt like the world was exploding in beautiful light and colour. He was at a loss for words once again.

Jungkook smiled wider. “I got you.”