Taehyung's POV

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I reached for my phone to turn off the alarm.

I had been awake for a few minutes, already, staring at the ceiling.

I couldn't sleep much, lately.

A week ago, all I did was sleep.

This might distress most people but to me, it was just a normal part of my manic depression cycles.

I had been this way as long as I can remember. The only difference was that, nowadays, I didn't take medication to manage it.

I looked up at the thin, long window where the light was starting to beam from. It wasn't quite sunrise yet, so it was still very dim.

I had moved my room to the basement of the house the summer before my fourteenth birthday. My room was getting too cramped for my art supplies, especially since I wanted to work on bigger canvases.

The basement was cold all year round, which I didn't mind, seeing as winter was my favorite season.  It inspired me to hang up Christmas lights on the walls, near the ceiling, surrounding my bed.

The windows could be seen from the outside at the base of the house but they weren't very noticable. They couldn't be opened and were made of very thick glass. During the day, the sunlight would shine from those two perpendicular windows near my ceiling and the light converged on a nice spot in the large room where I would work on my art. Of course, I hadn't painted in over a year, when I stopped taking my meds.

I slowly sat up on the bed and looked around. There were drawings on the wall to my right that I had made for my mom when I was little. There wasn't much furniture besides my bed that was pressed up against the back wall. It had a burgundy couch pressed up against the foot of it, facing an old-fashioned television that once belonged to my grandparents. My bedroom area with the white christmas lights lining the perimeter and a tall floor lamp, near my couch, were the only light sources besides the windows. The staircase was in the middle of the room, also towards the back wall.

The rest of the place was littered with canvases of all sizes, used, old, or unopened cans and buckets of paint; along with other supplies. Some of the paintings were covered with bed-sheets, to preserve them. Many of them were unfinished and I didn't expect them to ever be. I had a tendency to jump from project to project, never seeing one through to the end. There were a few that looked like they were finished but even they didn't feel quite right to me.

I sighed and thought about what I had to do that day.

My father had insisted that I join a new after school tutoring class he was told would help me. My grades weren't terrible; I did just enough to get by. My dream was to be able to live and enjoy every day as it came to pass. Although, even something as simple as that seemed challenging, these days.

Either way, I wasn't one to plan for the future and to some people, it made me seem a little too reckless. 

I knew he had different plans for me, however. My father worked two jobs to support us and was gone a lot of the time. Our relationship had always been rocky because of it. We didn't spend enough time together and really couldn't understand each other, very well. He really didn't want me to skip out on going to college, assuming I would end up like him. My mother was always the one who offered me support and encouragement, no matter what.

I jumped out of bed onto the cold, cement floor and headed upstairs towards the bathroom.

I went straight to the sink and splashed cold water on my face. I stared at my sullen looking face in the spotty cabinet mirror. My eyes were forming dark circles from lack of sleep and my skin looked dull. I had been nagged by a few former girlfriends about my lack of concern for my appearance. I would always tell them I was a natural beauty and I didn't need to put in much effort. I honestly only cared enough to make sure I was clean; as I couldn't stand foul smells.

I opened up the cabinet and grabbed my pink toothbrush.

I knew my dad had already left for work so I debated going against his wishes and staying home today. I finally convinced myself not to bother since there was nothing to do here, anyways. At least if I went to school I could distract my restless mind for a few hours.

After brushing my teeth, I quickly went downstairs and rushed to get dressed. I wasn't even sure why I was in such a hurry; sometimes I just got that way.

I hastily grabbed my bag and headed out the door. I squinted at the sky, pausing to watch a flock of crows fly overhead. I tried to remember the last time I felt truly happy but my mind went blank. I shook my head at the sudden thought, trying not to dwell on it. I headed towards my green bicycle that I rode to school.

SCHOOL:

I sat in my homeroom class with my headphones on, staring blankly at the whiteboard.

I wasn't actually listening to music but I liked to keep them on so that people wouldn't bother me.

Our disorganized teacher was late coming in, as usual, so the kids were grouped together, doing whatever they wanted. He was rumoured to be having marital problems so we didn't blame him and the school staff was somewhat lenient.

My school wasn't really considered top tier. There was a pretty clear line between the few smart kids who actually wanted to be there and the rest who were basically troublemakers, losers, or just plain morons.

My best friend at the school had moved away, two summers ago. His name was Hoseok and he was a pretty talented writer who was into some obscure things. He always cheered me up. We had some sort of superiority complex when we got together and it worked for us.

We always felt like we were different, and somehow better, than the people around us. We didn't boast about it, keeping to ourselves most of the time but it was nice to have someone that I felt was on my level. It got me pretty depressed when he left and I didn't really think anyone else was worth being friends with so I kept to myself.

The teacher finally came stumbling in, calling out to the students to take their assigned seats and stop talking.

"Psst. Yah. Taehyung."

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Namjoon, who was sitting in the last row of seats, behind me.

"Did you do the history assignment?" he whispered.

I shook my head, slowly, keeping my bored expression. He sighed exasperatedly and worked on getting the attention of the guy behind me.

Namjoon was considered one of the delinquents at my school. He must have been pretty desperate to ask me. I looked around and noticed that the nerdy kid he usually copied from was absent, that day.

The bullies never messed with me because they knew I wasn't afraid of them. There was a long standing rumour that I was a psychopath so I guess they were sort of afraid of what would happen if they tried anything.

I generally stayed out of their way. There were a few times when I happened to be walking by and stopped them from hurting a few kids. Although, it wasn't really my main concern, I didn't like seeing that type of senseless pain be inflicted. I would simply grab the kid they were bullying, saying I had to talk to him and walk away. It worked out because they never tried to stop me.

I looked up at the clock and winced when I noticed only ten minutes had passed since the teacher came in.

I took out my phone and started playing a game, not really caring if it would soon get confiscated.

That day seemed to drag on forever.

AFTER SCHOOL:

I had finally found where my tutoring class was, after walking around the halls of the building for half an hour. I didn't bother asking anyone, despite how large the building was. I preferred to keep to myself, as other people were a hassle, and I didn't want to accidentally make any friends.

I opened the door and the teacher paused for a moment, telling me being late was unnacceptable. I simply nodded and told him it wouldn't happen again, treading over to an empty seat, in the back.

"Alright, everyone, back to what I was saying. Since I can't always get to you, I will be assigning everyone partners. That way, you can help each other out as much as possible. This also helps you to develop teamwork and learn study habits on your own, without a teacher or a tutor. I reccommend getting to know your new friend, because this will be your partner for the rest of the semester. You will also be getting a seperate assignment to work on with your partner; due at the end of every week. When I call your name, come grab a piece of paper from the jar."

The students went up one by one, grabbing a random piece and searching for their partners. When my name was called, there were only two pieces left.

"Jeon Jungkook." The teacher called out, when I reached his desk. I reached for the papers and held out one for the kid who was approaching me. I unfolded it to read what our first independant assignment would be. "Oh great, math." I mumbled, under my breath. I looked up, furrowing my eyebrows when the kid in front of me let out a relieved sigh upon reading this.

"I guess you like math?" I asked. I kicked myself for speaking up. I didn't want him to think I was actually interested but the words came out before I could think.

"Eh. It's something I'm good at." He said, with a blank expression.

I stared at his face for awhile when he looked up. I wasn't sure why but this kid seemed different from most people. There was something innocent and honest about him. I suddenly felt compelled to find why what that was.

"Wanna go to my place later and talk for a bit?" I blurted out, not really caring if he found it odd.

"I'm not really allowed to go out." he responded, unshaken.

"What are you, under house arrest?"

"No..." He stared at me for a few seconds, deep in though; not even blinking.

Honestly, this kid was pretty cute. He looked young, though. He must be pretty smart to be in a class that covered these subjects, at all, if he was.

"Alright, we can go." he finally said.

I nodded and we both returned to our seats, silently.

I spent the rest of the hour either staring at the clock, or staring at the back of Jungkook's head. I twirled my pencil around my fingers and ripped up notebook paper into little pieces. I heard the distorted voice of the teacher in the back of my mind. I didn't care to listen to what he was saying, even though I knew I should. The feeling of disinterest was definitely overwhelming. I held back on running out of the classroom only because I wanted to wait for my future guest. I rationalizd that I would have to talk to him since we were partnered up, anyways, so it was ok if we started right away. The last thing I needed was to wait to do something like that. I don't think I could bear it.

After we were dismissed, he walked up to me, glaring into my eyes. I quickly got up and gathered my things, letting the papers I had shredded fall and scatter on the ground. We headed out to one of the bike racks without speaking. I was surprised to find that he had a bicycle tied up, as well. That made things easier, since I wouldn't have to walk next to him with mine. It would have taken a lot longer to get home, too, and it was getting late. Not that I cared but I kind of didn't want to get him into too much trouble.

I got on my bike and rode away, glancing back to make sure he was trailing behind.

Jungkook mentioned something about his house being on the opposite side of the bridge, when we crossed it. The side he was on was the nicer part of town.

We rode the rest of the way in silence and reached my place after only a few minutes.

"So, what do you do?" I asked, as we walked towards the house.

He was quiet for a few steps. "Study." He simply replied.

"Oh, ok.." I said, opening the door.

I switched on the light and we put our bags down in the living room. I motioned for him to follow me and lead us down the hall, towards the basement.

I walked down the stairs first, into the dark room. I switched on the christmas lights and walked to a lamp, near the couch, to make the room brighter.

He, carefully, made his way down the wooden steps. Creaking noises came from under his feet, as he walked. He paused, once he reached the bottom, to looked around the big room.

"These your paintings?" He asked, walking towards an uncovered canvas.

I looked over, somewhat surprised at his interest. "Yeah."

"This is pretty good." he said, raising his eyebrows.

I shrugged "They're alright. I haven't done much painting since about a year ago."

He looked back at the painting for a moment, before asking "What happened a year ago?"

"My mom died." I stated, somberly.

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A/N: I took a break from my NamSong fic to write this cuz I felt inspired (Don't worry, I'll get right back to that one). I'm already obsessed with Jungkook but V is definitely ruining my bias list! I really hope you enjoyed! Mental illness is a new concept for me when it comes to writing. How do you decribe emotion for a character that doesn't feel much, at all? xp Anyways, they may not stay that way for long....:D *super subtle hint*

Revision: I fixed some details and added the part about him being at school. I think it's better than just jumping straight into the 'after school' scene.