iris

[12] grey

Taehyung wasn't sure how he ended up going out for ice cream with the 15 year old who seemed to love gushing to him about nonsense. But here he was sitting under a little pastel yellow and blue umbrella, with Jungkook and his brother.

"Taehyung, what flavour do you want?" He had been distracted, staring off into the distance and admiring every single aspect of the street; from it's vibrant colours to the bustling of crowds. It was all so mesmerising to him, that he got so completely lost in it. Each important sound seemed to churn inside his brain as he filtered out each texture and volume.

"Taehyung!"

"Huh?" He called sluggishly, turning back to face the younger boy, who was frowning evidently.

"You're distracted again"

"Oh, sorry Jungkook, I've just..." he stopped speaking before letting himself slip up, for the statement would only cause more questions to arise. "Nevermind, what were you saying?" Taehyung frowned, when he watched Jungkook reach for his notebook, a puzzled expression on his face. He waited for the boy to write down what he wanted before asking quietly, "what colour are they?"

He hated talking about his eyes, it was only on very rare occasions that he'd ask anything even remotely related to his irises.

"They're grey, it's almost the exact same as when your eyes were silver but ... Can you-" Jungkook chewed on his lip, "nothing." It made Taehyung somewhat relieved and removed some of his stress to know that the boy didn't cross the line unless he was given permission.

"Taehyung, why are you staring at me like that?" He blinked, only realising his actions as he refocused on Jungkook's scrunched up nose as he giggled, a small sound thay made Taehyung feel warm insjde.

"Oh... sorry"

"It's okay, I understand," Taehyung quirked an eyebrow at the peculiar response.

"Understand what?" Jungkook didn't reply, instead looking up as he bit his tongue between his teeth and grinned cheekily. Taehyung swallowed something, he wasn't sure what it was, but it sat in the pit of his stomach, nauseating him slightly. "What-" Taehyung managed to choke out, Jungkook's teasing nature hitting him in a way he was not familiar with, but knew exactly what the outcome was.

"You're blushing," Jungkook whispered eventually, knowing precisely what he was doing, and he was clearly enjoying the reaction. He quickly wrote down a colour, one Taehyung was only slightly curious to see, but the tease shut his book before he got a thorough look.

"You two, Ice cream!" They both looked up at the loud volume Hoseok's voice as he walked up to the table, three ice creams balanced precariously in his hand.

"Bubblegum for Kookie, rainbow for Taehyung, raspberry for me!" Taehyung took the cup of ice cream, staring inquisitively, but he didn't ask what he wanted to so desperately ask.

"Thank's Hoseokie," Jungkook spoke up, and Taehyung cursed the boy mentally because now Hoseok was staring at him, awaiting gratitude. Taehyung looked up to the boy across from him, kicking his shin to get his attention. He hoped the Jungkook would understand as he nagged his brain to just say two simple syllables.

"Oh! I forgot about that," Jungkook put down his own ice cream, turning to his brother and gripping his arm. "Hoseok, can I speak to you for a second about Taehyung?"

"Ah, sure..." Jungkook dragged his brother away to explain verbal shutdown issue. Whilst taehyung sat focusing on the streets, his stomach flipped when he saw a familiar face among the crowd, who he now would really love to murder.

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The sight would've frightened many, a fuming adolescent with red glowing eyes charging up to another standing across the street.

"Ah you see... I'd really love to but I'm not exactly-" the boy let out a small shriek when he was jerked backwards, his shirt collar imprisoned in a firm grasp. Jimin panicked, letting out a scream as he tried to pull away from the death grip as he was dragged into a quieter street, then pushed to a wall. Met with red, infuriated eyes.

"I wish to beat the living hell out of you!" Taehyung sneered, his eyes not returning to neutral like they usually would. They were staying the same haunting colour.

"Taehyung?!" He simmered his rage when he saw tears in his best friend's eyes. "You're okay!" Taehyung loosened his grip  on Jimin's shirt as he pulled back, now dazed as to why his best friend was nearly in tears at the sight of him.

As soon as he pulled away, Jimin brought him back, squeezing his chest until he felt his rib cage bursting. "You're ok!" He repeated earnestly, burying his head into his friends chest as he cried.

"Jimin... I don't understand... what? What happened?" Jimin pulled away and fixed his glasses, wiping at his eyes quickly and letting go.

"I have been trying to call you all morning! When you stormed off on me in the library on Friday, it worried me, you seemed so upset. I just... I was scared. so after school, I went to your locker, to try and find you. but no one was there. I waited for an hour, but you still didn't show up. So I decided to go to your house, to try and find you..."

„and I wasn't there either... but why didn't you come the following day? I needed you... why did you leave me?" The words were burdening, it was confronting towards the one Taehyung was so dependent on.

"Taehyung I did, but your father said you weren't there. I guess he must've been lying." Taehyung nodded, realising that the whole situation had been a whole array of miscommunication.

"But my messages, and why weren't you at school the following days?" Jimin sighed, fiddling with his fingers.

"That's why I am here, you weren't at your house again this morning when I got back, so I suspected you snuck out."

"Got back?" Taehyung frowned as Jimin shook his head and sighed.

"This is the reason I'd appreciate you listening when I talk. Remember that leadership program I told you about?"

"I... no..." Taehyung admitted.

"I had a leadership camp this week, we had no service. Taehyung, I listen to you, why can't you listen to me?"

"I know... I'm sorry" Jimin smiled, nodding his head as a sign of understanding.

"I know you can get stuck in your head."Jimin glanced down at the way his best friend buried his hands into his sleeves, frowning because it was a common gesture for the boy, and not a positive one.

"Oh my god, Taehyung, again?" Jimin didn't ask for permission before grabbing his hands gently and examining them. The bruises had mostly faded and his fingers only had some minor cuts that had been treated. "Does it still hurt?"

"No, this was a week ago, he's been avoiding me since then."

"Why won't you let me call the police Taehyung?"

"Because I don't want to spend the rest of my childhood in the foster system."

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