iris

[36] figures

"You don't look too great Jungkook, you sure you want to go to school?" Hoseok spoke up as he walked into the kitchen to see his brother hunched over the countertop. He had his fingers pressed to temples, eyes screwed shut as the bowl of Cereal infront if him remained untouched and soggy.

"'m fine," he spoke quietly. But he was pale, his skin pasty and covered in sweat. The pastiness of his complexion was contrast to his black clothes which had been a shock to Hoseok that the boy even owned black clothes. No matter how many times Jungkook was pestered about his health, he simply would not stay home. Especially since he had final exams in just two days.

"Look, I'm sure your teachers will understand if you're sick and you've done enough -"

"What part of I'm fine did you not fucking understand?" Jungkook snapped out from the silent persona he had been playing. Hoseok clenched his jaw as he tried to ignore the bitter language. He tried to calm himself by assuring it was just grief that was darkening his brother.

"Okay, well shall we walk together today?" Hoseok tried, giving a reassuring smile towards Jungkook who couldn't have been anymore bitter as he scowled.

"No, walk by yourself"

"What's gotten into you? I understand you're struggling, but you are acting like a child."

"And you're acting like a stubborn bitch." That was the final straw for Hoseok as he slammed his pale down beside Jungkook's untouched bowl.

"Get to school now. I'm not dealing with you anymore, you can walk alone." Jungkook shrugged, picking up his bag and sliding it over his shoulder. Making it clear to show his glare to detail just how pissed off he was. "Jesus," Hoseok muttered as he fell back against the kitchen counter top, feeling his head fill with strain. He felt bad for being so short tempered with the bot. But it was too much for him to handle at that moment.

__________

Jungkook sat alone at lunch in a vacant seat that he thought would leave him in peace. He picked up a piece of pork from his plate as he eyed it in disgust. The sight of food made him feel nauseous. He pushed it away, bringing out his notes for the upcoming class and beginning to read them. Through everything he wanted his studies to stay normal. He didn't want to become a failure. But it was a struggle, one that was weighing him down heavily.

"New look eh?" A voice spoke up. Jungkook ignored it, flicking over a page in his book until he reached a blank one. He reached down to his bag, digging through it to find a pen, his fingers fumbling over the cylinder object before bringing it out. Only for it to be snatched away within seconds.

"Give it back," Jungkook warned, voice low and calm. He closed his book slowly, placing it beside him as he swivelled in his chair to look up into the eyes of someone who brought aching familiarity to his eyes. His fingers instinctively went towards his neck, covering the spot as he glared up at the senior.

"Don't you have better things to do than stealing my pen?" He hissed out through pursed lips, not breaking eye contact with the rapist who sneered down upon him.

"You look like a punk. I told you that innocence wouldn't last. Guess the rumours were true... Jungkook, widow of Kim Tae-" before the words could even leave the senior's lips, Jungkook swiped at him, pushing him to the floor. He pressed his boot onto the senior's face, trying not to give in to the temptation to smash his face into the ground. Instead he decided to gently press, crouching down so he could look into the senior's eyes. The older boy could easily pull away, but he seemed to smirk into the shoe that squished his face, curious to see what the innocent boy would do next. "Grief is hot on you," he managed to gasp out, Jungkook's fingers digging into his hair to pull his mouth shut as the fifteen year old bent down to sneer at him.

"Talk about Taehyung again and I'll make sure this pen gets shoved so far up your ass that you feel it in your throat." The senior chuckled lightly through the pain that enveloped him, as he pushed against the cold and stern grip. But Jungkook didn't let him go, filled with a boiling rage as he brought his foot up for a second before slamming it back down, leaving the senior to lay motionless knocked out cold.

He didn't care about the murmurs, about the almost silent and disgusted whispers. He grabbed his pen back, slipping his book into his bag as he exited the cafeteria. The senior deserved it, maybe it would teach him a lesson for praying on younger students. He heard numerous footsteps that echoed his own, eyes flickering over his shoulder to see his brother and two friends chasing him.

"Leave me alone!" He yell angrily, fingers curling around his throat as he could almost picture the bruises that had long since faded, but were scarred into his mind.

"Jungkook just stop please!" The pace of those trailing him sped up, and so did he. Until he was at a full sprint towards the school's portable classrooms. He made it to one of the isolated rooms and locked the door behind him, watching as Hoseok, Namjoon and Yoongi all came to a stop at the transparent door. "What did you do?" Hoseok spoke, though muffled by the thick glass between the two. Jungkook shook his head as he dropped his bag, turning his back and sliding it down the door.

He rested up against the door in his most common position: curled up tight with his knees to hold up his chin. "That person is unconscious, Jungkook, you could get expelled!" The thought of that possibility frightened him, but not even an inch of his blank expression showed it. He bottled that up, adding it to the pile of everything else he'd compacted and locked away.

He brought out his book that he'd been skimming through, stopping on a page that had a very realistic but incomplete drawing of Taehyung. He pressed his pencil to the paper, closing his eyes to think of the boy's face. The first thing he envisioned was his eyes, smiling unconsciously at the sight of Taehyung smiling at him. When he opened his eyes. a full bodied figure of Taehyung sat in front of him. The sight shocked him as he pushed back against the door. Though let himself relax when he realised that the figure was probably just his imagination.

"It's pretty you know," Taehyung spoke. Oh how peaceful his voice was. Jungkook didn't dare blink, afraid he'd miss an important moment with the one he dearly missed. His eyes were a dull and creamy white, pupils seeming to disappear as his eyes stared back, voice of life. "That drawing. You really are so talented, I can't believe you befriended someone like me"

"Don't talk like that. I've told you before that you are worth more than anyone," Jungkook responded as Taehyung chuckled, his eyes sparkling like white opals.

"That's sweet. I just wish I could believe it myself." Without even thinking, Jungkook reached his hand out, curling over where Taehyung's hand rested on his knee. He tried to place a grip but the only thing he felt was empty and icy air that numbed his fingertips. "You know I'm not here. I'm  in your head silly," Taehyung cooed, leaning forward and placing a kiss on the boys cheek. Jungkook wanted to feel the warmth that would spread across his cheek, but there was simply nothing.

__________

Hoseok stared through the window with sad and ruined eyes, as he couldn't prevent the tears that blurred his vision. He watched his brother, talking to himself, hands reaching out to an empty room

"Hoseok, it's okay. He'll be okay." Yoongi assured, not being sure himself as he spoke the confident words. They knew Jungkook was in despair from the death of Taehyung. But now Jungkook was hallucinating. "He just needs time to get through this. He'll become more open soon."

Hoseok could not truly beliece those words as he pressed his face to his sleeve in attempt to dry out his eyes.

"Why do you do this little Kookie? Why do you hurt me in ways I cannot fix?"