Kissing Lessons (jikook)

10:

Short chapter! This is just the beginning of the next big conflict. . . .

Jungkook took a deep breath before coming through the front door. He was late. Two hours later than when he was told to be home. After buying the clothes for his friend and forcing him to eat at the food court, the older had left, but the younger had went to look for a birthday present since Jimin's birthday was just the week after. He'd gotten one, and he was excited about it, too, but he was freezing from having to walk in the cold wind from the bus stop and his mood was depleted.

Not as depleted as his mother's was, though. She was waiting right inside the door. "Where have you been? We told you six o'clock, didn't we? Do you know how to read time? Where's your phone? Why didn't you answer it?"

The son kept his head down as he was bombarded. "My phone's dead-"

"Then you should've been here on time!"

"Stop yelling!" his father shouted from the den. Jungkook clenched his teeth together but faced the floor still.

The woman grabbed her son by the front of his jacket and pulled him to where his father laid on the couch. "Why don't you discipline your son for once? Maybe he'd have respect for us if you were a good father-"

"Mom. . ."

"He's just a kid. Be glad he has things to do other than sitting in his room." His father turned the television up as to drown out his wife. She didn't take it lightly.

"I told him to be home at six. He didn't listen. You expect me to just brush it off just like that? No wonder he doesn't obey us! Is this how you parent when I'm not around?"

"Stop arguing. . . ."

"I sure as hell parent better than you do, going off your rocker whenever he does something you don't like-"

"This is my house. As long as he's under this roof, he's going to behave or he's going to be punished. You can either be a lousy father, or you can be a halfway-decent one."

Jungkook was forced to stand there and listen because of the grip on his shirt that wouldn't ease off. He never really acted out. He never really got in trouble. He never really talked to his parents or had to listen to their arguments. His grandma used to stay over when he was younger, but she passed when he turned twelve. After that he'd stayed at Jimin's for days at a time while his parents were away. They were gone less frequently now, usually one being home while the other was away. He much preferred it that way. His parents never got along unless they forced themselves to get along.

It once got so bad that Jungkook wanted them to just divorce already.

"This is our house. You can't stand there and act like I didn't pay for half the things we own like that, ungrateful woman-"

"Go ahead, then. Take your things and-"

"Shut up!" Jungkook interrupted out of frustration. "I'm sick of you both already!"

"Jeon Jeongguk!" both of them yelled in unison. He wasn't hearing it.

"Why come home if you're only here to fight each other? It's stupid. I'm more of an adult than you two are." The son pulled out of the vice grip on his shirt and turned his back on his parents.

"Get back here!" his father ordered.

"Give me your phone, brat," his mother called after him. Her demand was satisfied, her son pulling his cell phone out of his jacket and dropping it to the floor before storming down the hall to his room. She ran her hand through her pulled-back hair and heaved a brief sigh.

That wasn't exactly how she wanted the night to go.

...

Jungkook laid in his bed, sniffling. He hadn't been crying. It took a lot to make him cry. He was just frustrated. Frustrated that his parents had to argue, frustrated that he hadn't eaten, and frustrated that he couldn't call Jimin to complain about all of it. He wished it could be yesterday again, when it was just him and Jimin. His time with Jimin was the only time he could really enjoy anymore.

His mother knocked gently on his door. She hoped he was cooled off by then. It'd been more than an hour after they quarreled, and her husband had already made up with her. That was the only good thing about their relationship, it seemed. They did argue often, but they made up easily. Their "making up", however, was more of a mutual agreement to disagree.

She came in after getting no response. "Jungkook?" He had his back to the direction of his door. "Are you awake?"

He still didn't respond, being too busy trying to act like he was sleeping. His mother surprised him by sitting on the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you like that earlier. It's just that work is stressing us out. . . . We barely get to relax at home lately." She put a hand on his arm. "You know we love you, don't you?"

Her son smiled to himself. "Yeah," he mumbled. "I love you guys, too." Maybe he was too forgiving, but he hated conflict. He hated fighting with the ones he loved. Even though he wasn't close with his parents, he couldn't stand having to hold that grudge. "Don't fight because of me, okay?"

"Never again." The mother stood before bending to kiss her son on the head. "Do you want me to heat you up some leftovers?"

"Can you? I'm starving."

He'd just eaten at the food court a few hours ago, yeah, but he'd been hungry again before he even left the mall.

She nodded. "I'll call you down when it's ready."

Jungkook watched his mother leave his room, in a better mood after having been apologized to. Now all he wanted was to be able to call his friend. Just to tell him he got him something good for his birthday.

His mother shut his door behind her, then reached into her pocket to get her phone as it buzzed. She didn't realize it was really her son's until she was staring at a text from Jimin. "You shouldn't have bought that shirt for me. It doesn't match me very well, I don't think," is what it said. What she found suspicious was why Jungkook would buy a shirt for Jimin when there was no occasion-- no occasion she knew of. Moreover, the unemployed Jungkook was in no place to be able to afford things like that just whenever. To further investigate, she unlocked his phone with the code she knew he used.

It wasn't the text messages that she thought it would open up to.

Instead, her eyes met with a photo of Jimin sleeping on Jungkook. Only the edge of Jungkook's face was in it, but she could tell it was her son. She could tell that that photo was more than just a friendly photo, too, even if her son's intentions weren't more than just friendly. Out of guilt for snooping, she shut the phone off and tried to shake the uneasy feeling she had before going to the kitchen to heat up leftovers as she'd planned.