Red Revenge ✓ tk

The Only Thing That Keeps Me

Jeongguk snorted and leaned the side of his head against the cold car window. "I know that and excuse me but the onion actually directly correlates to my high school graduation."

His older boyfriend quirked an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I always thought I could never eat a raw onion because I find it disgusting and it makes my eyes water. But, I never thought I'd ever graduate from high school either but here I am, just an hour away from getting my diploma", Jeongguk explained to him. Taehyung bit back a chuckle and started to drive as soon as the light flashed green again.

"So you want to eat a raw onion just to prove a point?"

"No, I'm saying that it's a metaphor for life. Your whole life you tell yourself you can't do something and then it turns out you can", the graduation boy protested. His eyes slid from the road to admire Taehyung's sharp jawline and the sneaky hickey that peaked from the man's collar.

Taehyung was dressed formally – which wasn't his usual attire. He had decided on a grey dress shirt with a black tie to match his black slacks. The man had wanted to look a bit fancier for his little boyfriend's graduation and how could Jeongguk say anything to that when Taehyung looked like a damn daddy in these clothes.

"So that means I can eat shellfish?" Taehyung finally replied, hinting at his allergy.

"No, because you'll die and that's not applicable here, everyone can die, it's not special." Jeongguk clicked his tongue. "It's not in line with the onion metaphor."

"I don't get the onion metaphor." Taehyung countered.

"Sounds like a you problem." Jeongguk shrugged. He tried acting cool but the truth was that at the end of the street the graduation ceremony would be held and he'd be arriving at the place with his boyfriend. His visible, very real, undeniable living boyfriend.

A hand grabbed onto his own and only now he realized he had been fumbling with his sweater. "Are you feeling nervous?"

"A bit, yeah, but that's normal right?"

"Of course." Taehyung offered him a comforting smile. The large warm hand left his own so Taehyung could start parking the car. Jeongguk's eyes swept across the field that was filled with students and at the back stood a big stage where they would be handing out the degrees.

"I can't believe I'll be free after this." Jeongguk breathed out, hearing the car engine stop. "I can't believe I'm finally graduating."

Taehyung softly squeezed his hand before nodding to the side, hinting the boy to step outside because he had spotted a certain boy who had been waiting for them on the sidewalk.

"Hoseok!" Jeongguk ran into his friend's arms as soon as he got out of the car, the boy equally stoked to be graduating and to seeing his best friend graduate as well. "We're graduating today, can you believe it?"

"Nope." Hoseok grinned, "I can't believe we'll be in college soon. We'll be living off of fast food five days a week and have hangovers during class. It'll be awesome." Jeongguk jumped up and down with him at the prospect of finally being a college student and having some more responsibility.

"Are your parents here?" Taehyung asked the Hoseok once he reached the two jumping boys, hands stuffed into his slacks.

"It might sound like a wonder but they are indeed here." Hoseok nodded before pointing to a couple sitting at the back of the row of chairs. "But you might want to steer clear of them. They're quite a pain in the ass when you don't fall into their kind of standard."

"Homophobic?" Taehyung guessed, his thick eyebrows furrowed together.

Hoseok nodded. "Extremely."

"Taehyung promised he'd punch anyone who makes a homophobic comment today." Jeongguk gushed, grabbing onto his boyfriend's arms, squeezing the man's bicep.

"I was obviously joking but let's just hope people keep their mouths shut when they see us." Taehyung told Hoseok. "Should I go find a seat? I want to have the perfect angle to snap a picture of my darling receiving his diploma."

Jeongguk's cheeks turned a bit rosy. "Don't you dare take photos".

"But you look so adorable." Taehyung pouted, pulling at the boy's cheek. Jeongguk slapped the hand away from his aching face and grabbed onto Hoseok's hand. "Let's go Hoseok, Taehyungie is being a meanie."

Taehyung and laughed, "Have fun graduating little one." He waved to the boys as they scurried to their assigned seats.

»»————-　🥊　————-««

"You looked so adorable waddling onto that stage and receiving your diploma." Taehyung gushed as soon as the graduation ceremony was over and Jeongguk had dashed from his place to where Taehyung was standing with his arms already wide open, ready to get hit by his oncoming giddy boyfriend.

"I did not waddle." Jeongguk protested, his voice murmured as he was still being tightly squeezed in his boyfriend's embrace. "I hope you didn't take any pictures."

Taehyung bit his lip and grinned, which told Jeongguk all he needed to know. "Meanie."

"I'm sorry darling but I had to treasure the moment," Taehyung told the boy before tilting his chin and pressing a soft kiss to Jeongguk's lips. "And for the record, you were the prettiest boy in the whole graduation ceremony."

Jeongguk felt his skin itch, though the compliment made his tummy flutter.

Taehyung kissing him in public had happened more often but it had never occurred somewhere Jeongguk knew people who knew him. It was a new kind of anxiety that coursed through him at that moment but he also told himself he had been preparing for this day.

He had toughened up and had come mentally prepared for the looks they'd receive.

"You don't think I looked pretty Taehyung?" Hoseok teased as he neared the couple, making a kissy face when Jeongguk shot him a playful glare.

"Look for your own boyfriend, this one's mine," Jeongguk warned him, wrapping a protective arm around the slightly taller male. In the corner of his eye, he could see two males pass them, both their stares meeting Jeongguk's.

"Oh look a couple of f*ggots. Should've known Jeongguk was one." The taller one spoke loudly – too loud to be subtle.

"See mate, I told you he takes it up the ass." His friend countered, also not lowering his voice. "What a pussy. Can't believe he made it out of that hospital alive."

Jeongguk felt Taehyung rip himself from his boyfriend's embrace as he neared the guys. "Excuse me." Taehyung tapped one of them on the shoulder and both boys turned around. "You mind repeating that?"

The guys seemed surprised but the taller one didn't back down. He leveled Taehyung's glare and spat, "I told him you two are f*ggots."

Taehyung tilted his head to the side and sighed. "Sounds about right."

Before any of the two could question his answer, Taehyung had already swung his fist and easily landing a hit on the taller one's face. The guy swerved to the left, hitting his friend in the head. The two boys grunted in pain and a nearby woman hurried over to them, her eyes ablaze with anger.

"What to fuck do you think you're doing?" She cried, cradling what was presumably her son's face. "You hit my son!"

"I did." Taehyung nodded, casually cracking his knuckles. "Educate your children on kindness and maybe they won't get punched in the face."

The woman gaped at the young man, about to retaliate but Taehyung merely waved her off and turned around to face his shocked boyfriend.

"C'mon darling, let's go celebrate your diploma." He draped an arm around Jeongguk and led him to the car. Jeongguk peeked over his shoulder to glance at Hoseok and mouthed.

Hell yeah this is my boyfriend!

Can't believe it'll be ending so soon 😭 with every chapter I write I realize soon I'll stop writing the book because it'll be finished.

I'll be picking some of the bonus chapter requests I liked and will write those once the book is officially done :) until the next chapter xoxo