EVERYTHING I NEED || VKOOK ✓

15. Don't Leave Me

Jungkook knew he'd fucked up. If what he remembered from the day before didn't tell him, the lack of a good morning text from Taehyung told him that something was up, and it was most definitely his fault. He didn't blame Taehyung for being mad, of course.

He knew he deserved it.

It was Saturday, thankfully, which meant no awkward stares at school and Taehyung would be working. A long conversation was most certainly needed, he just needed a good time to have it, because texting just wasn't good enough.

He had a shit-ton to make amends for.

He left for swim practice excessively early that day, only to realize that Taehyung would already be working, and therefore unable to partake in any deep apologetic conversations. This left him alone in the locker room, refusing to go out onto the deck because Taehyung would be there. He didn't want to see how Taehyung looked at him. Would it be with fear? Hatred? Disgust? Jungkook didn't know, and he certainly wasn't in a hurry to find out.

"Jungkookie! Ol' buddy ol' pal, you're early!" Hoseok bounded into the locker room, sliding across the bench and bumping lightly into Jungkook.

"Hey Hoseok hyung. Hi Jin hyung."

"The lord of birthdays has arrived! Bow down peasants." Jin marched into the locker room, arms held up with gusto. He was balancing a rather large box on one hand like a waiter, but it began to tip, so with a shriek he pulled his other hand over, catching it just in time. His gaze snapped forward, as if questioning whether anyone else had seen.

They had, and Hoseok found it hilarious. "So much for the theatrics, Jinnie."

"Is it your birthday?" Jungkook asked, as if the sparkly hat adorning Jin's head and the pink "birthday princess" sash around his waist weren't enough of a give-away.

"Yeah, man! And don't ask about the sash. They didn't have any pink ones for boys at the store, so I'm owning the birthday princess look 'cause gendered terms are a social construct. Check it, Jungkook!" Jin reached into the large box he was carrying, extracting a large tray of pink frosted cupcakes with little crown decorations and a box of chocolate cookies. "Made 'em myself with my own two hands. Kochinim'll give us dry land to eat 'em."

"What flavour?"

"Strawberry cupcakes, chocolate cookies. I've been fine-tuning my recipe for years, you'll never find better ones."

"Nah, the mall sells better ones." Hoseok cackled, and Jin swatted at him.

"You take that back! Damn processed cupcake shit. They drug those I tell you! It's a marketing ploy, to get you to buy their cupcakes. They get you addicted, like cocaine. But in cupcake form."

"Well that's a cocaine I'd totally love to get addicted to."

"Unholy child." Jin mumbled, putting the box in his locker and shedding his jacket and sweatpants before pulling out a deck of cards. "Who's up for some pre-practice go fish?"

. . . .

It turned out that go-fish was the only game that Jin and Hobi were able to play successfully without extreme divergence from the rules. (But Jungkook was pretty sure that looking for someone's tell wasn't a thing in go-fish. Jin definitely had a 2, no matter how much he refuted the claim when Jungkook asked).

But soon most of the team had arrived and the trio moved out onto the deck with the pack, snapping their goggles on and dropping their boards and fins with resonating clatters on the concrete before diving in, bodies tipping off the deck one by one, slipping into the water as if reuniting with an old friend. It was an unspoken rule among the team that whichever lane he ended up in, Jungkook was first. His sheer speed and strength could easily overpower any of their strokes, so they'd all stopped trying to get ahead of him.