𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗚 || ᴛᴀᴇᴋᴏᴏᴋ

• C H A P T E R 33 •

He didn't look directly at Taehyung, but his peripheral vision betrayed him drinking in the way Taehyung stood, how the muscle in his jaw ticked slightly, how his arms crossed tightly over his chest like he was holding something back.

And when Jungkook finally passed them a little too close, his shoulder barely brushing the edge of Yoongi's sleeve he dared a glance up.

Just a fraction of a second.

And for the briefest moment, Taehyung’s eyes met his.

No smirk.

No scowl.

Just a fleeting flicker of something Jungkook couldn’t name.

Then it was gone like a ghost in the wind.

Jungkook walked faster.

Heart racing.

Thoughts a mess.

Memories of Taehyung’s arms around him, voice low and furious, “You lied to Jin, Jungkook,” mixing with the image of his cold, unreadable face now like they were two different people trapped in one body.

As he disappeared around the corner, Yoongi gave Taehyung a sidelong glance and muttered under his breath, “You're gonna explode at this rate.”

Taehyung didn’t reply.

But the way his fingers dug into the seam of his jeans, knuckles whitening, said everything Yoongi needed to know.

He was already breaking.

Classroom – Late Morning

The sunlight filtered softly through the half-closed blinds of the classroom, casting slanted golden stripes across desks and faded wooden floors. A low hum of conversation filled the room as students slowly filtered in, settling into their seats with yawns and shuffles.

Jungkook sat near the window, chin resting in his palm, his eyes fixed on the glass where a bird fluttered past outside. He hadn't heard a single thing the professor had said so far. Not that the lecture had even started but he knew his brain wasn’t going to register anything today.

Not when his mind kept replaying that moment.

The heat of Taehyung's arms around him. The furious way he’d looked. The way his shirt had smelled faintly like mint and smoke. The trembling in Jungkook’s limbs that hadn’t quite stopped since that night.

He hadn’t expected to see him dressed like that today all black, the bandana, that sharp gaze. He looked like a bad memory and a secret dream rolled into one.

“Penny for your thoughts, lover boy.”

The familiar teasing voice broke through his haze.

Jungkook blinked and turned his head Jimin had slid into the seat beside him, arms crossed on the desk, looking far too smug for someone who nearly lost Jungkook in a nightclub crowd.

“Jimin-hyung…” Jungkook mumbled, eyes widening. “You scared me.”

“You scare me,” Jimin whispered dramatically. “Still not over the fact you agreed to drink. You Jungkook you drank alcohol. In a dress. In a club. With me.”

Jungkook’s cheeks flushed bright pink. “You made me wear that dress!”

Jimin gasped, clutching his chest in mock horror. “I offered it to make you feel beautiful and confident, not get pawed at by creeps!”

That silenced both of them for a moment.

Jungkook looked down at his hands, fidgeting with the edge of his notebook.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “For making you worry. For… everything.”

“why are sorry? It's my mistake to take you to club and leave you alone....”

Jimin’s expression softened. “I’m just glad Taehyung was there.”

Jungkook flinched.

There it was.

That name again.

A name that pulled at his heart like gravity.

Jimin leaned forward a little, resting his chin on his hand. “You haven’t talked to him since?”

Jungkook shook his head.

“He’s mad. And… he even told Jin hyung about club”

Jimin raised a brow. “I don’t think he will.”

“Why?”

“Because he carried you home. Changed your clothes. Sat by your bed like a guard dog,” Jimin said, lowering his voice. “He was pacing, Kook. You passed out and he was breathing like he’d run a marathon. Yoongi and I had to calm him down.”

“he already did Jimin”

“maybe he's worried for you, so he told Jin....we can't blame him, it's out mistake to lie from Jin hyung”

Jungkook looked away, biting the inside of his cheek.

“I don’t get him,” he admitted quietly. “He says I shouldn’t care. That he’s scary. But then he looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters.”

Jimin didn’t reply right away.

Instead, he watched his friend carefully, gently.

“You like him, don’t you?” he asked softly.

Jungkook’s shoulders tensed.

“I… I don’t know,” he said weakly. “Maybe. Yes. I think I do. But he hurt me so much before. He teased me. Bullied me. He made me cry.”

“And now?”

“Now it hurts more when he doesn’t talk to me at all.”

There was silence again. The soft chatter of other students, the breeze tapping against the windows. Jimin’s smile was bittersweet.

“That’s love, idiot.”

Jungkook blinked.

Jimin grinned. “Messy. Confusing. Unfair. But real.”

Jungkook looked down at his hands again, heart fluttering like wings against a cage.
He didn’t know where this was heading.

But he knew one thing.

When Taehyung was near, nothing else felt quite real.

And when Taehyung was far… everything hurt.

TO BE CONTINUE