IMPERFECT • JIKOOK

not

A cry from him broke the stillness of the dead night.

"W-what?"

A tap on his shoulder was what he got.

"She only has a few more days left in here."

A sob erupted from his lips, his shoulders shaking.

"B-but... she's t-too y-young!"

A hug from his hyung was what he earned.

"I know. I know."

He hugged his hyung back, it was tight; the one that said, "I need this. Please don't let go."

He felt Jimin's hand draw circles on his back as he continued to sob his heart out.

"What are we gonna do if she... leaves?" the young boy croaked, face already wet with tears, sweat, snot, and whatnot.

"I... I don't know for now."

He backed a little to look at his hyung in the eyes.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Truly, he didn't know why he had blurted it out.

He just felt like he had to say it.

He didn't even know what he was sorry for. But he knew that he had said it because of what he felt for Seulgi's fate.

And he also knew that that really wasn't the reason; there was another.

But for now, he convinced himself to believe that that was it.

And so he did.

--

He was dragging his feet to go to his next class, shoelaces were a messy knot, hair already wet with sweat from too much running. He was always running, he knew that. But that was for him to get to all his classes real quick. He was in so many classes, being so intelligent and all that. There was even one subject for the Seniors that had him as the only Freshman in it.

Well, he had to maintain a good image and be perfect. He wanted to impress his parents and make them proud of him. He also had another reason which he didn't wanna reveal just yet.

But as he was just turning his body to the right wing of the hallway, his eyes immediately caught sight of a group of students who were crowding themselves and making a circle at someone.

They're probably bullying a Freshman. What's new in this school, though? he thought.

He was supposed to ignore the commotion, but he suddenly heard a loud grunt from a certain someone way too familiar.

He didn't hesitate to march his way towards the crowd as he saw the familiar orange hair of his hyung who was currently being shouted of profanities from someone.

"Well, fuck you for being so fucking dumb that I had to fucking slip because of you being a fucking clumsy ass who couldn't even move away from the fucking door!" another student he hadn't seen earlier yelled at his hyung inside the circle.

He was already in the crowd of students when he saw that the student punched Jimin square in the jaw which had the orange-haired staggering backwards.

His heart stopping at the sight, fists clenching themselves, Jungkook stormed his way inside. And without a warning, kicked the student at his stomach. The student yelped in pain and clutched his hurt stomach. Jungkook then immediately grabbed his hyung's hand and they ran past the fellow students who were too shocked to even move a muscle.

He kept on pulling Jimin till they reached the back of a building which was secluded and empty. He dropped his hand and faced his cousin who had a shocked face.

"Why did you do that?" his hyung questioned, arching an eyebrow at him.

He just shrugged at Jimin.

"He was hurting you, hyung," he simply said, staring straight at his cousin's eyes that made his heart skip a beat, eyeing Jimin's bruise on his jaw from the punch. "I don't want you to get hurt."

He kept his gaze on the soft brown orbs of his cousin; his cousin who had him feeling something he never had felt to anyone before; his cousin who had him thinking of things before he slept every night; his cousin who always made his lips form a smile whenever the elder did cute and stupid things.

And he didn't know why. All he knew was that, right now, Jimin's lips looked so shiny and appealing as the elder formed words with them.

"Why would you... do such a thing?"

Jungkook didn't answer and just stared at his hyung's plump lips instead, unconsciously darting his tongue out to wet his parched lips that were so thirsty; thirsty of Jimin.

The elder was about to continue when Jungkook suddenly pushed him to the wall, pinning him by the shoulders.

"J-jungkook, w-what are you—" he cut Jimin off with his wet lips in a sloppy kiss, the elder's eyes flying open in shock.

He didn't know what he was doing as he was kissing his cousin. He knew that he was kissing Jimin, but he didn't know if he was doing it right, it being his first and all that. He just continued to press his lips to his hyung's soft and plump ones, licking the elder's lower lip multiple times and tasting his strawberry-flavored lip balm. Jungkook could feel every muscle in his body tingle with so much excitement and satisfaction.

The kiss went on for seconds without Jimin doing anything to him or even reacting. But it only ended when the younger felt a hesitant push to his chest, him instantly pulling back and looking at his hyung as he panted short breaths.

Jimin stared at him, teary-eyed.

"W-why... are you doing this?" the elder muttered so low he almost couldn't hear him, lips swollen from the previous act.

He didn't answer, he didn't know.

But the pained look on Jimin's face was enough for him to feel his heart shattering to pieces.

He lifted his hand to wipe the tears that were already falling from the elder's eyes, but a hard and loud slap on his face stopped him from doing so. He just stayed still, his head facing the side.

"Stop fucking up my feelings, Jungkook! I'm your fucking cousin!" Jimin shouted at him with so much rage in his voice. "Stay away from me!"

Then he heard footsteps fading away.

Jungkook let himself fall to the ground as he let the elder's words sink in.

Jimin was mad at him for what he had done. But he wasn't even a bit sorry that he had kissed the elder.

He had kissed Jimin... which was so, so wrong of him.

They were cousins. It was wrong. It wasn't supposed to happen, but he had let it happen anyway.

He touched his lips, smiling to himself as he pictured Jimin's soft ones colliding with them earlier.

He was such a bad boy for doing that, yet he didn't mind.

He loved his hyung – his cousin.

Did he really?

He didn't know.

All he knew was that he didn't regret any second of the kiss.

Boy, was he even overjoyed and pumped up for another one.

---

that you shattered to pieces