school desk | vkook

- THIRTEEN -

"Um, guys, I'm going to stay and speak to him..." the maknae of the trio admits.

"Seriously?" Jimin questions suspiciously.

"Yeah. I need to say sorry."

"Hold up, why do you need to say sorry?"

"Guys, I'll be fine. Jeongguk and I have been friends for a long time, just without knowing it, right? The bus will leave if you don't get off now!"

"Fine..." Hoseok grabs Jimin by the arm and they leave reluctantly. Taehyung waits patiently until he sees Min Yoongi get off, meaning Jeongguk is the only person left. He doesn't want to humiliate Jeongguk by showing up in front of his friends.

Taking a deep breath, he stands up and takes a seat next to the brunette, letting his hands flop down onto his knees.

"Hello!"

Jeongguk just stares at him, looking absolutely terrified. Taehyung can't help but let out a cute giggle.

"Why so shocked? You look like you just witnessed a green gorilla crash through the roof with a spaceship made out of rotten apples!" Aish Tae, where did that weird comparison come from? He'll find you strange now! He mentally face palms. But thankfully, the corner of Jeongguk's mouth goes up a little from the comment.

"I just didn't expect you, as you can probably imagine." The younger's voice sounds cold as he answers, and he quietly scolds himself for it, but Taehyung doesn't seem to mind.

"But we're friends, aren't we, J?"

"I guess so, T."

Silence.

Tae takes a deep breath. "So, um, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry. I should've-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Jeongguk holds a hand up. "Why the fuck are you apologising?"

"Well, because," Taehyung seems to struggle with how to put it. "I'm usually really good with people, reading them, I mean." He looks deep into Jeongguk's eyes, until the latter looks down into his lap with shame. "I should've realised that you being so mean to me was a silent cri for help, and I should've treated you like I do with everyone else and maybe we could have avoided this mess from the start. Please don't hate me anymore, I'll do my very best to help you!"

Jeongguk feels so awful in that moment. Here sits the boy he's been verbally abusing for over a year, begging Jeongguk for forgivness. Meanwhile, he himself hasn't managed to say more than yell at him, and a simple "sorry."

"Hyung, don't apologise to me. That's so messed up."

Taehyung almost flinches at hearing the younger speak in polite language. The bus stops and the two boys get off.

"Can I ask you something, Gguk?" Taehyung says as they walk side by side on the little road.

"Sure... hyung." It feels weird to speak respectfully to the other, and Tae is obviously not used to it either.

"Why did you target me as the victim of your rude remarks?" There's no anger in Taehyung's voice, only curiosity.

"You already know it," Jeongguk mumbles  quietly. "I was jealous. Perhaps I thought you were weak, too. Easy to have control over, or something. Dunno. Sorry again."

"It's alright." Tae puts a comforting hand on his dongsaengs back.

"No, it's really not." Jeongguk refuses to meet the other's eyes. "You need to learn how to stand up for yourself, don't just apologise to the person who, let's be real, bullied you. And that makes me feel even more like a piece of trash."

"Who are you to talk about standing up for oneself?"

"Maybe we can learn together."

"Yeah."

—

are y'all happy now? because i am

also i'm writing this on a plane, i'm going to the canary islands for a week so i dunno if i'll post a new chapter or not. i'll be online tho <3