Sterling

Chapter Eighteen

"First of all, it's Taehyung. Second of all, he's not my boyfriend just because we spend time together," Jungkook stated matter of factly, holding up two fingers as he looked at the rest of the jocks in the locker room. Minho scoffed lightly with a shake of his head, causing the raven-haired boy to look at him rather annoyed, "What, Minho? What now?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't matter, he's a freak," Bogum spoke, to which Jungkook spun around on his heel, glaring at the other man in front of him, "It really sucks that you don't see it. You're always standing up for him and it's annoying. You use to never do that and let me do my own thing. What is he doing? Sucking your dick or something just to keep you as another one of his personal bodyguards because he's too much of a coward to stand up to me."

"I don't understand why you people always have something to say about him," the youngest stated sternly as he crossed his arms, "Tae's not a bad guy. He's actually really cool once you get to know him, and he's nothing those rumors claim him to be. He's not a freak, he's not weird, he's not seeking any form of attention, and he's nothing else you guys say about him. He's actually the opposite, and I wish you guys would get your heads out of your asses and see that."

"And so what if he's friends with him?" Jin asked as he stood up and beside the younger, his arms folding over his chest, "How is it bothering you in any way? It's not, so leave them alone and let them do their own thing," he said sternly, earning an appreciative smile from the raven-haired boy as a thank you.

"I can't believe you would actually be with a guy like that," Bogum muttered under his breath, turning away from the two males standing up to him, shaking his head as he closed his locker door with a loud slam echoing in the locker room, "Seriously, is he sucking your dick or something for you to always be by his side and standing up for him?"

"If not, I wish he was sucking mine," Minho mumbled under his breath, turning his face away in hopes no one heard him, but the locker room fell silent and looked over at the other man, eyebrows furrowed and lips parted. Bogum scoffed as he shook his head, clearly disgusted, "What? He's pretty."

"You're disgusting, and he's a freak."

"But he's pretty." Jungkook rolled his eyes at them both, shaking his head as he grabbed his shoes from his locker and began pulling them on, "I'd honestly fuck him if I could, but I won't since he's Jungkookie's boyfriend, so looks like he's off the table," Minho added with a small shrug, looking over at Jungkook who simply stared at them, "Isn't that right, Kook?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Jungkook practically yelled in the locker room, his voice echoing and bouncing off the walls around them. Minho held his hands up in surrender as the raven-haired boy became a little defensive, "We're just really good and close friends. We're not dating and we're not together, and that's that. Just because people see us hanging out all the time doesn't mean we're together."

"Rumor's going around saying you guys are dating, you know," Minho stated, catching the other's attention, his eyes going wide at the thought of another rumor about Taehyung being spread throughout the large school, "And everyone believes it, too. You guys are awfully touchy with each other, you're always hanging out and seen with one another, I honestly thought you guys were dating and you just haven't told anyone yet-not that I would judge you or anything."

"Do you have a crush on this guy?" Felix joined in on the conversation, standing beside Minho with folded arms. He was genuinely curious about what's going on between the two, and he hasn't even notice Jungkook and Taehyung always hanging out. He felt like he had bigger things to worry about. Jungkook shook his head slowly, staying quiet, "I've known about Taehyung for awhile now, but I never thought of him as someone who was gay or bisexual. I thought he was straight."

"Guys, coach wants you all out there now."

The rest of the day went by fairly slow, so slow Jungkook was tempted to just check himself out and go home and sleep for the rest of the day until the next morning, but he wanted to walk Taehyung home, and make sure he had gotten there safely with no one from school following him. So he stayed instead and when the final bell rang, he darted out of his last class and began his search for the brunette.

Their walk home was filled with laughter and giggles and smiles. When he finally dropped the boy off at his empty house-his parents still not home and won't be for a few more days-he left and walked himself home, hands in his jacket pockets, only now realizing Taehyung still had his hoodie he had let him borrow the night before. He smiled at the thought of the small brunette boy wearing it, the article of clothing swallowing him whole.

When he arrived home, he immediately changed his clothes and put something much more comfortable on, throwing his jeans in his hamper in the corner of his bedroom before plopping down on his bed. He had sent the brunette boy a text, telling him he was home safely before his eyes fell shut, his boxy exhausted but his mind swirling with so many thoughts about the said boy.

He didn't understand why everyone was always targeting Taehyung, and it was beginning to get annoying now, and he didn't know what else to do. He promised himself he would be by Taehyung's side and protect him at all costs, not caring who he had to scare off if it meant protecting him. He hated how practically everyone in the locker room was targeting him, while Jin and himself were the only ones standing up for him.

There was a sudden knock at his door, causing him to jump at the noise as he looked at his door, eyebrows furrowed as his heart raced in his chest, "Jungkook, it's Wednesday, that means you need to do your laundry," his mother said through the closed door. Jungkook groaned before getting up and walking to his hamper, grabbing it and walking to the laundry room downstairs.

He began throwing his clothes in the washer, his jeans being the first thing on top of the pile inside the hamper. He grabbed them, hearing something fall out of his pocket and onto the floor. He sighed as he threw them in and bent down to pick up the piece of paper that had fallen. He looked at it confused for a second, not remembering where it came from.

Thinking it belonged to him the whole time, he unfolded it, seeing words scribbled in black ink. His eyebrows furrowed yet again as he noticed that it wasn't his handwriting. He began to read the words on the paper, only now realizing it was a note all in Taehyung's handwriting. The words seemed confusing, like he was writing it to someone but didn't inform them who it was-no name anywhere.

He read it and as he kept processing every word written on the white sheet, it was all starting to make sense. His eyebrows were no longer furrowed and his mouth was parted. He felt his heart drop as he read words he didn't want to read, feeling so many emotions, but the one he felt that empowered the other was fear. He was scared for many different reasons, and they were all because of this note.

He reread all of the words, trying to make better sense of it all, even though he knew what the note was about. He couldn't process anything, though-process the fact of what was being said on the letter, even though it all made sense. It felt like everything was mashed up and put into a simple paragraph of words that formed a whole meaning to it.

"Jungkook! Have you started your laundry yet?" His mother came walking into the laundry room, and Jungkook could hear her feet pattering his way. He began to panic, not knowing what to do with the letter, so he folded it back up as quickly as possible and stuck it back into his pocket, going back to throwing his clothes in the washer. His mother entered and looked at him skeptically, looking at her son a little worriedly, "Are you okay?"

"Mhm, I'm fine."