BROMANCE | VKOOK

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

And that's where everything went wrong.

Jungkook falling for a boy who was nothing but a mess, while Taehyung fell for the perfect boy that actually made him want to be better as well-, just that he had no clue how to appropriately do that.

Little did they know that the big bang was nothing to what happened now that their worlds collided.

"Have you seen Taehyung?", Jungkook asked a little confused when he sat down in the cafeteria the next morning, it was already lunch time and he had not seen the boy once. Even though they agreed to meet up before first period today, just that Taehyung never showed up. For the first few hours, Kook just tried to tell himself that Taehyung overslept and would come later-, but the bad feeling he had down his tummy ever since he woke up, it just grew with every lesson that passed by without a message by the older, or seeing him on the hallways in between.

"Nope", Lyza hummed, seeming worried as well. "I actually haven't seen any of them", she added, looking through the cafeteria. There was no one of Taehyung's best friends, not even Johnny or Mark were here.
Jungkook sighed quietly, "Maybe they're just skipping school. It wouldn't be anything new-"

"You think so?", the girl asked, looking around as well.

Their attention got drawn to Jimin who suddenly stumbled into the cafeteria, followed by Hoseok, Yoongi and Aylie. All four of them having blank expressions and heading straight to their table without even giving anything else a glance. Jimin sat down and didn't eat any of his lunch, he just kept rubbing his back as if he was in pain, while sipping on water.
Hoseok and Yoongi kept humming something to each other and deathglared Jungkook once in a while, but they didn't say a word.
"I thought me and Jimin were on good terms again", Jungkook grumbled, "But as soon as we're in school, he's back to ignoring me."

Lyza eyed Jimin for a while, "He seems off."
"He does", Kook agreed and then looked at Aylie who just kept staring at her phone the whole time, hurrying to text someone.

"Something's going on", Lyza said in a small voice, "And I'm not sure if we're meant to know what it is."

"If it's about Taehyung, I will make sure to find out", Jungkook said and got up from his seat, walking over to Jimin who still stared at his apple slices and the sandwich that he had in front of him.

"Where's your brother? He's not answering my calls", Jungkook asked straightforward, not bothering to say hi or anything.

"He's taking a day off", Jimin said sharply, avoiding to make eye contact with Jungkook. "Oh really?", Jungkook lifted his brows, "Why?"

"Jungkook, just go back to your table", Jimin said and bit his lips, trying to hold the words in that he wished to say out loud so bad.
"Why isn't he answering my calls?"

"Dude, do I look like I care about you and your boyfriend's relationship issues? Just fuck off", Jimin said and finally looked up, his eyes almost begging Jungkook to just leave him alone. The younger knew that look, it was the same look the boy had given Jungkook when they were kids and something happened that Jimin was ashamed of. He would always try to shy Jungkook away, so he could clean up his mess by himself without anyone noticing.
It was the same kind of look he had right now.

"No need to be mean to me", Jungkook hummed, "I thought we were good."

"You thought wrong", Jimin said, voice cracking halfway through the sentence. He hated to say this but it'd be for the best.
Aylie softly squeezed Jimin's arm and then went back to typing on her phone.
Kook looked at all of them in disbelief, "I don't get it. If he wants to break up with me or anything, he can just do that. He doesn't have to ignore me and make his friends act weird."

"Jungkook, just fuck off and go to your blondie over there", Yoongi suddenly snapped.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?", Jungkook hissed back, "Fuck off yourself, Yoongi."
"Jungkook, for fuck's sake, go away or I'll punch you in your fucking face", Hoseok snapped and slammed his balled fist onto the table.
Jungkook gulped dryly, knowing that there was no way that they'd tell him what happened. He gave Aylie a deathglare because he didn't expect her to change sides that quickly. Then he flinched around and hurried back to Lyza.

"Alright, his friends are back to being assholes. Looks like yesterday was an exception", Kook groaned and sat back down on his seat. Lyza was still chewing on her sandwich, nodding, "Some people never change-"

"They keep something from me, that's for sure", Jungkook said quietly, "And I will make sure to find out what it is."
Lyza nodded, "A'ight. I'm in, boo." She pinched Jungkook's cheeks softly and the boy gave her a smile, "Thanks. I'm glad at least you're still with me."

The girl chuckled amused and ruffled the boy's black hair, "Yeah. Looks like I'm stuck with you."

*

After school ended Jungkook didn't take the bus home like he planned to do at first, his way lead him to Taehyung's house.
He wasn't sure if that was a good idea, maybe the boy really needed space or time on his own and stayed home for that reason. But something inside of Jungkook told him that this wasn't the case. Taehyung wouldn't just run away and hide from him, if he really wanted to break things off he'd do it right at school, straightforward and with no doubts.

The boy sighed to himself, his hands were shaking because he felt way too nervous right now, not knowing how to act and what to do if Taehyung would really break up with him.

But then again, why would he?
He had been so happy yesterday and not even 24 hours passed since their last kiss and that for sure as hell wasn't a kiss made to be a last one. It was longing for so much, passionate and filled with so much love and awe. Taehyung wouldn't leave him.

Right?

When the boy opened the gate and stepped into the gardens, he looked around and couldn't see Taehyung anywhere outside, so he made his way to the front door.
Until he got stopped by a slight cough of a woman. She laid in her chair, wearing sunglasses that were way too huge for her face and seemed as if she was tanning herself in the sun. "What are you doing here?", she asked and Jungkook realized that this was Mrs Kim.

She had always been nice to Jungkook.

"I was going to visit Taehyung", the boy explained with a smile.

"He's not able to have any visitors right now", the woman said blankly, "You should go, Jungkook."
But Jungkook shook his head and crossed his arms, "I don't want to", he said, "I want to see him anyway."

"He doesn't want to see you, though", she shrugged. "Jungkook do all of us a favor and just go."

"Why?!", Jungkook said out loud, anger building up in his tummy, "Why is everyone telling me off today? I just want to find out why he isn't answering my calls?"
"If I were you, I'd listen to all those people who tell you that", the woman said sharply, "We're all thinking in Taehyung's best interest."

"Oh, are you?", Jungkook snapped. "Pretty sure, I'm Taehyung's best interest."

The woman rolled her eyes, "Please, for god's sake, Jungkook. Just leave. It's for your own and for Taehyung's best."

"I'm not leaving unless he tells me to", the boy still refused to leave.

"Do you want Taehyung to be safe?", the woman suddenly said, her voice going lower because she was afraid of her husband being anywhere close, hearing her. "Of course I want him to be safe!", Jungkook groaned, "Why wouldn't he be safe?"

"Then leave, Jungkook", Mrs Kim said again. "If my son means anything to you, you stay away from him from now on."

Jungkook felt shivers rushing down his spine and for the first time in his life, his confidence left him and he turned around as fast as he could and hurried out of the family's garden.
Something crawled up his throat and it was called fear.

The boy ran the whole way home.
Frightened.

***