BROMANCE | VKOOK - Chapter 33: Chapter 33

"Where have you been?", a low voice made Taehyung stop in his steps. He had just entered the front door of their house, it being way past midnight. "Outside", Taehyung admitted quietly. "I couldn't sleep."
It was his father who stood in front of him, arms crossed and his forehead in wrinkles. "Who have you been meeting?"
Taehyung remained silent, looking down to the floor. He knew what would come next anyway, it didn't matter if he'd tell the truth, lie or not say anything at all. His father would always end up making his anger painfully physical towards Taehyung. "I'm so sick of you, boy", the man groaned and stepped closer, spitting onto his son's face. "Have you been meeting your faggot friend?"
The boy gulped dryly, head low while he forced himself not to say a word.
Provoking never worked, pushing back did neither-, so far staying quiet had always made it stop the quickest.
"Answer me if I talk to you", his father grabbed him by his wrist and then dragged him upstairs, so his wife wouldn't see anything if she'd leave their bedroom. Even though she knew and stayed silent, she wasn't happy with her husband being violent against their kids.
Taehyung glanced into Jimin's room while rushing by, he had to leave the door open at all times so Taehyung could get a quick view of his brother sitting in his bed, a ice pack pressed to his neck as tears fell off his lashes.
"I can't believe I raised two such bad children", Mr Kim kept complaining, pushing Taehyung into his bedroom, then slammed the door shut. Taehyung knew what was coming next, quickly covering his front with his hands, afraid every time his father lifted his knee up.
"You didn't raise us", Taehyung whispered. This was the one thing he wouldn't let him have. In no fucking way he'd let this sick piece of shit believe that he was the one who raised them. "To raise a child, you actually have to be present."
That didn't make it any better, it only angered the old man even more when he pushed his son down on his knees to make him apologize for his words. "I should have never put my hope into you. You cannot lead my business with this attitude of yours."
Taehyung shrugged, "I never asked for any of it."
"You ungrateful brat", Mr Kim yelled out, spitting onto him once again. "Every other child would be happy to have the family's business in their own hands one day."
"It doesn't feel like family business to me", Taehyung let out in a small voice, "I don't want to lead it. I don't want any of this."
"What else is it that you want then?!", Mr Kim groaned.
For a second Taehyung was speechless, he had no answer to this. No one had ever truly asked him what he wanted to do. All he ever did was denying anything people held out for him. Yes, he wanted to go to college-, but just to make other people proud.
Right now, there was only thing shooting up in his head which he really wanted right now.
It was a tall, muscular boy with bunny teeth and the prettiest eyes.
"Come on, tell me. If I can't satisfy this egoistic piece of shit's needs, what is it that you want in life? You're just a kid. You don't know life." Mr Kim kept yelling, but Taehyung only nodded.
"I'm just a kid", he repeated softly, "I don't need to know yet."
Mr Kim ruffled his own hair in despair, "God, do you even hear yourself talking?!"
"Can you just leave me alone for the night, I'm doing anything you want. I'm taking over the family's business and I will marry Tzuyu, I'll do anything you want me to. But please leave Jimin out of this and stop harassing me whenever I do something on my own."
"You still didn't tell me where you went."
"I went to end things with Jungkook", Taehyung suddenly snapped, crossed his arms and stepped back afraid, "I never got the chance to really end things. So now I did. Is that wrong too?"
Hsi father stopped and stared for a while, "Alright." He only let out and turned around to leave the room. He tried his best not to get even angrier, knowing his son had met Jungkook again. "If that's what really happened, you don't mind him going down, right?", the man asked amused, already showing Taehyung his back while leaving the room.
"What-"
The door fell shut before Taehyung could get an answer.
*
Jungkook walked downstairs the next morning, his father already sitting behind the computer screen while making phone calls. The boy lifted his brows, glancing at his mother who was having a cup of tea while reading a book.
"It's seven am, why are you guys acting as if it's in the middle of the day", Jungkook sighed annoyed. His parents were always so energetic and seemed to enjoy living. It was highkey embarrassing to come downstairs, looking like a mess while his parents were already dressed up, doing productive things.
"Go get ready for school", his mother only hummed softly while his father kept humming into the phone, scrolling down the site of a business. When Jungkook tried to glance above his shoulders, his father slammed the laptop shut and gave his son a glare, "None of your business, my son", he said softly and gave him a soft clap on the shoulder. "Go and put some normal clothes on."
Jungkook refused and shook his head, "Who are you calling this early?"
His father didn't reply any further so Jungkook grabbed his phone and sat down as well instead of following his father's orders.
Jungkook:
yo asshole, my dad is keeping secrets from me since he got fired
Hoseok:
maybe its just none of ur business, weirdo
Jungkook:
or its bc he is doing something bad
Hoseok:
like what
Jungkook:
idk maybe he joins the mafia
Hoseok:
bro we're not in a movie, there's no fucking mafia around here. now leave me alone, i gotta get ready for school.
Jungkook:
Don't bro me, only taehyung can do that
Hoseok:
Why dont u go text taehyung instead then<3
Jungkook:
I cant <3
Jungkook sighed when Hoseok blocked him and then looked back at his father, "Dad are you joining the mafia?", he asked in all honesty.
His father laughed out loudly even though he was still on the phone call, "No, I'm not", he replied truthfully.
"Why can't I know then?"
"You will", his father assured him. "Just give me a little more time, alright?"
"What's it about?", Jungkook asked curious.
His father gave him a smirk, "Just don't worry. Don't do anything stupid meanwhile, is that clear?"
Jungkook rolled his eyes, "Like what?"
While his mother let out a sigh, his Dad only hummed, "Like getting involved in the Kim's family business. Or meeting up with Taehyung at night. This will only make things worse."
Jungkook crossed his arms, "So you're doing something to Taehyung's family?"
Mr Jeon sighed heavily, "Keep your noisy nose to yourself, kid. Let the adults handle that and stay out of it, alright? I have to get my job back and it's not necessarily easier if you keep involving."
Jungkook grumbled something under his breath, getting even more pissed off. "Why is everyone always telling me to be quiet and not do things? All of you are always remaining silent, no one ever speaks up. This is not the way to solve an issue that's been going on for way too long now."
Mr Jeon looked at his son daringly, "You're 16 years old, Jungkook. Keep that in mind before you talk without thinking."
And with that, the conversation was ended for the adult and Jungkook left the room with a pouty face.
It felt as if he was being left alone again.
Just like back then in elementary and middle school when he had no friends in school and his father just got promoted at work, always gone from home.
All Jungkook had was Jimin and his crush on Taehyung, yet he could never be honest about his feelings with anyone because Jimin would always say things like "You're straight, don't be silly."
Which was basically a way to shut up people in Kook's opinion.
With the years the had trusted less and less, only speaking up about a few things. He grew up with the thought that he couldn't be honest about his own self, that his feelings weren't valid and no one valued his opinion. When his father opened up to him a few weeks ago and Taehyung started seeing more in him that just a little brother- it boosted Jungkook's ego so much. He got more confident with each day, finally ready to say things out loud he had been keeping in for years now.
After all, losing Taehyung had already been a push back but now his father turning distant as well-, Jungkook didn't know how to react.
So he just sat down on his bed and tears fell of his face. He hated being told to be quiet.
Especially when he knew that Taehyung was in a very bad place right now; mentally and physically. And no one was doing shit about it.
Felt a bit like standing in the rain with no umbrella and nothing to stand under, you just keep standing while your clothes get soaked wet and you start to feel cold taking over your body.
Jungkook had never liked the rain, he used to run once it started to rain, rushing to get under a roof or under anything. He couldn't take feeling helpless, and that's exactly what he felt right now.
Fucking helpless and pathetic.
What was he thinking? That him, a 16 year old boy with no clue about life could save a boy from the hands of a grumpy old man who was corrupt and emotionless. There was no way he could beat him, how could he even think that highly of himself? Jungkook was nothing but a kid.
And when he finally realized that, it was almost too late.
"Jungkook, are you coming?", a voice made him look up from the floor. Quickly he wiped off the tears that had dripped down his cheeks out of nowhere. The boy didn't even know when he started or why he even cried in the first place, he just drifted off into his thoughts-, feeling nothing for a second which was the one thing he longed for the most these past days.
Always pretending to be strong and the tough one sometimes got to him. Usually he'd be the one telling everyone confidently that it wasn't that bad and he'd be there to save the day, but today he realized that there was actually nothing and no one he could save.
Just a dumb kid, with no power.
"What are you doing here?", he asked surprised when he saw Lyza standing in the bedroom door. "Thought you needed some cheer up", the girl hummed and walked over, hugging her friend for a while. She had seen him cry earlier and she felt even worse for not being here earlier.
"I wish we could do something", she whispered, patting his back. "But I think all we can do is wait and not make it worse."
Jungkook gulped, "Wait for what? The day Taehyung ends up in a hospital? Or the day he'll marry a woman he doesn't even like?"
Lyza shrugged, "We'll find out. Let's go to school now, shall we?"
The boy let out a deep sigh and then got dressed for school finally, not putting much effort into styling his hair or wearing something fashionable. Lyza gave him a judging look, but didn't say a word. Then they left the house and walked to school. Both of them hated taking the bus anyways and Taehyung wasn't there to pick Jungkook up in the mornings anyways, so Lyza started doing that on days when Mr Jeon couldn't take his son to school.
"I want all of this to end", Jungkook complained as they walked onto the school yard. It was one of the last few weeks before summer holidays, yet he didn't feel like it at all.
Summer was something Jungkook used to connect to freedom and happiness-, a time where he didn't have to listen to annoying teachers or suffer from huge amount of homework every day.
But this time, summer felt like a burden to him.
He knew this would be the summer that would decide over him and Taehyung.
If by the end of it they wouldn't be together, Taehyung would go off to college and Jungkook would stay here-, having to let go of his everlasting crush and move on from the boy he had always loved the most.
He wasn't ready to give hope up yet though.
"And it will end soon", Lyza calmed him down, "I have this feeling that things are about to change for good." The girl smiled, the sun shining brightly onto her face. For the blink of an eye Jungkook thought she looked like an angel and maybe that meant that her words were foreshadowing of what was going to happen.
Or maybe that was just Jungkook's delusional self trying to convince him that he'd still be endgame with Taehyung.
When they arrived inside, they saw one thing that disturbed both of them.
Jimin stood in the hallway, holding the hand of a girl from one grade beneath them. She had pretty eyes, dyed blonde hair and looked incredibly pretty.
"Who's that?", Lyza asked curiously.
"Bro, I would love to know", Jungkook said, eyes all big.
Jimin was smiling with her and then they walked off, still holding hands.
The next they saw was an angry Hoseok who punched the wall, screaming out some curse word, "Oh shit", Lyza laughed. "Someone seems a little mad."
Jungkook got the bad feeling down his tummy, mixed with the urge to throw up.
How wrong could all of this get?
The next he saw was Lia standing in the corner of the hallway, rushing to speak into the phone she held to her ear. The girl hadn't talked much to her friends lately, always on the phone while staying lowkey about anything.
Kook was still wondering why especially her wasn't doing more to save Taehyung, she should be the one fighting by Jungkook's side, not the one taking her distance and separating herself from everything.
"Is it just me or does it feel as if the tension is reaching a dangerous level around here", Jungkook whispered when he saw Lia angrily pushing her phone down her pockets, balling her fists and then straightup rushing out of the school building. Hoseok was still punching walls, yelling at middle schoolers who just passed by to get to their part of the school.
Then there was Jimin who was now leaning against a locker, holding the girl by her waist while kissing her intensely. God, this looked so wrong.
"No it's not just you", Lyza said quietly, anxiously looking around.
When they saw Taehyung entering, they noticed one thing, he was walking way too fast, hurrying through the hallway without paying attention to anyone or anything, especially when he realized he was passing by Jungkook, he started running.
He was so scared of feeling things again when he gave himself a chance to stop and stare. So the older ran over to his classroom, sat down there and tried to think of anything but not the boy with the pretty brown eyes.
Which was right now the hardest thing to do.
When he joined football practice this afternoon he realized once again that there was no fucking way he'd ever get over this boy.
Seeing Jungkook in these way too tight pants he always wore, his thighs almost making Taehyung drool, he could think of nothing but Jungkook's ass during the whole practice.
Taehyung had never felt that horny before.
Not ever had the urge of seeing someone's body made him physically ache in pain because he couldn't get it.
It got worse in the showers once practice ended.