wednesday ; taekook

ix. grief and smokes

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one month into grief and jungkook was fine. he was ridiculously fine, causing his parents to uproar with worry. he was sent to a therapist for the majority of that month. funnily enough, speaking about the matter made it worse. much, much worse.

two months into grief and jungkook was on the breaking point. he didn't eat, he didn't sleep, but he never cried. he never lashed out. yoongi had reached that stage a lot sooner. yoongs had supposed it was due to their difference in pain tolerance or personalities. he didn't know, truly.

three months was when jungkook broke. he'd fallen, hard, woken up in some state of bewilderment. he felt like he was drifting, like he was about to fall of the edge of the world. later on, his dad explained to him that he was incredibly high off cocaine; that somebody at school had offered it to him and he chose to do so without hesitation.

month four was a walk in the park. after having discovered he wasn't good at talking about his emotions, he dropped the therapist and any discussions about theraputic practices whatsoever. it was the best decision he'd made in a long time.

and here he was, month five, genuinely alright. he wasn't happy, but he was doing alright, and that was all he could ask for. he'd wave to his friends in the corridor, raise his hand to answer a few times in class. sure, he never went out with anyone other than yoongi and namjoon, but who could blame the kid?

avoid, avoid, avoid.

taehyung kept his gaze directed towards the ground as he dived about the corridors. he knew his teacher would be looking for him- it was only class three he'd missed of this semester, meaning he'd be in trouble, but not too sincere.

"shit!" he rambled when his body smashed into a much smaller one as he rounded the corner. the school was small, the corridors matching the size perfectly.

"sorry! i'm so sorry-" the tiny boy said. he made a small, sweet gasp as his books toppled to the ground.

"no, no it was me." taehyung shrugged, waving his hands about in the air and kneeling to aid the boy. they sighed simultaneously and taehyung looked up to observe the boy's facial features.

he had such full, naturally chubby cheeks, and lips as plump and pretty as cherries. something about the way his bottom lip was sucked between the skin, in a state of nerves, made taehyung ponder if he'd seen the boy before.

"are we in a class together?"

the boy looked up, pausing his rapid movement of collecting sheets of paper in his stubby arms.

"uh- no, no i don't think so." he shook his head softly, a blush appearing on his cheeks. taehyung watched as the boy giggled.

"why?" taehyung asked, referring to the snigger.

"i'm new, moved here today in fact." he stuttered, finally having picked up his belongings and returning to his normal stance. taehyung followed and straightened up.

"oh, that's weird. you look familiar."

"i-i'm... yeah, i get that a lot." he said quickly. "i'm kihyun. yoo kihyun."

taehyung looked at the ample hand extended towards him. then, he shook it with calm and clarity.

"taehyung." he nodded.

"cool." they let go of their hands. "don't suppose you know where lab six is, do you, tae?"

taehyung briefly frowned at the nickname, as something about is soothed him. he shoved his hand into his pocket and pointed with the other.

"it's on the other side of the school, a few blocks-"

"oh, it's far?" the boy muttered. he then looked about, as though checking for a stalker. "uh, you know a place i can smoke, instead?"

"that's- actually, yeah, i was just heading there. it's on top of the building." taehyung waved his hand to a door behind kihyun. "you can follow me." then he instantly added. "if you want."

"sure!" kihyun nodded eagerly and followed taehyung through the door. they escalated up the few floors of spiral staircase until they reached another door. once they'd pushed through, they set their feet upon the roof of the building block.

it was breezy outside, but cold enough for taehyung to only be in an unzipped hoodie. kihyun, however, was dressed head to toe in canadian-worthy attire. he observed as the smaller boy walked past him and over to the centre of the building. he held his long coat over his butt, and sat right on the concrete. once a few moments passed, he turned back to look at taehyung, expression expectant.

"you gonna join me, tae?"

taehyung followed after his led movements, sitting opposite the lad and reaching into his pocket. as he lit a cherry blossom fag, his acquaintance pulled out a joint from inside his blazer pocket.

"weed?" taehyung asked, frowning. usually, a smoke meant a cigarette, not marajuana. besides, who trusted themselves to get high at school?

"yeah, i don't smoke cigs." he said, putting the lit bud in his mouth and inhaling. "i'm a singer, so i avoid tobacco. this is pure." he referred to the stick.

taehyung took an inhale of his own. a singer, huh? maybe he's famous? that's probably where i recognise him from. taehyung sniggered at his own thoughts, looking up at the dreary sky glaring back down at him.

"where do you come from, kihyun?"

"please, ki." he shrugged, inhaling once more and coughing lightly. "not far. i used to be in a private school, but i didn't... fit in enough. it's good for the reputation to come to a state school like this."

"reputation?"

"ah," he shut his eyes, almost ashamed. "it's not... good to be 'stuck up' as a singer. plus, my producer lives near by."

"you're serious about that?"

kihyun looked taken aback by taehyung's question, blinking a few times before answering.

"yeah."

"i didn't mean it like that," he corrected himself.

"treat your elders with respect," kihyun raised an eyebrow.

"how do you know you're older?" taehyung took another drag and crossed his arms.

"i'm actually also a grade behind. so i'm the oldest in the school, naturally."

"you're already eighteen?"

"i'm nearly nineteen, bro."

"fuck." taehyung said, knowing he'd have to refer to the smol as hyung. it felt weird. he was so tiny, teeny, that taehyung wanted to wrap his arms around the boy and stroke his black hair.

"thank you for bringing me up here." kihyun mumbled, a blush creeping once more.

"yeah, of course."

"hey, do you wanna hang after school?

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sorry for the late update ❤️