sɪɴᴄᴇ ʜɪɢʜsᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ☑

46. You're Too Late

"Jungkook, honey, at least hear him out," Mrs. Jeon asked Jungkook who had curled himself into his bed, sobbing hard.

"How did they k-know? No one knew about it. It was only Jimin Hyung who knew after you decided to tell him. You didn't see what they'd written over p-placards and the drawings of me. If you did, y-you wouldn't be asking me to hear Jimin out. You'd be h-hugging me right now," Jungkook coughed, wiping the running nose and his eyes with the sleeves of his shirt.

"Oh, my baby," Mrs. Jeon held the shaking boy into her arms and stroked his hair.

Jimin heard everything and shook his head, telling Mr. Jeon it wasn't him over and over again. He couldn't get inside the room and was only waiting for Mrs. Jeon to calm Jungkook down before he could say anything to the boy directly.

"Not only did you break my trust, but you also broke my parents' trust, Jimin Hyung!" Jungkook yelled from the other side of the door. "I am a sick kid, right? Then why are you here worrying about the sick kid? G-go back to your normal friends. You shouldn't be seen with a s-sick kid".

"Trust me, Jungkook. I would never do that. Please believe me. It wasn't me."

Jungkook could say anything if he didn't have to cough so much. "Let's leave him alone for some time," Mr. Jeon mumbled, nudging Jimin towards the stairway so they both had some time to calm themselves. "I will drop you home." The man offered.

"No, I have to go back to school. I didn't inform anyone and ran after him," Jimin answered politely and turned away towards the gate.

"Don't," Mr. Jeon held his hand. "I will call Mr. Bang and inform him about the situation. He'll investigate further into this, okay? Don't feel disheartened and let me drive you home."

Jimin nodded, a silent tear dropped from his eyes that he was quick to wipe.

**

Mr. Park looked at Mr. Jeon getting out of the car and seeing his son's red eyes, his heart sunk down, assuming something terrifying must have happened. "Jimin? What happened?" As he rushed to hold the boy's arm while the two were entering the house, Jimin yanked his father's hand away.

This had to be the first time when Mr. Park felt humiliated by his son's action. Never had Jimin ignored him. There weren't right words that he could think of as he witnessed the teenager fading behind the stairway. "Mr. Jeon," averting his eyes as his voice wavered a little, "is Jungkook okay?" He asked reluctantly.

The unorthodox question had Mr. Jeon tongue-tied, but Jungkook wasn't okay. "Everything will be fine, Mr. Park. I am sure the kids will come around in some time. We should talk to them patiently."

Nodding, Mr. Park looked towards Jimin's room again, expecting the boy to be there, but he wasn't. "I will be on my way, then. Please let me know when he feels okay," Mr. Jeon took out his card and handed it to Jimin's father. "Here's my number."

"I do have your number from before," Mr. Park mumbled, seeing the other man smile and put the card back into his pocket before he bowed. Reciprocating, he saw him retreating and soon driving away.

He knew he had to give Jimin space because he had to talk about a lot. He could think of nothing except for Jimin. His wife was at work, and he would've been at work too if it wasn't about Jimin. He was so immersed in his thoughts and he couldn't think of anything else since he found out that his son might be gay, or perhaps a bisexual. Wanting to use all the right words as and when he talked to Jimin, he lost track of time this morning.

Now that he was certain that something had happened, he couldn't think of working at all. The boundary that was seamlessly created between them hindered him from fully expressing his emotions.