The Kim Family Tetralogy

33

"Well if it isn't the porn star..." one of the guys on the team said as Jungkook was walking in.
He felt his cheeks taint, not from shame but from anger and he clenched his jaw.
"Say that again and I'll use you as the vault box for my next jump." Hobi snarled.
"Hey! Come on!" the guy protested.
"Say that again and I'll bench you." the head coach growled as he was walking in.
"What?! Hey, man, I was only joking!"
"Open your mouth one more time and I'll throw you off the team. And if I ever hear one of you disrespect Jungkook, who has been a crucial part of this team's collective success and done nothing wrong, again, I'll rip your bloody heads off." he barked, "And should anyone of you know anything about who actually uploaded that privacy intrusion or, God forbid, was actually responsible for it, and not come forward... And I find out about it? I'll blacklist you for life and slap a criminal prosecution on your ass as fast as you can say 'Wut? I was only joking!' Are we clear?" he looked around the room and even made sure to eye his assistant coaches who'd been grinning along as well.

Jungkook felt incredibly thankful to the head coach, and Hobi, for standing up for him, even if things got a little strained with his team mates.
But, he'd been the freak before and now he had real friends, so.
He could live with that.
He went to his coach's office after practise, to thank him, but he just shook his head, "Listen, I need you to know that I don't agree with the board of directors on this." he said, "And it sickens me that you and, what was the other kid's name?"
"Taehyung. Kim Taehyung." Jungkook answered.
"Yes, Kim Taehyung, well, it sickens me that you guys are held responsible for someone else's crime. It's just plain wrong." he shook his head.
"Well, we did have sex at that hotel..." Jungkook admitted.
"And? Who hasn't?" the coach said, "That's not illegal or immoral or whatever the hell they were on about?"
"Guess not." Jungkook shrugged.
"I heard through the grapevine that you're planning on filing a lawsuit against the school? And the sleezy hotel, I hope?"
Jungkook nodded.
"Let me know how that goes." the coach started to shuffle some papers around, "Now, get out of here, I have paper work." he waved his hand dismissively towards Jungkook, who drew his lip up in a half grin and left.

His days consisted of working out, practise, and homework.
He'd stopped watching tv and films and stuff. He couldn't bear to do it without Taehyung in his arms.
He wanted Tae!
He needed Tae!
And he was so angry all the time!
Jin and Namjoon were the best though. Keeping him company when he wanted it and leaving him alone when he needed it.
He was sure he was being a big fat nuisance to their relationship but he hadn't the energy to care about that.
Hobi was great too. But he didn't say peep about Tae no matter how hard Jungkook pressed him on the matter.
So he stopped doing that.
And ran.
And ran.
And ran.
Instead.

He started having wet dreams.
Again.
Like a twelve-year-old.
Because he just wouldn't.
Not without Tae.
That part of him had no place in his life anymore.
It belonged to Tae and Tae alone.
Well it didn't.
It belonged to Jungkook, but it didn't feel like that. Since he'd given that part, willingly, to Taehyung for safe keeping.

He hated everything.
He hated the sun when it shined.
He hated the rain when it fell.
The principal.
The world.
Everything.

He saw Taehyung one day, coming out of a coffee shop. He didn't look happy but he was smiling and the tall guy walking out behind him was laughing as he put his arm around him.
The pain almost knocked Jungkook off his feet and he staggered into a nearby gateway, pressing his fists into his eyes, leaning against the brick wall, trying to erase the sight.
He didn't see how Taehyung easily slipped out of the other one's hold and turned around, as if he'd felt Jungkook's presence.
If he had, he wouldn't have been able to stay away.
He wanted to run up to Tae, lift him up and carry him off.
Have him.
He wanted to beat the other guy to a pulp, for being able to do what Jungkook couldn't.
Be with Taehyung.
He couldn't hold in a sob and cursed everything. Him being gay, the school, the world, everything.
But Taehyung.

He qualified for the world championship, ramping up his practises on a whole new scale.
That, he liked.
'Cause it didn't give him time to do anything else.
So he went.
And won.
He should have been ecstatic.
But he wasn't.
He was angry.
And sad.

Taehyung's days were too long.
He'd tried sleeping them away but that only gave him headaches.
In a desperate atempt to fill his days he started to scour the flea markets and antique shops for something, anything, to tickle his fancy.
He bought an old 8mm film camera, mostly because it was pretty, since it didn't record sound and had a light leak somewhere, making everything he shot with it look spooky and ancient.
He loved it.
Getting film for it though... Hell.
He also found an old analogue cutting device which made it so much easier for him to make his spooky little film poems without sound.
There was something about using equipment someone had discarded long ago that appealed to him.
And when he found an old Hasselblad just lying around in a bag at one of the flea markets, he started taking stills as well after getting it mended.
That won him some sort of award.
He was indifferent.

Hobi and Yoongi helped him to start a small business that he could channel comissions through.
A lot of people wanted his stills for their publicity materials, thanks to the award, but Tae only took on the projects he was interested in.
Well, interested was perhaps overstating it, getting some sort of impulse from the location or setting would maybe describe the process better.
Yoongi's class mates was paying him top dollar to help them out with their artwork problems.
Taehyung was beginning to think game development engineers would greatly benefit from an art history course being an mandatory requirement for their graduation.
But, he made money, so, that was good. He guessed?

Yoongi was Taehyung's rock during these times.
He was just there.
Anchoring Taehyung to the world, somehow.
Hobi was great too, of course, but he reminded Tae of happier times and, that, made it hard for Taehyung to be around him.
And he was crazy busy, prepping for the world championships alongside Jungkook and also still dating Minho on the down low.
But he was Taehyung's go to person if he needed to talk to someone, with Jimin still in service.
He'd made Hobi swear not to tell Jungkook anything about him or how he was doing.
Which wasn't good.
Taehyung knew that.
He just couldn't be bothered.

The art museum had procured an exibition of Gustav Klimt and Taehyung went every day.
Fascinated by the fragmented whole of his imagery, Taehyung spent hours immersed in the paintings.
And he made a new friend.
Another art geek like himself, coming to the exhibition every day, too.
Who was great.
But not Jungkook.
Intellectually, Taehyung knew he was missing his boyfriend like crazy and not functioning properly, but emotionally he'd locked himself away since that first night of their separation.
It was like he was looking at the world from behind a glass wall.
With only the memories of feelings to keep him company.

He saw him win a gold medal at the world championships.
On tv.
He should have been there.
He should have helped him prepare.
He should have kissed him at the finish line.
They should have celebrated together.
Instead, here he was, watching the love of his life making history.
Without him.
It was hell.