Hate With Benefits | Jikook

Chapter Fifteen • Flames

I'm back!! <3 time for some backstory because I left you all hanging!  :D

There had been things in his childhood that he had not fully understood. Life was but a white canvas at the time, only few colors splattered about at random. An incoherent mess, rather than the masterpiece it could evolve into.

Orange and yellow. Excitement and youth. Health and hope. Those were the prominent pigments that brought color to Jungkook's life as a young child.

He was a child no longer, yet the feelings bursting through his chest at that innocent age remained fresh in his memory.

As a young child, he did what every other kid his age ought to do. He played, sometimes a bit too much to the point his knees would scrap. He touched whatever interesting objects he found, unaware of possible dangers. And he studied, maybe harder than most of his peers, if only to feel that rush of approval when his grades made his parents' lips twitch upwards.

He was regarded as a wunderkind even before he was of age to truly understand the meaning of that word. Was told from an early age that he was fated to be nothing short of great, that only amazing opportunities were to come to him in the future.

For the longest time, Jungkook truly believed it would turn out just like that. That his studies would reward him with a path headed towards greatness.

As he grew and slowly shifted into a new skin that came with adolescence, though, was when he started to feel the cracks in his perfectly laid out path painted in gold.

He first felt it when he placed second at Math League. He'd participated since elementary school and always managed to score gold. But that day, when Jungkook took the silver medal home, he was filled with a feeling so unfamiliar to him, he simply couldn't describe it even if he wanted to.

He'll never forget his mother's face when she caught a look at the medal. His father stopped looking entirely ever since then and that, too, he's never been able to forget.

Sports were a good distraction. He'd been discouraged from engaging in any kind of physical activity by his family – asides from the healthy amount of working out because keeping a good image was important, somehow. He was told that such pastimes were meant for those without a future to prepare for and Jungkook was, according to them, above anyone who bothered with those childish games.

Jungkook saw more than his family's words tried to have him believe, though.

He was seven years old when he witnessed his first basketball match. Lured by the infectious sounds of cheers, he stumbled onto a big, open field, one like he'd never seen before. The one at his school was much smaller, much emptier in comparison.

There was a crowd watching, people from all ages and genders with big grins on their faces, their spirits high as the game unfolded before their eyes.

Curiosity dug at his small chest, feet excitedly skipping until he was pushing through the crowd, until he could see the event with his own two eyes.

And oh, what was that sudden rush of emotions that he felt in that moment?

It was if he was enchanted. He couldn't look away even if he tried; his eyes were drawn to that field just like a moth would to a bright light.

Then, an angel. Jungkook saw an angel.

The boy couldn't be much older than himself; his body small and light as he glided from one spot to another with the ease of a gentle wind.

Wearing a red tank top with matching shorts, he blended nicely with four other players, though his smaller frame still made him stand out quite a bit amongst his peers.