𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐔𝐒 [𝐓𝐊]

Chapter 27

Requiem

Rest

Healing was not as easy as he'd hoped.

On his day off, Jungkook spent most of it feeling depressed. He would sit at his desk and write nothing, look at his canvases and paint nothing, look at his records, and play nothing.

He didn't cry, but he did nothing else either. His mother invited him to cook, but he had no energy. In the end, they sat down on the couch and watched TV in silence. When his father arrived, he told them he decided to have the meeting with Otto that morning and told them how it went. And Jungkook nodded before going back to his room while dinner was ready.

His angel arrived with a crease on his forehead, looking at him as though he wished he could do more for him. On the bed, Jungkook told him how he would only give tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And then gave a great sigh when he realized a huge distraction had been moved out of reach.

If his days would continue on the way this day had been, Jungkook would be disappointed in himself.

Healing was not easy, but letting himself stay depressed would be an insult to the second chance life gave him.

He went back to school and his friends noticed his change immediately. Finding a reluctance to tell them the truth, he simply assured them nothing was wrong. Mr. Collins, however, didn't believe him like his friends had.

During the break between classes, his life science teacher sat on his desk like he'd had that first day they met, not so many months ago.

- Is something happening at home? - The man asked him gently, leaning forward on his desk.

Jungkook frowned at him and closed the book on the Endocrine System he'd picked up from his father's library. A book he chose to learn more about the stress responses of the human body.

Right now, however, he felt the subject more than what he knew of it.

- Have you ever asked that to any other student? - Jungkook wondered just as low, knowing the room only had one other student in it.

The one sitting in the far back.

Mr. Collins raised his eyebrows.

- Yes, I have. -

Jungkook saw no worry in the man's face, as though he kept no secrets for no one else; unlike him.

- And what did they say? - He already knew. Nothing. Because no teacher had asked Jack that question.

The man shook his head.

- They were sick at the time. In the end, nothing was wrong. - He assured him, still waiting for a response.

Jungkook took a deep breath.

- Nothing's wrong at my home either. I just haven't been able to sleep well. - Looking down at his hands, he grimaced at the way he spoke. Like a man instead of a boy.

- Otto told me your father and he had a meeting. I'm glad you'll have more time to rest now. -

Mr. Collins was smiling gently at him when he looked back up. And the whole thing simply made him want to cry.

Swallowing down the tightness in his throat, Jungkook asked,

- Can I go to the bathroom for a moment? It might take a while. -

The man knew something was wrong, Jungkook could see it in his eyes. The eyes of a father.

- Yes, of course. Take all the time you need. -