The Project // Jikook

Chapter Thirteen

[Friends?]

Jungkook

"I-" I want to answer Taehyung. But I'm not sure what to say. 

"I should have phrased that better..." He chuckles sadly. I look at him and he meets my eyes. "What did I do wrong? For you to ignore me-"

"You didn't do anything wrong," I cut him off quickly. 

"Then... Why?" He asks, his voice small. 

"Just- You can't tell anyone, okay? I don't- I don't wanna make things worse," I sigh, taking a seat next to him on my bed. He looks at me expectantly. 

I chuckle, "Fuck, why is this so hard?" I wipe tears from my face before pouting my lips. Taking one last deep breath before looking at him. 

"It's okay, you can tell me," Tae's deep voice calms me for a minute and I nod. 

"They-They said they'd hurt you... If I kept hanging out with you," I start, taking my time so I don't start panicking. 

"Who?" He asks, clearly confused. 

"My parents. When-When I came out, they," I stop, blinking back hot tears. "They told me that I shouldn't try to influence you. They said that I would ruin you."

"Jungkookie," Taehyung whispers. I raise a hand, to let him know I'm not done. But it gets harder to speak, my voice caught in my throat as I forcibly rub tears away. Regardless, I shakily continue on.

"So, I stayed away. I didn't want you to get hurt, I didn't want them to do to you what they do to me," I whisper, looking into his eyes. I hope he hears it. Because this is my cry for help. I hope he understands without me saying the words. 

"Every time I'm around them, I'm nothing but a disappointment. A waste of a son, as they call me," I hold back a bitter chuckle, angry at myself for not living up to their expectations. But angrier at them for making me feel this way. "I don't want to get used to feeling how I do around you guys. Because going back to them will make it hurt more."

"Kook, are you- Do you mean what you're saying? I mean-"

"Yes," I say, understanding what he's implying. He pulls me into a tight hug. I bite my lip again, not wanting to break down once I remember that everyone's sitting out there waiting for us. 

"Fuck, I'm so sorry," His voice break, his hand on the back of my head as I wrap my arms around him. "I-I should have- Shit, Jungkook- I-"

"It's okay, you had no idea. It's not like I could tell you anyway," I whisper, recovering from all the emotion I poured out. 

"We-What are we gonna do?" He whispers to me. 

"Nothing," I say, having given up hope years ago. I had told a teacher about them, and after visiting my home, they determined I was making it all up. 

And it got worse. I know to keep my mouth shut. I learned that lesson a while ago. 

"Jungkook, I can't just let that go. You're parents are-"

"Stop, okay? I just- There's nothing we can do," I say, looking at him. I hope he sees that I mean it. That we can't do anything. 

He looks away from me, "There's always a solution- but, I don't want to push you. At least-At least you're away from them for a while."

"Yeah... Let's enjoy that time while it lasts," I smile at Tae, sincerity on my features. 

"I'm really sorry I didn't know, I shouldn't have done what I did. I'm so sorry, really, I-"

"Hey, stop acting like a little baby," I laugh at him and he pouts, hitting me on the shoulder. 

He looks like a small child that had lost their mother in a mall. It was adorably hilarious. I couldn't hold in the rest of my laughter and fell back on the bed. 

"Aish! Can't be serious for even a minute, can you?" He scolds me, joining in with my laugh. 

"I can't help it! You look so stupid!" I rushed out in between laughs, my face was hurting from the laughter but I couldn't stop. Next thing I knew I was being weakly hitten by a throw pillow. I looked over at a laughing pouty Tae who held the pillow in his arms. 

"Ok, ok. I'm done." I wiped tears from my eyes, good tears finally. 

"Good, now we can talk seriously again," He turned his head a little bit away from again while pouting. He was holding the golden throw pillow in his arms and squeezing it. 

"I thought we got past all of the serious talk?" 

"Well, now it's just a bunch of catch up stuff," He looked back at me while shrugging. I smiled at him, and he returned it. 

Fuck, I missed my best friend. 

It felt just like how we were before. Sitting on the bed, telling each other about everything that had happened. The good and the bad. 

"Alright, now that that's out of the way, one last question," Tae announces, chuckling after the embarrassing story I shared with him. I raise an eyebrow, wondering what else he could ask. 

"Friends again?"

"Best friends."

------------

"Hey, what were you guys talking about?" Jimin asked as soon as we rejoined the game. He seemed like he had stopped playing, clearly not drunk. Unlike the others...

"Not much, just catching up," I smiled widely, and he returned it softly. 

"That's good. You're gonna have to tell me all about the embarrassing things Tae's done," Jimin chuckles, grabbing a sip of beer once Yoongi passes him one. 

"Of course, anything for you," I joke with him. He blushes a dark red and nods, turning quickly to watch the hyungs play the game. 

Today has been a roller coaster, but I think I'm at the top. 

[Edit]

Agh! Finally, this chapter is edited. So much had to be changed so the next one is gonna be even harder TT

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