Strawberries and Cigarettes | jikook ✓

dear

you were so blindingly bright.

The brick wall felt hard and rigid against his back as he leaned against it and breathed in a long drag of the deadly paper stick in his hands. His lungs burned; but that was a feeling he was accustomed to, addicted to; the way the smoke filled up his lungs and burned them, damaged them. He coughed, causing cloudy puffs of grey gas to escape from his chapped lips. Tongue darted out to lick the dry lips that were almost cracking apart.

Clicking his tongue when he felt the flame of his cigarette burn out, he stuffed his hand in the pocket of his dusty black jeans, desperately searching for a lighter. Upon not finding one he sighed and threw the stick to the ground, crushing it with the sole of his combat boots. Grabbing his helmet from the handle of his motorbike and buckling it carelessly on his head, he set off down the street towards the nearest convenience store.

Jeon Jungkook looked like your resident bad boy; the boy mothers told their kids to stay away from, the boy neighbours whispered about with judgmental looks, the boy who seemed like he'd get into fist fights every day of every week in every year. Sure; he owned a monstrous machine for a vehicle, maybe had a few tattoos up his arm, was addicted to smoking, and was known for having a short temper. But that didn't mean he went about beating people up, or did it?

The boy stopped at a red light, his white long sleeved shirt getting wetter by the minutes in the humid weather. His raven black hair clung to his forehead with sweat beading up, the helmet not helping the heat of the night. The light flashed green and Jungkook revved his machine forward, speeding up as the wind hitting his face and blowing his untucked shirt about felt good on his sweaty skin. Jungkook was not careless. When it came to things about himself maybe he was, but when it came to others Jungkook was anything but careless. So naturally when a human body appeared in front of his speeding bike out of nowhere the boy nearly had a heart attack. Calloused fingers gripped on the brakes with all the strength they had, bringing the machine to a screeching stop so close to the human that whoever it was fell over in fear and shock.

"What the actual fuck?" Jungkook yelled as he pulled off his helmet furiously and stalked towards the body now lying in the middle of the road. "Are you out of your mind? The signal was green! I could have run over you if I hadn't noticed you and pulled the brakes on time! Do you wish to die-"

He stopped himself when he came close enough to realize it was a boy. The boy had blonde hair that was clearly fading dye as his brown roots were starting to show underneath. He looked to be about Jungkook's age, but he looked so small curled up on the road like that. The streetlights shone on his face, highlighting two shiny tracks going from his eyes to his neck. With a start Jungkook realized they were tears.

He sighed and crouched down so his face was at least level enough with the boy's. The boy was clearly upset over something, his body shook as he silently sobbed, his hands fisted so tight Jungkook was sure there would be nail marks on the smooth skin soon. When Jungkook extended his hand to help the boy up, he didn't expect said boy to flinch away and scoot back to put a little distance between them.

"It's okay," he spoke in a voice as gentle as he could. "I won't hurt you. I'm sorry for yelling earlier."

The boy sniffed, hurriedly wiped his nose with the sleeve of his cardigan, and looked up at Jungkook. Jungkook would have passed out at the stare. The boy had the prettiest eyes he had ever seen. Behind eyes that were shining with unshed tears, there was a pool of chocolate brown, so deep and enticing. Wordlessly Jungkook held out his hand again, this time a smaller hand hesitantly taking hold of it. The boy stood up, wiped at his cheeks, and looked back up at Jungkook, only to flush the moment he found Jungkook already staring.

"You should be careful you know?" Jungkook spoke, voice still soft so as to not scare the boy away but still firm enough to make him understand this was a serious matter. "You can't go around running across the road without looking at the signal."

The boy gulped and fiddled with his sleeves. Jungkook looked down and immediately averted his eyes when he noticed the boy's very much adorable sweater paws.

"I'm sorry," voice as sweet as honey drifted through Jungkook's ears. "I didn't- I didn't see. It was very irresponsible of me. I'm sorry."

Jungkook sighed as he took in the boy. He didn't understand why anyone in their right mind would wear a cardigan in such humid weather conditions but he didn't point it out. Instead he tilted his head towards his motorbike and ran a hand through his slightly damp hair.

"Need a ride? You look like you could use one."

The boy sniffed his runny nose and blinked up at him innocently. Long forgotten was the urgency to buy a lighter. Instead Jungkook had his entire mind focused on how light the boy felt as he helped him onto his motorbike and how petite his arms felt clutching onto his shoulders as he started his vehicle.

"Where do you want me to drop you off?"

Jungkook followed the boy's directions as he pointed with his fingers on where to go. Finally he came to a stop in front of a narrow building wedged between a convenience store and a small flower shop.

"Thanks a lot- um- for the ride," the boy stuttered as he fumbled with the satchel slung across his shoulder for his keys. "I'm really sorry again about being reckless."

Jungkook leaned against his bike, crossed his arms and watched as the boy pulled out his keys from the bag. There was a small keychain of a furry kitten attached to the keys reading 'Jimin' and an unconscious smile broke onto Jungkook's face.

"Good night. Thank you so much." The boy flashed him a smile and Jungkook thought he had lost his eyesight. The smile was so blindingly bright, so warm.

Jungkook waited until the boy stepped into the elevator in the building and the doors closed behind him. Then he sighed and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, only then realizing he had forgotten to buy a lighter. He rolled his eyes, lightly slapping his forehead in disbelief.

"Well, just great."