In the middle vmk

FOURTEEN

The bullying hadn't stopped. Why had Jungkook even dared to hope so? The bullies cornered him during lunch or recess, even when he was just trying to go to the bathroom or music class to eat his lunch, they were everywhere and wouldn't let him relax. He started getting a bit paranoid and always made sure to use the hallways were teachers liked to roam around. He ate his lunch next to the teacher's room, he stayed in class a bit longer just to chat a bit with the teacher or janitor.

The bullies never dared touching him when school was over though. They were scared Jimin or Taehyung were there to pick him up and would see them bullying Jungkook once again. So they stayed clear whenever the bell rang and it was time to go home. By then Jungkook would have new bruises forming already and carrying a pounding head from being slammed against the ground.

His bruises were never visible though, something his bullies started to look out for too. They were on his stomach, back or legs but never on his open arms or face. They had gotten trickier and Jungkook was getting tired of it.

Without his parents knowing, he got a premium membership at the gym, telling his parents he had actually joined an after school club. He went there every time after school to work out, wanting to grow a bit of muscle so he could at least fight back whenever the bullies were around.

As a normal teenager- or human- he of course was tempted to sometimes skip the work out and go home and cuddle up to his otter plushie while listening to U2. But the bullies cornering him everyday, following him and ruining his normally pretty skin into a color pallet of their own, he got angered enough to storm off to the gym and work until his muscles were sore and his head was clear. And besides, he could listen to U2 there too.

On a certain day, he bumped into a someone while he was on his way to the heavy weights, exciting to test out how much he could carry. The other male dropped his water bottle, making Jungkook quickly pick it up and shove it back into the guy's hand with a stumbling, "Sorry".

"Jungkookie?"

He glanced up at the person he bumped into and saw an unfamiliar guy who just glared at him and walked off. His name got called again and he realized it hadn't been the guy he had bumped into, but rather a widely smiling Jimin, waving his arm from where he was sat on a bench, towel loosely hung around his neck. He nervously smiled back and walked over to the boy who was running his eyes up and down Jungkook's body.

"Have you been working out a lot?", he asked, patting the space beside him, "Gosh, it's been so long since I've seen you. It's been like- what three weeks or something? Why did you never visit the shop?"

Jungkook nervously rubbed his arms, feeling the soreness still seeped into them from yesterday's work out, "Been lots of working out", he smiled softly, "Want to be strong".

Jimin smiled and poked the young boy's tummy, gasping when he realized Jungkook was already forming some muscle underneath there, "You won't be pudgy anymore", Jimin pouted, "Don't lose your cuteness Jungkookie! You can't become a muscle pig when you're an adorable bunny".

Jungkook pouted with him and slapped his shoulder softly, "Stop hyung. I need strong".

"Why?", Jimin frowned before he gasped again and his frown deepened. He decided to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn't upset the younger.

"How's Taehyung?", the raven haired boy asked, playing with the hem of his tank top.

Jimin sighed, "He's been a bit off lately- but I guess that's just how he always is. He's not an open book and likes to avoid any of my questions. Maybe we should hang out again. That day in the café was the only time we saw a glimpse of the real Taehyung".

Jungkook hummed, "Sounds good. Let's phone number swap?"

The silver haired male smiled and pulled out his phone.

"I'll text you when I talked to Taehyung about a date", the older smiled, saving the phone number in his phone, "Hopefully he won't be a stubborn little shit like always".

Jungkook giggled at that.

Maybe the only positive thing about being bullied is that he now understood curse words.

☆☆☆☆☆

wowow another chapter while i have an exam tommorow: i'm living on the wild side. i also have (another) new taekook fanfic in mind where jungkook wants to swap dorms because he finds out all his friends hate him and taehyung wants to swap dorms because his dorm mate is his ex and they both meet that way. it would be switch and a college au. (also with jungkook not realizing he's gay just yet)