Rain || Taekook

Chapter Six

Taehyung had been faking. He knew damn well why he was in this hospital, and it wasn't for some head injury. Taehyung had been cautious not to injure himself when he fell. So here he was, a perfectly healthy man, dressed in a papery hospital gown waiting for the results of a drug test. Taehyung supposed he should feel flattered. Jungkook had so much trouble believing Taehyung was into him that he assumed drugs played a role. Granted, that had been kind of the point, but Taehyung never thought it would go this far. After hearing Jungkook moaning his name, Taehyung just wanted to get closer to the man he loved.

The first day of Taehyung's junior year was miserable. Taehyung hated everyone at that school. There were exactly five people in the whole school that Taehyung actually wanted to talk to. The rest were fakes, filling in for the emptiness where a family should've been. Seeing that adorable, sweet young boy enter the room brightened Taehyung's day. Soon, math became Taehyung's favorite subject. He could always look forward to seeing Kookie. Jungkook brought light with him wherever he went. Taehyung's best friend Seokjin agreed that he and Kook would make the cutest couple. Taehyung spent ages thinking about this boy. He thought it was okay. Even after his parents caught him kissing a boy and immediately disowned him, Taehyung thought his schoolmates would accept him. They didn't know why Taehyung had to live in a beat up old car. They didn't know that before Tae and Jin were besties, they were a little more.

After the incident, Jin decided to take a step back. Tae couldn't blame him, really. What would a beautiful man want from a boy whose family didn't even love him? Why would an openly gay man want to sustain a relationship with a scared, closeted boy? None of that mattered when school started back up. Now Jin was out to the public. Taehyung was walking up the steps to the school when he heard the cries. A quick glance confirmed what he feared: Jin was on the ground, bloody and helpless, with six football players looming over him. Taehyung tripped over his own feet rushing to save his friend. The largest linebacker turned around. "What are you gonna do, help the little gay boy?" He sneered "Doesn't that make you gay by extension? Cuz you see, look what happens to gays at this school. You don't want this." Jin's eyes caught Taehyung's. The pleading was clear. Taehyung needed to make a stand and defend Jin. Taehyung also needed to maintain face and keep everyone happy. He fled, glancing back over his shoulder to see that the jocks had resumed their previous activity of kicking the shit out of Jin. Taehyung ran faster.

After that, Taehyung was ashamed to like Jungkook. It was wrong. Gays in this school got beaten. That's just how it worked. Taehyung lost more than Jin that day. He lost Yoongi and Jimin, the two openly gay guys that nobody dared touch for fear that Yoongi would stab them. He lost Namjoon, the quiet, clumsy genius who Tae knew loved Jin with all his heart. He lost Hoseok, the wild partier that always provided a home to anyone who needed it. Taehyung had nobody. Not even Jungkook. Taehyung was not going to pull Jungkook into his mess of a life.

Taehyung was shaken from his reflection by an unexpected arrival. It seemed Hoseok had caught wind of his hospitalization, and had brought the whole gang. Even the ones who had never really forgiven Taehyung for what he did.