delinquent | jeon jungkook | ✔

Chapter 38

Last weekend was weird.

It's Monday and I haven't heard from Jungkook all weekend. The last time I spoke with him was at the coffeeshop with Tae, before I walked away.

I tried calling him but he never picked up his phone -every time I was being sent straight to his voicemail. He also didn't reply to my text messages.

Of course I already asked Taehyung where Jungkook went after they both left the coffeeshop. But he didn't know either.

I even went through the trouble of calling Jimin, hoping that he knew something about Jungkook's whereabouts. But he didn't.

I'm a bit worried, to say the least. It's nothing like Jungkook to ignore messages and calls only to disappear without a trace. He wouldn't do such a thing. I can't help but think about some worst case scenarios.  What if his dad went too far this time? What if he ran into the wrong people when he was out smoking? It has been four days and I think I might collapse under these intense feelings of worry.

"Hyunjae, I'm sure he's fine," Taehyung says for the umpteenth time as he pats my back. He leans against a locker next to mine as I rummage through my locker to drop some stuff from my now heavy bag. First period was over and still no sign from Jungkook. Ditching class isn't likely for him to do, either.

"I want to see him," I whine. "Or at least hear his voice." It's hard to believe that he's okay if he's nowhere to be found. There's not a trace of him. Of course, I know where he lives but... Yeah, I'm not going to that place ever again. What if I run straight into a beat-up session?

"I wish I could conjure him right here," Taehyung sighs, gesturing to the tiled floor next to me. "But I can't."

I tsk at him. "Who calls himself a friend if he can't even summon up a person?" I scoff, trying to joke around a bit. But it feels like it's more to convince myself than anything else. I slam my locker shut and I'm about to grab Taehyung to drag him away to the cafeteria. But shocked whispers from the students in the hallways stop me from doing so.

All the students crowd together and there's definitely something happening on the other side of the student mass. Too bad that I'm not very tall; I can't see anything. I grab Taehyung's arm for support as I stand on my tiptoes, trying to look over the crowd. But it's no use, I'm still way too small to see a single thing.

Taehyung, who's only slightly taller than I am, stretches his neck as he quickly scans the crowd. "Someone's coming," he mutters.

The number of whispers increases rapidly and I can almost feel the tension in the air. It's not like me to poke my nose into someone else's business and I'm not the most curious person on earth but I can't help to wonder what is happening there in the mass of students. I'm dying to see, actually.

For a moment, I forgot about Jungkook and my worries about him.

"Hyunjae," Taehyung frowns a moment later. "It's coming right towards us."

Students shuffle to the sides, creating a path through the mass to make way for whatever it is that's moving through the crowd. The whispers are getting closer, whispering an all too familiar name but with a certain shock and disbelief lacing their voices. A tight knot forms in the pit of my stomach.

Then the mass in front of us starts to split, quickly stumbling away to create an opening.

And there is Jungkook.

But at the same time, it's not Jungkook. His always so neat school uniform is a hot mess. His dark blue blazer is lazily slung over his shoulder along with his bag. The top buttons of his white button-up shirt are unbuttoned and his tie is completely missing. The hem of his button-up is messily hanging over the waistband of his dress pants, only half tucked in. Instead of the usual dress shoes, he's wearing regular Nike's.