The Tutor | Jikook

Chapter 12

Jimin POV

"Hyung, I... I talked with Tae hyung about it yesterday... He said you'd know my situation better than anyone else... I was wondering if you... could tell me what happened to you?" Jungkook asks softly, glancing up at me through his lashes as he keeps his head lowered. I bite my lip, tipping my head back as I run a hand through my hair. Sighing quietly, I close my eyes.

"Y-you don't have to, hyung. I-I just thought maybe..." He trails quietly, probably not knowing where to go with the sentence. Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a deep breath before swallowing hard. There's a lump already forming in my throat, and I can feel the stinging of the tears as the memories begin to flood my mind again.

"Aw, hyung. Y-you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry, Jimin. Please don't cry." Jungkook mumbles softly as he wraps his arms around my waist to pull me into him. I take a sharp intake of air through my nose at the sudden contact, trying to keep myself from flinching as he pulls me close. I soon adjust to his comforting touch, my body growing quickly warm from where he's holding me. Being gentle with me as if I were a newborn, Jungkook gently moves my head to rest on his shoulder whilst rubbing my back softly.

"Jungkookie, Ms. Lee came to me specifically to tutor you because of your situation, because of the similarity to mine. She... She knows I'm willing and want to help anyone that's remotely close to where I used to be as much as I possibly can." I manage to breathe out despite my irregular breathing at the moment. He gently releases me and lets me sit upright again, watching me nervously as he bites his lip. Carefully grabbing my knees, I force myself to get my breathing under control.

"Her and Tae are the only two who know about my past, Jungkook." I murmur quietly, eyes fixated on my right hand as I try to focus on my breathing.

"Hyung, you don't have to tell me. I understand it's personal and it's not easy t-to talk about. I don't wanna upset you, Jimin. I don't like seeing you upset." Jungkook mumbles quietly, reaching up to wipe away a tear that I hadn't realized fell. Though, even after he's wiped it gone, he keeps his hand there. Surprisingly, I don't mind the contact as I feel my cheeks burn slightly instead.

"No... You deserve to know, Jungkookie." I whisper, glancing up at his dark brown eyes. He doesn't respond but gives me a small smile in return. Closing my eyes for a moment, I take a quiet breath to try and prepare myself for having to relive the hell as I explain it to him.

"My parents used to abuse me all the time. They blamed me for my older brothers death as I'd been with him at the time. We... we'd been playing out in our front yard with the new basketball he'd gotten for his birthday just a month before. Only, the ball got away from us and had rolled into the street. I'd ran out to get it but didn't notice the car that had been speeding towards me. He managed to push me out of the way just in time, but... he got hit instead.

"They've blamed me for his death ever since. And it didn't help that they'd always favored him over me to begin with. My father quickly became an alcoholic, an abusive motherfucker. It got to the point that he even abused my mother despite the fact that she was on his side. Eventually though, he took it too far. Ended up killing her one night and someone had called a noise complaint on us since both my mother and I had been screaming on top of the noise my father had been making. That bastards been in jail ever since.

"Didn't make things any better though. Thankfully, I'd managed to convince the officers to let me stay in the house since I was sixteen at the time. Didn't make life much better though, seeings as I was bullied like hell at school. The kids fucking hated me. I guess I'd been an easy target or something. Good entertainment." I mutter the last part bitterly.

"Despite everything going on though, I really cared about my grades. They were the one thing I truly gave a damn about. Only issue was that I never really did well. No matter how hard I'd try, I was barely passing enough to move on to the next year instead of having to retake it. The principals I'd had talked to me about it almost every year by the time I was in sixth grade. I had a bit of a temper back then though. With everything going on around me, I'd grown to adapt to needing to be strong. I'd get into arguments and end up yelling and bitching them out over it.

"Ms. Lee was the first one to really pay attention to me and my grades. She realized how much my grades meant to me and how hard I'd tried every goddamn time and still nearly fail. She would stay with me during lunchtime and she'd stay after school with me to help. She worked hard with me and I did everything I could. She gave me straight A's at the end of my senior semester even though I hadn't earned the marks from the grades I'd been getting. Though, it helped that she was my mother's best friend, so she had a decent idea of what was going on at home. That and I'd come to school the same way you do. Covering bruises and cuts with my mother's makeup.

"I hadn't meant to pry or push you yesterday, Jungkook. But I've been really fucking worried about you and I don't want to see you hurt."