Stupid in Love. II VKOOK II ABUSIVE JUNGKOOK II SHORT STORY

16

Jungkook held on tight to the plastic folder in his arms. His nails dug into the creases and his fingers felt cold against the breeze. For anyone seeing him from a third person's point of view, he would be a sketchy man wearing a black raincoat and clutching a binder like a baby, all alone. But from Jungkook's perspective, he knew that there were at least 30 people around him, hidden away in the cracks and corners of Fairview Park. Some in bushes, some on the roof of a nearby school, some dressed as pedestrians walking along the sidewalk, only to loop back into the area every 10 minutes.

He knew this park well, he could see the memories in these trees that were spread out sparsely throughout the area, Jungkook looked past the cloudy weather and yellow grass, back to 2 years ago, in summer.

"Tae!" A younger Jungkook yelled from above the ground, looking down at a head of chestnut brown hair below. He sat on the tallest tree in Fairview Park, one of the smaller but cozy green places in the city. The certain tree that he was dangling from had a particularly interesting curve to the main branch, where a sort of nook made it perfect for climbing and sitting, it was known to the visitors as the kissing tree, named after many occurrences of make-out sessions sited. Jungkook himself has been on this particular branch many times. 

He studied the bark of the wood next to him and ran his finger along the lines of initials carved into the dark brown colour, one had a razor stuck on the end of a 'Y'. The 'J' next to it didn't look that much better. 

"Kookie!" The chestnut head turned up to reveal the flushed face of a boy who had been running for too long. Jungkook's heart ached to look at him.

"How'd you get up there?!" He smiled as said this, voice filled with awe. Jungkook could see how this boy worshipped him, he was going to break Taehyung's heart to pieces.

"Come up, I have something to show you!" Jungkook leaned downwards as he called out to him, nearly falling headfirst on the ground and breaking his neck, only regaining his balance after a lucky grab at the wood. 

"It's so tall though." Taehyung sized up the tree nervously.

"It's alright, I know you can do it." Jungkook emphasized the word 'I' as a little extra boost of encouragement for him

Taehyung grinned his grin, it was shaped like a box, Jungkook decided. He had seen others with this kind of smile too, but in his opinion, they all looked like they were trying to show the dentist their teeth, all so stiff compared to Taehyung. His hyung really found a good one for him. Two birds with one stone, financial support, adorable boyfriend, he's going to have to thank him someday.

Taehyung beamed at Jungkook one last time before grabbing onto a niche and hoisting himself up. Another thing Jungkook liked about Kim Taehyung. He didn't talk that much, which was truly a blessing for Jungkook, because he didn't really want to talk to him, about anything. Much better if they just both stayed quiet.

"Good job." He reached out his hand and pulled Taehyung up onto the branch, moving to make room for him. He gazed out into the park, there was basically stars shooting out of his eyes. Jungkook didn't let go of his hand.

"Hey, look at this." He gestured towards the bark, where hearts and letters were etched deep into the wood with passion, and Taehyung grinned again with he saw it.

"That's so romantic." Now, this was something Jungkook did not enjoy about him. Kim Taehyung seemed to be able to link everything back to love. It made him feel weird, Jungkook didn't really think feelings were that appealing.

"Do you want to-" He reached into his pocket and produced a small exacto knife, and handed it to Taehyung.

"Ah, thank you!" He quickly took hold of the blade and excitedly turned to find a spot where he could carve into, but after searching all the smooth surfaces on the wood that could actually be dented, he didn't find a suitable spot. He turned back to Jungkook and pressed to knife back into his hand, looking extremely dejected and pitiful.

"I would rather not cover other people's marks, maybe we can find another tree." Jungkook almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. He thought he was looking at an angel. Taehyung was so stunning in the afternoon sun that his heart almost broke. 'Maybe I was wrong' he thought. 'Maybe I'm the one who needs to keep a firm hold on my glass heart.' Jungkook chuckled at the thought.

That day they returned home without finding another tree, and the next day, Jungkook picked up a jumbo-sized hand saw at a gardening store. He strode back to the park looking like a serial killer, and scraped off an entire layer of wood from that certain tree, erasing all the previous carvings, leaving only a clean, smooth surface ready to be used.

T + J 

Jungkook only sighed now. 

'I was a stupid asshole. Now I'm an even bigger one.'

He walked on. Time for this meeting, time to get his Taehyung back.