DRIVE | J.JK

10

JUNGKOOK

I shouldn't have said that.

At least, I shouldn't have run away like that. But I would've burst down crying, and that wasn't something I wanted to show her. Sighing, I try to focus on the papers in front of me.

Maybe this was the best way. She distracted me so much, and I had to be able to focus. I'd barely gotten any work done the last hour, thinking about her.

But I didn't want to stop thinking about her either.

Groaning loudly, I press my pencil tip against the desk. I had to read this question, I had to concentrate. I couldn't keep imagining that situation and beating myself up with the way I'd handled it.

Then a soft knock echoes on the door, and I look behind as Taehyung enters. He's holding my favorite snacks in his hands, but drops all of them when he sees my back.

I'd been studying shirtless, because wearing a shirt would sting against my scars too much.

"Jungkook! What the hell?"

"Hyung, don't curse." I whisper, but Taehyung just scrunches his face at me and leaves the room. Just a minute later, he comes back in with an armful of ointment and bandages.

"I wasn't here for just one day." He says worriedly, sighing deeply to the ceiling. "Just one day, Jungkook. What happened."

My head lowers. "I didn't get a perfect score, so I got punished. It's okay, though. It's because I didn't do well."

"This isn't okay." He growls, and I flinch. His words make me think of Min again, and I'd been trying not to do that. "It's not right."

"But it is my fault." My voice starts to tremble as I squeeze my grip around the pencil, rubbing my eyes furiously. "If I'd done better—"

"No, Jungkook. That doesn't make it right." Taehyung says sadly, and I chew on the inside of my lip as I look down on the desk. "A father should never treat his son like that."

Same thing that Min had told me.

Taehyung shifts behind me, and I can feel his hands soon spread the sticky ointment all over my back. It hurts more than I expect, and I bite down on my mouth, trying not to groan.

But he still notices. He always does.

"Almost done." He says warmly, and I nod as he finishes with the ointment and starts on the bandages. "You're doing good, Kook."

"Hyung, what would I do without you?" I say gratefully, looking down at the ground. "You won't leave soon, right?"

I knew Taehyung did this only part-time— and that he wouldn't stay forever. He was a medical major, and this was something he did to earn money.

"I'll be here as long as you need me." He says comfortingly, patting the top of my head. I chew on my lip for a hesitant moment, before finally deciding to tell him. Besides, he'd understand.

"Um, so Taehyung hyung." I start, my voice nervous. "So I have this friend, and he likes this girl. But his— his babysitter abuses him, and one day the girl sees his scars."

I lower my head. "Then she talks badly about his babysitter, but he doesn't like that and runs away."

"What do you think he should do—" But my voice cuts off when I look up to see him smiling widely. He grips my hands, eyes excited.