Unpunished/Vkook ff

Chapter 5: ...Me

Jungkook's P.O.V

Kicking the door open, I sniffed the air with a growling stomach, inhaling a delicious aroma. "Food?" I sprinted to the kitchen. "Food!"

As always, it was my mother who'd awaited my arrival, giggling while setting up our dining table. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say somebody's been starving you," she said. "Wash your hands first, sweetie."

I'd returned to sit down and, impatient, began enjoying my meal. Mom took the opposite seat, a sudden frown displayed on her face.

"Do you remember Karen by any chance?" she asked.

"Is she not your best friend from high school?"

"That's right, and we had a chat today, pleasant overall, though something she'd told me, something disturbing, stood out..." Mom rested her face on a palm. "Her younger son got bullied by a student from your school. He had only begun his first year in junior high."

"I understand the feeling, but why are you telling me about it?" I questioned.

"Because the boy remembered the guy's name. Of course, he did. That monster scared him to death..." With a fork still stuck in my mouth, I looked up. "Kim Taehyung, a name I haven't heard of in a while."

The fork dropped. "What?"

She sighed. "Karen's son said his friend was badly injured and that he'd attacked them for no reason."

"What?! When?!"

"This morning, he waited at their school's gates. I get bullying middle schoolers when you're one yourself, but this is simply vile, is it not?" She shook her head. "I feel horrible for these children, and I hope Karen finds a way to stop this, unlike us..."

She stood up to wash the dishes, shaking, and I sat her back down, ready to do it myself. "You're not the one who should feel bad, Mom."

"How about you, does he still bother you?" my mother asked.

"No." I bit my lip. "A part of me even guessed he'd grown a little, even if a tiny bit..."

"I still hope it'll happen. People aren't inherently evil, as much as I distaste that boy," she said.

"Boy?" I scoffed. "That 'boy' is a whole-ass man now, and a breathing proof some people never change."

Now, I believed he'd grown worse, sure the timid behavior was a facade all along. Taehyung was a coward who, within a day, realized his past victim was a potential threat, aware I would stand up for others as I did for him. Instead, that awful, twisted, vicious man began targeting somebody weaker, far away from my protection.

Kim Taehyung was the same psycho he'd forever been, no bit of decency in his ruthless soul. Yet, he continued walking on Earth, unpunished.

***

Taehyung's P.O.V

It'd been three days since I talked to my brother's classmates, and they didn't seem to bother him anymore.

That morning, after years of our mother not preparing a fancy meal for the household, the scent accompanying family breakfasts was back, and although there was nothing wasteful on the tablecloth, having a grouped feast made me feel like royalty.

"Yesterday, I'd received my very first salary," she declared with pride while dragging Father's wheelchair into the room. "We should revive the tradition, eating together is nice, right, boys?"

I nodded in agreement, but Dohyun thought differently. "I'd rather eat alone, why did you decide to start doing this again?"

"To celebrate... among other things, of course." I smiled at her words; Mom was so happy to bring money home, the excitement of getting a job had made her face look a decade younger. "Also, I have a few announcements."