**A genuine thing that happened in my school don't at me lol**

47 – JK focus

Light burned through Jungkook's eyelids and ignited his brain with the worst fire he had ever felt. Curling up to try and stop the evil sun, Jungkook found himself to be insanely thirsty. At the same time, he thought that if he ingested anything, he would throw up. He felt like doing anything would make him feel sick.

A ringing pierced his head. He audibly groaned, the vibrations almost shattering his already fragile skull. It wasn't until he rolled over that something clicked in his head – that wasn't his alarm and this wasn't his bed. He opened his eyes cautiously and let out a relieved sigh when he saw that he recognised the bedsheets. At least he was with Taehyung.

Speaking of Taehyung, where was he? From under the covers, Jungkook could tell that he was alone in the bed. Bracing himself for the influx of light, Jungkook pulled back the duvet carefully. Although it was less bright than he expected, it still made his head pound. Something was blocking the sun. And that something was Taehyung.

He was in his school uniform, his hair just as chaotic as always. His arms were folded and he was staring Jungkook straight in the eyes but he didn't look angry. He just looked upset. Disappointed.

"You don't look good, Jungkook," he said simply. Jungkook hated himself and he didn't even remember a lot of what had happened yesterday. He tried to respond but his throat apparently hated him as well. Taehyung sighed and dropped his arms. "I'll get you some water," he offered despondently and walked out.

Jungkook rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. He felt so bad in so many ways. Taehyung was annoyed with him, he was annoyed with himself, he felt like sitting in a dark room and sleeping for the rest of eternity and there wasn't a single part of his body not in pain. Not a premium morning. Taehyung returned with a glass of water which Jungkook sipped cautiously, trying not to anger his stomach. Taehyung sat on the floor and watched him silently.

"What did I do last night?" Jungkook asked quietly, feeling far too young to be saying that. Taehyung rolled his eyes and sat back, leaning on his hands and looking at Jungkook coldly.

"You tell me." Of course he wouldn't make this easy. Jungkook exhaled and tried hard to think. He started in the morning.

"I met up with one of my friends in the morning. I say friend; he's just in my class. His name's Mingyu. We're kind of tight but we don't talk a lot. We were talking on the bus and he asked if I wanted to go to the store with him before school. I said yes so we got off the bus early. We went to a store I'd never seen before but he looked like he knew it so I didn't say anything.

Then he did something weird. He bought a bottle of soju. He had a fake ID and it was very illegal but I didn't say anything because… I don't know why. I just didn't. He asked me if I'd ever drunk before and I said a bit, which was a lie. He offered me some and I said no because we had to get to school. He just laughed and said we didn't have to go to school. He said it wasn't an important day and we could just bunk.

I wanted to say no, I really did. There was a lot wrong with this but I didn't object to it. I wanted to go in and see you and the rest of my friends but I couldn't leave him or he'd probably tell people things about me. He's that type of person. We went to the park and he drank a bit. So did I. Only a bit so he wouldn't pressure me and I felt so guilty and he said that the more you drink, the less bad it feels. I'm worried about him.

I bailed on him and lied and said I had to talk to my biology teacher about something urgently. I got the bus and got back to school a little after break ended so I couldn't say hi to you until lunch. I had detention for being late and as soon as I was out, I went to find you. You looked so lonely and it broke my heart. I remembered Mingyu telling me how drinking makes guilt better and I wondered if it worked. I wanted to try it but I knew no one would let me. When Seokjin-hyung called, I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to disappoint you more but I also felt horrible about myself.

After school, I ran out and got home as quick as I could. Mingyu had told me about this bar that doesn't check IDs because they get so many underage-looking students there that it's a waste of time. So I went there. I was nervous as hell but I went and got a drink. It felt so grown-up and I kind of liked it. I remembered how awful the day had been and just started drinking. It was weird. Mingyu was right. The more I drank, the more I just forgot things.

I don't remember much. I sort of remember Seokjin-hyung and the others being there and then you happened and then… nothing. It's really blurry but I still hate myself for it. I'm so sorry, hyung. I know this was dumb and stupid and reckless and dangerous and I swear I won't do it again."

Taehyung listened to all of this with detached patience. It was silent and Jungkook wished he would just say something, anything. He didn't want this to break them.

"I forgive you," Taehyung whispered. Jungkook stared.

"You… you do?" he clarified and Taehyung looked up at him, smiling.

"I trust you. You had a bad day, I get that. You need to tell someone about Mingyu, though. It sounds odd, but the facts are, he technically encouraged you to self-harm. He told you that the solution to feeling bad was to drink when he was the reason you were feeling bad in the first place."

"Tae, I- "

"I know you won't do it again. And if you do, I'll forgive you then as well. It's not going to help you if you think I don't love you anymore because of this." Jungkook wanted to cry. Taehyung was being so mature and kind about this all and Jungkook just wanted him in his life forever. "There's one thing I want, though," Taehyung added. Jungkook was all ears. "Tell me you love me. Just once," he mumbled with a melancholy undertone. Jungkook reached out his hand.

"Hyung, I love you so much. I can't put into words how happy I am that you're here right now. I'm never going to leave you again, I swear. I need you to stay with me as well," he professed and his heart leapt at the smile on Taehyung's lips.

"I've got a spare uniform. Put it on and let's get you to school. Namjoon-hyung said your bag was in the club's lost property and he'll drop it off later." Jungkook hugged Taehyung tightly, the relief of being taken care of overwhelming.

"What the hell would I do without you?"

A/N: I HAVE NOTHING AGAINST KIM MINGYU. In fact, he's my SVT bias and a lovely human being. However, in an attempt to keep everyone's ages consistent, I had to include an idol born 1996/7 for this. It just so happened that Mingyu was the first person on my mind :/