♥║ thirteen ║♥

Taehyung stares at his phone, his lips parted in shock. He taps the "send" button again, but he's told once more that his message can't be sent.

Jungkook blocked him.

He stands in the middle of the school courtyard, dumbfounded, hurt, and feeling slightly betrayed. Everything had been fine last night on the phone. What happened when Taehyung had hung up? Did Jungkook merely overthink the dance and get scared? But why would he block him for that?

Why would he want Taehyung to delete his number?

Taehyung's thoughts are spinning wildly, colliding together to make a giant mess of problems. He tries to think if he could've said anything differently to stop Jungkook from blocking him.

Suddenly, there's a slap on his shoulder. "Hey, Tae. What's wrong with you?" Namjoon asks, leaning down to look into Taehyung's face since he's still staring down at his phone in disbelief.

At the sound of Namjoon's concern, the rest of the group falls quiet, all eyes on the youngest.

"I-it's nothing," Taehyung says, forcing himself to lock his phone screen and put the device in his back pocket. He tries to smile, but he knows he fails. "I'm fine."

Seokjin eyes him suspiciously. "Tae, you're not fine. Is it that boy you've been talking to?"

Taehyung chews on his lip, avoiding eye contact with the eldest, knowing he may just get emotional from looking into Seokjin's eyes. Seokjin has always been like an older brother to Taehyung, always there when he's had a problem. 

Hoseok handles it how he always handles upsetting situations: he tries to make Taehyung laugh. He rolls up his sleeve and pushes the skin up on his bicep to make his muscles look larger. "Do I need to beat someone up?" he asks in an overly exaggerated deep voice.

Normally, Hoseok's tactic always works on Taehyung, but not today. He's far too worried about Jungkook to smile right now.

Taehyung shoves his hands in his pockets if only to keep himself from grabbing his phone again.

"Tae, if you want to talk about it, I'll skip my first period," Seokjin says. "It's only an elective course anyways."

"No, no, you don't have to do that," Taehyung retorts. "It's okay. I can wait until lunch to talk."

Namjoon doesn't look convinced. "Are you sure?"

Taehyung tries to smile again, nodding. He turns to Yoongi, though, who had been watching the scene with uncertainty. He's never one to comfort unless you approach him directly, which Taehyung had done after coming out to his parents. Yoongi cares a lot when he wants to. He had been texting Taehyung that entire night to make sure he was okay.

"Hey, Yoongi hyung," Taehyung says. "Where could I find Jimin right now?"

Yoongi's cheeks blush. He hasn't told any of them about Jimin, but none of them are oblivious. The two had lunch together yesterday, after all. Yoongi really thought the four of them believed him when he said he was going to take the period to study for a test. Yoongi never studies, and the second he spotted Jimin in the hall, he ditched them faster than they could blink.

He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, he-he doesn't usually show up until right when the bell rings."

Taehyung sighs in defeat. He really will have to wait until lunch, then.

"Why?" Yoongi asks. Then realization hits him and his eyes widen. "Oh. So the boy you're talking to is Jungkook? The camera kid?"

Taehyung hadn't told any of them who he was talking to. When Jungkook revealed himself, it felt like a secret that should be kept between the two of them. Besides, he hadn't quite wanted to share Jungkook with the boys yet.

"Aw, I see him around campus all the time," Seokjin adds. "He's adorable!"

Hoseok pinches Taehyung's cheek. "The two of you are just so cute," he says in an annoying baby voice.

Taehyung slaps his hand away, but this time he is smiling genuinely. The idea of him and Jungkook together is making him blush.

The bell rings. Taehyung isn't sure he can make it all day without hearing from Jungkook, but it doesn't really seem like he has a choice right now.

༺༒༻

At lunch, Taehyung waits by the entrance to the cafeteria for Jimin. He's never spoken with the kid, but everyone at school knows who Jimin is, and everyone always has good things to say about him. Jimin is the type to get along with everyone, make everyone want to be around him, but he only hangs out with a select group of people.

Yoongi walks up, raising an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for Jimin. What are you doing?"

Yoongi stands beside him, muttering, "Waiting for Jimin."

The rest of the boys are inside. Taehyung had already gone in to look around for Jungkook, but he doesn't appear to be at school today.

"So," Taehyung says, "did you ask Jimin to the dance tonight?"

Yoongi's cheeks instantly go red and he clears his throat. "Uh, no, actually. I-I don't do dances, Tae, you know this."

Taehyung grins. "Just thought you might have since you're so whipped."

Yoongi slaps him in the shoulder. "I am not."

"I've never seen you give anyone the time of day," Taehyung argues with a laugh. "You're most definitely whipped."

"Look who's talking," Yoongi grumbles. "You barely talk at lunch anymore since you're always texting Jungkook. It's actually nice. A lot quieter."

Taehyung rolls his eyes at the older boy, but he falls quiet at the mention of Jungkook, folding his arms across his chest as if he can protect himself that way. He never intended to get so attached. It scares him, especially with the way Jungkook is acting.

Yoongi stares at him, thinking hard. "You really like him?"

Taehyung gives a half shrug, but the answer is obvious.

"Well, what happened?"

"He's just..." Taehyung sighs heavily. "He's really anxious. With everything, it seems. I've never even spoken to him in person. Well, I have, but I didn't know it was him."

Yoongi nods, knowing the story of how Jungkook was anonymous. Taehyung even asked him if Yoongi had been the one to leave his Snapchat username lying around, but Yoongi had given him a look as if Taehyung had lost his mind. So now he has no idea how Jungkook got his username, but he's glad that he did. Even if it was in a semi-stalkerish way.

"Everyone has their reasons for acting the way they do," Yoongi replies. "I'm sure Jungkook is just overwhelmed with whatever is going on in his life."

"I just wish he'd talk to me about it," Taehyung says with a pout, kicking a rock off the pathway.

When Taehyung looks over at Yoongi after he doesn't respond, Taehyung is surprised to see a fond smile on the elder's face. He follows the boy's line of sight only to see Jimin walking towards them, already waving to Yoongi with a shy expression, like he's trying to suppress a grin.

Taehyung smirks, nudging Yoongi teasingly.

"Don't you dare," Yoongi warns, his face going from soft to dangerous in the blink of an eye when he turns to the younger.

Taehyung merely laughs, holding his hands up in surrender. "Fine. But do you mind if I steal him for a minute?"

Yoongi frowns. "Don't be too long, okay?"

"Don't worry, lover boy. You'll have plenty of time with him."

"Sometimes I really just want to throw you off—"

"Jimin!" Taehyung shouts in a friendly way, cutting off Yoongi's threat.

Jimin looks confused, but he waves nonetheless, walking over. "Hey," he says casually, stealing a glance at Yoongi. Taehyung doesn't miss the flush in his cheeks.

"Hi, yes, we've never spoken but I'm Taehyung," he says, shaking Jimin's hand. "Random question. Do you happen to know where Jungkook is?"

Jimin goes from calm to nervous, fidgeting with the zipper on his jacket. "He, uh... He's at home."

"You've talked to him?"

"Not much. He stopped replying to me when I asked him why he wasn't coming to school." Jimin frowns, biting his lip. "He's like this sometimes. He gets in really weird moods where he doesn't want to leave his house or talk to anyone. I usually have to drag him out of his room and we get ice cream."

Taehyung clicks his tongue. "Would you—oh, I don't know... be willing to give me his address?"

Jimin's eyebrows furrow. "You have his number, don't you?"

"He blocked me," Taehyung says quietly.

"Oh." Jimin's eyes widen. "Oh. You're why he's in a mood, then." When he sees the look on Taehyung's face, he quickly adds, "No, no, I didn't mean it like that! Geez, now I sound like an asshole. I'll give you his address, okay? You'll probably have more luck with him now than me, anyways. I should stop talking before I expose him."

Taehyung shrugs. "Or you could make my day and expose him."

Yoongi shoves him playfully. "Let the kid be. You don't need your ego boosted anyways."

Jimin leans towards Taehyung a bit. "Just saying this because I think you should know, but Jungkook has been a lot happier since he started talking with you. Hell, that's all I ever hear about now; you."

The culprit blushes, trying to stifle a grin by biting his lip but he fails.

Yoongi groans. "It's too soft here for me now."

Jimin chuckles, poking Yoongi in the ribs. If anyone else would have done that, Taehyung is sure they'd be six feet under. "Don't act like you're not a softie, Yoongi."

"And this is where I leave," Taehyung says, giving the two a mocking bow. "Enjoy your lunch, lovebirds."

Jimin blushes furiously while he heards Yoongi grumble, "I'm going to kill him," as he walks away with newfound confidence.